Ch46.1 - Obtained A Nickname (Part One)

Editor: malaysian_asian

Proofreader: Lia 

Cui QiChao placed the cushion on his bed and XiaoBai cheekily pawed at his calf.

XiaoBai acted too unexpectedly, but who could have thought Cui QiChao was so conscientious…

Cui QiChao pinched the cat’s hair strand by strand from the quilt, and chuckled at the same time.

XiaoBai: “……” 

Seeing DaBai and DaJu swoop down and lie in their cushions, most of their bodies were sinking in the cushion and letting out delicate meows, XiaoBai felt itself going crazy with jealousy.

Cui QiChao not only ignored XiaoBai, but also went to bed straight after. He put his elbow on XiaoBai’s cushion and began to read a book.

Using his body weight, he pressed onto the cushion, and a depression on the cushion formed instantly.

XiaoBai’s claws began to scratch the bed. Just like how Cui QiChao was fed up with the lack of underwear in the middle ages, it similarly had enough of sleeping on a linen cushion. Quickly return the soft and delicate cotton cushion to it. If Cui QiChao kept pressing down on the cushion, it would become flat!

Cui QiChao was indifferent to its desperation.

XiaoBai paused at its rapid scratching.

Subconsciously, an urge to lick Cui QiChao’s fingers to please him was born. This is all so that Cui QiChao can give it the cushion. It’s finished, after acting as a cat for so long, it felt like it had become a pervert.

Cui QiChao teased XiaoBai’s hopes for almost three days before he gave XiaoBai the cushion. XiaoBai almost scratched a groove out of the bedboard. 

XiaoBai gave Cui QiChao a resentful look: The cushion was completely flattened by Cui QiChao!

Cui QiChao looked at it, “So you don’t want the pillow?”

XiaoBai lifted up one claw and picked up the cushion.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Cui QiChao took pity on it and patted the cushion with both of his hands to make the cotton inside fluffy again, passing it to XiaoBai. 

WljbDjl pewqfv eq jcv rafqqfv bc la j ofk alwfr, qegglcu lc rjalrojmalbc.

“Qbeivc’a la yf clmf lo sbe kfgf jikjsr rb byfvlfca? Tbe’gf jigfjvs j yju bo gjuufv rxlc.” Jel HlJtjb abemtfv WljbDjl’r mtlc.

XiaoBai raised his chin and hummed a few times, thinking that you are the one that’s a bag of ragged skin. Every dog would have its day. When I’m powerful, with a wave of my hands, you will sit down for me…

Ojcmf’r lvfcalas kjr j ilaaif jkxkjgv lc Rbgatewyfgijcv. Llr ojatfg kjr j xcluta jcv atf Obgv’r mberlc, yea tlr rajaer kjrc’a qjgalmeijgis tlut. Megatfgwbgf, tf tjv yffc mjqaegfv tfgf, jcv cbk, tf kjr j yers njrrji atja tjv ibar bo ajrxr ab vb jcv kjrc’a nfgs qbqeijg klat atf rafkjgvr. 

A knight’s title wasn’t hereditary, although Lance began studying from his childhood, he was not guaranteed to be given a title in the future. Even though the Baron was kind to him, he felt embarrassed to make use of his identity as blood relative to stay in the fief. To earn his keep, he often assisted the Baron and studied under him, just like a knight’s attendant.

Usually, Lance’s playing companions would be the son of the cook. The children of the stewards only played with him when he had sugar.

After the wool tree was harvested this time, Lance got a gift. It was the puppet rabbit that the Baron asked Lily to sew for him. It was filled with cotton, bulging and soft. On the outside, it was wrapped in snow-white cotton cloth. The rabbit had black eyes, but it was dyed red with the juice of beetroot after seeping in it for a week.

Lily whispered to Lance, “The Lord said that your father would collapse on the bed every day when he comes back, so let the rabbit accompany you instead.” 

After hugging the rabbit, Lance wouldn’t let go of it again. While the children of this time usually prefer weapons, having their own doll was also very interesting.

Lance tied the rabbit that was as big as his forearm behind his back and took it to play with the cook’s son, Aaron.

Aaron was very envious of Lance’s rabbit and touched it again and again. He had a three-year-old sister, but his mother wouldn’t let him touch her, “Is this the wool of the wool tree?”

“Yes!” Lance pinched the doll’s arm. “Have you seen them drying the Baron’s quilt and pillow? It’s all made of the wool from the tree.” 

“Lance, can you lend me your rabbit for a day?” Aaron asked.

Lance fell into silence. He was very, very reluctant, but he thought that the Lord was so generous to people. The Lord was the person he aimed to be, so he felt that he should also be generous.

At this time, Aaron saw that it was hard for him to make a decision and said, “Forget it. I’ll just touch it, and you can sleep with it at night.”

Lance blushed. He was not afraid of the dark at all! Although it was really comfortable to hug the doll at night… 

“Wait, I’ll get you one!” Lance clenched his fist.

Lance followed his father and the knights to go hunting in the forest grounds. He was already learning how to utilize the bow and the sword. He walked around the forest grounds with the knights for an entire day.

That night, Cui QiChao heard that Lance had hunted a hare. He called Lance over to praise him. The hare ran so fast, and it was amazing he could hit it, given how young the child was.

Lance said eagerly, “Could you bestow me the rabbit?” 

All the birds and animals in the territory are the Lord’s, and Lance never asked Cui QiChao for anything, so he was a little surprised. “Of course, do you want to eat the rabbit?”

“No.” Lance touched his ear, “Because Aaron also wants a rabbit, but I’m not willing to spend time away from my rabbit doll.”

“Do you like Aaron very much?” Cui QiChao asked again, “I often see you playing together. You don’t like other children?”

