“I always feel… as if I have been hungry for a long time just to eat this meal…” Holding a hoof in his hand, Abu sighed with emotion.
“Mmmm.” Naji next to him mumbled a few times.
Abu was still waiting for him to express some similar emotion, but when he looked up, his eyeballs almost fell out:
Where is Naji answering him? Instead, he was seriously focused on eating, as if he hadn’t heard anything! He had a hoof in his left hand, a piece of barbecue in his right hand, and his mouth was still full of noodles! The sound “Mmmm” just now was not a response at all, it was just a swallowing sound!
Looking at the little grey devil on the other side, he was even eating faster than Naji! Abu didn’t expect him to eat this fast!
Abu quickly joined the rice grabbing army.
Ji Huan had already prepared a small portion of rice for Hei Dan, and Grandpa was currently feeding Hei Dan while smiling as he watched the group of young demons competing for food.
Rice is always eaten quickly in order for it to taste more delicious. You see, even Xiao Hua’s speed of eating is much faster than before.
Sure enough, it’s very lively with so many people.
The lamb-horned demon looked at his grandson and his friends, and then lowered his head to look at his great-grandson.
Only then did he realize that the small piece of hoof meat in his great-grandson’s mouth had already been eaten, and there was a circle of oil around his small mouth.
The little demon looked up at his great-grandfather with his white-ringed eyes wide open.
“Ah! Our Hei Dan’s speed of eating is also getting faster!” While speaking, Grandpa took out another piece of hoof meat from the small bowl in front of him. The hoof meat was already marinated and cooked for a long time, and the bones were already very soft.
Grandpa put the meat in Hei Dan’s little paws, who immediately grasped it tightly. He then moved his shiny little paws towards his mouth, and his cheeks immediately bulged.
Hei Dan ate the meat, and Grandpa wasn’t idle either. He threw the bone that was left on the plate into his mouth.
Mmm~ Grandpa just likes to eat all kinds of leftovers!
“Ahh! This braised hoof is so delicious! The bones are so soft, it tastes even better than meat!” Apparently there is one more person here who loves leftovers.
It was Abu who was talking. The bones of monsters are quite hard, and even demons find it hard to chew them with their teeth. So usually, they are thrown away,
However, the braised hoof in Ji Huan’s family has been marinated for almost two days. It’s very crispy and delicious! Apart from Ji Huan and Hei Dan, almost all the demons present can eat the meat along with the bone. Compared to the crispy meat, Abu prefers the marinated bones (?) in the meat.
“This way, we can save money.” The little grey devil was also gnawing on a bone, but he thought more than Abu. If cooked this way, the heaviest part of the entire prey wouldn’t be wasted.
His hunting ability is not as good as that of Abu and Naji, and the quality of the prey in his area is also not as good as their territory. It is not easy for the little grey devil to hunt.
At the beginning, when he hunted with difficulty, he always ate all the prey. Except for the fur, he also ate all the internal organs and bones that many other demons would throw away, but he can only gnaw the bones of the “bone” monsters, and the bones of larger prey are very hard for him to chew.
Every time he had to throw away those bones, the frugal little grey devil always felt that it was very wasteful.
The habit of not even leaving the bones in Ji Huan’s family is very in line with the ideal of the little grey devil.
Braised bones are really delicious—— by Abu
I couldn’t even bear to throw the bones away, but instead found a way to make them edible. A demon that is more economical than myself is worthy of respect—— by the Little Gray Devil
#%! #&￥! ￥#! ￥%——by Naji
The food was plentiful, and the variety was as diverse as possible. There were a lot of braised hooves, but unfortunately the quantity of noodles was very less, only one bowl for each demon. However, the prey brought by Abu and the group was very large, enough for several demons to eat and there was still some leftover.
After the demons were full, Ji Huan served two more dishes as dessert after the meal.
One was stir fried pumpkin vines, and the other was boiled pumpkin.
As mentioned earlier, the green plants here are very rare, and there are even fewer ones to eat. Abu was fine— he was already shocked by the vegetable garden he saw in Ji Huan’s family when he just went out to work, and the little grey devil was also not surprised as Ji Huan often gave him pumpkins to eat before.
Only Naji, who had been working in the kitchen, didn’t have an impression of Ji Huan’s vegetable garden. So, when he saw such a dish, he was very surprised.
“It’s a pumpkin, and this green vegetable is the vine of the pumpkin, which is very good for the body.” Ji Huan introduced it.
