Chapter 333: The Divine Stone is the Quest Board
After Yu An finished washing up, she came out to see Da Hu lying in bed, counting something on his fingers.
She walked over and asked, "Sweetheart, what are you counting?"
"I’m counting how long it’s been since I slept with Female Mother," he said sullenly, throwing himself into Yu An’s arms. "Female Mother, it’s been a very, very long time. So long I can’t even count it."
He hadn’t thought much of it when he was sleeping with his younger brothers and sisters, but sleeping with his Female Mother today so suddenly, he was reminded of a time long, long ago when he was the only Zaizai in her arms.
Then, slowly, there was Xiao Yu, then Xiao Hu... And with the Beast Fathers also vying for her affection, he was afraid there wasn’t even a pinky-sized space left for him in his Female Mother’s heart.
Hearing him out, Yu An was both amused and a little guilty.
"How could you think that," she said, kissing Da Hu’s little cheek. "In my heart, you children are the most important. Your Beast Fathers have to get in line way, way behind you."
"Of course, the most important person is Female Mother herself," she said playfully. "And Da Hu, for you too, the most important person in your heart should be you. Female Mother can just be second."
"No," Da Hu pouted. "Female Mother is the most important. I’m second."
’Then my younger siblings. The Beast Fathers can just be pushed further down the line.’
"Alright, alright," Yu An said, unable to stifle her laughter. "Female Mother is so touched!"
They talked for a long time, until their voices gradually faded, and only then did Yu An close her eyes and drift off to sleep.
Da Hu was still young and couldn’t hide his emotions. His dejection from being neglected for so long, and his excitement from their whispered conversation just now, were plain to see.
’The other Zaizai are probably the same,’ Yu An thought. She decided she would spend some quality time with them over this period.
’As for the Beast Husbands... they can sleep on their own. They’re grown-ups; their feelings won’t be hurt.’
Overnight, Da Hu became visibly more lively and childish. He stuck to Yu An wherever she went, and it was as if she had returned to her time in the exiled land.
The Zaizai were very orderly. They had agreed to one person per day and night, so while Da Hu was clinging to their Female Mother, the others were in charge of pestering the two Beast Fathers.
Yu An had told Han Li and Ao Wu about it first thing in the morning. The two of them didn’t say much, but seeing the current situation, it seemed that not only could they not hold their fragrant, soft Female Master while sleeping at night, but they couldn’t during the day either!
"Oh, forget it," Han Li sighed. "When you think about it, we’ve been very busy recently, and we’ve been monopolizing An’an at night. The Zaizai really have been neglected."
Ao Wu picked up Little Serpent and Little Wolf, who were hugging his legs, and set them aside. "Go and play. Beast Father Ao Wu won’t come and bother you."
"That’s good," Little Serpent said, sighing in relief. "We thought the Beast Father would lock us in a dark room."
’That’s what it always says in the books. The domineering CEO father will compete with his son for affection.’
The corner of Ao Wu’s mouth twitched. "Cub, what sort of nonsense have you been reading now?"
’Later, I’m going to tattle to An’an and take away the Zaizai’s right to read trashy books!’
Da Hu seemed to have activated ’follow mode’. While Yu An cooked, he was in the kitchen preparing vegetables, and he even shut Han Li and Ao Wu out when they tried to help.
"The kitchen is very small," he said with a serious face. "Female Mother and I are enough. Beast Fathers, you can go play outside."
Han Li: "..."
Ao Wu: "..."
They were grown-ups, yet they were letting a child cook while they went outside to play!
Yu An couldn’t help but laugh. "Da Hu, come help Female Mother prepare the green vegetables."
Da Hu accepted the order. "Coming!"
The mother and son pair spent the whole morning in the kitchen, experimenting with new recipes.
’I’ve not only neglected the Zaizai, but I’ve also neglected my pots and pans,’ she mused. ’While I have this free time, I need to give them some proper attention.’
