Xu Qi An rarely had the experience of making noodles, for two reasons: First, mass-produced noodles didn’t taste good. Second, while anyone could cook noodles, making them taste good was quite difficult.
Ninety-nine percent of people couldn’t make tasty noodles.
“At least the noodles I hand-pull will have good texture…”
In the kitchen, Xu Qi An was working with the flour, sometimes kneading, sometimes rubbing, sometimes pinching… focused and serious.
After preparing the noodles, he set them aside. He then cut a piece of fat meat to fry into cracklings, scooping them out into a plate. Next, he used the rendered lard to fry sunny-side-up eggs.
He threw the prepared noodles into boiling water to cook. From his pocket, he took out a porcelain bottle and poured a crude version of chicken essence into the simmering broth.
A rich, savory aroma filled the entire kitchen, making one’s mouth water. Xu Qi An himself hadn’t eaten and swallowed hard.
Meanwhile, Chu Caiwei and Crown Princess Huai Qing were walking down the stairs side by side. The Crown Princess, her long skirt trailing on the stairs, glanced at Chu Caiwei and asked casually:
“How did you discover that haunted house?”
Chu Caiwei was stunned for a moment, then understood the Crown Princess’s meaning. She replied cheerfully, “Xu Ningyan wanted to buy a house, so I accompanied him to check the feng shui.”
“I know that part. I’m asking how you found that particular house,” the Crown Princess inquired.
“Princess, what a strange question. The old broker led us to discover it,” Chu Caiwei said.
Old broker? A flash of light appeared in the Crown Princess’s beautiful eyes. In an instant, she thought of many things and probed, “Was there anything special about that old broker?”
“He was quite conscientious,” Chu Caiwei said, taking out a piece of pastry from her deerskin waist pouch and placing it in her delicate palm, offering it to the Crown Princess.
Quite conscientious? The Crown Princess waved her hand, indicating she didn’t want it, and asked, “How so?”
“Xu Qi An thought the haunted house was cheap, but the broker kept trying to stop us, afraid something would go wrong,” Chu Caiwei said happily as she popped the pastry into her small mouth. She loved being friends with Huai Qing the most because she never competed for any delicious food.
If it were that annoying Xu Ningyan, he might have eaten it if she had politely offered it like this.
“…” The Crown Princess remained silent for a long time, then sighed. She realized she wasn’t being rational, trying to gather information from this girl.
It was bad enough to try to get information from her, but to even use subtle hints was no different from winking at a blind person.
Thinking of this, Crown Princess Huai Qing furrowed her delicate brows and scrutinized her friend: “You’ve been associating too closely with Xu Ningyan lately.”
“Have I?” Chu Caiwei looked confused.
“Do you interact this frequently with other men?” The Crown Princess added, “Not counting your senior brothers in the Divination Bureau.”
Chu Caiwei thought for a moment, then belatedly exclaimed, “Oh! He does keep finding ways to come play with me.”
Crown Princess Huai Qing pursed her lips, lost in thought. At this moment, she caught a whiff of a faint but delicious aroma that made her mouth water involuntarily.
“It smells… so good… Did one of the senior brothers buy something delicious? Mmm, it’s so savory, something I’ve never tasted before,” Chu Caiwei swallowed, her eyes sparkling with desire.
…
“Grasping the moon and plucking stars, there’s no one else like me in this world.”
Suddenly, a deep recitation came from the kitchen, startling Xu Qi An. He turned his head to see a White-Robed Mage with his back turned.
You crazy bastard, you almost gave me a heart attack… Xu Qi An kept a straight face and said coolly, “You’ve come.”
His calm and deep voice sounded like that of an old friend who had known each other for half a lifetime, naturally evoking a sense of the passage of time and the vicissitudes of life.
The figure with his back turned was stunned for a moment, then replied in an equally deep and calm tone: “Yes, I’ve come.”
After saying this, he waited expectantly to see how the person behind him would respond.
A long sigh came, surprisingly in a hoarse voice, lamenting: “I never thought that after twenty years apart, you’d still prefer to turn your back on the world.”
Turn your back on the world?! These simple four words gave the white-robed figure a strong sense of immersion, making him feel like an unparalleled expert at the pinnacle, with loneliness, coldness, and invincibility as eternal themes.
