Chapter 279: Little Bitter Melons
"Yes," Lan Yin paused. "What is it? Do you know him?"
They had only ever seen Young Master Tian Fu from afar. He was a few years older than them, pampered and privileged, and held himself high above them all.
"I’ve heard of him," Yu An said vaguely. "Go on, go on. Where were we?"
They didn’t know much, but after Yu An finished treating their injuries, they told her just about everything they did know.
Worried that their wounds would heal too quickly and be discovered, Yu An, at the four boys’ request, left their injuries visible.
"Thank you, Fairy Sister."
The four of them thanked her politely, and then all their stomachs started to growl in unison.
Yu An smiled, pressing her lips together. She was hungry too. Just as she was about to enter her space to cook something, there was a knock at the door.
Mo Yan opened the door with practiced ease. Outside stood someone dressed as an Attendant, who handed him a food container.
He thanked the Attendant and carried it inside.
Yu An asked curiously, "What’s this? Is it your food?"
"Yes," Mo Yan said, opening the container. "Our meals are delivered to us. When we’re done, we just put the container by the door, and someone comes to take it away."
"We used to eat in a dedicated hall, but then a young master named Tian Shu wanted to use the space for a cockfighting ring, so they switched to having us eat in our rooms."
Han Li chimed in, "There weren’t any seats before, so we had to eat standing up. At least in the room, we can sit down and rest for a bit."
Yu An was amused. ’So Tian Shu accidentally did a good deed, then.’
But when she saw the food inside the container, her smile vanished.
There were eight fist-sized, coarse-grain steamed buns, two piles of some dark, unidentifiable vegetable dish mixed with a few flecks of meat, and four bowls of watery rice soup with hardly a grain of rice in sight.
"This is what you eat?!"
"What’s wrong?" Mo Yan asked, confused. "It’s pretty good. We even have meat today."
"Fairy Sister, do you eat the food of mortals? We can share some with you."
The steamed buns were large, but for them, who were training in martial arts, two buns each was just enough to feel mostly full.
’But they couldn’t let the Fairy Sister who healed their wounds go hungry. They could just dig up some wild vegetables later during their break to fill their own stomachs.’
’Behind the training grounds was a large patch of wasteland. All the kids who didn’t get enough to eat did the same thing.’
"You’re not eating this," Yu An said, gritting her teeth. "None of you are. Just wait, I have food."
’She had assumed that while a large clan like the Tian Family wouldn’t provide the children with exquisite meals, the food at least wouldn’t be this bad. She had been planning to cook something delicious for her young Beast Husbands.’
’But seeing what Mo Yan and the others were given, she lost both the mood and the time to prepare anything elaborate. She went straight into her space and boiled a pot of dumplings.’
The four of them hadn’t eaten meat in a long time, so their stomachs were sensitive. Food that was too rich or oily would give them stomachaches, so she made the dumplings with a baby bok choy filling.
She also made a pot of egg drop soup.
The moment she entered her space, the Zaizai ran over. "Female Mother, Little One made us food. Come eat with us!"
They thought Yu An was hungry.
’But how could Female Mother be this hungry? She was boiling two whole pots of dumplings, probably fifty or sixty of them.’
Yu An explained, "Female Mother is making these for your Beast Fathers. They..."
While the dumplings cooked, she briefly explained the situation to the Zaizai. The cubs had been wondering why their Beast Fathers, who had just left, were already back. Now, hearing the story, they all clenched their little fists in anger.
"Bad guys! How dare they bully our Beast Fathers!"
Xiao Yu huffed, "Female Mother, where are the bad guys? I’m going to smack them in the face with my tail!"
Xiao Hu wasn’t sleepy anymore either. He unsheathed the claws hidden in his little paw pads, ready to scratch the bad guys’ faces to shreds.
Little Wolf and Little Serpent felt the same way, wanting to leap up and smash the heads of the villains who were abusing their Beast Fathers!
Da Hu, more mature and level-headed than his younger brothers, asked, "Female Mother, why aren’t our Beast Fathers fighting back or escaping?"
’Even though this was the Illusion Realm, their Beast Fathers were no pushovers. He couldn’t believe they would just let some villains bully them like that.’
Yu An cleared her throat. "I forgot to mention, your Beast Fathers are just children right now. A little over three years old."
The five little ones: "..."
Fair enough.
Since Yu An’s hands were full, the Zaizai took turns feeding her bites of their own food. As soon as the dumplings were cooked, she said a quick word to the cubs and hurried back out.
The Fairy Sister’s voice had vanished. No matter how they called out, they got no reply from Yu An, so they waited quietly in the room.
In truth, they didn’t want to eat food like this either. But others had caused a scene before, and the troublemakers were always taken away. When they were brought back, they were silent and withdrawn, as if they had gone through something terrible, refusing to speak of it no matter who asked.
Yu An discovered that others couldn’t see items she was holding. They only became visible once she set them down.
She placed the dumplings on the table, and their fragrance instantly filled the room. Staring at the large bowl of dumplings and bowl of egg drop soup that had materialized out of thin air, the four boys were dumbfounded.
’She... she really is a fairy!’
’How else could she make such fragrant, delicious food appear out of nowhere?’
"Go on, eat," Yu An said, pressing bowls and chopsticks into their hands. "Fill your stomachs first. We can talk later."
The four of them huddled together, savoring the best meal they’d had since arriving at the Tian Family estate. The dumplings had thin skins and generous, juicy fillings. Dipped in a bit of vinegar, the taste was so good it made their heads spin.
And there was the egg drop soup, which the Fairy Sister had ladled into bowls for them and left to cool to the perfect temperature. It was just right for a sip whenever they choked from eating too quickly...
Han Li exclaimed, "I can die happy now!"
Yu An’s heart ached, but she also found it funny. "What do you mean, ’die happy’? You’re just a little kid."
Han Li was in heaven. He shook his head back and forth as he ate. "Food this divine belongs only in the heavens; how rare a taste for us mortals below..."
As he spoke, his voice trailed off, and he just lowered his head and focused on eating.
Yu An noticed the glint of tears in his eyes.
’They had left their families at such a young age, only to end up in this torturous "hell." They were all just poor, suffering children.’
’A sudden taste of sweetness was enough to move them to tears of happiness.’
’Of course, it was also out of fear. They were afraid that they might die here in the Tian Family estate one day, so they savored every bite they could get. Once you’re dead, you can’t eat anymore.’
Though they were still young, they had seen other children collapse, only to be carried away, never to return. Over time, they had come to understand what that meant.
Yu An had no appetite. She just watched them eat. Of the fifty or sixty dumplings she had made, the four of them had only eaten five each so far.
With more than half the bowl still left, Lan Yin was too shy to ask Yu An if they could share the rest with the other children.
"Two steamed buns aren’t nearly enough," Feng Xuan said glumly, his young face stern. "They don’t feed us well, but they also don’t let us get completely full. It’s just enough to get us through training."
"There’s more," Yu An said gently. "You all eat first. I’ll make another batch for them in a little while."
’Besides, this was the Illusion Realm, an event from the past. Nothing she did would have any real-world consequences, so she might as well go all out.’
’First, she’d get these kids fed and healthy. Then, they could wreak some havoc on the Tian Family and let off some steam!’
Hearing her say that, Mo Yan and the other three finally relaxed and ate until they were full.
"I haven’t been this full in so long," Han Li said, slumping back in his chair. "Fairy Sister, you’re such a good person!"
Yu An, who had just been called a "good person": "..."
’Fair enough.’