Dao of Cooking

Days passed. That’s what happens when you have a lot on your plate. Time just flies by while you're busy trying to make the best of it. Lei was no different. He barely had any time to scratch his head. Everything was changing, and he doubted whether the new winds would bring anything good with them.

Fatty Lou was working hard to poke his nose into the Governor’s Office, but his progress had been slow. His attempts to peer into their schemes brought little result. To him, there was no difference between this lot and those rotten bastards. A different kind of rot, but rot all the same. Lei was hardly surprised.

A lavish caravan had been seen off three days ago, carried by colorful creatures the size of houses—powerful spiritual beasts. The kind you wouldn’t expect to see in a place like Jiangzhen. Under the bright sun, dozens of people, all clad in the Governor’s Office’s brown robes, stood in muted respect as the beasts took off, their wings spanning wide. The Governor himself was at the front of his men, making sure nobody bothered his guests.

Later, they learned that the caravan belonged to an Auditor of the Emperor’s Own. A powerful man, unsuited to the lowly lands of mortals. Word had it that the Governor licked the man’s feet and hands so clean that the Auditor scarcely spared a glance at the city. Like a spoiled child, they fed and entertained him, making sure he couldn’t see the sorry state that was Jiangzhen.

There was a bad smell about the whole deal. Logic dictated that the Governor should’ve told the Auditor they were in need of resources. The wounds from the cultivators' attack had yet to heal. Homeless people crowded the Library’s grand square at night. Rent prices were through the roof. Any good man would’ve tried to do something. But it seemed the Governor had other plans.

People didn’t complain. That just wasn’t something they did. They carried on, silent. Lei found that if he let himself believe everything was good, even for a second, he became one of them. An ignorant fool, but a happy one. Other times, he would sit all alone behind his stall, counting his coppers. What was the deal with money, anyway? You earn it, save it, yet it somehow finds a way to slip through your fingers.

Fifteen imperial gold. That was just for the ferry. One coin for each. But what about when they stepped into a cultivator’s city like Lanzhou? Fatty Lou said things were expensive there. Simply walking into that city wouldn’t be enough. They needed more money. More of everything.

Thankfully, life wasn’t just about dark storms. There was just enough light to keep Lei going. The kids were making progress. In just one week, Snake, Stone, and Little Mei had stepped into the 3rd Step of the Body Tempering Stage. Zhu Luli herself had reached the 8th Step of the Body Tempering Stage, with Fatty Lou and Lei finally crossing the hard line of the 2nd Step.

Monstrous talents. Zhu Luli had made a habit of using that phrase to describe those three little devils. Geniuses in the making. Indeed, they were a talented bunch, each in their own way. Little Mei often went outside with Little Yao and the black cat on her shoulders. She liked talking with them, and they seemed to understand her. Little Yao, being the strange spiritual beast she was, already had a good grasp of the common language, but that cat was normal, and yet it couldn’t spend a second away from her. Cats weren’t supposed to act like that.

Snake and Stone, on the other hand, spent their time cultivating. They were just like the cultivation maniacs Lei had read about in xianxia novels: sleep, eat, and cultivate. They had claimed one of the rooms all for themselves, barely stepping out. They didn’t want to disturb the other kids. Lei had caught them more than once cultivating in the middle of the night.

Zhu Luli told him that this was normal, especially for talented kids. In time, when their cultivation progress slowed, they would come out of this phase. It was like finding a new game—you grind it like there’s no tomorrow until you start getting sick of it. Though Lei was sure it would take some time.

Other talented kids weren’t too far behind. Little Meng had stepped into the 2nd Step not long ago, and she carried the flag for her team. Yes, team. They had groups now. Little Jiao was head of the kitchen staff—future cooks, Lei called them—a team of misfits eager to learn the secrets of the culinary world. Then there were Little Meng’s scoundrels, always pushing Zhu Luli for more knowledge. And finally, the top three. Yes, those three were different.

It turned out everything found a way to fall into a rhythm. It was hard to let them go, to let them be their own people. Lei had to fight against the urge to keep them at arm's length at all times. He didn’t want to lose them. But being overprotective… that was a sin, Zhu Luli told him.

You have to let them be.

It was easy to say.

They’d gone out for a hunt during the weekend. Took a little tour around the Darkloom Forest to see if they would come across those rotten beasts again. They found nothing. Just to be safe, they stayed away from the Mountain, but the forest seemed to have changed for the better. The stench wasn’t there. It was like those people had become smoke, vanishing into the air.

But Lei knew they had a Master lurking out there. He was hurt. Perhaps he needed the help of his men to get better. Perhaps, without them, whatever had hurt him would kill him in the long run. That would be the ideal ending, though Lei doubted if fate would keep its claws off him. It seemed to him that this world—or some being above the clouds—wanted to keep him alert, to twist his life one way or another. That was why he found this peace unsettling.

He knew he had to do something. More. He needed more.

He’d gone and talked with Master Li, had a chat with him while Granny Xu listened nearby. The old man hardly spared him any attention, seeming to be focused on something else, his mind distracted. He’d said he needed a few more days to decide on the matter.

Lei didn’t want to leave them here, in Jiangzhen. The old man spent most of his time with the kids now. Granny Xu too. She had a special fondness for Little Jiao, often praising—perhaps excessively—her dishes whenever she brought her a plate.

They didn’t have much money. Lei learned that they had spent most of what they owned on the orphanage in the city. The kids had food thanks to them. They would visit the place at least once a week to make sure the kids were being well cared for. Who knew the Ironlady had a soft side? When working as a dishwasher in her restaurant, Lei had thought of her as an old, grumpy woman who had lost her smile long ago.

