To test if the noodles were alright, he took a spoon and brought a spoonful of the broth to his mouth.
The next second, Sodlan felt a violent sting on his tongue.
“Blegh —”
He spat everything out instantly and looked at the noodles with an expression of pure disbelief, coming to a single conclusion.
‘These noodles are definitely poisonous! There is no way normal noodles could taste this disgusting!’
‘That person is so stupid. They didn’t even know to make the food taste a bit better. Making it this awful is like they’re begging people not to eat the poison inside.’
With that thought, Sodlan carried the bowl of noodles and heartlessly dumped them a short distance away from the front door.
‘These noodles… eating them would kill a person.’
If this continued, he wouldn’t even have anything to eat.
He would starve to death in this place sooner or later.
He opened a cabinet. Inside were a hoe and a pile of nearly rusted tools, all cluttered together.
“I really didn’t expect that after all these years, I would pick up this hoe again,” Sodlan said with deep emotion.
This hoe was filled with many of his early memories.
He hadn’t been able to bring himself to throw it away, so he had kept it all this time.
Now, it was finally going to be put to use.
Eventually, Sodlan shouldered the hoe and left the house.
***
Inside the Dragon Race Imperial Palace, Zhu Qiu slept until broad daylight.
“Phew, that was such a comfortable sleep. My silly little bed, we’re going to be together forever.”
Zhu Qiu gave the pillow she had slept on last night a tight squeeze, then suddenly lifted it and took a deep breath.
“Mmm… the scent of Mother… I love it so much… hehe…”
Zhu Qiu giggled like a little fool.
She couldn’t be any happier than she was now.
“Lunch is ready, baby girl —”
Zhu Xiaxia shouted loudly from the Kitchen on the first floor toward the second floor.
“Yay! Food!”
Zhu Qiu reflexively jumped up from the bed.
‘Huh? Why does it feel like I wasn’t forcibly woken up today?’
Muttering to herself, Zhu Qiu walked into the bathroom to wash up.
Once finished, she headed down to the first floor of the Imperial Palace.
“Good morning, Mother!”
“You little dummy, ‘good morning’? Look outside. Look at what time it is.”
Confused, Zhu Qiu looked out the window.
The sun had already risen directly overhead.
“Ah? It’s already noon?”
“That’s right! So it’s lunchtime.”
As she spoke, Zhu Xiaxia brought out two portions of the prepared lunch from the Kitchen.
“Let’s eat!”
Zhu Xiaxia pulled the dazed Zhu Qiu into a chair and sat her down, then sat opposite her.
“Zhu Xiaxia, didn’t I tell you to wake me up earlier? I had very important things to do this morning that couldn’t be delayed!”
Zhu Qiu grew anxious.
She had thought it was still early morning, which was why she hadn’t been in a rush at first.
But looking at it now, it was so late that panicking seemed useless.
“It’s fine, baby girl,” Zhu Xiaxia answered calmly.
“How could it be fine? This involves my Father’s meals! It’s very, very, very, very important!”
Zhu Qiu exaggerated wildly.
“Rest assured, I already helped you deliver breakfast. Well? Your Mother is quite thoughtful for letting her daughter sleep in, don’t you think?”
“Huh?”
Zhu Qiu’s head was filled with question marks.
“You helped me deliver breakfast to the place where my Father lives? How did you know I was getting up early for that?”
“That’s simple. I just took a guess. Besides, nothing unexpected will happen on his end.”
“You… you didn’t show your Dragon Race form, did you? You would scare my Father to death!”
“Don’t worry, Mother just used a little Magic to hide the Dragon Race traits. It’s fine.”
“I see…”
Listening to Zhu Xiaxia’s explanation, Zhu Qiu nodded, feeling that things should be okay.
Since breakfast had been delivered, it meant she was still “at home,” and her Father wouldn’t have to worry about it.
“Hurry up and eat. To satisfy my daughter’s request, I even kept the breakfast warm for you. How does it feel?”
“It feels great!”
Zhu Qiu answered without hesitation.
She suddenly felt that Zhu Xiaxia was actually quite attentive, managing even her underlying anxieties perfectly.
“Hurry and try it. It’s all delicious food.”
“Yay!”
Zhu Qiu impatiently lifted the lid covering the lunch.
Inside was egg fried rice that Zhu Xiaxia had made herself.
“Time to start.”
She scooped up a spoonful and put it in her mouth—and then her expression froze.
The rice in her mouth inadvertently began to drop onto the table bit by bit.
“Daughter? What’s wrong? Don’t just space out. Eat.”
Zhu Qiu was stunned for a long while before she spat out the contents of her mouth and went to the Kitchen to rinse.
When she returned, she acted as if nothing were wrong.
“Zhu Xiaxia, I got tired of egg fried rice while living with the Human Race. I basically ate it every day, every meal. I’m about to throw up just thinking about it, so I really don’t want to eat it anymore. How about I just eat the noodles from this morning?”
“That works too.”
Although Zhu Xiaxia was a little disappointed, she took Zhu Qiu’s words as the truth and didn’t think there was anything wrong with the rice she had fried.
When she brought the noodles and Zhu Qiu took a bite, her expression froze once again.
“How do the noodles taste?”
Zhu Xiaxia stood to the side, her eyes full of expectation, waiting for a positive review like a child.
To avoid breaking Zhu Xiaxia’s heart, Zhu Qiu forced herself to swallow the discomfort.
“It’s… it’s good. Extremely delicious.”
She looked at Zhu Xiaxia with an extremely distorted smile and gave a thumbs up.
“Since my daughter likes it, Mother will make it for you every day from now on.”
Zhu Xiaxia’s heart blossomed with joy.
After cooking so many times, she had finally received her daughter’s approval.
“I don’t think that’s necessary. I feel like cooking is something better left to Xiaguang…”
“It’s all the same. Keep eating, daughter. I’ll watch you finish.”
“Ah? Please, spare me!”
To escape the food that had far exceeded the sensory limits of her taste buds, Zhu Qiu searched for any excuse.
“Um… I want to take it back to my room to eat.”
“Alright then,” Zhu Xiaxia permitted.
In the past, when Xiaguang made food, her daughter never requested to take it back to her room, but she had achieved it.
What did that mean? It meant her culinary skills were about to surpass Xiaguang’s.
“Hehe —”
While Zhu Xiaxia was immersed in her happiness, Zhu Qiu had already taken the noodles back to her room.
‘I’m sorry, Zhu Xiaxia. It’s not that I don’t want to eat, but what you made isn’t fit for humans or dragons!’
She heartlessly dumped the noodles into the trash can lined with a bag, planning to throw it outside the Imperial Palace in a moment.
As it turned out, this scene was witnessed by Zhu Xiaxia, who had followed her.
Zhu Xiaxia stood at the door with a calm face, perfectly still.
When Zhu Qiu finished dumping the food and looked up, she met Zhu Xiaxia’s gaze.
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