Riding the wind of rebirth

Moreover, as the water ripples, the light underwater transforms into countless spiritual life forms, imprinting itself on the seabed, on the swimming fish, and on the divers, creating a truly fantastical fairytale world.

"Wow—" Unable to hold his breath any longer, Zhou Zhi surfaced from the water again: "It's so beautiful!"

“I want to see it too!” Mai Xiaomiao stretched out her hand to Zhou Zhi.

Mai Xiaomiao's diving skills were a bit lacking, and she was a little hesitant. Zhou Zhi held her under the armpits with both hands: "Come on, hold your breath! Then just relax."

Xiao Miao took a deep breath, and Zhou Zhi placed his head against the back of her neck, arched his body, and pressed down, causing the two of them to sink underwater together.

"Wow, how romantic!" Liang Hong exclaimed with envy. "Old Yang, let's do it too!"

Both of them were excellent swimmers, so they didn't need to use the method Zhou Zhi used; they could simply hold hands and dive down.

After diving down, Liang Hong noticed that Mai Xiaomiao relaxed her body and was then pushed by Zhou Zhi to gradually descend. When she saw the two of them, she waved to them.

Zhou Zhi also noticed this. When he saw Liang Hong and Yang Honghui walking hand in hand in the morning light, the word "romantic" immediately popped into his mind.

Unfortunately, this period of time is very short, only a few minutes in total. Once the angle of the sunlight changes slightly, this underwater spectacle disappears.

After several breaths and dives, Mai Xiaomiao was a little exhausted. She floated gently on Zhou Zhi's back and said to Liang Hong, who was swimming beside her, "Sister Liang Hong, you're amazing! We've come here several times, but we've never seen such a spectacular sight."

"It's such a pity that we don't have an underwater camera to capture the underwater scenery," Zhou Zhi said, expressing his regret.

Yang Honghui laughed and said, "Don't be disappointed, there are still several people sleeping in their tents."

"We must wake them up tomorrow no matter what," Zhou Zhi said with a smile. "Such a spectacle is truly not to be missed."

When the group swam to the shallow, warm water, Yang He and Feng Xueshan also went into the water. The two of them were playing with Xiao Shunzi, who was splashing around in the water.

Little Shunzi wears a small swimming ring around his neck so that his head can stay above water while his little hands and feet can splash around underwater. He looks especially cute with his pink cheeks.

Upon seeing Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao, Xiao Shunzi vigorously splashed water, kicking his little legs, trying to get closer to them.

“Hey! They’ve betrayed us and gone to their godparents’ side!” Yang He said.

"Unconsciously, right?" Feng Xueshan found it amusing, but didn't think Xiao Shunzi would have such a consciousness.

“That’s easy,” Liang Hong said. “Let’s switch positions, elbow.”

The four of them switched places, and then Xiao Shunzi wiggled his little feet a couple of times, turned his face toward Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao, and then tried his best to kick his little legs.

"Haha, baby really is looking for us!" Mai Xiaomiao was overjoyed. She didn't want Xiao Shunzi to waste his energy, so she went over and hugged him: "Come here, godmother will give you a kiss!"

Xiao Shunzi reached out and grabbed the red agate pendant around Mai Xiaomiao's neck, and started making little noises.

"So that's what you were after." Zhou Zhi laughed. "You do have good taste. Hey, don't put it in your mouth..."

Everyone was amused by Xiao Shunzi's actions.

After several minutes of diving, Mai Xiaomiao was a little tired. Xiao Shunzi also couldn't soak in the hot spring for too long. About ten minutes later, Zhou Zhi led Mai Xiaomiao and Xiao Shunzi back to the camp. The others who had been sleeping in finally got up. Heilong had finally completed his guard duty, dragging his blanket back to the center of the camp. Seeing Zhou Zhi return, he ran to the water's edge and wagged his tail.

