Xia Chujian stroked the Teacup Dog's fluffy, snow-white head and said to Liu Shun, "Liu Shun, where are A Wù's dishes? Have they been prepared?"
Liu Shun said, "Master, the bedding and dishes I ordered for A Wù and A Yuan from the Star Network local service have just been delivered."
Xia Chujian was satisfied. "Then set them out, let's eat together!"
Soon, a set of dishes identical in style to Si Xi's, but half the size, was placed in front of A Wù.
A Yuan stood on the dining table, next to Xia Chujian's plate, with an even smaller set of dishes.
It was truly a dish for birdseed.
Xia Chujian was amazed.
There were even such small plates for sale! Smaller than children's playhouse dishes!
Xia Yuanfang, Aunt Chen, Zhu Yingying, San Zong, and Wu Fu all watched with smiles as Xia Chujian fussed over a Teacup Dog and a Little Chubby Bird.
After Xia Chujian tore a Crispy Sesame Cake into pieces and placed them on the Little Chubby Bird's small plate, and put a portion of Wild Rhinoceros Pig meat filling and a piece of Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird meat on the Teacup Dog's small plate, Xia Yuanfang said with a smile, "Alright, everyone can eat."
Xia Chujian then used a Crispy Sesame Cake to wrap a Yuanbao Flower Fried Egg Pancake for herself, and took a gentle bite.
The Crispy Sesame Cake was first salty, fragrant, crispy, and melted in her mouth, perfectly complementing the delicate fragrance of the Yuanbao Flower Fried Egg Pancake, as if adding an enhancer to the Yuanbao Flower's flavor.
Xia Chujian ate with a lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth, and couldn't help but wrap another piece of Yuanbao Flower Fried Egg Pancake to eat, only then slightly satisfying her craving.
Then she took another Crispy Sesame Cake and ate it with Yuanbao Flower Meat Filling.
The Yuanbao Flower's fragrance completely neutralized the rich aroma of the Wild Rhinoceros Pig meat's fat, and the two seemed to have undergone some kind of chemical reaction.
Xia Chujian's taste buds were enveloped in a constant stream of aromas, without fatigue, but rather becoming more sensitive.
Eating this food that combined staple and dish, she felt as if she were in the misty rain of Jiangnan in poetry.
Watching lotus flowers bloom in the lotus pond, lotus leaves stretching as far as the eye could see, and plump fish swimming between the lotus leaves, turning into fragrant boiled fish...
Xia Chujian laughed at her own reverie as she ate.
Then, she used a soup spoon to scoop a spoonful of Xiang Fruit Chestnut Stewed Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird for herself.
The soup spoon was relatively large, and this spoonful had soup, meat, and chestnuts, placed in a White-Based Cyan Pink Peach Blossom soup bowl specially for drinking soup.
The soup was crystal clear, without the golden oily color typical of chicken soup.
Xia Chujian assumed that Xia Yuanfang had skimmed off the oil.
She lowered her head, wanting to taste the soup first.
Just as she approached the soup bowl, a fragrance of Xiang Fruit Chestnut, mixed with another fragrance she had never smelled before, rushed towards her as if it had a temperature.
It first invaded her sense of smell all the way down, and before she even tasted it, it seemed to have prepared her stomach.
She blew on it gently, then used a small soup spoon to scoop a mouthful from her soup bowl and gently sipped it.
The temperature of the soup was just right, hot enough to be fresh, but not so hot as to be scalding, enough to warm her from the inside out.
She discovered that although San Zong said this thing was called Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird, the soup had a unique chicken soup flavor.
Tasting it carefully, there seemed to be a smooth, tender gravy dissolved in the soup, sliding across the tip of her tongue.
Xia Chujian put down her soup spoon and said curiously, "What kind of bird is Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird? Why does it taste like top-quality chicken soup?"
San Zong said with a smile, "Young Lord, Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird is actually a kind of wild chicken."
"It's just that its tail feathers are particularly beautiful, so someone gave it a special name, called Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird."
Xia Chujian chuckled and said, "That's right! Isn't 'You' bird just a chicken?! The person who came up with this name is really mischievous!"
As she spoke, Xia Chujian began to eat the Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird meat in the soup bowl.
Although San Zong said that Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird was actually a wild chicken, when the meat entered her mouth, Xia Chujian discovered that no chicken had this extremely delicious and tender texture.
Moreover, although it was extremely tender, it was not melt-in-your-mouth, but rather had the gelatinous texture unique to fresh meat, with a slight chewiness, as if it were the taste of "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" that Aunt had once made.
The difference was that Buddha Jumps Over the Wall required many kinds of seafood and various delicacies to be stewed together.
And this dish only needed two ingredients, Xiang Fruit Chestnut and Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird.
Aunt Chen also said, "We've eaten Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird before, but it's never been so fresh and flavorful."
"It's probably the fragrant fruit chestnut that doubled the aroma of the Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird."
Xia Chujian nodded: "Fragrant fruit chestnut and Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird are indispensable."
Seeing how much Xia Chujian loved the braised Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird with fragrant fruit chestnut, San Zong quickly said, "There are three more. Shall we cook them all in the next couple of days?"
Xia Chujian was taken aback: "Aren't we going to save a few for the New Year? Or for breeding?"
San Zong said with a bitter face, "We went to the Exotic Beast Forest last week and caught five Phoenix-Tailed Luan Birds in total."
