Chapter 146 - Chinese New Year's Eve

translator: Oyen editor: Ciel

On Spring Festival, all of Dragon Song’s players went home for Chinese New Year, and the club was empty. Qin Mo and Xiao Han set off together to Li Cangyu’s home after breakfast.

First, Qin Mo took Xiao Han to the supermarket. During the Spring Festival in China, it was customary to visit relatives and friends with gifts. For the first time to celebrate the Spring Festival with their masters, they could not go empty-handed. Xiao Han did not understand these rules, so he had to work as a labourer for Qin Mo. As it was the eve of Chinese New Year, the supermarket was very crowded. Many residents living nearby came to buy food, and there was a long line at the checkout counters. This was the first time Xiao Han had seen such a spectacle.

“What do you want to buy for our masters? Xiao Mo, do you have an idea?” Xiao Han asked.

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“Buy two bottles of red wine, some fruits, a case of milk and a box of yogurt. Milk can be drunk at breakfast, yogurt helps digestion, I remember that Cat God likes to eat this.” Qin Mo replied while picking out red wine.

Looking at his serious face, Xiao Han smiled. “It’s still you who are more careful. I don’t remember that my master likes yogurt, I just remember that he loves fish.”

They quickly picked up the items and put them in the shopping cart, before lining up to checkout. There were too many people, with many buying a lot of things today, causing the queue to move slowly with no end in sight.

Xiao Han stood behind the shopping cart, pushing it as they moved along. He used his body to protect Qin Mo from the crowds, sighing as he did so. “Celebrating Chinese New Year is so lively. When I was in Boston with my father, we bought dumplings to eat for Chinese New Year. My father is a busy person and doesn’t know how to cook. When I was a child, I almost vomited when I ate bread every day. When I returned to China, I found that here was a paradise of delicious food, and everything was delicious.”

Knowing that Xiao Han had no mother since he was a child, Qin Mo felt his heart ache. “In the future, you will celebrate Chinese New Year with me, it will be more lively with more people.”

Smiling, Xiao Han shook Qin Mo’s finger. “This year, we will go to our masters’ house. Later, after we have our own home, we can invite our masters.”

They slowly moved forward while chatting, and after waiting in line for more than half an hour, it was finally their turn. Xiao Han quickly checked out and swiped his card, and both of them went to Li Cangyu’s house carrying their stuff.

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***

Li Cangyu’s house was not far from the club, so they arrived in just a few minutes.

Entering the door, they heard the TV. Instead of watching variety shows, Li Cangyu was watching a replay of an NBA game, while Ling Xuefeng was busy in the kitchen. Both Han and Mo switched their shoes before entering the house, placing the stuff they had bought on the table in the living room. Qin Mo greeted politely. “Cat God, happy new year.”

Li Cangyu smiled, waving his hand to Qin Mo to come and sit down. “Why did you buy so many things?”

“It’s not good to come empty-handed for Chinese New Year. We didn’t buy any expensive gifts either, it’s all food.” Qin Mo replied.

“You’re really sensible.” Li Cangyu patted Qin Mo’s shoulder, smiling. “However, there’s no need to be so polite next time. Xiao Han, go wash a plate of fruit.”

Xiao Han immediately took apart the fruit basket he bought, taking it to the kitchen to wash the fruit.

Finding out that he washed the grapes directly with the clear water, Ling Xuefeng frowned. “Take a basin from the cupboard and soak the grapes in salt water for a few minutes before taking them out, so you can wash them more cleanly.”

“Oh, I understand.” Xiao Han immediately followed it.

Ling Xuefeng continued. “Peel and cut the apples and pears, put them in the fruit plate and serve it to them. Return to the kitchen when you’re done.”

Xiao Han nodded obediently: “Okay!”

Although he was not good at cooking, he was very good at cutting fruit. Soon, he cut apples, oranges and pineapples into small pieces and put them in a fruit plate. Then, he put them in the living room while smiling. “You eat some fruit first. I’ll go to the kitchen to help god Ling cook.”

Qin Mo stood up. “Are you busy? I’ll help, too.”

Li Cangyu immediately grabbed his hand and patted it. “You just sit down and let Xiao Han help, the kitchen is already crowded enough.”

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Qin Mo had to sit down, picking a toothpick, quickly poked the apple and handed it to Li Cangyu: “Cat God, eat some fruits.”

