Xiao Dao had never heard anything about Tang Doudou knowing how to cook while they were in Mist City, thus, he found it quite novel when he saw how familiar she was with the process and consciously moved faster. He soon brought the wine and came back to place it in the kitchen. When he saw that Tang Doudou had already finished several dishes, he was even more shocked.
“What are you standing here for? Have you called the people I told you to call?” Tang Doudou used chopsticks to check the taste of the dish inside the pot and shook her head. She added more salt, then lifted her head only to discover that Xiao Dao was still standing at the entrance.
Xiao Dao was still captivated by the fragrance filling the kitchen. When Tang Doudou suddenly called him, he jolted back to his senses. “I’ll go right now.”
After he finished speaking, he immediately ran off.
However, he soon came back again.
“Even if you’re here all you can do is look. You’ll have to wait until everyone gets here before you can eat. How can you be a hidden guard when you’re so impatient…” Tang Doudou didn’t turn around so she didn’t see that Jun Xin was following behind Xiao Dao.
Jun Xin made a gesture towards Xiao Dao and Xiao Dao silently withdrew.
“Crap, where did the garlic go?” Since she was working by herself without a single helper, the neat kitchen ended up becoming very messy. She couldn’t find a lot of things. Right now, she couldn’t even remember where she had thrown the garlic.
“Xiao Dao, don’t just stand there, hurry and help me find the garlic!”
As she stooped to search around, Jun Xin saw the garlic that was right next to her hand. He walked over there quietly and picked it up to hand it to her.
“Eh? How did you manage to find it so fast…” Tang Doudou cried out happily upon seeing the garlic suddenly appear. However, when she raised her head, she found that it wasn’t Xiao Dao who was handing it to her but Jun Xin, whose face was full of condescension.
“It was right next to you. You really are stupid.” Jun Xin threw the garlic towards Tang Doudou, then started looking through the dishes Tang Doudou finished as if he was inspecting them. “There are so many dishes, who did you invite over?”
“Brat, you sure came quickly.” Tang Doudou rolled her eyes. Jun Xin’s nose was practically like that of a dog’s. No matter how far away he was, he could still smell the scent of the latrine…
Cough. This wasn’t a good comparison, it was a little too revolting.
Tang Doudou smashed open the garlic. She didn’t have time to care about Jun Xin right now. She counted the finished dishes. Four more would probably be enough.
“Who does this courtyard belong to? Why didn’t I know before that there was actually such a nice place behind the Alliance Head Residence? You like magnolias?” Tang Doudou didn’t have time to mind Jun Xin, but Jun Xin had no intention of allowing her to cook peacefully. He kept asking questions nonstop.
“After two months of not seeing you, you’ve gone from being a brat to being an esteemed mother? Hold your questions, I don’t have time to pay attention to you right now,” said Tang Doudou, annoyed. She was currently holding a spatula with a confused expression on her face. Did she add salt earlier or not?
“You’re not bad either ah, you’ve become even more sharp-tongued,” sneered Jun Xin. However, he didn’t continue asking questions because he seemed to have seen Tang Doudou sprinkle salt in two times.
He had no desire to eat dishes that were salty to the point that it made one’s teeth fall out.
Once Jun Xin shut up, Tang Doudou’s movements returned to their earlier ease. Before long she had finished the remaining dishes.
“Alright, it’s done!”
Tang Doudou felt very accomplished as she looked at the two dozen dishes on the large table. She untied her apron and called for Qing Yin and Meng Yu who had already arrived to help carry the dishes out to the table in the courtyard.
Jun Xin also followed them out. He wasn’t surprised to see the people present. After all, she didn’t know anyone other than these people.
“Everyone, don’t be formal, sit down and eat!” Tang Doudou beckoned for everyone to sit down. “Big Brother Yu, come try this and see how my skill is!”
Jun Xin didn’t need Tang Doudou to call him at all. He sat down on his own, the only things in his almond eyes were the dishes.
Qing Yin and Meng Yu helped place the bowls and chopsticks, poured the wine and drinks, then stood with Xiao Dao at the side.
“What are you standing for? Sit!” Tang Doudou glanced at them with a helpless expression. “We all have hands and feet, we don’t need you guys to wait on us. Xiao Dao, go see why Xiao Bai and the Wu family brothers still aren’t here.”
Xiao Dao left with the order and Meng Yu came over to take a seat. However, Qing Yin still didn’t come over. She smiled and said, “I’ll just stand, someone has to pour the wine.”
Seeing that her expression was determined, Tang Doudou didn’t try to force her. She had said last time that she had to slowly help change Qing Yin’s perspective, but she never had the chance. Now, she said, “Qing Yin, when you’re not busy with affairs in Plum Garden, could you come over and help me sort out this courtyard?”
Upon hearing this, Qing Yin’s face lit up. “Really? I can come over?”
“When have I lied to you before?” Tang Doudou’s expression then turned stern. “However, there are rules here at my place.”
“As long as Li gongzi allows me to come, Qing Yin will not object even if Qing Yin ends up dead!” Even after finding out that Tang Doudou was female, Qing Yin still wanted to serve her, for the sake of repaying her life-saving grace.
Her words were a little too serious, for a while Tang Doudou didn’t know how to respond. However, she soon saw Bai Feiyun standing on the wall and said, “Xiao Bai, hurry and come down. We’re just waiting on you guys!”
Then she turned around and said to Qing Yin, “So, I have just one rule. Everyone here must eat at the table!”
She didn’t wait for Qing Yin’s reaction and told Meng Yu to pull her to a seat. The Wu family brothers also climbed over the wall and came over. Their expressions were a bit awkward at scaling a wall in front of so many people, but their expressions immediately turned excited when they saw Golden Wind Jade Dew sitting at the table.
“Great Stronghold Master, Second Stronghold Master, you guys are already here? Why didn’t you let us brothers know?”
Yu Fenger laughed tenderly as he said, “The moment we arrived we were dragged here by Doudou, that’s why we didn’t have time to contact you guys.”
Now that everyone had arrived, they all picked up their chopsticks to start eating.
Right at this moment, however, a jaw-dropping scene occured.
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