Chapter 75

"Old man! Go get some more pheasant eggs!" Jiang Xingchen said with a smile.

This time, he wanted the pheasant eggs not just for eating. In the empire, apart from pigs, horses, messenger birds, and swift eagles, there were no other domesticated animals. He had heard that the Beastman Alliance had many tamed beasts, but they were too far away to help. Even getting an egg was difficult! So he suddenly thought, could he artificially incubate the pheasant eggs and then raise them in captivity?

Of course, this was just an idea. He knew that successful incubation was not an easy task, and he only knew that a certain temperature needed to be maintained. But he had to try; doing it might not guarantee success, but not doing it would definitely mean no success.

"Go!" The old man waved his hand and sneered, "Do you think that stuff is easy to find? Pheasants hide their nests very well. The last two times I found them was just luck! Now the snow is getting thicker, and it's even harder to find them!"

Jiang Xingchen didn't care about how difficult the old man said it was. He smiled and said, "As long as you find them, I'll cook you a good meal!"

The old man's eyes lit up, and he rolled them, saying disdainfully, "Pancakes with eggs, right? I can learn that just by watching you once, no need for you to cook!"

"Who said it was pancakes with eggs?"

"Then what is it?" The old man's eyes lit up even more.

"Find them first, and then I'll tell you. Telling you now won't help!" Jiang Xingchen waved his hand.

"I can go look, but besides a good meal, you also need to make some of that wine you used for Xiner's surgery!" The old man pursed his lips.

"Forget it! You can go eat with Han Xiaowu and the others in the future!" Jiang Xingchen turned around and pulled Meier away.

"Hey! Don't go!" The old man quickly stopped him, smiling and said, "Kid! Look at this cold weather, it's snowing, and I'm so old..."

"Damn! Can your face get any thicker? A grandmaster at the Essence Energy realm, and you're pretending to be pitiful because of your age... Look at what you're wearing, we're all in leather pants and cotton pants, but you're still in a single layer..."

Jiang Xingchen looked at the old man speechlessly, as if he couldn't stand it anymore.

Seeing Jiang Xingchen's expression, the old man knew his pity act had failed. He straightened his face and said, "Fine, I'll go, but if you don't make something good, I won't let it go!"

"Hehe, I'll make sure you're satisfied!" Jiang Xingchen said and walked out.

Chopping meat, mixing the filling, kneading the dough, and making the dumplings... Jiang Xingchen and Meier worked together, while the old man watched. After being with Jiang Xingchen for over twenty days, he had never eaten dumplings. At first, he thought Jiang Xingchen was making soup dumplings.

However, when he saw that Jiang Xingchen didn't make the meat jelly and that Meier's dough was smaller than for buns, he realized he was wrong.

Jiang Xingchen praised Meier, nodding with a smile. This girl learned so quickly; in just a short time, she could roll the dumpling skins almost as well as he could, both fast and round!

A month later, the white, translucent dumplings were cooked. The old man licked his lips and couldn't resist swallowing his saliva, eager to reach out.

"Wait a moment, old man!" Meier quickly protected the dumplings and said, "We need to send some to Sister Xiner first!"

"But that girl is supposed to eat as little meat as possible, and these are meat dumplings!" The old man said, his eyes never leaving the dumplings.

"It's been over ten days, she can eat now! She lost a lot of blood during the surgery and needs to replenish her nutrients!" Jiang Xingchen explained and had Meier take the dumplings to Xiner.

Not long after, the second pot of dumplings was cooked. As soon as they were placed on the table, the old man couldn't wait and started eating, picking up a dumpling and putting it in his mouth.

"Hmm~ Not bad, not much worse than the soup dumplings!" The old man inhaled, chewed, and commented.

After eating seven or eight, the old man noticed that Meier and Jiang Xingchen had two bowls of vinegar in front of them, and they were dipping the dumplings in it.

"Uh!" The old man blinked, seeing Jiang Xingchen and Meier's teasing smiles, feeling like a bumpkin...

"Ziya!" At this moment, the kitchen door opened, and Nier's little head poked in, "Your Highness, Sister Meier, Old Man, are you eating...?"

"Little girl, you're here to freeload again!" The old man said with a smile before Jiang Xingchen could ask.

This little girl had been coming over for meals ever since she tasted Jiang Xingchen's cooking. Her grandmother and Shiwazi had told her many times, but she wouldn't listen. Once, Shiwazi almost hit her, but Jiang Xingchen protected her.

Nier pouted and said softly, her face turning red, "I..."

"Ha!" Seeing Nier's reluctance to admit her intentions, Meier burst out laughing.

Jiang Xingchen also laughed, finding the little girl's cute appearance endearing. He raised his hand and said, "Come over!"

