Chapter 152: Yet Another Person Conquered by Liang He’s Cooking

Chapter 152: Chapter 152: Yet Another Person Conquered by Liang He’s Cooking

"If I’d known your cooking was this good, I would’ve defected to the light much earlier."

If he had, he might have been eating this delicious food long ago!

Silver Shuttle’s chopsticks hadn’t stopped moving since the meal began. With his cheeks stuffed full of food, he looked exactly like a little hamster.

"Eat a bit slower..." Liang He was a little startled by how fast he was wolfing it down and hurriedly told him to pace himself. "When curing the meat, you have to use a lot of salt. Even though it was blanched and mixed with side dishes to dilute the saltiness, it’s still best to eat it with white rice."

She was worried they might get overwhelmed by the salt.

"Understood, understood! I’m just afraid there won’t be enough white rice, hehe."

Xu Yi felt like he hadn’t eaten Liang He’s cooking in ages. Even though she had only left the reserve for ten days or so, it felt like she had been away on a business trip for months.

Compared to Silver Shuttle, who was tasting Liang He’s cooking for the first time, the others were obviously well-practiced. They consciously started lining up to serve themselves rice, and even Lan Zhuo was no exception.

"Don’t worry, there’s another pot of rice cooking right now. There’s plenty for everyone to eat their fill."

This wasn’t her first time feeding them, so Liang He had a pretty good idea of their appetites, especially now that Silver Shuttle had joined them. Plus, today’s dishes were very appetizing. With both meat and alcohol on the table, they definitely wouldn’t eat lightly.

"That’s great!"

With Liang He’s assurance, everyone, including Huo An, rolled up their sleeves and ate with abandon, determined to make up for all the good food they had missed out on recently in one fell swoop.

"Don’t just eat the cured meat, have some greens too."

Liang He suddenly regretted making a whole table of cured meat just for convenience. She felt the sodium content was too high and worried their bodies wouldn’t be able to handle it. However, eating like this occasionally shouldn’t be a big deal, right?

With a complicated expression, Liang He blinked her innocent big eyes, watching the rice in their bowls go from piled high to completely clean, and then instantly piled high again. She felt inexplicably guilty.

"BURP..."

With a loud belch, Hoder was the last one to put down his chopsticks. As a tall and burly man, it was no surprise that he had the biggest appetite.

"I feel like after eating Liang He’s food, I’m full of energy and vitality again. It was so delicious!" Hoder couldn’t help but praise Liang He as he set down his bowl and chopsticks.

In truth, Liang He’s culinary skills couldn’t compare to the special chefs hired by fancy hotels. But to showcase their class, hotel dishes were usually small and refined. Unlike Liang He’s cooking, which consisted of large, hearty, home-style portions that were appetizing and went perfectly with rice, it was much more suited for manual laborers like him.

"Alright, if you’re full, get moving and clear the dishes. We’re going to boil wine around the stove later," Huo An said. He had taken a moment to handle some urgent work, and seeing that everyone was finished—and had practically wiped the plates clean—he prepared to clear the table.

"You got it!"

Actually, they didn’t need Huo An to tell them. Unless there were special circumstances, Liang He was always the chef, and they would do their best to share the rest of the chores. In their eyes, this was a fair division of labor, not just helping Liang He out. It was an unspoken agreement between them.

"Boiling wine around the stove? What’s that?" Silver Shuttle asked Hoder curiously as he wiped the table with a rag. As the newcomer, he was only familiar with Hoder besides Liang He, so he subconsciously treated him as a friend.

Thanks to the bond they had formed over a drinking session, Hoder didn’t hold back. He explained the rules of the Seventh Service Area to him, along with some of their recreational activities.

"It’s just lighting a charcoal stove and placing an iron grate on top. You can heat up wine directly on it, and also roast some food."

When winter had just begun, Liang He had organized a tea-boiling session around the stove, and Hoder figured it would be pretty much the same.

"That sounds so interesting. I’m really looking forward to it."

