Father Qin, Mother Qin and Qin Zhong were just in time for the meal to start.
“Looks like we are just in time…son-in-law,” Father Qin smiled.
“Father and mother-in-law, Old Qin, the bowls and chopsticks are here. You can take your seats,” Ye Cang greeted them.
“This is the gift I promised.” Old Qin opened the wooden box to reveal a pair of frogs. There was a mixture of black and white ones. The colors kept on changing but it was always at a 1:1 ratio, nothing more and nothing less.
“The Taichi Frogs…” Lin Liang knew how rare these were.
“Let’s place it in the mushroom forest for some time.” Old Wang received the box and put it down carefully. Lin Liang swung his feathered fan, “I’ve sent them there.”
Old Wang opened the box. They are really gone. This Brother Lin surely is strong.
Smelling the aroma from the shell, Mother Qin asked, “Do you guys always eat such luxurious food?! The food seems expensive. Although I know money isn’t a problem, these are not something you can easily find …”
“Not really. We have a feast like that once every three or five days? It’s just that we have it quite often these days. They are all homegrown.” Ye Cang’s words shocked Father Qin and the rest. Homegrown?
Father Qin took a Napa Cabbage and gave it a sniff. It was aromatic and tempting while its inner part resembled the color of polished jade. “A good dish.”
“Thank you for your compliment. I was the one who planted it,” Lil’Wang smiled. He was the one who volunteered to plant the cabbage when they distributed the work. Taking care of this plant is not too troublesome anyway.
“This celtuce is a good one too.” Mother Qin could not resist the temptation and ate its leaves. It was delicious and did not taste uncooked at all. The freshness of the celtuce gave off the feeling that even the other impurities were purified.
“I was the one who planted the celtuce. Not many know it’s good.” Cao Cao smiled with a cigar in his mouth and sneered at Liu Bei. “Unlike someone who planted maize. Don’t you think I don’t know that you wanted to sew sandals and weave straw mats instead.”
“It’s none of your business anyway. Maize is a treasure of nature. To me, a food that can be eaten and used to sew products is a holy food.” Liu Bei’s words amazed Panty Uncle. Sigh. And I went to plant potatoes. I’ve got to ask Old Brother Liu to spare me some maize fibre next time.
“The Mad Chicken, Père David’s deer and the rest will arrive soon. Please take good care of them yea. Old Huang, don’t forget that you’re the one who wanted to keep the Père David’s deer.” Ye Cang smiled and Huang Zhong replied confidently, “Of course. For the sake of tendons, I, Huang Hansheng will use all my might to take good care of it.”
“Boss, if we are responsible for taking care of the pets, what’s your job?” AV asked.
“To monitor you guys, to check the products and to cook them of course,” Ye Cang said without a thought.
AV sighed and looked at Lil’Wang, “Aren’t you going back to school?”
“I’ll go back to visit my hometown once in a while during the holidays, perhaps.” Right after Lil’Wang said that, SpyingBlade and Fang Ci looked at him in confusion. What the heck are you talking about? You, as a student, speak as if the school is your faraway hometown.
“Lil’Wang, it’s better to focus on your studies. Why don’t you transfer over?” Ye Cang poured himself a bowl of soup.
“Says the one who doesn’t care about his education…” Wu Na was speechless. There are three Kings of Skipping-Classes here. You three have never even stepped into the school this semester. Even your class teacher has to hide from you guys when she sees you three on the street.
“You can say whatever you want but you can’t eat whatever you wish. I have an A+ for Philosophy, alright? Also, I’m a member for the Five Schools Competition. Rumors say that when I get to Year 3, I’ll be the next president of the student council…” Ye Cang drank his soup calmly.
“Wow, you being the president of the student council? I bet we can expect the sun to rise from the west…” Wu Na sighed.
