William Carter looked at the large bowl in front of him. Inside, the white rice was mixed with eggs as black as charcoal, with not a trace of oil to be seen. How could this be egg fried rice? This was clearly just rice mixed with charcoal. And the portion in this big bowl was no small amount—at least twice the size of the small bowl in front of The Master. Seeing The Master's gloating expression, William Carter's heart twinged.

"You forgot to add oil, didn't you?" William Carter looked at Emily Bennett, who sat down at the table with a bowl of plain white rice and a small dish of pickled radish, and cautiously probed.

"Seems like I did." Emily Bennett glanced at the large bowl in front of William Carter, her eyes widening as she frowned and said, "What, you don't like it?"

"Not at all, not at all." William Carter hurriedly waved his hand, picked up the bowl, grabbed his chopsticks, and shoveled in a big mouthful.

But as soon as the rice entered his mouth, he immediately spat it out. William Carter stood up, grabbed the cold tea pot and gulped down two mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, and said, nearly in tears, "Dear lady, just how much salt did you put in this?"

Emily Bennett picked up a piece of golden pickled radish and chewed it slowly. After swallowing, she casually gestured with her chopsticks and said, "Just about this much, I guess."

William Carter's face fell, and he looked like he was about to cry. "Dear lady, I know I was wrong. Let me go to the kitchen and cook some proper food. You shouldn't just eat pickled radish."

At this moment, The Master also put down his chopsticks and said righteously, "That's right, William. Not to criticize you, but your behavior today has really disappointed me. Go cook a few dishes now to apologize to Emily, and from now on, all the meals are your responsibility. How can you let Emily tire herself out?"

"The Master, your teaching is right." William Carter put on a look of sincere acceptance and got up, intending to head to the kitchen.

"Stop right there!" Emily Bennett snapped her chopsticks together, pointed at the rattan chair to signal William Carter to sit down, and let her gaze wander between William Carter and The Master as she said, word by word, "Not a single grain of this rice can be left. Then you can tell me all about your trip to North Li. If I’m pleased, you’ll be in charge of cooking from tomorrow on. If I’m not, then you two will eat this every day. And don’t think you can just skip out tomorrow—I’ve climbed Mount Micang no less than you have."

Faced with this blatant threat, William Carter glanced at Emily Bennett, who held her chopsticks like a sword, and obediently sat down, picked up his bowl, and started eating.

The Master sighed softly and also began to eat. When it came to this spoiled and headstrong granddaughter, he was at a loss. But to be honest, Emily Bennett's temperament seemed to be the result of both him and William Carter spoiling her. Now, seeing the two of them like this, it was a bit like reaping what they had sown.

A quarter of an hour later, after drinking two large pots of cold water, William Carter finally finished all the rice in his bowl, leaving behind a layer of blackened charcoal and a few undissolved grains of salt at the bottom.

The Master declared himself full after just a few bites. Although Emily Bennett rolled her eyes several times, she didn’t do anything more. William Carter tried to imitate him, but Emily Bennett immediately smacked his hand with her chopsticks, leaving a red mark that still hadn’t faded.

William Carter rubbed his slightly bloated stomach, feeling for the first time that eating could be such a torment.

Emily Bennett had just finished eating as well. Frowning, she stuck out her tongue and licked a grain of rice from the corner of her mouth, looking playful and cute. If William Carter didn’t know how terrifying she could be, he would have been completely charmed.

Seeing Emily Bennett get up to clear the dishes, William Carter quickly stood up, picked up his own bowl, and said with a smile, "Let me, let me."

Emily Bennett had no intention of refusing and sat right back down, tilting her head as she looked at William Carter and instructed, "Pour me another cup of cold tea, and bring me the fan from the study."

The corner of William Carter's mouth twitched, but he still quickly cleared the table, took everything to the kitchen, washed his hands, fetched the folding fan from the desk in the study, and poured a cup of cold tea for Emily Bennett.

Emily Bennett took the cold tea, sipped it, then snapped open the folding fan with a "pa" and gently fanned herself. She pouted, motioning for William Carter to sit down, and said, "Go on, tell me what interesting things happened on your trip to North Li. I heard the barbarians on the North Li grasslands are all ruthless killers—if they see people from our Dayuan, they’ll kill them and roast them over a fire."

The Master also picked up his cup and sipped some cold tea, looking at William Carter with great interest. "Back in the day, I also visited the Anbei Protectorate, but at that time, our Dayuan had just taken Fengzhou from North Li, and everything was in ruins. Only a few military towns were lively. In the blink of an eye, more than twenty years have passed. I wonder what it’s like there now."

William Carter sat down, found a comfortable position to lean back, thought for a moment, and then began, "Fengzhou is the northernmost prefecture of the Guannei Circuit, bordering North Li, so it still often suffers from North Li raids. But in recent years, there’s been no major war between North Li and Dayuan. Last year, there was little snow on the grasslands, so food wasn’t scarce, and the people of Fengzhou had a comfortable year. Now, trade between Fengzhou City and North Li is flourishing, with many merchant caravans passing through to North Li, making Fengzhou City a prosperous border town. As long as there’s no major war, I think Fengzhou City should be able to maintain its prosperity for quite some time."

The Master nodded, stroking his long beard. Perhaps recalling the old days, he leaned back in his rattan chair, a little lost in thought.