Chapter 144: Overlapping of the Two Moons and the Arrival of the Spring Festival
Translator: OnGoingWhy Editor: Vermillion
As the Thousand Wrapped Silk Year Cake entered her mouth, Xiao Yanyu felt as if she was biting a sponge and each and every layer of this particular sponge was incomparably soft. The silk-like texture of the year cake rubbing against her pearly white teeth and red lips made her feel as if she was being caressed by a soft breeze and caused her body to shudder.
A sweet flavor suddenly spread within Xiao Yanyu's mouth and the year cake seemed to have unfurled like a bundle of loose threads in that instant. It continuously bounced and struck the back of her mouth as if giving an extremely pleasurable and gentle massage.
The sweetness enveloped her tastebuds and slowly permeated her mouth inch by inch. Its speed was not fast but made Xiao Yanyu feel as if the entire world had become sweet.
Within an instant, Xiao Yanyu's face became flushed and her body subconsciously fidgeted for a moment. She was behaving in a somewhat unnatural manner. After taking a bite of this Thousand Wrapped Silk Year Cake that entered her mouth, she felt as if the clothes on her had fallen apart like the year cake in her mouth...
How embarrassing!
Xiao Xiaolong experienced the same thing as Xiao Yanyu. When Bu Fang gave him a glance, he saw that Xiao Xiaolong's face was flushed red as well… Bu Fang was dumbfounded by his bashful appearance.
"How delicious!"
Ouyang Xiaoyi was the first to praise out loud with a joyful expression on her face. She thought, "Getting to eat the smelly boss' new dish is practically the greatest happiness. Furthermore, this dish is so delicious…"
"Don't be in such a hurry, you guys should continue sampling the taste. You haven't experienced the actual flavors yet," Bu Fang said as he himself took a bite of a Thousand Wrapped Silk Year Cake.
The three of them were immediately surprised. Could there really be something else different about this Thousand Wrapped Silk Year Cake?
The three of them immediately took another bite in suspicion. After taking a few more bites, they were gradually astounded by its soft sweetness.
As Bu Fang quietly savored the year cake in his mouth, the expression on his face became somewhat empty and his gaze became distant and deep...
Thousand Wrapped Silk was not just silk wrapped together but also worry.[1] This was the hidden meaning behind the name of Bu Fang's dish. These year cakes were personally made by Bu Fang punch by punch and contained all of his emotions.
This was a dish filled with emotions.
As Ouyang Xiaoyi continued eating, her eyes became somewhat watery. She did not know why, but her eyes were welling up with tears and an indescribable sadness was gathering in her chest.
This feeling was strange. It was just like nostalgia as well as loneliness…
Xiao Yanyu and Xiao Xiaolong ate the year cakes without saying a word but the expressions on their faces showed that they were affected by the emotions within the year cakes as well.
They quietly ate the year cakes and soon finished everything.
The taste was good and lingered within their memories. However, the waves of emotions were making their eyes well up with tears.
"Sis… After eating this year cake, why do I recall the three years when mother was lying on bed? I suddenly feel so sad," Xiao Xiaolong said.
Xiao Yanyu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Thereafter, she opened her eyes and said with a radiant smile, "My silly brother, isn't mother already awake?"
Xiao Yanyu tasted the emotions within this Thousand Wrapped Silk Cake. However, she knew that this was not the emotions that Bu Fang wanted to express. Bu Fang himself might be the only person who could taste the actual flavor of this Thousand Wrapped Silk Cake.
"When you get home, give my thanks to your mother. The pastries were delicious," Bu Fang said as he stood at the doorway. After finishing the Thousand Wrapped Silk Year Cake, it was time for the three to return.
Xiao Yanyu was rather surprised as she responded with a beautiful smile. She thought, "Owner Bu actually knows how to thank someone? How strange."
"Hmm, alright. I'll tell our mother. It's rare for someone to be praised by Owner Bu for their culinary skills," Xiao Yanyu said.
Bu Fang broke into a grin as he watched their disappearing back figure and softly muttered, "That's right, it would not be that bad if her skill at kneading the dough was better and control over the heat during the steaming process was better."
