Chapter 16 - Chapter 16 Luo Luo (2/2)
“Luo Luo doesn’t want candied hawthorn sticks.”
Although she said that, her gaze toward the candied hawthorn and the bobbing of her throat had already betrayed her.
Lin Jing smiled.
“Although children aren’t easy to soothe, they sure are easy to deceive…”
Then he led Luo Luo toward the candied hawthorn vendor.
“Candied hawthorn seller, give me two skewers.”
“Alright.”
“Uncle wants to eat some—how about we each have one, and you can keep Uncle company while eating, is that okay?”
The little girl looked up at Lin Jing, saw his serious face, and then nodded.
“Okay.”
Lin Jing took the candied hawthorn and handed one skewer straight to Luo Luo.
No longer hiding her desire, she took a bite, and it was sour and sweet.
“Uncle, the candied hawthorn is really tasty.”
Lin Jing also took a bite, and memories suddenly flooded his mind.
“Yeah, it’s still the same flavor, unchanged.”
This might be the taste closest to home.
Alone in a foreign land, I stand as a stranger.
Many times, Lin Jing would unconsciously think of the past, wondering what he would be like now had he not transcended time…
“Uncle.”
A voice interrupted his reverie.
“Luo Luo, what’s the matter?”
“Uncle, are you missing home too?”
Lin Jing looked surprised, turning to the little girl.
“How did Luo Luo know?”
“Because when my mother misses home, she looks just like Uncle does.”
Lin Jing asked, “Then why doesn’t she go home?”
The little girl frowned.
“Every time I ask her, she won’t tell me.”
“Perhaps she also has her difficulties,” Lin Jing said.
Then there was a silence between them, not knowing if the little girl understood…
After a while…
“Luo Luo, is the candied hawthorn tasty?”
“It’s tasty.”
“Then will you join Uncle again next time to eat some more, okay?”
“Okay…”
……
Returning to the alley and arriving in front of Luo Luo’s house, the courtyard door was locked.
It seemed Luo Luo’s mother hadn’t come back yet.
So, Lin Jing took Luo Luo back to his own house first.
He told the little girl to play in the yard while he started browsing through the alchemy book, gaining a new understanding of the Alchemy path after today’s conversation with Elder Yu.
Time flew swiftly, and soon the sun set in the west.
Smoke from cooking fires began to rise outside, and Lin Jing looked up. Perhaps because of the day’s events, the little girl was very quiet, playing by herself.
And Luo Luo’s mother still hadn’t returned.
“It’s time to cook.”
Lin Jing said to himself as he watched the crimson sunset on the horizon.
“Luo Luo, you keep playing. Uncle will cook some food for you.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
The little girl must have been hungry a while ago but was too shy to disturb him.
As the cooking smoke rose, Lin Jing busied himself in the kitchen.
Before long, a delicious meal was served on the table.
Of course, Lin Jing didn’t possess such culinary skills—it was his predecessor’s, and now that he had inherited everything from his predecessor, it naturally became his own.
“Uncle, your rice is really fragrant, even more so than the rice at my house.”
“Fragrant, is it? Then eat a little more,” Lin Jing said with a smile.
This was Medium Grade Spirit Rice; in the outskirts of Fang Market, there weren’t many families that could afford Medium Grade Spirit Rice.
“And…” the little girl continued to speak.
“The food you make tastes much better than my mother’s. Even though my mother is very pretty, her cooking is not tasty at all.”
“By the way, Uncle, my mother is really beautiful, not at all like what you saw. She also told me not to tell anyone.”
Lin Jing was shocked.
“I didn’t expect to hear this secret.”
“Uncle, you must not tell my mother, okay?”
“Don’t worry, Luo Luo. I definitely won’t tell anyone,” he assured.