Daily Survival After Inheriting a Harem (GL) - Chapter 18

Qiu Qi herself didn’t yet know that she had been targeted. At this moment, she was hunkering down in the woods, secretly enjoying a meal from a stone pot.

Considering Pei Yuqing’s taste, she hadn’t dared to add much salt to her dishes these past two days. But being a couch potato at heart, Qiu Qi could never forget the allure of heavily oiled and spicy flavors.

She found a divided stone pot, cleaned it, and set it up over a campfire by the lake in the woods. Then, she poured in the bone broth that had been simmering for a long time.

She first tasted it with a spoon to check the saltiness. Satisfied, she then pulled out some stir-fried chili oil and added it in, stopping only when the spicy aroma became somewhat pungent.

Once the water boiled, she added a slice of lamb and eagerly took a bite. “Mmm! This is the taste!”

The old master chef’s knife skills were excellent; the lamb was sliced evenly thick, and with its fresh quality, a quick blanching resulted in a rich, full flavor. The slightly milky lamb fat coated her tongue, and every breath carried the aroma of meat. And that chili—she had specifically chosen it from dozens of chili varieties, then dried and stir-fried it. This kind of spiciness was far more satisfying and exciting than fresh chili!

Qiu Qi narrowed her eyes in bliss. This was too delicious; she could eat an entire lamb by herself!

As she was happily eating, there was a rustle in the bushes to her front-left. Qiu Qi instinctively protected her bowl and looked up cautiously.

“I smelled this pungent aroma from afar. Who could it be? Turns out it’s you, My Lord…” Xu Zishe swallowed the words “secretly eating” and rephrased it as, “doing research on new dishes here.”

Qiu Qi observed Xu Zishe’s appearance. Her neck was particularly striking and distinct from others, slender and long, like a swan, exuding a natural sense of superiority.

Her long hair was pulled up high, casually fastened with a bamboo hairpin at the back of her head. The outer corners of her willow-leaf eyebrows subtly turned upwards, making her look quite formidable. Being gazed at by those eyes gave one the feeling of being prey.

Qiu Qi recoiled slightly, feeling uncomfortable under Xu Zishe’s gaze. “Yes, I was afraid of choking Madam. She can’t stand such strong flavors.”

Xu Zishe suddenly smiled, quickly dropping her aggressive and intimidating expression. She squatted down beside Qiu Qi. “My Lord, I’m different from her. I… particularly enjoy stimulation. Would you like to find a time for us to try?”

“Oh? Is that so?” Qiu Qi pretended not to understand the flirtatious undertone in her words. She picked up a water-soaked tofu puff with her chopsticks and, smiling, held it out to Xu Zishe. “Then try this and see if it’s stimulating enough.”

Xu Zishe’s smile faltered, but she still opened her mouth and ate it.

The moment her teeth bit down, the scalding juice encased within the tofu puff spurted out. Not only was the temperature burning, but the abnormally high level of spiciness immediately raised the pain level by several notches.

“Ugh—”

“Eh?” Qiu Qi raised her hand to cover Xu Zishe’s mouth. “What, don’t you like stimulation the most? Is my cooking not good enough?”

Xu Zishe thought to herself, she really underestimated Qiu Qi. With trembling lips, she forced herself to swallow the bite, then bravely managed a smile. “My Lord is joking, of course it’s delicious.”

Actually, she wasn’t lying entirely. Aside from being scalded upon entry, this seemingly ordinary tofu puff became increasingly fragrant with each chew. Besides the meaty taste of the broth, there were also garlic, sesame, and some other flavors she couldn’t identify. Although complex when combined, the taste was remarkably delightful.

It was the kind of sensation that made you addicted after just one bite.

Seeing her staring at the dipping sauce in her bowl, Qiu Qi proactively explained, “This is my self-made secret dipping sauce. No matter what it is, just a little bit of this guarantees it’ll become super delicious.”

The contents of this bowl were her favorite hotpot condiments: sesame oil mixed with chili, a little crushed peanuts, and, of course, minced garlic, essential for eating meat.