Silver Shuttle felt more and more that staying by Liang He’s side meant endless surprises, with something new to experience every day. Thoroughly excited for the stove-side gathering, he worked with extra vigor, quickly scrubbing the messy dining table spotless.

"The fire is lit. Once you’re done cleaning, go to the kitchen and bring the things over. Don’t let Liang He do it."

Huo An, who was in charge of starting the fire, had already perfected the skill through practice and quickly got the stove ready. Liang He was the only one capable of making the dignified director of the reserve willingly act as a fire stoker.

"Alright, be right there!"

Hoder took Silver Shuttle back to the kitchen, where Liang He had already prepared all the sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and other items for roasting.

"Liang He, leave that alone, we’ve got it!" Hoder picked up a tray and ordered Silver Shuttle to take the wine pot, making absolutely sure Liang He was left empty-handed.

"You guys head up first. I’m going to get Cedriel and the others."

Having finally found a moment of leisure, Liang He just wanted to spend it with her fluffy companions. Especially after constantly being on the move recently—aside from the Platinum Giant Lion, the Mengji Snow Leopard and the others had barely arrived before they had to start fighting the Fierce Beasts, which made Liang He’s heart ache for them.

"Alright, we’ll go up and get things ready first."

Having experienced the stove-side tea session before, they weren’t entirely clueless and didn’t need Liang He to manage everything.

Watching them head upstairs, Liang He turned and walked to the animal dormitories. The fluffy companions had already licked their food bowls clean and were leisurely washing their faces.

"Alright, stop licking. Is your saliva really that clean?"

"SCREECH~"

As soon as they saw Liang He, the fluffy beasts, who had been lounging in their individual cubicles, instantly stood up and started walking toward her with swaying tails.

Relying on his ability to fly, the Canglan Hunting Eagle was the first to reach her. He rubbed his little head against her neck, conveniently dropping a molted feather into her hand from his beak.

"Oh? Is this for me?"

"SCREECH!"

Ever since Liang He had made felt dolls from their fur to give back to her fans, not only did the fans love them, but the animals themselves also adored the mini versions of themselves.

This was especially true for the Canglan Hunting Eagle. Since feathers were different from fur and couldn’t just be combed out, he often hoarded his molted feathers, saving them for Liang He to use whenever she wanted.

"Wow, thank you, Lanton. In a few days, I’ll make you a majestic miniature eagle, how about that?"

Liang He never took her fluffy friends’ affections for granted, accepting the feather with a face full of smiles.

"ROAR~"

"MEOW~"

Seeing that Liang He’s attention had been stolen by the Canglan Hunting Eagle, the Platinum Giant Lion and the Mengji Snow Leopard squeezed their way in, vying for her favor.

Meanwhile, the Iron-eating Beast, who had always been aloof from worldly strife, sat obediently to the side while holding the baby panda, waiting for Liang He to take the initiative to pet him.

"I know, I know, don’t push."

The overly fierce enthusiasm of the Platinum Giant Lion and Mengji Snow Leopard was a bit too much for Liang He to handle. She almost lost her footing, but fortunately, something blocked her back, preventing her from falling.

"Cedriel?"

Liang He instinctively looked back and found that it was the Mojin King Tiger acting as a cushion behind her. Filled with gratitude, she immediately hugged his big head and rubbed it.

"Thank you, Cedriel. If it weren’t for you, I would have fallen over just now."

Caught in a full embrace, Cedriel’s sparsely furred ears instantly turned bright red, and his golden tiger eyes darted around, not knowing where to look.

"Alright, I’ll go fetch a basin of water to wipe your faces. Then we’ll go upstairs to play."

Having coaxed the attention-seeking fluffballs, Liang He, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, fetched a basin of warm water and had them line up one by one to get their faces washed.

"Liang He, are you guys ready yet?!"

By the time she finished, Xu Yi, who had grown a little impatient waiting, couldn’t hold back anymore and started calling for them.

"HOWL!"