An Unforgettable Breakfast
Translator/Editor: Mr Voltaire
[Vermillion Bird’s Feather]: A tail feather from the Vermillion Bird.
The crimson red feather in his hand only had a very short description, and did not outline any of its uses. Ling Chen put it away… the Vermillion Bird agreeing to save Xi Ling made him feel ecstatic, but now he had a massive problem on his hands. The Vermillion Bird had said that humans who had a Flame Soul were very, very rare. Where could he go to find one? Trying to find a person who had a Flame Soul out of everyone in the Forgotten Continent was like trying to find a needle in a sea. Moreover, even if he could find such a person, how would he bring them here? The person might not even be willing.
“If you leave her with me, she can last for another month. Within one month, you won’t have to worry about her safety. But you must find a human with a Flame Soul within one month, and bring them to the Outer Region of the Lava Purgatory. When you have done that, shout my name towards the feather I gave you. If you are unsuccessful after one month, I won’t be able to help you. You may leave now.”
The Vermillion Bird’s voice grew fainter, and a red light shot down and covered Ling Chen’s body. Just as Ling Chen was about to speak, the scenery in front of him changed. In front of him was not the red world anymore, but rather, yellowish-brown ground.
This was…
Ling Chen immediately took out his map and found that he was now a few kilometres outside of the Lava Purgatory. He took out the feather the Vermillion Bird had given him, looked at it silently for a while, and grasped it in his hand. His feelings were both joyful and nervous at the same time. Within one month, relying on this feather, he had to find a person with a Flame Soul.
However, he had already met the Vermillion Bird, and had gotten it to promise him to revive Xi Ling if he could fulfil its three conditions. He was simply unwilling to fail after getting so far.
I must find a person with a Flame Soul within one month!
Ling Chen couldn’t help but think of ‘Daoist Tian Qing’, who allegedly could find out the heaven’s secrets. If he really did have this ability, maybe he would be able to find a person with a Flame Soul. However, as Daoist Tian Qing had said, this was impossible for him.
It was getting late, so Ling Chen logged off and went to sleep.
At the same time, within the Central District in the Inner Region of the Lava Purgatory, a voice sounded out, “Humans with a Flame Soul are much too rare, and their lifespans are much too short. Whether any currently exist is unknown. Wanting to pass on the Vermillion Bird’s flames is just my last wish… Golden Crow’s descendant, even if he’s unable to find a person with a Flame Soul, I will still save you. Exchanging my life for yours is the greatest glory of my life…”
…………………………………………
When the morning came, Ling Chen sneezed, stretched, then jumped down from the bed… although he slept very late, but he felt quite refreshed. Just as he opened the bedroom door, Ling Chen almost crashed into Tian Tian, who was running.
“Tian Tian, you got up so early.” Ling Chen commented as he glanced at the clock… actually, it was already 8:30am.
“Lazy big brother, I get up earlier than you every day!” Tian Tian stuck her tongue out at him, then pointed at the bathroom, “Go and wash your face and brush your teeth; breakfast is ready.”
“Tian Tian helped out quite a lot with breakfast today.” Shui Ruo said as she walked over smiling.
“Oh?” Ling Chen looked at Tian Tian, his face full of ‘shock’, “Aiya! Our Tian Tian’s already cooking. This is the biggest thing that’s happened since Tian Tian started living here.”
Tian Tian couldn’t tell whether Ling Chen was praising or mocking her, so she could only lift her nose up as she proudly said, “I’m so smart, so even though it’s my first time cooking, it’ll definitely be very yummy!”
“Then I definitely have to eat breakfast today.” Ling Chen said as he grinned. Normally, Tian Tian only ate, slept and played. Today, she had actually helped make breakfast- what was going on? He went straight to the table, and looked at the four dishes on the table as he asked, “Tian Tian, which one did you make? I’ll try that one first.”
“This one, this one!” Tian Tian was evidently very eager for Ling Chen to taste the fruits of her labour. She quickly pointed at the plate of scrambled eggs. Early in the morning, she had gotten up with Shui Ruo. Shui Ruo had pulled her to the kitchen and taught her how to cook, telling her that everyone liked girls who could cook. As such, she began to cook with her big sister, and carefully made her first dish… and it was completely on her own, without any help from Shui Ruo.
Deep down, Tian Tian wanted to be praised and acknowledged by Ling Chen.
