Poor Qin Ke was about to endure a night with a broken leg. Kui Qingqing felt sorry for him but had no other choice. Qin Ke grimaced in pain, and with resignation, he said, "Well, let it be. I can endure it for one night."
Qian Lingling chimed in, "Boss, don't worry. I'll make a swift recovery and treat you as soon as possible."
Qin Ke's lips trembled. There were fewer healers among the ability users. Even if Qian Lingling didn't treat him immediately, what could he do?
When Kui Qingqing returned home, it was nearly ten o'clock in the evening. The whole town was quiet, and she opened the door to her silent home. Kui Qingqing first went upstairs and found her room empty, with the neatly folded blankets on the bed. It then occurred to her that Tao Ran had taken the blankets today and went to sleep in the guest room.
Annoyed when seeing him, but uncomfortable when not seeing him—Kui Qingqing went downstairs to confirm Tao Ran's location. She wanted to ask him why, out of all the rooms upstairs, he chose the one downstairs. She also wanted to wake him up, tell him about the northern ability users, and ask if he had any good ideas. Standing outside his room, Kui Qingqing hesitated and couldn't bring herself to knock on the door.
Forget it, let him rest well, Kui Qingqing thought.
After lingering for a while, Kui Qingqing went back upstairs and lay on the bed. It didn't take long before she fell asleep.
When the sunlight streamed into the room and woke Kui Qingqing up, Tao Ran was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
With messy chicken nest hair, Kui Qingqing descended the stairs and looked at Tao Ran busily working in the kitchen with a dazed expression. She asked, "What time is it?"
Tao Ran replied, "It's eight o'clock."
"It's already eight o'clock," Kui Qingqing stretched lazily and said, "You're really diligent."
Tao Ran turned around and laughed at her appearance. Frowning, Kui Qingqing asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Suppressing his laughter, Tao Ran said, "Nothing. Sister, go freshen up, and then we can have breakfast."
Kui Qingqing realized that she hadn't taken a bath yesterday before going to sleep. She decided to take a shower before eating. As soon as she entered the bathroom, she was almost brought to tears by the sight of the crazy woman in the mirror. Goodness, was that really how she looked while talking to him just now?
Kui Qingqing felt on the verge of a breakdown, so much so that during breakfast, she couldn't even bring herself to make eye contact with Tao Ran.
Tao Ran calmly enjoyed his meal as if yesterday's kissing incident on the lake had never happened. The breakfast was pork rib noodles, and the soup was a rich and flavorful pork rib broth. As Tao Ran slurped his noodles, he sensed that Kui Qingqing was looking at him, so he graciously raised his eyes and met her gaze.
To his surprise, Kui Qingqing quickly looked away the moment their eyes met. Tao Ran found it amusing, and with a serious expression, he asked, "Sister, are the noodles delicious?"
Kui Qingqing truthfully replied, "Delicious."
Tao Ran continued, "Are they enough?"
In fact, it wasn't enough because Tao Ran deliberately served Kui Qingqing a slightly smaller bowl. Kui Qingqing was conflicted and didn't want Tao Ran to think she was a big eater. So she reluctantly said, "It's enough..."
"Oh, I see. That's such a waste then," Tao Ran said. "There are still noodles in the pot, and I can't finish them. I'll have to throw them away."
Kui Qingqing immediately exclaimed, "No, how can we waste them like that?"
"But we can't finish them," Tao Ran replied.
"We can finish them," Kui Qingqing put on a responsible look and said, "I can still barely eat a bit more, if necessary."
"Oh, sister, please don't force yourself," Tao Ran said.
Kui Qingqing felt a little guilty and said, "It's okay, really."
She quickly finished her bowl and happily went to serve herself more noodles. When Kui Qingqing sat down again, Tao Ran gave her the fried egg from his bowl. Kui Qingqing asked, "Aren't you eating it?"
"I'm giving it to you," Tao Ran replied.
Ever since Tao Ran arrived, Kui Qingqing felt that having a meal was a very happy thing. She slurped her noodles and casually asked, "You're so young, how did you become such a great cook?"
It is the result of hundreds of years of practice...
Tao Ran's face showed no flaws as he said, "I suppose it's talent. I tend to learn things quickly."
Kui Qingqing thought of Tao Ran's terrifying ability and thought to herself that he must be a genius, naturally superior to others. After finishing her noodles, Tao Ran went to wash the dishes, and Kui Qingqing called out from the kitchen, "When preparing lunch, let's make one for Qin Ke too. His leg was broken again last night, and if you don't cook for him, he'll have to eat Qian Lingling's pickles."
Tao Ran responded from the kitchen with irritation, and Kui Qingqing said nothing more and pushed the door out.
After Tao Ran finished washing the dishes, he realized Kui Qingqing wasn't there anymore. He thought she had gone to see Qin Ke, so he also left. As he walked along the streets of the town, he saw a few wind-based ability users cleaning up the trash. When they saw Tao Ran approaching, they asked, "Where did you get that bag of plums yesterday?"
Tao Ran replied, "I got them in the county town to the south."
Those few people immediately became dejected because the county town was not a place they could easily enter. Tao Ran said, "If you want to eat, I'll get more next time."
