Chapter 277 Barbecue Party
In the sunset, Lin Luoran and the others walk on the mountain trail. They look like a group that just finished their picnic.
Of course, this is not real. Lin Luoran, the pillar of the Lin family, entered the middle stage of Laying Foundation half an hour ago. In fact, she almost reached the later stage back then. Lin was worried about her extremely rapid progress on cultivation. Since there was no chance that she could directly enter the later stage, she gave up and woke up from the tranquility.
Lin Luoran has only overcome a little difficulty on the path of cultivation, but this is enough for Mr. Lin to be proud of. All of those who have protected Lin Luoran during her tranquility are familiar with her and they are all happy knowing that she has entered the next level. They talk and laugh during the way back and they startle some birds which are also on their way home.
“Sister Lin, we have to celebrate this once we’re home!” Li Xi’er is rolling her eyes with ideas on her mind.
Lin Luoran really wants to stay indifferent and ignores Li Xi’er. However, she can’t hide her happiness and laughs, “What do you have in mind? You can do everything as long as you keep a low profile.”
Everybody turns their eyes on Li Xi’er. Li Xi’er can’t make the decision just yet. At the same time, Luodong’s stomach growls again, which reminds Li Xi’er that they haven’t eaten anything today. She blurts out, “Sister Lin, let’s have a big dinner!”
What kind of celebration is this? Lin Luoran laughs. However, the others all love this idea.
Alright. Food is indeed essential… The problem is, they have become picky because they eat vegetables from Lin’s s.p.a.ce and her backyard and meat brought back by Goldie. What should they eat tonight that deserves to be called a big dinner?
When Lin Luoran is thinking, Luodong says to Huang Weijian, “I remember that you told me the barbecue restaurant near our school is nice.”
Noticing that everybody is looking at him, Huang Weijian wants to kick Luodong’s a.s.s. Huang doesn’t want anybody to connect him with the greasy and dirty little restaurant that serves fake lamp meat. Lin Luodong! You were the one who dragged me to the restaurant and ended up having diarrhea after that! Huang Weijian thinks.
Lin Luoran makes the final decision. Barbecue! That’s it!
Li Xi’er and Lin Luodong cheer. The night isn’t here yet and Lin Luoran sends Li Xi’er and Luodong to go and find raw materials. Lin Luodong drags Huang Weijian along with him.
Mr. Lin says that the small lake they pa.s.sed by may have fish living in there. He has to go and have a look.
Yuan Ye heads into the mountain to look for some natural seasonings. All of a sudden, Lin Luoran is alone with Liu Zheng.
They take a few steps ahead. Lin Luoran sees a bush of dark purple leaves and she is excited, “Wow, look at this!”
Liu Zheng bends down and looks at the plant. He asks, “What’s this? Is it edible?”
“This is wild houttuynia! Don’t tell me you never eat it.” Houttuynia makes the best salad and it can be used in roasted fish. It used to be everywhere in the field before people start to plant it in their farms. Wild houttuynia tastes the best and it is hard to find these days.
Lin Luoran uses a branch to dig the houttuynia out while explaining the way to eat it to Liu Zheng.
Liu Zheng is awkward. He really has never tasted it before. Lin Luoran suddenly realizes, “Oh! I forget that your family is too wealthy to eat this kind of wild gra.s.s. Sorry.”
Liu Zheng smiles and says nothing. Lin Luoran is so focused on digging that she doesn’t know that her hair is tainted by mud. Liu Zheng looks at Lin Luoran and he has a hard time imagining how a cultivator in the level of Laying Foundation can dig wild herbs with so much joy. Every time Liu Zheng thinks he knows Lin Luoran better, he will discover more lovely things about her.
He feels that he can’t find a word to describe Lin Luoran, and he keeps falling in love deeper with her. He is destined to pursue this woman in front of him forever.
He is lucky if he can ever have her. If not, it’s just fate. It’s so quiet and the view around them is beautiful. It’s like they are the only two persons left in the world. Liu Zheng feels that a little elf in his heart is telling him to express his love to her. Even if she doesn’t love him back, it’s better than hesitating between to be or not to be.
Before Liu Zheng opens his mouth, Yuan Ye is back with a lot of stuff in his arm. Yuan Ye says, “Master! I’ve found many seasoning ingredients!”
With houttuynia still in hands, Lin Luoran is stunned by Yuan Ye’s tone. Did Yuan Ye want to be her apprentice because of his love for food? Lin Luoran is speechless. Yuan Ye is not the only one. All of the people who are familiar with her family are foodies. This is such a huge coincidence.
