Becoming the Villainess: I Reign Over the Cultivators’ Realm With My Wok! - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Stir-Fried Cured Meat With Garlic Moss

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chen Muxue didn’t realize that there was an uninvited guest on top of her head who was crazily criticizing her cooking skills.

She washed the garlic moss and cut it into pieces. Then, she took a piece of bacon and cut it into thin slices. She deliberately sliced it thinly so that the children would be satisfied when they divided it.

Cen Li was inadvertently stunned by Chen Muxue’s knife skills. ‘This hand speed and these details… She must have practiced hard.’

He couldn’t help but curse in his heart again, ‘If I have this skill, can’t I practice my sword? A saber is fine too! What’s the use of practicing with a vegetable knife?”

Chen Muxue had just poured out the lard that had been refined. There was still a lot of oil left in the wok, so she did not add more oil.

The cured meat was stir-fried in the pan. As the cured meat was heated, the surface of the fat part began to become transparent and crisp, and the salty fragrance unique to the cured meat floated out.

Cen Li, who was about to complain again, sniffed and was stunned. It was as if he had suddenly shaken his head.

‘Impossible! Absolutely impossible!’ He had seen this thing before. It was cured meat made from low-grade pork. The fatty part was greasy and used to feed people, and the lean part was dry. It was not delicious at all! This fragrance was only superficial!

He changed his position and looked down. This position was no longer directly facing the smoke, and it was not so pungent.

Chen Muxue put the chili rings cut out from two red chilies into the wok, stir-fried them twice, and then added the garlic moss directly. The slightly greasy aroma of the cured meat and the unique aroma of the garlic moss suddenly mixed together.

Then, the cooking wine was poured from the side of the wok. The sound of water and oil splashing was a symphony unique to a chef. The last trace of the fishy smell from the pork disappeared. She added a little salt, but she did not dare to add too much. The cured meat itself was salty, and if she added too much, the whole dish would be too salty.

This was a simple task for Chen Muxue. After stir-frying evenly, a home-cooked stir-fried cured meat with garlic moss was done.

When the dish was out of the wok and placed aside by Chen Muxue, Cen Li finally regained his senses.

‘It smells so good.’ Cen Li tried his best to recall the dishes he had eaten. However, he had lived for a long time and had abstained from food for too long, so he could not find any so-called delicious food in his memory.

How could the slightly yellow bacon and the tender green of the garlic moss match so well?

Cen Li swallowed his saliva. When he realized that he had been staring at the dish for a long time, he suddenly stood up and shook his head wildly.

‘How could I waver because of a mere mortal’s temptation? I don’t deserve to be called a disciple of Immortal Sect if that happens!’ Cen Li criticized himself. He was a disciple of Immortal Sect! The celestial gate! The only sect in the world that dared to use the word ‘immortal’ in its name! It was the only sect in history that had records of a person who had ascended to immortality!

But what if he could have a taste?

Cen Li could not help but look at the dish of stir-fried preserved meat with garlic moss that was placed behind Chen Muxue.

Chen Muxue was now cooking simple stir-fried vegetables and egg soup. This was all they needed. She felt that it was normal to eat home-cooked meals in the Heavenly Cauldron Sect, so there was no need to make it too fancy.

Behind Chen Muxue, a figure slowly dangled down from the roof. He stretched out his sinful hand towards the cured meat, then retracted it!

When Chen Muxue turned around to take the egg, she felt her vision blur for a moment. She was slightly stunned, then shrugged her shoulders and did not pay much attention to it.

‘Just a little bit more!’ Cen Li stretched out his hand again. ‘I’m just going to take a bite. Just one bite! I just want to taste the dishes made by the divine artifact. I have no other intentions!’

“Done.” Chen Muxue dusted her hands. Her little finger could produce boiling water, which saved her a lot of time.

Cen Li quickly returned to the roof. As he had come up too quickly, he staggered.

Chen Muxue heard some movement on the roof and looked up. ‘Good Lord, there’s such a big hole. No wonder the original owner had planned to renovate it. I need to get some money quickly. But that’s strange. The hole wasn’t this big yesterday.’

Chen Muxue shrugged her shoulders. She called Xiaohu over to help carry the dishes and went to the dining hall.

Cen Li, who was on the roof, could not help but make a pose as he watched the cured meat. In the end, he sighed and put back the tiles he had lifted up, then followed them to the roof of the dining hall.

‘What if it’s not delicious? Yes, that’s right. Many things are like this. They smell good, but they actually taste bad! For example, some flowers that smell good are bitter.’ Cen Li thought angrily in his heart.

In the dining hall, a few little turnips had long smelled the fragrance coming from the kitchen. All of them widened their eyes in anticipation.

Such fragrant meat!

Chen Muxue’s hands trembled as she scooped the rice. It seemed like cooking more rice was the right thing to do.

The cured meat was definitely the best food. It was salty, fragrant, and delicious by itself. After stir-frying, the fat part, which was already very thin, had a crispy texture like deep-fried food.

Xiaohua had eaten a lot of meat before at home, but she hated fat. The taste of white and soft fat, coupled with the fishy smell of pork, made her want to vomit for no reason.

However, the thin and translucent pieces of cured meat in front of her, which were fried to a crisp, made Xiaohua pick a piece.

When it entered her mouth, there was a crunchy sound. Xiaohua’s eyes widened. Was this the fatty meat she knew?! It was so crispy, and there was no trace of the fishy smell. Only the unique taste of the meat and garlic intertwined. After a bite of the crispy meat, the dried lean meat had the feeling of a flavor of dried meat. After swallowing the meat, a trace of spiciness returned.

‘It’s so delicious!’ Xiaohua put another mouthful of white rice into her mouth. The plain white rice, which originally had no taste, was able to neutralize the saltiness of the bacon and suppress the spiciness. After swallowing the white rice, the saltiness of the rice was replaced by the sweetness in her mouth.

At this time, eating a mouthful of refreshing stir-fried vegetables or drinking a mouthful of warm egg soup would be great for her.

The other three boys were no longer in the mood to taste it carefully. They gobbled up their food one by one, afraid that they would miss out on a bite. Occasionally, they would realize that they were eating in an unsightly manner and secretly looked up at Chen Muxue. When they realized that the latter was smiling happily at them, they ate even more and forgot about it.

“Xiaohu, what’s wrong? Did you get scalded?” Chen Muxue suddenly noticed the tears in Chen Xiaohu’s eyes and immediately expressed her concern.

Xiaohu wiped his tears and shook his head. “I’m fine. I just think that you’re the best, Sect Master.”

He didn’t dare to say it. Now, he felt like he was experiencing what the “home” that the rich and powerful used to talk about felt like.

He knew that without the sect master, he might have frozen or starved to death on the side of the road, or even been eaten by wild beasts passing by. But in the past, the sect master had done it like it was some mission or chore. Although he was grateful, he felt that he had never integrated into this place.

He had heard people talking about the Heavenly Cauldron Sect when he went to town with the sect master in the past. They said that the sect master was either stupid or crazy. She couldn’t make any achievements in her own cultivation, and she even picked up some useless people to waste her resources on.

In the past, he had always felt that he shouldn’t be here. Back then, the sect master was just being kind. But now, he felt a sense of belonging.

While Chen Muxue and the four children were eating happily, Cen Li, who was on the roof, had already swallowed his saliva a few times.

‘It’s not delicious at all. These little brats are yellow and skinny, so it’s obvious that they’ve never eaten meat before. That’s why they’re enjoying their meal!’