“Oh! Just the appearance of these eggs already deserve a 10/10. It’s much better than when I first started cooking.” Before Ling Chen had even tasted it, he began to praise Tian Tian. He picked up his chopsticks, and picked up a piece… Since it was Tian Tian’s first time cooking, he would say it tasted good no matter what. Moreover, Tian Tian was sitting directly opposite him, watching him unblinkingly, her eyes filled with expectation. Even if it tasted like crap, he would still have to say it was delicious…
As such, Ling Chen put the scrambled eggs into his mouth. Since they looked so nice, even if the taste wasn’t so great, it shouldn’t be too bad either.
As soon as the scrambled eggs went into his mouth, before he even chewed, his entire body trembled, and his head dipped down, then back up. There were two lines of tears running down his face.
“Ah!” Shui Ruo was shocked, and ran over, “Big brother, are you alright?”
“Eh? Big brother, why are you crying?” Tian Tian, who was waiting for Ling Chen’s feedback, asked with her mouth open in shock.
Ling Chen’s face twitched, and he tried to smile, but immediately failed. The tears continued to flow as he said, “Delicious, it’s so delicious… I’ve never had anything this delicious before, so… so the tears won’t stop. Tian Tian, did you really make this? You’re… you’re simply a culinary genius… yes… so delicious… delicious…”
Ling Chen’s words sounded incredibly fake, but the tears running down his face were real beyond a doubt. As such, Tian Tian became incredibly excited as she yelled, “Really? Really? Is it really that yummy?”
Ling Chen vigorously nodded, “Definitely… I will remember Tian Tian’s first dish for the rest of my life. Ah, I… forgot to brush my teeth, I’ll be right back!”
As soon as he had blurted this out, Ling Chen rushed towards to the bathroom, and slammed the door shut as the sound of water flowing began to come out from the bathroom.
“Wow! WOW!!! Are my scrambled eggs really that great? Big brother was so moved that he cried… big sister, have a taste and tell me if they’re really as delicious as big brother said!” Tian Tian happily yelled out. To Shui Ruo, it was obvious that what Ling Chen said wasn’t quite true. She curiously picked up a small piece with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
Clatter!
The chopsticks fell out from her hand. It was as if a bomb had exploded in her mouth, and Shui Ruo kept her mouth tightly shut to prevent herself from immediately spitting it out. Tears also began to flow from her eyes.
Seeing that Shui Ruo also began to cry, Tian Tian gullibly began to shout out, “Big sister’s also crying! Big sister’s also crying because it tastes so good! Are Tian Tian’s scrambled eggs really that great?”
Shui Ruo nodded, but evidently she didn’t have the same level of willpower as Ling Chen. She couldn’t even utter a word as she also charged towards the bathroom and threw the door open.
“Big sister, why are you going to the bathroom?”
Bang! The door was slammed shut by Shui Ruo.
Tian Tian felt quite confused. Although big brother and big sister had both said her scrambled eggs were delicious, and had even cried, she felt that something was a bit strange. She picked up her chopsticks and put a piece in her mouth… before, she was afraid that it tasted bad, so she didn’t dare to try it herself.
“Waaaah!!”
A loud cry filled the dining room as Tian Tian threw her chopsticks, “Ahhh!! HELP… HELP…”
………………………………………………………………
Tian Tian’s chest heaved as she lay on the sofa, her hands covering her watery face. Ling Chen and Shui Ruo had already recovered, and wordlessly looked at this pitiful little girl.
“This is mustard sauce. Usually, you only put a bit on top of food to give it some extra flavour. This is salt. They evidently look completely different, so how did you confuse them? Sure, the colour of mustard looks like scrambled eggs when they’re cooked, but you can’t just pour a whole bottle in just because the colour’s similar.”
Ling Chen held a bottle of salt and a bottle of mustard sauce in each hand as he talked to Tian Tian. She had put most of the bottle of mustard sauce into the scrambled eggs, causing Ling Chen to shed many years’ worth of tears.
“Come here, Tian Tian. It’s okay now.” Shui Ruo pulled Tian Tian over to rinse her mouth. Shui Ruo smiled at Tian Tian as she said, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Everyone makes mistakes on their first go. It’ll be better in future.”
Shui Ruo’s comforting words instead made Tian Tian start crying again, “Wahhh! It was so disgusting… but you all said it was delicious… you all lied to me, lied to me! I don’t want to cook ever again! Wahhh…”
Tian Tian jumped off the sofa, and ran into the bedroom, then slammed the door closed.
“Ai,” Ling Chen sat on the sofa as he muttered, “In the end, she’s still a little kid.”
Shui Ruo smiled as she softly said, “Tian Tian wanted to cook because she wanted to hear you praise her. Right now, she’s angry with herself. After this unforgettable breakfast, big brother should spend more time with Tian Tian.”
Ling Chen also smiled, “En, got it.”
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