Bu Fang's muttering was not loud but it was really obvious inside of the quiet alleyway.
Within the darkness, Xiao Yanyu's figure staggered for a moment… She thought, "Fine, so Owner Bu is someone who knows how to be polite."
The alleyway regained its serenity once more. As Bu Fang looked up at the two silverish, circular plates in the sky that were working hard to give off light, the corners of his lips curled up. He went back into the store and placed the doorboards back in place.
...
"My host, the system reward has already been released. Please check the reward," the system's solemn voice sounded out.
Bu Fang was wiping off the water droplets on his hands as was suddenly surprised for a moment. After getting interrupted by the Ouyang family's visit, he even forgot to take a look at the system's reward.
He immediately focused his mind and began checking out the reward.
Host: Bu Fang
Gender: Male
True Energy Cultivation Level: Fifth Grade (Has already a level of simulating objects with true energy. As the God of Cooking in the fantasy world, the host can try simulating kitchen tools with your true energy and cook even more delicious dishes. Work hard, young man.)
Cooking Talents: One Star
Skills: Level Two Meteor Knife Technique (10/100), Level One Big Dipper Carving Technique (30/100)
Tools: Golden Dragon Bone Kitchen Knife (God of Cooking set)
God of Cooking overall rating: Junior Chef (Has already unlocked his talents. Finally capable of researching and cooking standalone dishes as well as using true energy to cook and process ingredients. Cutting and carving techniques have already stepped on the path toward becoming the God of Cooking.)
System Level: Five Stars (Conversion ratio is at seventy percent. The host is permitted to carry out the capture of ingredients.)
System reward: cooking method of Rainbow-colored Water Dumplings and one fragment of the God of Cooking set (⅓)
After checking out his system panel, Bu Fang's gaze landed on the system's level up reward. He wanted to see what was the reward this time.
"Rainbow-colored Water Dumplings?" Bu Fang puzzledly asked.
Bu Fang knew very well that water dumpling was actually a type of dumpling but cooked with different methods. One type was steamed dumplings, while water dumplings were boiled. However, this Rainbow-colored Water Dumpling… Bu Fang was suddenly feeling somewhat curious.
However, he was not too surprised. Any recipe given to him by the system would definitely not disappoint him. The so-called Rainbow-colored Water Dumplings was bound to be something special.
Bu Fang suddenly had an impulse to go into the kitchen and make a serving of the Rainbow-colored Water Dumplings. However, after giving it a thought, he gave up in the end. The reason was that he used up quite an amount of true energy after cooking the Thousand Wrapped Silk Year Cake and was already feeling somewhat tired. Since his body was not in the best condition and the dish would be affected by that, he decided to go back into his room and sleep.
Maintaining a good rest was extremely important to Bu Fang, even if he was already a man who could be called Battle-King.
Outside the store, there were still fireworks filling up the sky above the alleyway and giving out bright rays of light.
On the streets of the imperial city, the children were still excitedly shouting and the festive mood of the Spring Festival was getting more and more intense.
That night's imperial city was particularly lively as everyone waited for the coming of the new year.
In the pitch-black night sky, the two silver plates were getting closer and closer. Once these two silver plates had completely overlapped each other, it meant the start of a new year and the official coming of the Spring Festival.
Bu Fang lay on his bed as he looked at the bright moons through the window. Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable sense of joy.
Finally, amidst the cheers of the citizens throughout the Light Wind Empire, these two bright moons completely overlapped each other and became a single silver plate.
The single round moon radiated brilliant rays of light.
Amidst fireworks blooming in the sky, the Spring Festival finally quietly arrived.
As Bu Fang watched the overlapping of the two bright moons, he let out a light breath on his bed and slowly closed his eyes.
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[1] Thousand Wrapped Silk (千缠丝) - This is a wordplay where the 丝 in 千缠丝 meant "white hair"(愁丝) instead of silk/thread/hair(丝). When taken literally, 愁丝 means worry silk/thread/hair.