Naturally, there was also a bowl of sesame paste on the other side, allowing for a quick switch between flavors.

Sesame paste could be unusual and rich for first-timers, but like durian, once you ate it often enough, you truly couldn’t get enough of it.

When Xu Zishe was in her beast form before, she had no sense of taste. Only after cultivating into human form did she gradually discover the great pleasure of eating.

Speaking of foodies, she truly deserved the title of veteran. She never went out, yet she cultivated a small vegetable garden in the courtyard and hand-copied hundreds of recipes from human cuisine. Whenever she had time, she would hole up in her room and experiment. Her room was far from the main courtyard, so no one noticed whatever she was concocting.

“What is the name of this dish?” Xu Zishe became interested. “I consider myself quite knowledgeable about human cuisine, but I’ve never seen anyone cook food this way. Since it’s all cooked, why not just put everything in at the beginning?”

If you just put everything in at the beginning, wouldn’t it become Mala Tang? Qiu Qi thought to herself, complaining.

But she didn’t say that directly to Xu Zishe.

“Because the fun is in the eating! You can come and try. While you put the ingredients into the pot and wait for them to float up, your appetite and anticipation will build to the maximum. At that moment, when you take a bite, the taste is indescribably blissful.”

Perhaps Qiu Qi’s description was too enticing, as Xu Zishe indeed picked up a pair of empty chopsticks and dropped a vegetable leaf into the pot.

When the vegetable leaf was cooked clear and soft by the red broth, she picked it up again, took some of the highly appealing secret sauce, blew on it to cool it, and put it in her mouth.

“Mmm.” Her eyes lit up. “This vegetable leaf actually tastes like meat. How wonderful.”

Qiu Qi frowned, sensing something wasn’t right. “Did you just take the piece of meat I put in there? My pot is empty!”

Xu Zishe seemed to just realize it, dramatically covering her mouth. “Oh? Is that so? My apologies, My Lord, my eyesight isn’t very good, you know.”

Qiu Qi knew she was deliberately getting revenge for the tofu puff incident earlier. She rolled her eyes, too lazy to argue further with her.

A single portion of ingredients, eaten by two people, was instantly gone.

“Are you a reincarnation of a starving ghost? You ate more than me.” Although the fun of hotpot was indeed in scrambling for food, not once had she managed to out-scramble the other person, which truly bothered Qiu Qi.

Xu Zishe, having eaten her fill, was elegantly wiping the chili oil from her mouth with a handkerchief. Meeting Qiu Qi’s angry gaze, she simply feigned ignorance and smiled softly.

“I’ll remember this. Next time, I’ll purposely hide from you when I eat,” Qiu Qi said, picking up her small stone pot, intending to destroy the evidence.

“Wait.” Xu Zishe called out to Qiu Qi, pulling out a porcelain white bottle from her bosom. “This is a gift for My Lord, a small repayment for that golden snake statue and the hotpot just now.”

Qiu Qi was puzzled. “What is this?”

Xu Zishe played coy. “You don’t need to know what it is. Just know that you’ll be using it very soon.”

“Playing mysterious…” Though she grumbled this, Qiu Qi still accepted it.

Based on experience, in such situations, it was better to believe than not believe, and most importantly, how could one discard an item given by an NPC!

••••

After enjoying the spicy hotpot, the happiest thing was, of course, immediately having a popsicle!

Qiu Qi washed the pot clean and scurried into the ice storage, taking out the popsicles she had put in earlier.

The milk here was particularly rich and had a subtle sweetness, making it especially suitable for ice cream. Qiu Qi had made many flavors. She took out a osmanthus-flavored one, put the rest back into the icebox, and walked out, exuding a cool aura.

Walking leisurely down the road near her home, biting on a popsicle, was her favorite thing to do when she lacked inspiration. In this otherworldly realm, this sense of ease felt incredibly precious.

When she got tired, Qiu Qi sat down to rest in a small pavilion. This courtyard was as large as a scenic area, and a casual stroll would reveal sights worthy of a five-star rating.

She ate her popsicle, gazing at the lake reflecting the setting sun, feeling increasingly inspired. She simply picked up a branch and began to draw on the ground.

