“Honey, it’s nearly three o’clock. Shall we go shopping?” Zi Yan put her arms around Zhang Han’s neck and looked up at him with her glowing eyes, “Retail therapy makes me happy. I haven’t gone shopping for a long time.”
Both Zi Yan’s actions and her lively tone only added to her charm.
In the past, Zi Yan would not have made such a gesture, but her love for Zhang Han had changed a lot of things.
Zhang Han would never refuse the beauty’s request. He smiled and pouted, “Give me a kiss.”
Zi Yan glanced around, then quickly stood on tiptoe and gently kissed Zhang Han’s lips.
“Let’s go shopping.” Zhang Han laughed contentedly and raised his right arm slightly. Zi Yan snuggled close to him and walked to the front of the mountain.
“Woof.”
Bang, bang, bang!
“Woof, woof, woof!”
Dahei shouted a few times, pounded its own chest and then raised three fingers in front of the little cursed roc and said:
“In this mountain, in addition to our host, I am the eldest, it is the second and you are the third. Behave yourself, follow your big brother and you will definitely get benefits”
“Woof, woof, woof!”
Dahei talked to Little Hei using its eyes.
“Woof!”
“Whoosh!”
Little Hei moved and soon came back with a Hungarian sheep-pig, which was the same size as Little Hei.
“Woof, woof, woof!”
Dahei clapped its hands and pointed to the direction of the back mountain.
“Coo, coo.”
The little cursed roc did not understand anything. When it saw Dahei and Little Hei walking toward the dense forest, it followed them.
In the dense forest, on a boulder, there was a bonfire that had been used for a long time.
The two beasts, quite skillfully took the wood, made a fire, shaved the pig, cleaned the meat and roasted it over the fire. They then sprinkled the seasoning that had been set aside.
After a while, the smell of barbecued meat filled this part of the forest.
“Puff, puff.”
After the meat was done, Dahei bit off a large piece of it. Then it took off a leg and after thinking for a moment, broke off half of it and handed it to the little cursed roc.
“Woof, woof, woof, woof!”
“Little brother, try it!”
“Coo, coo.”
The little cursed roc did not know what Dahei meant and had no interest in the meat, but it wanted to get along well with its new friends.
Therefore, it extended its wings on both sides, picked up the joint and ate it, bit by bit.
“Coo, coo…”
“Whoa, whoa… hahaha…”
Dahei glanced at it, grinned several times and then exchanged a few looks with Little Hei.
“Look, this guy is so active. When it first came here, it came to pay homage to us and it even brought us special foods. It is unlike that silly fish who made trouble here. If we meet that kind of fish the next time, I’ll cook it directly.
They began eating.
Zhang Han and Zi Yan were in a large shopping mall in Zhu Keng District.
Zi Yan, who wore a cap and a pair of sunglasses, was excited.
They already had a lot of clothes, but they liked to try new styles every year.
Summer had arrived and it was getting hot. All kinds of beauties displaying attractive legs were out and about on the street.
The shopping mall was filled with shops selling all kinds of new clothes and soon Zhang Han’s hands were full. Half of the clothes they bought were for Mengmeng, because Zi Yan liked to dress her daughter up. The other half were for Zhang Han and Zi Yan.
Although Zi Yan was not done yet, it was almost 4:00 p.m. and she had to stop her shopping.
Together with Zhang Han, they went down to the parking lot located at one side of the shopping mall.
“Mr. Zhang?”
Just as they were about to get into the car, they heard someone addressing them hesitantly.
Looking around, they saw Li Kai, Mengmeng’s classmate Li Muen’s father, who was a real estate agent.
“Mr. Li.” Zhang Han replied.
“Mr. Zhang and Miss Zi.” Li Kai approached them and said with a smile, “What a coincidence that we should meet here.”
“Yes, we were here to buy some clothes for the summer.” Zi Yan smiled.
“Mr. Zhang, have you heard anything about the school?” Li Kai said seriously.
“What’s the matter?” Zhang Han shook his head.
“Didn’t Mengmeng tell you about it?” Li Kai was surprised.
“Huh?” Zhang Han looked at Li Kai in confusion.
“What’s the matter? Was Mengmeng being bullied at school?”
Zhang Han began worrying about Mengmeng.
