Chapter – 55
So Jealous His Claws Itched
Lu Liufeng sensed the female lord’s gaze, looked back, and smiled at her gently.
Jiang Xi’s cheeks felt a little warm, and she smiled back at him.
But before she could say anything, her line of sight was suddenly blocked by a white figure.
Yi Yuexi lifted several bamboo tubes, his fox-like eyes curved into crescents as he asked with a grin,
“Female lord, the bamboo tubes are ready~~
How should we portion them~~”
Jiang Xi cleared her throat lightly and turned to guide him in portioning the spicy hotpot base.
The spicy base was divided into four bamboo tubes in total. The rest was diluted with water and left to boil—once it came to a boil, meat and vegetables could be added.
While waiting for the base to boil, Jiang Xi went to prepare the dipping sauces.
Considering that none of them had ever eaten this before, she made two fixed flavors instead of letting them mix their own.
One dry dip, and one spicy dip.
Unfortunately, there was no sesame oil; otherwise, she could have made an oil-based sauce as well.
The dry dip mainly consisted of ground chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves, tsaoko, and salt.
The spicy dip added ginger and garlic, and was seasoned with pork bone broth.
Today’s ingredients included lamb, pork belly, beef, tripe, layered beef omasum, sliced potatoes, sliced taro, purslane, shepherd’s purse, and potato noodles.
In addition, beef marrow bones, beef ribs, and lamb ribs were roasting over the fire pit.
Just thinking about it made Jiang Xi’s mouth water.
Chairs were arranged in a circle around the fire pit. Everything was ready—only waiting for the pot to boil!
Jiang Xi sat down eagerly, then suddenly felt that something was… off.
It felt like… something was missing?
As she was thinking, a golden figure appeared at the entrance of the fire room, drawn by the aroma.
Huo Lun’s nose twitched as he inhaled the rich fragrance filling the room.
“Is it time for lunch?”
Jiang Xi: “!!”
Oh no! She’d forgotten Huo Lun!!
She hurriedly stood up. “Yes, yes! We just got everything ready—we were waiting for you to start eating!”
Her dark eyes darted around, not daring to look at Huo Lun. When her gaze landed on the table full of beef, she felt even guiltier.
Most of it had been hunted by Huo Lun—yet she’d forgotten the main contributor.
When Mu Ling and Yi Yuexi saw Huo Lun appear, they froze for two seconds before belatedly realizing it too.
Right—Huo Lun was back. How did they forget him?
Neither of them felt guilty at all. Instead, they shamelessly acted on the spot and added another chair.
While moving the chair, Mu Ling said seriously, “We’re running out of bamboo. I’ll go cut some more today and make some chairs for the house for the female lord.”
Lu Liufeng had also forgotten, but he calmly smiled at Huo Lun.
“We were just about to call you. Sit down and eat.”
Huo Lun didn’t expose them.
Although he had gone to rest, he hadn’t really slept. He had been paying attention to the sounds from the fire room, watching this strange household.
An unfamiliar female lord. Unfamiliar co-husbands.
And he—had indeed been forgotten in a corner.
He even had the feeling that if he didn’t show up himself, they might not remember him even tomorrow.
In this family, he seemed a bit… redundant.
Huo Lun pretended not to notice, glanced at the two pots set side by side over the fire pit, and at the table full of ingredients, then asked,
“How do we eat this?”
Feeling guilty, and with the saying “one goes soft after eating another’s food” coming to mind, Jiang Xi was just about to enthusiastically explain when Lu Liufeng spoke first.
“Just put whatever you want to eat into the pot yourself. There’s a spicy pot and a non-spicy one—choose according to your taste. The female lord prepared two dipping sauces. You can dip the cooked meat and vegetables in them before eating.”
After saying that, Lu Liufeng looked toward the female lord and asked gently,
“Female lord, which meat should we start with?”
Jiang Xi quickly replied, “All of it! All of it! Put in a bit of everything!”
“Oh, right—don’t put leafy greens into the spicy pot. They absorb oil and heat too easily. They taste better in the pork bone broth.”
