Chapter 79 Standing and Seated Statue
"Don't talk nonsense, this might really be some kind of hand gesture." Tan Xiao interrupted Lin Yang and laughed at the boy's cuteness.
Lin Yang hiccupped in fear, "Really?"
Tan Xiao said mysteriously, "It's hard to say."
...After all, they are old acquaintances. Yes, the one making the heart gesture is the boy guarding the meal under the seat of the East Kitchen Si Ming. Tan Xiao did not expect him to be here, and he did not expect the boy guarding the meal to...well, if he guessed correctly, the heart gesture should be towards him.
Looking at the statue of the boy guarding food making a heart shape with his hands, Tan Xiao also found it a bit funny.
"What kind of hand gestures are these?" Hand gestures have always had their meanings. Kong Xuan felt that he had seen quite a few hand gestures, but he didn't know which sect this one belonged to. However, with so many folk teachings, this one might be relatively remote.
As Kong Xuan spoke, he compared his fingers with his own, curiously looking at them to guess what they looked like.
Tan Xiao pressed his shoulder and stood on tiptoe, saying, "I love you."
The blood in Kong Xuan's body froze for two seconds, his heart suddenly tightened, and then began to beat like a drum - even though he had figured it out two seconds later, what Tan Xiao meant by the "hand seal".
Kong Xuan had not been able to bring out Tan Xiao's words at home, but now he was caught off guard when he heard them. He felt his heart beating wildly and his steps froze, unable to move at all. It was difficult for him to hide his panic.
"It is said that the Siming Temple is very effective. Now that we are here, we might as well worship there." Lin Yang took out a small piece of bread from his body and placed it on the altar. Seeing this, others also put some snacks on it.
Everybody worshipped very devoutly, showing the superstitious spirit of the younger generation.
Lin Yang said: "I hope you can bless me to make progress in my studies. Is this within your scope of blessing? If not, it's ok for me to enjoy the food."
After making all the wishes, I found that only Tan Xiao and Kong Xuan didn't move.
Tan Xiao took the initiative to say: "You know, I can't even finish worshipping all the gods at home, so I can't go out and worship randomly."
This is understandable, but what about Kong Xuan?
Kong Xuan raised his chin and said, "No, I want to rely on my own efforts."
Lin Yang cursed: "You are amazing! You are so noble!"
Haha, it's not that he is aloof. Kong Xuan is restricted by the rules and can't cheat at all. Tan Xiao said, "Let's go after the worship. There will be delicious food in the evening. My mother said the farm food is very good."
These words are particularly believable when they come from Tan Xiao's mouth.
"Let's go, let's go."
Everyone rushed out of the temple.
Kong Xuan also stepped out gracefully with his hands behind his back.
Yu Zhenzhen was a step late when she squatted down to tie her shoelaces. She saw Kong Xuan's movements paused for a moment. Damn, why were he using the same hands and feet?
She hesitated to speak, and when she looked up, she saw Tan Xiao smiling, but she didn't remind him. Her mind froze, "Uh ..."
Tan Xiao restrained his smile and said, "Let's go, squad leader, let's go back."
Yu Zhenzhen touched her face and felt...well, maybe I have CP brain problems.
Kong Xuan adjusted himself halfway through the journey. Once he got back to the holiday farm, he gave everyone another big surprise. He stood up and said, "Wait a moment. I have a few dishes to cook."
Everyone looked at each other, and finally started to make a fuss together.
"Wow, Kong Xuan can cook!"
"If this wasn't Tan Xiao's birthday, who would have known that Kong Xuan could cook?"
"Is this true? I'm curious about Kong Xuan's cooking skills."
Kong Xuan smiled calmly: "Excellent cooking skills."
Lian Tan Xiao was a little surprised and asked hesitantly, "Are you planning to order some wontons?"
He taught Kong Xuan this.
"..." Kong Xuan's defense was broken, "No, I have secretly learned several dishes from you!"
Tan Xiao finally realized that this might be Kong Xuan's birthday surprise for him. He watched Kong Xuan angrily find a staff member to take him to the kitchen, and added, "Look forward to it!"
As soon as Kong Xuan left, Lin Yang immediately laughed: "Did you hear that? Stealing and learning, there are conditions for stealing and learning."