Her first stroke depicted what she was best at—the human body. With a few quick lines, she outlined the basic form. Then, Qiu Qi focused her attention on the figure’s face. Since she had no other image in her mind at the moment, she unconsciously incorporated Pei Yuqing’s face.

The tightly pursed lips, the eyelashes always lowered, obscuring the expression in her eyes, a very straight but delicately handsome nose. And as for her figure… Qiu Qi blushed as she recalled, then quickly moved her wrist, adding a stronger sense of “three-dimensionality” to the upper body of the figure in the drawing.

“Hmm, that’s better,” she snapped her fingers, smiling contentedly. Just as she was about to lower her head to bite into her ice cream, her eyes dropped and she realized there was only a stick left.

“Chirp chirp chirp… so sweet…”

Her gaze fell, and Qiu Qi finally saw the small blue bird on the nearby table, its bottom sticking out as it licked the melted sugar water from the popsicle.

“Little chubby bird, when did you get here?”

The little chubby bird’s body stiffened, its tail feathers quivered, and it turned around. “It’s… Master. Master sent me to call you back.”

“Oh.” Qiu Qi rested her chin on her hand, looking at it. “What does Madam want with me?”

Lan Tang saw that Qiu Qi had no intention of scolding it, and happily licked the sugar water again. “Master didn’t say, just told me to call you back.”

“Alright then.” Qiu Qi extended her finger. “Little chubby bird, come on up. Let’s go find your master together.”

“Chirp…” Lan Tang reluctantly glanced at the sugar water, then unwillingly moved two steps forward.

Qiu Qi looked at its greedy expression and wanted to laugh. “We can’t delay. Let’s go back first. On the way, we’ll make a quick stop at the ice storage, and I’ll get you another one.”

Lan Tang’s tiny eyes widened. “Really? Chirp chirp chirp! Lan Tang loves eating cold stuff!”

“Really.” Qiu Qi had a mischievous thought. “So, if I treat you to a popsicle, can I touch your little belly?”

“Chirp!” Lan Tang shrieked, covering its belly with its wings. “Big pervert!”

“Where did you get that idea? I just think your belly looks really soft to the touch,” Qiu Qi explained. “Otherwise, you can touch mine back.”

“Lan Tang doesn’t want to touch your belly at all!” After their popsicle camaraderie, Lan Tang was much less timid, and its voice became much louder. “But if it’s just for a moment, and you’re willing to give me many, many popsicles…”

“Okay, just for a moment,” Qiu Qi raised a finger.

“Really, just for a moment, okay?” Lan Tang shyly moved its wings aside. This was the first time it had exposed its belly for anyone other than its master to touch, but that sweet popsicle was too delicious; it simply couldn’t resist the temptation.

“Okay, I’ll just touch it, very quickly.”

When Pei Yuqing came looking for them, she happened to witness Qiu Qi excitedly coaxing her own mount and rubbing its belly, while the proud and withdrawn Lan Tang surprisingly didn’t resist, lowering its little head and seeming somewhat shy.

Her gaze swept over Qiu Qi’s fingers resting on Lan Tang, and her expression darkened slightly.

“Lan Tang.” A familiar voice sounded from behind her. The clear, cold voice, though faint, was like a thunderclap. “I told you to call My Lord. What are you doing here now?”

Both the person and the bird froze, then turned their heads in unison. “Madam/Master, she/it forced me! It has nothing to do with me!”

After speaking, Qiu Qi glared at the little blue sparrow. “Little thing, you’re quite good at arguing, aren’t you?”

Soon, Qiu Qi realized that Pei Yuqing’s attention wasn’t on them at all, but rather, her gaze had passed over Qiu Qi’s shoulder and landed on the sandy ground, on the drawing of a certain forbidden-colored human figure that Qiu Qi had sketched with a branch.

Those eyebrows and eyes looked incredibly familiar.

Pei Yuqing’s expression immediately became somber, and the look in her eyes was tumultuous.

“Madam, I… is it still not too late for me to explain now?”