Lin Luoran looks at Yuan Ye and sees shallots, peppers, and Sichuan peppers in his arms… The mountain is covered with snow. Yuan Ye must have gone through a lot of trouble to find all of the ingredients.
Seeing that Yuan Ye is here, Liu Zheng knows that his chance of expressing his love for Lin Luoran is gone. He is himself again. Lin Luoran has already got an apprentice. The gap between him and her is too huge. The most important thing to do is to get stronger through hard work!
Soon, Li Xi’er comes back with Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian and they bring a lot of things along. Li Xi’er is carrying two colorful pheasants in her hands and Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian are carrying a black thing hanging on a stick. Lin Luoran takes a closer look. Wow, it’s a young wild pig! She wonders who caught it.
Though the pig is young, it is fat and it weighs over 100 pounds. In this case, they don’t need to find other ingredients. The pig is already enough after they break it down. Nevertheless, Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian are quite strong to be able to carry this pig.
Mr. Lin returns with a string of fish in his hand. The straw rope is freshly made and over thirty fat fish, as well as some shrimps, are hanging on it. Catching animals are just so easy for cultivators, even those in the early stage of Training Qi. It’s almost night. Yuan Ye and Liu Zheng carry the pig and they start to head home.
Lin Luoran walks in the behind. The scene of Liu Zheng and Yuan Ye carrying a pig is so hilarious. Liu Zheng is wearing his Taoist robe and he is so different from the “suit and gold-rimmed gla.s.s” guy.
Lin Luoran tries very hard to hold back her laughter. She doesn’t want to p.i.s.s off Liu Zheng.
Mr. Lin is the only one who notices Lin Luoran’s smile and he is thinking about something. It suddenly comes to Mr. Lin that his daughter is over 30 years old. He wonders what the perfect age of getting married is in the world of cultivation and he plans to ask the crazy Taoist about this.
Mr. Lin is depressed because his daughter is so mature and independent. It’s a big problem that normal men don’t match Lin Luoran.
……
There are so many guests in the house and Mrs. Lin sets up three barbecue grills by the pool. The Lins only has one grill and the other two are brought here by Fatty Cui and Liu Zheng.
Until now Lin Luoran knows that Liu Zheng bought a house on Mount Qingcheng a few years ago when she was trapped in the blood pool. Back then, her family was under a lot of pressure. Liu Zheng’s action makes Lin Luoran think that she may have overlooked Liu’s feeling for her.
Lin Luoran feels inappropriate to ask Liu Zheng about this in front of all the guests. As a matter of fact, there is nothing to ask about. She has long since known about Liu Zheng’s love for her. However, before Baojia wakes up and finds her love, Lin Luoran would never be together with Baojia’s ex-fiancé. Lin Luoran is so stubborn about this that she becomes paranoid. She looks at Baojia’s room. Baojia, you’ve been asleep for so long. When are you going to wake up?
“Aunty Lin, I want the grilled fish. My mom doesn’t let me eat the fish. Please make some for me, please.”
Lucy clings to Lin Luoran’s clothes and hands Lin a stick of fish.
Hands on waist, w.a.n.g Miao’e shouts to her daughter, “Lucy! Look at yourself! You’re going to become a fatty just like your dad! Stop eating!” w.a.n.g’s words actually make Fatty Cui proud of himself. His daughter is chubby and cute and she looks like him a lot. Fatty Cui draws himself up but crouches immediately after being stared by his wife.
Fatty Cui takes a closer look at his daughter. Is she a little bit too chubby? Fatty Cui hesitates. However, he puts the idea behind him after seeing Lin Luoran grill the fish for Lucy. It doesn’t matter whether Lucy is fat or not. Lin Luoran will be there for her always.
The fish is already seasoned and Lucy can’t eat spicy food. Lin Luoran doesn’t put more chili on the fish and she flips the fish quickly on the grill. When it is crispy and juicy, she spreads some shallots and houttuynia on it and a bit of salt. The fish smells very good.
Lucy is too young to eat fish by herself so Lin Luoran gives the fish to w.a.n.g Miao’e. Lucy looks at her mom with doggy eyes and w.a.n.g Miao’e has no choice but to pick the fishbones out and give her daughter the meat.
Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian are grilling the marbled pork and the ribs. Mrs. Lin and Li Xi’er are dealing with vegetables like potatoes, eggplants, and cuc.u.mbers. Mrs. Lin and Li Xi’er want to lose some weight because they’ve put on some weight since winter.