After pondering for a moment, he said calmly, “Even someone like me was attracted to you.”
He responded so naturally… This pretentious bastard has some skill. Xu Qi An thought for a moment, then said wistfully:
“I knew that when this cauldron of Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir was completed, it would be the day you made your move. You still won’t let me go.”
“Hmph, treasures belong to those with virtue,” the figure responded.
“Heh, Yang Qianhuan, have you ever been defeated?” Xu Qi An retorted.
Steam wafted between the two, and the atmosphere in the kitchen suddenly became tense. But at this moment, a crisp voice broke the mood.
“What are you two doing?” Chu Caiwei stood at the door, looking bewildered as she scanned the two.
Xu Qi An immediately lowered his head, stirring the noodles in the pot to hide the embarrassment roiling in his heart.
Yang Qianhuan remained unmoved, still standing with his back turned, and hands clasped behind him. He snorted, “Even if little junior sister pleads for you, I absolutely won’t…”
Chu Caiwei said, “Senior Brother Yang, what are you doing in the kitchen?”
Yang Qianhuan: “…Oh, I came to eat noodles.”
Chu Caiwei happily ran to the stove, drooling as she stared at the pot of noodles, and said with a smile, “How did you know I hadn’t eaten?”
Because I timed it perfectly… Xu Qi An smiled and said, “I promised I’d make noodles for you to eat.”
Just then, the noodles in the pot were done. Xu Qi An looked at the beauty in the pink palace dress behind him and tentatively asked, “Crown Princess, would you like a bowl?”
The cool and aloof Crown Princess Huai Qing hesitated slightly, her gaze involuntarily falling on the pot. She nodded somewhat uncomfortably, “Alright.”
Considering Chu Caiwei’s appetite, Xu Qi An had cooked a lot of noodles. If divided among four people, it would be just right for one bowl each.
He scooped out the noodles and soaked them in cold water, then ladled the broth into four bowls. He then evenly distributed the noodles into the bowls, topped them with fried eggs, and sprinkled green onions and crispy lard bits on top.
“Senior Brother Yang, come and eat with us,” Xu Qi An called out, thinking he could finally see what Yang looked like.
Just as this thought arose, he saw an array pattern spread under Yang Qianhuan’s feet, and then he disappeared, taking a bowl of noodles with him.
Chu Caiwei sat at the table, cradling her bowl. She first ate a piece of crispy lard, nodding with satisfaction, then eagerly took a sip of the broth.
Her eyes suddenly lit up, feeling her taste buds had been hit with an unprecedented impact.
She felt every cell in her body screaming:
Delicious!
Delicious!
Delicious!
For someone tasting umami-enhanced food for the first time, this was indeed an unforgettable sensation… Xu Qi An smiled proudly and looked towards the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess ate very elegantly but quickly. Noticing Xu Qi An looking her way, she stopped eating and stared back expressionlessly.
Xu Qi An gave a dry laugh and lowered his head to eat his noodles.
The Crown Princess immediately followed suit, lowering her head and eating the noodles in small bites, as if not wanting to waste a single moment or wait.
In the quiet, empty room, Yang Qianhuan, with his back turned to everyone, squatted in the corner, holding his bowl and slurping the noodles.
This guy is quite interesting. He knows alchemy, speaks well, and even cooks delicious noodles… Thinking of this, Yang Qianhuan suddenly stopped. Wasn’t this kind of universal admiration exactly what he wanted?
This guy… is a formidable rival.
…
After finishing the noodles, Xu Qi An looked at Chu Caiwei and asked, “How was it?”
“It was delicious,” Chu Caiwei pecked at her head.
“This is my secret recipe, using essence extracted through a unique alchemical process,” Xu Qi An said. “This is what I want to teach you to help you advance to become an alchemist.”
Crown Princess Huai Qing, who was wiping her rosy lips with a silk handkerchief, flashed a curious look in her beautiful eyes and paused.
“Is it difficult?” Chu Caiwei’s first concern was the difficulty of this task.
“It’s very difficult. After all, I only half-understand it myself,” Xu Qi An said. Seeing Chu Caiwei’s face immediately fall, he seriously added:
“If you can’t create it, you won’t be able to eat noodles like this again, or even tastier things.”
The small beauty with the oval face widened her almond eyes, suddenly burning with intense fighting spirit.
