Chapter 236.1: Rebirth of the Phoenix
This time, Tang Doudou slept for a long while. She even dreamed of various strange things. The strangest was that she dreamed of Mu Ye.
She dreamed of Shen Moru landing hit after hit on him, but he didn’t make a sound and simply gazed quietly at her. His gaze made her feel like her heart was about to break.
His gaze seemed to be blaming her, asking her why she chose to forget.
What did she forget?
She couldn’t remember. No matter how she tried, she just couldn’t remember. She ran over to ask him, but Shen Moru had abruptly turned around and the alarm jolted her awake.
Phew…
So it was just a dream.
But why did it feel so real, like it had really happened before?
Mu Ye… what exactly had she forgotten?
She had definitely forgotten something important. When she got poisoned in Blue Moon Lake, it felt as if something was emerging in her mind, some sort of memory, but it had been interrupted by Yuner. If it weren’t for that, she definitely would have remembered back then!
In addition, she was certain that the memory belonged completely to her and not to the original Li Xueyi.
“Lady Doudou, you’re awake!” Qing Yu’s voice appeared in the room and immediately pulled Tang Doudou back to reality.
“En,” replied Tang Doudou. She found that her throat was very dry, so she asked, “Qing Yu, is there any water?”
“There is.” On her way over, Qing Yu stopped by the table and poured a cup of water. After handing it over, she asked, “Lady must be hungry, right? I’ll go get some food for you. After you finish eating, rest for a while. Doctor Shen has also already sent the medicinal pill over. Once you take that, you will be healthy enough to bounce around again.”
“It’s not like I’m a bunny.” Tang Doudou laughed. In the end, her throat was so dry that she only felt better after drinking the entire cup of water.
“Is it morning right now or noon?”
“It’s just past the time for the afternoon meal so everyone is taking an afternoon nap right now.” Qing Yu took the cup and put it back, then prepared to get some food for her.
Tang Doudou called out to stop her. “Wait for me, I’ll go with you.”
After sleeping for an entire day, she felt like her bones had turned to mush. If she didn’t get up and walk a bit, she’d really become a cripple. Moreover, she wanted to play with Meng Yu. And most importantly, she heard that this was a rural area so this place definitely had a lot of local food and wild game. It wasn’t easy for her to finally have a chance to play in the kitchen so she definitely had to visit!
Qing Yu looked back at her with hesitation.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine! Didn’t the doctor say that I was fine as well? I’ll be completely recovered once I take the medicine!” After she finished speaking, she didn’t wait for Qing Yu to agree before pulling her and opening the door.
During the height of summer, one to two o’clock was the hottest time of the day.
In this ancient era, it wasn’t especially hot. In this house in the countryside, it was even less so. However, at the moment she pushed open the door, a gust of hot wind blew in and made it hard for her to open her eyes.
Qing Yu immediately got an umbrella from the side of the room and used it to shield her from the scorching sunlight. She said in a helpless tone, “Our kitchen is pretty far from here. I’m worried that your body won’t be able to handle it.”
“Far? We’re not using the village’s kitchen?” If it was a newly built one, then there was no point going there.
“Master said that we’re already bothering the villagers a lot by lodging here, so for the other things if we can do it ourselves then we should in order to avoid bothering the villagers even more.”
If Baili Yu had been a government official, he definitely would have been a good one.
Upon hearing this, Tang Doudou silently labeled Baili Yu as a good official, then started reconsidering her decision. She wanted to see Meng Yu ah, but at this time of day, if she walked for too long she really might faint from heat stroke on the way. If that happened, it would just delay everyone even more.
The fact that Baili Yu had been rushing to leave Cloud City definitely meant that there was something urgent he had to attend to. She wouldn’t be able to rest easy if those matters ended up being delayed because of her.
“Eh? The lady is awake!” Suddenly, an old man with white hair came out from the next room. When he saw Tang Doudou and Qing Yu, he greeted them with a smile.
“Lady, this is the village chief.” Qing Yu explained to her quietly.
So this was the village chief!
Since she was staying at his place and he looked at least eighty, Tang Doudou felt bad and hastily went over to support him. “Village Chief Grandpa, did we disturb your rest?”
“No, not at all…” The village chief smiled happily when he heard Tang Doudou call him Village Chief Grandpa in such a sweet manner. He patted her hand and said, “When people get old, they won’t be able to sleep after a nap. I heard that you guys were going to the kitchen. That means this little girl still hasn’t eaten yet?”
Qing Yu and Tang Doudou shared a glance. Neither of them was sure how to reply.