She had a story of her own. Her kids and her husband, all lost many years prior. She had found new love in Master Li. They both had. Lei was happy for them, but this didn’t change his plan of moving them to Lanzhou. Money. It all came down to that.

So today, he was planning to convince that old pair. He had no other choice.

……..

Master Li lived right above the bakery. The building was a two-story affair near the city center, bustling with plenty of customers. The prices were cheap. The quality was good. People didn’t know how good they had it here. The man was a master of his craft, a whisperer of dough. Whatever Lei asked for, he deftly delivered.

But more and more, he was beginning to grow tired. He was nearly sixty years old—one of the elders in Jiangzhen who had the fortune to reach such an age. Most people died around their forties or fifties. But Master Li seemed to have clutched the strings of fate with both hands, refusing to give up. He would marry Granny Xu before dying of old age.

Lei found the pair sitting on a cushioned couch in the living room, sipping from ceramic cups. They looked like a retired couple—their faces tired, wrinkles etched deep, but happy lines crossed their features in defiance. Lei had hardly seen Master Li smile before, but nowadays, that was almost all he did.

“Sit, Little Lei,” Master Li said as his brown eyes settled on Lei. There was a heaviness to them. Lei gently sat on another couch, facing the pair directly. “I see you haven’t brought that good-for-nothing son of mine.”

“He’s been busy with other things,” Lei said. It wasn’t a lie. Fatty Lou had convinced a group of old friends to work for him, tailing people from the Governor’s Office. Now that the Auditor was gone, things had begun to relax, which gave him many openings. “Have you decided, Master Li?” Lei asked after a moment, straightening his posture.

Master Li and Granny Xu shared a glance. The Ironlady had tied her hair back, her black eyes complementing the light brown dress she wore. She didn’t look like the Ironlady—not here, not in Master Li’s company. She was an ordinary old woman.

“We have decided,” Master Li said, glancing again at Granny Xu. “But before that, we want to know more about this threat you spoke of.”

Lei pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. They should’ve brought some sort of proof from the forest. Carrying a rotten beast hadn’t seemed like a good idea at the time. But now, he had nothing to support his claims—rotten men, rotten beasts, perhaps planning an attack on the city. Who would believe him?

“You know they took the kids, Uncle Li,” Lei began, his voice heavy. “We saved them from those men. We handled a bunch of them, but I don’t think that was the end of their group. There may be more. There are more of them, hiding out in the forest, or maybe even in the city. We can’t stay here.”

“Surely the Governor wouldn’t be ignorant of a threat of this kind,” Master Li said, though he scowled at the mention of the Governor. He didn’t like the man at all. Nobody did. “I’ve heard he’s been in contact with the authorities. Skyguard, I’ve been told, have been dispatched to Jiangzhen.”

“Skyguard? You mean the people who can cross the length of the Eastern Continent in one day?” Lei shook his head. “If our Governor had called for them, they should’ve been here already. Yet the city remains isolated. The ruins stand as a testament to that fact.”

Granny Xu nodded at those words. That was a good sign. But Master Li scowled further, his eyes deep in thought.

“Lanzhou is a different beast,” Master Li said, his voice tinged with fatigue. “There are no laws there. It’s a different world, one that bears little resemblance to our Jiangzhen. Cultivator clans rule that city, and only the strong can remain free among their ranks. We would be crushed under their toes. Not to mention our terribly lacking funds.”

“That’s why I need you to give me the restaurant,” Lei said, turning toward Granny Xu. The restaurant belonged to her. Her rent was high, and the profits were slim, but it would at least give Lei something to work with. “A month. I can save enough money in one month.”

“Dozens of imperial gold, child,” Granny Xu said, shaking her head. “We’ve talked about your strange dishes when you were working in my place. The taste is there, and I admit they are new, but what do you expect? Business isn’t the same anymore. You’ve seen the state of people in the city.”

Lei nodded. Even in his stall, he could barely find more than a dozen customers on a given day. With all the cost of ingredients, the rent, and the taxes, the profit margins kept dwindling.

“I won’t be selling to your usual customers, Aunt Xu,” Lei said, glancing at her. “I plan to change the restaurant. We will aim for the cultivators. They have plenty of money.”

“The Governor’s men?” Master Li clicked his tongue. “I thought you didn’t like the man.”

“I don’t,” Lei said. “I don’t trust him either. What I want from him is his money. Just enough to get us out of this place.”

“And how would you do that?” Master Li asked. “I like you, child. Unlike that good-for-nothing son of mine, you are different. You are ready to make an effort. You built that stand with your own hands, clawed your way out of those ruins. You even took the kids to your side, for which you have my respect. But don’t think your food will satiate the hunger of those men. They feast on spiritual dishes.”

Lei smiled knowingly. “That’s why I wanted to invite you for dinner at my house. Tomorrow, with all the kids. I want you to taste my dishes once again before making your final decision.”

Granny Xu sighed, as if she already knew it would be pointless. Yet when Master Li glanced at her, she gave a small nod. A dinner. A simple thing. It wasn’t like they hadn’t tried one of Lei’s dishes before. They just didn’t know that this time, Lei would sprinkle some spirituality into his dishes. It was time for them to understand what kind of chef they were dealing with.

“The kids will be expecting you,” Lei said, rising from the couch, knowing they wouldn’t refuse a chance to dine with the kids. He had to make sure the dishes wouldn’t be too much for them, and for that, what he needed to do was a little experiment.