The three chatted, and as they talked, they began discussing the hospital's plans, becoming more and more excited.
The sky outside the carriage had already turned dark without them realizing it.
Jun Mohan and Leng Ruo Li decided to stop the carriage and set up camp for the night, planning to enter the city first thing in the morning.
They had already reached Linzhou City, the southernmost city of Tianwu Kingdom. The weather was not cold, and it was very late. The city gates of Linzhou City had long been closed, so they would rest here for the night.
As there were an elderly woman and a child in the carriage, Leng Ruo Li took out a simple tent from her system space, taught Yin Chen and the two hidden guards how to set it up, and let the old woman and the little boy rest outside the carriage. Afterward, Yin Chen and Yin Yi went into the mountains to hunt.
For the past few days, they had been eating dry rations or steamed buns due to traveling, and hadn't had a proper meal.
Leng Ruo Li suddenly really wanted to eat rice. Although she had a small kitchen in her system space where she could cook, she couldn't disappear in front of so many people to hide in her system space.
Just as she was feeling dejected, she looked up and saw a bamboo forest a few meters away. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes lit up, and she looked at the bamboo stalks, which were about the size of her fist, and chuckled.
"Haha, I have it! I have a way!"
Jun Mohan and the others: "..."
They had no idea why Leng Ruo Li had suddenly become so happy.
"Li'er, are you alright?" Jun Mohan asked caringly, seeing Leng Ruo Li who was happily amusing herself.
"I'm fine! I just suddenly thought of what we could use to cook rice," Leng Ruo Li replied.
"Cook rice? Li'er, we only brought simple dry rations for our trip and didn't bring any pots. How can we cook rice?" Jun Mohan asked, confused.
"We don't need a pot. Look how well those bamboo trees over there are growing. Let's go cut two big bamboo stalks back. I'll teach you how to make bamboo-tube rice," Leng Ruo Li said with a sweet smile.
"Bamboo-tube rice? This is the first time I've heard of it in my life," Jun Mohan mumbled quietly.
"Bamboo-tube rice is delicious. Come on, let's go cut two big bamboo stalks back," Leng Ruo Li immediately pulled Jun Mohan towards the bamboo forest.
She had Jun Mohan take out his sword and chop down two bamboo stalks the size of his fist with one strike. The two of them took out their daggers and cut the bamboo into sections fifteen centimeters long, leaving the bottom sealed. They made a total of fifteen such bamboo tubes and washed them all clean by the stream beside the bamboo forest.
Then, she had Jun Mohan go into the forest to make a dozen wooden stoppers about the size of the bamboo tube openings.
Leng Ruo Li then took out a small basin from her system space, two catties of rice, some chopped chicken, salt, oil, red beans, peanuts, and so on. Leng Ruo Li first washed the rice, red beans, and peanuts in the small basin, then washed the chicken clean and put it into the small basin, added salt and oil, and mixed them well. She then put the mixed rice into the bamboo tubes, added about an ounce of spring water to cover the rice, and after Jun Mohan finished making the wooden stoppers, she sealed the opening of each bamboo tube.
The two then brought the bamboo tubes back from the river. Just then, Yin Chen and Yin Yi had also hunted two wild rabbits, cleaned them, and returned, and were starting a fire to roast the rabbit meat.
"Yin Chen, Yin Yi, don't rush to start the fire. First, dig a large pit in the middle of the fire pit, bury all these bamboo tubes in the large pit, and then start the fire to roast the rabbit meat," Leng Ruo Li immediately instructed.
Hearing this, everyone looked at Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mohan with blank expressions, holding the bamboo tubes, not knowing what they were doing with so many bamboo tubes.
"Young Master Mo, Miss Mo, what are you going out to get so many bamboo tubes for?" Chu Mingxuan asked curiously first.
"It's a secret. I can't tell you yet," Leng Ruo Li said with a mysterious smile.
Everyone: "..."
Afterward, Yin Chen and Yin Yi dug the large pit. Leng Ruo Li thought for a moment and then found a large piece of tin foil from her system space's storage room. She wrapped the fifteen bamboo tubes in the tin foil, sealed them, placed them in the soil, buried them with dirt, and then had Yin Chen and Yin Yi start a fire on top of the dirt to roast the rabbit meat.
Everyone looked at Leng Ruo Li with confusion, but even after Chu Mingxuan asked her several times, she refused to say, which only piqued everyone's curiosity.
"Sister, did you put rice in those bamboo tubes you just buried?" the little boy, who had been sitting by the fire without speaking, suddenly interjected.
Leng Ruo Li: "..."
She had been guessed by a little brat.
To avoid deceiving the child, Leng Ruo Li was slightly startled and nodded gently.
"Little friend, how did you guess that I put rice in there?" Leng Ruo Li asked smilingly, looking at the little boy.
"Sister, come here for a moment, and I'll tell you," the little boy said mysteriously.
As soon as he spoke, the old woman beside him immediately stopped him.
"Child, how can you talk to Sister like that?" the old woman rebuked.
Although she was an old woman from the countryside who had not seen much of the world, and could not guess the true identities of Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mohan, she could tell from the aura emanating from them that they were either wealthy or noble, and her grandson and she could not afford to offend them.
Hearing her grandson speak so disrespectfully to Leng Ruo Li earlier, her heart instantly tightened, and she immediately scolded her grandson, hoping to get Leng Ruo Li's forgiveness.
However, to the old woman's surprise, Leng Ruo Li did not get angry. Instead, she walked towards them curiously.
The little boy, however, was on the verge of tears and looked wronged after being scolded by his grandmother.
"Grandma, it's okay, we were just joking. There's no need to take it too seriously."
Because Leng Ruo Li was also curious about how the little boy had figured out that she had put rice in the bamboo tubes, she walked over to the little boy and took out two tissues from her sleeve to wipe away his tears.
In an instant, the little boy smiled again.
Leng Ruo Li looked at him and shook her head. Children are just children; their tears come fiercely and go quickly.
He had already forgotten about his grandmother's scolding. Then, he took out his little hand and reached for Leng Ruo Li's skirt, taking off two grains of rice from her skirt.
"Sister, aren't these rice?"
The little boy picked up the grains of rice and showed them to Leng Ruo Li as if presenting a treasure.
Seeing the grains of rice on the little boy's fingers, Leng Ruo Li smiled and patted his head, praising, "Wonderful!"
The little boy smiled happily again when he heard someone praise him.
Afterward, Leng Ruo Li took a lollipop from her sleeve pocket, tore it open, and put it into his mouth.
After tasting the sweetness, the little boy jumped up happily and said, "Grandma, Sister gave me a candy, it's so sweet."
Seeing her grandson so happy, the old woman quickly said to Leng Ruo Li repeatedly, "Miss, Young Master, your great kindness is something our grandmother and grandson will never forget!"