That means I have seen Tan Xiao cook many times.
"Did you go to the Siming Temple just now?" At this time, the farm owner came over to greet the children, "How was it?"
"It's pretty good." Lin Yang certainly couldn't say it was different from what he imagined, so he praised, "It's very grand, so high that my head almost touches the roof."
This is the art of speaking. In fact, the temple he wanted to talk about was too cramped for the Kitchen God, and he almost hit his head.
The boss said with a smile: "You didn't go to the temple, did you? Our statue of Sima Ming is not that tall." He suspected that these children saw the exterior of the temple from a distance and thought there was nothing to see, so they ran away to play nearby.
"Ah? I know that the temple is not very big. I mean it is relatively large compared to the entire temple. It is about three or four meters high." Lin Yang said quickly.
"Three or four meters? You must have gone to the wrong place. You must have gone to the next village?" The boss asked doubtfully. He pulled up a photo on his phone to confirm the temple's appearance. "There's a seated statue of the Kitchen God inside. It's not that tall."
Lin Yang immediately shouted, "No! It's clearly a standing statue! We went to the right place. It says Siming Temple on the front, and we even offered food."
"You still don't believe it?" The boss scrolled to the next photo, which was a statue of the Kitchen God sitting. "You must have seen it wrong. It just looks high up on the altar."
Lin Yang was stunned and rubbed his eyes. "Isn't it true that they changed the statue? I remember it was a standing statue..."
He looked at other people. Some of them noticed like him that it was a standing statue and said it did not look like sitting. Some others did not care about details like standing or sitting, or which arm was raised. After all, there were several other statues in the temple, including the Kitchen God's family portrait.
"Uh, standing?"
"It could also be sitting down. This picture seems to be like that..."
Even though I remembered it looked like a standing statue, my memory was a bit confused after seeing the photo. Originally, I just took a casual look when I went there.
"This is called collective memory bias." The boss knew a lot. "It's just like some people think a celebrity has passed away and have seen it on the news, but in fact, it's not. It may be that from a certain angle, it looks like they are standing."
Is that so? Should I check again tomorrow? Did I really see it wrong? Lin Yang looked at Tan Xiao blankly: "Xiaozi, tell me quickly, is it standing or sitting?"
Tan Xiao has good eyesight, so of course he noticed that it was a respectful standing posture!
He had some guesses in his mind, but he couldn't say them out loud. Facing Lin Yang's confused gaze, Tan Xiao could only lie again with his eyes open: "Well...it seems like he was sitting..."
…
Over there, Lin Yang was answering Tan Xiao in a messy manner, which made Sima Ming afraid to sit upright. The Peacock God was standing in the kitchen, facing the earthen stoves, frowning: "What is this?"
"Aren't you going to cook?" The staff member said with a smile, "Why, you only know how to use an integrated stove? We cook local dishes and firewood rice here, so we use this kind of stove, and the guests like it."
Kong Xuan: “…”
He learned from the modern stove! He had already thought about it and lit the fire to cook the food, and served it in one go. How should he use it?
"Are you still going to do it? If not, forget it." The staff asked him. The other chefs had already started cooking.
"...I'll try!" Kong Xuan didn't believe anything else, but he was 100% strong.
He looked at the kitchen stove, which also had a life-saving sign on it, and leaned forward to threaten, "Watch me light the fire. And you, come down and teach me how to use this stove."
Kong Xuan pulled out a boy guarding food from the portrait.
"Ouch, ouch!" The boy who was guarding the meal was grabbed by the back of the neck, his feet were tumbling, and he could hardly touch the ground, "Let me go!"
It looked quite reluctant. Even the Peacock God couldn't force others to work.
"You actually dared to show your love to my spirit witch before." Kong Xuan's face was gloomy, and he pressed his hand on the stove. "Now it's time for you to atone for your sins."
What? Is it illegal to make a heart shape? The boy who was guarding the meal wanted to complain but was afraid of Kong Xuan's strength. He kicked a bowl away angrily and slammed the spoon onto the table. "Let's start!"
The farm staff went to the side for a while and when they wanted to come back to clean up the imaginary mess, they saw that the young master-like student was already cooking smoothly with a big spoon in hand. The heat was just right, the stove was clean, and the seasonings were in perfect order.