“En.” Li Cangyu took the apple he handed over, took a bite and asked smilingly. “By the way, how far have you and Xiao Han progressed?”

“…” Qin Mo looked embarrassed and didn’t know how to answer.

“Don’t be shy, we are all adults. Xiao Han has never been in a relationship before, and he must be inexperienced in that field. If he hurts you, beat him up and let him study hard.” Li Cangyu seriously said. “It will be very comfortable for men and men to do it, as long as they properly break-in.”

“……” Qin Mo’s whole face was red, he didn’t know how to answer this topic.

——It was no wonder that Xiao Han never had a filtered mouth. His master was so straightforward, Xiao Han really had learned 100% of his master’s bluntness.

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Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

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Qin Mo. “…”

To hell with positions! Could both master and apprentice be a little more reserved?

Qin Mo’s ears were red. “Cat God, I didn’t bring a USB flash drive.”

Li Cangyu replied enthusiastically. “Then I’ll give you my portable hard drive.”

As a result, the straightforward Cat God actually took Qin Mo to the study, turned to the kitchen and asked. “Xuefeng, where is my portable hard drive?”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“The third drawer on the left of the study.” Ling Xuefeng replied.

Sure enough, after opening the drawer, Li Cangyu found a black portable hard drive. He handed the hard drive to Qin Mo and smiled. “Take it.”

His cheeks flushed red, Qin Mo took the hard drive with both hands, as if it were a hot potato. Although he was very embarrassed, he was still a young man in his twenties, and was very curious about this matter. Since Cat God took the initiative to give him a hard drive with learning materials on it, he did not refuse it any longer. Qin Mo placed the hard drive in his bag, planning to study it after he returned to the club.

***

In the kitchen, Ling Xuefeng was teaching Xiao Han to cook.

“Steamed bass is the simplest fish dish. Xiao Mo prefers light-tasting foods and he likes it. Have you read the recipe?” Ling Xuefeng simply took off the apron and gave it to Xiao Han, let him be the head chef, and himself on the side guiding him.

“I have.” Xiao Han didn’t go to training in the past two days, reading the recipes in the dormitory every day and memorizing all the recipes mentioned by Ling Xuefeng. Hearing god Ling’s question, he immediately replied. “The internal organs of the bass should be removed, the fish scales scraped clean , the body sliced open with a knife, before stuffing spring onions, ginger and garlic into it, right?”

“Right.” Seeing that he was holding a knife and began to chop onions, Ling Xuefeng quickly warned. “Chop onions into thin strips. Don’t randomly chop them!”

“…Oh. ” Xiao Han immediately cut it carefully, put the onion, ginger and garlic into the fish belly, and then put the fish plate into the pot to start steaming.

“It will only take about ten minutes to steam. Remember the time. Next, make braised ribs, first boil them in hot water to remove the fishy smell. After boiling, fish out the ribs and then stir-fry them.” Ling Xuefeng stood beside him giving commands, and Xiao Han followed obediently.

When Xiao Han was abroad, he only knew how to bake bread and fry steak. He didn’t have much contact with Chinese food. According to the recipe sent by Ling Xuefeng, the oil should be around 70% heated, but Xiao Han really didn’t understand how hot that was. As a result, in a moment of inattention from Ling Xuefeng, Xiao Han heated the oil too much, causing a fire to start when he placed the ribs in the pan.

Xiao Han was startled. “It’s on fire!”

Ling Xuefeng frowned. “What are you doing? Turn off the gas and cover the pan!”

Xiao Han hurriedly closed the lid of the pan and turned off the fire, but the dazed look on his face only made Ling Xuefeng angrier.

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A moment later, the fire finally went out and there was a cloud of black smoke in the pan.

Ling Xuefeng. “…”

How can you be so stupid?! Can’t you bring the cleverness and reaction speeds from esports into the kitchen?

Looking at the bottom of the burnt pot, Xiao Han was embarrassed. Scratching his head, he asked. “God Ling, the recipe says the oil should only be heated so much, how do I grasp it?”

Ling Xuefeng ignored him. “Stand aside and watch.”

Xiao Han obediently stood by to watch, while Ling Xuefeng reheated the oil to demonstrate. When the oil was heated, he put the boiled ribs into the pan to deep-fry. “Deep-fry them until golden brown and then fish it out. Afterwards, you can make the sauce separately. Here, take these ribs and make it according to the recipe.”

