Chapter 19 Self-reliance in Food and Clothing

  The sun rose as usual, and Xiaoleng woke up slowly at noon. The little monster was curled up in her arms, its brown fur shining with oil, this fur would make a comfortable cushion to sit on.

  Xia Xiaoliang wiped the corner of her mouth, today was the fifth day she had traveled through. These days were too exciting, giving her a feeling of living a hundred years in one day.

  "You're awake!" Xia Xiao Liang exclaimed as she saw Yao'er stretching on the stone bed. She picked her up and asked, "Yao'er, when can you also transform into a human form?"

  "About a year." You'er tilted her head and thought carefully before responding.

  "What a pity, if you could also transform into human form, then we two can play together. I reckon Xia Tian won't be coming, and I don't know anyone else, it's so boring!" Xia Xiao Liang hugged Yao Er and muttered to herself, her small hands stroking the smooth fur on Yao Er's body.

  The little monster was enjoying the stroking of her fur, when she suddenly stretched out her small paw and pointed under the stone table, saying: "Little Liang, come quick and look, what's in that big basin?"

  Xia Xiaoliang raised her eyes and saw a wooden basin, slightly smaller than the stone table, with several fat carp swimming happily in the water. Is this the fish that Xia Mingchuan prepared for himself? The abacus in Xia Xiaoliang's heart was clicking away.

  Xia Xiaoliang tossed the little monster to one side and lay down on the edge of the wooden basin. The fish in the basin had no idea that their fate was in the hands of this girl who only knew how to eat, and they continued to play happily.

  Rolling up her sleeves, Xia XiaoLiang aimed at the plumpest carp and with a loud "slap", she slapped it out of the basin. The carp was now flopping around wildly on the ground.

  Xia Xiaolong smiled slyly. When he was a child, he saw the old cat in his grandmother's house doing the same thing - scooping fish from the bathtub at home. He never thought that one day he would be able to become like the cat and do such things.

  He picked up a wooden stick as thick as his arm from the firewood pile and knocked out the unlucky carp with one stick. Then, he took the bamboo skewer that Xia Mingchuan often used to roast fish from the grill edge and struggled to string the carp.

  "Xiao Liang, can you roast fish?" Yao'er looked at Xia Xiao Liang with a face full of admiration, as if being able to roast fish was an extraordinary thing.

  "Even if you don't know how, watching Brother Chuan roast so many times, you can learn a few tricks! " Xia Xiaoleng said with an unchanged expression, in her past life she had cooked for many years, roasting fish was very simple!

  She didn't have a knife in her hand, so she found a relatively flat stone and tried to cut the fish open with it. The little demon saw her struggling and rolled its eyes, then swished its paw twice, making several neat cuts.

  Xia Xiaoliang gave a thumbs up to Yao'er, and took out seasonings from the small box where Xia Mingchuan had hidden them. Whatever it was, she sprinkled some on, then placed the bamboo skewers on the grill rack.

  Although the bonfire had been burning all night, the fire was still very fierce. I heard that the firewood was not ordinary objects, but dry branches of trees that were thousands of years old, and these dry branches could burn for a hundred days without going out.

  It's too extravagant! It's just something to keep warm, yet it uses such good stuff! No matter what life form, after a thousand years, it will have a spirit. I'm afraid even this withered tree branch is also a conscious existence!

  Xia Xiaoleng crouched by the fire, turning the roasted fish while lamenting the miserable fate of this tree.

  "What a wonderful smell!" A voice came from outside the cave entrance. Xia Xiaoleng was slightly startled, because she recognized whose voice it was.

  The roasted fish was already 80% cooked, emitting a tempting aroma. It could be eaten now, but Xia Xiaoliang feared getting a stomachache and insisted on waiting until it was fully cooked.

  "Yan Wang?" Xia Xiao Liang took down the roasted fish, it's easy to burn if you can't focus on roasting the fish, so it's better to take it down.

  "Who am I? It turns out to be a cat taking a nap, when did you wake up? How come I didn't know?" Yan Wang still wore that dusty and worn-out brown robe, with a full beard that hadn't been cleaned for who knows how many days. It's really hard to understand how the Rabbit Princess fell in love with this kind of cat!

