Who would have thought that even though Chu Wanning's dumplings were clumsy, the finished product was actually not bad. One by one, the round and cute dumplings were pinched out by his slender fingers and neatly stacked on the table.
The three disciples couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
"Shizun actually knows how to make dumplings …"
"Am I dreaming?"
"It's pretty good."
"Wow …"
Their whispers naturally couldn't escape Chu Wanning's ears. Chu Wanning pursed his lips, his eyelashes fluttering. Even though his face was still expressionless, the tips of his ears were faintly red.
Xue Meng couldn't hold back and asked: "Shizun, is this your first time making dumplings?"
"… Yes."
"Then why does it look so good?"
"… It's just like making a mecha. It's just a few folds, what's so difficult about it?"
Mo Ran looked at him from across the table, gradually lost in thought.
In his previous life, the only time he saw Chu Wanning make noodles was after Shi Mei passed away. That day, Chu Wanning went to the kitchen and slowly made the wontons that Shi Mei was best at.
But before he could put them into the pot, he was knocked to the ground by the irrational Mo Ran. The white wontons rolled all over the floor.
Mo Ran didn't remember whether the wontons were flat or round, beautiful or ugly.
He only remembered Chu Wanning's expression at that time, looking at him without saying a word, his cheeks still stained with flour. He looked so unfamiliar, a little lost, and even a little stupid …
Mo Ran thought that he would get angry, but in the end, Chu Wanning didn't say anything. He only bent down, lowered his head, and silently picked up the stained wontons one by one. Then, he personally poured them out.
At that time, what was Chu Wanning's mood?
Mo Ran didn't know. He didn't want to think about it. In fact, he didn't dare to think about it.
When the dumplings were ready, the little snowman took them to the kitchen to cook them. According to tradition, Chu Wanning sealed a copper coin inside. Whoever ate it would have good luck.
The snowman quickly brought back the cooked dumplings. There was also a mixture of hot, sour, and vinegar on the wooden tray.
Xue Meng said, "Shizun, eat first."
Chu Wanning didn't refuse. He picked up a dumpling and put it in his bowl, but he didn't eat it. Instead, he picked up three more and gave them to Xue Meng, Mo Ran, and Shi Mei.
"Happy New Year," Chu Wanning said lightly.
His disciples were stunned for a moment before they smiled. "Master, Happy New Year."
Coincidentally, it was only the first dumpling, and Mo Ran bit into a copper coin. He was so caught off guard that he almost lost half of his tooth.
Shi Mei looked at his grimacing face and laughed. "Mo Ran will have good luck in the new year."
Xue Meng said, "Tsk, lucky bastard."
Mo Ran's eyes were brimming with tears. "Shizun, Li Jie got the dumplings too accurately. Jie was the first one and I got it …"
Chu Wanning said, "Speak properly."
Mo Ran said, "I bit the toe of the shoe."
"…" Chu Wanning was speechless.
Mo Ran rubbed his cheeks and took a sip of the tea that Shi Mei handed to him. He finally calmed down and joked, "Haha, could it be that Shizun remembered which dumpling had a copper coin in it and deliberately knocked me over?"
"You're dreaming, aren't you?"
Chu Wanning said coldly. He then lowered his head and continued to eat.
But Mo Ran didn't know if it was an illusion, but he saw that Chu Wanning's face seemed to be slightly red under the warm candlelight.
After the dumplings, the head chef's sumptuous dinner was quickly brought out plate by plate. Chicken, duck, fish, and fish filled the table heavily.
The Meng Po Lobby was getting more and more lively. Xue Zhengyong and Mrs. Wang sat at the head of the table and let the little snowman give out generous red envelopes.
A little snowman kept bumping into Chu Wan-ning's knee, and Shizi Ancheng's eyes stared at him.
Chu Wanning was startled. "What, I got one too?"
He took the red packet and opened it. Inside was a handful of expensive gold leaves. He was speechless. He raised his head to look at Xue Zhengyong, only to see the vulgar man looking at him with a smile. He even raised the wine cup in his hand and toasted him.
