Chapter – 77
Only Cooking for the Matriarch
In one single morning, Jiang Xi had her healing ability drained twice in succession.
She was utterly exhausted.
As soon as she got home, she went straight back to her room and told them that even if it was time for lunch, they were not to wake her. She was going to sleep until the world turned upside down—sleep until she forgot heaven and earth entirely!
When the matriarch didn’t eat, Lu Liufeng had little interest in cooking.
As for the other three beastmen, they were even more hopeless—complete kitchen disasters.
They dragged things out past lunchtime, all still hungry.
In the end, Lu Liufeng had no choice but to boil a huge basin of potato noodles. Each of the four took a large bowl, fished out the noodles, and ladled generous amounts of braised beef over them.
They sat around the fire pit, slurping noodles together.
A small pot of lamb was still simmering in the embers of the fire pit, but that was something Lu Liufeng had prepared specifically for the matriarch. Though the others were tempted by the smell, none of them would dare snatch it.
Mu Ling sniffed the aroma of the lamb while eating the extra-numbing, extra-spicy potato noodles with beef. As he ate, he reminisced about yesterday’s hotpot.
Unable to resist, he looked at Lu Liufeng and said,
“The matriarch divided up the hotpot base. Should we have hotpot tonight?”
The noodles were good, but he wanted lots and lots of meat.
Huo Lun and Yi Yuexi also looked toward Lu Liufeng, their eyes full of longing.
They wanted it too.
No one knew when it had started, but when the matriarch was absent, Lu Liufeng had clearly begun to take on the role of head of the household.
After all, the matriarch only listened to Lu Liufeng.
One word from him was more effective than ten words from the rest of them.
Lu Liufeng ate his noodles and swept his gaze lightly across them.
“We’ll talk about it after the matriarch wakes up.”
In short: whatever the matriarch wanted to eat, that’s what they’d eat.
Mu Ling’s eyes lit up—
Only for Lu Liufeng’s next sentence to pour cold water over him.
“Don’t go bothering the matriarch.”
Yi Yuexi rolled his fox-like eyes and snorted inwardly.
Really acting like the matriarch’s most favored beast-husband now, huh?!
If we’re talking seniority, he’d entered the household earlier than Lu Liufeng!
Look how proud he is!
Huo Lun coughed lightly and said tactfully,
“I’m done eating. I’ll go rest for a while.”
He felt that he shouldn’t be involved in this silent conflict.
He shouldn’t integrate too deeply into their lives.
After all, once spring arrived, it wouldn’t be long before he could leave.
No matter how good the Cursed Land was, it wasn’t a place he should stay.
Thinking this way, he walked out of the fire room. But after standing in the courtyard for only a moment, he saw the matriarch open her door, stretch lazily, and walk out.
The white marks on the matriarch’s face had increased; the outline of her features was now faintly visible—delicate, yet unfamiliar.
Huo Lun froze for two seconds, suddenly unable to remember what she had originally looked like.
Jiang Xi had slept until she naturally woke up—though one could also say she woke up from hunger.
Stretching and twisting her neck, she noticed Huo Lun standing in the snow, dazed.
She looked up at him and casually said,
“Why are you standing outside instead of going in? It’s so cold.”
Huo Lun snapped back to his senses and replied with an “Oh.”
Before his mind could fully react, his body had already followed the matriarch back into the fire room.
The very fire room he had just left…
The three beast-husbands inside all looked up at him in unison.
The meaning in their eyes was obvious.
Didn’t you say you were going to rest? Why are you back again?
Only then did Huo Lun realize how awkward his presence here was.
But since he was already back, he could only force himself to stay calm and say,
“I wasn’t full. I’ll eat another bowl.”
Jiang Xi didn’t notice the undercurrents between them. Seeing that a third of the basin of potato noodles was still left on the table, she asked directly,
“Are we having potato noodles for lunch today?”
So simple?
Lu Liufeng withdrew his gaze from Huo Lun and quickly said,
“Matriarch, sit for a bit. There are other dishes.”
As he spoke, he stood up. First, he heated a pan, added oil, and placed the sliced filet steak inside, slowly pan-searing it over low heat.
Then he blanched some purslane in boiling water, rinsed it with cold water, and made it into a cold salad.
Next, he reheated the pre-boiled potatoes and corn. He mashed the potatoes, mixed in the corn kernels, sprinkled in some salt, and stirred.
After that, he took out the small pot of lamb that had been simmering in the fire pit and prepared a bowl of spicy dipping sauce.
Finally, he went outside, brought in the honey taro popsicles that had been frozen outdoors, and arranged them neatly on a bamboo tray.
By the time he finished all this, the steak was done.
Lu Liufeng used a wind blade to cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and sprinkled salt over them. Not knowing whether the matriarch wanted chili, he placed chili powder separately on a small dish.
Pan-seared steak, braised lamb, cold purslane salad, corn mashed potatoes, and honey taro popsicles.
Mu Ling stared at Lu Liufeng’s almost magical speed in producing dish after dish, utterly dumbfounded.
Wait a second—
When cooking for them, it was just a giant pot of potato noodles, add some braised sauce and meat, stir it up, and that was a meal?
But for the matriarch, there was frying, boiling, cold dishes—and what was that purple thing giving off cold air?!
What other good stuff was there?!
Things he had never eaten before!!!
Yi Yuexi also felt like he was being treated as some kind of cursed wild beast by Lu Liufeng.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xi immediately spotted the taro popsicles and exclaimed happily,
“Lu Liufeng!! Did you make these?”
Lu Liufeng smiled gently and nodded.
“The matriarch said she wanted popsicles. You also said that if you mash taro, add honey, and freeze it, it becomes a dessert. So I just casually froze some.”
“Matriarch, try it—does it taste like a popsicle?”
Jiang Xi froze.
She hadn’t expected that her casual remark before bed last night would not only be remembered by Lu Liufeng, but also turned into reality the very next day.
“Okay!”
She smiled and reached for one—but before her fingers touched it, a blur flashed past. The popsicle on the bamboo tray vanished instantly.
Jiang Xi: “……”
No thought required—she immediately turned toward Mu Ling, planted her hands on her hips, tilted her head, and gave him a death smile.
“Give it back.”
Mu Ling held the popsicle and complained in a small voice,
“Matriarch, Lu Liufeng is biased. He didn’t give us any.”
Lu Liufeng shook his head helplessly.
“Mu Ling, there are more outside. I froze lots. If you want one, go get it yourself. Don’t snatch the matriarch’s.”
Mu Ling’s eyes lit up.
Grinning, he grabbed the matriarch’s hand and placed the popsicle back into it, his fingers deliberately brushing against her small hand.
“Matriarch, eat!”
He wasn’t really trying to steal her food—he just couldn’t stand Lu Liufeng’s double standards and wanted to expose him in front of the matriarch!
But now that he knew there were more outside, he no longer cared.
Just as Mu Ling was about to go get one, Yi Yuexi had already returned, holding up several.
“These, right?”
He had taken five—one for each beastman, plus an extra for the matriarch—clearly showing that he wasn’t like Lu Liufeng, acting one way in front of the matriarch and another behind her back!
Of course, he conveniently ignored the fact that the popsicles were made by Lu Liufeng.
Seeing them all act so shamelessly, Jiang Xi snorted.
“You guys only know how to bully Lu Liufeng!!”
As she spoke, she snatched a popsicle from Yi Yuexi’s hand, walked over to Lu Liufeng, and personally fed it to his lips.
“Forget them! Let’s eat by ourselves!”