However, Zhang Han was soon amused by what Li Kai said next and wanted to tell Li Kai that if he could not tell them the complete story, he’d better see a doctor to get this condition treated.
Li Kai said with a sad look, “Well, it’s this school activity! At noon today, my girl called me and asked me to rearrange my schedule in advance. There will be a parent-child cooking activity at school this Saturday and all the children are asked to work with their parents to make lunch in order to enhance their relationship. What can I do? What else should I do to enhance my relationship with my own daughter? Most importantly, I can’t cook. If I had 10%, no, 1% of Mr. Zhang’s talent in cooking, I would be very happy to join them. Now, it’s very difficult for me.”
“Why were we not aware of this activity?” Zi Yan was surprised and eager to have a try.
“It was announced this morning. Maybe my daughter was worried that I would not be able to go with her, so she borrowed teacher Lu’s phone to inform me in advance.” Li Kai sighed again. It was clear that it would be a problem for him.
He did not know how to cook and was worried about being ridiculed by the other parents and end up embarrassing his daughter.
“Where is Muen’s mother? Surely she knows how to cook.” Zi Yan asked curiously.
“Her mother is on a business trip and can’t come back on Saturday.” Li Kai had no choice but to smile and said, “Although this activity is said to be voluntary, I think that everyone wants to participate in it, including Muen. And there will be little red flowers as gifts. She will be unhappy if I don’t agree, so I decided to go with her. I just found a chef to teach me how to cook two simple dishes. I hope that I will not feel too embarrassed on Saturday.”
Zhang Han heard the key words “red flowers”.
He knew that Mengmeng had to go to the activity!
This was just what Zhang Han wanted. The gate of the worldlet was about to open and he wanted to spend all his leisure time with Mengmeng.
“By the way, Mr. Zhang, I am embarrassed to say this.” Li Kai’s eyes lit up. Rubbing his hands together, Li Kai said in a slightly bashful tone, “Since I happened to meet Mr. Zhang, I’ll tell you that I have an unreasonable request.”
“Do you need some ingredients?” Zhang Han knew what Li Kai meant when he saw the look in Li Kai’s eyes.
He guessed right.
“Hey, hey, Mr. Zhang is right. I’ve eaten Mr. Zhang’s food several times and I’m really impressed. I’m so bad at cooking that I want to make up for my shortcomings in other ways.” Li Kai said with a smile, “Some rice and eggs will be enough.”
“You want to make egg fried rice?” Zhang Han was amused.
Li Kai wanted to learn how to cook for his daughter’s sake. Although it was just a simple meal, Li Muen would always remember this occasion.
Zhang Han was also aware of this as he would also do his best to satisfy whatever Mengmeng wanted at this stage of her childhood. In this short period of time, he did not want to have any regrets. He wanted to give Mengmeng a perfect childhood.
Maybe Li Kai had the same idea, so he chose to learn how to cook at this time.
Hearing Zhang Han’s words, Li Kai laughed, “Just fried eggs with white rice. I have not decided on the main course yet. I’m going to consult the chef this evening.”
“Ha ha, OK. Take your time to study it. When you need the ingredients, go to the mountain and get them.” Zhang Han nodded.
“Thank you, Mr. Zhang. Thank you so much. This will be a great help to me.” Li Kai was flattered and thanked him repeatedly.
“You’re welcome.” Zhang Han nodded his head and put the large bag of clothes into the trunk.
Li Kai left to pick his daughter up from school.
He got into the car and did not tell the driver to leave. Instead, Li Kai waited for Zhang Han to drive his car out first
At 4:20 p.m., their car arrived at the school gate.
Zhang Han and Zi Yan walked into the school. When they saw Mengmeng, the little girl rushed into PaPa’s arms as usual.
“PaPa, MaMa, I will have another little red flower on Saturday and then I can get the grand prize trophy.”
“That sounds great, what is happening on Saturday? Aren’t you on holiday on Saturday?” Zhang Han pretended he did not know anything.
“No holiday, not this time.” Mengmeng solemnly told him, “It’s an activity and I want to cook…”
They went back to the car, talking and laughing.
Zi Yan and Mengmeng chatted away in the back seat like happy birds.