So silly.
But he also felt that Xue Zhengyong was really … really …
Chu Wanning stared at him for a while. He couldn't help but smile. He also raised his wine cup and drank it in one gulp.
The gold leaves were distributed to his disciples. After three rounds of wine, the performances on the stage continued. The atmosphere at the table finally became lively.
The main thing was that the three brats didn't seem to be afraid of him anymore.
As for Chu Wanning, he was always able to drink a thousand cups.
"Shizun, shizun, shall I read your palm?"
The first one to drink was Xue Meng, whose mind was a little muddled.
He grabbed Chu Wanning's hand and looked at it carefully.
If he didn't drink three cups of wine, he wouldn't dare to offend him like this even if he had ten times the courage.
"His life line is long but intermittent. His body doesn't seem to be very good." Xue Meng mumbled. "He gets sick easily."
Mo Ran laughed. "It's quite accurate."
Chu Wanning glared at him.
"His ring finger is long. Shizun, you have a good fortune."
"The three lines come from the same source. The end of the love line leads to the intelligence line. Generally, people are willing to sacrifice for love …" Xue Meng stared blankly for a while. He suddenly raised his head and asked, "Really?"
Chu Wanning's face turned green. He gritted his teeth and said, "Xue Ziming, I think you're tired of living."
However, the drunk Xue Meng didn't know it at all. She actually smiled and continued to read. Then she muttered, "Ah, there's more. The love line has an island-shaped pattern, and it's under the ring finger. Master, you don't have a good eye for people … Maybe you are blind …"
Chu Wanning couldn't take it anymore. He pulled his hand away angrily and was about to leave.
Mo Ran laughed so hard that he was about to die. He held his stomach and laughed for a long time. Suddenly, he met Chu Wanning's cold and stern gaze. He forced himself to stop laughing, but his ribs were throbbing with pain.
Chu Wanning said angrily, "What are you laughing at?
What's so funny? "
Just as he was about to leave, Xue Meng grabbed his sleeve.
Then, Mo Ran couldn't laugh anymore. Xue Meng pulled Chu Wanning down in a daze and buried his head in Chu Wanning's arms. He wrapped his arms around Chu Wanning's waist and rubbed his forehead against Shizun's clothes.
"Shizun …" The soft voice of a youth carried a hint of coquettishness. "Don't go. Come, have another drink."
Chu Wanning looked like he was about to choke.
"Xue Ziming!!
You, you're just messing around, let go of me! "
Unexpectedly, at this moment, the little snowman on the stage suddenly ran down, squeaking. It turned out that Elder Tanlang had finished his sword dance performance. According to the sequence, it should be Chu Wanning's turn.
This wasn't good. Everyone's gazes gathered on Chu Wanning. Seeing Xue Meng actually daring to hug Elder Yu Heng's waist after getting drunk, burying himself in the other party's embrace and acting shamelessly, all the disciples were astonished to the extreme. Some of them even dropped their chopsticks as they stared fixedly at this corner.
Chu Wanning: "…"
For a moment, the situation was extremely awkward. Elder Yu Heng did not know whether to stand or sit. He could only stiffly allow Xue Meng to hug him.
After a long period of silence, Mo Ran suddenly laughed dryly. "No, Xue Meng, you're already an adult, why are you still acting coquettishly?" As he said this, he reached out to pull him up. "Get up, don't cling onto Shizun."
Xue Meng was not acting coquettishly on purpose. If he could remember this when he was sober, he would give himself two big slaps.
But he was currently very drunk. Mo Ran forcefully dragged him for a long time before finally tearing him off Chu Wanning.
"Sit properly, look at this. How many?"
Xue Meng looked at Mo Ran's extended finger and frowned. "Three."
Mo Ran: "…"
Shi Mei couldn't help but laugh. He also teased him. "Who am I?"
"You're Shi Mei." Xue Meng impatiently rolled his eyes.
Mo Ran also joined in on the fun. "Then who am I?"
Xue Meng stared at him for a while, then said, "You're a dog."
"…" Mo Ran said angrily, "Xue Ziming, I'm not done with you!"
