Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 32

Lin Mianmian had just carried her newly collected ingredients and seasonings back to the courtyard. Before she could even close the gate, a white shadow squeezed in through the crack.
The little white rabbit slammed on the brakes. Her front paws scraped up a small pile of dirt before she came to a steady stop. Her tiny eyes rolled, and she threw Lin Mianmian a wink. “Shredded-chicken cold noodles!”
So urgent…
Lin Mianmian lowered her head and glanced at the little trail of dust behind A-Bai. Thankfully, she had already learned in Yingxian City how stubborn A-Bai could be when it came to food. What else was there to say now? It was still some time before noon, but A-Bai’s eager, attentive gaze clearly said, Hurry. If you do not cook noodles now, I will cook you.
Lin Mianmian did not really want to figure out why she could understand the look in a little white rabbit’s eyes.
From the moment A-Bai entered the courtyard, she followed Lin Mianmian step for step, her need to urge her forward almost spilling out. Even so, after Lin Mianmian put down the hemp sack, the first thing she did was go into the room and take a look.
Only after she made sure the little calico was curled into a tiny ball on the quilt, sleeping soundly, did Lin Mianmian let out a soft breath. She gently pulled up a corner of the quilt and covered most of the little calico’s body before backing out on tiptoe.
A-Bai stood by the door and looked at Yuan Zhaoyang, who was curled on the quilt and pretending to sleep. She finally understood why Yuan Zhaoyang had run back so quickly. So someone came to check the room.
Speaking of it, there really was a big difference in intelligence between a cat demon and a cat. Those other cats were still running wild in the courtyard, while Yuan Zhaoyang had already worked her way onto a person’s bed. Judging by Lin Mianmian’s manner, her attitude toward Yuan Zhaoyang was also very different. Could this be the difference between an outside cat and a house cat? A-Bai glanced at the quilt corner Lin Mianmian had just put over Yuan Zhaoyang and sighed in her heart. The more Lin Mianmian liked her now, the more hurt she would be later.
Lin Mianmian, who was scooping water and mixing dough, had no idea that she was being pitied by a little white rabbit. Right now, all her attention was on the work in her hands.
Do not be fooled by how well Lin Mianmian had talked about recipes with the young man from the Qiao family and Tian Xiaoyu in Yingxian City. Once she actually started cooking, her weak points showed at once. Before the apocalypse, Lin Mianmian had been spoiled by her parents at home. It was not that she had never touched housework at all, but cooking was truly something she had not done many times. The Lin family cared about food, and Lin Mianmian often looked up fresh recipes online, then told her parents about them. The next day, a new dish would appear on the table. Later, after the apocalypse began, forget eating well. It was hard enough to eat until full from the dry rations handed out by the base each day. Lin Mianmian had put her whole heart into public work and planting. How could she have time to study food?
Lin Mianmian had always been good at talking about dishes. Now that she had begun doing it herself, even she was stunned.
A-Bai, who had shredded-chicken cold noodles on her mind, crouched for a long time beside the simple chopping board Lin Mianmian had made from a plank. She watched Lin Mianmian sprinkle in a handful of flour and knead, then add a little water and knead. Then sprinkle flour, add water, sprinkle flour, add water, knead and knead and knead. This went on dozens of times. A-Bai watched helplessly as Lin Mianmian used up the whole bag of flour, while the mass on the board still had not formed into dough.
“Um…” A-Bai hesitated and raised one small white paw.
“I will go borrow some flour from Xiong Lanlan!” Lin Mianmian blushed, threw down that sentence, and ran off in a hurry.
A-Bai awkwardly drew back her paw and smoothed her ear. She muttered to herself, “Actually, I only wanted to ask if you needed more flour…”
She had all kinds of things in her storage bag. Why was this child going far away when help was right here?
While A-Bai stared blankly at the pile of paste on the chopping board, the wooden door of the little room creaked open.
The little calico walked in small, unhurried steps to A-Bai’s side. She looked at the pile on the board, then looked at A-Bai, and sent a cold voice through sound transmission. “Even if you give her another bag of flour, I am afraid she still will not make the noodles you are imagining.”
“I do not believe it…” The little white rabbit covered her face with her small white paws, looking as if her world had fallen apart.
“…” The little calico turned with style and padded back the way she had come.
She had not taken two steps before her tail grew heavy. Yuan Zhaoyang turned her head and saw the little white rabbit sprawled flat on the ground behind her, both small white paws firmly pressing down on her tail.
“Let go.” Yuan Zhaoyang was not in a good mood at all.
That morning, because she had to explain drawing spiritual energy into the body to the new disciples, she had put the restriction back on Lin Mianmian’s bracelet. Earlier, in the room, she had wanted to undo the restriction again, but Lin Mianmian had left too quickly, so Yuan Zhaoyang could only wait. After all that waiting, she had not waited out noodles. She had waited out a pile of flour paste instead. She could already imagine Lin Mianmian spending endless hours trying to knead dough. Were they still going to cultivate or not?