Based on how cordial people who lived in the countryside were, if they said they already ate since he already heard what they said earlier, he’d definitely felt like they weren’t being honest. However, if they said that they hadn’t eaten yet, he’d definitely insist that they eat here as his guests.
When they didn’t reply, the village chief started speculating. “From how you two are acting, I must have been right. You haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“Don’t be so polite. You children are just too polite. You guys brought this old man some liveliness by coming to this village. You know, it’s been a long time since any outsiders have come here!”
“No outsiders have come here? Why?” asked Tang Doudou curiously. Then she secretly sent Qing Yu a look to get Qing Yu to go get some food from the kitchen. If she brought food over, then they wouldn’t have to trouble the old village chief.
Qing Yu caught the signal and was just about to leave but the old village chief noticed.
“You guys are looking down on this old man!”
The old village chief immediately got angry and it was actually a bit scary. Tang Doudou hastily said with an apologetic smile, “How could we? Village Chief, why don’t you tell us why no one comes here even though this place is right on the road?”
The village chief humphed and didn’t answer her. Instead, he said to Qing Yu. “If you leave, that means you’re looking down on me. If you respect me, then help me for a while as I make something for you two to eat.”
“It’s so hot right now, how I can allow you ladies to run around outside? What if you guys faint from the heat?” As he grumbled some complaints, he walked into the nearby kitchen.
Tang Doudou and Qing Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, but in the end, they obediently walked in after him.
__________
Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Edited by Dray
Chapter 236.2: Rebirth of the Phoenix
Tang Doudou only noticed that this village chief’s house was especially clean after she walked inside. Even the kitchen was very clean. There was no trace of the dust and dirt that normal rural kitchens would contain. Everything was placed neatly in their own spot. On the chopping board was a piece of cleaned pig belly and at the side was a freshly butchered chicken.
“I heard those youngsters say that you guys were forced to stop and come to the village because you got injured? This uncastrated rooster ah! It’s really good for speeding the recovery of injuries. But those guys refuse to take it for the life of them. They just tremble and run off whenever I bring it up.”
The village chief complained angrily. “Bunch of little brats. It’s not like I was making it for them, yet they had the nerve to show disdain for it…”
Um…
Were the little brats he was talking about Baili Yu and Jun Xin?
How come it felt like this village chief treated them completely like family instead of outsiders? Also, he was really brave to dare to call those two this way!
However, Baili Yu and the others probably wouldn’t mind an old man calling them this way.
Those things aside, she had been frozen in place the moment she saw the pig belly and the rooster.
She swallowed back her saliva. He had probably raised these pigs and chickens himself, right? The taste of food grown in the countryside was fabulous!
When Tang Doudou’s thoughts got to this point, she immediately ran over and called in a very sweet manner, “Village Chief Grandpa!”
The village chief was startled by her sudden cordiality. “Girl, what is it? If there’s something, just say it.”
“Did you prepare this pig belly and chicken for me to eat?”
The village chief nodded. She immediately hugged his arm and looked towards him with sparkling eyes. “Really?”
“Did this girl injure her head?” The village chief asked Qing Yu.
Qing Yu coughed. She couldn’t tell what Tang Doudou was doing either.
“Aiyah, Village Chief Grandpa, I’m just touched!” Tang Doudou laughed with a ‘hehe.’ Then, taking advantage of the fact that the village chief was still stunned, she asked, “Since they’re for me, then can I cook them myself?”
The village chief was stunned for a moment. Then, since she was staring so tensely, he nodded. With a laugh, he asked, “You know how to cook?”
“Of course! Qing Yu, help Village Chief Grandpa back to rest.”
Now that the village chief had agreed, Tang Doudou couldn’t stop herself any longer. She impatiently rolled up her sleeves and put on the apron nearby before rushing towards that pig belly and chicken.
When the village chief saw that she seemed pretty comfortable in the kitchen, he didn’t ask any more. Yawning, he went over and leaned on a pillar at the side to sleep.
Upon seeing this, Qing Yu walked over to nudge him awake.
Tang Doudou just happened to see this when she glanced back and hastily stopped Qing Yu. “It’s not easy for the grandpa to sleep so just let him rest. Help me find Jun Xin and bring him over. I just happen to owe him a meal!”
After she finished speaking, she ignored Qing Yu’s shocked expression and went back to her work.
Find Young Master Jun?
Then should she call Master as well?
If she only called Young Master Jun, Master would definitely get jealous once he found out…
Qing Yu expressed that she was very troubled.