Suddenly, at the table next to them, a disciple, either bold or drunk, pointed at Chu Wanning and asked loudly with a smile, "Young Master, look at him. Who is he?"
Xue Meng's alcohol tolerance was really low. He could not even sit properly. He leaned on the table and held his chin. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Chu Wanning for a long time.
Chu Wanning: "…"
Xue Meng: "…"
Chu Wanning: "…"
Xue Meng: "…"
After a long stalemate, just when everyone thought that Xue Meng was about to fall asleep due to the alcohol, he suddenly smiled and tried to pull Chu Wanning's sleeve again.
"Brother Immortal."
These four words were loud and clear.
All the disciples: "…"
"Pfft."
Someone laughed out loud first. Then, everyone couldn't help it. No matter how bad Chu Wanning's expression was and how bad his temper was, the law couldn't punish the majority. Everyone knew that no matter how unhappy he was, he couldn't use Heaven's Inquisition to slap everyone here, right?
As a result, the bustling Meng Po Hall was filled with laughter. While eating and drinking, everyone was whispering to each other as if they wanted to see the world in chaos.
"Haha, Brother Immortal."
"Elder Yu Heng is so handsome. He really does look like an immortal."
"If it were up to me, I would have to say something vulgar.
Every time I see him, I can't help but think of a sentence. "
Someone asked, "What sentence?"
"Except for the three feet of snow on the king's body, who else in the world is worthy of wearing white?"
"… Then you really are vulgar."
Chu Wanning's face turned from white to green, then from green to black. In the end, he decided to pretend to be calm and pretend that he didn't hear anything.
After all, he was used to facing people's alienation and awe. This sudden enthusiasm expressed in the festive atmosphere and alcohol made him unable to resist and retreat.
Faced with such a situation, he really didn't know how to react. He could only force himself to be calm.
However, the faint crimson color around his ears betrayed his handsome face, which seemed to be frozen three feet deep.
Mo Ran noticed it and pursed his lips. He didn't say anything, but for some reason, an annoying jealousy suddenly surged in his heart.
It wasn't that he didn't know that Chu Wanning was handsome, but like everyone else, he also understood that even though Chu Wanning was handsome, that kind of handsomeness was more of a knife-like sharpness. When he wasn't smiling, he was always as cold as snow, making people not dare to approach him.
In his dark and narrow-minded mind, Chu Wanning was like a plate of delicious crispy meat that was placed in a broken and dirty food box. The only person in the world who opened the food box and tasted the deliciousness inside was himself.
He didn't need to worry that someone would discover this delicacy and taste it again.
But tonight, in the warm fire of the stove, under the stimulation of the wine, there were so many pairs of eyes staring at the food box that no one cared about.
Mo Ran suddenly became nervous.
He wanted to firmly cover the food box, like swatting away annoying flies, and chase away these people who coveted his food.
But he suddenly realized that in this life, this crispy meat wasn't his.
He held the sparkling and translucent zips, so he didn't have the free time to chase away those greedy wolves.
Mo Ran and the others didn't think that Chu Wanning would actually be like the other elders, seriously preparing a New Year's celebration program. He presented a guqin performance.
The disciples' eyes were filled with worship, and someone whispered, "I really didn't think that Elder Yu Heng could play the guqin …"
"And he played it especially well, I almost didn't know the taste of meat."
Mo Ran didn't say anything as he sat in the same place. Xue Meng had already fallen asleep, leaning over the table, breathing steadily.
Mo Ran took the wine pot in his hand and poured himself a full cup. He listened and drank while staring at the person on the stage.
The irritation in his heart became stronger and stronger.
In his previous life, Chu Wanning didn't play any songs at the New Year's Eve reunion banquet.
The way he played the guqin was only seen by very, very few people.
Probably because at that time, being put under house arrest by Mo Ran, Chu Wanning was really depressed in his heart. Seeing a guqin made of tung wood in the courtyard, he sat on the ground, closed his eyes and played the strings.