Lance didn’t expect the Lord to know who he was secretly playing around with. But he subconsciously replied honestly, “It’s not that, but I like Aaron best. We are best friends. He is kind and loyal.” 

“You are also very kind.” Cui QiChao commended him. The children of the aristocratic class are usually not willing to play with children of the civilian class and below. It may have been related to Lance’s experience of wandering around with his father after he was born, so he didn’t stay in an aristocratic environment for long. Later, he came to Northumberland. He belonged to the type of nobility that didn’t grow up traditionally upright.

Lance smiled shyly, then took the new rabbit given to him by the Lord and ran to Aaron.

The rabbit was injured, so they bandaged it up and Aaron slept with it for three days.

On the fourth day, they held the rabbit together and went to find Cui QiChao. 

“We’ll give this rabbit back to you, Lord.” Lance said.

“What’s the matter?”

Aaron looked ashen and said, “There are insects on the rabbit. I held it to sleep, but the insects bit me and I couldn’t sleep. I think rabbits are cuter when they are cooked.”

“I agree with that.” Cui QiChao said, “But this rabbit has been given to you. Don’t give it back to me, instead, go to the kitchen and have it cooked.” 

Lance and Aaron looked at each other, hesitant.

Cui QiChao encouraged them again, “Go on.”

The two children grabbed the rabbit and ran to the kitchen. Sure enough, only doll rabbits are cute. A real hare should be eaten instead!

The cook used the hare to make her specialty dish. She cooked the hare with scallions. Of course, she secretly referred to some of the methods used by the Lord and didn’t hang the rabbit meat until it stunk. 

She didn’t cook the entire rabbit altogether, instead, she chopped it up and added a lot of carrots and beans to the dish. After everything was done, she made a big pot of food and let Lance taste it. The diced rabbit meat was very delicious, the golden skin was tender and bursting with juice, and the smell of green onions was overflowing.

The most practical skill that the cook learned from the Lord is to get rid of the stinky scent. Because the meat they usually eat is mostly game, it has a strong stinky smell. Previously, when she cooked, she had to hang the smell for some time to make the meat tender and they would also violently pile up spices to cover up the scent.

Under the guidance of the Lord, the cook gradually understood which spices can perfectly remove the stink and enhance the taste as long as an appropriate amount is used.

The improved recipe of the scallion-braised hare no longer smelled bad, and the rabbit remained tender. The golden diced meat, purplish-red carrots, and green scallions were also very in line with the aesthetics of medieval dishes, filled with bright and rich colors. 

When cutting rabbits, the cook chopped the bones along with them. Thanks to the many raw materials brought back by the trade team, the Lord specially asked someone to make a new knife for the cook, which is especially easy to use. There are still some residual bones hanging on the diced meat, and even those are exuding fragrance. You could pick the meat off with your tongue and suck the bones. The rabbit’s bones are very thin and can be crushed. Some parts are brittle bones, which taste better. The carrots and beans inside are also soaked with soup, soft and fragrant.

The cook was enviously looking at them eat, seeing them chewing on the delicious and fragrant food. Because everyone ate bread that was hard and mixed with many impurities all year round, the adults’ teeth were basically worn out, and not as good as children’s teeth.

“You both won’t be able to finish it all, I’ll put away the rest and you can come to the kitchen when you want to have more.” The cook was especially kind, Aaron was her son and it was needless to say that, although Lance’s father was a little annoying, the child was very likeable.

Lance thought for a moment and said to Aaron, “Why don’t we give the rabbit meat to the people in the castle?” 

Aaron was gnawing at the crispy bone and scratched the back of his head: “I’ll listen to you.” Lance was the one who caught the rabbit, and the Lord only gave the rabbit to him because of Lance, so Aaron would follow whatever Lance decided.

“Lance, why did you decide to share it?” The cook raised several children. Which one of her children was not like a pig who would absorb all the food when they could eat it?

“We’ve had enough. The Lord distributes the dishes to everyone every time. Aunt, at every big banquet, the rest of your dishes can be distributed to the slaves.” Lance continued, “The amount of food the Lord would eat is designated by the Lord. But when the Lord grows vegetables, he knows whether there is enough water in the pot.”

The cook was stunned. 

She has been cooking for the Lord for so long and has seen the Lord grow vegetables. He’s never made an error in farming, but she never thought of what Lance said. Could it be because the Lord’s skill in growing vegetables was revealed much later?

But anyway, she felt that she was too dense. Yes, the Lord’s ability to control the amount of ingredients used is clear and accurate, but every time he stares at her cooking, there will always be a huge amount of ingredients the Lord instructed her to use in every dish.

The people in the castle think that this is the habit of the Lord, who is a noble. They like extravagance and boasting. Just look at the whole sugar banquet he held. However, he has a great grasp to allow everyone to have their fill. But wouldn’t it be fine if he just left some leftovers on his plate?

After deliberating again, he felt that this is actually very reasonable because the Lord always rewards them with food, not anything else. Even when he made sugar, he had given a little to the children in the village… The average weight of the people in the castle is increasing. It couldn’t be for the sake of showing off his wealth, right? 

The cook suddenly felt that she had found a very, very obvious fact now. With just a glance, Lance realized it. If it wasn’t the Lord being generous enough to give the leftovers to everyone, how much food will be left to them?

Although it has long been recognized that the Lord is a kind man, she still couldn’t help sniffling. She remembered that when the Lord made his first meal, he coldly let her take a bite and said that he wanted her to remember the taste.

Slightly emotional, the cook helped Lance and Aaron split the rabbit meat with the others in the castle. At first, everyone thought it was the Lord who rewarded them again.