Chapter 14 We’re All Climbing Mountains

“We’ve been climbing all morning and haven’t eaten anything. It’s almost noon, is everyone hungry?”

The atmosphere in the main hall grew increasingly awkward until Julian took the initiative to change the subject.

“Starving, but is there anything to eat?”

Lu Xiaoyao rubbed her belly and looked towards Wang Laosan, who exchanged a glance with Huang Er before nodding. “The mountain isn’t like the village below. We don’t have a lot of food in the kitchen, but there’s enough.”

“If there are vegetables, the Big Boss will cook!”

Lu Xiaoyao glanced quickly at Mu Chen. Seeing that he wasn’t displeased, she grinned at her own cleverness. The others saw through her but didn’t say anything.

“Yes, it’s over by the guest rooms. You can all rest and freshen up there. Looking at the sky, the rain is still coming down. The roads are slippery in the rain, so why not rest here for the night? I’ll have Wang Laosan take you to your rooms.”

Huang Er and Wang Laosan once again urged everyone to stay.

A few of them felt that staying the night would be a big problem, but looking at the dark sky outside, the rain would continue to fall.

Besides, the mountain roads were slippery, and it would take a while to get down. If they weren’t down before dark, the terrifying black fog would make it even more dangerous.

Finally, they exchanged glances and nodded, tacitly agreeing to stay the night.

“We’re putting you to a lot of trouble.”

“No trouble at all.”

Walking out of the main hall, Mu Chen and the others picked up the torches they had placed under the eaves. Wang Laosan looked at the torches and couldn’t help but praise, “These torches are really good quality. They haven’t gone out even with the rain dripping on them!”

“Yeah, they’re really good.”

Wang Wenfei thought for a moment, then smiled and picked up a torch, trying to get close to Wang Laosan.

It wasn’t until her torch was right in front of Wang Laosan that he seemed to be burned by the flames and took a step back, scolding, “You silly girl, you’re not careful with the torch. What if you burn someone?”

“Ah… slipped.”

Wang Wenfei pulled the torch back and apologized.

The group continued towards the backyard.

Mu Chen watched Wang Laosan’s back as they walked slowly at the end of the line and whispered to Mingmei, “His acting isn’t good enough.”

“Oh…”

Mingmei responded expressionlessly, without any other reaction. Mu Chen continued, “When he was staring at the torch just now, his body didn’t move, but one of his heels was already off the ground, toes pointing outwards, like he was…”

Mu Chen chuckled. “Like he was ready to escape at any moment. What do you think… what’s he feeling guilty about?”

At this point, Mingmei looked at Mu Chen. Other than pretending to be stupid and saying "I don't understand anything," she really didn't want to say anything else.

Why?

When the game difficulty is too high, players don't have a good experience, but why is she, an NPC, also not having a good gaming experience?

Mu Chen instantly dragged her hard-earned high-level persona to the very bottom.

“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore.”

Even though Mingmei didn't show any expression on her face, Mu Chen looked at her as if he was seeing a little, puffed-up kitten, the kind that had been angered into shutting down, its butt facing him.

Quite cute.

Wang Laosan led them to the backyard of the Mountain God Temple. A row of brick houses looked simple. The two brick houses with stacks of firewood on the side were the kitchen Wang Laosan had mentioned.

As for the toilet…

“Huh? No toilet?”

Everyone was stunned. Wang Laosan nodded. “This yard is so small, an outhouse would stink. Just go to the woods behind.”

After speaking, everyone looked towards the dense forest that Wang Laosan pointed to. Because of the heavy rain, the misty rain made the deep green forest look even more unreal.

“I hate dense forests.”

Julian frowned. He had encountered scenarios with dense forests in games before, and they never ended well.

Even though his memories were blurry, the wariness and dislike of dense forests in his heart were real.

“I don’t like them either.”

The others nodded as well.

Wang Laosan led them to the guest rooms and let them choose their own rooms. He took Mu Chen to the kitchen and pointed to the somewhat messy kitchen shelves, which were indeed full of fruits and vegetables.

After taking a closer look, Mu Chen realized that the fruits seemed to be wild mountain fruits, and the vegetables were the same.

“Don’t you grow your own vegetables?”

“Ah, I just got here. Before, when Huang Er lived here alone, he didn’t cultivate any vegetable gardens. Fortunately, there’s plenty to eat in the mountains.” As he spoke, Wang Laosan’s eyes darted around, and he added, “But Huang Er said he sometimes goes down the mountain to buy some.”

Mu Chen looked up at the string of dried meat hanging from the beam, silently retracted his gaze, and didn’t continue speaking.

Wang Laosan noticed Mu Chen’s reaction and asked, “Do you want to eat meat? Huang Er has a few more strings of fresh meat, if you want…”

“No, I don’t know how to cook meat.”

Just as Lu Xiaoyao and Mingmei excitedly finished tidying up their room, they came to the kitchen wanting to ask Mu Chen what he was making when they heard Mu Chen say this.

Mingmei: ???

Lu Xiaoyao: ???

Wasn’t the big pot of fish last night meat?

Why did he suddenly change his tune today?

“All settled?”

Ignoring the stunned expressions of the two at the door, Mu Chen turned around and saw Mingmei at the door, asking directly, “Is there anything you want to eat?”

“Anything is fine…” Mingmei looked at the shelves for a while before meeting Mu Chen’s gaze. “Everything you’ve made recently has been delicious. I trust you.”

“Okay, how about a cold wild vegetable salad? The wild vegetables here look very tender, and the bitterness should be light, but I’ll still blanch them to remove the bitterness, and then mix them with sesame oil, salt, and vinegar. Also, there’s some flour, how about making a wild vegetable pancake as a staple food?”

“Okay.”

Mu Chen rolled up his sleeves and opened his arms. Seeing this, Mingmei picked up an apron from the side and tied it around his waist, as if she had practiced the action a thousand times.

The corners of Mu Chen’s mouth couldn’t help but turn upwards. Mingmei looked at him and hummed inwardly.

He had practiced this at her house. Every time before cooking, he would come up to her like he was about to commit a great crime and ask her to help him tie his apron to comfort him.

Seeing this scene of the two of them, the corners of Lu Xiaoyao’s mouth rose wildly—

So sweet, waaaah!

Turning her head, Lu Xiaoyao saw Wang Laosan standing there with the same expression, his face full of disbelief, then falling into deep thought.

“You also think something’s not right, right?” Seeing Lu Xiaoyao looking at him, Wang Laosan said, “They don’t take you seriously at all.”

“Why should they take me seriously?”

Wang Laosan: ???

“But… but don’t you feel bad being ignored like that?”

“No, I don’t. Isn’t it the same for you?”

Wang Laosan was choked by Lu Xiaoyao’s words and couldn’t say anything for a long time.

What’s wrong with this kid?!

Lu Xiaoyao, stared at by Wang Laosan, seemed to understand something from the other party’s resentful gaze. The next second, she raised her hand and patted him on the shoulder, sighing, “Uncle, you’re not young anymore, take it easy. You have to know that not everyone is like you, wanting to get attention.

Besides, I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

After hearing Lu Xiaoyao’s incomprehensible words, Wang Laosan’s face showed a confused expression.

Is this kid not right in the head?