The sound of the guqin was distant and lonely, attracting phoenixes and butterflies. When Mo Ran returned, he saw Chu Wanning sitting in the courtyard, indescribably calm, pure and noble.
How did he treat him at that time?
Ah, yes.
He pressed him to the side of the guqin and manipulated him, directly violating this cold man in the courtyard.
Mo Ran only cared about his own trembling and pleasure, not caring about how much pain Chu Wanning was in. He didn't even care that at that time, it was already past Lidong, and that Shizun, who was so afraid of the cold, had his clothes torn off. He was ravaged by him on the cold stone surface until he couldn't take it anymore and fainted.
After recuperating for several months, he still couldn't recover his energy.
At that time, Mo Ran said to him coldly, "Chu Wanning, in the future, you are not allowed to play the guqin in front of others.
Do you know how you look when you play the guqin … "
He pursed his lips, but couldn't find the right words, so he didn't continue.
How what?
It was clearly a dignified and peaceful appearance, but for some reason, it was so seductive that people couldn't control themselves.
Chu Wanning didn't say a word. His lips were pale, his eyes were closed, and his eyebrows were sharp.
Mo Ran raised his hand, hesitated for a moment, and stroked the space between his tightly knitted eyebrows.
The Emperor Ta's movements seemed gentle, but his voice was still stern and emotionless.
"If you don't listen, I will chain you to the bed. Other than sleeping with me, you can't do anything else.
I will do as I say. "
How did Chu Wanning respond at that time?
Mo Ran took another sip of wine, looked at the person on the stage, and thought gloomily.
It seemed like he didn't say anything.
It seemed like he opened his eyes and coldly said one word —
"Get lost."
He couldn't remember clearly.
In that life, he had been entangled with Chu Wanning for such a long time. Many things were no longer so clear, no longer so sharp and clear.
In the end, he actually only admitted one thing: Chu Wanning was his person. Even if he didn't like him, he should be the one to destroy him, to tear him to pieces.
He would rather crush Chu Wanning's flesh and blood in his palm, like a wolf, tiger, or leopard chewing Chu Wanning's bones and digging out his internal organs, than to let others touch him.
He wanted Chu Wanning's blood to breed his desire, his bones to grow his curse, and his body to flow with his passion.
Wasn't he virtuous?
And then?
Didn't he still have to lie with his legs wide open, under the most evil person in the world, on the most violent tyrant's bed, and let the man's fiery blade take his life?
He dirtied him, inside and outside, it was all dirty.
How could it be so easy to put on the torn clothes?
Mo Ran closed his eyes, his knuckles turned white, and his heart trembled.
He thought about the past. His ears could no longer hear the lively cheers of New Year's Eve, nor could he hear Chu Wanning's relaxed zither music.
There was only a cold, almost crazy voice left in his mind, like a vulture swooping down from the dust of the past, hovering for a long time.
"Hell is too cold. Chu Wanning, you came to accompany me."
"Yes, you are a god, the light of others. Xue Meng, Mei Hanxue, the people of dawn are waiting for you to illuminate them. Grandmaster Chu, a sage."
That voice laughed sweetly. It laughed and laughed, then suddenly became ruthless, like a soul that had been cut in half. It was as angry as thunder. "But what about me?
Have you illuminated me?
Have you warmed me?
I only have the scars you left on my body!
Sage, Chu Wanning! "
"I want your person, I want your life.
You want to be their fire, I want to take you to my grave.
You can only illuminate my bones, I want you, to rot with me. "
"Life and death is not up to you …"
Deafening cheers sounded.
Mo Ran suddenly opened his eyes, his back drenched in cold sweat.
The performance had already ended. All the disciples were enthusiastically clapping. Mo Ran sat among them, feeling his eyes go weak and pale. He looked at Chu Wanning holding the paulownia zither and slowly walking down the wooden steps.
At that moment, for the first time in his life, he suddenly felt so absurd. He suddenly felt that he was like a crazy demon in his previous life.
In fact, Chu Wanning was not bad … why did he … do this?
When the strong wine entered his throat, he was at a loss, at a loss, at a loss. In the end, he was drunk.