“Did you create this yourself?” Crown Princess Huai Qing asked.
“Yes, I painstakingly created it for Miss Caiwei,” he said, immediately regretting his words. He shouldn’t have said such things in front of his “first wife.”
Sure enough, Crown Princess Huai Qing gave him a meaningful look, her tone half-smiling, “You seem quite attentive to Caiwei.”
“Miss Caiwei is my benefactor, of course, I’m attentive,” Xu Qi An said.
“How attentive?” The oval-faced beauty was quite happy to hear such words.
“I’m always ready to help,” Xu Qi An said modestly.
Then, remembering that Crown Princess Huai Qing was also his benefactor, he added, “I’m the same towards the Princess.”
Crown Princess Huai Qing did not comment.
…
The Crown Princess had other matters to attend to and left after sitting for a short while. Xu Qi An took out the prepared “Alchemy Secret Manual,” which recorded the production process for chicken essence and the concept of MSG.
After discussing with Miss Caiwei for a long time, Xu Qi An said, “I have a favor to ask of the senior brothers in the Divination Bureau.”
He planned to ask the mages of the Divination Bureau to help save the poor child at the Yangsheng Hall. The reason he didn’t ask Song Qing was that he feared the concept of “human beast” might stimulate Senior Brother Song’s crazy neural pathways.
He might use the pretext of treatment to research the child. While his intentions wouldn’t be malicious, Song Qing’s half-baked biological alchemy might ruin things.
It was also possible that before he could experiment, he would be stopped by Monk Hengyuan, causing unpleasantness.
“Grasping the moon and plucking stars, there’s no one else like me in this world.” Yang Qianhuan’s silhouette appeared, saying calmly, “What’s the matter?”
Xu Qi An glanced at the innocent glutton girl and pondered, “Let’s talk privately.”
He and Yang Qianhuan went outside, where Xu Qi An told him about the poor child’s situation. “Senior Brother Yang, that child won’t last three days. I want to ask the senior brothers of the Divination Bureau to help with the treatment.”
“Alright!” Yang Qianhuan agreed, then asked, “Why did you avoid telling Caiwei?”
Xu Qi An shook his head, “Why should we tell her?”
Yang Qianhuan nodded, “Not bad, you possess the same noble qualities as I do.”
…
Late at night, at the Yangsheng Hall.
The meditating Hengyuan suddenly opened his eyes, sensing something. He left his room, using a technique to cover great distances in an instant, quickly arriving at the backyard.
The door of the firewood shed was open. In the dim moonlight, he vaguely saw a white-robed figure standing in the darkness inside.
Hengyuan stopped, his ears twitching slightly. After hearing the child’s steady breathing, his expression relaxed, and he said in a deep voice:
“Who might you be?”
“Grasping the moon and plucking stars, there’s no one else like me in this world,” the white-robed figure said calmly.
Such arrogance… Hearing these words, even Monk Hengyuan, a man of the cloth, couldn’t help but twitch his eyebrows, feeling a slight urge to challenge him.
This emotion could be described in simple terms as I can’t stand how cocky you look.
The white-robed figure gave a “heh” and sneered, “Judging by your posture, you don’t seem to know me. I can’t believe there’s someone in the capital who doesn’t know me.”
He seems to be provoking me… This person is not easy to deal with… Hengyuan frowned deeply.
The white-robed figure gave a disdainful chuckle, and an array pattern spread under his feet. He abruptly vanished.
Monk Hengyuan let out a breath, his tense muscles relaxing as he lowered his guard. Somewhat bewildered, he walked into the firewood shed, lit an oil lamp, and checked the child’s condition.
The breathing was steady, and the heartbeat was normal, much better than during the day. At this moment, by the light of the oil lamp, he noticed a porcelain bottle and a prescription placed beside the child.
Prescription… White robe… He’s a mage from the Divination Bureau. Only now did Hengyuan realize that this fellow had come to treat the patient.
Anyone who didn’t know would have thought he came looking for trouble.
Monk Hengyuan carefully put away the prescription and the porcelain bottle, suddenly realizing that the white-robed figure was an array master, a Fourth-Grade Mage.
To think that Sir Xu could request a Fourth-Grade Mage to come and treat this child… Hengyuan was deeply moved and shocked.