Chapter 156 - 158: Who Ranks First?

Chapter 156: Chapter 158: Who Ranks First?

Hearing that Su Luoluo was going to cook for them—and something they had never had before, at that—the few men still holding out their pottery basins quietly pulled their hands back.

Su Luoluo definitely wouldn’t care about the food they were offering now.

After all, everything she made was always so delicious it made their mouths water.

Su Luoluo glanced at them putting their bowls away and rolled her eyes. "Move aside. How am I supposed to make you knife-cut noodles if I can’t get out?"

The subtle morning squabble between the men was quickly forgotten in the face of Su Luoluo’s delicious food.

Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since they’d eaten anything truly good.

At this thought, they all fell silent in unison.

After washing up, Su Luoluo went to the makeshift outdoor kitchen.

To make delicious knife-cut noodles, kneading a firm, springy dough was crucial.

She measured out some flour into the pottery basin based on the number of people, then tossed in a suitable amount of salt before adding water in several small additions.

Just like when she made belt noodles, the dough had to be kneaded until her hands, the dough, and the basin were all clean. In simple terms, there was no excess flour on her hands, in the basin, or on the dough itself.

After repeated kneading, the dough looked smooth and was ready.

Next came the resting phase. Su Luoluo covered the dough with a clean, wide leaf, just as she had before.

While waiting for the dough to rest, Su Luoluo started preparing the side dishes.

As the days went on, the variety of vegetables had dwindled, but Su Luoluo still managed to find some fresh green wild vegetables. She kept only the tender tips, discarding the tougher, older parts.

The men had been using the kitchen quite frequently lately, and a considerable amount of fish and meat had accumulated without anyone noticing.

Su Luoluo took a piece of meat—she didn’t know who had hunted it—minced it with a stone knife, then stir-fried it with oil before adding it to a bone broth to simmer.

After preparing the meat sauce, she immediately put a pot of water on to boil nearby.

By the time the water was boiling, the dough had more or less finished resting.

Now came the most crucial step. You hold the dough in one hand, then take a knife and shave it away from you at a perpendicular angle, creating willow-leaf-shaped noodle slices that are thick in the middle and thin on the edges.

During the Post-apocalypse, she could shave noodles with just a knife and a block of dough, no problem.

Now, however, she was in a bit of a bind.

The stone knife wasn’t as sharp as an iron one, and it felt incredibly dull as she pushed it. Su Luoluo managed to shave off a small piece with great difficulty, but it was soft, like a clump of mud.

’If this keeps up, these noodles definitely won’t be any good.’

She thought for a moment, then glanced at the men sitting around the round table. "Can any of you peel bark off a tree?"

"Peel bark?" The six Beastmen looked at her in surprise. Fu Feng was even more confused. "Why on earth would you want to peel bark?"

Xiao Ye shot Fu Feng a look. "Isn’t it obvious? She can’t shave the dough."

Realization dawned on Fu Feng. He looked seriously at the dough in Su Luoluo’s hands, then shook his head. "If it were ordinary tree bark, my claws are sharp enough to tear it to shreds at any time. But this is dough. I’m afraid if I go too fast, I’ll just break it. Luoluo, I can’t help you."

The other Beastmen with claws thought the same as Fu Feng.

Their claws were too sharp; using them to shave noodles would be too aggressive.

Su Luoluo had asked them because she wanted to see if their superpowers could be of any use. It seemed not.

’What a shame. My knife-cut noodles...’

’Looks like these noodles are going to be a failure today.’

’When I have time, I’m definitely going to make an iron knife that can cut through iron like mud. If for nothing else, it’ll be great for chopping vegetables.’

Just as Su Luoluo was sighing, about to make do with the stone knife, a cool, clear voice spoke up. "I can give it a try."

Su Luoluo was a little surprised to see who it was. She really couldn’t imagine how a fish with no claws could possibly shave noodles.

"It’s okay. If you can’t, I can just use the stone knife," Su Luoluo said tactfully.

Nantu said nothing in response. He pulled a silver-blue scale with a seven-colored sheen from his clothes, took the dough from Su Luoluo’s hands, and began "coolly" shaving it.

As Nantu’s fingers danced up and down, slices of noodle flew from the dough into the pot.

Su Luoluo watched the scene, amazed. ’I never thought a fish scale could be used like this someday.’

After a few swift shaves, Nantu looked at Su Luoluo. "Is this okay?"

Su Luoluo looked at the willow-leaf-shaped noodle slices in the pot and nodded. "Nantu, from now on, you’re my guy for making knife-cut noodles. That scale of yours didn’t grow for nothing."

Nantu’s ears turned a little red at her words. Even though what Su Luoluo said was nonsense, he didn’t contradict her.

’A Mermaid’s scales are so important, how could one be used to shave dough?’

But since Su Luoluo had praised him today, Nantu decided that using a scale to shave noodles wasn’t such a big deal after all.

After the noodles were cooked, Su Luoluo ladled the broth over them and sprinkled on some wild fruit juice as a substitute for aged vinegar. And with that, a fragrant bowl of knife-cut noodles was ready.

Needless to say, everyone ate their fill for breakfast.

But while Su Luoluo thought the knife-cut noodles were delicious, she felt something was still missing. She could try to make it next time.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her lately, but she had a particular craving for sour things and was also feeling rather sleepy.

That night, Su Luoluo was dozing under a beast skin blanket. She grew thirsty during the night and threw back the cover, intending to pour herself a glass of water.

But when she groggily opened her eyes, she saw a snake with a faint, eerie glow dangling before her.

Su Luoluo was so scared she held her breath and scrambled backward. But before she could find a safe spot, she suddenly felt something furry.

Su Luoluo instantly squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, "Someone, help! There’s a snake in the room!"

Hearing Su Luoluo’s voice, the others woke up, their eyes heavy with sleep. Seeing her face pale with fright, they walked over. Luan Ting asked gently, "Luoluo, what’s wrong?"

Hearing a familiar voice, Su Luoluo’s racing heart calmed slightly. She quickly opened her eyes and looked at Luan Ting. "Luan Ting, quick... look, there’s a sna—"

Before she could finish the word "snake," Su Luoluo realized she was surrounded by a gray wolf, a Black Panther, a Black Bear, a Dragon Sparrow, a Mermaid, and the very Purple Snake that had just scared the daylights out of her.

She instantly understood what she had just seen. Her face darkened as she looked at the six of them. "What are you all doing in my room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Trying to scare me?"

They hadn’t even given her a warning. She had been so scared she was on the verge of tears.

’That was a giant python!’

The six of them clearly understood that they had been the ones to frighten her into screaming.

None of them said a word. Finally, Fu Feng spoke up in a small voice, "You didn’t tell us to stand guard, so we had no choice but to come to your room."

Su Luoluo: "?"

’So they came to corner me.’

Su Luoluo looked at him darkly. "What do you want?"

Fu Feng gathered his courage and said boldly, "Why don’t you let us stand guard again? If you don’t want so many of us, you can just pick one person."

Su Luoluo hadn’t expected them to be so persistent. But when she remembered the upgrade for her Diva System, she didn’t outright refuse this time.

She glanced at them. "Tomorrow. I’ll give you all an answer then."

...

The next morning, Su Luoluo placed a pile of sharpened bamboo sticks on the round table.

She raised an eyebrow. "Same old rules. The first one to draw the marked stick is first in line."