Chapter 661 - 294: The First Qin Province Riding Competition Begins! (Part 2)

As for Cola, being one of the main characters, every day it has to earn its brief phone time through serious training, during which it enjoys the flattery and praise from netizens.

This time it stole the spotlight, something even the boss didn’t get.

Letting Cola and Run Run Duck play with the phone, Chen Yuan walked straight into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

There would be guests visiting tonight.

"Creak creak creak."

When the sound came from Iron Head who was guarding the gate, Chen Yuan looked around and turned to Scarface Rat who was cleaning: "Please bring the guests in."

"Zoom."

Suddenly entrusted with this important task, Scarface Rat, with a solemn expression, nodded heavily and hopped toward the farm gate.

Not long after,

"Advisor Chen, long time no see."

"Advisor Chen, sorry to disturb you today."

"Yuan, is dinner ready? I’m starving."

The guests visiting the farm tonight included the good sisters Li Qing and Yang Yue, as well as the unlucky couple Lin Hongwei and Gong Jia.

As for Zhang Hao, this guy often came to the farm to freeload food, so even Iron Head was familiar with his scent and wouldn’t stop him from entering.

Everyone came from the snow into the cozy courtyard lit by dim yellow lights.

Though they were all Beastmasters, they were still wearing thick cotton coats or draped in overcoats, with Li Qing and Yang Yue even wrapped in scarves and wearing fluffy earmuffs.

They rubbed their hands together, blowing warm breaths, while treading on the snow-cleared ground to the main hall.

Chen Yuan nodded in response to them, smiling as he spoke: "Have a seat; it’ll be ready soon."

After speaking, he returned to the kitchen to continue preparing food.

Since it was a cold winter, they should eat a hot, spicy hot pot.

Since he had previously invited Jiang Wenning and others over for hot pot, Chen Yuan foresaw that such occasions would be frequent, so he specially bought a copper pot specifically for hot pot.

In no time,

On this snowy night, the copper pot became the throne of the main hall. The beef tallow red soup bubbled in the nine-square-grid, dense peppercorns stirred up red waves, duck intestines and tripe floated at the wave’s crest, and frozen tofu soaked with spicy juice swelled into a golden sponge.

"Sit down, sit down, everyone must be hungry, right?"

Chen Yuan took the main seat and then beckoned everyone to sit down.

Zhang Hao unceremoniously sat next to Chen Yuan, his sharp eyes quickly scanning the table, and he smiled with satisfaction: "Mm, tender beef, fatty beef, and my favorite tribute vegetables..."

The other four sat down in succession, the mist from the hot pot rising before them, and the room gradually warming up.

Outside, the snowstorm raged on, while inside, the heat steamed upwards.

Zhang Hao picked up a piece of tripe with chopsticks and asked, "Yuan, where’s the old man?"

"Grandfather?" Chen Yuan smiled slightly, "He’s got quite a few social engagements these days, having dinner at a friend’s house tonight."

Since becoming an official Beastmaster, his grandfather’s status in the village had risen and he was showing signs of becoming a main figure among the elders.

His daily life was very fulfilling, either strolling around the village with friends or offering advice on the village’s development, and only returning home in the evening.

That’s good; being busy is better than just sunbathing in the courtyard all day.

While chatting and enjoying the hot pot, the atmosphere gradually warmed with the rising heat.

Zhang Hao reached out his arm to scoop duck blood, complaining about the hardships and fatigue of organizing a competition during this period: "You guys don’t know how tiring it is to prepare for a competition..."

"Countless data to write, various small details to constantly discuss and revise..."

As he spoke, he sighed heavily, "So tiring, I hope this competition goes smoothly."

As the main planner of this competition, Zhang Hao had been working diligently, modifying plans from morning to night, leaving him quite haggard.

Yang Yue and Li Qing had long taken off their fluffy earmuffs, their noses sweating from the spice.

Li Qing gulped down plum juice to catch her breath, while Yang Yue removed the hairclip from her bun, letting her long hair spread like poured ink.

The Cloud Fox at Yang Yue’s feet looked anxious, its eyes filled with desire as it kept circling her, eager for the delicacies in the pot.

Yang Yue fed it a piece of spicy beef, which caused the Cloud Fox to pant heavily and rush outside to cool down in the chilly wind.

Lin Hongwei blew on cooked tripe to cool it before feeding it to Gong Jia, who dipped it in sesame oil before handing it back to his mouth. Their chopstick interactions made the garlic sauce seem to blossom with sweetness.

Seeing the sweet interaction of this young couple, Zhang Hao looked at the duck blood in his bowl, suddenly finding the once tasty food flavorless.

He sighed deeply, "Ah."

Zhang Hao used to have a girlfriend, but ever since the Spiritual Energy Revival, he’d been busy non-stop, and given the distance between them, their flimsy relationship finally ended.

However, as Station Master Song Guohao put it, this was actually a good thing.

Zhang Hao could devote more time to his work.

As the atmosphere grew warmer, Zhang Hao vigorously bit into the spicy beef, sweating on his forehead, and mumbled indistinctly: "The competition starts at nine tomorrow; don’t be late."

"Oh, and regarding the sleds tomorrow, focus on practicality rather than aesthetics; just make sure they don’t fall apart halfway..."

Zhang Hao provided detailed instructions on the competition’s precautions to those who would participate.

Tomorrow, the 25th, was the day for the Fun Riding Competition.

Just as Chen Yuan originally envisioned, the fun competition didn’t focus on racing but emphasized entertainment.

The competition rules were very simple: contestants first craft their sleds from materials, then depart from the village entrance, loop around the surrounding mountains and forests, and finally return to the village entrance.