NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88 - 88: Reasoning with a Sparrow
Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Reasoning with a Sparrow
Translator: 549690339
This meal, Huang Qingling ate with utter delight.
Even Little Sparrow was stuffed with two large chunks of roasted meat, which was its favorite.
Given that Little had suffered some grievances, Lin Jing naturally couldn’t neglect it.
Seeing how well treated Little Sparrow, Huang Qingling’s eyes twinkled, and she spoke up:
“Lin Jing, I see you and Little Sparrow have a quite good relationship,”
“How about this…”
Lin Jing lifted his head, looking towards Huang Qingling, a face full of confusion.
“How so?”
“From now on, you’ll make food for Little Sparrow, so it won’t run out again.”
“Otherwise, if it gets caught by someone again and sent back to me, I’d have no face to meet them.”
Lin Jing couldn’t help but laugh and cry:
“Qing Ling, my friend, it’s not that I don’t want to, but I have to practice alchemy daily, and I really don’t have that much time to spend in the kitchen.”
“I know that,” she said, “you only need to set aside a little time each month, just preparing four or five meals will do.”
After saying this, Huang Qingling quickly added:
“And, I’ll provide the ingredients.”
“Qing Ling, my friend, to tell you the truth, is it that you want to eat?” Lin Jing asked suspiciously, gazing at Huang Qingling.
“Hmm… ”
Huang Qingling’s face turned red, and she hummed in a low voice.
The reason Huang Qingling did this was because she used to often visit Lin Jing for a free meal, and Elder Bai had found out and lectured her.
Since then, she realized it was inappropriate and felt embarrassed to come and disturb Lin Jing so casually.
“Alright… ”
Seeing Huang Qingling’s demeanor, Lin Jing couldn’t bear to refuse and said helplessly.
Huang Qingling smiled very happily:
“Hehe… I knew it, Lin Jing, you’re the best.”
“Don’t worry, if you cook for me, I’ll have your back in Fang Market, nobody will dare to mess with you.”
“Hmm… ”
Lin Jing responded with a hum and didn’t really take it to heart.
After the two had finished eating, Huang Qingling had to find Elder Bai to deal with the issue of Little Sparrow stealing food, so she left first.
And Lin Jing packed everything up and continued with his alchemy.
Lin Jing seldom practiced alchemy in the outside world, and even the alchemy room behind his house was used only a few times by him.
Fortunately, his System Space had been upgraded to level 3, allowing him to enter for six hours a day, and with the time flow speed tripled, he had 18 hours a day.
Now, he didn’t have to worry about not having enough time.
In the afternoon, Huang Qingling returned.
From her account, Lin Jing learned.
It turned out that Little Sparrow had previously been caught stealing at Drunken Immortal Pavilion, but the person who caught it recognized it as Elder Bai’s gift to Huang Qingling, scolded it, and then let it go.
Elder Bai also knew about this incident, but to them, such matters were trivial; Elder Bai didn’t even tell Huang Qingling.
Regarding the later incident of Little Sparrow stealing food again, Elder Bai’s response was very direct.
“If Little Sparrow gets caught, we admit it; if it doesn’t get caught, what’s there to admit?”
After hearing what Elder Bai said, Huang Qingling was speechless and didn’t know what to say.
After all, except for the Drunken Immortal Pavilion which had a Golden Core Cultivator stationed there capable of capturing Little Sparrow, it was unlikely that any other tavern or restaurant could catch it.
So, the matter was laid to rest, but still, Little Sparrow was warned by Huang Qingling and was forbidden to go out and steal food at night again.
After all, she didn’t want to find herself having to personally apologize one day if Little Sparrow were to be caught.
Although Little Sparrow was very fast, as the saying goes, better safe than sorry…
Having told Lin Jing about the incident, Huang Qingling took Little Sparrow and left.
And so, another two days passed.
Today, Lin Jing had just finished his cultivation practice and opened his eyes.