When they were about to return to Mount New Moon, they came to a conclusion, “We have decided that Mengmeng and I will make lunch for you on Saturday.”
“Ha ha, well, I’m so happy.” Zhang Han nodded with a smile.
Zhang Han was a sensitive man and he did not say, “Are you going to cook? Will your food be edible?”
Zi Yan and Mengmeng began to think about what delicious food to make on Saturday. Of course, it was Zi Yan who talked and Mengmeng who listened. Mengmeng did not know how to cook, thus Zi Yan could do whatever she planned. Anyway, Mengmeng thought she must be right to echo Zi Yan’s words.
Back on the mountain, Zhang Han cooked dinner. During this period, Zi Yan kept staring at his hands and asked from time to time, “How do you know the mushroom is cooked?”
“This meat has just been fried. Why fry it again?”
“…”
It was common for people who were good at cooking to think it was very simple and those who did not know how to cook would think it was difficult. Facing Zi Yan, who was eager to have a try, Zhang Han was very patient and slowed down the cooking process in order to answer all her questions.
When all kinds of dishes were cooked and served at the table, Zi Yan stared at them and said with a bit of frustration, “I can’t do it as well as you.”
“As long as they taste good. Besides, I’ll be your assistant.”
“No, you are wrong, PaPa. I am going to assist MaMa, not you.”
“Well, Okay…”
The family of three ate their dinner happily. After a short rest, Zi Yan remembered something.
“By the way, let’s go to the back mountain and let Mengmeng name the little thing.” As he said this, Zi Yan took the lead to stand up and went downstairs with Zhang Han, holding Meng Meng’s small hand.
“MaMa, what’s that little thing?” Mengmeng raised her head and asked curiously, her big clear eyes unblinking.
“You’ll know later.” Zi Yan did not tell her in advance.
When night came, the moon was high in the sky and the bright moonlight bathed Mount New Moon in a haze of beauty. With the surrounding lights, the whole mountain was not dark at all.
Even so, when Mengmeng came to the back mountain, she was still shocked by the little black thing running toward her.
“Wow! What’s that?”
“Take a closer look.” Zi Yan squatted, held Mengmeng in her arms and kissed her face.
“Uh?”
Mengmeng was slightly stunned and looked at it carefully. When the little cursed roc came near, its cute penguin appearance made Mengmeng’s big eyes brighten instantly.
“It’s a goose!”
Mengmeng forgot what the correct term was and said, “It’s a snow goose!”
“Well, this is a penguin at present. When it grows up, it will become something else.” Zhang Han replied.
Now the little cursed roc camouflaged itself in this way. When Mengmeng grew up and began her cultivation, the little cursed roc would make its own appearance.
After all, it would be a little frightening to let Mengmeng see a big fish floating around for now…
“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!”
Dahei stretched out three fingers.
“It’s our third young brother.”
“Aoooow!”
Little Hei also cheerfully called out twice and ran several times around the family of three.
“PaPa, MaMa, can I touch it?” Mengmeng asked.
“Of course, you can,” Zhang Han replied with a smile.
“Go ahead.” Zi Yan patted Mengmeng’s back.
Mengmeng took two steps forward and reached out her little hand to touch the head of the little cursed roc.
“Well, what’s your name?”
“It doesn’t have a name yet. We are waiting for you to name it.” Zi Yan smiled as she reminded her.
“It is up to me? Ha ha ha.” Mengmeng laughed and patted the little cursed roc’s head, “I’ll give you a name.”
“But… what should it be called?” Mengmeng felt a little confused again.
Then she looked at her fingers and mumbled, “Big Heihei, Little Heihei. Well, Little Little Heihei? Little Heiheihei? Little Heihei, no, Little Little Little Hei…”
Dahei was a little anxious.
It lay down with its head pointed toward Mengmeng and then it held out three fingers, “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
“It’s our third brother.”
“Eh?” Mengmeng’s bright eyes blinked as she thought hard. After a while, she mumbled, “Shall we call it Third Heihei? Then Big Heihei, eh? Who is Second Heihei? Is Second Heihei Little Heihei? It’s not.”
Zhang Han and Zi Yan could not stop laughing, feeling that the girl was so cute.
Finally, Zi Yan prompted her, “You can use other words. We have Dahei and Little Hei and you can call it by other names, such as Little Bell, Little Thing, etc.”