Moreover, he can lift the big pot with one hand with extremely graceful movements.
...That’s great! The staff gave a thumbs up.
As soon as the staff walked out of the door, Kong Xuan immediately shouted: "Hurry up! The ingredients are being added!!"
"Ahhh, let me get started!" The boy who was guarding the meal was busy running around and also doing the work of serving food for Kong Xuan. After finishing the dishes, he held up his long spoon and fiddled with the arrangement of the dishes and pointed at the three plates in front of him.
"Braised crayfish, Dongpo pork, and loofah and poached egg soup... these are the spiritual master's favorite dishes!" The boy who guards the meal discovered that the Peacock God was probably cooking for Tan Xiao. He was surprised and felt that the Peacock God was not as bad as he thought.
It looked at the Peacock God, and seemed to have a resonance with him. They said at the same time: "Happy cooperation!"
Kong Xuan: "Why are you secretly memorizing what Tan Xiao likes to eat?"
The boy guarding the meal: “…”
Kong Xuan had already finished cooking, so there was no resonance at all as he had imagined. He dismissed the boy guarding the meal with contempt, took his own dishes and walked out.
The food-guarding boy fell on his butt, sat there for a few seconds, kicked his legs hard and punched the air: "Ahhhhhh!"
…
When Kong Xuan brought out the three dishes he made, two dishes from the farm had already been served, but they were certainly not as eye-catching as his dishes. No one expected that Kong Xuan could not only cook, but also make the dishes look, smell and taste good.
Especially the Dongpo pork, which is extremely bright red, with alternating fat and lean meat. You can imagine its mellow, fragrant and glutinous taste just by looking at it. The skin is full of gelatin, and the thick gravy must be enough to cover your mouth.
Tan Chunying sniffed it and said, "Haha, it looks like what my son made... You taught me, didn't you?"
Tan Xiao: "Well, I guess so."
Kong Xuan placed all of them in front of Tan Xiao, and everyone naturally had no objection to this. Of course, the protagonist should taste it first.
"This Dongpo pork used to be a ritual in our family. It was very popular. We would pick the meat ourselves..." Tan Chunying has already told everyone the cooking tips.
Tan Xiao picked up a crayfish, broke it open and took out the white and tender shrimp meat, which was soaked in the soup. It had absorbed a lot of flavor during the stewing process and was soft, chewy and tender.
The loofah is grown on the farm. The poached eggs are fried until golden brown and used to make soup with the sweet loofah. One is crispy and the other is soft and smooth. The soup is thick and fragrant.
"It's really delicious." As soon as Tan Xiao finished speaking, he saw Kong Xuan's originally tense body seemed to relax a little, and his eyes, which were staring at him, also became bright.
Kong Xuan said calmly: "Cooking is nothing more than that."
It seemed as if he really just stir-fried it casually to get this taste, but Tan Xiao knew that he must have practiced it countless times, and he had to secretly observe the amount of seasoning he used.
A pair of chopsticks slowly reached out.
"Bang." He was held by Tan Xiao and looked at Lin Yang.
Lin Yang: "Please be kind, I just want to eat the dishes cooked by the handsome guy. Isn't it also very arrogant?"
Tan Xiao picked up a piece of loofah and gave it to him: "Eat it."
Lin Yang: “…”
"I didn't expect that Xiaozai would forget his principles for the sake of beauty." Lin Yang took a sip, but it was gone before he could taste the flavor. He picked up other dishes on the table in dissatisfaction and took a bite of cabbage.
After taking a few bites, Lin Yang was suddenly stunned.
He was eating cabbage, right?
Why does my mouth taste like twice-cooked pork?
Did I see it wrong again? Lin Yang looked at the dishes on the table in confusion, and then suddenly woke up. There was no twice-cooked pork on the table!
Amid the bustling atmosphere at the table, Lin Yang was struck by lightning. He picked up another piece of spicy fish with chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing it for a few times.
Absolutely.
This is the taste of abalone.
Lin Yang swallowed his saliva, poked the classmate next to him calmly, and asked, "What does it taste like? Does it taste like abalone?"
The classmate looked at Lin Yang, "You're going crazy because you can't eat the food cooked by Kong Xuan? I tell you, I suspect Tan Xiao is just comforting him..." When he said this, he found Kong Xuan looking at him coldly, so he quickly shut up and started eating.
