"I'll think about it. If I can cultivate, that would be great. But if I can't, it doesn't matter. There are so many mortals on the continent. I'll be fine."
She definitely had to ask the system whether, with her aptitude, she could join Luoxia Valley. And whether the system would be discovered by the sect leader or some other powerful being, who might then kill her and seize her treasures.
"Next month, the sect will be recruiting new disciples. I'll come to pick you up then," Tiesheng said with a bright smile, showing his neat row of eight white teeth.
When they returned, the huge wild boar in the yard had already been butchered. The villagers who had come to help greeted Tiesheng 热情地 when they saw him back.
Although Tiesheng had gone to cultivate, he was nothing like those aloof immortals. He still took good care of the whole village.
"Everyone has worked hard. Stay and have dinner together tonight!"
The villagers were overjoyed. Wild boar was a rare delicacy. Moreover, the one Tiesheng had hunted was an adult boar. After butchering, it weighed about five hundred catties, not counting the head and heart. If sold to a restaurant, it could fetch at least a hundred taels.
"I'll go help Aunt Wang," Ye Xiruo said and darted into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, besides Aunt Wang, there was a seven- or eight-year-old child helping her stoke the fire. Looking at the skillful movements, Ye Xiruo couldn't help but sigh. The children in ancient times really grew up fast!
"Aunt Wang, let me cut the vegetables," Ye Xiruo offered.
"Xiaoliu, if you're tired, go and rest obediently."
"Don't worry, Aunt Wang," Ye Xiruo said as she skillfully started cutting Chinese cabbage, green vegetables, scallions, garlic, and potatoes for the side dishes.
Since there were many people, Aunt Wang planned to make pork stewed with vermicelli. The vermicelli in the basin had already been soaked. Ye Xiruo fished them out and put them in another basin.
Seeing the prime streaky pork on the chopping board, Ye Xiruo had an idea. She could make braised pork, and it would surely taste great.
Without further ado, Ye Xiruo quickly cut up a pile of meat. After washing it, she poured it into the already boiling pot at the back, scalded it, and then poured it out, rinsing it continuously with cold water until it was completely cooled.
She put a little oil in the pot, stir-fried the scallions and minced garlic, then poured in the streaky pork and kept stir-frying until the surface of the meat was slightly charred. Then she added an appropriate amount of soybean paste (there was no soy sauce here, only homemade soybean paste, but it tasted good), white sugar, and dark soy sauce, stirred until the meat was coated with the sauce, added water, and covered the pot.
Ten minutes later, steam started to come out. Aunt Wang curiously sniffed the air. "Xiaoliu, what is this? It smells so good."
"This is Dongpo Pork. I read about it in a book in Daddy's study. I'm trying it today. I don't know how it will taste. Please don't blame me if it doesn't turn out well, Aunt Wang."
"Just by the smell, I can tell it's something good."
Opening the pot, Ye Xiruo put in the side dishes like potatoes, onions, and eggs, and let it simmer for about twenty minutes before it was ready to be served. Aunt Wang's pork stewed with vermicelli was already out of the pot. Ye Xiruo couldn't resist and picked up a big bone and gnawed on it rather ungracefully.
The fire-tending Liu Sheng also picked up a bone and gnawed on it, his face smeared with oil and his eyes narrowed in satisfaction.
Twenty minutes later, Ye Xiruo lifted the lid of the pot. A rich aroma of meat, sauce, and potatoes wafted out. When the steam dispersed a little, one could clearly see the bright red, quivering pieces of meat that had absorbed most of the sauce, looking extremely appetizing.
Aunt Wang's eyes were full of shock. She had never seen such a dish before. She quickly took a bite and felt the meat melting on her tongue, fat but not greasy. It was an indescribably delicious taste.
Tiesheng, looking a bit shy, lifted the curtain and walked in. He sniffed hard. "Mother, what delicious food have you made? The whole yard can smell it."
Aunt Wang smiled. "It's not my doing. It's all Xiaoliu's credit."
Tiesheng scratched his short hair. "Xiaoliu, thank you."
"Don't mention it. I've read a lot of recipes in books these two days. I'll make them for you when I have time."
"Tiesheng brother, when are we going to eat? I'm so hungry!" Little Liu Sheng stared at the braised pork in the pot with shining eyes, his mouth watering.
"Soon, soon," Tiesheng replied.
Ye Xiruo served out the braised pork. She took a large basin to Tiesheng and left a large plate for herself, Aunt Wang, and Liu Sheng.
After Aunt Wang took the remaining few dishes out, she came back and sat down with Ye Xiruo and Liu Sheng to eat.
Aunt Wang's pork stewed with vermicelli also tasted good, but compared with the braised pork, it seemed to lack something. In the end, even the sauce of the large plate of braised pork was licked up by Liu Sheng with the cornbread.
Outside, the villagers gathered around a large table, eating meat and drinking wine heartily. If one ignored the beast roars from the back mountain, it was indeed a warm and beautiful scene. However, the people who had lived here for years were already used to it.
Ye Xiruo always had a feeling that the beast roars and that faint sense of pressure at night seemed even stronger than during the day. Could it be that, as Tiesheng guessed, something had changed in the inner circle of the back mountain, causing some beasts that didn't usually appear in the outer circle to become active?
Ye Xiruo brought back a pile of ribs, some lean meat, and pig liver that Aunt Wang had given her. Aunt Wang was going to marinate the pig head meat and send it to Ye Xiruo later.
Oh no, another day had passed. There were still over eighty thousand medicinal herbs left to memorize, and she hadn't even used the chaotic energy to cultivate this afternoon.
Ye Xiruo wrapped herself in the quilt and rolled around like a snow-white silkworm baby. In fact, she was torn between whether to enter the space to cultivate or to study hard tonight.
Honestly, if it were someone else, under the death countdown, they would probably be on the verge of a breakdown by now, wishing to spend every minute memorizing.
But Miss Ye was an oddball. As she put it, even if she were going to die tomorrow, she would still live her life today as usual.
After thinking for a while, Ye Xiruo flashed into the space. Cultivation was like learning. It was like rowing against the current. If you didn't move forward, you would fall back. Moreover, there were so many geniuses on the continent. She had started cultivating rather late for her age. If she remained lazy, even if she wasn't obliterated by the system, she would surely die at the hands of others in the future.
What Ye Xiruo didn't know was that there had always been a white, blurry figure in her yard. A pair of eyes as cold as stars had been watching her all along.
The moment she disappeared, that gaze instantly became extremely terrifying, as if it could tear through space.
If anyone had been there, they would surely have thought they were hallucinating. A blurry white shadow flashed by, and only a faint wind could be heard in the yard.
The next second, the mysterious man in white had appeared in Ye Xiruo's room. He was certain that the aura had disappeared.
Xiu Qiyu had a guess in his mind. The corners of his perfect lips slowly curved up, and then he turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.