“No…” As a food lover, A-Bai had actually felt something was wrong when Lin Mianmian had used half a bag of flour. But A-Bai had not wanted to believe the answer slowly rising in her heart. She could only comfort herself by thinking that maybe Lin Mianmian knew she ate a lot and kindly wanted to make more noodles. Now that things had reached this point, A-Bai had to admit it. Lin Mianmian was absolutely someone who talked a good dish but could not cook it!
But A-Bai really wanted shredded-chicken cold noodles now. How could she let go of Yuan Zhaoyang, this ready-made master chef?
Yuan Zhaoyang turned, reached out a paw, and heartlessly tried to pull back her tail. “I am not going to make any cold noodles for you. I have told you many times…”
“Food from the mortal world does you no good if you eat too much…” A-Bai lay on the ground and hugged the cat tail tightly with both paws. “Just this once! Once! You have not cooked for me in a very, very long time! I cannot count on Lin Mianmian, who only talks a good dish. Now I only have you! I still remember the pheasant you roasted for me on Great Snow Mountain. You brushed it with honey and sprinkled it with spices. The skin was crisp and fragrant, and the meat was fresh and tender. When you bit into it, the skin crackled, and your mouth filled with meat juice…”
“I think you are the one who talks a good dish. Watch your drool. Do not drip it on my tail…” Yuan Zhaoyang tried hard to pull her tail free, but the rabbit seemed to have used all her Core Formation strength today. Yuan Zhaoyang tugged for a while and actually failed to pull away.
“Just once, once, once!” A-Bai clung to the cat tail and refused to let go.
“If only you used this much effort on eating Qingxin Hall’s food! Did you forget the big meal set from Qingxin Hall?” Yuan Zhaoyang was furious after failing to free her tail.
“We are speaking in this courtyard, and even now you only dare use sound transmission. Do you dare change out plate after plate of plain boiled meat? If Lin Mianmian comes back, I will not admit anything.” A-Bai had a shameless look on her face.
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
When Lin Mianmian returned with a bag of flour, she saw A-Bai in the courtyard tightly pulling on the little calico’s tail, while the poor little calico clutched her own tail and trembled.
“A-Bai…” Lin Mianmian dropped the flour bag and ran over. She held one of A-Bai’s little paws in each hand and carefully pried them off the cat’s tail. “You are a great Core Formation demon. Why are you bullying a little kitten?”
“Because I feel like I will not get shredded-chicken cold noodles today, so I am unhappy.” The little white rabbit, lifted by Lin Mianmian by both front paws, turned her head to look at her. “Speaking of that, when you hold me like this, do you really still remember that I am a great Core Formation demon?”
“…” Lin Mianmian could not answer that at all. She could only blush and carefully set A-Bai down farther away from the little calico.
Although she knew A-Bai probably would not be so unreliable as to hurt an innocent kitten, Lin Mianmian was still worried and wanted to see the cat for herself.
But Lin Mianmian had not expected that before she could even reach out and pick up the cat, the little calico, who had just been holding her tail and smoothing her fur, slipped away.
“Hey! Wait!” Lin Mianmian hurried after her, but once she stepped through the courtyard gate, she could no longer see the little calico at all.
“Why so anxious? When it gets hungry, it will come back on its own.” A-Bai hopped over at a leisurely pace. “Right. I found a helper to make the noodles. She will arrive soon. Stop kneading. I get tired just watching you.”
Hmph. If Yuan Zhaoyang had not sent a sound transmission in time and agreed to make noodles for this rabbit, did Lin Mianmian think a Core Formation rabbit like her would let herself be lifted and swung around so easily? Was she silly?
“I am going to look for the cat. Since someone is making noodles for you, I will not take care of you anymore.” Lin Mianmian’s whole heart was on the little calico. After saying that, she walked out of the courtyard.
How is this rabbit worse than that calico! Can we still be friends or not!
Yuan Zhaoyang had just found a place to turn into human form and had not yet started back when she received the little rabbit’s angry sound transmission. She could only turn back into a little calico and have a chance meeting not far from the courtyard with Lin Mianmian, who was calling, “Rice Ball! Rice Ball!” again and again.
I came back only because I did not want Lin Mianmian shouting that name everywhere! It is absolutely, absolutely not because A-Bai said anything about Lin Mianmian looking lost and heartbroken!
Held tightly in Lin Mianmian’s arms, the little calico took a deep breath and pressed down the hand reaching toward her tail.
Lin Mianmian had found the kitten, and her heart felt as if it had just ridden a cart over a mountain and landed back where it started. She held the soft little cat, still frightened. She wanted to check the kitten’s tail, but every time she stroked from the tail tip upward and was about to reach the base of the tail, the little cat blocked her with a paw. After spending one day with the little calico, Lin Mianmian could roughly sense the kitten’s strange… “shy spots”? Since the kitten had just puffed up and run away, Lin Mianmian did not dare upset her. After seeing that the little tail swayed as usual, she temporarily gave up on checking the base of the tail.
A-Bai crouched angrily by the courtyard gate and watched Lin Mianmian hold the little calico as if she had found a treasure. She could not help thinking spitefully, Just wait. When Yuan Zhaoyang no longer needs that fragrance and no longer turns into a cat, you can be sad all you want!
