Why am I, a cook, always involved in cases?

There were three little kitchen boys in the back, who seemed to be discussing something enthusiastically during the break between shifts.

"What's going on here that's so lively?" Hu Lan'er walked into the circle of children curiously.

"This is it." One of the children held up a plate of pastries, but upon closer inspection, the crust of the pastries was soft and dark in color.

“This is a low-quality snack.”

"Why not use better flour?" Hu Lan'er asked in surprise.

“It’s all because of those stingy people,” the child explained. “They can’t bear to use fine flour for sacrifices, so they use this coarse flour instead.”

Lin Zhiruo also examined the plate of dim sum. Although the surface was smooth, it was rough and dry when bitten into. It was not because there was no filling, but because it was not prepared well at all.

"This was given by the village chief," said a child.

"Eh—that won't do." Another child shook his head. "The village chief's kitchen always has low-quality flour. The village chief is stingy and only uses the coarse flour."

"How can this be possible? I'm afraid I'll be punished by the God of Food."

"You just came to the village last year, and all the children in the village know about this. Just take it as a lesson." The child lowered his head in disappointment.

Lin Zhiruo looked at the snacks in her hand, each one was sweet and delicious.

So she took out a plate of exquisite snacks from the food basket and handed it to the child.

“Is this okay?”

"It's okay." Lin Zhiruo didn't really believe in sacrifices and thought all food was the same.

"Sister, why are you here?" Xiang Yu walked out of the altar and asked Hu Lan'er when he saw her.

The child who had received the new snack walked into the altar happily.

"good very good."

"hey-hey."

(So-called "good" is just being able to sit quietly at the altar?)

Although Lin Zhiruo thought so in her heart, she did not say it out loud.

"If your mother saw this, she would be very pleased." Xiang Yu seemed a little lonely.

Hu Lan'er patted his head gently.

"Hurry up and offer the food, shall we go and watch the sacrificial fire?" Hu Lan'er pointed to a wooden altar, which could be walked to from the opposite side of the steps, but the location was quite strange.

“Is this a hot spring?”

“It’s just a pond.”

The altar is above the water, and its bottom looks like a raft.

Xiang Yu quickly offered the mask and returned.

When the two returned along the same route, they found that everyone had already finished offering sacrifices.

Spices were piled around the table, and the fire flickered and illuminated the surrounding area.

If you look closely, you can seem to see a golden mask in it.

"These masks are offered at the end of the year and burned along with the altar. If a mask with a wish written on it ascends to heaven during the burning, the wish may come true."

"I didn't write it." Lin Zhiruo said.

"Lin Zhiruo, don't you believe in these traditions?"

This is true.

Lin Zhiruo looked at the altar and felt that instead of praying here, it would be faster to take actual action.

"This isn't superstition!" Xiang Yu said unhappily. "It must work. I meticulously decorated the mask last year and wrote down my wishes in detail. How could it not work?"

His voice was agitated as he spoke.

Did he have such a strong desire?

"What is your wish?" Lin Zhiruo asked.

“How could I tell you!”

"Forget it then." Lin Zhiruo had no interest in the first place and just asked casually.

But the fact that he gave up so easily seemed to make Xiang Yu dissatisfied, and he kept looking back at him.

"Look, they're about to light a fire." Hu Lan'er pointed in a direction where there was a child holding a torch and a sachet tied around his body.

Looking at his mask, it was the child who had just exchanged snacks with Lin Zhiruo.

"Xiang Yu, don't you want to try?"

"Humph, I'm not a child anymore. I can let others do this kind of thing."

Although he said this, his eyes were full of envy.

Masked adults took torches from children.

The master lit the arrow with a torch and handed it to the archer next to him.

He stretched out all his strength to draw the bow and release the arrow. The rocket flew out at an angle, slowly rose to mid-air and then fell, just sticking into the bottom of the altar. His skill was so superb that it was amazing.

The altar seemed to have been soaked in fragrant oil, and suddenly flames broke out and spread rapidly.

The altar was engulfed in flames, making crackling sounds.

"It's strange that the stage is burning, but the raft at the bottom is not burning easily."

Maybe it's because it's underwater.

The water kept the raft at a constant temperature, so it wouldn't burn easily.

Only the flames on the altar rose high, and the numerous golden phoenix masks were burned one by one.

I guess the smoke will send wishes to the sky.

"Ah..." Xiangyu shouted foolishly.

The altar collapsed, and the mask fell into the water with a plop.

Xiang Yu stared at the water, trying to find his mask.

But it is difficult to distinguish from a distance.

I'm afraid that less than half of the masks can be burned up and ascend to heaven.

"The unfulfilled wishes sank to the bottom of the pond and turned into nutrients for all things." Hu Lan'er said to herself.

“While the ingredients may be good or bad, I hope everyone can have a full stomach.”