The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 930 - 510: Children of Wealthy Families

Really want to smear it on his face.

Probably because the expression on her face was too terrifying, Huangfuming hurriedly stepped back.

Ning Xiaoxian took out an Alchemy Furnace from her storage bag, used True Fire to preheat it, then opened the lid and threw the mush in her hand inside.

Huangfuming’s eyes were about to pop out as he pointed at the furnace, his hand trembling slightly: "You... you... is this a Pill Furnace?"

"What about it, never seen someone bake using a Pill Furnace?" she glanced disdainfully, making sure to look at him from a 45-degree angle. Since he was quite short, only reaching her chest height, this view was feasible. Ah, he’s been annoying her all night, this feels really good now, "So ignorant!"

That’s right, the dessert she was making was the honey concave cake that once took Taiwan by storm in Huaxia! Although the ingredients for this sweet treat are very simple, the taste is simply perfect, especially if you master the heat perfectly to achieve a molten core—of course, the only secret to this dessert is the heat, the only failure too, unless the maker is below par at beating eggs.

This kid has probably tasted all kinds of delicacies, but likely never tried such a special dessert, right?

She indeed didn’t have an oven, but she had an Alchemy Furnace. Controlling a pill furnace to refine elixir requires mastering the heat and timing and is certainly more difficult than an oven, isn’t it? Besides, baking this cake really only needs remembering two metrics: one hundred seventy degrees, twelve minutes.

She spent only 15 minutes making this dish from start to finish.

She opened the lid of the furnace and took out the bowl. The cake was a success, with a light brown surface, but every second it stayed exposed to air, it would sink inward a bit.

She placed a towel over the bowl and stuffed it into the still stunned Huangfuming’s hands, then found a silver spoon from the kitchen: "Eat it hot with the spoon, it won’t taste good when it’s cold."

"Just like this?" He stared incredulously at the cake in his arms, like he was staring at a monster, "Where are the plates and dishes?"

She actually wants him to eat like a servant, holding a big bowl and scooping food with a spoon himself! Although the thing in front of him indeed smells great, something so crudely made could never be tasty!

"Every extra word you say will make it cooler." She shrugged and started walking upstairs.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Still, afraid that the cake in his arms would get cold too quickly, she pulled him along as they walked quickly back to the study.

When Ning Xiaoxian sat back behind the desk again, Huangfuming had just scooped the first spoonful of cake, put it into his mouth, chewed, then chewed again, and silently ate the second spoonful. This spoonful was big, reaching the molten center, he scraped some and put it in his mouth without saying a word.

She couldn’t help but ask: "How does it taste?" Although she had always been confident in the food she baked, looking at his reaction, it really didn’t seem good.

He swallowed the food in his mouth with effort, only then realizing how hungry he was.

"It’s alright. Barely... passable." Actually, it was very tasty, full of fragrance and soft. He thought the center area wasn’t well baked, but the essence was right there, with the perfect amount of sweetness, not at all like the desserts he usually hated, and fresh out of the furnace, warmly comforting.

He couldn’t stop after having just one bite, was it because he was too hungry? But he had already said that her cooking skills were really bad, how could he contradict himself?

"Don’t bother with it, give it to me, you should go chew on a thousand-layer cake. I’ll later instruct the nearest Hidden Stream kitchen to whip up something for you." Without suspicion, she reached out, and the bowl in Huangfuming’s arms seemed to be pulled by an inexplicable force, wanting to fly towards her.

He grabbed it back to his arms, anxious, "I can barely eat it, it’s fine! I’m not picky."

He’s not picky, then who is?

"What’s this thing called?"

"Too soft core." Ning Xiaoxian casually fibbed a name. Her heart indeed was too soft, she should have kicked him out by now. She shook her head, turned her attention back to the ledger, and ignored him.

Time ticked away, the night grew darker.

Then—

She closed the ledger for the nth time and sighed: "What do you want now?" The kid had moved a padded stool next to the desk. Honestly, he had finished all the cake, and that was quite a big bowl...

"It’s closer to the fireplace, warmer." He matter-of-factly pointed to the wood in the stove, making up a random conversation, "Are you looking through all these ledgers yourself?"

She glanced at him: "You know this is a ledger?"

He snorted through his nose: "Of course I know, I can calculate too, making these ledgers wouldn’t be much slower than you." Her gaze carried a faint sarcasm; didn’t she realize how this provoked resentment?

The little toad yawning, what a boastful statement. Ning Xiaoxian didn’t bother arguing with him, casually found a ledger and tossed it over: "Prove it to me, if you can’t do it well, I’ll send you back now."

"Alright." He responded confidently, flipping through the account book, but after a while, his face showed difficulty.

