Chapter 1698: Barbecue Banquet
Lulu looked at Xixi for a very long while before coming back to his senses. He joyfully exclaimed, “Xixi, did you say… you’re pregnant?”
“Mm-hmm.” Xixi nodded shyly, but could not resist the urge to look up at Lulu with joy. “I wasn’t too sure a few days ago, but the World Tree gave me its feedback today. I have a little life in my womb. It’s our child.”
“That’s great.” Lulu opened his arms wide and gave Xixi a hug. However, he quickly let her go again for fear that his clumsy limbs would hurt Xixi and the baby inside. He simply looked at Xixi as he smiled foolishly like a child, not knowing where to put his hands.
“Feel it.” Xixi grabbed his large hand with a smile, and placed it gently on her stomach. Although there was still no baby bump, both of them were very careful, as though they were handling something very precious.
“Let me listen. I want to see if our baby has anything it wants to tell us.” Lulu knelt down and placed his ear on Xixi’s stomach as he listened seriously with his eyes closed.
Xixi caressed Lulu’s head gently as she smiled blissfully.
Perhaps only they knew how difficult it was for this child to come by and what was its significance to them.
They once thought that they would not be able to have children forever, that Dryads had cut off their lineage for good.
***
“Heh, isn’t Boss Mag a little too much? In the past, when he took a break, at least the designated hot pot area would still be in operation. Now we can’t even have hot pot.”
“Hot pot is fine. Mana Hot Pot Restaurant just up in front is opened by the chef of Boss Mag’s designated hot pot area. Although the ingredients are a little lacking compared to Mamy Restaurant’s, they each have their strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, it’s cheap there. It’s almost a tenth of the price at Mamy Restaurant.”
“Alright. I guess I can settle for second-best and try Mana Hot Pot Restaurant today.”
Outside the restaurant, some excited customers who saw the notice could not help but grumble before proceeding to Mana Hot Pot Restaurant for hot pot.
No one knew that Mag and the others had already returned from their break, and were having a barbecue banquet.
The two sheep and the goat they’d brought back from the Blue Grassland were the main characters of tonight’s banquet. The blue sheep were made into roast mutton, and Mag even brought back the baka tree branches to make wooden skewers. As it was his first time roasting mutton, he wasn’t very confident, so he cut the mutton up into small pieces similar to the beef kebab. That way, it would be easier for him to control the temperature of the fire.
As for that black goat, Amy had tamed it to become her ride on the way back. When it was finally time to slaughter the goat at night when they returned, she was in a dilemma.
“Blackie, although we had a lot of fun in the afternoon, and you’re also smarter than Ugly Duckling, it’s nighttime now, and we are all very hungry, so we have no choice but to eat you up.” Amy patted the black goat’s head, and comforted it, “Don’t be upset. I will enjoy you thoroughly.”
“Baa~”
The black goat licked Amy’s hand before walking towards Mag with resolution.
“The mutton soup is cooking in the pot. The grill at home is a little small, so we can’t make a whole roasted goat. We can only roast half the goat, and the grilling method would be a little different from what we had in the grassland today. I’ll try the taste after a while.” Mag placed the grill in the middle of the restaurant and shifted the tables and chairs aside. He combined three long tables to form a very long table.
Grilling alone in the kitchen would make one feel like a chef instead of someone at a barbecue party.
Besides, since it was a barbecue, the smoke and atmosphere had to be there. If the food were cooked and served on the table, it wouldn’t be the same. It was all about watching the meat cook slowly on the grill.
Even though mutton was the star for today, they couldn’t simply just have mutton. Pig’s eyes, beef… and the rest were all available to compliment the mutton.
Although Irina missed the outing, she did not give the barbecue a miss. She was eating fruits as she listened to Amy talk about the fun and interesting things that had happened during the trip, and they would laugh together at the funny moments.
The charcoal in the grill was already red. Mag glazed the grill with a layer of oil, and started to lay the mutton on top.
Sizzle~
When the mutton got in contact with the hot grill, it started smoking immediately, and the fragrance of the meat started wafting out as well.
Compared to the all-natural way of eating with salt as the only seasoning, Mag added chili powder and cumin. That gave the gentle scent of the mutton a sharp and irresistible aroma, as though he had given it a soul.
The others, who were still chatting, were all attracted by the smell of the mutton on the grill. Even though they had just had mutton kebab in the afternoon, the smell of Mag’s mutton kebab assailed their noses and made them salivate.
The process of watching the mutton on the grill change was an enjoyable yet torturous experience.
“Alright. Try my first-ever roasted mutton.” Mag bunched up the skewers of roasted mutton on the grill, and split them up into three long trays before passing them to Miya, who was already waiting at the side.
“It looks awesome.” Miya smiled as she placed the three trays on the table. That way, everyone did not have to get out of their seats to take the food.
“Let me try.” Amy already grabbed a skewer of roasted mutton impatiently, and put it straight into her mouth after just blowing a few times at it.
Compared to shepherds’ boorish way of eating, Mag’s roasted mutton had much smaller portions, and since he only used the meat, it was more convenient to eat as there weren’t any bones.
“Mm… Father’s roasted sheep is very delicious too.” Amy chewed on the mutton while getting another skewer for Irina, who was sitting beside her. “Big Sister Irina, try it. It’s really super good.”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll give it a try.” Irina took the skewer and looked at it for a while. Its color on the surface was slightly charred and yellowish, and its smell was very enticing because of the spices. She took her first bite.
“This taste!”
The mutton had a slightly charred smell, but it was not at all hard. The spices teased her taste buds first, and when she bit into the mutton, the freshness of the meat suddenly attacked her mouth.
That was the taste of the grassland. The image of the grassland Amy described to her just now, the blue grassland that was almost the same color as the sky, suddenly rushed into her mind. The blue sheep gathered in groups as they grazed lazily on the grassland. What a beautiful scene.
Irina could not help but smile. The spices gave the fresh mutton a lot more layers in terms of taste, and that satisfied her greedy taste buds to the maximum.
Other than cumin and chili powder, there was also a light freshness infused that gave off the element of the grassland.
If one would say that the beef was outstanding, this mutton kebab would then be enough to be on the same level.
She thought that maybe… she might like mutton a little more.