Chapter 115: A New Younger Sister
Just like that, world 2.0 successfully settled into Liu Sheng's body, becoming a part of this vast family.
Thankfully, it was quite dull and spoke little, otherwise Liu Sheng would have truly gone insane.
Of course, she wasn't sure if she had already gone insane.
Accompanied by the incessant voices in her head, Liu Sheng yawned and knocked on Miss Wen and Doll Tree's room doors one by one.
When they came out of the Weird Domain, they happened to land in the mountains near Little Green Garden.
Liu Sheng thought that since she had already taken three days off, plus one day of rest, she still had a day and a half of vacation left, so she might as well go home.
So, after everyone walked to a nearby village, Liu Sheng took Wen Weilan and the clingy Doll Tree to bid farewell to the others, hitching a ride on the small cart of a peddler who was going to Little Green Garden to sell mountain goods in the early morning, squeezing in with yams and sweet potatoes all the way home.
Upon arriving home, her parents were naturally both surprised and worried. Although they wanted to ask their daughter what was wrong, seeing their dusty appearance and the strange-looking young girl they brought, they still told them to rest first.
This rest lasted straight through lunchtime, and they didn't wake up until evening.
Just in time for Liu Ruhai's excellent cooking.
When Liu Ruhai saw his daughter come home and, even more rarely, brought two friends back, he quickly dropped his work at the restaurant and went to Old Man Yang to get five catties of freshly slaughtered lamb, then went to Aunt Zhu to pick up five large pig trotters.
When he went out, he happened to see a small bucket of snails in front of the old peddler selling mountain goods and river fresh by the street, so he bought them all, and also bought fresh bamboo shoots and mushrooms.
On the way, he saw the famous "Tofu Pan An" Young Brother Pan's newly made tofu, which was as white and tender as jade, so he asked for a block.
Back home, the snails were soaked in water to spit out sand, the lamb was stewed, and he started to braise trotter soup.
By evening, seeing that it was almost time, he began to make braised tofu, and then finely shredded the ham Liu Sheng had bought back last time, simmering it with fresh bamboo shoots and mushrooms in a pot of soup.
Finally, the cleaned snails were stir-fried fragrantly with garlic, ginger, perilla leaves, and chili peppers, so much so that Liu Sheng could smell it even in Wen Weilan's room.
"Quick, quick, my Young Miss, it's time to eat," Liu Sheng urged.
Wen Weilan, who had been maintaining her slow movements due to brain overload recently, immediately sped up when she smelled the various aromas wafting from the kitchen. She quickly put on her clothes and rushed out the door before even putting on her shoes properly.
Instead, Liu Sheng fell behind and was urged by Wen Weilan.
At this moment, a table full of dishes had already been set in the hall.
"Come, come, everyone sit down. Today I made a lot of delicious food for you," Liu Ruhai greeted enthusiastically, "Sheng Sheng, and your favorite trotter soup."
Liu Sheng had already been eyeing the trotter soup and quickly sat down, chopsticks in hand, ready at any moment.
So you like to drink trotter soup.
I remember my favorite was stir-fried snails, which also happens to be available today.
I remember when I first started school, I got an 'A+' in my first assessment, and when I came home that day, my father specially made a braised pork ribs to reward me, and I've loved it ever since.
Me too, which is why I fell in love with mushroom stewed chicken.
Same, same.
Hurry up and start eating! I want to taste what this flavor is that's worth being so captivated by.
Liu Sheng suppressed the noise in her head and looked curiously at Doll Tree, who was sitting at the table with a gluttonous expression, and asked, "Doll Tree, can you eat meat?"
As a tree, shouldn't she be eating wind and dew, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon?
"Of course I can! How many plants in the world feed on birds and beasts!" Doll Tree pouted.
Ling Youlian couldn't help but smile as she saw Wen Weilan lowering her head, looking reserved and shy, and Doll Tree eager to move but secretly peeking at Liu Sheng for approval.
"Don't be constrained, go ahead and eat. Since you are Sheng Sheng's friends, just treat this as your own home."
As soon as she finished speaking, while Wen Weilan was still politely remembering her aristocratic Young Miss's table manners, Doll Tree had already reached out directly to scoop a large piece of trotter to eat.
Liu Sheng quickly reached out to stop her.
"She... grew up in the mountains, I forgot she doesn't understand these things," Liu Sheng said vaguely under Liu Ruhai and Ling Youlian's surprised and curious gazes.
Afterward, Liu Sheng explained that Doll Tree was a harmless Spirit Monster they met in the mountains.
She ultimately didn't tell her parents that she had gone to the Weird Domain to hunt monsters, fearing they would worry.
Ling Youlian, however, really liked the cute and delicate-looking Doll Tree. Upon hearing that she had no parents and grew up wild in the mountains, she felt great pity.
So she took the initiative to personally teach Doll Tree how to use chopsticks and a spoon, and how to eat rice and drink soup from a bowl.
Her gentle and soft manner made Liu Sheng a little jealous.
Fortunately, Doll Tree, true to her name as a famous tree in the Universe, had extraordinary learning abilities and quickly learned. She ate a chopstick full of lamb and a mouthful of mountain delicacy soup, her mouth full of oil, enjoying herself immensely.
"You too, how could you give such a casual name like 'Doll Tree' to a young girl?"
Ling Youlian had some reservations about Liu Sheng's naming skills.
"Sheng'er's names for her little chickens, ducks, and turtles when she was little weren't very good either," Liu Ruhai reminded from the side.
"How could that be!" Liu Sheng retorted indignantly.
"Little chicken was called Xiao Yi, little duck was called Xiao Er, and little turtle was called Xiao Si," Liu Ruhai listed them one by one without mercy.
Wen Weilan, listening nearby, let out a chuckle, then quickly suppressed her smile after seeing Liu Sheng's expression.
Liu Sheng refused to admit that she was bad at naming things and could only silently bury her head in gnawing on the trotter.
Ling Youlian stroked Doll Tree's swaying little head and asked, "The name Doll Tree is a bit unusual. Would you like a more formal name?"
Doll Tree blinked her round eyes blankly: "I'll listen to you."
She already felt a sense of closeness to Liu Sheng, and an inexplicable feeling of filial piety emerged towards Liu Sheng's mother. Sometimes, looking at Ling Youlian, she would inexplicably remember a vast, blurry figure.
It felt very familiar, but she didn't remember it at all.
"There's a small tree growing freely in the mountains, so... how about we call you Ling Xiaoshu?" Ling Youlian asked with a smile.
Wen Weilan: ...Finally, she knew where Liu Sheng's terrible naming sense came from.
Liu Sheng, on the other hand, secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, Ling Youlian didn't just decide on a whim to name Doll Tree "Ling You Shu," otherwise she would feel like she had to call Doll Tree "Little Aunt."
"But why do you share the same surname as you?" Liu Ruhai asked with some doubt.
"Don't worry about it, as long as Xiao Shu doesn't mind!" Ling Youlian had always been the one to make decisions in the household.
The freshly named Ling Xiaoshu naturally had no objections.
"But Sheng Sheng, how did you end up in the deep mountains?"
Ling Youlian picked up a piece of lamb for Liu Sheng, her eyes lightly drifting over her as she asked casually.
Liu Sheng's heart immediately tightened.
Here it comes, here it comes!
She's testing you!
No one knows a daughter better than her mother!
Hmph hmph, let's see how you explain this.