"Aiya, none of your Fire Plume Chickens can pass, look at here, then here… it’s all blackened, don’t you know it’s burnt? You have to separate the chicken from the heat with a piece of bamboo! How can you even think of earning that gold when you don’t even know this?" Mrs Li exclaimed with glee, her hands wrapped around a golden-brown roasted Fire Plume Chicken, pointing out the mistakes of each villager.
"I bet the gold ingot will belong to Mrs Li this time!" Village Chief Meng Bai nodded, taking a glance at Mrs Li’s roasted chicken.
Li Huer’s backside still ached, but still managed to continue grinning gleefully, siding with his mother.
The well-built Li Zhuangshi stood smiling by the side. He had seen almost all of the Fire Plume Chickens at the village square, and noticed that only his Li family’s chicken was "perfect".
On the other hand, Qin Xuelian had to borrow a chicken, hence was slightly late. As such, she was unable to roast the Fire Plume Chicken using Mrs Li’s method of roasting the chicken slowly using indirect heat, resulting in a small burn mark on her chicken.
"Sister Xuelian, your roasted Fire Plume Chicken obviously isn’t going to pass…" Mrs Li rattled on, making her way towards Qin Xuelian’s side.
"Whether it’s good or not, isn’t for you to judge!" Qin Xuelian retorted, not convinced.
"Ha ha ha… Sister Xuelian, your chicken might be roasted better than the rest, but you can forget about the gold. Better for you to think about how you are going to repay the money for this Fire Plume Chicken!" Mrs Li gleefully replied.
"Slow down, slow down, one person at a time!" The soldiers standing guard around Lolita commanded, directing the chaotic crowd.
Lolita herself was slowing savouring a tiny bite of each chicken. Despite enjoying herself initially, the burnt and unpalatable chickens eventually caused her to lose her appetite.
Even those which looked decent on the outside were totally bland and tasteless to her.
"Missus, please try the chicken I roasted. You won’t regret it!"
Mrs Li’s turn had finally arrived. Without hesitation, Mrs Li lifted up her roasted Fire Plum Chicken and fished out a small delicate piece of bamboo.
"Ka Cha!" The Fire Plum Chicken’s stomach was sliced open in one swift motion.
Immediately, a savory bamboo aroma wafted out from the Fire Plum Chicken, lingering on the stage.
"Missus, this is the bamboo-infused roasted chicken I specially made!" Mrs Li introduced happily.
"Wow, she actually hid bamboo leaves in the chicken’s stomach!"
"Mrs Li’s move is indeed ingenious!"
"Why didn’t she tell us about this idea?"
Upon witnessing this scene, the villagers began to exclaim.
"Next!" Lolita took one glance, softly waved her hand and closed back her eyes.
"Huh?" Mrs Li was at a complete loss.
The villagers queuing below were similarly unable to comprehend the situation. What was happening? Bamboo-infused roasted chicken! How could it be that the daughter of the Divine Constabulary wasn’t even interested to try a bite, and immediately asked for the next person in line?
"Missus, please, try a bite…" Mrs Li pleaded, unsatisfied with the outcome.
"What garbage! Missus already ordered the next in line, you better quickly get off this stage! Bamboo infused roasted chicken? What a pointless addition to the recipe!" The soldier standing guard at the side immediately began to drive off Mrs Li from the stage.
"A pointless addition? What do you mean?" Mrs Li frowned, confused, as she reluctantly made her way back into the crowd, disappointment written all over her face.
What was wrong? No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t understand why…
One by one, the remaining Fire Plume Chickens were brought on stage, then sent back down. Eventually, it was Qin Xuelian’s turn, who stood at the very end of the queue.
Qin Xuelian carefully carried up the Fire Plume Chicken, holding it gingerly and gently placing it in front of Lolita.
Opening her eyes, Lolita frowned upon seeing the empty queue behind Qin Xuelian. Nonetheless, she picked up a small piece of the chicken with her chopsticks.
Placing it in her mouth, she chewed slowly.
And eventually swallowed the piece.
"Not too bad, even though it isn’t the one I wanted, but I consider it the best among the people here! Reward her with twenty pieces of silver!" Lolita waved her hands.
Upon command, the soldier at her side immediately fished out twenty pieces of silver and placed it in the hands of Qin Xuelian.
Qin Xuelian’s face instantly broke into a smile. Twenty pieces of silver, this is enough to buy a hundred Fire Plume Chickens! One Fire Plum Chicken in exchange for a hundred, this trade cannot be more worth!
"How is this, father of Zhengzhi, isn’t this worth it? We managed to earn so much in so little time!" Qin Xuelian, unable to contain her happiness, dashed down from the stage and waved the twenty silver pieces in front of Fang Zhengzhi’s Dad, "Fang Houde".
At the same time, she shot Fang Houde a look that said, "You can start your praise now."
"My wife is indeed a genius!" Fang Houde instantly began to declare, smilingly.
"Look at the state of yourself!" Smiling brightly, Qin Xuelian chided softly.
"What great handiwork by Mrs Fang!"
"This time, the Fang family seems to have earned quite a sum!"
"Twenty pieces of silver! With prudence, it could feed the family for a year or two…"
The villagers enviously looked at Qin Xuelian and Fang Houde. In this poor Southern Mountain Village, twenty pieces of silver is equivalent to a small fortune.
Mrs Li’s expression darkened instantly, bearing a bitter sense of resentment. Why was her own bamboo-infused roasted chicken not rewarded? Qin Xuelian’s chicken was even slightly burnt!
Fraud, there must be fraud involved!
Ultimately, Mrs Li was still a smart person. It was the Divine Constabulary, how could there be fraud involved… she could only blame her own bad luck.
After giving out the reward of twenty silver pieces, Lolita "Chiguyan" frowned once more, disappointment evident in her bright sparkling eyes.
Could I have been mistaken?
Even though the chicken thief definitely ran towards the Southern Mountain Village, this doesn’t necessarily imply that he is an occupant of the village…
What a misfortune! Not only was she unable to eat the Fire Plume Chicken she wanted, but she even let the idiot get off scot-free after giving her a kick on the …!
Arg, what a cruel bastard. Missus promise to catch you one day!
"Missus, the sky's getting dark…" A soldier commented in a low tone, observing the approaching sunset.
"Noted." Lolita stood up from her chair, having finally given up.
"Wait!"
At this moment, a youthful voice cried out from a distance, following which a figure wrapped like a huge dumpling swiftly ran into sight.
Just by observing the person’s shape, it was clear that he was no more than six or seven years of age. However, he wore a cap and his face was thoroughly shrouded with cloth, making him completely unrecognisable.
"What are you doing?! Stand still!" One of Lolita’s guard, witnessing this peculiar attire, sprang into alertness.
"It’s okay, let him in." Lolita smiled to herself. She has already identified the figure from his distinct large, jet-black eyes.
This "dumpling" in front of her, was the bastard who kicked her backside and toppled her into the river!
"Bastard, you have finally appeared!" Lolita smiled coldly to herself, on the outside her face remained devoid of expression. To her, Fang Zhengzhi is now finally a piece of meat placed on her chopping board.