Free Web NovelChapter 210: Seventy Chapters Qingming Festival and green dumplings
Chen Ze stood in the kitchen, lost in thought, while the flying squirrel continued to feast on chestnut rice, obviously very satisfied with the dishes Chen Ze had made.
The flying squirrel had devoured three bowls of miso soup, each drained completely. Chen Ze’s decision-making this time had perfectly captured the flying squirrel’s mood. freeweɓnøvel.com
However, what sunk Chen Ze into contemplation wasn’t this issue. After all, since the dish had already been made, if more customers arrived, he’d simply continue to make whatever dishes the customers requested.
What plunged Chen Ze into deep thought was the significance of today’s date.
"The Qingming Festival, huh..." Chen Ze sighed. It was a shared time of mourning for the Huaxia people, a day set aside for remembering and paying homage to ancestors.
Moreover, this year was particularly special, which imbued the festival with an even deeper meaning.
In previous years, Chen Ze would have followed his parents up the mountains to tend to family graves, but since his parents were self-isolating, he chose to stay home and express his grief through arranging flowers.
Naturally, the Qingming Festival had its own traditional holiday dishes, with green dumplings being among the most well-known.
This unique pastry’s origins can be traced back to the earlier Cold Food Festival. Chen Ze remembered reading in a historical novel that on the Cold Food Festival, it was forbidden to cook with fire, hence cold dishes were the only option.
Eventually, the Cold Food Festival merged into Qingming, and the unique dishes of the former were carried over to the latter.
Chen Ze planned to make some green dumplings during this festival. Although there were now fillings other than the traditional sweet bean paste, such as salted egg yolk and meat, Chen Ze decided to stick with the traditional sweet bean paste green dumplings.
The process of making green dumplings wasn’t complicated, and Chen Ze, being a chef, knew that following recipes was something any chef was supposed to do.
The problem was that making green dumplings required mugwort powder, which Chen Ze hadn’t purchased, so it seemed he would have to go out and buy some.
Just as Chen Ze was preparing to change clothes and go out to buy some mugwort powder, he saw the flying squirrel standing up.
"Manager, I’d like to pay." The flying squirrel was very pleased. The familiar taste of miso soup and the delicious chestnut rice had greatly improved his mood.
"Ok, do you plan to pay with Gold Coins, or would you like to settle with other items?" Chen Ze walked out with a smile.
"Huh? I can pay with other things?" The flying squirrel was clearly interested. After all, being an adventurer, he didn’t earn much, and the Gold Coins from the big tomb were not easy to spend directly.
So this left the flying squirrel in a bit of a financial pinch, and naturally, saving wherever possible was best.
"Yes, you can pay with equipment or weapons, gemstones, or even food ingredients; all of these are acceptable." Chen Ze smiled warmly at the flying squirrel.
Chen Ze certainly recalled that the flying squirrel had teleported into a game world, and what’s most magical about a game? Naturally, it’s the variety of equipment it contains.
"This... I have a dagger here." The flying squirrel reached out, pulling a dagger from his space.
This was clearly not an ordinary dagger; a normal dagger wouldn’t have gemstones set in its hilt.
Chen Ze took it with interest, but unlike with the sibling pair from before, no attribute box appeared, which left him somewhat disappointed.
"Thank you for your patronage, and welcome to visit again," Chen Ze bid farewell to the flying squirrel, then casually tossed the dagger into a small cabinet in the kitchen. freёwebnovel.com
"Master, about that just now..." Naruto looked curious. He had just opened his eyes to see the flying squirrel sitting there, eating.
He was very puzzled about why a skeleton would eat without leaking. It seemed impossible to him that a skeleton head had the ability to ingest food without it falling out.
"That’s just a Magician, albeit from the undead race." Lafra didn’t mind at all, it was just another Undead, right?
Lafra used to kick around the skulls of the undead like balls, and she had a variety of oddly shaped races under her command.
Just a skeleton, nothing to be curious about.
Naruto swallowed hard, wouldn’t such a thing cause panic if it were in Konoha?
If Chen Ze knew what Naruto was thinking, he would probably burst out laughing, what a joke, if he sent a flying squirrel to the Hokage, it would at least be as strong as the Kage level.
By that time, it probably wouldn’t be Pain’s turn to stand in the middle of Konoha and wonder how many floors a bag of rice could reach; the flying squirrel alone could do that.
But this was, after all, a flight of fancy, sending a flying squirrel to the world of the Hokage was like pitting Guan Yu against Qin Qiong, completely incomparable.
"I’m going out to buy some stuff, I’ll be back soon, Naruto, here’s your chiffon cake." Chen Ze took off his chef’s uniform and casually handed two cakes to Naruto.
Lafra turned her head to look at Chen Ze, and that look made Chen Ze a bit nervous; he couldn’t help but size himself up and down, there was nothing odd about him, right...
"Dear, are you planning to go out dressed like that?" Lafra rubbed her temples; she felt a bit of a headache coming on.
"Hmm, yes, why?" Chen Ze scratched his head, he felt his attire was fine.
"If you go out dressed like that, I feel like you’d be laughed at." Lafra sighed again; her boyfriend was great in many ways, but his taste in clothes really left something to be desired.
Although Lafra didn’t understand the fashion of Chen Ze’s world, Chen Ze’s attire still looked too shabby in her eyes.
A shirt, a pair of beach shorts, and a pair of flip-flops, one would think Chen Ze was planning to go swimming.
"??" Chen Ze was completely confused; wasn’t it just that attire? With the weather so hot, he certainly needed to change into something light and thin.
"Change it." Lafra didn’t say much but directly took a set of clothes out of her space.
Chen Ze took them and felt a heaviness in his hands, the clothes seemed a bit heavy.
"Come upstairs with me." Lafra led Chen Ze to the second floor, and from one look at Chen Ze’s eyes, she knew he wouldn’t know how to wear this set of clothes.
"Why is this so complicated?"
"What’s this? Such thick shoes??"
"Please, let me change my underwear myself!"
After a while, Lafra clapped her hands in satisfaction and walked downstairs.
Then Chen Ze came downstairs with a look of astonishment on his face, now wearing a very well-crafted set of clothes, looking quite noble yet not overly retro, but rather trendy.
What was more important was that this set of clothes didn’t feel stuffy or hot at all, but rather very cool and breathable; Chen Ze thought this must be the effect of the Magic Circle in the clothes.
"So... I’m going out now?" Chen Ze was a bit torn, wearing this set of clothes outside, the turning heads would definitely be off the charts.
"Okay~" But seeing how happy Lafra looked, Chen Ze felt it was worth it.
