Chapter 177: You Have to Work to Provide for Yourself
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du had bought some beef yesterday. Angus beef and Limousin beef were everywhere in American supermarkets. These kinds of meat looked good and generous, but the taste was average.
What he bought was Hereford Beef, which was more tender than Angus Beef. Of course, the price was also higher.
When it came to food, Li Du was not stingy. In fact, if it weren’t because the ordinary supermarket didn’t have Blonde d’Aquitaine beef, he would have bought that instead.
He repeatedly washed the beef to wash off any excess blood. After that, all that was left to do was to braise them in the cooker. He didn’t add a lot of spices, just some white wine and a bunch of onions.
As the meat was braised, he started thinking about the things that just happened. The bug had flown into Crispy Noodles’s head, just like the first time it went into Ah Meow’s head.
He gestured to Crispy Noodles to come over, and that little coatio immediately, and clumsily, ran over. It raised its head and looked at him with wide eyes, like a well-behaved baby.
It seemed more obedient than most other trained cats and dogs. The level of training a raccoon could reach was lower than cats and dogs, and their brains were also less developed. They should not have been able to understand human gestures.
Clearly, after the flying bug went into Crispy Noodles’s head, it caused some kind of change in it, making it smarter.
Li Du could not understand the criteria for the flying bug to choose the animals. Could it be that they had to be his pets for it to work?
That couldn’t explain things properly, as he had already been taking care of Ah Meow for some time when the bug flew in its head, but the bug entered Crispy Noodles’s head on their first meeting.
He shook his head and threw those questions to the back of his mind, and decided to first focus on making dinner.
The meat was braised; he prepared some mashed garlic, peanut sauce, leek sauce and a few other dipping sauces. The hand-rolled meat with these dipping sauces were the best combinations.
In addition, he brought out some celery and washed it with water. After a rinse with cold water, he added ground peanuts and almonds, and in soy sauce, vinegar, and some oil. A plate of cold salad was done.
Crispy Noodles absentmindedly sat on the ground to watch him work. Li Du guessed that it had not eaten anything yet, so it felt hungry.
The coati was a type of nocturnal animal; in the day, it would sleep, and in the night, it would begin foraging for food.
Li Du passed some peanuts to it, and Crispy Noodles grabbed them like a monkey with its front paw. Its paw had five toes, each of them like a human’s thumb, able to bend. The peanuts were grabbed by these toes.
Gripping onto the peanuts, it swiftly climbed onto the table, and seeing that there was water in a bowl, it reached out its paws and washed the peanuts.
Li Du knew how raccoons got their popularity. A long time ago, people had discovered that when they were eating, they would use water to wash their food.
For some time, experts had thought that the reason why raccoons did that was that they couldn’t secrete much saliva, and couldn’t swallow their food well.
They later discovered that they had saliva glands that worked well, and that even if it was food like dried nuts, they could eat them properly.
Then, experts thought, that the reason they washed their food was a habit they acquired from catching prawns at river banks. Some even thought that raccoons were not washing things, but instead were still looking for fish and prawns in the water.
The raccoon was omnivorous, liking both fruits and vegetables, as well as fish, prawns and insects.
But Li Du felt that that explanation didn’t add up. Crispy Noodles was very seriously washing its food, and even the expression on its face was focused on the task.
After washing the peanuts, Crispy Noodles stuffed them into its mouth and munched happily away.
Having made the tea and cooked the meat, Li Du brought the meat out to cool down. He then shouted to Rose that dinner was ready.
There was a full-length window beside the dining room. With just a slight turn of the neck, one could see the other houses outside, and that tonight it was very dark out. Rose grabbed a piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth; her eyes had turned into crescent moons from happiness.
Even though it was a new moon that night, Li Du still felt like moonlight was shining on him.
“It’s really good,” Rose said happily as she wolfed down the food.
Li Du brought a piece of meat dipped in sauce and placed it on her plate. He said with a slight smile, “If it’s good, then eat more.”
Seeing that action, Rose jerked her head up and looked at him with an odd expression.
Li Du jumped in surprise, “What? Let’s talk things out—don’t take out your gun!”
Rose giggled and said, “Nothing, let’s eat—here, you start eating too.”
As the braised meat didn’t have many condiments added to it, it retained its pure, meaty fragrance. Ah Meow swiped a piece, and ate happily with its little paws.
Li Du gave Crispy Noodles a piece as well, and it fumbled around with the piece of meat, flustered.
“What’s it doing?” Rose asked.
Li Du brought a bowl of water, and Crispy Noodles placed the meat in it and washed it. Then, it slowly ate the food.
The female cop was stunned. “This little bear is sure hygienic.”
“That’s a raccoon,” Li Du said with a smile.
Hearing their conversation, Ah Meow stopped eating the meat. It stared at Crispy Noodles for a while, and then it also placed the meat into the bowl, doused it twice with its paws, and then continued eating it.
Rose’s jaws were about to fall to the floor. “My God! My God! Did your cat understand what we said or what? Or is it learning from the raccoon?”
“Obviously, it’s learning from Crispy Noodles,” Li Du hastily tried to explain.
Rose stopped caring about it, and continued eating the meat.
It was pouring outside. Watching the night rain, eating fragrant beef, sipping freshly-brewed tea: the combination was luxurious.
The bug made Crispy Noodles much smarter, which saved the trouble of having to teach it where to do its business. From that night on, Crispy Noodles understood that it needed to go to the litter box to poop.
Ah Meow was unhappy, so Li Du had to cuddle it to sleep, letting it feel that it was still the favorite.
July began with heavy rain that fell for a whole night. After the passing of the rain, the skies seemed bluer, the quality of the air clearer, and the temperature had dropped.
One morning, Li Du brought the two little ones to Hans, who was working in his garage.
Godzilla, Stephen, and Hannah were helping out, their faces smeared with grime.
Li Du asked, “What are you guys doing?”
Hans said, “After organizing the parts and categorizing them, I’m planning to assemble a few bikes—this will sell better than just the parts.”
“Can it work?” Li Du felt that assembling a motorcycle with second-hand parts wasn’t any easier than building one from scratch.
Hans nodded and said, “Sure. Look, the parts are all here.”
“See, this is the engine and its components: the crankshaft, cylinder, pistons, connecting rods, fuel tank, fuel pump, carburetor…
“These are the parts for the transmission, the clutch, accelerator, brakes, leather transmission accessories…
“Also the electronics, the tachometer, tires, fork shock absorbers, lock alarm, safety fuselage, rear mirrors…
“Anyway, it’s all here!”
