Xia Hunaao sat down at the table with everyone else, while Yu Longdu sat obediently to the side, not continuing to provoke Xia Hunaao. If Xia Hunaao were to get too riled up and actually use some means to bring Shen Yu in, the intensity of their public displays of affection would be something he couldn't withstand.
Although Yu Rui didn't mind occasionally showering him with affection, the gap between them was too large. For instance, Xia Hunaao could sit at the table with Shen Yu, feeding each other mouthfuls, but it would be difficult for Yu Rui to do such things with Yu Longdu in front of others.
Sitting in his chair, Xia Hunaao glanced towards the door, "So, what will we be eating soon?"
Su Xiaojiu replied, "I don't know. Yu Rui is cooking personally, though. It's the freshest of pastries."
Xia Hunaao pondered what kind of pastries from Minglong Kingdom could be made quickly. Before he could even come up with a single idea, he saw Yu Rui push a food cart in. The covers on the food cart filled Xia Hunaao with anticipation.
"Western pastries? That makes sense. It's afternoon tea, after all. No one would have black tea with walnut cookies during afternoon tea."
However, not long after Xia Hunaao's anticipation began, Yu Rui lifted the covers, revealing ingredients laid out on the plates. Xia Hunaao frowned, "What is this? I thought you had already finished and were serving it now. You're going to make it on the spot?"
"Of course, it won't be as delicious if it's not made on the spot."
Xia Hunaao rested his elbows on the table, "Really? How long will that take? If it's quick, then it would be snow-skin pastries. With the filling and snow-skin already prepared, a quick scan with a 'Wuwu Freezing Beam' could freeze them instantly. But what month is it? Eating snow-skin pastries isn't appropriate right now. And it looks like you're already heating water, not like it's for snow-skin. I've never heard of snow-skin being steamed."
Yu Rui looked up at Xia Hunaao with approval, "Boss Xia is indeed Boss Xia. I'm not planning to make snow-skin pastries. And the water isn't for steaming, either."
Saying that, Yu Rui took out a cleaver, "I'm starting now."
As Yu Rui's cleaver danced up and down, ingredients were expertly sliced. Everyone by the table was captivated by Yu Rui's mesmerizing, almost performance-like culinary skills, except for Xia Hunaao, who was frowning, lost in thought.
Seeing Xia Hunaao's expression, Yu Longdu asked him, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with Xiao Rui's cooking?"
Xia Hunaao tapped his fingers on the table, "Xiao Rui's cooking is fine, and her knife skills are beautiful. But, why would we be having knife-cut noodles for afternoon tea!"
Mu Zhishui quickly explained to Xia Hunaao, "That's... this isn't afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is for resting. We're mainly focused on speed right now, replenishing energy quickly. That's why we chose knife-cut noodles today."
Xia Hunaao thought to himself: Might as well just eat energy bars. It's cheaper and easier.
Several bowls of steaming hot knife-cut noodles were soon served. Xia Hunaao poked his chopsticks into a bowl, casually picking up a few strands of noodles. Looking at the noodles on his chopsticks, Xia Hunaao seemed to be reminded of something, his gaze fixed on the noodles.
Xia Hunaao's odd behavior was quickly noticed by everyone. Yu Longdu waved his hand in front of him, "Hey, what are you spacing out for? Are you going to eat this or not? If not, give it to me."
Disturbed by Yu Longdu's interruption, Xia Hunaao came back to his senses, put down his chopsticks, went to the food cart, and picked up a radish, "Xiao Rui, slice this for me to see."
Though unsure of the reason, Yu Rui picked up her knife and skillfully sliced the radish into pieces on the plate. Xia Hunaao's eyes gradually lit up, "Yes, this is it. This should work."
Saying that, Xia Hunaao turned to leave, "Wuwu, let's go."
Yu Longdu asked, "Where are you going? Are you going to eat these noodles or not?"
Xia Hunaao didn't even turn his head back, "I'm not eating them anymore, they're all yours. Afternoon tea, just like me, is from the 'Xia' generation. A real divine assist."
Xia Hunaao's thought process was this: Since Yu Rui could process ingredients with her knife skills, Wuwu should be able to use a similar method. Just replace Yu Rui and the knife with Wuwu and the Water Shuriken.
Although Xia Hunaao thought this method was more like a juicer than knife-cut noodles, he didn't care.
...
The man and the frog returned to the swimming pool. After some warm-up exercises, Xia Hunaao and Wuwu dove in and swam to the middle of the pool. Xia Hunaao asked Wuwu, "Wuwu, you can dive, right?"
Wuwu nodded. When had one ever seen a water-type spirit that couldn't dive?
After receiving Wuwu's affirmative answer, Xia Hunaao explained, "Wuwu, you'll dive into the water now and process the crystal with Water Shuriken underwater."