Calculating the time, it was just about right.
Lin Jing got out of bed, opened the door of his room.
Even though it was nighttime, outside was still a brightly-lit expanse of white.
“Sigh…”
A bone-chilling cold wind, mixed with white snowflakes, blew against Lin Jing’s body. The cold invaded in an instant, piercing through his clothes and worming its way inside.
Lin Jing quickly circulated his cultivation technique, and only then did he dispel the chill.
The agreed deadline of one year with another person was about to arrive.
And the Elixir Medicine needed by the cultivator selling the Hidden Dragon Pendant of the Azure Moon had been fully gathered by Lin Jing.
Tonight, he was ready to head to the black market to fulfill the transaction set one year ago.
However, before Lin Jing could even step out of the house, a shadow flew in.
Lin Jing turned his head to look; the shadow was Little Sparrow.
In Little Sparrow’s beak was a lively big fish, still jumping around, but there was no telling where it had come from.
“Little Sparrow…”
“Didn’t Qing Ling tell you not to steal anymore? How come you went stealing again?”
Little Sparrow opened its beak and shook its head.
The fish fell to the ground, flopping incessantly.
Lin Jing looked at the live fish on the ground and said, “Do you want me to cook it for you?”
Little Sparrow’s eyes lit up, and it bobbed its head vigorously.
Just then, a crisp and clear voice came.
“Little Sparrow…”
Before the voice had finished, a beautiful figure flew over, directly blocking Little Sparrow inside the house.
“Qing Ling, did you follow it here?” Lin Jing asked, looking at the beautiful figure.
The person who had just flown in was Huang Qingling.
“Lin Jing, I’m really sorry to trouble you.” “This late at night, right after my meditation, I discovered it was gone.”
Then Huang Qingling glared at Little Sparrow:
“Thankfully, I was clever enough to place a tracking mark on it from before, otherwise, with my speed, I would have lost it long ago.”
Seeing Huang Qingling arrive, Little Sparrow’s head drooped down on the spot.
“Aren’t you coming with me?” Huang Qingling bellowed, and Little Sparrow could only obediently fly to her side.
Even the fish on the ground was left behind without a second thought.
Seeing this, Lin Jing also felt somewhat sympathetic.
“Forget it, seeing it so pitiful, with food already brought here, let’s just cook it for it,” he said.
Upon hearing this, Little Sparrow’s eyes brightened, and it chirped.
“Tweet…”
It then began flying around Huang Qingling.
“Lin Jing…” Huang Qingling was a bit embarrassed. “You really are troubling yourself for us.”
“It’s okay…” Lin Jing said with a smile.
Then he suddenly asked, “By the way, where did this fish come from?”
“After I reprimanded it last time, it didn’t dare to steal food anymore. This fish was caught from the river inside Fang Market,” she explained.
“It’s learned to catch fish now?” Lin Jing said in surprise.
“I just found out today too,” Huang Qingling responded, looking at Little Sparrow helplessly.
“Qing Ling, please take a seat. I’ll just deal with this quickly. Fish doesn’t take long to cook, unlike other dishes,” Lin Jing said, then picked up the fish and headed for the kitchen.
Before long, a delicious-looking grilled fish was served.
Lin Jing placed the grilled fish on the table.
Just as Little Sparrow was about to pounce on it, Lin Jing stopped it.
“Little Sparrow, let’s get one thing straight: you can’t come bothering me at night anymore. If you want me to cook for you, it has to be in the daytime, when I’m not busy,” he stated.
“And another thing…”
“If you want me to cook something for you in the future, you need to bring something else in exchange. You must understand the principle that benefit comes from effort.”
“Moreover, you can’t just steal from others as you please. It might cause trouble for Qing Ling,” Lin Jing continued.
“Do you understand?”
Lin Jing said sternly, looking at Little Sparrow, who cocked its head as if deep in thought..