ARLQLCC chapter 42

Right now it was still the disciples’ mealtime, so Su Ji wasn’t in a hurry to go to the back kitchen and simply sat down to chat with Xie Qinghuai.

Young Master Xie was well-informed and broad-minded. Although he had a bit of trouble accepting that Ma Tuan had turned into this form, he still expressed his blessings. After sitting down he continued gnawing on a fried dough stick with a gloomy face.

Su Ji said sympathetically, “In a few days you won’t need to worry about food anymore. Just bear with it for a couple of days.”

Xie Qinghuai asked in confusion, “Why? Are they changing chefs?”

Su Ji said, “The chef won’t be changed, but I came here today to teach them how to cook.”

Xie Qinghuai’s eyes lit up in surprise. “Really?”

Su Ji nodded in confirmation, and Xie Qinghuai became overjoyed.

They chatted a bit more, and when it was about time, Su Ji stood up and left. After he left, curious disciples gathered around Xie Qinghuai and asked, “Young Master Xie, what were you just talking about with Chef Su? Why did he go to the back kitchen?”

Xie Qinghuai said happily, “Yunxian Sect finally did one decent thing—they’re letting Su Ji go be a teacher for those apprentice disciples in the back kitchen!”

As soon as he said this, the surrounding eavesdropping disciples’ eyes lit up.

“Is that true?!”

“With Chef Su teaching cooking, we won’t have to worry about food anymore!”

“I was even hoping when Chef Su would set up a stall again, but I didn’t expect him to solve the problem from the source. Amazing!”

“Even if the apprentices only learn half of Chef Su’s skills, that would already be enough.”

Xie Qinghuai bit his fried dough stick with a loud crunch and waved at them. “Alright, if you’re done eating, go to the martial arena. The longer you stay here, the more you delay things, and the less time Chef Su has for teaching.”

As soon as he said this, the finished eaters scattered like birds and beasts. Cleaning disciples came to clear the dining hall, and Xie Qinghuai also placed his hands behind his back, thinking happily about future good meals, and slowly walked toward the martial arena.

Back kitchen of Yunxian Sect dining hall.

After entering, Su Ji did not see the luxurious resting room that Yue He had mentioned. It seemed that after Chef Lin was punished, that resting room had also been demolished.

The Yunxian Sect’s back kitchen was vast. Although it wasn’t as luxurious as the front hall, its materials and overall style still completely outclassed Linggu Mountain.

Su Ji said enviously, “Their back kitchen is so big.”

Chu Zhaoye didn’t respond, but signaled for Su Ji to open his storage artifact.

Su Ji was confused but still did as told. He opened his storage artifact, where spirit stones were on the left and miscellaneous items on the right, all displayed openly in front of Chu Zhaoye.

Just as Su Ji was about to say there was nothing worth looking at in his artifact, Chu Zhaoye also summoned the physical form of his personal storage space before him.

The demon race’s personal space could change shape according to its owner’s will. Under Chu Zhaoye’s control, it twisted like liquid, forming a funnel shape and fitting seamlessly to the entrance of Su Ji’s storage artifact. The next second, a continuous stream of top-grade spirit stones poured in like a bursting dam, crazily rushing into Su Ji’s storage artifact.

Su Ji stared in shock. He knew Chu Zhaoye was rich, but he didn’t know he was this rich. Coming back to his senses, he quickly raised his hand to stop him. “Hey, that’s enough! My storage can’t hold any more!”

Seeing that the spirit stones inside were indeed about to overflow, Chu Zhaoye clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and reluctantly stopped his “throwing money without warning” action.

Su Ji’s storage artifact was actually quite large—it had been given to him by his master—but even so, it still wasn’t full. Yet in just a moment, it was nearly filled with a mountain of top-grade spirit stones.

Looking at Chu Zhaoye’s still somewhat dissatisfied expression, Su Ji couldn’t help saying, “Why are you giving me so many spirit stones?”

Chu Zhaoye smiled. “To build you a house. When we go back, we’ll renovate Linggu Mountain’s cafeteria and hire a lot of people to work for you.”

Su Ji laughed helplessly. “With this much money, you could build hundreds of cafeterias.”

Chu Zhaoye said unconcernedly, “Then build hundreds. You can be the head chef, and all profits will go to you.”

Su Ji chuckled. “I can’t use that much money alone, but thanks anyway, Ma~Tuan~”

After returning to human form, Chu Zhaoye once again accepted this nickname very well and let out a light laugh. “No need to thank me. After all, I’m your cat, aren’t I? Ah~Ji~”

He was imitating Su Ji’s tone, but he did it a little annoyingly. The bit of emotion that had just risen in Su Ji instantly faded. He gave Chu Zhaoye a light glare and, choosing not to take the bait, continued walking further inside.