Fearing Wuwu wouldn't understand, Xia Hunaao even took off the shuriken pendant hanging around his neck and said, "Like this, conjure the Water Shuriken in your hand, and then while controlling it to spin, cut the crystal in the water. Just like when we went to do pottery."
Mentioning pottery, Xia Hunaao and Wuwu simultaneously recalled that unbearable experience. They both shook their heads, and Xia Hunaao told Wuwu to begin.
Wuwu began to spin the Water Shuriken underwater. Although both the Water Shuriken and the pool water were water, Wuwu clearly felt the resistance of the water flow as soon as they began spinning the Water Shuriken. Xia Hunaao couldn't empathize, but he could tell Wuwu was struggling a bit. However, once the speed increased, Wuwu's expression seemed to relax considerably. 138 Reading Network
"It looks like you've gotten used to it. Wuwu, I'm going to release the crystal."
Xia Hunaao carefully dropped the crystal from above the swimming pool, and it was quickly swallowed by the vortex Wuwu had created. Wuwu carefully observed where they should "strike," and once they had some confidence, they controlled the shuriken to approach, intending to make the first cut.
Unexpectedly, they did approach, but as the shuriken moved, the spinning shuriken affected the water flow, completely disrupting the cutting angle they had planned.
"Troublesome, a single move affects the whole situation."
Xia Hunaao's solution to this problem was: "Wuwu, speed up. As long as you move fast enough, the crystal won't be able to react."
Hmm, that sounded somewhat reasonable. But no matter what Wuwu did, the crystal's movement was always one step ahead of Wuwu's. Xia Hunaao was at a loss. He put on a snorkel and decided to figure out a solution underwater.
As for Wuwu, they continued to practice cutting the crystal in the water. It turned out that Wuwu's abilities were much more useful than Xia Hunaao's brain. Before Xia Hunaao could figure out what to do, Wuwu had already made the first cut.
Xia Hunaao looked at the crystal after the first cut, which looked quite good, "Hmm, great. If it continues like this, we'll be able to make a crystal soon."
From the footage captured by the high-speed camera, it could be seen that as the Water Shuriken approached, the crystal's trajectory shifted noticeably. However, Wuwu's shuriken happened to make a cut precisely along the crystal's trajectory.
It was good that Wuwu had predicted the crystal's path, but as soon as the crystal was hit by the shuriken, it bounced away. It was like a marble being hit by a spinning top. Fortunately, the vortex acted as a barrier, successfully returning it to its original path.
As the saying goes, there's a first time for everything. Wuwu quickly made the second and third cuts on the crystal. With the crystal completely under their control, Wuwu successfully cut the first shuriken crystal. Xia Hunaao touched the smooth surface of the crystal, eagerly reaching for his bracelet to try it out. However, upon testing, he discovered that Wuwu had cut the crystal too small, and it easily fell out when placed in the bracelet.
Xia Hunaao had to take out another crystal, "Wuwu, you were too decisive with your cuts just now. This time, let's be a bit more restrained. Leave the crystal a bit larger."
Wuwu nodded, and the second crystal was slightly larger. Yes, it was a bit bigger than the groove.
Xia Hunaao looked at the crystal that he couldn't force in no matter how hard he tried, "Never mind. Bigger is better than smaller. If it's bigger, it can be modified to be smaller. If it's smaller, I can't add anything to make it bigger."
Xia Hunaao handed the crystal back to Wuwu, "Wuwu, polish it carefully now. Just grind down a tiny bit."
Wuwu glanced at the space between Xia Hunaao's thumb and index finger, which was so small that it was barely visible even with a magnifying glass. Without a word, Wuwu silently began to spin the Water Shuriken, finely finishing the already completed shuriken crystal.
Although Wuwu was careful, the crystal was too fragile. As soon as the crystal and the shuriken touched, a corner broke off. The broken piece flew out of the water and grazed past Xia Hunaao's chin.
Seeing the flying crystal corner, Xia Hunaao didn't waste words and took out a new crystal from the bag on the bank.
After consuming more than half of the crystals, Xia Hunaao finally obtained a crystal with a quality of ninety-five or higher. The reason five points were deducted was that the four lines extending from the corners of the shuriken to the center did not converge, but instead formed a small square.
Although not perfect, Xia Hunaao solemnly put away this crystal. Who knew if he would be able to obtain even better quality crystals in the future.
However, humans, once they achieve a goal, will set another goal for themselves. This is what "demanding more after obtaining what one wants" describes, referring to people like Xia Hunaao.
After putting away the ninety-five-point crystal, Xia Hunaao saw that there were still many crystals left. He felt playful and wanted to try if he could find a way for Wuwu to carve this crystal in one go.