HLM -Chapter 1246 Cherries for Cooking

The Fat Cat brothers were happily munching below, when suddenly no more white cherries fell from the sky.

This made them anxious. They hurriedly circled around the cherry tree, calling out worriedly: “Woo woo woo…”

If the commander’s war instincts were sensitive enough, he would have realized that this wasn’t a pleading sound, but a threat—a warning roar before an attack.

The commander didn’t care, though. He just kept his head down, butt raised, eating cherries with determination.

His little beak was also very skillful: he could precisely pick a cherry, crack the pit with a quick peck, spit it out, and then enjoy the thick, sweet flesh.

The cherry pits fell to the ground with a “plop plop” sound, making the Fat Cat brothers increasingly vocal in their dissatisfaction.

The bird didn’t have a huge appetite. Having eaten for a while earlier, he was now nearly full and paused. But he didn’t share any with the Fat Cat brothers. Noticing their threatening roars, he opened his beak and shouted: “Ah! Come bite me, why don’t you!”

From his movements, the Fat Cat brothers recognized his arrogance. Their eyes went wide, faces full of fury.

As the saying goes, “full stomachs lead to trouble-seeking.” The commander ignored their threats, flapped his wings, and scolded them vigorously from the tree with loud “smack smack” sounds.

This was sheer bliss for him: delicious white cherries to his heart’s content, and the Fat Cat brothers, usually irritating, scolded to exhaustion. For the commander, it was a perfect day.

After being scolded, the Fat Cat brothers seemed to lose interest in him—or perhaps didn’t understand what he was doing. Realizing it was futile to get cherries from the commander, they found a shady spot and lay down.

This scene greatly pleased the commander. He fluffed his wings proudly, called out twice, “Commander is awesome,” and then lost interest in the Fat Cat brothers as well.

He stayed in the tree for a while, then spotted a particularly fresh grass seed on the ground. His eyes lit up, and he jumped down, hopping over to peck at it.

At that moment, the Fat Cat brothers made their move.

Commissioner shoots the nine suns falling;
Commander leads the imperial dragons soaring.
They strike like thunder to curb fury;
They cease like rivers and seas, crystal clear.

The brothers’ extra weight didn’t hinder their explosiveness or agility. Leaping from the ground, Da Pang Cat circled around two cherry trees to block the front, while Er Pang Cat pursued from behind, trapping the commander from both sides.

The commander wasn’t easy to deal with either. From long experience with the Fat Cat brothers’ cunning, he had amassed plenty of battle strategies: “I am the Air Force! Who’s running away? I fly!”

Unfortunately, the Fat Cat brothers were smart too, and had learned to anticipate his escape routes.

Closing in during their charge, they leapt onto the cherry tree. Their limbs pushed off the trunk, propelling them into the air, creating a net that blocked the commander and pinned him to the ground.

“Ah!” a shrill cry—the commander was being bullied.

Nearby on a branch, the political commissar couldn’t bear to watch and muttered, “This idiot, the commander is an idiot!”

Luckily, the Fat Cat brothers were clever enough to know that if they really hurt the commander, Wang Bo and Eva would punish them. So they only pinned the little parrot, not harming him.

The brothers bared their fangs, continuing to growl. Terrified, the commander wagged his tail and crouched, begging for mercy.

Hoping to get some cherries from him, the brothers eventually released the commander and continued circling beneath the tree, growling.

This time, the commander behaved, sitting on a branch and listlessly plucking cherries to toss to the ground.

Eva saw this and waved, “Da Pang, Er Pang, don’t bully the commander!”

Immediately, the brothers ran over to act cute, rolling over to expose their soft bellies, purring at Eva in a supremely adorable manner.

Since becoming pregnant, Eva had been the tiger of the castle—a real mother tiger. Pregnant women always had bad tempers. She demonstrated her capriciousness to the furballs, and they had accepted her tyrannical status.

Wang Bo strolled with Eva in the cherry orchard. After eating a few cherries, Eva stopped and sadly said, “Honey, I have no appetite.”

Wang Bo’s parents were picking cherries nearby. Hearing her, his mother said, “Cherries are not very tasty raw, dear. I’ll make some dishes with them when we get home.”

Eva asked, “Are you baking a cake?”

“No,” Mother Bo shook her head. “We’ll make cherry pork and cherry meatballs. Chinese dishes—you’ll like them.”

Eva smiled brightly. “I like anything my mom and dad cook.”

“You’re such a good daughter,” Wang Bo’s parents said in unison.

Wang Bo smiled silently. Women seemed naturally skilled at vying for attention. Since becoming pregnant, Eva could be strict and playful, teasing him, Dale, and the pets—but in front of his parents, she was gentle and obedient.

His parents were very pleased. Not long ago, they almost believed in religion when a believer told them Eva was God’s gift as their daughter-in-law. After consideration, they thought it might indeed be true.

When the elementary students left, they took some cherries—just a few, no more than 10–20 per child, as their teacher had warned them not to be greedy.

This left plenty of ripe cherries in the orchard. Wang Bo and his parents picked the rest. Aside from selling some at supermarkets and street stalls, they brought some back to the castle.

White cherries were a delicacy, but if not eaten quickly, they would go to waste. They weren’t suitable for refrigeration; limited fridge space and accumulated ethylene from the fruit would quickly over-ripen and spoil the cherries.

Here, the underground kitchen the artist had suggested came in handy.

With its large space and temperature maintained at 2–4°C, it was perfect for storing white cherries. Wang Bo stored a batch there.

The cherries Wang Bo’s parents brought back were for cooking. Though Eva wanted to help despite her large belly, her parents insisted she rest.

Eva wasn’t lazy, however. She didn’t want to sit idle, so she began pickling white cherries with Dale.

Wang Bo assisted his parents in making cherry pork and cherry meatballs. Both dishes required pitting the cherries, so he carefully cut a slit in each cherry and squeezed out the pit.

The cherry pork needed fatty pork belly, specifically in the braised pork state. Father Bo personally stewed it in a pressure cooker. They were serious about these dishes, as Eva had a poor appetite and couldn’t eat greasy food—this was a way to nourish her.