“……”Crazy, really crazy.
Lin Yang suddenly remembered the wish he made at the Siming Temple during the day, "Let me enjoy a delicious meal", and felt a chill on the back of his neck, and became restless. Then he remembered that he clearly remembered that the statue was standing, but the boss insisted that it was a sitting statue.
It's so scary!!
Even though he was eating something good, this method made Lin Yang feel like his heart was about to break. He began to wonder, was this really the blessing of the Kitchen God? Why don't I think I have such good luck? It seems that only I am favored. Is it possible that this is not a favor at all, but because I laughed at the boy, so he teased me?
Lin Yang was about to burst into tears after imagining eighteen different scenarios. The atmosphere was so good, but their joys and sorrows were not connected.
Lin Yang took out the talisman and waved it a few times, but it was useless. The food he ate still tasted different. He didn't dare to say it immediately, for fear of being taken as a psychopath and sent to the hospital immediately.
His mind was in a mess, and until the meal was over, Lin Yang had a sense of unknown fear like a lamb to be slaughtered. After everyone finished eating, they ran to the lawn to sing K. He was also handed a can of Coke, and after taking a sip, tears flowed down his face.
It's red wine.
Woo woo woo, this really won’t work. I’m still a child and I don’t know how to drink!
Lin Yang couldn't stand it anymore. Even if it was delicious, he had to be reasonable. He was really afraid that the toothpaste would go bad tonight.
He was trembling and wanted to find Tan Xiao, only Tan Xiao could save him. He didn't mean to ruin the atmosphere of the birthday party, but he felt that it was haunted... no, it was a ghost... it really needed to be solved!
Lin Yang hasn't found Tan Xiao on the lawn yet. Where did he go?
…
"Bang, bang, bang!" Tan Xiao looked at the boy who was banging the rice bowl to a rhythm and crying while banging, and rubbed its back with one finger, "Okay, okay, I understand. That is to say, you actually helped Kong Xuan to make that dish, and you have contributed a lot."
The boy guarding the meal wiped his face tenaciously and stamped his feet with gnashing teeth.
Tan Xiao looked at Kong Xuan who was standing aside.
Kong Xuan crossed his arms and said coldly: "How dare the light of a firefly compete with the bright moon." If he was not unfamiliar with the stove here, the boy guarding the meal would have no chance to show his ability.
"It's okay if you two split the credit 30% and 70% respectively," said Tan Xiao.
"30% to 70%?" Kong Xuan turned back unhappily, "Lin Yang, what do you think it should be?"
Hmm? Tan Xiao turned around and saw Lin Yang slowly standing up from the window.
Tan Xiao: "..."
Lin Yang: “…”
Lin Yang couldn't see the boy guarding the meal, and he didn't hear the dispute over the credit, but he heard a louder voice. He trembled and said, "Xiaozi, why did your basin make a sound just now?"
Well……
Tan Xiao glanced at Kong Xuan. Kong Xuan should have noticed Lin Yang being outside, and nothing happened just now that would distract Kong Xuan, but Kong Xuan didn't give any hint.
Kong Xuan laughed and said, "I'm afraid Lin Yang will have to perform a ritual."
Lin Yang: “!!”
Tan Xiao seemed to be thinking about something. No wonder Kong Xuan didn't hide. Although his words were sarcastic, they were also a symbol of another kind of friendship between classmates. This awkward little green bird, "Lin Yang, what did you run into again? Why are you so unlucky?"
He has a good relationship with Lin Yang, so it's no big deal that he was exposed.
Lin Yang burst into tears, "You, I..."
It was not that difficult for him to accept that Tan Xiao was a real wizard. He had been visited by ghosts in his dreams and had also experienced Tan Xiao presiding over a funeral. As a result, at this moment, despite being shocked, he actually had a sense of certainty that everything was settled as expected!
Looking back, there were indeed many things that were wrong!
"I know, you, you have some metaphysics," Lin Yang said sadly, "but why, Kong Xuan seems to know it much earlier than I do?" Could it be that Kong Xuan is also Tan Xiao's colleague? This wave was ultimately lost to the one who came from the sky, whose character is more fashionable than mine.
