Meanwhile—
Klee had led Xiangling and Diona to a small lake.
The shoreline looked rather messy, littered with broken rocks.
Klee called out loudly, "This is where Klee goes fishing!"
Amber corrected, "You mean blasting fish, right?"
Diona stood on tiptoe, peering at the water. "I see lots of fish, shrimp, and crabs floating on the surface."
Xia Ci saw it too. "Probably stunned by Klee's Jumpy Dumpties!"
Mona looked skeptical. "They might all be dead by now, you know. That explosion was ridiculously loud."
Charlotte snapped some pictures and chimed in, "It really was loud. You all couldn't hear it in the Serenitea Pot, but inside the hovercar it gave us a huge scare."
Xiangling just laughed. "No worries if they're dead—besides, they only just died, and the weather's cool today. We can still cook them!"
So everyone started scooping up fish.
After a while, three wild boars actually came down to the lake, probably to drink.
The girls exchanged glances, breaking into knowing grins.
Twenty minutes later, they returned from the lakeside.
They'd already built a campfire, since Xia Zhi planned to cook dinner outdoors and had invited Amber and Klee to join.
The place wasn't far from Mondstadt city—at most two or three hours away, and if Amber used her Wind Glider, only about an hour.
But since it was getting dark, and taking Klee on the road at night wouldn't be safe, Amber had happily agreed to stay.
"Boss! We brought back tons of fish and shrimp!"
"Good work. I'll grill them up for you later."
"We even caught three wild boars!"
"Wild boars?"
"Yeah, they basically walked right up to us."
"Are they cleaned already?"
"All set—Diona did it."
Hearing that, Zhu Zi looked genuinely impressed.
Back at the Summer Shop, whenever Xiangling wasn't around, it was Diona who handled butchering chickens and fish. She'd grown up hunting with her father Draff, so she was skilled at cleaning game.
But Zhu Zi hadn't expected she could even handle butchering boars.
Incredible! She had to write this into his novel!
A spark of inspiration struck Zhu Zi immediately.
Xia Zhi thought for a moment. "Then tonight, let's make a Kill Pig Dish."
"Kill Pig Dish!"
Everyone's faces lit up in excitement.
Only Amber and Klee looked a bit confused.
What was Kill Pig Dish? And why did everyone seem so eager for it? Was it that good?
Amber glanced at Xia Zhi by the campfire, already preparing ingredients.
She'd learned from Xiangling that this Mr. Xia was Xiangling's newly acknowledged master, and according to Xiangling, his cooking skills surpassed hers by a hundredfold.
Amber found that hard to believe.
Last year when Xiangling came to Mondstadt, Amber had tasted her food, which was so delicious it left the Good Hunter's fare in the dust.
In Amber's eyes, Xiangling was the best chef she'd ever known, so she couldn't imagine someone whose skills outclassed hers by a hundredfold.
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
That kind of difference was just too ridiculous, and judging by his appearance, Mr. Xia only looked a few years older than Xiangling at most.
Amber thought to herself,
Xiangling was probably just flattering her master behind his back…
-----
The "Kill Pig Dish" that Xia Zhi was preparing was a kind of stew traditionally served in rural areas of his old world around the end of the year, whenever families butchered their annual pig.
Though regional practices varied slightly, most versions used fresh pork bones to make a broth, then added carefully cleaned liver, blood, and other offal, plus slices of pork belly and lean meat, simmered all together with something sour like pickled vegetables to cut the grease.
In essence, Kill Pig Dish was a big, hearty one-pot stew.
A large iron pot hung steadily above the campfire, the broth inside already a rich, milky white.
Xia Zhi stirred with a ladle, moving it carefully through the pot to keep anything from sticking and burning at the bottom, which would ruin the flavor of the soup.
Because the pot was so big, his stirring motions were wide and powerful — yet not a single drop of broth splashed out.
The liquid obediently swirled around his ladle in a mesmerizing, graceful pattern.
The girls stood by quietly, watching without saying a word.
Xiangling was especially captivated.
As a Culinary Grandmaster, she didn't just admire her master's practiced, fluid movements; what fascinated her was the subtle technique hidden within them.
She noticed that Xia Zhi's ladle wasn't moving randomly at all.
She mentally traced the path he was drawing and suddenly realized it formed an incredibly precise circle.
Master was drawing circles!
Xiangling instantly recalled a kneading technique Xia Zhi had taught her when making dough.
