Chapter 54 – Go Home and Show Off the Hot Pot Again

“Of course you don’t have it. Who is the Village Chief? How could ordinary people compare to her!”

“That’s right. Why else would the old village chief have to give instructions to the clan elders in their dreams after he died?”

“Next time, we’ll burn some incense to the ancestors. Having our Village Chief is truly the blessing of our forefathers.”

“…”

Jingxin looked at Xiaojiu with envy and said, “Hey, you’re just a little bean sprout, so how do you have such prestige in the village? I’m a bona fide Taoist priest, but everyone says I’m a fraud.”

His envy was so strong it made his teeth ache. If he had that many people believing in him, he wouldn’t be going hungry all the time.

Xiaojiu glanced at him, thought for a moment, and said, “Why don’t you try fortune-telling with a fake beard, dress up to look older?”

“That won’t do. I’m so handsome, I’ve got to let people see me. I can’t just cover up my face.” Jingxin touched his own cheeks, clearly satisfied with his own looks.

Xiaojiu rolled her eyes and didn’t bother with him anymore. This guy was even more narcissistic than she was.

System: Host, you’ve finally become self-aware.

The exhausted group quickly went their separate ways to rest, while Shi Xian and the others stayed at Xiaojiu’s courtyard, since Mr. Xu and Mr. Yan hadn’t returned yet.

Xu Xiaoxiao quickly scooped the Village Chief into her arms and asked, “Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I’ll make it right away.”

“Village Chief, hot pot! Let’s eat hot pot!” the chubby boy shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down, his fatigue for the day completely gone. He just wanted to eat meat as soon as possible.

“Eat! Let’s do it!” Xiaojiu waved her hand in agreement.

She had been craving it for a long time, and her stomach was already growling uncontrollably.

Hearing this, Zhao Hu and the others instantly decided not to go home either, trailing after them with eager faces.

“What’s hot pot?” Jingxin asked curiously.

Seeing the kids so excited, he figured it must be some sort of local specialty dish.

But he didn’t expect much. After all, he was a well-traveled man—what delicacy hadn’t he eaten? And really, could a little village have food that compared to the capital?

Meanwhile, the clan elder’s young grandson, Shitou, finally saw someone his own size and absolutely refused to go home. He ran up, grabbed Jiang He’s hand, and wanted to make friends.

In the past, the Village Chief and the others never wanted to take him along, saying he was too little. He wanted to tag along, but these people never walked properly—vanishing in the blink of an eye—leaving the sound of Shitou’s wailing echoing through the village.

But now, there was someone the same height as him, and Shitou couldn’t be happier.

Jiang He, seeing someone his own size, was also thrilled. Back in the Medicine God Valley, he didn’t have any peers. Later, following Xiaojiu’s group, he often didn’t understand what they were talking about, and since they could all fly, every time he wanted to keep up, his senior brother had to carry him.

The two short, chubby, round little guys walked hand in hand behind the group, looking like two adorable penguins.

Unfortunately, the heartless bunch in front was completely absorbed in their discussion about hot pot and had forgotten all about the two short-legged stragglers.

The little legs of the pair moved as fast as they could, but they still couldn’t catch up. Shitou, angry, plopped down on the ground and started fake-crying in a loud wail.

While crying, he complained loudly about everyone.

Only then did Xiaojiu and the others turn around and notice them—especially Qin Xu.

Seeing his little junior brother’s teary, accusing eyes, his guilt level shot straight up. Before their master left, he had been warned again and again to take good care of his junior brother. But just now, he’d been entirely focused on figuring out what hot pot was—blame that chubby kid for making it sound so delicious that it filled his head with nothing but food—until he completely forgot about his junior brother.

Qin Xu hurried over and scooped Jiang He into his arms.

Zhao Hu also quickly ran over and carried Shitou on his back.

Everyone was genuinely afraid Shitou would keep crying — his voice was so loud it was almost painful to the eardrums.

Once Zhao Hu carried him, Shitou immediately stopped crying. “Brother Zhao Hu, you’re so nice!”

“Do you really think I’m nice?” Zhao Hu asked.

Shitou nodded heavily. “Besides the Village Chief, you’re my favorite.”

Zhao Hu deliberately wanted to tease him, so he said, “If you think I’m nice, then give me one of the candies in your pocket.”

Shitou hurriedly clutched his little pocket tightly.

“I don’t have any, I ate them all!”

That was clearly like the idiom “hiding something in a place where it’s obvious.”

Zhao Hu slapped the little chubby butt behind him.

“You little liar, you haven’t learned a thing.”

Saying that, he leapt up with Shitou and flew toward the Village Chief’s courtyard. From far away, you could still hear Shitou’s excited shouting.

The group soon returned to the Village Chief’s courtyard.

Xu Xiaoxiao immediately went back to the kitchen to get busy.

Behind her followed Xu Tong, Xu Hao’s little sister.

Xu Tong was like Xiaoxiao’s shadow and loved staying in the kitchen, wholeheartedly wanting to apprentice under her.

Soon, a steaming hot pot was brought out.

Xiaojiu and the others quickly laid out the dishes and couldn’t wait to start eating.

Jingxin watched the kids wield their chopsticks so fast, wanting to comment on their hospitality manners, but he figured if he said anything, the food would probably disappear even faster.

He quickly rolled up his sleeves and dug in.

Following the kids’ example, he swished a slice of meat in the hot pot and eagerly popped it into his mouth.

In an instant, the tender meat met his tongue. The fragrant, spicy taste of the hot pot filled his mouth, awakening every taste bud with this wonderful flavor—irresistible.

Jingxin remembered what his master had said—that the person who wouldn’t let him worry about food and clothing was in Taoyuan Village. Surely his master was talking about this little girl. He had to hold onto this big help tightly.

Shi Xian and Qin Xu didn’t need any introduction—their appetites were surprisingly huge.

Focused solely on eating, they didn’t say a single word the entire time, fearing that if they spoke more, they’d eat less meat.

Zhao Hu saw Jingxin eating so much meat and couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you a Taoist? How can you eat meat?”

Jingxin rolled his eyes and explained, “Though I am a Taoist, there are no strict vegetarian rules for me. Eating meat is in accordance with nature and doesn’t affect my understanding or practice of the Tao.”

His flowery explanation made Zhao Hu feel Jingxin wasn’t a real Taoist at all—just a fake one freeloading on food.

The dishes on the table were devoured cleanly by everyone, and they still wanted more.

Seeing it was late, they could only think about continuing to eat next time.

After tidying up, everyone went back to their own homes to rest.

Having washed up, everyone could finally enjoy a good sleep.

Morning light gently filtered in, birds chirping outside the window woke everyone from their sleep.

As soon as Xiaojiu opened her eyes, she saw Cuihua staring straight at her.

Startled, Xiaojiu immediately woke fully.

“What are you doing? You scared me!” Xiaojiu quickly pulled Cuihua into her arms and petted her.

“Cuihua, I missed you so much.”

Hearing this, Cuihua was immediately happy.

“Master, I missed you so much. Master, when will you build my villa?”

Before Xiaojiu could answer, voices came from outside—Shen Qi speaking and Shen Zhiyuan loudly cursing with anger.

From the tone, they were furious—most likely Shen Zhiyuan’s bodyguard returning from the town with bad news.