However, Tang Doudou was already immersed in the joy of cooking. She found that the village chief really did have everything in his kitchen. Originally she had been expecting to face trouble finding all the necessary ingredients to make that dish, but the result was completely outside of her expectations.
This place didn’t seem like the small kitchen of a random village at all. Even the large kitchen in Baili Yu’s residence probably didn’t have such complete sets of ingredients.
Upon seeing this, she subconsciously glanced towards the snoring village chief. He probably wasn’t just a simple village chief, right?
However, she soon stopped thinking about this. Regardless of what his identity was, her current goal was just to borrow the kitchen and cook.
Rebirth of the Phoenix.
This was the dish that Tang Doudou wanted to make. Although this name sounded very cool, in reality, the main ingredients were just pig belly and chicken.
This dish was frequently seen in the modern era. However, when she got here, she found out from talking with Meng Yu that anyone that had a bit of status wouldn’t eat the things inside pigs’ bellies because they felt like it was something only lower class people were desperate enough to eat.
That was why even though she had been craving this dish for a long time, she hadn’t had a chance to eat it.
And that was why this was such a perfect coincidence.
As she was thinking about this, she sorted out the pig belly and the chicken again, then put the chicken into the pig belly. Following that, she started working on the seasoning.
She diced the pepper into tiny bits and crushed half of them while keeping the other half as is. Once she finished preparing this, she shoved them together into the pig belly. This was done so that the original taste of the pepper could be maintained better.
Following that, she took out appropriate amounts of the already cut scallion, ginger, poor man’s ginseng, angular Solomon’s seal, jujube, and milkvetch, then put them inside the pig belly. These ingredients all had warming qualities. Currently, she needed a lot of nourishment so these were the best ingredients to help her recover.
After everything was prepared, she put the entire pig belly into the steamer basket, then started a large fire to steam it.
The Rebirth of the Phoenix was now prepared. Tang Doudou looked around and saw that there were a lot of pig offals, so after a moment of thought, she decided to cook them as well.
When the room became filled with delightful fragrances, the old village chief abruptly opened his eyes and sniffed. Seeming almost drunk on the scent, he remarked, “T-this scent. It’s so familiar, yet unfamiliar…”
__________
Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Edited by Dray
Chapter 236.1: Rebirth of the Phoenix
This time, Tang Doudou slept for a long while. She even dreamed of various strange things. The strangest was that she dreamed of Mu Ye.
She dreamed of Shen Moru landing hit after hit on him, but he didn’t make a sound and simply gazed quietly at her. His gaze made her feel like her heart was about to break.
His gaze seemed to be blaming her, asking her why she chose to forget.
What did she forget?
She couldn’t remember. No matter how she tried, she just couldn’t remember. She ran over to ask him, but Shen Moru had abruptly turned around and the alarm jolted her awake.
Phew…
So it was just a dream.
But why did it feel so real, like it had really happened before?
Mu Ye… what exactly had she forgotten?
She had definitely forgotten something important. When she got poisoned in Blue Moon Lake, it felt as if something was emerging in her mind, some sort of memory, but it had been interrupted by Yuner. If it weren’t for that, she definitely would have remembered back then!
In addition, she was certain that the memory belonged completely to her and not to the original Li Xueyi.
“Lady Doudou, you’re awake!” Qing Yu’s voice appeared in the room and immediately pulled Tang Doudou back to reality.
“En,” replied Tang Doudou. She found that her throat was very dry, so she asked, “Qing Yu, is there any water?”
“There is.” On her way over, Qing Yu stopped by the table and poured a cup of water. After handing it over, she asked, “Lady must be hungry, right? I’ll go get some food for you. After you finish eating, rest for a while. Doctor Shen has also already sent the medicinal pill over. Once you take that, you will be healthy enough to bounce around again.”
“It’s not like I’m a bunny.” Tang Doudou laughed. In the end, her throat was so dry that she only felt better after drinking the entire cup of water.
“Is it morning right now or noon?”
“It’s just past the time for the afternoon meal so everyone is taking an afternoon nap right now.” Qing Yu took the cup and put it back, then prepared to get some food for her.
Tang Doudou called out to stop her. “Wait for me, I’ll go with you.”
After sleeping for an entire day, she felt like her bones had turned to mush. If she didn’t get up and walk a bit, she’d really become a cripple. Moreover, she wanted to play with Meng Yu. And most importantly, she heard that this was a rural area so this place definitely had a lot of local food and wild game. It wasn’t easy for her to finally have a chance to play in the kitchen so she definitely had to visit!