“But it is also black.”
“Coo, coo.” The little cursed roc liked Mengmeng and called out happily in front of her.
It seemed that it could sense Zi Yan’s mood and knew that the little girl in front of it was going to give it a name.
But it never expected…
“MaMa, it’s much smaller than Big Heihei and Little Heihei. Shall we call it Tiny Tot?”
“Okay, Tiny Tot is fine.” Zi Yan nodded with a smile.
“Puff…”
Zhang Han coughed twice and the corners of his mouth twitched.
He didn’t know what to say.
Tiny Tot.
In his mind, he pictured the three of them traveling to the Cultivation World on the back of the giant roc and then Mengmeng giving it directions and saying, “Tiny Tot, let’s go there.”
What a wonderful picture.
It was a little weird to call a giant Tiny Tot.
But Zhang Han always supported Zi Yan and Mengmeng’s decision.
“Tiny Tot, well, it’s a very nice name. Mengmeng is so clever.”
“Ha ha ha. Tiny Tot, Tiny Tot, you are Tiny Tot. Big Heihei, Little Heihei, we have a new friend called Tiny Tot.” Mengmeng said happily.
“Woof, woof, woof.” Dahei roared excitedly.
“Whatever it is, Giant Tot or Tiny Tot, it will always be our third young brother.”
“Coo, coo…”
The little cursed roc’s mouth opened, as if it was smiling. Looking at Mengmeng with its bright eyes, it spat out a small flower.
Holy object!
Zhang Han was surprised, “Why does this little thing have so many treasures? Didn’t it absorb all the treasures it got from the relics?”
Zhang Han narrowed his eyes slightly, “It is a treasury roc.”
“It must have gone through a long period of growth before. How many ruins has it explored during that time?”
No one knew the specific number, but judging from the roc’s treasures, it had to be a big harvest each time.
“Uh?”
Seeing this, Mengmeng was stunned, “What is this? It is sending me a flower. PaPa, it seems to like me.”
“It likes Mengmeng.” Zhang Han said with a smile, “Look, the flower that it just held in its mouth has been given to you. Take this small gift and let’s plant it in the farmland over there first.”
Mengmeng took the palm-size flower and went over to the medicine field, where she planted the flower in the soil at the edge. She finished the whole process successfully.
They went back to the back mountain again and had a good time with the new member.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!”
“Aoooow!”
“Ha ha ha…”
They laughed and cheered. Little cursed roc, oh no, Tiny Tot looked at them and was very friendly.
“Coo, coo…”
“Woof, woof, woof.”
The large pack of dogs were also excited.
Looking at this scene, Zi Yan smiled contentedly. She was sitting in the back seat with her head resting on Zhang Han’s shoulder.
“I’ve thought about what it would be like to have a home before. I’ve given it a lot of thought, but now it’s much better than I imagined it to be. Thank you, I’m very happy.”
Zhang Han gently patted Zi Yan’s arm, “We will always be happy.”
It was like an agreement.
But this was destined to be an everlasting love.
Tired after playing in the evening, Zi Yan and Mengmeng went back to their bedroom and fell asleep amidst Zhang Han’s storytelling.
The next day was Friday and Mengmeng only had classes in the morning. In the afternoon, she discussed with MaMa about what to do the next day. They decided to keep it a secret from Zhang Han.
At nine o’clock the next morning, the family of three were ready to leave.
Zhao Feng put all kinds of food ingredients in small bags and stuffed them into the trunk of the panda car.
Teacher Liu had already informed them that they did not need to bring anything except food materials, because the school had all the other necessities.
There were 21 students in the class and 20 of them were participating in the activity. This was a very high participation rate.
Zhang Han drove to the school.
It was really lively here.
On the side of the playground, a lot of equipment had been set up.
The stoves were arranged such that the large pots were on the top and wood could be filled from its bottom. On the side, there were simple kitchen tables with brand-new clean knives on them, chopping boards and other kitchen utensils on the top. The school spent quite an amount of money to organize this activity.
Saint Kindergarten was rich. They were not there merely for money and were not short of money either. They were devoted to service, so every once in a while they would have such an activity.
It was a good day with clear skies and no wind, which was quite suitable for activities like cooking in the open.