FrozenCloud pondered. I think the rumors are real. The Three Heroes of the East are the three most influential people in Lin Hai. Flasher Uncle’s power to gather people is the best in the world and Panty Uncle is just a rank below. Even though team leader’s might not be as strong as theirs, he is not any weaker. Among the Ten Outstanding Youths in College, he has surpassed Shen Qianyi a lot. Besides, the entire Lin Hai knows that he was the King of the Great Christmas War.
“It’s time to eat! Let’s start!” Old Wang shouted.
Everyone instantly put everything on their mind away and started cooking the fish slices.
Old Wang picked a slice, washed it in the soup for a second, dipped it into a little of the mashed Red Horseradish, and placed it into his mouth. “It surely is delicious. The aroma of the wine is everywhere. Not only is it fresh and crunchy, it also melts instantly. Compared to this fish, the Blackish-jade Thunnus is nothing.”
Old Li nodded, “It’s a pity that we don’t have meat. If only we can mash it and mix it with some flour…’
Old Marilyn picked a tumor-like mushroom slice and washed it with the fish slice. “Hmm…this mushroom has a unique taste. Apart from the original taste, it has an unknown meaty flavor. It’s similar to the back meat of Père David’s deer. The texture is similar and most importantly, it tastes like fats. If we coat this mushroom with flour and fry it to lock the water and fats inside, I bet it will make the best tempura dish ever.”
Old Qin also gave it a taste. This mushroom is indeed oily but not greasy. Usually, the first bite on things that are oily is the best and the second bite will make you feel disgusted from the grease. But this is just not like that. It gives off the feeling of guilty pleasure and yet it has no high calories. This is the best mushroom I’ve ever had. Suddenly, he saw a mini mushroom man floating on the surface of the soup like a dead body. “This is…”
Some of them surrounded it. This mushroom has limbs? Wait, and there’s a simple face below its mushroom cap. They picked one to eat. As they chewed, the delicious soup and mushroom taste exploded in their mouths. Even though it was hot, they were reluctant to open their mouths to let go of the taste. Now, that’s what I call steamboat!
Huang Zhong poured all the fish and mushroom slices into the pot and scooped them up after three seconds. As he emptied his ladle into his bowl, he started swallowing them in huge gulps like a hungry ghost. Liu, Sun, and Cao stared at him. Casting pearls before swine…
Jia Xu’s jealous look made Old Wang smile and so he handed him the fish brain. Jia Xu scooped it in and let it boil. Watching his food being cooked, a grateful smile immediately appeared on his face. Burn my baby fish brain, burn…
“I specially saved it for you guys. Fish milt.” Old Wang distributed it to Mother Qin and the other two. Qin Zhong was a big fan of fish milt. After tasting it, he gave them a thumbs up, “Indeed, all kinds of fish will be tasteless when you compare them to this… Your cooking skills are the best in China…”
Old Wang and Old Li shook their heads, “The best chef in China is the one in the Imperial Capital…”
“Thousand Treasure Pavillion?” Qin San asked.
They nodded.
“We once challenged Qian Yidao from Thousand Treasure Pavillion. Even though we didn’t lose much, the two-mark difference is a major difference to a chef…” Old Wang recalled the moments when he and Old Li confidently went and challenged their peers after they graduated. However, it was not a glorious thing that they lost miserably.
“After Qian Yidao passed away, his second son took over the business and to be honest, he is still not as good as the two of you,” Qin Zhong knew about Qian Yidao.
Old Wang and Old Li were stunned and observed a moment of silence for him.
“I thought I could still challenge him when I’m fully prepared…” Old Wang, feeling down, put down his chopsticks and Old Li did the same, “Actually, in that battle, he was more like a teacher. He taught us a lot of stuff…”
“I know. It’s like he is guiding us with the skills he has but I’m not resigned…” Old Wang ground his teeth.
“Actually, the current cooking skills you have are already on par with his in the past,” Old Marilyn said. This is the truth but I don’t think they will agree to it. Well, it’s good after all, to have a target that you can never surpass. It might even turn out to be a good thing to them. Old Qian…never have I thought that you didn’t come visit me for the one last time…
