Chapter Twenty-One: Steamed Buns Made with Bamboo Powder

Back at home, Yun Li’s mind was filled with nothing but lewd thoughts. To make matters worse, because Leng Xiao had accompanied them earlier, every time Mu Qing’s physique flashed through her mind, it was immediately followed by images of Leng Xiao’s tall, muscular frame, his bulging pectorals, and even the cold, ascetic expression on Leng Xiu’s face.

"Slap! Slap!"

With two crisp sounds as she patted her cheeks, Yun Li finally felt the heat in her face subside. Goodness, what on earth was she thinking?

She walked into the room, intending to do something to distract herself. There were leftovers from breakfast—meat pies and wild vegetable soup—but she left them untouched; Mu Qing would take care of them when he returned.

The wooden cabinet had only one shelf and no doors. Inside sat a bamboo tube filled with bamboo tree flour, the Xixi tree fruits whose shells she couldn't crack even with a stone, and dried seasonings like gray vegetables and black insects. These seasonings were originally discovered by small tribes struggling to survive; they used their discoveries as barter to trade for a few mouthfuls of food, which was how they ended up in Yun Li’s home. Even so, compared to the vast array of seasonings in the modern world, these were barely enough to make a decent soup. For staples like roasted or pan-fried meat, one still had to rely on salt.

Yun Li took the bamboo tree flour from the cabinet. She definitely couldn't open the Xixi tree fruits without Mu Qing, and besides, she doubted they would taste as good as she imagined even if roasted. She decided to keep struggling with the bamboo flour. Last time, she had added water without any sense of proportion and ended up with nothing. Today, she would do it herself, adding water bit by bit—she refused to believe she couldn't get the dough to form.

However, Yun Li perhaps lacked a natural talent for cooking. Even though she poured the water in tiny amounts and watched it clump together, it still turned into a sticky mess. She suddenly craved dumplings, and at the thought, her mood plummeted.

She missed her parents and her younger brother, who always loved to tease her. No matter how good Mu Qing was, he could never replace her parents and brother, not to mention the many friends she had left behind in the modern world. Here, she didn't care for the females the original owner had known, and as for "He" and the others, they had their own social circles that were difficult to break into. Yun Li had wanted to get to know other young females, but they were either out with the gathering squads or staying in their own homes. Without an introduction, she didn't dare to barge into anyone's house and declare, "I want to be your friend." Consequently, she didn't even have a single beastman to talk to.

If only she could cultivate. After all, she had been in this world for over a month now, and her body, which had been frail from hunger and lack of warmth, had mostly recovered thanks to the witch doctor’s medicine and nourishing food. Perhaps she would ask Mu Qing about it when he returned that evening.

...

Crackling sounds filled the air.

The wood in the earthen stove finally caught fire. Yun Li, her face smeared with black and gray soot, beamed at Mu Qing as he jogged back. "A-Qing, you're back!"

Thank goodness for the original owner’s memories of how to build a fire. Otherwise, as a modern person who only knew how to use a gas stove, she would never have known that one had to light dry grass first, heat up the stove, and then add thinner twigs. Once the thin twigs caught and the fire could burn longer, she could add more grass and then thicker branches. Large logs, thick as an arm, had to be added only when the fire was roaring.

"Mm, I'm back."

Mu Qing had thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he saw smoke rising from the courtyard. After all, his female seemed incapable of doing anything; she usually just handed him things while he was busy or watched him cook when he returned. Today was the first time she had tried to do chores at home, though the process was clearly a bit bumpy. With complex emotions, he reached out to wipe the soot from her face. "Why didn't you wait for me to cook? You should just wait at home for me to do it."

Although he was touched that she cared about how hard he worked to provide for them, he never felt tired after hunting. In fact, knowing someone was waiting for him only gave him more energy.

"What's wrong with me lighting a fire for you? Is it wrong to care about you?"

Although she said this, she wasn't really being doting. She knew she was just bored and looking for something to do. Besides, rather than pitying him for hunting, she should pity herself; she did nothing all day but eat and sleep, yet every day Mu Qing was full of vigor while she felt exhausted everywhere.

Hearing her claim she cared for him made Mu Qing’s heart soften instantly. He leaned down and kissed her nose. "Mm, I know A-Li cares for me. But next time, just wait for me to come back and do it. I’m afraid of tiring you out."

He didn't have the slightest thought that Yun Li hadn't done anything to begin with, so how could lighting a fire tire her out? Mu Qing simply felt that his female should be able to do whatever she pleased, while chores like cooking, washing, and hunting were things a male should naturally handle. After all, why else would A-Li choose him as her beast-husband? It was only right for a male to provide for his female.

Yun Li smiled and kissed him back, her voice impossibly sweet. "I know. But I made something new today. If it's edible, you won't have to be so busy tonight."

As for why it was something "new" rather than something "good," it was because Yun Li had zero confidence in the steamed bun on the stove. No matter how she mixed the dough, it wouldn't stop being sticky, so she simply added sweet wild fruit juice to the mix, kneaded it a few times, and placed the large lump directly onto the stove to steam. The fire had just started roaring, so it would likely take a while to cook through.

"Something new?"

Mu Qing looked puzzled, then his gaze landed on the stone basin nearby, which still had traces of bamboo flour in it. He fell silent. "A-Li, is that food made from bamboo flour?"

He hadn't forgotten the day Yun Li asked him to mix the bamboo flour with water; it hadn't formed into dough, just a basin of paste. Yun Li hadn't wanted to waste it and had tried to boil it to see if it was edible. He had felt that boiled paste tasted no different from raw, so he had given her the wild fruit and rib soup he’d made, and he had eaten the paste himself. The taste was truly indescribable. Mu Qing didn't think he could handle a second round.

Yun Li didn't notice his aversion to the contents of the stove. Instead, she said with a hint of pride, "Yes! I mixed the dough myself. It didn't turn out quite how I wanted, but I added wild fruit juice, so even if it's not great, it should taste better than just eating it raw like everyone else."

She knew Mu Qing had eaten the paste before, but she didn't realize he had eaten it raw. She had assumed he followed her instructions and boiled it, and that it tasted bad simply because she hadn't made it well.