I woke up to find myself transmigrated into a disabled child.

Chapter 131 Hot Coke with Ginger

At that moment, Le Zhong, who was spending the night with the group on the Qiyun Plain, was unaware that Le Zhi was thinking of him, and suddenly sneezed loudly.

"Le Zhong, have you caught a cold?" The clansmen beside him were startled and asked with concern.

"It's nothing." Rubbing her still itchy nose, Lezhi felt quite good after taking a moment to reflect. "It must have been a sudden stimulation from something."

"That's good. We're almost at the Cloud Mist Forest. Hopefully, we can cross the Cloud-Dwelling Plains safely before then and avoid any unexpected problems."

On the plains, the biggest worry is encountering tidal storms. Experienced people, in particular, are always on high alert when they come here, and they travel very quickly, unwilling to linger on the plains.

After listening to the tribesmen mutter a couple of times and then quiet down, Le Zhong rubbed his nose again, looking at the night sky dotted with stars. He wondered if the first group of Le Zhizai who set off were safe on the plains. If they had unfortunately encountered a tidal storm, the wingless Le Zhizai would probably have been terrified.

For some reason, Le Zhong suddenly thought of Le Zhi. Seeing that it was getting late, Le Zhong quickly gathered his thoughts and stopped thinking about it. With Le Shan and Lei Xiu there, they would definitely find a way to protect Le Zhi's safety, no matter what. Le Zhong comforted himself and closed his eyes, forcing himself to rest.

Once it gets light, they will immediately begin their journey. If all goes well, they should reach the Cloud Forest before evening, at which point they will be safer.

Unaware that even from such a long distance, Le Zhong could sense their concern, Le Zhi saw that the water in the pot had boiled, so she stopped chatting with Lei Xiu.

Use the tip of a knife to pry open the fruit. Inside the thick flesh is a small seed. Carefully pick out the seed and set it aside. Then, casually chop the flesh and throw it into boiling water.

The dark fruit pulp, upon contact with boiling water, instantly turned the pot of clear water black, while simultaneously generating a large amount of foam. Lezhi was already prepared; he quickly removed the pot from the heat and then vigorously blew on it to disperse the rising foam.

Seeing that the bubble crisis had been averted, Lezhi carefully transferred the pot back to the stove and simmered it slowly over the lowest heat. Every now and then, Lezhi would stir it to make sure that the pulp had completely melted. After confirming that the pulp had melted, Lezhi tasted the dark liquid in the pot.

The moment it entered his mouth, the warm taste spread, and Lezhi was transported back to the scene of his first time trying hot cola. It was a winter night, and he and a few other children had gotten cold hands and feet from playing in the snow. The adults used what they had on hand, boiling leftover cola with ginger slices and making it for him to drink.

Lezhi still remembers what they said at the time: "Cola with ginger slices can dispel cold and prevent colds."

Many children don't like the taste of hot cola, but Lezhi loves it. He also doesn't mind the taste of ginger. After finishing his cup, his whole body feels warm and cozy.

From then on, whenever she caught a cold, Lezhi liked to add some ginger to hot cola instead of ginger soup, and even changed her daily drink to cola, just because the feeling in her memory was irreplaceable.

Swallowing the incredibly familiar taste in her mouth, Lezhi blinked away the heat that had just risen in her eyes and smiled.

"Alright, Lei Xiu, Mao Qiu, come and try it, see if you like the taste."

Deliberately using a loud tone and gestures to conceal the emotions in her eyes, Lezhi turned her back and poured a cup for Lei Xiu and Maoqiu, handing it to them. Watching them accept the cup with some doubt, Lezhi, whose expression had returned to normal, simply smiled and watched.

"Drink up, I just drank it all, would I lie to you?" Her tone was encouraging. Seeing that they were still being cautious, Lezhi rolled her eyes and turned to pour herself a glass as well.