Further in was where the apprentice disciples usually cooked. Along the wall were spirit tools for storing ingredients, in front was the prep area, and further ahead were neatly arranged stoves, in front of which stood rows of energetic apprentice disciples with straight backs.

From afar, Su Ji saw that the stoves had already been cleaned. After breakfast, these disciples had quickly tidied the kitchen and were waiting for his arrival.

As expected, the moment Su Ji appeared at the door, their faces lit up with excitement.

They turned in unison and shouted loudly, “Welcome, Master!!!”

Su Ji: “……”

The scale of it was so overwhelming that his foot nearly froze mid-air. He grabbed Chu Zhaoye’s arm to avoid tripping.

Chu Zhaoye naturally placed an arm around his shoulder. After he regained balance, he let go and walked in with him.

These disciples were very young. After being tormented by Chef Lin for so long, they could still smile so brightly—their mentality was truly strong.

Su Ji greeted them, “Hello, I am Su Ji.”

As soon as he spoke, their eyes brightened even more. In unison they shouted, “Greetings, Master Su!!!”

Su Ji: “……”

Su Ji: “Everyone, don’t do this. You can just call me Chef Su like the others. And you don’t need to shout so loudly—it’s bad for your throats.”

The disciples nodded vigorously, clearly very obedient, their bright eyes looking at him like he was some divine being descending to earth, making Su Ji extremely uncomfortable.

He coughed lightly and asked curiously, “Why are you all so happy?”

Since the master had a question, the disciples naturally had to answer. They looked at each other and pushed one leading disciple forward.

The disciple was named Qu Ming. After being pushed out, his eyes were shining like glowing pearls, practically writing “Chef Su is a god” on his face.

Standing behind Su Ji, Chu Zhaoye narrowed his eyes, and a wave of displeasure rose in his heart.

Su Ji was too likable—first Yan Shao, then Yuan Chenxin who had long been secretly in love with him, and now even these apprentices who had just met him were worshipping him like this.

Chu Zhaoye felt irritated but couldn’t direct it at Su Ji. His cold gaze kept sweeping over Qu Ming, but the boy seemed even more oblivious than Yan Shao and completely ignored him.

A dignified Demon King was having his first sulky moment after regaining human form in the back kitchen of a human dining hall.

On the other side, Qu Ming felt a bit chilly but quickly forgot about it and began explaining earnestly:

“Chef Su, we are all really grateful to you. If not for you, Lin Hu wouldn’t have been expelled from the sect so quickly. We were oppressed by him for a long time—getting up earlier than chickens and sleeping later than dogs every day, and being beaten and scolded whenever he wanted!”

Lin Hu was Chef Lin’s real name.

Qu Ming continued, “Actually, when you set up your stall last time, we even secretly changed into disciple uniforms to buy your food. I’ve never eaten anything so delicious in my life!”

“We were originally outer disciples with some talent, but not enough to cultivate immortality, so we applied to become apprentice disciples to learn cooking and make a living in the future.”

“But Lin Hu didn’t know how to cook at all. The recipes he taught us were a mess, he even abused fragrance-enhancing powders, and withheld our wages. We all hated him! Now that he’s gone, and the Great Elder arranged for you to teach us, we truly admire you! Chef Su… thank you so much!”

Qu Ming looked young but was very emotional. As he spoke, his voice choked up, and with a standard motion, he bowed deeply to Su Ji.

“Thank you, Chef Su!! Thank you, Chef Su!!!”

Behind him, more than ten apprentice disciples followed suit, bowing one after another with tears in their eyes.

Su Ji: “……”

Everyone, is this really necessary?

He quickly helped Qu Ming up and said helplessly, “No need for this. He was expelled because of his own actions. Even without me, someone else would have dealt with him. Get up, all of you.”

But the more approachable Su Ji seemed, the more moved they became.

Seeing the situation about to spiral into kneeling, Su Ji hurriedly changed the topic. “Let’s skip this and get to the main point. Today I’ll teach you three dishes first.”

As soon as he said this, everyone stopped their emotional gratitude and quickly made way for him.

Just as Chu Zhaoye tried to follow him in, he was blocked outside again by the crowd of disciples who wanted a clear view of Su Ji’s demonstration.

Chu Zhaoye: “……”

He was really close to punching someone, but he couldn’t—Su Ji would get angry.

His face hidden under the mask twisted slightly in frustration.

Who exactly suggested that Su Ji come teach? Completely unnecessary!

…

On the martial arena, Yun Xicheng sneezed. “Who’s thinking about me?”

Yun Che replied, “Maybe they’re not thinking about you. Maybe they’re cursing you.”

Yun Xicheng said confidently, “Who would curse me? If someone’s really cursing me behind my back, they must be bored out of their minds and miserable in life!”

…

In the back kitchen, Chu Zhaoye was only halfway through getting angry when—“…Ah…achoo!”

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