"Host successfully checked in once."
"Ding dong!"
"Congratulations to the Host for successfully obtaining the special recipe, Twenty-Four Bridges, Moonlit Night."
After busying himself, Sosuke, as usual, dragged his slightly tired body to the bathroom for a hot shower.
Immediately, just as he returned to his bedroom, the system's voice surprisingly rang out in his mind again.
"Hmm?"
"Twenty-Four Bridges, Moonlit Night?"
Learning it was such a special recipe, Sosuke couldn't help but feel surprised.
In Du Mu's poem "To Han Chuo, the Judge of Yangzhou" from the Tang Dynasty, there is the line: "Twenty-Four Bridges, Moonlit Night, where is the jade maiden teaching the flute?"
From the fourth month of the seventh year of Emperor Wenzong's Dahe reign to the beginning of the ninth year, i.e., from 833 to 835 AD, Du Mu served as a staff officer and secretary under Niu Sengru, the military governor of Huainan, and became acquainted with Han Chuo, who was then serving as a judge under the military governor.
And this poem was written by Du Mu shortly after leaving Yangzhou, sent to Han Chuo.
Yangzhou is renowned for its Huaiyang cuisine.
The so-called Twenty-Four Bridges, Moonlit Night, while its name comes from Du Mu's poem, is actually from Huang Rong's hands in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."
Its method involves first cutting open a ham and carving out 24 round holes.
Then, Tofu is carved into 24 small balls and placed into each hole, the ham is tied up and steamed. Once steamed, all the savory flavor of the ham is infused into the Tofu.
In the original plot, Hong Qigong tasted it and was naturally greatly impressed, and this steamed Tofu dish also received a Tang poetic name, called:
Twenty-Four Bridges, Moonlit Night.
Of course, this dish also requires Huang Rong's family secret technique, the "Flower Flicking Acupoint Hand."
One's fingers must be nimble and gentle, applying force as if it were there and not there, to be able to carve the delicate Tofu, which easily crumbles upon touch, into 24 small round balls.
"This is interesting."
"I didn't expect the system to give such a check-in reward."
Although this special recipe is fundamentally different from the recipes in "cooking master boy," for Sosuke, there's naturally no such thing as too many.
Afterward, feeling very sleepy, he stretched and prepared to lie down and sleep.
...
Rumble rumble rumble!
Just as Sosuke was about to fall asleep.
A particularly dazzling lightning bolt appeared in the sky, illuminating the entire dim night as if it were broad daylight, very bright!
Immediately after, there seemed to be some movement outside the door, which made Sosuke quickly open his eyes.
Now, the Izakaya had one more person, Erina, so this movement must be related to her. Sosuke could only helplessly say: "Is that Erina outside the door?"
"Yes, it's... it's me!"
From outside the room door, Nakiri Erina's slightly trembling voice immediately came.
"It's so late, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Sosuke frowned. This noble young lady was still awake so late, why would she have the thought of coming to find him?
"I can't sleep!"
"And being alone, I... I suddenly feel a little scared."
Erina continued softly.
"Hmm, the door isn't locked, just come in."
The Izakaya closes at midnight, which isn't very late, but for Erina, it might be a bit hard to adapt?
Secondly, for a young girl to be alone outside, it's certainly understandable that she would be scared.
So, after a brief thought, Sosuke felt he could somewhat understand Erina's current state of mind.
...
Creak!
A crisp sound of the door opening rang out.
Erina outside the door first looked left and right like a sneaky little cat, and then cautiously walked into Sosuke's room.
"Hehe, you're not used to staying here, are you?"
Looking at Erina's pale face, Sosuke asked with a half-smile.
Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, another thunderous roar directly struck, as if it wanted to swallow everything in heaven and earth, making people afraid and fearful!
"Sosuke."
"Help... help me!"
In an instant, Erina's face turned even paler, and she quickly screamed.
Immediately after, to Sosuke's dumbfounded surprise, she directly pounced onto the bed, lifted the quilt, and quickly burrowed inside.
"You... you're not afraid of thunder, are you?"
In this situation, even the most foolish person would understand what was happening, so Sosuke could only feel a mixture of amusement and exasperation!
Who would have thought that the dignified young lady of the Nakiri family, possessing the God Tongue talent, would actually be afraid of thunder? If all the students at Totsuki knew this, they would probably all be greatly astonished!
"I'm a little scared."
"No, I'm really scared of thunder!"
Erina vigorously nodded inside the quilt, her whole body still trembling.
Afterward, perhaps as a natural physical reaction, she actually leaned against Sosuke. Only when she felt Sosuke's heartbeat and the less loud thunder outside did her tense and fearful emotions slowly relax.
"What did you do when it thundered before?"
Looking down at Erina, Sosuke asked curiously.
"If there was thunder, I would ask Hisako Arato to come and accompany me, but she's not by my side today, so the only person I can rely on is you!"
Erina's voice was as soft as a mosquito's.
After all, Sosuke now knew about her embarrassing fear of thunder, how could she live after this?
But she still didn't understand how shameful and intimate their current actions were. Only when she realized it did her heart suddenly race, and her face turned even redder!
...
Rumble rumble rumble!
Another clap of thunder struck.
This scene made Erina, who was originally about to calm down, tremble slightly again in fright.
Sigh!
Looking at this situation.
It seems I won't be able to sleep well alone tonight!
"Erina, then tonight... I'll stay with you, just like Hisako."
With a touch of helplessness, Sosuke lowered his head and whispered into her ear.
"Hmm!"
"Don't leave me!"
Erina hummed softly and nodded.
She wiggled her nose slightly, and when she smelled Sosuke's identical scent within the thick quilt, she thought, "Hmm, it smells quite nice."
Involuntarily, she hugged Sosuke even tighter! (End of chapter)
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