Need to Replenish

【That hateful little Milk Dragon, trying to poison me with pufferfish? Then go find a new Omega?】

As soon as Long Ling heard Miss Evil Dragon’s thoughts, cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and the pufferfish she was holding almost trembled to the ground.

Even if she had a hundred gall bladders, she wouldn’t dare to do such a rebellious thing!

And find a new Omega? She could barely handle being with one Evil Dragon every day.

Long Ling frantically explained to Violet: “If you remove the poisonous parts of this pufferfish, you can eat it. How about I make it braised for you?”

Violet coldly stared at Long Ling, her dark golden eyes gleaming with a deep, icy light, as if she was trying to see through Long Ling’s true intentions.

Long Ling was just a cook, not a master of deadly poisons!

If this were back in the palace, Long Ling would have kneeled down to prove her innocence.

That wasn’t the way things were done in this world!

Her eyes began to water, and she said anxiously, “I didn’t want to hurt you! I just wanted to make you something delicious! Really! You can eat it!”

Violet raised her chin and said coldly, “Take it away.”

Crying was useless; she wouldn’t fall for that.

Had she been too nice to this little dragon lately?

Had the little dragon become bold enough to try to poison her openly?

What else wouldn’t Long Ling dare to do in the future?!

Long Ling’s hands, which had been soaking in the cold lake water to clean the little pufferfish, had turned red, like carrots.

Now that she was holding the little pufferfish, she didn’t know whether to throw it away or keep it.

It was clearly so delicious, and she wanted to give all the delicacies in the world to Miss Evil Dragon.

Lorraine helped to defuse the situation:

“You really can’t eat pufferfish. In the past, a dragon accidentally ate too much pufferfish and died from the poison.

There was also a king who was slowly poisoned to death by his queen using pufferfish blood.

So, it’s better to keep it away from you.”

Long Ling had no choice but to nod: “Okay, I’ll go release the pufferfish back into the stream now.”

“That’s a good girl,” Lorraine praised and didn’t forget to remind her,

“It’s almost lunchtime. Long Ling, have you decided what to make with the other fish?”

Long Ling poked the pufferfish’s belly, turning it into a round ball, looked at Violet, and said to Lorraine,

“I haven’t decided yet. It depends on what the Duchess wants to eat.”

Violet’s peripheral vision caught Long Ling’s movements.

Poking the pufferfish?

What was she implying?

She shouldn’t think she could win her over just by acting like a little Milk Dragon.

Lorraine was about to be shown to death by these two dragons.

She had to get a message through a dragon for her lunch!

It was too difficult for her to have a meal.

Lorraine smiled and raised her eyebrows at Violet: “Violet, your Alpha is asking what you want to eat.”

Violet said casually, “Let her make whatever she wants to eat, except for that poisonous pufferfish.”

Lorraine couldn’t help but shake her head. Women were so proud. She then said to Long Ling, “Your Duchess can eat anything; just make a lot.”

Seeing that Violet was still willing to talk to her, Long Ling felt relieved and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear: “Then please wait for me, Duchess. I’ll be back soon with the food.”

Lorraine glanced at Violet and waved her hand: “Go ahead. I’ll keep her company and help her calm down.”

A grateful smile appeared on Long Ling’s face as she said, “Thank you very much.”

Lorraine, feeling flattered by the Alpha dragon’s gratitude, narrowed her eyes: “You’re welcome.”

Violet didn’t say anything, just glanced at Long Ling.

Long Ling quickly left to release the pufferfish.

What a pity that such a delicacy had to go.

If she wasn’t having lunch with Miss Evil Dragon, Long Ling would have made braised pufferfish for herself.

But since Miss Evil Dragon had clearly said she didn’t want to eat it, she wouldn’t secretly turn the pufferfish into a dish and put it on the table.

She believed in her own cooking skills.

She could make other dishes that were just as delicious as pufferfish. 

Long Ling washed her hands in the stream.

Nora had sent the catch over, and also brought a young woman for her to see.

“Miss Long Ling, this is the maid I told you about. Her name is Mina, and she’s worked as a helper in the kitchen before.”

Mina was tall and slender, and her brown hair looked a bit dry, tied into a short ponytail, but her head was always lowered, so Long Ling couldn’t see her face.

Long Ling could only look at her hands. Mina’s hands were long and looked like her knuckles were thick.

These hands must have done a lot of work in the past, and her hard-working nature gave Long Ling a good impression of her.

“Mina, what dishes can you make?”

Mina, hearing the beautiful Miss Long Ling suddenly ask her if she knew how to cook, couldn’t help but get nervous and stammer a little.

“Lo, Long Ling Miss, I can make vegetable salad, and I can also make roast meat, and some desserts. I’ve been cutting vegetables for over ten years, and I’m pretty capable.”

Only then did Long Ling see her face, which was different from the pretty faces of the maids and servants she usually saw, so much so that it could be hard to recognize them after seeing them for too long.

Mina was fairly young, which gave her a good impression.

“Mina, can you make fish?”

Mina nodded a little and said, “Yes, I can make smoked fish, and I’m pretty good at slicing sashimi.”