"Whoosh~" After blowing on the liquid in the cup to cool it down a bit, Lezhi raised the hand holding the cup, gesturing for Lei Xiu and Maoqiu to look over. "Come on, since we have such a rare opportunity, let's have a toast. And remember to drink it after you finish."

Since Maoqiu didn't have hands, she couldn't pick up the cup, so Lezhi took the initiative to touch Maoqiu's cup to hers. Lei Xiu, who was watching from the side, immediately understood how to carry out the little ritual that Lezhi had suggested, so he also cooperated by gently touching his cup to Lezhi's in mid-air.

"Cheers..." Lei Xiu murmured the incantation of the ritual after Le Zhi. He noticed that Le Zhi's emotions seemed a little off, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

Without time to think it over, Lei Xiu saw that Le Zhi had already taken the lead and drunk the beverage in his cup. Not wanting to disappoint Le Zhi, Lei Xiu could only follow suit.

Seeing Lei Xiu succumb to Le Zhi's tyranny, Mao Qiu, the instigator who brought back the fruit, was not afraid at all. In fact, it quite liked the taste of the fruit. Now that the fruit had been boiled into water and the taste had been diluted so much, Mao Qiu was even less afraid.

Lowering my head, I took two gentle sips. The unique taste entered my mouth, giving Maoqiu a different feeling.

"Tweet~"

"what?!"

Besides Lezhi, Leixiu and Maoqiu both exclaimed in surprise at the taste of the drink, with Leixiu being especially surprised. He had tried the original flavor of the Exploding Flower Fruit before, but he didn't expect that after boiling the fruit in water and diluting the flavor, the unbearable taste would become acceptable.

Lei Xiu took another sip, and confirmed that this drink was indeed quite special; the more he drank, the more intoxicating it became.

Having stopped drinking, Lezhi observed Leixiu and Maoqiu's reactions. Seeing them take sip after sip, he knew they liked the taste. With a smug smile, Lezhi felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"How is it? Not bad, right? Actually, it tastes even better iced."

Pour the warm beverage that was already placed inside the fruit into a larger vine bucket, and loosely close the lid to let it cool naturally.

"If only we had ice stones, we could add some and make a natural iced cola."

Lei Xiu, who had already finished half a cup of his drink, put down his cup and helped Le Zhi clean up the pots and pans she had used. Hearing Le Zhi muttering to herself, he immediately replied, "Do you want ice stones? I have some here."

As he spoke, Lei Xiu put down the cleaned pot and pan, dried his wet hands, and took out a palm-sized ice stone from his spatial storage and handed it to Le Zhi.

“You can tell me anything else you want. If it’s not available right now, I’ll try to find it. Don’t worry.”

Seeing Lei Xiu, who seemed to have a treasure trove of knowledge and was always willing to grant her requests, Le Zhi smiled with delight, "Okay, thank you, Lei Xiu."

Although Lei Xiu received Le Zhi's thanks, he still keenly sensed that Le Zhi's attitude was still polite and that he hadn't taken Le Zhi's words to heart. In other words, Le Zhi didn't completely rely on him yet.

With his eyelids lowered, Lei Xiu was not discouraged. He still had a lifetime to live, and he could take it slow. One day, Le Zhi would completely trust him and confidently entrust his back to him.

Unaware of Lei Xiu's secret resolve, Le Zhi, though gradually accustomed to accepting Lei Xiu's gifts, still saw them merely as Lei Xiu's way of repaying him. He believed Lei Xiu's words, but he couldn't bring himself to rely on him.

Having lived a lifetime, Lezhi understood all too well that the saying goes, "Mountains crumble, people run away," and the only one a person can rely on is themselves. The only thing Lezhi could do was to find a way to become strong enough to not need to rely on anyone.

"Alright, let's leave it alone for now. Let Leyou and Leting try it tomorrow." After cleaning the ice stone, activating it with energy, and throwing it into the bucket of drinks, Lezhi clapped his hands, already imagining the surprised looks on Leyou and Leting's faces when they drink cola tomorrow.