“En.” Xiao Han took the spatula from his hand and stir-fried it in the pan, thinking, Chinese food tasted delicious, but cooking involved so many processes, it was really too troublesome…

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

***

Xiao Han followed Ling Xuefeng to study in the kitchen for an hour, and finally made some dishes that looked decent.

Ling Xuefeng called Li Cangyu and Qin Mo to come over for lunch. Four of them sat down in the dining room, looking at the full table of rich dishes. Li Cangyu was very surprised. “Was everything made by Xiao Han?”

Xiao Han replied. “Yes master, I made it under god Ling’s guidance.”

He conveniently took a picture of the whole family dishes on the table and posted a blessing on his Weibo. “I wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year, may all your dreams come true, and may you have fish every year! PS: I cooked the whole table [moved to tears].”

Soon, the number of comments on this Weibo broke through four digits. “God Han, it’s ‘may you be blessed year after year’! Not ‘may you have fish’!”

“God Han’s cooking skill is so good, drooling!”

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“The mixed-race is simply against the sky, Chinese level 8, is his cooking skill also level 8?”

“Say, I saw a pair of hands in the photo, a beautiful hand! Lick, lick!”

“Is that god Mo sitting next to you? The hand should be him, right?”

“There is a big aquarium across the dining room, whose house is this? Don’t tell me.. Is it Cat God’s house?”

“Cat God raised so many goldfishes, does he want to eat the goldfishes? [ROFL]”

Seeing that his apprentice posted a Weibo, Li Cangyu reposted the Weibo proudly. “Happy New Year, everyone. Xiao Han’s cooking is not bad. PS: I don’t raise goldfish to eat. I’m a principled cat [kind smile].”

Cat God voluntarily admitted that this was his house. This plus the fact that there were four sets of dinnerware on the table, caused fans to immediately infer that Xiao Han and Qin Mo were celebrating the Spring Festival with their masters!

Qin Mo’s fans had been worried that god Ling’s anger would affect Qin Mo’s state, but now it seems that they are celebrating the Spring Festival together. Xiao Han cooked the dishes himself, and was looking happy. Obviously, Ling Xuefeng’s anger bar has been emptied, and the masters seemed to be very supportive of the fact that the two apprentices set up the Mojue team together. The fans were completely relieved and sent their blessings to the four masters and disciples one after another.

Li Cangyu put down his mobile phone. Tasting the steamed fish, he beamed. “It’s delicious. It seems Xiao Han has a talent for cooking!”

Xiao Han, who was praised, was very happy and gave Qin Mo a piece of ribs. “Have a taste of your favorite braised ribs.”

Tasting it, Qin Mo found that the ribs were really delicious, probably because of his master’s supervision of the whole process. With Xiao Han’s level, he certainly could not make such delicious ribs on his own. The ribs tasted tender and sweet. Qin Mo ate them and his heart felt sweet. He couldn’t help praising, “It’s really delicious.”

Ling Xuefeng’s face eased a little as he looked at Xiao Han. “Learn more later. Chinese food is complicated to make, and you will become familiar with it after several more tries.”

“I know, I must cook often and practice.” Xiao Han replied hurriedly.

Four people were eating lunch. After a while, Xiao Han suddenly asked curiously: “Oh, by the way, master, why were you looking for the hard drive?”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“I gave Xiao Mo some learning materials.” Li Cangyu replied straightforwardly.

Ling Xuefeng immediately looked over with a disapproving expression. Ignoring his disapproving gaze, Li Cangyu looked back at his apprentice. “Go back and study hard.”

Xiao Han thought that the ‘learning materials’ he gave were all kinds of videos of summoners skills, and didn’t think much of them. He nodded and replied. “Thank you, master.”

Qin Mo looked away and continued eating sullenly. From this exchange, it was clear that Xiao Han did not know the contents of this hard drive, and he would have to hide it well when they went back.

***

As lunch was very rich, Ling Xuefeng decided to make a simple dinner. Heating up the unfinished dishes from noon, he made some dumplings as the main staple.

Before he chopped up the dumpling filling, Ling Xuefeng once again dragged Xiao Han to the kitchen for another lesson. Under Ling Xuefeng’s guidance, Xiao Han learned to chop up dumpling filling, and then cleaned up the dining table to make dumplings.