Lu Liufeng sat beside the female lord and began adding meat to the pot.
This time, Mu Ling used his speed ability to beat Yi Yuexi to it and sat down on the female lord’s other side.
Yi Yuexi stood in front of him with his bowl, staring at him.
Mu Ling pretended not to see and stared eagerly at the pot.
“When can we eat?”
Huo Lun, staying aloof and uninvolved, sat opposite the female lord on the other side of the table and helped Lu Liufeng add meat.
He didn’t really understand what spicy pot or non-spicy pot meant, but he didn’t ask.
Otherwise, it would make him seem uncultured.
Jiang Xi hugged her bowl, her expression perfectly synchronized with Mu Ling’s—both staring eagerly at the two large stone pots.
She was really hungry. Really wanted to eat!!
The aroma of hotpot filled the fire room. Jiang Xi swallowed.
“Thin slices can be eaten once they change color. Thicker cuts need to cook a bit longer.”
Mu Ling’s eyes were sharp and his hands quick. He snatched a slice of meat from the spicy pot. Just as he was about to put it into his own bowl, his chopsticks turned—and the meat landed in the female lord’s bowl instead.
“Female lord, eat meat.”
Jiang Xi froze for a moment. Thinking of what he’d said about wanting to stay, she felt inexplicably awkward, but still thanked him and said tactfully,
“I can get it myself. You should eat too.”
Of course, Mu Ling didn’t understand what “tactful” meant.
He only felt that the female lord was considerate and gentle.
Yi Yuexi, having failed to grab a seat, sat on Mu Ling’s other side. He was unhappy—but eating came first.
Meanwhile, after Lu Liufeng finished adding one batch of meat, he reached in with his chopsticks—only to find that the pot was left with nothing but chilies…
He fell silent.
Huo Lun picked up the very last slice of meat, pretending not to see Lu Liufeng’s silence.
He looked around, imitated Mu Ling and Yi Yuexi, dipped the meat into the sauce, and put it into his mouth.
Then he understood what true spiciness was.
“Cough, cough, cough—cough, cough, cough…”
Huo Lun coughed nonstop, his skin flushed red. Covering his mouth, he quickly stood up to look for water.
Yi Yuexi glanced at him sideways.
“Young Master Huo Lun, great clan leader—don’t eat so fast. There’s plenty of meat.”
Though that’s what he said, his eyes were already fixed on the pot, waiting for Lu Liufeng to add the second batch of meat.
Jiang Xi ate the steaming, spicy beef, her face full of bliss.
Outside, wind and snow raged. Inside the fire room, it was warm. Hotpot simmered, spicy aromas mingled with the fragrance of bone broth, and the rich scent of roasted beef marrow, beef ribs, and lamb ribs drifted through the air.
Happiness!
Happiness!!
Too happy!!!
When she went to pick up the second batch of meat, just as her chopsticks reached it, Mu Ling filled her bowl to the brim.
Jiang Xi placed the slice of meat she’d picked into her bowl and found it so full that it looked like she hadn’t eaten in several lifetimes.
At that moment, she noticed Lu Liufeng fishing around in the pot—but failing to find any meat.
So she put the meat she’d picked into his bowl and said with a smile,
“Eat!”
Lu Liufeng was momentarily stunned. His gaze dropped to see that there was still plenty of meat in the female lord’s bowl. Only then did he smile and say,
“Alright. Thank you, female lord.”
Jiang Xi secretly laughed to herself.
Hehe—feeding Lu Liufeng skill unlocked!
Mu Ling sat beside them, so jealous his claws itched.
Why him—Lu Liufeng?!
He doesn’t even serve the female lord, and yet he dares let the female lord serve him?!
Back when Mu Ling was resisting cursed beast hordes, he often heard other beastmen gnashing their teeth, saying how so-and-so was skilled at currying favor, how they managed to keep the female lord’s heart entirely with them—how the one who made the mistake was clearly that person, yet the female lord blamed the other husbands instead…
Mu Ling hadn’t understood it back then.
Now, he finally understood that teeth-grinding feeling.
Skilled.
Truly skilled.
