Girls' Frontline: My Apocalypse with Dolls

Page 282

Luo Fan stopped by the river, his eyes looking as strange as if he had swallowed a fly.

"Uh, it seems so..."

Yingque had already reached the halfway point, and Luo Fan's words almost caused her to accidentally plunge headfirst into the water.

"All right......"

It's not very deep, so it should be fine...

Nevertheless, Luo Fan still felt very awkward dragging his suitcase across the river.

His notebook was also inside, and it seemed to be somewhere at the bottom...

Forget it, whatever. If it breaks, I can just go back and get a replacement.

But after crossing the stream, they stopped in front of a steep slope, which was also covered with pebbles and a lot of fallen leaves.

"Phew, the last stretch, we'll be there after this hill!"

Yingque remained clean, but Luo Fan felt he was about to collapse.

He said sadly, "You didn't tell me back then that it would be such a long journey to get back to your hometown."

"Haha... Well, it's too complicated to describe. Just know that it's in the mountains, right?"

...It's not just troublesome to describe, it's also troublesome to actually do!

That's enough. For the last stretch of the journey, Luo Fan didn't say anything more and started rushing uphill with his suitcase.

"Hey, be careful not to fall, there are lots of rocks!"

Yingque quickly lifted the hem of her skirt and followed, afraid that Luo Fan might accidentally roll down the hill.

Fortunately, Luo Fan carefully watched the road and at least didn't step on any bumps.

It looks steep, but you can actually reach the top in just a few steps. After rounding the last small bend, you can see the mud-brick house, Yingque's old home.

In the front yard, an old woman was holding a bamboo basket and scattering corn kernels to the chickens in front of her. Every time she waved her hand, the chickens, big and small, would run around and peck at the corn kernels on the ground.

Luo Fan stopped at the foot of the slope without calling out to the other person.

This should be left to Yingque...

When Yingque finally climbed up with great effort, before she could even greet Luo Fan, she saw the old woman feeding the chickens.

As if by telepathy, the moment Yingque climbed up, the old woman's eyes also turned to where the two were.

Yingque's breathing became disordered, and her eyes rippled like ocean waves. She had finally seen her family again.

The old woman was probably already unwell; the moment she saw Yingque, her hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and she even dropped the basket of corn kernels to the ground.

"Ah...ah..."

"mom!"

Ying Que rushed over and helped the old woman up, while Luo Fan also threw his suitcase aside and ran over as well.

"Is it... is it Que'er?"

"Yes, Mom, we've come back to see you."

"Oh my goodness, why are you back at this hour? I haven't even had time to cook..."

The old woman's hands were still trembling, but her joy was greater than her ailing body.

This is her daughter, and even though she is not her biological child, her maternal love for her has never been hypocritical in the slightest.

408 Dinner.1

We set off in the morning and arrived in the afternoon, by which time it was already getting dark.

"Oh my, Yingque, is this your husband? What a handsome young man!"

When Yingque's mother recovered, her first words to Luo Fan were like this, which made the two of them both laugh and cry.

"Mom, why are you in such a hurry? You've only just met him and you're already calling him 'husband'."

"Yes, that's right, hello Auntie."

The two gave completely different answers, and Yingque's mother naturally chose to ignore Yingque's voice.

"Oh dear, I knew it! Go sit down, I need to prepare dinner first, otherwise we'll all go hungry tonight!"

The old woman broke free of her hands and hurriedly returned to the mud-brick house, dragging her feet. Yingque had no choice but to follow her inside to prevent any accidents.

Before leaving, she whispered, "There are still corn kernels in the basket. Go and feed them to Mom, and just scatter them out."

"Row."

Yingque went inside to prepare dinner with her mother. Luo Fan had nothing to do for the time being, so he took the basket from Yingque's mother.

He glanced at the corn kernels in the basket, then at the flock of chickens in front of him.

The chicks, big and small, frantically turned their heads, tilting them every now and then, looking at this strange man. They didn't know who he was, only that the basket was in his hand, so he would have food.

For some unknown reason, Luo Fan blurted out...

"Why are you looking at me?"

...After a moment, he grabbed a handful of corn kernels and scattered them, but unlike Yingque's mother, he was not experienced enough to throw them far away with a casual scattering. The chickens could only run around in a frenzy to grab the corn kernels with the cola, and they probably got hungry again before they were even full.

Seemingly addicted to the game, Luo Fan's actions of scattering corn kernels became increasingly vigorous, almost to the point of spinning around in circles while holding the basket.

Yingque poked his head out and shouted, "If you feed them like this, the chickens will get skinny from starvation!"

"Let the chicken run around a lot so that the meat becomes firm and tastes better."

"..."

It seems like what he said makes some sense?

"Ah Que'er! Help me move some firewood over here!"

"Oh, here it comes!"

The old woman's voice came from inside the house again. Yingque ignored the poor chickens and ran inside once more.

Now only Luo Fan is left. There aren't many corn kernels left, but the chickens are still running around, chasing after the scattered corn kernels.