  "I've been awake for five days, and I even went to the tribal war yesterday. I'm afraid you didn't notice me, King Yan." Xia XiaoLiang mentioned this matter, wanting to laugh but not daring to, fearing that it would provoke this rough cat, in case he bullied himself, he had no strength to defend himself.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, when mentioning yesterday's tribal war, Yan Wang's dark and handsome face immediately turned red, his eyes drifting away, somewhat at a loss.

  "You little guy, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand! What's that, is that roasted fish in your hand? How come it smells so good?" Yan Wang changed the subject quite skillfully, but wanting to eat his own roasted fish? No way!

  Xia Xiaoliang hid the roasted fish behind her back, looked up at Yan Wang and said: "It's just roasted fish. However, since Yan Wang is a fair and square person, he shouldn't be fighting with a little kid like me for food, should he?"

  Yan Wang's face stiffened with anger and he shouted: "You little girl, what kind of cat do you think I am? Would I stoop to such a despicable act?"

  He stopped here for a moment, then pointed behind Xia Xiaoliang and said: "There is a shadow behind you!"

  Xia Xiaoleng was stunned for a moment, and then naturally turned around...

  Yan Wang swiftly snatched the roasted fish from behind Xia Xiao Liang, turned around and ran away.

  "Ah!" Xia XiaoLiang was robbed, and she was very angry. This Yan Wang was too shameless, how could he cheat a child! So, pinching her throat, she started to scream in high pitch, the "ah" sound echoing infinitely in this small cave.

  Xia Ming River rarely didn't go to disturb Xia Xiao Liang early in the morning, so he practiced in the cave next to Xia Xiao Liang. When he heard Xia Xiao Liang's scream like killing a cat, he rushed out of the cave and rushed into Xia Xiao Liang's cave.

  Yan Wang was holding a roasted fish and had just run to the entrance of the cave when he was blocked by Xia Mingchuan.

  Xia Ming River quickly looked into the cave and saw that Xia Xiao Liang was intact, then gloomily stared at Yan Wang and said: "Yan Wang, what brings you here?"

  "Brother Mingkuan! Waaah! He snatched my roasted fish!" Xia Xiaoleng saw Xia Mingkuan rushing over, and ran to his side with tears streaming down her face, burying her head in his chest.

  Xia Mingchuan glared at Yan Wang, with a gaze that seemed to want to see right through him. His hand didn't stop stroking Xia Xiaoleng's head, soothing her.

  "Hand over the roasted fish, you leave, otherwise I don't mind inviting Princess Tu to take you away right now!" Xia Mingchuan's strength was comparable to Yan Wang's, but Yan Wang was older and more experienced. If they really fought, Xia Mingchuan would not have the upper hand.

  Yan Wang heard the three words of Tu Gongzhu, like a defeated rooster, reluctantly returned the roasted fish to Xia Mingchuan. Yan Wang was bitter, it would take eight lifetimes of bad luck to be favored by Tu Gongzhu! And yet he was pushed down, what a loss, it's like losing a cat and having it return home!

  Yan Wang was driven away, and Xia Xiao Liang finally came out of Xia Ming Chuan's arms. Her soft white hair had become a tangled mess, disheveled beyond recognition.

  Pulling Xia Xiao Liang's small hand, they entered the mountain cave. Er Mao sat on a stone bench, eating and drinking together in harmony.

  "Are you grilling fish?" Xia Mingchuan asked.

  "Hmm." Xia Xiao Liang was too busy eating and didn't even bother speaking.

  "Great, smells good. You roast it yourself next time, okay?" Xia Mingchuan tried to hand over the task of roasting fish to Xia Xiaoliang, who had only watched a few times and could already roast it so well, what a genius, not utilizing her would be unreasonable!

  "Brother Chuan..." Xia XiaoLiang called out his name with a pout.

  Xia Ming River instantly retreated, and spoiledly said: "I'll roast, you're in charge of eating!"