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Li Cangyu also came over. “I can make dumplings, let’s make them together.”

So four people sat at the same table to make dumplings. The dumplings made by Ling Xuefeng were as neat and beautiful as those made by the machine. Qin Mo’s dumplings were of the same style as his master, and could be sold directly. As for the other master and apprentice… Li Cangyu squeezed the dumplings into the shape of a fish, and Xiao Han’s dumplings simply had no shape.

Ling Xuefeng disdained this mixed-race child. “What are you even kneading? A steamed bun that doesn’t look like a steamed bun, a dumpling that doesn’t look like a dumpling, what kind of ball is this?”

Xiao Han brazenly explained. “My style is more abstract.”

Looking at the crooked dough he kneaded, Qin Mo smiled. “This abstract art will cause appetites to be lost, so learn from my master.”

Xiao Han, who had become the bottom of the food chain, had to follow Ling Xuefeng to learn obediently.

At dinner time, the dumplings with different shapes finally came out of the pot. Ling Xuefeng singled out the especially ugly dumplings for Xiao Han to eat.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Xiao Han felt aggrieved, but also didn’t dare to rebel, silently eating the ugly dough—— Fortunately, the dumplings he made looked ugly, but since the filling was checked by Ling Xuefeng, the taste was good, and Xiao Han ate them with relish.

Li Cangyu didn’t watch the spring festival gala in previous years, but since both apprentices were here today, he switched to CCTV1 to watch the gala, and joined in the excitement of watching the New Year together.

The four people watched the Spring Festival Gala in the living room. Xiao Han was still at the bottom of the food chain, and was busy cutting fruit for Qin Mo. Obviously, he wanted to perform well in front of god Ling and earn back some impression points. When he was cooking at noon, he almost burned down Cat God’s kitchen, god Ling must despise him very much, and he had to make up for it quickly …

Seeing Xiao Han being so attentive, Ling Xuefeng also had no reaction. After watching the spring festival gala for a while, he got up and went to the study, taking out two red envelopes, and giving Qin Mo and Xiao Han one each.

Both of them looked at each other, too embarrassed to accept it.

Li Cangyu laughed. “Take it. Since it’s your first time celebrating the new year with these masters, we should also give you both red envelopes.”

Only after Cat God spoke, were Qin Mo and Xiao Han willing to accept Ling Xuefeng’s red envelope.

Ling Xuefeng explained. “Handing out red envelopes in the New year is for good luck. I hope your professional league will be successful next year, and your relationship will be stable for a long time.”

“Thank you, master.” Qin Mo felt moved.

“Thank you, god Ling!” Xiao Han followed.

Ling Xuefeng patted his apprentice’s shoulder lightly. “You are the leader of Mojue team now, and master can’t help you. You must depend on yourself in the future. Remember what I told you before.”

Qin Mo nodded vigorously. “I know.”

Ling Xuefeng once said to him that it didn’t matter if the game was lost, only confidence never could be. The competition involved not only the strength of the team, but also the captain’s tactical arrangements, and the psychological quality of the team members.

He would always remember his master’s teachings.

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***

They stayed up until 12:00am in the morning, then Qin Mo and Xiao Han bid farewell to their masters and returned to the club.

It was very cold on the way back, but their hearts were very warm.

There were bright fireworks in the sky. Xiao Han gently held Qin Mo’s hand and smiled. “This is the first time I’m celebrating the Spring Festival with you. In the future, we will spend the Spring Festival together every year.”

“En.” Qin Mo nodded.

He took out his mobile phone and sent a big red envelope to the team: “Happy new year, everyone.”

Liu Hong: “Share the joy, share the joy!”

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Shen He: “I got 50 yuan! Happy New year, everyone! Wishing you all the best!”

He Beiguang: “I wish everyone a happy new year!”

Pei Yu: “May everyone have great luck in the New Year!”

Zhu Qingyue: “May everyone be healthy and wish you all the best [smile]”

Even Li Muran, who was always silent, sent a message. “Happy New Year.”

Looking at the blessings from the team members that popped up in his mobile phone, Qin Mo couldn’t help smiling.

After the Spring Festival, the first professional league would soon begin. He and Xiao Han would take the Mojue team together to explore this brand-new world.

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The twists and turns experienced in the past have become distant memories. He believed that everything would be better in this new journey.