Tan Xiao said helplessly, "...would you like to tell me first, what's wrong with you?"
Lin Yang didn't dare to think about what the thing that was knocking on the basin was. He told his story in a daze, "You said I was making trouble, what should I do... Wuwuwu, why do you treat me like this?"
My goodness, others are troubled and haunted by ghosts, but Lin Yang is scared by the blessing of gods.
No wonder Kong Xuan said he needed to perform a ritual. The ghost could be driven away secretly, and the god could only perform a ritual for Lin Yang, asking him to thank him in a nice way and ask him to take back his blessing. This job was not so easy to do. If it were placed in an ordinary temple, it would probably take seven days of rituals.
Fortunately, Tan Xiao had some connections, really some. He looked at the boy guarding the food and said, "Your request now is that you don't want the taste of this food in your mouth anymore, right? Don't cry for now, this is a blessing from the gods."
"Blessing? Don't scare me. Do you know that I almost died after taking one bite?" Lin Yang said with a sad face, "I just want to drink Coke normally. And I really don't understand. There are so many of us who are offering sacrifices, why do you only want me?"
He had observed and was sure that he was the only one who had this problem. If it were anyone else, they would definitely not be as calm as him!
Tan Xiao looked at the boy guarding the meal.
The boy who guards the meal explained it with some gestures.
Tan Xiao understood. Since there are relatively few Kitchen God temples, the Kitchen God is quite fond of this small temple. It just so happened that his response happened today, and he ran into these students and offered sacrifices to them, so he had to show it off.
However, the Kitchen God is not so generous that he would not satisfy everyone and choose one from them.
"You are the chosen one." Tan Xiao explained to Lin Yang and made him feel at ease. He was really lucky.
Lin Yang only saw Tan Xiao communicating with something in the void. He couldn't help but feel relieved and a little scared, and he clenched his talisman tightly.
"I...can't believe it!" Lin Yang cried, "You said that you and Kong Xuan were there, so why should I be the chosen one? What are the criteria for judging me?"
"...Why are you belittling yourself like this?" Tan Xiao looked at the boy guarding the food, listened to what it said while waving the spoon, and fell silent.
"What? What on earth?" Lin Yang was scared when he saw Tan Xiao was silent. "Oh my god, I knew that the gift of fate was secretly priced. Did he take a fancy to me and want me to be a boy for the Kitchen God? I have to go after I have a good meal?"
Kong Xuan laughed twice and said leisurely, "It is said that it is because the Kitchen God has always had a hobby of helping down-and-out scholars. He looked around and found that you were the most down-and-out, so he took the lead in offering sacrifices."
Lin Yang: “…………”
Wiping away his tears, Lin Yang felt relieved. He moved his numb and weak legs and found a bench to sit down. "Is this so?"
"Hey, who told you to go to the beach without sun protection?" Tan Xiao looked at Lin Yang's refugee-like appearance.
"Oh." Lin Yang was stunned. He smoothed his chest and said, "Are you sure you can handle this for me?"
Tan Xiao nodded.
"...Haha." Lin Yang suddenly laughed twice. After refreshing his worldview, he suddenly had an indescribable feeling, refreshed. "That's good. Wow, knowing that you have this ability, I feel relieved! What should I be afraid of in the future?"
After that incident with his uncle, Lin Yang was often terrified when he encountered some true or false supernatural events. It is true that once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years.
But now that he has confirmed his knowledge and knows that his good friend is a wizard, he feels extremely relieved!
There is even a sense of vicissitudes of life. I have been through a lot, so what can scare me?
"By the way, tell me more about it," Lin Yang leaned against the wall and said nonchalantly, "What happened to the Kitchen God statue during the day? Was it standing or sitting? You lied to me it was sitting, right? Why did the statue stand up? Was it moving around after sitting for so long?"
Why? Just look at the heart-shaped guard boy who is guarding the food and you will know that there are spirits in this Siming Temple. Previously, the classmates outside called out to Kong Xuan and went to worship.
Although they did not come to the world like Kong Xuan, the statues are their symbols in the human world, the same principle applies.
Tan Xiao looked at Kong Xuan.
Just as he thought, Kong Xuan said indifferently: "He doesn't dare to sit and see me."
Lin Yang's expression froze on his face.
Ah…ah? !!
What are you?!