Qing Yu looked back at her with hesitation.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine! Didn’t the doctor say that I was fine as well? I’ll be completely recovered once I take the medicine!” After she finished speaking, she didn’t wait for Qing Yu to agree before pulling her and opening the door.
During the height of summer, one to two o’clock was the hottest time of the day.
In this ancient era, it wasn’t especially hot. In this house in the countryside, it was even less so. However, at the moment she pushed open the door, a gust of hot wind blew in and made it hard for her to open her eyes.
Qing Yu immediately got an umbrella from the side of the room and used it to shield her from the scorching sunlight. She said in a helpless tone, “Our kitchen is pretty far from here. I’m worried that your body won’t be able to handle it.”
“Far? We’re not using the village’s kitchen?” If it was a newly built one, then there was no point going there.
“Master said that we’re already bothering the villagers a lot by lodging here, so for the other things if we can do it ourselves then we should in order to avoid bothering the villagers even more.”
If Baili Yu had been a government official, he definitely would have been a good one.
Upon hearing this, Tang Doudou silently labeled Baili Yu as a good official, then started reconsidering her decision. She wanted to see Meng Yu ah, but at this time of day, if she walked for too long she really might faint from heat stroke on the way. If that happened, it would just delay everyone even more.
The fact that Baili Yu had been rushing to leave Cloud City definitely meant that there was something urgent he had to attend to. She wouldn’t be able to rest easy if those matters ended up being delayed because of her.
“Eh? The lady is awake!” Suddenly, an old man with white hair came out from the next room. When he saw Tang Doudou and Qing Yu, he greeted them with a smile.
“Lady, this is the village chief.” Qing Yu explained to her quietly.
So this was the village chief!
Since she was staying at his place and he looked at least eighty, Tang Doudou felt bad and hastily went over to support him. “Village Chief Grandpa, did we disturb your rest?”
“No, not at all…” The village chief smiled happily when he heard Tang Doudou call him Village Chief Grandpa in such a sweet manner. He patted her hand and said, “When people get old, they won’t be able to sleep after a nap. I heard that you guys were going to the kitchen. That means this little girl still hasn’t eaten yet?”
Qing Yu and Tang Doudou shared a glance. Neither of them was sure how to reply.
Based on how cordial people who lived in the countryside were, if they said they already ate since he already heard what they said earlier, he’d definitely felt like they weren’t being honest. However, if they said that they hadn’t eaten yet, he’d definitely insist that they eat here as his guests.
When they didn’t reply, the village chief started speculating. “From how you two are acting, I must have been right. You haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“Don’t be so polite. You children are just too polite. You guys brought this old man some liveliness by coming to this village. You know, it’s been a long time since any outsiders have come here!”
“No outsiders have come here? Why?” asked Tang Doudou curiously. Then she secretly sent Qing Yu a look to get Qing Yu to go get some food from the kitchen. If she brought food over, then they wouldn’t have to trouble the old village chief.
Qing Yu caught the signal and was just about to leave but the old village chief noticed.
“You guys are looking down on this old man!”
The old village chief immediately got angry and it was actually a bit scary. Tang Doudou hastily said with an apologetic smile, “How could we? Village Chief, why don’t you tell us why no one comes here even though this place is right on the road?”
The village chief humphed and didn’t answer her. Instead, he said to Qing Yu. “If you leave, that means you’re looking down on me. If you respect me, then help me for a while as I make something for you two to eat.”
“It’s so hot right now, how I can allow you ladies to run around outside? What if you guys faint from the heat?” As he grumbled some complaints, he walked into the nearby kitchen.
Tang Doudou and Qing Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, but in the end, they obediently walked in after him.
__________
Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Edited by Dray
Chapter 236.2: Rebirth of the Phoenix
Tang Doudou only noticed that this village chief’s house was especially clean after she walked inside. Even the kitchen was very clean. There was no trace of the dust and dirt that normal rural kitchens would contain. Everything was placed neatly in their own spot. On the chopping board was a piece of cleaned pig belly and at the side was a freshly butchered chicken.
“I heard those youngsters say that you guys were forced to stop and come to the village because you got injured? This uncastrated rooster ah! It’s really good for speeding the recovery of injuries. But those guys refuse to take it for the life of them. They just tremble and run off whenever I bring it up.”
The village chief complained angrily. “Bunch of little brats. It’s not like I was making it for them, yet they had the nerve to show disdain for it…”
Um…
Were the little brats he was talking about Baili Yu and Jun Xin?
