The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Chapter 228 Sour Plum or Sweet Plum?

"Then you can keep these for later!" Sylph put the basket down.

“Okay!” Vasita turned around and began directing the kitchen utensils.

Sylph instantly understood her current state; her cooking magic was even worse than Vasita's! She couldn't even command more than two kitchen utensils at once.

“Sit down! This is ‘sour plum juice’ made by Vasita, or rather, ‘sour plum juice,’ though I’m not entirely sure.” Moran pulled Sylph down to sit, looking at her expectantly. “Try it!”

Sylph was also somewhat expectant: "Washida has been learning Earth cuisine, right? Is this Earth juice?"

She took a bite, and her expectant expression turned to doubt. She glanced at Vasita, not wanting to disturb her, and whispered to Moran:
"Perhaps this is called sweet plum juice? What kind of plums are used? It would be great for making fructose! But I've never heard of any plums that are this sweet! Moran, you read a lot, you know?"

Moran shook her head: "I don't know. I have just as many questions in my head as you do."

There was another knock on the door.

“Senior Lilith is here! I’ll go open the door for her,” Moran said.

"We're in for a treat today!" Lilith said with a smile as she entered.

“Vashida won’t let us help, senior, please sit down for a while!” Moran said.

“Senior, try this ‘sour plum juice,’ it’s a traditional drink from the Blue Star Xia Kingdom that Vasida specially prepared!” Sylph added.

"Really? Then I'll have to try it!" Lilith sat down and took a big gulp.

That last mouthful, I had to hold my breath and swallow it down in several bites, even rinsing my mouth with the Clear Spring Technique before the cloying sweetness finally disappeared.
"Molan, does the 'sour' in your Blue Star mean 'sweet'? Is Xia Country very wealthy, so that its citizens can have unlimited access to desserts? Or is sugar very cheap? Surely our sense of taste can't all be abnormal!"

Moran: "..."

This is the deepest misunderstanding ever suffered by Blue Star and Xia Kingdom.

“‘Plum juice’ is sweet and sour, and sugar is very cheap, but everyone’s sense of taste is pretty normal. As for this…” Moran looked at the cloyingly sweet juice on the table and said tactfully, “Perhaps this is an improved version of Vasita’s recipe?”

Lilith: "???"

“I remember now!” Sylph said, “Once, Ais said that a true gourmet witch should have her own secret recipes and not always follow the recipes! Vasita agreed.”

“It’s over.” Lilith became restless. “I have a bad feeling.”

“Me too,” Moran said.

"It can't all be like that, right? I remember that the things Vasita made in her cooking class were pretty normal, and Moran taught her how to make fried rice, which was also quite good." Sylph said this, but she wasn't sure herself.

The three little witches watched Vasita's retreating figure with unease.

After a while, the aroma of the food wafted out.

Lilith sniffed: "It smells so good! The plum juice must have been an accident!"

“It should be!” Sylph breathed a sigh of relief.

Moran remained uneasy.

She saw the MSG bag float away before the dish was taken off the heat, and it took a while for it to fly back.

She couldn't see how much was added from her position, but logically, a few grains of MSG should be enough, it shouldn't take this long.

Moran thought for a moment, then took out his card magic control card and checked Vasita's card purchase history.

"{Seasoning Card - MSG} x10, total price 100 Gem Coins"

"{Seasoning Card - MSG} x10, Total Price 100 Gem Coins."...

Moran panicked even more after reading it.

Vasita bought MSG cards by the stack, ten at a time!

I have to buy it once a week!
Even if she frequently practices cooking magic and needs to use MSG, this frequency of purchases is just too exaggerated!

MSG is good, but don't overdo it! Excessive intake can harm your health!
She suddenly remembered what that strange taste in the plum juice was—it must be MSG! It definitely was!
Good heavens! Adding MSG to plum juice? What kind of culinary abomination is this?!

It tastes weird; they must have added a lot!

Moran even suspected that she might have offended Vasida recently, otherwise Vasida wouldn't have made such sweet and MSG-laden dishes as revenge.

After thinking it over carefully, she realized, "No! I've been engrossed in studying lately, and I only exchanged a few words with Vasita on my way to and from magic classes. It definitely wasn't me!"

If it's not her, then it must be...

Moran looked at Lilith and Sylph: "Senior, Sylph, has either of you offended Vasida recently?"

"What?" Lilith and Sylph looked bewildered.

The food floated onto the table, attracting their attention.

Lilith: "It's red meat, I love this color! Is this a dodo bird egg? It's turned red too?"

"Wow! It looks so clear and sparkling! It's so beautiful!" Sylph said. "Moran, what's its name?"

"It should be braised pork?" Moran said uncertainly.

It wasn't that she couldn't recognize braised pork; it was just that the pork was too translucent, the sauce was too thick and too clear, and there were some suspicious brownish-red strands.

If she couldn't clearly see the layers of the pork belly, she would have even suspected that it was candied sweet potato.

Is this Vasida's improvisational creation of candied pork belly?
Seeing Lilith and Sylph's curiosity and enthusiasm for the dish, Moran swallowed his doubts.

Fortunately, the next few dishes looked much better, with appetizing colors and sauces that weren't suspiciously thick.

Moran confidently announced, "This is eggplant with minced meat, this is scrambled eggs with tomatoes, this is stuffed green peppers, this is Sichuan-style chicken, blanched lettuce, and fried potato pancakes!"

"Alright! Everything's ready!" Vasita floated the rice cooker to the table. "These are all dishes that go well with rice, and I cooked a lot of rice!"

"This is... a claypot rice with preserved meat?" Moran asked, looking at the brownish-red stuff in the rice that looked like diced preserved meat.

“That’s right!” Vasita filled each of their bowls to the brim before sitting down in the empty seat. She picked up the glass of “plum juice” and asked, “Is this one mine?”

"Yes! I poured it for you, but..."

Moran's eyes widened. Before she could finish speaking, Vasita took a big gulp and let out a satisfied sigh: "It's so delicious! It would be even better with some ice! Senior Lilith, Moran, could you add some ice to the pitcher?"

She doesn't know how to use cryotherapy.

"???"

Lilith and Sylph looked at their cups suspiciously. Could it be that the cup in Vasita's cup was different from theirs?
Moran: "..."

If she hadn't poured it herself, and it wasn't from the same teapot, she would have doubted her own sense of taste.

Now, the case is solved: Vasita has a sweet tooth!

These dishes...