She paused her work, smiling at him, "What, can’t do it?"

"Who says I can’t." He scratched his head, "But I don’t have any tools. Do you have an abacus here?"

Indeed, he was merely in the Qi Refinement Realm and couldn’t yet manifest Divine Thought, unable to mentally calculate like her. "That was my oversight." She promptly apologized and pulled out an ivory abacus from under the desk.

The commonly used calculating tools in this world are rods and abacus. Huangfuming picked up the abacus and gave it a light shake. With two snapping sounds, the upper and lower beads returned to their places.

An expert shows their skill with just a move. Seeing his adept actions, Ning Xiaoxian couldn’t help but believe him a bit more. Sure enough, he opened the account book, compared the entries, and began calculating swiftly, moving the beads with his left hand and holding the pen with his right. Like clouds and flowing water, he started verifying the accounts.

For a moment, the only sounds in the study were the faint cracking of firewood being baked by the flames and the light snapping of abacus beads being moved. Ning Xiaoxian smiled and shook her head, then buried herself back in her tasks.

After forty-five minutes, Huangfuming pushed the account book in front of her, "It’s done."

So quick? She took it and turned to the first page to begin checking from the first entry, her face calm though she was secretly astonished. The account book contained many discrepancies; a total of seventy-six false entries had been unerringly identified by him, circled in red, with minor notes beside them indicating issues like inflated cost prices, low selling prices, and unclear item categories, truly professional.

What particularly caught her attention was Huangfuming’s handwriting. As the ancient saying goes, "One’s writing reflects one’s character." In this world, children of wealthy families start penmanship at six years old, and by the age of twelve or thirteen, their writing style is substantially fixed. Huangfuming’s handwriting was indeed nice, though not concealing any sharpness, it wasn’t as steeply angular as she imagined; rather, it was slightly rounded, with delicate finishing strokes, indicating a meticulous person, contrary to his outer demeanor.

She calmly set the account book down. The boy before her looked at her nervously, like a student waiting for a teacher’s praise, "How is it, any mistakes?"

She smiled, "Not a single error, you’ve done very well."

Huangfuming’s face immediately flushed with excitement, then he cleared his throat lightly and said, "Such a trivial task could hardly stump me."

"Then help me with a few more trivial tasks." She pushed three more account books beside her, "These are also yours."

"No problem at all." He raised his hand to accept them, and the abacus started clicking again.

"How did you learn bead calculation?" He was a beloved young master, after all, did the Mirror Sea King actually have his son learn this?

"Bead calculation can hone the mind and will; my father even specially hired a master to teach me," Huangfuming pursed his lips, "Since I was three, I had many things to learn. Musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, painting, archery, driving, writing, and counting, they are just the basics."

Could it be that the Mirror Sea King also believed in starting education from childhood? This child, looking splendid on the outside, probably didn’t enjoy much of a happy childhood, right?

She suddenly looked up at the fireplace, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"What’s wrong?"

Ning Xiaoxian said nonchalantly, "Nothing, it’s about to rain, and not just a little."

"How do you know?" He had heard that High-level cultivators possess the power of Heavenly Person perception.

"The flames are very pale, and there’s soot falling down the chimney."

"...Alright." He returned to his busyness, not noticing Ning Xiaoxian’s thoughtful expression.

A gentle breeze blew through the window, ruffling the account book pages. Huangfuming instinctively reached out to hold it down, and the wind turned the book to the last page. There, he saw a few freshly dried ink strokes in elegant writing: "Ning Xiaoxian Audited."

Ning Xiaoxian, is that her real name? Why does it sound so familiar?

It seemed as if a spark of lightning flashed across his mind.

Exactly, upon entering the sect, the senior brothers often talked animatedly about Senior Brother Quan’s love history. Senior Brother Quan was peculiar; every time he was asked about his beloved, he would smile gently but never mention her name. Rumor had it that he first fell in love with a mortal woman who couldn’t cultivate, almost losing his cultivation due to a Heart Demon. The Sect Leader was furious, intending to remove the woman, but later inexplicably changed his mind and agreed to their union. However, Senior Brother Quan remains alone, refusing any other woman’s affections, despite the mortal woman never being by his side.

Is it her? She has the surname Ning and knows Senior Brother Quan, yet why is she, who was originally a mortal unable to cultivate, now in the Hidden Stream, possessing such profound cultivation and subtly wielding such power?

Indeed, it’s intriguing. His father had said the most important lesson was "there’s always a reason behind anomalies." Thus, there must be an interesting story behind all this.

Huangfuming lowered his eyes to conceal the gleam of excitement within, earnestly focusing on the account book.

#####

"Boom——" A massive thunderclap rolled by, startling Huangfuming awake. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)