"They're almost starving to death now..."
Xia Chujian was very surprised: "Why? Are they not eating? What do they eat?"
San Zong said, "San Zong observed that in the Exotic Beast Forest, they eat ordinary grass seeds, and maybe some insects."
"San Zong even brought back the things they eat in the Exotic Beast Forest."
"But they just won't eat..."
Xia Chujian smiled: "I've never seen such steadfast pheasants. I'll go take a look after I finish eating."
Liu Shun, who had been standing beside them, said, "Master, the Star Network says that this Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird originally came from Da Zang Star in the East Tianyuan God Country."
"It is the most delicious game in the hearts of the people of the East Tianyuan God Country, but after years of hunting, this bird is on the verge of extinction in the East Tianyuan God Country."
"The Star Network also says that this Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird is naturally proud and only lives in the most beautiful mountains and fields. It is never raised in captivity."
"People in the East Tianyuan God Country have tried artificial breeding because the price of this Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird has skyrocketed there."
"But no one has succeeded."
"It is said that the Phoenix-Tailed Luan Birds that are caught refuse to eat or drink, preferring to starve to death rather than become domestic fowl raised by humans."
"San Zong tried to raise them, but didn't succeed either. He could only catch a few, raise them for a few days, and then eat them all before they starved to death."
Xia Chujian said with a smile, "Liu Shun, you really are well-read. Do you often sneak onto the internet in private?"
Several chaotic black wavy lines appeared on Liu Shun's eye display screen, and then he fell silent.
Xia Chujian smiled and retracted her gaze, suddenly feeling as if her trouser leg had been tugged.
She lowered her eyes to look under the table, and saw A Wù looking at her with bright eyes, and then making a sound, pushing its small dining plate towards Xia Chujian's feet.
Xia Chujian noticed that it had eaten the Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird meat, but hadn't touched the Wild Rhinoceros Pig meat pie.
She understood that this little guy liked to eat Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird.
Xia Chujian said with a smile, "Your taste is quite special."
Since A Wù could use Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird to replace Alligator Dragon as its staple food, then she, as its owner, had to try to raise this Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird.
At worst, she could just raise them in the Exotic Beast Forest...
Xia Chujian thought very simply: if the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain!
She said, "After we finish eating, we'll go take a look at those Phoenix-Tailed Luan Birds. By the way, did you keep its tail feathers? I want to see how beautiful they are."
San Zong said, "They're all kept! They've all been cleaned and tanned, and can be used to decorate hats or dresses."
Xia Chujian nodded, and then began to focus on eating.
She was someone who had eaten many good things, but in her opinion, the taste of this Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird really surpassed any delicacy she had ever eaten.
This unique deliciousness could not be created by any cooking technique, because it came from the deliciousness of the ingredients themselves.
Of course, with Xia Yuanfang's superb cooking skills, she could push the already exceptionally delicious Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird to an even higher, unattainable level.
Although Xia Chujian liked it, she didn't eat it all by herself, and of course, she didn't let A Wù eat it all by itself either.
Instead, she shared the entire Phoenix-Tailed Luan Bird with everyone, and in the end, she even ate the soup with rice, leaving not a single drop of soup in the stew pot.
After the sumptuous lunch, Xia Yuanfang brought over the freshly made Xiang Fruit Chestnut Cake.
Xia Chujian didn't have a particularly strong love for sweets, but after eating this Xiang Fruit Chestnut Cake, she instantly understood why some people couldn't live without sweets.
Because the sweetness, the just right sweetness, was very stress-relieving, it was truly the taste of happiness.
By the time everyone had finished their desserts and started drinking tea to digest, it was almost two o'clock.
Liu Shun announced the time, saying, "There are ten minutes left until the National Higher Education Entrance Examination website releases the scores."
Xia Chujian suddenly tensed up.
She turned her teacup, her expression unchanged, but her heart was beating exceptionally fast.
If the restaurant wasn't so quiet, she would have suspected others could hear her heartbeat.
It was so quiet that everyone felt a little uncomfortable.
At this moment, Liu Shun suddenly asked, "Master, if your scores permit, may I ask which university you would like to apply to?"
Everyone in the restaurant looked at Xia Chujian.
Clearly, they were also curious, but they didn't dare to ask, worried about putting too much pressure on Xia Chujian.
Liu Shun didn't seem to have this concern, mainly because of its Mechanical Intelligence's straightforward and fearless persona.
Xia Chujian crossed her arms, her thoughts instantly becoming chaotic and complex.
If she hadn't participated in this Kanli Star flight special training, if even after going, she hadn't participated in the final military operation, she might have applied to Beichen University, the best in the Beichen Empire, or the Royal Polytechnic University, which ranked first in science and engineering.
She wanted to study Mechanical Intelligence so she could better... control Seven Lù.
But it was precisely because she participated in this military operation.
Only three or four short days, but it felt as long as three years.
Iron and blood, life and death, victory and defeat, loyalty and betrayal intertwined.
It made her dizzy and fascinated, and she yearned for it immensely.
More importantly, this Empire Military, which harbored dirt and grime, needed her to clean it inside and out...
Xia Chujian raised her head slightly, and said calmly and resolutely: "Military academy, I want to apply to the best military academy."
Second Update at 1 PM this afternoon, it's a long chapter.
Love you all, my darlings!
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