"Finally, we can have breakfast." Zhou Zhi smiled and ruffled the black dragon's hair. "Aren't you happy?"

The black dragon's tail wagged even more merrily.

"Did you sleep well, Sister Shiqing?" Xiao Miao asked He Shiqing, who was having breakfast with Wu Renzhong and Shama at the small table.

"Yes, she slept very well. She didn't even know when Yan Xiao ran away," He Shiqing said with a smile.

“Let’s hurry up and finish our offal,” Shama said. “You guys are so energetic, getting up so early.”

“Yes.” Wu Renzhong took a sip of porridge. “We’re here for a vacation, not for training. We don’t know how to enjoy life.”

Zhou Zhi laughed and said, "For those guys, exercise is a pleasure. As for Xue Shan and Yang He, they were probably woken up by Xiao Shunzi. Xiao Miao and I, on the other hand, have already developed the habit of getting up early. Hey, leave some porridge for Hei Long. If you don't have enough, you can drink milk or milk tea."

"Black Dragon has worked hard too," Shama laughed. "Let's save the porridge for it and have some milk tea. Black Dragon, you'll have vegetarian porridge, won't you?"

"It's not that bad," Zhou Zhi said. "The pheasant that Old Yang killed yesterday, its innards are just what Black Dragon needs for a treat. By the way, Yan Xiao is fishing at the horse farm. When you go to see him later, bring the fish back with you."

"Finally caught one?" He Shiqing laughed. "He's been talking about it for two days."

"We've got the grilled fish for lunch. As for whether there will be any more, that depends on Yan Xiao's luck," Zhou Zhi said with a smile.

Zhouzhi went to the stove, lit the fire, cooked and chopped the chicken innards for Heilong, mixed them into the porridge, and fed them to Heilong. Zhouzhi then began preparing for lunch.

First, we need to make a pot of braised rice. Everyone has been quite active today, so they'll probably eat a lot. We definitely need to prepare enough staple food.

After estimating that this pot of rice might not be enough, the pork knuckle went down into the ashes under the stove and stuffed some potatoes in.

Orange peel chicken and cold-cooked rabbit are both famous Sichuan dishes, and they can both be eaten as cold dishes, so they can be prepared very early.

After removing the internal organs, claws, and feathers from a pheasant weighing about three pounds, what's left is just over a pound, which isn't much. Zhou Zhi thought for a moment, then took out two pieces of dried tofu from the ingredients he brought and diced them as well. This is what they call "if there's not enough chicken, use dried tofu to make up for it."

Cut the chicken into pieces, cut the dried chilies into sections, and slice the dried orange peel into strips for easy identification. Crush the scallions and ginger and set aside.

Marinate the chicken pieces with cooking wine and soy sauce.

Heat oil in a wok, then remove it from the heat and let it cool to about 70% of its original temperature to completely remove the raw taste of the vegetable oil. Return it to the heat and add the chicken pieces and tofu. Fry them until they are golden brown, then remove them from the wok.

Leave a little oil in the pot, add Sichuan peppercorns and fry until fragrant, then remove and discard the peppercorns. Add dried chili peppers and soaked dried tangerine peel to the oil and fry briefly, then add scallions and ginger and stir-fry.

After stir-frying the seasonings until fragrant, add the chicken pieces, sugar, vinegar, and salt. Add water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for more than half an hour. Then, reduce the sauce over medium heat until the oil is released. Remove from heat, add a little vinegar around the edge of the pot to compensate for the evaporated vinegar, drizzle with a little sesame oil, and set aside to cool.

This dish isn't difficult for people in Zhouzhi, but it's a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate. It has a sweet and sour flavor that young people love, and it also has the unique aroma of dried tangerine peel. Even before it was taken off the heat, it had already attracted Mai Xiaomiao.

"I've seen this dish before! Orange Chicken! I thought it was some fake Chinese dish invented by foreigners! I didn't expect it to be real!" (End of Chapter)