One of them pecked at the ground and slowly came to Luo Fan's feet, then stopped there.

Tilting his head, he wondered why he had never seen this enormous black object before...

...Luo Fan felt something sting his leg. He looked down and saw a chicken pecking at his trouser leg.

He kicked it away and laughed, "Anyway, it'll end up in my stomach eventually."

As the sky grew darker, Luo Fan gradually realized that this kind of place also had many inconveniences.

There wasn't a single streetlamp on the dirt road, and once night fell, it was truly pitch black, almost indistinguishable from being blind.

Moreover, this mud-brick house is situated on a hillside, with a drop at the edge of the front yard. At night, if you look down at the edge, even though it's only a meter below, you can't see anything...

It seems like it's not safe to go out here at night; it's too dark.

But aside from that, Luo Fan still liked the place quite a bit. At least it was much quieter. If the girls came along, it would probably be a real retirement home.

These chickens probably get bullied by the dog and Little Nine every day, being chased all over the yard...

Oh, and another advantage of this kind of place is that when a family cooks a meal, the aroma always travels very far.

For example, Luo Fan could already smell the fragrance behind the house...

After scattering the corn kernels, Luo Fan sat on a small stool in a daze for half an hour before being awakened by Ying Que's shouts.

"time to eat!"

It's pretty fast...

Luo Fan casually carried the chair he was sitting on into the room.

The villagers are more straightforward; they simply bring a large table and sit in the living room to eat. No matter how many people are there, they will generally use a large table to put the dishes.

"I just killed a chicken; that should be enough for you."

Yingque brought out a plate of sliced ​​poached chicken. It was of excellent quality, with virtually no red parts visible except for the bone marrow.

Luo Fan nodded: "That's definitely enough."

A chicken, not too difficult to cook... besides, it smells pretty good.

Poached chicken is definitely inseparable from soy sauce and scallions, and this soy sauce even has cilantro and chili flakes added, which happens to be Luo Fan's favorite ingredients.

Once all the dishes were served and the three of them sat down, Luo Fan immediately put a few pieces of meat into Ying Que's mother's bowl.

"Please eat more."

"Hey, no need, no need. You're from out of town, you should eat more. These are free-range chickens raised in the mountains, they're really hard to find outside!"

Despite Yingque's mother's repeated refusals, she couldn't resist Luo Fan putting the meat into her bowl.

The three of them sat down and started eating. Luo Fan didn't ask any questions and simply accepted their kindness.

To be fair, it was really delicious. At least the agent and SAT8 hadn't cooked many Chinese dishes for him yet, so he got to enjoy a good meal here.

I feel I should record the cooking process so that my agent and SAT8 can learn from it when I get back, so that it won't be said that only Yingque can cook Chinese food.

However, scarcity increases value, so perhaps it's not so bad to only have something in short supply...

The plate of chicken, although it was clear that it wasn't served whole, was still quite a lot; Luo Fan could easily eat half of it by himself.

The guests enjoyed their meal, and Yingque's mother was naturally very happy.

She then asked, "Oh, young man, what should I call you?"

"Luo Fan, Auntie."

"Oh, I understand, I understand."

She patted her head, and every time she laughed, she showed her teeth, which was quite amusing.

"Are you married?"

......

......

Luo Fan slowed down his chewing and looked at Ying Que beside him with great interest.

Her reaction was similar to Luo Fan's; she slowed down her eating, and not only that, her fair face turned bright red, as if she had been soaking in a spicy hot pot.

"Um, Mom, could we not ask about this for now...?"

"Why wouldn't I ask? I can only feel at ease after you get married. Otherwise, with your brain, what else can you do besides studying? You wouldn't even know if you got scammed one day... I'm not talking about you, Xiao Luo."

Luo Fan's mother's description was so vivid that, despite having no ill intentions, Luo Fan couldn't help but laugh.

"puff......."

I almost choked on my rice...

409 Dinner.2

"I'm serious. This girl isn't bad in any other way, but she's easy to fool. She doesn't know how to distinguish between good and bad. You really should pay more attention to her, Xiao Luo, or she might steal your underwear one day."

It has to be said that Yingque's mother's way of speaking is quite...authentic. After communicating normally with others for a long time, Luo Fan didn't know how to respond to her.

"Okay, I understand, Auntie. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Why are you saying that too?!"

Ying Que suddenly nudged Luo Fan's side with her elbow, and this time Luo Fan really choked on the rice.

"Cough cough!"

She grabbed the water glass from the table and poured it down her throat. Luckily, it wasn't stuck too low, otherwise it would have been considered murder of her husband...

"Uh... are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I was just a few centimeters away from hanging up."

"Tsk, here you go again!"

With the girls gone, the space felt more open than before, and naturally, meals were more relaxed than at home.

Seeing the two of them bickering like this while eating, Yingque's mother managed a rare smile on her wrinkled face.

"They have such a good relationship, just like when that old scoundrel was still around."