"Wait!"
Sienna Johnson stopped Adrian Desmond. Fearing he wouldn’t know how to distinguish good bird’s nest from bad, she said, "The best bird’s nest is very clean, white, transparent, and a whole piece of the Swallow Cup. When you pick, choose this kind."
"What is a ’Swallow Cup’?"
"You don’t even know what a Swallow Cup is? Have you really never had bird’s nest before?"
When he was younger, his mother and sister often ate it, but he wouldn’t. In Adrian Desmond’s view, it was just swallow’s saliva, and he wouldn’t eat it.
"I told you, I don’t eat swallow’s saliva!"
"Fine. Rember what you just said. When I finish cooking the bird’s nest later, don’t eat any."
"Sure, you can just eat my share," he said generously, not caring about the swallow’s saliva at all. It’s disgusting; I only want to eat Sienna Johnson’s saliva, he thought.
"Pick more."
"Mrs. Desmond, you’re so clever. Can you tell where I should put them if I pick more?" Adrian Desmond gestured with his empty hands, chuckling as he looked at her.
Sienna Johnson glanced at the cliff. Realizing that Adrian would need both hands to climb later, she conceded, "That’s a good point. There really wouldn’t be anywhere to put them."
"If you want to eat bird’s nest, I can just have soone buy so. Why bother going through all this trouble?"
"What do you know? I’m sitting on a whole island of bird’s nests! If I don’t use it and instead buy from other businesses, I’d have to be out of my mind."
Adrian was speechless.
"Adrian, take off your clothes!"
Adrian Desmond paused.
"What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and take them off!"
"Mrs. Desmond, are you sure you want to do it here, on these rocks?"
Sienna Johnson glared at him. "Adrian, can’t you get sothing positive, healthy, and uplifting in that head of yours? Always thinking about *that* kind of stuff. I despise you!"
"All that’s in my head is you... just without clothes. Haha..."
Sienna Johnson kicked his shin. "I’m not wasting any more words on you! Just get undressed!" she said fiercely.
Sixth Master cooperated and was about to take off his pants when Sienna Johnson quickly stopped him. "Not your pants, your shirt! I need it to hold the bird’s nests. If you use your pants, how could we possibly eat them?"
"So, it’s ’thanks for the fun, now get lost,’ is it? Mrs. Desmond, you really can’t kick that habit. When you were giving oral sex, you acted like you were savoring a divine delicacy. I didn’t see you thinking I was dirty then."
"Adrian!" Sienna Johnson’s face flushed red. She scread, scaring away a flock of swiftlets.
"Alright, alright, don’t be angry. I’ll take it off."
Sienna Johnson remained silent, still flustered.
"Mrs. Desmond, help take it off."
This man!
Sienna Johnson walked over and, focusing on the task, unbuttoned his shirt one by one, helping him remove it. Soon, his muscular upper body was exposed.
Adrian Desmond’s body was covered in nurous scars. Sienna Johnson’s gaze fell upon them, and she gently touched his chest, where a particularly vicious-looking scar was located in a dangerous spot. Adrian had told her he’d received that near-fatal injury during an escape; at the ti, he’d thought he was going to die.
"Don’t touch it, that tickles."
"After we’ve gathered the bird’s nests, you should eat so too. It’s good for nourishing your body and enhancing your beauty."
"Then you should eat more of it."
"Are you implying I’m not beautiful enough?"
She raised an eyebrow, her eyes glinting with a warning. If his answer doesn’t please , I’ll beat him up, Sienna Johnson thought.
This man, his mouth is getting more and more outrageous!
"Mrs. Desmond, since when did you beco so narcissistic?"
"I learned it from Sixth Master."
Sienna Johnson took off her straw hat and wrapped Adrian’s shirt around it. Then, she tied the two sleeves diagonally across Adrian’s body. This created a makeshift basket, which would also prevent the Swallow Cups from being crushed.
"Go on, pick lots for . I’m craving bird’s nest."
"Alright, alright, stop nagging."
Adrian Desmond moved nimbly, making a few leaps across the rocks until he reached the cliff edge. Sienna Johnson watched, her heart in her throat, and shouted, "Adrian, be careful!"
"Got it."
Adrian climbed with his bare hands, his movents agile. He followed Sienna’s instructions, selecting the bird’s nests. There were so many that the shirt-wrapped hat quickly filled. Realizing he couldn’t fit any more if he continued picking, he descended the cliff.
Adrian strode over to Sienna and handed her the collected bird’s nests. "Here you go!"
Sienna hugged the bundle as if it were a treasure chest, her eyes curving into crescents as she bead. Seeing her so happy, Adrian couldn’t help but smile too.
This woman, he thought. She’s so hard to please, yet so easy to please. All I did was pick so worthless bird’s nests for her, and she’s this overjoyed.
"Is that enough? If not, I’ll go pick more."
"It’s enough, more than enough! This will last us a whole month."
"This little bit can last a month?"
"This is bird’s nest; it’s very expensive! Of course, we only eat a small bowl each ti. Did you think we’d eat it like rice?"
"If you like it that much, we can eat it like rice. Next ti, I’ll bring a bigger bag to gather them for you." If I’d known she liked this stuff so much, I would’ve co to pick it long ago, he thought.
"Thank you." Sienna, overjoyed, leaned in and kissed Adrian on the cheek.
Adrian looked at her in surprise. I didn’t expect to get this kind of reward just for picking so bird’s nests, he mused. Last ti, I bought her a huge diamond at an auction, and even then, I didn’t see her this happy.
"Does this an if I pick bird’s nests, you’ll kiss ?"
"Even if you don’t pick bird’s nests, I still like kissing you."
Adrian smirked. "Then kiss whenever you want. Anyti, anywhere, it’s always okay with ."
"But right now, I want to eat bird’s nest."
Swallow’s saliva!
「Later」
Raw bird’s nest cannot be eaten directly after picking. It needs to be processed, mainly to remove feathers and impurities. However, the ones Adrian had picked were perfect: white, transparent, and virtually free of any such contaminants.
They soaked the Swallow Cups in cold water for 15 minutes to soften them.
Sienna added spring water, red dates, cored lotus seeds, and rock sugar, then boiled a large potful so everyone could have a bowl.
Even back in Sileria City, they had never eaten bird’s nest so extravagantly.
Pauline Briggs and the Old Madam, who were accustod to such delicacies, praised it profusely after just one bite.
"This bird’s nest is truly excellent," the Old Madam praised.
Pauline Briggs also comnted, "It tastes even better than the Blood Swallow nest I’ve had before. We should take a good quantity back with us when we return to Sileria City. Dostically, I’m afraid you couldn’t buy bird’s nest of this quality even if you had the money."
"So, you both think it’s good?" Sienna Johnson asked, a spark in her eyes.
Sienna Johnson had grown up poor, so she couldn’t really distinguish good bird’s nest from bad. To her, its texture was like jelly, or perhaps more like a thin, starchy soup. In Adrian’s eyes, it was simply swallow’s saliva soup, so naturally, he wouldn’t eat it.
But what Sienna Johnson saw was a business opportunity! Money!
"Yes, it’s excellent. It truly is difficult to find bird’s nest of this quality back ho," the Old Madam affird.
Sienna Johnson felt a familiar itch in her heart. To be sitting on a gold mine and not exploit it? That’s just not my style, she thought.
"Grandma, what do you think about us building a bird’s nest processing factory here?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers