"Wow! I'm so sorry!" Damselette heard the sapling hit Yu Jin and immediately hopped back a step, apologizing profusely.
"Xiangling? What are you doing here? Didn't you say you were going back to Liyue?" Draff looked at Xiangling before him, utterly bewildered.
"Heh... hehe, just looking for ingredients, it's normal to linger a bit!" The Damselette named Xiangling gave an unnatural laugh and quickly retracted the small sapling she was holding.
Oh no! Oh no! I can't believe I was caught red-handed. There's no way to argue my way out of this.
Xiangling looked at Guoba behind her, gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and stepped forward, saying:
"Mr. Draff! I'm so sorry! I'm the one who burned down this forest! Just tell me what compensation you want! As long as you don't send me to the Knights of Favonius!"
With that, the Damselette clasped her hands above her head and bowed deeply to everyone present.
Yu Jin looked at the peculiar creature clinging to Xiangling's leg, then at the crooked saplings next to her, finding it quite amusing.
Is this the God Osial spoke of, the one who gave up his wisdom? I never imagined he'd become a Damselette's little follower.
And by the looks of it, their relationship is quite good? She even took the blame for setting the mountain on fire.
"Xiangling... how do I feel like I've heard that name somewhere?" Yu Jin stroked his chin, finding it familiar.
"She's a famous chef from Liyue," Draff reminded Yu Jin, seeing him in thought.
"Oh! I remember now! She's the chef from Wanmin Restaurant in Liyue! A pleasure to meet you!" Yu Jin clapped his hands, suddenly enlightened.
As he spoke, he familiarly took Xiangling's hand and shook it. Although Yu Jin's cooking skills weren't great, he greatly respected those who could cook.
He had just wondered why the name sounded so familiar; the head chef of Wanmin Restaurant was a renowned figure in Liyue.
Liyue cuisine is divided into two major schools: Liyue cuisine and Yue cuisine.
The two schools each held half of the culinary world, and they had been locked in a prolonged struggle to determine superiority.
Because both Liyue cuisine and Yue cuisine adhered to the philosophy of [It's not about deliciousness, but about prestige].
This directly led to the monopolization of rare ingredients in Liyue Harbor by these two major schools, leaving ordinary Liyue chefs resentful.
It should be said that their philosophy was partially correct; rare ingredients inherently possess a deliciousness that other ingredients cannot. Coupled with the chef's skill, there were quite a few renowned dishes in Liyue cuisine and Yue cuisine.
However, all of this was shattered by the Damselette named Xiangling. Using the most common ingredients to create delicacies that rivaled Liyue cuisine and Yue cuisine—that was what she did.
Under her hands, Wanmin Restaurant's popularity grew steadily, subtly showing signs of rivaling Liuli Pavilion and Xinyue Kiosk!
Perhaps Wanmin Restaurant is not yet on par with these two titans of Liyue cuisine and Yue cuisine, but let's not forget, Xiangling is still just a Damselette.
"So, why did you, Xiangling, set such a large patch of forest on fire?" Draff looked at the Damselette before him, speaking with a touch of helplessness.
Last time, she ran directly into the hunting forest to catch wild boars, and thankfully she was stopped. This time was even worse; she directly set a large patch of forest on fire.
If she kept "searching" for ingredients like this, Draff felt Xiangling needed some training to avoid being beaten to death later.
"This... this..." Xiangling gave a dry laugh, scratched her head, and then, with her eyes darting around, said:
"It was when I was smoking out bees, yes! It was when I was smoking out bees to get honey!"
After saying this, Xiangling let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, her mind was quick, otherwise, she would have been exposed.
Thinking of this, she tugged at Guoba's brownish-yellow fur with a bit of anger.
Really, Guoba is usually so cute and quiet, why did he become so agitated here?
Not only that, but it seemed his strength had also grown significantly.
Xiangling shivered, remembering Guoba breathing fire not long ago. Why hadn't she noticed Guoba was so powerful before?