Yuan Ye is chatting with Liu Zheng and Zeng Tian is talking about fis.h.i.+ng with Mr. Lin while grilling this fish. Commander Qin has always been the senior of the family, but he is not today because the crazy Taoist is also here.
Therefore, the former commander of the military subarea is roasting a chicken for the crazy Taoist!
Lin Luoran wants to free Commander Qin from the labor. However, Commander Qin and the crazy Taoist are in harmony right now. They are clearly exchanging feelings so Lin Luoran doesn’t interfere.
Wait! Is that little thing by the grill the cyan fox?
The little cyan fox can’t wait to have a taste of the barbecue. It jumps on the table and takes a stick and starts to grill something. Lin Luoran takes a closer look and sees the little fox grilling a ginseng… Does ginseng taste good after grilling? Lin Luoran decides to leave the little fox alone and sees what it is up to.
The little fox doesn’t know that Lin is watching. When the ginseng is almost done, it brushes chili oil on it and adds a bit salt and pepper, as well as some shallots. The ginseng does smell good. The little fox forgets about how hot it is and takes a bite. Ginseng is bitter. With all the salty and hot seasoning, Lin Luoran knows from the little fox’s expressions that the taste of grilled ginseng is disgusting.
“Ha-ha…” Lin Luoran laughs. The little cyan fox throws the grilled ginseng into the pool secretly.
The little fox gets caught by Mrs. Lin because of Lin Luoran’s laughter. Mrs. Lin cleans the pool every day and she is angry that the little fox just messes up the water. The little fox runs away fast.
Thanks to the little cyan fox, Lin Luoran now remembers that she should feed Goldie. Lin Luoran takes a whole pig’s leg, slices the meat, and puts it on the grill. Goldie can’t eat spicy food either. Lin Luoran flips the pig’s leg now and then and brushes the meat with spirit wine when it is almost done. Then she brushes some jam made of fruit grown in her s.p.a.ce. The leg smells so great and it attracts everybody’s attention.
Fatty Cui is the first one that comes to Lin. He says, “Hey! Luoran, how did you grill the meat? Why does it smell better than those we ate?”
Everybody nods. Lin Luoran casts a glance at him. Fatty Cui has eaten three portions of meat and he just said that the meat was not as good as the leg! Fatty Cui just wants to have a bite of the leg because he is always hungry. Lin Luoran points at Goldie, which is standing on the roof, and says, “If you have the courage to eat its food, I’ll just give you a bite.”
Goldie turns its head around and stares at Fatty Cui coldly. Cui grumbles, “I won’t grab the food of a hawk!”
At the same time, Goldie flies down and lands in the yard. Fatty Cui gets scared and runs away. w.a.n.g Miao’e laughs loudly and Lucy giggles like bells, regardless of her dad’s reputation.
Goldie is just here to eat the meat, not to mess with Fatty Cui. Everybody laughs again.
Goldie’s beak is sharp and it eats fast. People in the yard get even more hungry after seeing Goldie eat. They ask for some jam and spirit wine from Lin Luoran and start to grill meat in the way she did.
The little cyan fox comes with slouching ears. Lin Luoran holds it in her arms. “Just tell me you want to try the barbecue. If you did, the ginseng wouldn’t be wasted.” The little fox gets even more depressed. Lin Luoran takes a few pieces of ribs and puts them on a stick along with tomatoes and cuc.u.mbers. The color is so nice and Lin Luoran grills them perfectly.
Lin Luoran hands the stick to the little fox and it is cheered up immediately. It takes the stick and goes to find Goldie. Lin Luoran suspects that the little fox is going to show off the stick of meat to Goldie.
Yuan Ye notices that Lin Luoran hasn’t eaten much because she keeps grilling things for everybody else. He makes a few sticks of chicken meat and gives them to her.
“Master…”
Lin Luoran is moved by Yuan Ye’s respect for her. She finishes eating the meat and asks carelessly, “Will the new main medicine be out by next week?”
Hearing that Lin Luoran asks about the pharmaceutical factory, Yuan Ye gets serious. Before he tells more about it to his master, Lin Luoran has left to grill more potatoes. She says, “After the medicine is out, you can leave things of the factory for a while. Come live in my house and focus on your cultivation… I really find your level of cultivation embarra.s.sing.”
Is Master Lin telling me to live in her house and focus on cultivation? Yuan Ye wants to pinch himself to see if this is real. Does it mean that Master Lin finally accepts him?
Zeng Tian is speechless. He looks at Yuan Ye with so much jealousy.