Ji Huan used the word “pumpkin” in Chinese, because there is no such plant here, so he simply used the name from his hometown. The pronunciation of the word “pumpkin” in Chinese is a bit difficult for the demons here. Except for the little grey devil, Abu and Naji had to repeat it several times before they could pronounce it clearly.
“It’s not delicious.” Abu said cautiously after taking a bite of the green dish. But he still ate the unpalatable dish, Yefar’s demons would never waste any food.
“But it’s good for your body.” Ji Huan said, thinking about the benefits of pumpkin vines that others had told him before. He briefly recounted those words to several demons here: “It’s good for the stomach and lungs, unblocks the meridians, and the juice of the raw crushed vines also helps with burns.”
In fact, it also helps in treating irregular menstruation, but Ji Huan didn’t say this.
=-=
So all the demons immediately finished a plate of pumpkin vines.
Then came the pumpkin. After taking the first bite of pumpkin, Naji’s eyes lit up: “This, this… is delicious!”
“Eat more if it’s delicious, there’s enough for everyone.” Ji Huan spoke as he took Hei Dan from Grandpa’s arms, and asked Grandpa to eat more pumpkin by the way.
“Eating more pumpkin can prevent Alzheimer’s disease.”
Grandpa: “…”
Grandson, although what you said is true, why does it sound so… so..?
The sweet and soft pumpkin was loved by all the demons. I don’t know if it’s because there’s no sugar for sale in Yefar, almost all demons like sweet things.
One pumpkin wasn’t enough, so Ji Huan cooked another one.
After dinner, the little grey devil helped Ji Huan tidy up the dishes, and Abu also went to help, but Naji…
At the dining table, he sat dumbfounded for a long time without moving.
The dining table was in a mess, half of the table was occupied with dishes, and the dim light poured down from above, making the thin young demon’s hair look even more fluffy.
Carrying a plate, Ji Huan glanced at Naji.
“Aren’t you full? Do you want another pumpkin? There’s also some barbecue left.”
Naji was still in a daze, and it wasn’t until after a while that he let out a long sigh.
“This meal… meal… was so delicious.” Naji sighed with emotion.
“This, upto here… here… is full.” Naji said, patting his chest.
He pointed towards his heart, not the belly.
He may not understand his own thoughts yet, or even if he does, he can’t express it clearly, but Ji Huan instantly understood.
Bending the corners of his mouth, Ji Huan carried the plates back to the kitchen.
Not long after, Naji also came in carrying all the remaining plates, really, he brought over all the remaining plates that were almost up to half his height.
Looking at the stack of plates, Ji Huan was terrified, but Naji was very steady, he put all the plates in the designated place, and even came over to help Ji Huan wash them.
There is a big basin in the kitchen of Ji Huan’s house, which contains the well water that Ji Huan always puts here early in the morning. Most of the water in the house is basically used in the kitchen, but because of so many guests today, only half of the water is left.
Abu and the others didn’t ask Ji Huan why there is so much water here.
The water used to clean the dishes was not wasted, and was all put in another basin. It cannot be used for other purposes, but it can be used to water the vegetable field.
Several demons worked together and quickly tidied up the kitchen, but——
It was the first time for Naji to wash the dishes, and he even forgot to roll up his sleeves. The dishes were cleaned, but his whole body was stained with oil and water.
After looking at the other two demons, they were no better than Naji, so Ji Huan decided to reveal another secret of his family to his friends.
“Do you want to soak in the hot springs?” He asked.
Not long after, the three demons were ready to soak in the hot spring pool in the middle of Ji Huan’s vegetable field.
Skilled water dispenser Hei Dan was floating in the pool, and with so many people watching him swimming, he was very happy. Sometimes, he was dog-paddling, and sometimes, he was diving. His little red mouth was split open, staring at the guests on the shore with a pair of white-ringed eyes, his hair floating like water grass…
Abu & Naji & Little Grey Devil, who were forced to watch a horror show with Ji Huan: “…”
Not long after, hot steam emerged from the pool.
Skilled hot spring water dispenser Hei Dan has finally adjusted the temperature of the water in the pool.
“Alright, you can go into the water now.” Crouching down to test the temperature of the water, Ji Huan asked the three demons to soak in the pool.
The three demons immediately took off their clothes and entered the water.
The pool in Ji Huan’s house was not big. Even if the little gray devil is very small, and even if Naji is a thin bean sprout, Abu was too big, and with Hei Dan floating in the middle of them, there is not much space left for Ji Huan. But he was not far from them, and can be seen by Hei Dan, watering the vegetable field with the leftover water from the kitchen.
