After Shen Xian had completely walked away, Mu Anxiao spread her hands and summoned the immortal book, starting to read the recipes prepared for her by Xiang Nang, page by page.
Half an hour later...
With Xiang Nang's full assistance, Mu Anxiao finally managed to make porridge and stir-fried dishes.
"I'm so amazing," she said, looking down at the presentable breakfast on the tray.
Xiang Nang, wearing an apron, looked at Mu Anxiao, who had only washed the vegetables and rice, with a smile and said, "Tomorrow, you must do it yourself."
"You just said... this counts as me making it."
"I did say that, but," Xiang Nang's face turned cold, "I only said I would help you. You're letting me do everything for you, you're too lazy!"
Lazy?
Mu Anxiao didn't think she was lazy. On the contrary, she felt she simply lacked the talent for cooking.
But seeing Xiang Nang helping her, Mu Anxiao refrained from further comments and had to compromise: "Alright, I'll cook tomorrow."
"And lunch too."
"You said, tomorrow."
Hearing Mu Anxiao's words, Xiang Nang was speechless: "....."
Mu Anxiao smiled, took a step forward, picked up the tray from the stove, and said, "I'll deliver it."
"I'll go."
"No need, I'll go," Mu Anxiao said, carrying the tray and walking out of the kitchen.
Xiang Nang sighed.
A few minutes later, as Mu Anxiao, carrying the tray, was about to approach Shen Xian's room, Feng Qi Shi blocked her way. "Yo, Mu idiot, you can cook now." As he spoke, he looked down at the porridge and dishes on the tray.
Immediately, Mu Anxiao remembered Xiang Nang's instructions. She took a step back and said mentally, "Ignore me."
Feng Qi Shi cooperated and replied mentally, "Why? Aren't you curious why I'm out?"
"Tell me when you have time. If you bother me, that guy Shen Xian will definitely get petty again."
"Why are you afraid of him?"
"I'm not afraid of him, I'm doing it for the mission. Shen lunatic, if you bother me again, when we get out, I'll tell Chen that you love her to the bone. Then, I will stop at nothing to get you and Chen together."
"....." Feng Qi Shi narrowed his eyes.
"Don't believe me, let's try," Mu Anxiao looked up and met Feng Qi Shi's eyes.
Feng Qi Shi knew Mu Anxiao's character of doing what she said better than anyone.
Therefore, he didn't dare to provoke her further. He grabbed his broom and turned to leave on his own.
Then, Mu Anxiao breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward to Shen Xian's door, and said, "Open the door."
Inside, Shen Xian, upon hearing Mu Anxiao's voice, quickly glanced at the medicine box by his hand and asked nervously, "What is it?"
"Have you eaten?"
"I've eaten."
Listening to the voice from inside, Mu Anxiao became confused, "I made you food, and you've already eaten. What should I do with these?"
"Feed them to the pigs!"
Pigs? Since arriving here, Mu Anxiao hadn't seen any livestock. The mention of feeding pigs was truly a challenge for her.
However, she thought... if she continued to talk, she would surely make Shen Xian impatient. Helplessly, she responded with an "Okay" and turned to walk away.
Shen Xian, hearing that the outside was silent, breathed a sigh of relief.
In the past, whenever Gu An saw three more wounds on Shen Xian, she would fly into a rage. So he was afraid that Mu Anxiao would react the same way Gu An did if she saw these wounds.
Thus, to avoid angering Mu Anxiao, he refused her in this manner.
Meanwhile, Mu Anxiao, carrying the tray, wandered around the courtyard for a bit before stopping in place. She placed the tray on a stone table, picked up her chopsticks, dipped them in a bit of porridge, and tasted it. Her expression instantly changed. "Ugh, it's so bad." She wiped the chopsticks on her sleeve and put them back on the tray.
Then, she looked around, picked up the tray again, and walked away.
A few minutes later... she arrived in the garden behind the reception hall.
Then, she immediately spotted Piao. "Why are you here?"
Hearing her, Piao put down the water ladle and turned to look at Mu Anxiao. "What's wrong with me being here?"
Mu Anxiao, holding the tray, walked over and asked, "Weren't you guys locked up in the woodshed?"
"Don't you know?"
"What?"
Then, Piao glanced around and said, "Last night, Shen Xian took his servants to catch monsters. On the way back, they were ambushed, and everyone was injured. So he ordered one of the girls with lighter injuries to let us out to serve as helpers."
If Piao hadn't said anything, Mu Anxiao wouldn't have noticed that the courtyard was unusually quiet this morning. Now that she heard it, she realized, "No wonder the Shen lunatic showed up."
Piao asked, "Did you make these dishes?"
"Not exactly me."
"Not exactly?"
Mu Anxiao felt there was no need to lie to Piao, so she said, "Xiang Nang made them..."
"Wait, who is Xiang Nang?"
"It's the girl who distanced herself from me yesterday before you were locked up," Mu Anxiao said.
Piao thought for a moment and said, "Oh, it's that girl in the red dress."
"Yes."
Piao smiled, lowered her gaze to the porridge and dishes, and said, "Are you giving these to Shen Xian?"
"Yes, but he's already eaten."
"Then what about these?"
"He said to feed them to the pigs. How about you eat them?" Mu Anxiao handed the tray to Piao.
Piao gave a dry laugh. "If I eat them, wouldn't I become a pig?"
"....."
While Mu Anxiao was speechless, Feng Qi Shi ran up behind her and said, "You didn't deliver it. Oh dear, what a waste."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao had a sudden idea. She immediately turned and smiled at Feng Qi Shi. "Then you eat them." She handed the tray to Feng Qi Shi again.
Feng Qi Shi said, "This isn't good. If Shen Xian finds out, he'll definitely be unhappy."
"It's fine."
"Really fine?" Feng Qi Shi slowly reached out and took the tray.
"It's fine, eat slowly, I'm leaving now." Saying this, Mu Anxiao let go and ran away, passing Feng Qi Shi.
In response, Feng Qi Shi also felt confused.
Because in his memory, as soon as Mu Anxiao saw food, she would eat it regardless of anything. Now, she was being so generous, which made him feel that something was wrong.
Piao calmly watched Feng Qi Shi's confused and suspicious expression and said, "Shen Xian said these porridge and dishes are for feeding pigs. Are you sure you want to eat them?"
"Feed the pigs?" Feng Qi Shi glanced at Shen Xian, then looked down at the porridge and dishes on the tray and said, "There are no pigs here, so I'll eat them!"
"If you eat them, then you are the pig."
"I won't turn into a pig anyway," Feng Qi Shi said, squatting down and placing the tray on a nearby stone. He then picked up his chopsticks, took a bowl, and took a bite. His face immediately froze. "....."
Piao looked confused. "What's wrong?"
Feng Qi Shi hard swallowed the... bitter and astringent porridge grains in his mouth and said, "I finally know why Mu idiot didn't eat it."
Piao looked at Feng Qi Shi's extremely pained expression and swallowed. "Is it bad?"
"It's more than bad, pig slop is better than this," Feng Qi Shi said, looking up at Piao.