"Okay!" The little girl's eyes lit up, and she immediately ran to the table, forgetting her embarrassment.

"So fragrant!" Nier pursed her lips, swallowing her saliva, and asked, "Your Highness, what are you eating? Nier hasn't eaten yet!"

"These are dumplings! Sit down and eat with us..."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Nier's mouth curved into a smile, her eyes squinting in delight!

"Nier, come, sit next to me!" Meier patted the spot next to her.

"Okay!" The little girl quickly climbed next to Meier.

The old man watched Jiang Xingchen, who was smiling and taking care of Nier, and thought to himself, "This kid, though he rose from a commoner, has always been a noble. How come he doesn't have the airs of a noble... Even a commoner girl dares to come over for meals, and the big guys from the Sky Mercenary Group, if not for Du Roshan, would have come over long ago and wouldn't eat the villagers' food..."

If someone were like this, they might maintain a normal attitude and avoid the bad habits of many nobles, but they might also be too casual, making subordinates lose respect. However, the old man knew that Jiang Xingchen wouldn't be like that. Whether from Tang Chuxue's evaluation or his own observations, Jiang Xingchen was very strong-willed and wouldn't be swayed by anyone. This was evident from how neither Qingyun nor Huangshi could get the distilled wine from him.

"This kid, there might not be another one like him in decades..." The old man sighed again, no longer pondering and reached for his chopsticks...

They made over 160 dumplings, and in the end, less than 40 were left. Jiang Xingchen looked at the old man and Nier, who were both full and leaning lazily in their chairs, and thought, "Indeed, foodies are不分年龄,不分男女,不分国界,不分..."

Picking up the remaining dumplings and putting them on a plate, Jiang Xingchen said, "Old man, go once more. Take Nier back and give these dumplings to Grandma Yun, and let Tiedan try them too!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Nier's smile couldn't be contained.

Not long after, at Grandma Yun's house, Shiwazi and Grandma Yun were eating the dumplings and praising them, saying they had never tasted such delicious food in their lives.

Nier watched Tiedan, who was munching on the dumplings, and nagged, "Brother, you've already eaten six, leave some for me..."

The snow continued, and the temperature kept dropping, but the room with the heated kang was very warm.

In the lord's residence, Meier was holding a doll and pestering Jiang Xingchen to draw Crayon Shin-chan again. But this time, Jiang Xingchen refused to draw.

Meier, of course, was not happy and kept nagging him, not stopping for two months.

Finally, Jiang Xingchen's head was about to explode, and his ears were filled with the constant nagging. He had to use a trick to divert the little girl's attention: "Listen! Go to sleep, and I'll make a new game for you in the morning!"

Sure enough, the little girl was attracted by the new game and stopped nagging, going to sleep with her doll...

The next morning, Jiang Xingchen found a large piece of wood and started working with a knife.

"Brother! What game are you making this time?" Meier asked curiously, watching him.

"This is called chess!" Jiang Xingchen said, smirking to himself, "Little girl, see if you can beat me; I was the champion in my department back then..."

Soon, the chess set was ready, and Jiang Xingchen started teaching Meier the rules: the horse moves in an L-shape, the elephant moves in a square, the cannon jumps over one piece, the chariot moves in a straight line...

Meier showed great interest. After learning the rules, she immediately set up the board and started playing.

Having never played chess before, she couldn't match Jiang Xingchen, the seasoned player. Within a dozen moves, Meier was checkmated.

However, the little girl didn't show any disappointment and continued playing. This time, she took more time to think about each move.

Losing again, she played again! Losing again, she played again... Meier became more and more engrossed, not even noticing when Xiner entered the room.

Jiang Xingchen was delighted. Although playing with a beginner wasn't very exciting, it was satisfying to reclaim the honor lost in the five-in-a-row game.

Chess is truly addictive. Even Xiner, after understanding the rules, became engrossed. The three of them played through lunch without realizing it.

The old man returned from outside, still upset about not finding the pheasant eggs. But after standing next to them for a while, he also became engrossed and, surprisingly, didn't complain about being hungry.

Finally, it was Jiang Xingchen's stomach that reminded them it was already afternoon.

"Alright! Let's stop for now and eat!" Jiang Xingchen stood up.

"You go cook, and I'll play two rounds with Meier!" As soon as Jiang Xingchen stood up, the old man took his place.

Meier looked up at her brother, then at the old man setting up the board, and a sly smile appeared on her lips. The little girl had been losing continuously, and although she didn't show it, she wasn't happy. Now, she finally had a chance to get back at someone...

"Hey! Old man, you're on your own!" Knowing Meier, the old man was in for some trouble.

The old man, who had been watching, was about to face a tough opponent.