blueteamnovel Chapter 229 : Is He Testing Me?
Chapter 229 : Is He Testing Me?
Just now, Celitia's reaction was completely instinctive.As Erwin aged, now past eighty, his body was no longer as robust as in his youth.
The doctor had said to have Erwin drink less and avoid smoking as much as possible.
Back then, she would manage when she could, strictly limiting Erwin's smoking—it had become a conditioned reflex.
Over these years without her supervision, Erwin had probably become quite indulgent again.
So when Celitia saw this, she instinctively acted.
Being stared at by two gazes simultaneously, Celitia quickly withdrew her hand, both embarrassed and panicked.
Acting like this toward an elder when they weren't that familiar was far too presumptuous.
Moreover, what if Erwin made some connection...
"Sorry, I didn't mean to."
Celitia forcibly found a reason: "It's because I really dislike the smell of smoke and can't stand people smoking in the house, so I didn't think much and just..."
"I see," Shanie had a sudden realization. "I don't like rooms full of smoke either, so Teacher, please don't smoke!"
Erwin's hand trembled imperceptibly, then he withdrew it as if nothing had happened.
"Fine, since you both don't like it, I can only listen to you." Erwin shrugged. "Who told you to be pretty young ladies?"
Seeing Erwin had no particular reaction, Celitia finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She needed to be more careful and not do anything that was both offensive and easily exposed her identity.
"Can't smoke," Erwin continued, "but having a little drink should be okay, right?"
Shanie's eyes widened: "Drinking this early in the morning? That doesn't seem right."
"Won't let me smoke, and now won't let me drink either?"
Erwin glared at them. "I'm just having some breakfast with a little wine. Stop your nagging!"
Shanie compromised: "Alright..."
"Go buy me some good food, Shanie." Erwin began commanding them. "As for you, Celitia, go buy me wine."
When it came to bossing around young people, Erwin was truly expert, immediately rattling off a bunch of terms.
The food was manageable—not too much—but the cocktail ingredients Erwin mentioned made even Shanie dizzy.
"Wait, wait, Teacher, speak slower," Shanie raised her hand in protest. "So many random things—I can't remember them all!"
"What random things?" Erwin rolled his eyes. "These are important cocktail ingredients. I can tell you haven't learned to drink properly—you need more practice!"
"What's a cocktail?" Shanie was even more confused.
Erwin was too lazy to explain and turned to look at Celitia:
"You child, you look smarter than my foolish disciple. You should have remembered everything, right?"
Celitia's expression was complex.
This was one of the recipes she had developed with Erwin years ago, modeled after some famous cocktails from her previous life.
It was called "Bloody Earl."
Tomato juice, lemon juice, black pepper, chili juice, soy sauce, salt, celery root, shrimp...
Silently recalling the recipe, Celitia nodded: "I remembered."
"See," Erwin was very proud, "I told you she's smarter than you, dummy."
Shanie didn't argue at all and even nodded proudly: "Of course, Lily is naturally smarter than me!"
Erwin was speechless.
How was this silly disciple getting proud about this?
"Go on, buy everything and bring it back," he waved at the two. "I'll take another nap in the meantime."
Erwin lay back down in the wicker chair and within seconds was snoring again.
Shanie was very embarrassed: "Teacher is just like this. You don't mind, do you, Lily?"
"The elder was quite generous, giving me a very precious gemstone."
Celitia smiled. "Even just for this gemstone, I should do his bidding."
Shanie breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again: "Then let's go."
The two split up to buy the things Erwin had specifically requested.
Celitia put considerable effort into getting those ingredients.
For instance, the tomatoes and lemons needed to be juiced.
Erwin's house probably didn't have the tools, so Celitia paid extra to have the shop help with the processing.
Finally gathering everything, Celitia returned to Erwin's house.
Shanie had returned earlier with a hearty breakfast, and Erwin was already eating.
Seeing Celitia enter, Erwin immediately put down his knife and fork and eagerly came over:
"Let me see—did you get everything?"
"Got everything," Celitia nodded, placing items on the table one by one. "Please check if anything is missing."
Erwin's gaze followed her movements, looking at each item.
By the end, some deeper meaning gradually appeared in his eyes.
"Eh, there's shrimp too?" Shanie also leaned over curiously. "Is this for us to have extra food? But why is there only one?"
"It should be for decoration," Celitia said. "Anyway, Mr. Erwin said to buy it, so I bought it."
"Did Teacher just mention buying shrimp?" Shanie tilted her head, thinking hard. "I don't remember that."
"Didn't Mr. Erwin just say so?" Celitia suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
Erwin had said so many things so quickly that Celitia had only caught the gist.
But Celitia remembered the recipe, and hearing it seemed no different from before, she had instinctively bought according to the recipe in her memory.
"Don't mind her," Erwin glanced at Shanie dismissively. "This dummy has an empty head and can't remember anything."
It seemed Erwin had indeed mentioned it.
Celitia relaxed completely.
For a moment there, Celitia had thought Erwin was testing her.
She was probably overthinking...
Just from that small action of stopping him from smoking, there was no reason Erwin could recognize her.
Soul fusion and resurrection from death—such things were too absurd for normal people to even imagine.
Erwin got up satisfied and went to another room, bringing out a bottle of wine.
"Can you mix drinks, girl?" Erwin asked Celitia.
At some point, Erwin had stopped using her name and started calling her "girl" instead.
Even if she could, she couldn't admit it.
Celitia decisively shook her head.
"Alright," Erwin patted her shoulder. "Then watch and learn."
Erwin went to the kitchen and got a tall glass, first pouring most of a glass of spirits, then adding the ingredients one by one, stirring evenly, and finally placing celery root and shrimp as decoration.
He showed it off to the two: "See? Very simple. Want to try a sip?"
Celitia politely declined: "No need, you drink it."
Shanie curiously picked up the glass and tasted it shallowly, her face immediately scrunching up: "Such a strange taste—sweet and sour with salty and spicy!"