The purple moon hung high in the sky over the small courtyard. When the wind blew, the leaves in the courtyard made a slight rustling sound. The three young demons soaked in the warm hot springs and felt that everything was extremely mysterious.
“This is the only hot spring in Yefar, right?” Abu murmured, scooping up handfuls of water and sniffing it, “There’s a smell of rotten eggs.”
Naji also imitated him and scooped up some water, sniffing it.
A bubble popped up below the water surface.
The three demons immediately looked at each other. In the end, it was Abu who asked first: “Who farted?”
The three demons immediately observed each other with their eyes, nose, and mind.
At this time, Hei Dan’s buttocks emerged from the water, with his white ring eyes shining brightly, staring straight at Abu.
Abu brought him over.
Hei Dan froze for a moment, but after taking a look at his uncle nearby and the little grey devil who was also beside him, he continued to let Abu hold him like this.
“You are Hei Dan.”
“Ah!” Hei Dan let out a crisp “ah” when he heard his own name.
The wet little demon had all his hair stuck to his scalp, which made him look less like a water ghost. Without the pigtails, it looked even more familiar to Abu.
Why is it that the more I look at it… the more it looks like a low-level demon that I ate when I was a child?
Wait—
Abu glanced at Naji and found that Naji was also looking at Hei Dan.
“He looks…looks…so… so unpalatable…”
Obviously, Naji also recognized it.
At this moment, Abu stood up from the water in a hurry and rushed naked to the vegetable field, still holding the naked Hei Dan in his arms. Abu asked Ji Huan loudly: “Ji Huan, how many nephews do you have? Have you ever lost any?”
Ji Huan was startled by his serious expression, so he answered him seriously: “This is the only one. He got lost once, but I found him back.”
Abu’s face instantly turned livid.
Seeing Naji who also looked pale in the pool, Ji Huan looked at the little grey devil, and remembered his comments when he first saw Hei Dan.
Ji Huan immediately connected the dots and understood what Abu and Naji were worried about.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t grow up here. Even if you had eaten… similar looking monsters, they wouldn’t be my nephew.”
Abu: =-=
“You, you know?” Abu scratched his head.
“Well, I also know that Hei Dan doesn’t taste delicious.” Ji Huan curled up his lips and picked up Hei Dan, walking to the hot spring pool.
He put Hei Dan back into the pool and waved to Abu, “Come in quickly, it’s cold outside.”
With a “pop”, Abu sat back into the pool.
“Hei Dan is my nephew. Look, one of his eyes is bigger than the other. He has hair on his head and a bracelet on his wrist. He’s such a unique little demon, I will definitely not get him confused with any other demon.”
“Yes, yes, I also won’t get confused in the future.” Abu and the others hurriedly memorized the special features of Hei Dan’s appearance.
“But, aren’t you from here?” Abu was a bit curious.
“What kind of place is that?” Abu asked directly as soon as he thought of it.
Ji Huan looked at the moon in the sky.
In spring, Bade Town is pink and white. During the cherry blossom season, white local cherry blossoms are everywhere on the mountains and the streets. The whole town would be shrouded in clouds and mist. When it rains, the thick petals would get knocked down one after another, slowly flowing out along with the rain, covering the streets of the whole town. As the branches gets empty, the ground would be covered with flowers, as if cherry blossoms are blooming from the heaven to the ground;
Bade Town in summer is green, with trees everywhere. The boys and girls here never carry umbrellas but are all pale looking. They don’t apply sunscreen, and the canopies along the way filter out the toxic sunlight layer by layer, making the leaked sunlight feel very comfortable. Due to the abundance of trees and water, Bade Town in summer is never too hot, and there is almost no need to install an air conditioner, while cattail fans are also very good. Occasionally, when it is too hot to sleep, grandpa will take out a large cattail fan to dispel the heat. Then, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas outside the window and the creaking sound of the wooden windows blown by the wind, he would fall asleep;
Bade Town in autumn is light yellow. The sweet-scented osmanthus blooms, and every family goes out to beat them, marinate it with honey, and make it into candies. Children loves to eat it. Various snacks shops, big or small, will also take the opportunity to launch seasonal sweet-scented osmanthus cakes. Grandpa used to love these cakes the most;
Bade Town in winter is white. Not the hazy white of spring, but pure white. The green colour of the trees that have not yet shed all their leaves under the white looks so beautiful…
He thought of a passage he had written in his elementary school essay.
“…A place with many pumpkins.” That’s all he said in the end.
“Pumpkins…” Abu scratched his head.
“Pumpkins are so delicious.”
Looking at his friends in the pool, Ji Huan smiled again.
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