Long Ling smiled slightly and said, “Great! You can help me butcher the fish and slice it.”

Mina didn’t expect Miss Long Ling to be so approachable. She felt like she had been struck by a pie falling from the sky and was a little dazed with joy. “Okay, okay, I’ll definitely work hard!”

Nora, seeing her good friend halfway to success, couldn’t help but be happy for her and quickly said to Long Ling:

“Miss Long Ling, if you’re going to make lunch, do you need me to help you find some ingredients?

There are many wild vegetables in the spring. I saw several Chinese toon trees along the road we passed, and there are also wild onions, wood ear mushrooms, and shepherd’s purse. I can bring them all over.”

Nora was such a detail-oriented girl! Long Ling reminded her:

“Then be careful. Don’t climb the trees when picking Chinese toon; just pick some of the short trees.”

Nora confidently patted her chest:

“Don’t worry; I’m a dragon, after all. Even though I’m just a Beta, I can turn into a dragon and be very tall, and I can directly use my dragon claws to grab a lot.”

Long Ling confidently let Nora go pick wild vegetables, while she and Mina processed the salmon together.

Having worked as a helper for many years, Mina was efficient at processing salmon.

Although she was human, she was like Long Ling, a dragon, and could kill a fish with two strikes.

Since they had caught a lot of salmon, almost two hundred, Long Ling planned to have Miss Evil Dragon taste them and then use half for the cooking competition and sell the other half in the tavern.

The flowing stream water was very clear.

After processing the salmon and removing the internal organs, they took out the bright orange fish roe.

These fish roe had just been in the fish’s belly and felt cool to the touch. Each plump fish roe was very large and translucent.

Long Ling had Mina bring a plate, put some washed bright green lettuce leaves on it, and then arranged the fish roe on top.

Besides washing two salmon, Long Ling also washed some blue shrimp.

These shrimp were lively and jumped out of the plate, so Mina quickly brought a new plate and covered all the shrimp.

The fish and shrimp were brought to the table, and Long Ling gave Mina a kitchen knife, asking her to try slicing the fish first.

Long Ling stood beside her.

Mina first cut open half of the gutted fish and removed the skin.

She was a bit nervous at first, so she wasn’t cutting very smoothly.

The first few pieces of fish were very thick, but she gradually improved.

Long Ling picked up the slices of meat and looked at them.

The fish meat was cut evenly, which was enough for a cook who often cut vegetables.

But by the standards of her world, for use in sashimi, these slices were a bit lacking.

Long Ling still encouraged her: “It’s okay.”

Mina was very confident in her fish-slicing skills.

She had worked for many years, and those chefs specifically asked her to slice the fish, so she had some status in the manor’s kitchen.

Hearing Miss Long Ling’s calm reply, Mina couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Had Miss Long Ling seen someone more skilled than her?

When Long Ling picked up the kitchen knife, Mina’s eyes widened.

So Miss Long Ling was so good at cooking!

The sharp kitchen knife fell on the white and smooth fish, and with a light stroke, the fish meat was cut into thin slices.

The knife skills were so fast and good, so smooth that it was unbelievable.

She couldn’t even see Miss Long Ling’s hand movements.

All she knew was that the fish slices fell on the table like flower petals, as if a layer of snow had fallen, leaving only the distinct fish bones.

She couldn’t help but look at her own hands.

It was clearly the same kitchen knife, so why did she and Miss Long Ling have such different sensations using it?

It turned out that someone could turn cooking into a pleasing dance.

The small amount of pride that Mina had felt before was instantly crushed to dust in the face of true skill, and she became a hundred times more respectful towards Long Ling.

At that moment, Nora came with the picked wild vegetables, a full basketful that had been washed in the stream, and also a basket of vegetables that had been bought from the elves on the estate for Long Ling to use as side dishes.

“Miss Long Ling, I also got this: a nest of wild bird eggs, and they’re still warm.”

Nora took the bird eggs out of her pocket, placing them in a bowl.

There were five or six of them, and the eggshells were rose-colored, about the same size as chicken eggs.

Long Ling couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What kind of bird eggs are these?”

Nora grinned: “These are clear crystal magic bird eggs. They’re very nourishing. Didn’t you want to buy medicine the other day? I thought you might need this. You can drink the medicine after eating this.”

Long Ling’s cheeks grew slightly hot: “When the tavern becomes profitable, I’ll give you a bonus.”

Nora’s eyes lit up and she said seriously, “Thank you, but these are all things I should do. Miss Long Ling, I’ve already gotten much more salary than others just for being your personal maid.” 

Long Ling nodded slightly, quickly averting her gaze from the bird eggs. She should focus on making the meal first.

The fish slices were used to make sashimi, and three more fish were used for pan-frying.

Since there wasn’t as much need for good knife skills for the latter, Long Ling had Mina do the cutting.

She intended to have Mina go in her stead to the cooking competition anyway, and Mina would eventually be the resident chef in her tavern.

The sashimi that Long Ling planned to make required ginger, garlic, and chives, all of which had to be mashed into a juice.

But only using these ingredients would lack a certain flavor unique to spring, so she also used water radish, chopped into small pieces, mixed with the juice, and stirred evenly with the snow-white salmon.