How come it felt like this village chief treated them completely like family instead of outsiders? Also, he was really brave to dare to call those two this way!
However, Baili Yu and the others probably wouldn’t mind an old man calling them this way.
Those things aside, she had been frozen in place the moment she saw the pig belly and the rooster.
She swallowed back her saliva. He had probably raised these pigs and chickens himself, right? The taste of food grown in the countryside was fabulous!
When Tang Doudou’s thoughts got to this point, she immediately ran over and called in a very sweet manner, “Village Chief Grandpa!”
The village chief was startled by her sudden cordiality. “Girl, what is it? If there’s something, just say it.”
“Did you prepare this pig belly and chicken for me to eat?”
The village chief nodded. She immediately hugged his arm and looked towards him with sparkling eyes. “Really?”
“Did this girl injure her head?” The village chief asked Qing Yu.
Qing Yu coughed. She couldn’t tell what Tang Doudou was doing either.
“Aiyah, Village Chief Grandpa, I’m just touched!” Tang Doudou laughed with a ‘hehe.’ Then, taking advantage of the fact that the village chief was still stunned, she asked, “Since they’re for me, then can I cook them myself?”
The village chief was stunned for a moment. Then, since she was staring so tensely, he nodded. With a laugh, he asked, “You know how to cook?”
“Of course! Qing Yu, help Village Chief Grandpa back to rest.”
Now that the village chief had agreed, Tang Doudou couldn’t stop herself any longer. She impatiently rolled up her sleeves and put on the apron nearby before rushing towards that pig belly and chicken.
When the village chief saw that she seemed pretty comfortable in the kitchen, he didn’t ask any more. Yawning, he went over and leaned on a pillar at the side to sleep.
Upon seeing this, Qing Yu walked over to nudge him awake.
Tang Doudou just happened to see this when she glanced back and hastily stopped Qing Yu. “It’s not easy for the grandpa to sleep so just let him rest. Help me find Jun Xin and bring him over. I just happen to owe him a meal!”
After she finished speaking, she ignored Qing Yu’s shocked expression and went back to her work.
Find Young Master Jun?
Then should she call Master as well?
If she only called Young Master Jun, Master would definitely get jealous once he found out…
Qing Yu expressed that she was very troubled.
However, Tang Doudou was already immersed in the joy of cooking. She found that the village chief really did have everything in his kitchen. Originally she had been expecting to face trouble finding all the necessary ingredients to make that dish, but the result was completely outside of her expectations.
This place didn’t seem like the small kitchen of a random village at all. Even the large kitchen in Baili Yu’s residence probably didn’t have such complete sets of ingredients.
Upon seeing this, she subconsciously glanced towards the snoring village chief. He probably wasn’t just a simple village chief, right?
However, she soon stopped thinking about this. Regardless of what his identity was, her current goal was just to borrow the kitchen and cook.
Rebirth of the Phoenix.
This was the dish that Tang Doudou wanted to make. Although this name sounded very cool, in reality, the main ingredients were just pig belly and chicken.
This dish was frequently seen in the modern era. However, when she got here, she found out from talking with Meng Yu that anyone that had a bit of status wouldn’t eat the things inside pigs’ bellies because they felt like it was something only lower class people were desperate enough to eat.
That was why even though she had been craving this dish for a long time, she hadn’t had a chance to eat it.
And that was why this was such a perfect coincidence.
As she was thinking about this, she sorted out the pig belly and the chicken again, then put the chicken into the pig belly. Following that, she started working on the seasoning.
She diced the pepper into tiny bits and crushed half of them while keeping the other half as is. Once she finished preparing this, she shoved them together into the pig belly. This was done so that the original taste of the pepper could be maintained better.
Following that, she took out appropriate amounts of the already cut scallion, ginger, poor man’s ginseng, angular Solomon’s seal, jujube, and milkvetch, then put them inside the pig belly. These ingredients all had warming qualities. Currently, she needed a lot of nourishment so these were the best ingredients to help her recover.
After everything was prepared, she put the entire pig belly into the steamer basket, then started a large fire to steam it.
The Rebirth of the Phoenix was now prepared. Tang Doudou looked around and saw that there were a lot of pig offals, so after a moment of thought, she decided to cook them as well.
When the room became filled with delightful fragrances, the old village chief abruptly opened his eyes and sniffed. Seeming almost drunk on the scent, he remarked, “T-this scent. It’s so familiar, yet unfamiliar…”
__________
Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Edited by Dray