This was truly an unexpected windfall. They hadn't had any fruit for a long time. As they say, when you eat someone else's food, don't complain. Although the fruit hadn't been distributed yet, it didn't stop them from flattery. Just as they were desperately trying to flatter Tao Ran, a few people passed by.
Tao Ran looked at them and found them unfamiliar. He asked, "Are they also from the town? I don't think I've seen them before."
"They're not from the town."
"It seems like they're supernatural ability users from the north. They arrived last night and were looking for the boss. The boss has been running around for them and ended up breaking his other leg."
It turned out to be them. Tao Ran recalled the plot from the novel. At this time, several powerful ability users were planning to unite and overthrow the government of ordinary people. Before that, they contacted other forces to consolidate all their power. Tao Ran remembered that in the novel, Qin Ke had refused to join them because, at this point in the story, Qin Ke was already with Zhen Ling. He didn't want to oppose the government for the sake of Zhen Ling.
However, due to Tao Ran's influence, Qin Ke and Zhen Ling hadn't reached that stage yet, so Tao Ran didn't know how Qin Ke would ultimately choose.
Tao Ran went to Qian Lingling's house and realized that Kui Qingqing wasn't there at all. Not only was she not there, but she was also not in the town either. She must have gone to investigate, as the town was indeed missing some people. In the novel, Qin Ke was actually in charge of the investigation, but now that he was a disabled person with a broken leg, the task naturally fell on Kui Qingqing, the second-in-command of the town.
Qin Ke said, "Don't worry, it's just an investigation, not a fight. What are you planning to cook for lunch? Are you making soup?"
Tao Ran looked at him coldly, thinking, Soup? You must be dreaming. Tao Ran had prepared many dishes for lunch and even invited Qian Lingling to join them. There were plenty of dishes on the table, but there were only a few that Qin Ke could eat because Tao Ran had added chili to all of them.
Qian Lingling said, "Boss, you're still not fully recovered. You shouldn't eat spicy food. Have some vegetables instead. They're not spicy."
Zhen Ling and Qian Lingling both enjoyed spicy food. As they savored the spicy and fragrant meat dish, they radiated a sense of happiness from the bottom of their hearts. Qin Ke could also eat spicy food, but now he could only silently swallow his tears while nibbling on the vegetables.
"Chao Ge," Qin Ke lamented, "you really hold a grudge. A man should be more magnanimous."
Tao Ran replied with just one sentence, "I don't hit women."
Qin Ke: "..."
Zhen Ling wanted to laugh, and Qin Ke, with a mournful face, said, "Ling Ling, you've gone too far. It's bad enough that you don't sympathize with me, but you're also mocking me."
Zhen Ling suppressed her laughter and poured a bowl of hot water, placing it beside him. She said, "If you really want to eat meat, then dip it in the water and eat it."
"Wuwuwu..." Qin Ke was moved to tears. "You're the best."
Several days later, when Kui Qingqing returned, she came back looking dusty and worn out. The first thing she did after returning was to find Qin Ke. Then, one by one, the others also returned, and they gathered together. Kui Qingqing said, "Some forces didn't participate, but many did."
Qin Ke pondered for a moment and asked, "What do you all mean?"
Everyone fell silent. Although they harbored resentment towards ordinary people, they still didn't want to exterminate them by capturing them all. Lao Zhang scratched his bald head and said, "If this really happens, what will become of humanity? Will we truly face extinction?"
"I don't know," Qin Ke shook his head. "Personally, I don't want to get involved in this matter, but I respect your opinions. If you want to participate, you can leave at any time."
The group looked at each other, and Kui Qingqing was the first to speak up. "My cousin's cooking is on par with Michelin-star chefs. I want to stay in the town and enjoy life. I won't participate in this shitty thing."
At this moment, the others realized how peaceful and tranquil life in the town was. They all expressed their reluctance to participate. Someone even made a joke, saying they wanted to taste the culinary skills of a Michelin-star chef.
Qin Ke smiled and said, "Although ability users can't have descendants, we can still gather together and manage our town well, and live happily."
"That's right. What benefits do we have if we go all out with them?"
"Chao Ge said he wants to take me to steal fruits, but I don't have the free time for that..."
Having made up his mind, Qin Ke was ready to refuse those people.
Kui Qingqing returned home and collapsed wearily onto the new sofa. Tao Ran brought a plate of freshly washed fruits and Kui Qingqing commented, "How virtuous."
"Sister, are you tired?" Tao Ran walked up behind her and began to give her a massage. "What did you go out for?"
Most of the people in the town were unaware of this matter, and although Tao Ran had read the script, he had to pretend not to know. Kui Qingqing said, "It's nothing. You just need to take care of making delicious food for me every day."
Tao Ran knew that Qin Ke had made the same choice as in the novel, otherwise Kui Qingqing wouldn't have said such words. His lips moved, wanting to say something, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Well, I recently got some seasonings. How about I make you some salt and pepper chicken strips?"
Upon hearing this, Kui Qingqing's mouth started to water instinctively, and she eagerly said, "Yes, okay, I want to eat that!"