Beauty and the Beasts

Bai Qingqing closed the pot lid, then looked towards the females.

 “I discovered that when the wild grains are ground to a powder before cooking, they turn out delicious. Hence, I invited all of you here to try it.”

 The females were evidently disappointed. The female who spoke up earlier said, “But I don’t like wild grains. And I would at most eat the cooked grains and never drink the water. Because the water is black and murky and tastes like medicine. You smashed the grains and cooked it with water. I’ll bet it tastes awful.”

 With a purse-lipped smile, Bai Qingqing raised the batter that she set aside and showed it to the females.

 The noodle soup that she was about to make was given a very nice name by the restaurants—Floating on Water. The dough didn’t have to be very dry; a little flour was enough to make a basin full. When the stone basin was tipped, the pulp would flow slowly, but wouldn’t turn into a sloppy goo.

 1“It’s white, not black,” Bai Qingqing said.

 “Eh?”

 This aroused the females’ interest. Seeing that the pot didn’t explode, they got bolder and walked over, peering curiously into the matter inside. Their males hurriedly followed behind them.

 “My goodness! How did it become one piece?”

 “Which male crushed it? He must have enormous strength!”

 “Are these really wild grains?”

 Unable to cope with the questions everyone was bombarding her with, Bai Qingqing simply said, “You’ll need a bowl to contain the soup later. The males can return home to get the bowls first.”

 After Bai Qingqing finished speaking, the females urged their spouses to return home. Of course, the males obediently obliged.

 The beastmen didn’t have bowls that were especially used for eating, but every household had a stone mortar used for crushing medicine. The shape of those stone mortars was similar to that of a bowl.

 The females arrived one after the other. With those females who came the earliest passing on the message to those newly arrived females, it didn’t require much effort on Bai Qingqing’s part. All the females now understood what was going on.

 Once the water in the pot boiled, Bai Qingqing started shoveling the noodles inside the pot using a piece of bamboo. The crescent-shaped noodles were brought to the surface, and as the temperature rose, the aroma of the meat wafted through the main hall. As starch was added, the aroma gradually became more intense and rich.

 The females unanimously narrowed their eyes to savor the fragrance in the air.

 “Smells so nice.”

 No idea who spoke, but they suddenly snapped out of their trance and stared at the stone pot with a glow in their eyes.

 “Don’t be anxious, it’ll be ready soon,” Bai Qingqing said with a smile. With her heart very much put to ease now, she winked at Winston standing by the side.

 Winstons strode out and said in his deep voice, “Queue over here. Every female can only collect one bowl.”

 Although the females were afraid of Winston, they felt much bolder with so many of them around. They instantly formed a queue with their bowls in hand, leaving their forgotten spouses by the side.

 Winston, who had never been treated like a regular male by the females before, felt like he had changed into a new shell upon seeing them walk over normally. It felt surreal to him.

 1The noodle soup was ready in no time. Although Bai Qingqing had cooked a full pot, it still wasn’t enough for everyone. She loaded their bowls with two ladles full—which was about the amount in a porcelain bowl in the modern ages—but only managed to cover the bottom of the rice-cooker sized stone mortar.

 As the stone mortar was big, when the soup was poured in, it would decrease in temperature due to the cold mortar, hence the females started slurping it down without further ado.

 Bai Qingqing couldn’t help stopping what she was doing and looking towards those females who were drinking soup.

 After a while, finally, a female set down her stone mortar and said in a delighted voice, “It’s yummy.”

 Following that, several other females finished their soups and echoed the same sentiments.

 “It’s soft and so much more delicious than rice!”

 “Yummy. The soup is tasty too.”

 “I’ve never tasted anything so delicious before. Awesome!”

 Bai Qingqing smiled, and under the urging of the females standing before her, continued distributing the noodle soup.