Hua Qian Gu was busy in the kitchen, Tang Bao held a small spoon to help her, sometimes putting in a bit of salt, sometimes putting in a bit of sugar.
“Teacher! Teacher! Time to eat!”
Bai Zi Hua stopped meditating, his spirit was thousands of miles away playing chess with High Immortal Dong Hua. As soon as he heard her, he quickly said goodbye, his spirit traveled thousands of miles, returning to his body.
Walking into the room, he looked at the food on the table, each dish was exquisitely arranged, beautifully decorated, like works of art.
“What did you make today?”
“Haha, Teacher, the dishes in order are Tian Ji Mi Lu soup, Fei Cui Dou Fu, Fu Rong Yu Dai, Mi Hun Bai Guo Rou, assorted Gan Cao and fried yellow chrysanthemums’ pistils.”
“You do not have to make so much food each day, it is wasteful if we cannot eat everything, you only need to make one or two dishes.”
“Yes, Teacher.” Hua Qian Gu offered up a pair of jade chopsticks with both hands, “Great Teacher, please eat.”
Bai Zi Hua accepted the chopsticks, held them in his hands, his fingers were paler and more beautiful than the jade chopsticks.
Tang Bao sat in a specially designed Qing Hua bowl and swallowed its saliva while staring at the food, Teacher had not eaten, it did not dare to act rudely.
“Your skill has improved.” Bai Zi Hua looked at the Mi Hun Bai Guo Rou dish made up of many different carved fruits arranged into shapes of birds and phoenixes, nodding slightly, he put a slice of white pear in his mouth.
Hua Qian Gu happily held her bowl, furtively watching Teacher eat. This was the happiest time of the day, although Teacher said little during dinner, just sitting with him warmed her. How could someone eat so elegantly?
“Gu Tou, I want that, that……”
Hua Qian Gu put the cherries used to make the phoenixes’ eyes into Tang Bao’s bowl, Tang Bao clutched them with its arms, devouring them.
Bai Zi Hua ate a few bites from each of the dishes, he laid down his chopsticks after a while, but he still sat at the table watching her and Tang Bao. He never felt hungry or full, but reserved about 10 minutes to talk with her every day.
“Eat slowly, you do not have to rush.”
“Yes……” Hua Qian Gu devoured one-fourth of the food on the table, feeling nearly full, she quickly laid down her chopsticks.
“I’m full, you can have the rest Tang Bao, Teacher said we mustn’t waste any food. Oh right, you’re the last one to finish, you need to wash the bowls and chopsticks, haha.”
“Huh? All right……but why are there so many, I’ve become fatter lately, my waist is gone.”
“Waist?” Hua Qian Gu used chopsticks to pinch its body, looking at it from head to tail. “Here? Here? Or here? Isn’t it all the same?”
Tang Bao tried to escape from the chopsticks while shrieking with laughter, she was pretending it was a side dish and wanting to eat it.
Bai Zi Hua looked at the two of them playing around, a hint of smile appeared in his eyes, he raised a spotless white sleeve to help wipe Hua Qian Gu’s mouth.
Hua Qian Gu looked up, seeing his cold face, that gentle gesture almost made her cry.
Seeing the stain on Bai Zi Hua’s sleeve, she lowered her head in embarrassment.
Teacher’s white robe always seemed clean for thousands of years, surrounded by an aura of immortality, dirt could not contaminate it, his clothes did not need to be washed like hers….. Would he need to bathe? Hua Qian Gu imagined Teacher taking off his clothes……
Oh dizziness, dizziness…… Amitabha, Amitabha, have mercy, have mercy……
Her thinking had changed from when she originally became his disciple, which was to be filial to her Teacher, to cook and wash his clothes, to make tea, et cetera.
Teacher believed in the natural state of Taoism, in purity, mystical arts should not be used to make life easier, such thinking would make people dependent and lazy. Thus chores such as combing hair or washing clothes, he only needed to lift his hand and say a spell, but he did everything himself instead of relying on mystic arts.
“Teacher, give me your clothes later, can I help you wash them?”
A stunned Bai Zi Hua looked at Hua Qian Gu who returned his gaze with trepidation, he gently nodded his head.
That night, Hua Qian Gu took the clothes to a creak behind the mountain. While she washed the clothes under a beautiful full moon, Tang Bao floated nearby on a peach petal. She looked at Bai Zi Hua’s room. She never thought such peaceful happiness was possible. She wished this could last forever.
The next day, Hua Qian Gu caught a flying paper crane. Everyone in the six realms used flying paper cranes to send messages to each other. The letter was from Dong Fang Yu Qing. His chicken scratches were worse than hers. He said he missed her a lot, missed her so much even his bones hurt. At the end of the letter was an awful “family picture” he drew consisting of Hua Qian Gu, a worm and a scholar. Hua Qian Gu wrote a reply, folded the note into a crane and sent it to Dong Fang Yu Qing.
Hua Qian Gu climbed on a tree. She barely sat down before seeing a golden light landing in Jue Qing Hall. It was Mo Yan, who needed to see Bai Zi Hua on an urgent matter. Another holy instrument had been stolen.
Hua Qian Gu rolled around on her bed. She was completely bored. Bai Zi Hua had been gone for three days. Tang Bao was busy playing with Luo Shi Yi. Hua Qian Gu jumped out of bed and decided to go to the kitchen to experiment with new recipes. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see someone standing before her. It was Chang Sheng, a servant from one of Chang Liu’s halls. She was about to tell him that he was not allowed in Jue Qing Hall, but he grinned mysteriously and said: “Kiddo, I’ve arrived!”