However, seeing Guoba's aggrieved expression, Xiangling's small resentment vanished without a trace.
Perhaps there was something here that made Guoba uncomfortable. Xiangling rubbed Guoba's head, thinking to herself.
"Smoking out bees requires such a big fire?" Draff looked at the charred forest, his face full of disbelief.
"Yes... I'm sorry! I'll try my best to compensate, how... how much Mora!" Xiangling waved her hands immediately, seeing Draff's wide-eyed expression.
"I'll... I'll even help you promote Springvale's meat!" Xiangling touched her empty raccoon pouch at her waist.
She gritted her teeth, and between her principles and Guoba, she decisively chose the latter. No matter what, Guoba was her good partner, and she had to help with the trouble he caused!
After saying this, Xiangling's demeanor became dejected. In her opinion, there was no distinction between noble and humble in food; everything was a "usable ingredient."
Hilichurl wooden clubs, Slime condensate, strange insects... these were all ingredients; people just hadn't discovered their uses yet.
"So, will you still add strange things to the meat?" Draff frowned slightly. His original intention was for Xiangling to promote the deliciousness of Springvale's meat.
If Xiangling added some "peculiar" things and caused people to misunderstand the quality of Springvale's meat, it would be counterproductive.
"Add strange things?" Yu Jin's tone carried a hint of excitement.
"Yes, Xiangling is good in every way, except she likes to add strange things to her dishes. It makes people... it makes people a bit unable to accept it."
Draff felt he couldn't accept it when he thought of dishes containing Slime condensate, Mist Flowers, and other alchemical materials!
"I'm just developing the edible value of those things; you can't just discard them because they don't look like food." As soon as she talked about her cooking philosophy, Xiangling's aura immediately elevated.
"A kindred spirit!"
Light! Such dazzling light!
Two striking beams of light shot from Yu Jin's eyes. He instantly appeared beside Xiangling, taking her hand and shaking it even more vigorously.
"A kindred spirit, ah, I think the same way! Finally, someone is just like me!" Yu Jin looked at the dazed Xiangling before him, exclaiming excitedly.
"What? You think the same way as me!" Xiangling heard Yu Jin's words, subtly withdrew her arm, and was equally surprised.
Although her cooking was recognized by everyone, when she developed new dishes, everyone avoided them, leaving her to taste the new dishes alone.
It was an unexpected joy to find someone who shared her ideas during this trip to find ingredients and inspiration for new dishes!
"Then how do you think we should remove the gelatinous texture of Slime condensate?" Xiangling, having met a kindred spirit, immediately wanted to delve into discussion.
"I don't know!" Yu Jin shook his head.
"Then... then you must know how to remove the bitterness from Qingxin, right?" Xiangling was a little surprised.
"What is Qingxin? Is it delicious?" Yu Jin scratched his head; it was another thing he didn't know.
"Then what kind of dishes do you usually make?" Xiangling felt something was off. How could Yu Jin, this "kindred spirit," not know anything?
"What kind of dishes do I make?" Yu Jin's hands immediately began to itch when he heard Xiangling's words. He hadn't cooked in a long time.
"Clang clang clang!"
After a series of clattering sounds, a brand new large cooking stove appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Bang!" Yu Jin, with his back to the crowd, lit the flames. The flames seemed to rise from beneath the stove out of nowhere, burning bright red.
Subsequently, everyone witnessed a bizarre sight.
Although they didn't see Yu Jin do anything, many things appeared in the large pot.
Wriggling tentacles, inexplicable howls, feathers spewing forth... A small pot seemed to contain all living creatures.
"Get in!"
"Trying to run?"
"Ptooey ptooey ptooey, why is there so much fur?"
...The sounds of beating and Yu Jin's murmurs rang out, and finally, he lifted the large pot and turned around.
Everyone looked into the pot, which contained a lump of meat emitting a fragrant aroma.
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