“I’m alright. You don’t have to worry about me. The boss is a good person. You have to work hard to repay him.” Clarince seemed to have figured out Rena’s thoughts. She squeezed out a smile on her pale face, and brought the bowl in front of her up carefully to take a sniff. Her eyes lit up as she said, “This soup smells so good! What kind of bones is used to make the soup?”


  “Boss said it’s pig’s bones, but it looks a little different from usual pig bones. Maybe it’s from a rarer species.” Rena looked at Clarince a little expectantly. She hurriedly said, “Mother, try this. See if the taste is different from the ones I made in the past. I spent the entire afternoon learning how to make soup from my boss.”


  “Sure. I’ll give it a try.” Clarince nodded with a smile, and took a sip from the bowl.

  The bone soup was of the perfect temperature. It had a mild texture, and the freshness of the soup exploded in her mouth, causing her lethargic taste buds to start coming to life. Even after she swallowed the soup, the fragrance of meat was still lingering in her mouth.

  “How is this soup so good?” Clarince lifted her head up to look at Rena in shock. Rena would often make some bone soup for her from time to time, but the taste of this bone soup was way better than that of the others she made.

  “Then have more of it. There’s still a lot more left in the pot.” Rena smiled when she heard the comment. Ever since her mother fell ill, her appetite had gotten worse. Even if she tried to come up with novel recipes, she would always eat very little, so she was surprised that this bone soup would be to her liking.

  “Alright.” Clarince nodded and continued to drink the soup.

  The bowl of soup was in her stomach within a few gulps.

  Rena saw that there was finally some color on her mother’s pale face. She was delighted, and got her another half a bowl of soup.

  “Rena, have some too. It must have been very tough to spend the whole day learning recipes.” Clarince pulled Rena over to sit and scooped a bowl of soup for her. After that, she seriously reminded her, “Your boss is a good person and his culinary skills must be very good. Since you’re learning from him, you have to learn well. Don’t let him down. Also, you have to be more hardworking in the restaurant. Do whatever you can to help. It’s okay even if you do a little more. It’s a blessing.”


  “Mm-hm. I got it.” Rena nodded seriously with a smile, and then said, “Let’s start the hot pot since we’ve drunk the soup. The soup is about to boil over……”


  ***

  Because he had no idea how long he would have to stay at the Boundless Sea Realm this time, Mag told Rena in detail about most of the recipes for the hot pot soup base, including how to make them, and even demonstrated it for her. He intended for Rena to be able to handle the entire hot pot section before he left so that the restaurant could continue its operations.

  Rena was very serious when she learned, and she also displayed a very good knowledge of spices. Even for the spices new to her, she could control the amount very accurately with her acute sense of smell.

  “Rena, you have to come over to the restaurant earlier tomorrow morning. I want to teach you how to make congee with pork and century egg.” After the day had ended, Mag looked at Rena and said, “Be at the restaurant at 6 o’clock sharp.”


  “Alright. I will be here on time.” Rena nodded even though she did not know why Mag was in such a rush to teach her the next recipe. After all, she had not completed learning how to make the hot pot soup bases. However, she did not ask too much.

  “You performed well today. I think you would be able to make a real hot pot red soup base on your own tomorrow. Go back and have a good rest,” Mag praised with a smile. Her talent was really something that he could not help but be envious of. Back then, he endured all sorts of torture at the test field for the God of Cookery just for this hot pot, but Rena simply used her miraculous nose to trash his achievement.

  Everyone left subsequently, and Gina also went upstairs to take a rest. Mag locked the door to the restaurant, and only the family of three was left inside.

  “Let’s go upstairs to take a rest too,” Mag said as he watched the mother-and-daughter duo discuss the best way to eat a duck.

  “Meow~” Ugly Duckling jumped down from the counter, and clung on to Mag’s leg as it shivered. Its large eyes were gleaming with tears, making it look very pitiful.

  “Father, do you think a duck should be roasted or stewed?” Amy asked Mag. After that, she continued, “I think that roasted duck is delicious, while Mother thinks that stewed duck is good. What do you think?”


  Irina looked at Mag with .

  Mag raised his eyebrow. He did not think that he still had to face such a difficult question after ending a day’s work.

  On the one side was his precious daughter, while on the other side was his beautiful wife. How was he supposed to choose?

  Mag hesitated for a while. He looked down at Ugly Duckling, which was hugging his leg, and said, “You choose a method.”


  “Meow~”


  Ugly Duckling retreated with fear. Its eyes flipped and its legs straightened as it played dead very realistically.

  “It’s dead?” Amy squatted and poked Ugly Duckling’s tummy with her little finger with a smile as she said, “Then our supper’s settled. Let’s have a fat roasted duck.”


  “Meow~”


  Ugly Duckling came back to life immediately and stuffed its fat head into Amy’s embrace as it meowed and licked her little hand, acting cute as much as it could.

  “Alright, alright. Don’t worry, Ugly Duckling. We weren’t referring to you. You’re still so small. We won’t eat you up,” Amy said with a chuckle as she held Ugly Duckling’s head.

  “Meow~” Ugly Duckling behaved as though it let out a sigh of relief.

  “You have to grow up quickly so that you can turn into a big white swan and fly into the sky.” Amy reached out to stroke the little winged pattern on Ugly Duckling’s back. She sighed.

  Ugly Duckling nodded as though it had made a resolution.

  Amy turned to ask Irina, “Mother, then how do you think a swan is best, roasted or stewed? I want to eat roasted swan.”


  “Meow~” Ugly Duckling fainted in Amy’s arms.

  Afterward, Mag told Amy a little bedtime story, and she fell asleep quickly in Irina’s arms.

  Just as Mag was leaving for the room next door, Irina, who was dressed in her pajamas, called out to him. “What are you planning to go to the Demon Islands for?”


  “Do you remember the black fog that appeared around Borg?” Mag whispered as he sat on the bed.

  “Yes. The fog seemed a little strange. It had a scent that I naturally hate. Besides, the Tree of Life was once invaded by the fog in order to help me. However, there was a huge rain after that, so the black fog subsided a lot. The black fog was only completely removed after I worked together with the Tree of Life.” Irina nodded. She still felt a little nervous talking about the black fog.

  “This black fog might have appeared at the Demon Islands again. I want to go over and check it out to find out what exactly it is, then destroy it completely,” Mag replied.