Yu An couldn’t live without spicy food. She picked out a piece of lean meat, sliced it thinly, and marinated it with seasonings and starch.
Then she heated oil in a wok, stir-fried some scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chilies until fragrant, then poured in the bone broth she had prepared that morning. After straining out the solids, she added bean sprouts and green vegetables in sequence.
The vegetables cooked quickly and were taken out after half a minute. Next, she added the marinated meat slices, boiled them until cooked, then removed them and placed them in a bowl. She ladled in some of the original broth, added chopped scallions, minced garlic, white sesame seeds, and a few chili segments, then finished it by pouring hot oil over the top.
The rich aroma wafted out, making Da Hu, a Zaizai who loved spicy food, dizzy with delight.
"Here, have a taste."
Yu An picked up a slice of meat and whispered, "Let’s give them a little taste of what they’re missing."
Da Hu whispered back just as quietly, "Okay!"
After each "sneaking" a piece, the mother and son blissfully closed their eyes.
"Female Mother, what’s this vegetable? It’s huge!"
"This is an eggplant," Yu An said, taking the eggplant Da Hu had washed. "Female Mother is going to make you all some Sweet and Sour Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant."
She sliced the eggplant, making a second cut in the middle of each slice without cutting all the way through, then stuffed them with a shrimp paste made from fresh shrimp and coated them in a layer of batter.
She deep-fried them in oil at medium-high heat until they held their shape, then removed them. Later, she would fry them a second time until they were golden brown and crispy.
Then, all she had to do was cook the prepared sweet and sour sauce until it thickened and pour it over the fried eggplant.
Besides these two dishes, there was also Mapo Tofu, Scallops with Vermicelli and Garlic, Yu-Shiang Shredded Pork...
There was no need to worry about the first dishes getting cold. She placed them in her space’s preservation area, and no matter when she took them out, they would have the temperature and texture of a freshly cooked meal.
Inside the space, the spot where Little Stone was staying happened to be very close to the dishes Yu An had placed inside. It was drooling with hunger but didn’t dare to eat.
Of course, it couldn’t eat anyway. It would only be able to eat when Fuzai returned and it had collected the final fragment.
’Sigh, it was so much better when I was disguised as the mission platform,’ it thought. ’I could eat then. Little Phoenix made so many dishes, I could have a little of this, a bite of that, and no one would ever find out.’
The mission platform could issue missions and even conjure a food stall out of thin air. Yu An had guessed at what it might be.
She had guessed everything from a ’System’ to a creature from a higher plane, never knowing that it was the Heaven and Earth Stone in disguise.
Whatever it wanted to eat, it would issue a mission for. The food stall was custom-made from the Apocalypse World where Yu An had been before.
The little Apocalypse World was also within its sphere of control. It should have been destroyed by the arrival of the apocalypse, but the Heaven and Earth Stone discovered many strange things there that didn’t exist in other worlds, so it intervened a little.
Another delicious dish was placed inside, and Little Stone simply rolled itself somewhere else.
’Out of sight, out of mind!’
Outside the space, Yu An also brought up the mission platform.
"I’m not short on any kitchenware, I just want to know where the mission platform went."
Yu An sighed. "It was with me and your Aunt Lü for many years. For it to disappear so suddenly... it just doesn’t feel right."
Da Hu thought for a moment. "Female Mother, the mission platform was made of stone, and Uncle Divine Stone is also a stone. Could the mission platform be Uncle Divine Stone?"
"That’s impossible, right?" Yu An hesitated. "If the Divine Stone was the mission platform, why did it never communicate with me?"
Although she had never spoken with the mission platform, after so many years together, she had naturally developed some feelings for it.
Da Hu scratched his head. "Female Mother, Uncle Divine Stone asked us before, if he did something bad and made you angry, would we help plead his case."
"Oh, right, Uncle Divine Stone also called himself ’Maternal Uncle.’ Though he quickly corrected himself, I still heard him."
"So should we call him Uncle, or Maternal Uncle?"