Kneading wasn't about brute force; it relied on the fingers' rotation, the wrists' rotation, even using a stick to spin the dough. Its essence was in circular motion — the bigger and deeper the circle, the smoother and softer the dough became.
She had practiced that method for two whole days before finally getting the hang of it.
Since then, she'd been using it every time she made breakfast and pastries, and everyone agreed the results were far tastier than before.
But she had never even considered that the same circular method could be applied to stewing soup — and with such a perfect result!
Xiangling's eyes lit up.
So cooking methods could be this universally transferable!
She'd been so focused on improving dishes by constantly changing up strange ingredients — but maybe she should be improving her technique instead.
In that moment, she felt as if a new door had opened before her.
Perhaps that was exactly the difference between herself and Master.
If she could integrate all these culinary skills as perfectly as he did, maybe one day she could stand at the same height.
The delicious aroma of meat filled the air, the billowing steam from the pot catching the firelight and dancing in a tantalizing display.
Amber had spent the entire morning patrolling outside, then ran out in the afternoon to look for Klee.
She'd been running around all day and was starving by now, so she couldn't help but secretly swallow her saliva.
But because the surroundings were too quiet, even that tiny gulp made a suspiciously loud sound.
The other girls turned to look at her, and Amber immediately blushed bright red. Everyone burst into good-natured laughter.
Xia Ci grinned and called out, "Cousin! How much longer? You see your guests are practically starving!"
Xia Zhi lifted his head, a slightly apologetic look on his face. "Sorry, Miss Amber, for keeping you and Miss Klee waiting so long…"
Amber waved her hands quickly. "Oh no, not at all, Mr. Xia! We're hardly guests — this is Mondstadt, and you all came so far from Liyue to visit, you're the guests here. We should be the ones thanking you for taking us in tonight!"
Knights truly did have knightly manners.
Zhu Zi, curious, asked, "Since you're an Outrider, do you often have to camp outside overnight?"
"Yup!"
"How do you manage that?"
"I usually just light a little fire, grill up some mushrooms or a bit of chicken, then climb a tree to sleep."
"That sounds so tough!"
"It's alright! Actually, the first time I met Xiangling was when I was camping outdoors, too. That night I couldn't find anything to eat, and my stomach was growling. I saw a campfire in the distance and went to check it out, and there was Xiangling, grilling mushrooms. It smelled amazing."
"When you're hungry, anything cooking smells good!"
"True!"
After a bit more conversation, Xia Zhi finally stopped stirring the pot and turned to the side. "Xiangling, bring over those chopped meat and vegetables."
"Yes, Master!" Xiangling responded. "Guoba!"
"Wuu!" Guoba answered, trotting off on his little legs to help carry things.
Before long, it was time to eat.
Amber held a steaming bowl of white rice, spooning a generous helping of the Kill Pig Dish stew on top.
The tangy, spicy broth soaked into the rice, and the first bite sent comforting warmth flooding through her whole body.
She froze for a moment in shock, then couldn't stop herself from squinting her eyes and letting out a soft, satisfied whimper.
This was too delicious!
She couldn't even find words to describe it!
Xiangling's cooking was wonderful, but this — this was on an entirely different level!
So what Xiangling had said before was true…
Amber opened her eyes again, unconsciously looking toward Xia Zhi.
He was still by the campfire, head lowered, busy with the pot, while Ganyu stood next to him, chatting with a gentle smile but not eating.
Amber couldn't help but feel a bit curious.
She watched them for a while, then leaned close to Xiangling and whispered,
"Xiangling, are Mr. Xia and Miss Ganyu… dating?"
Xiangling paused, then burst out laughing. "Of course not! Miss Ganyu is a vegetarian, so she won't eat Kill Pig Dish. Master is just making a separate meal for her."
"Oh… I see…"
Amber felt a little embarrassed about her misunderstanding and lowered her head to focus on her rice.
On the other side, Klee was also happily clutching her big bowl of rice.
This big brother's food was amazing!
Even tastier than Xiangling's or Noelle's cooking — by far!
But Klee was, after all, a little girl, and her stomach wasn't very big. After finishing her bowl, she already felt stuffed.
No more room.
She put down her bowl with a big smile. "Klee's full! Thank you, everyone, for the meal!"
The grown-ups all laughed at her adorable look.
"Really full?"
"Really full!"
"How about a bit more soup?"
"Klee really can't fit any more!"
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