Finally, she added a rich vinegar sauce, placed it in a bowl, and garnished it with coriander.

Long Ling planned to use shrimp oil to fry the salmon, which would bring out the fish’s flavor to its peak. These blue shrimp that were raised in the lake were all very clean.

The shrimp heads were placed in the pan, and they were quickly fried into a fully cooked red.

The golden shrimp oil was discarded, and some green pieces of wild onion were added.

Then, she placed the sliced salmon in the pan, and the salmon skin was pan-fried until slightly golden on both sides, fully absorbing the taste of the shrimp oil.

As soon as this dish was served, not only Nora and Mina but also Crown Princess Lorraine, who was with Violet, couldn’t help but sniff hard.

Lorraine set down her book and quickly approached.

“Wow, it smells so good. Violet is so lucky to have such an amazing little dragon, making her delicious food every day.” 

If the dish wasn’t about to be served, to maintain her etiquette and manners, Lorraine would have wanted to take the whole plate away.

But this dish was for Violet, and the others didn’t have the fortune to taste it.

She had to remember her place as someone who was scrounging for a meal, and if she really took the plate, Violet probably wouldn’t give her a single bite of fish.

Long Ling still remembered her promise to Miss Evil Dragon and simply said to Lorraine, “This will be a while; I have to cook another dish.”

She looked at Violet in the distance, her black curly hair spread over the reclining chair, her pale profile beautiful and refined.

Even though she wasn’t looking at her, Long Ling was happy just to be able to see her.

According to the agreement between the two families, they could get married if she could get Violet pregnant with a dragon cub. Long Ling couldn’t help but feel a bit expectant.

Violet didn’t need to come over; she knew that Long Ling would only make food for her, just like the strawberry-scented little Milk Dragon, who could only be enjoyed by her.

Hearing that she had to wait a while longer, Lorraine couldn’t help but urge,

“Two dishes are enough. Aren’t there salmon eggs, too? You can bring it all out to eat. It’s been so long; Violet must be hungry.”

Long Ling was also worried that Miss Evil Dragon would get hungry, and then get angry, so she quickly said, “That’s possible. Mina, please help me bring it over.”

Violet hadn’t looked at her, probably still resentful about the pufferfish incident.

Long Ling was a bit regretful.

She knew she wouldn’t use poisonous ingredients next time. She hadn’t meant it on purpose.

Violet had expected Long Ling to personally bring the dish, but it was Mina who came.

Her face immediately darkened, and she waved her hand, telling Mina to leave.

Lorraine couldn’t help but say, “Your Alpha dragon has been working so hard, just to make you these few dishes. She probably didn’t know that pufferfish could harm dragons. You shouldn’t be angry with her.”

Violet glanced at Lorraine.

Was she angry? She just wanted the little Milk Dragon to learn a lesson.

Lorraine, seeing that she wasn’t saying anything, smelled the food and couldn’t resist saying, “Should we eat first?”

Violet’s eyes were calm: “We’ll eat in a bit.”

In a bit? The food would be cold. You’re going to make your dragon wait, so you’ll just have me eat by myself!

Lorraine knew that Violet was always stubborn, so she had to join her in staring longingly at Long Ling cooking in the distance.

Long Ling fried the last dish. She used the bird eggs that Nora had brought. The eggshell was cracked open with a soft clink on the side of the bowl.

She held the eggshell in one hand, and the golden egg liquid flowed from the eggshell into the white bowl, mixing with the chopped fresh Chinese toon that had been blanched, before being fried in hot oil.

The Chinese toon had sprouted newly this year, and she picked all of the most tender shoots.

Fried with the smooth bird eggs, it was fried until it was golden and soft, exuding a delicious egg fragrance.

Long Ling carefully turned the hot pan, frying the Chinese toon omelet until it was intact and tender, before pouring it onto a plate, like a round moon.

After finishing this dish, she wiped the sweat from her brow and suddenly found that Violet and Lorraine were staring at her.

She had thought that they had already started eating. Long Ling brought the last dish over.

“Hurry up and eat; it’ll get cold if you don’t.” Long Ling’s ice-blue eyes were bright, and her ears were red as she said to Violet alone, “This is a Chinese toon omelet, just for you.”

Lorraine picked up her fork and was about to take a bite of the fluffy and smooth fried eggs, but couldn’t help but pause halfway.

She was so envious. Where could Violet find such a good dragon to coax her?

She was going to find one just like it in the future!

Violet hadn’t expected Long Ling to openly give her a separate dish; she had thought that Long Ling would be as caring and flattering to everyone as she had been before.

Violet was satisfied, and she forked up a spoonful of the omelet.

The egg liquid was very fragrant, with a hint of spiciness, and with the crisp and tender Chinese toon, it tasted very good.

It was just that the egg seemed to be made with crystal magic bird eggs, which were for nourishing.

Did the little Milk Dragon think she needed nourishment?

Lorraine, seeing the tender scene between these two dragons, forked a piece of raw salmon and put it in her mouth.

The fish was very fresh and the meat was delicate.

She could eat all the salmon on her plate while talking about Violet’s gossip.