Lin Mianmian put the kitten back in the room and closed the door. Then she returned to the courtyard and said many soft, coaxing words to the little rabbit. But the little white rabbit only crouched at the gate and said nothing, looking as if she planned to stay angry until the seas dried up and the stones crumbled because Lin Mianmian had left her to look for the cat.
So tiring.
The little calico shook out her fur on the bed, opened the back window, and leaped out. This time, she did not even go far. She simply found a corner, turned into human form, circled around, and arrived at the front courtyard.
Lin Mianmian, who was coaxing the rabbit, never imagined that the helper A-Bai had mentioned would be Yuan Zhaoyang.
When facing Yuan Zhaoyang, Lin Mianmian’s feelings were always a little complicated. When they had first met, Yuan Zhaoyang’s eyes had looked as if Lin Mianmian had wronged her, misty and close to tears. During the spiritual-root test, she had shown sudden gentleness and comfort. Later, she always seemed stern with a bit of anger. And during today’s lesson, perhaps Lin Mianmian was too sensitive, but she kept feeling that Senior Sister Yuan had looked toward her from the platform several times…
Lin Mianmian did not know what caused those tiny differences, but when she faced Yuan Zhaoyang, her heart always grew a little more tangled.
“Shredded-chicken cold noodles. Roast chicken legs!” A-Bai raised her head and looked at Yuan Zhaoyang with a face that said, Your cat-food demon offended this rabbit, and this rabbit is not happy.
Raising the price on the spot! Yuan Zhaoyang glared at A-Bai. But when she turned to Lin Mianmian, her tone held a mildness, mixed with awkwardness, that even she barely noticed. “Can you tell me the recipe for shredded-chicken cold noodles?”
Lin Mianmian nodded stiffly, explained it as quickly as she could, then stepped aside and stared as Yuan Zhaoyang rapidly took out a whole stove, a full set of cooking tools, and a rack of ingredients from her storage bag. Half the courtyard was filled at once. Then Yuan Zhaoyang moved swiftly, marinating chicken legs, kneading dough, lighting the fire…
She really looked like a master chef from a food show.
Yuan Zhaoyang’s movements were graceful and orderly as she made the preparations. Lin Mianmian watched in a daze and almost felt as if she had not crossed into a cultivation world, but into a food show. Only after Yuan Zhaoyang had almost finished preparing everything did Lin Mianmian slowly realize that she did not understand why the cooking had to happen at her place.
This is a real chef! You mouth-chef! Watch and learn! A-Bai glanced at Lin Mianmian and was very satisfied with her shocked look. Mm… but why do I still want to stamp a paw print on her face?
The boiled chicken legs were torn into thin shreds. All kinds of side vegetables were cut into fine strips. The mixed sauce was set aside. Yuan Zhaoyang calmly followed the recipe Lin Mianmian had described step by step, though her heart was not as calm as her face.
Yuan Zhaoyang seemed fully focused on cooking, but as someone at perfect Foundation Establishment, doing several things at once was ordinary. So Lin Mianmian’s gaze from the side, filled with shock and worship, was truly hard to ignore. It was nothing like the soft, gentle gaze Lin Mianmian used when looking at the little calico…
When an expert made a move, one could tell at once whether she had skill.
The cold noodles were covered with toppings and sauce. On the other side, the roast chicken legs by the fire were done too. Nothing else needed to be said. Just the roasted chicken legs, which had been fragrant for a long while, and the fact that both dishes finished at the same time proved that Yuan Zhaoyang’s cooking skill could not be poor.
Lin Mianmian had guessed that Yuan Zhaoyang could cook well, but she had never imagined it would be this good.
The noodles were thin, but not limp at all. They had a wonderful spring to them. The hand-torn chicken was very tender, and the spices had soaked deep into the meat. The amount of vegetables was exactly right. Wrapped in the noodles, they carried a crisp sweetness that matched the lightly salty sauce so well it was almost unbearable.
Before the apocalypse, Lin Mianmian had eaten at a shop famous for its shredded-chicken cold noodles. At the time, she had found them amazing, the kind of food that made a person want to go back the moment they thought of it. But compared with the bowl in front of her now, that shop’s noodles were not even one-tenth as good as Yuan Zhaoyang’s.
As for the roast chicken leg…
If there had not been other people present, Lin Mianmian felt she could have gnawed the cleaned chicken bone for another thirty minutes.
Yuan Zhaoyang’s cooking crushed the Qiao family’s braised-meat noodles by a whole red road.
To Lin Mianmian, who had been hungry for nearly a hundred years, the Qiao family’s braised-meat noodles had given her the satisfaction of taste. But Yuan Zhaoyang’s cooking made her feel that perhaps, from now on, she would never again be happy because of food.
Once a person had seen the vast sea, ordinary water was hard to love. Once a person had seen the clouds over Wu Mountain, ordinary clouds were no longer clouds.
Yuan Zhaoyang, who was eating noodles with her head down and pretending she sensed nothing, did not quite understand. Why had Lin Mianmian looked at her with worship, only for that look to slowly gain a touch of sadness?
Could it be…
Was she not full?