Chapter 864: Chapter 863: Fortune Endures (Thanks to ‘ヒロハル’ for the Alliance Reward)
Ti rewinds to ten minutes ago.
“Reduce the salt by one-third, cut the amount of green onions in half, garlic… well, peeled a whole extra clove, as for the diced mushrooms, fine, follow his advice and just put in a few cloves…”
Liu Ying stood on a stool, only then could she see the large cast-iron pot on the stove at eye level.
The pot was covered, and the simring of the rich broth was nearing completion.
Liu Lan and her son Liu Jing watched from a bit farther away.
As for Liu Feng, he kept wiping his sweat, occasionally looking at his enigmatic younger sister, trying to find a good mont to tell her about the origins of Demon King Xia.
“Done!”
Liu Ying suddenly said, her voice clear and crisp, as she raised the pot lid without hesitation.
Whoosh—
White mist surged out, enveloping the little girl on the stool in a cloud.
A mont later, two bowls of ran with identical seasonings, ingredients, and shockingly consistent portions were set on the dining table.
“Slling the aroma, there’s seemingly no difference – damn, was I fooled? I really shouldn’t have listened to soone’s seemingly earnest advice, what kind of person does that!” Liu Ying muttered slightly frantically, then returned to her earlier aggressive deanor. Liu Feng, seeing his sister’s fierce look, broke out in a waterfall of sweat.
“Hmm!”
“Nevermind, I’ll have to taste them to be satisfied!”
Recalling Xia Yu’s advice to try them herself before he left, Liu Ying bit her lip in anguish, picked up the spoon from the table, and instead of eating the noodles, scooped up just a ladle of the broth, letting the white spoon disappear between her cherry-colored lips.
Gulp.
This was her first bowl of ran, cooked according to her own preferences, as expected, when the broth entered her mouth, the “treasure” ingredients in the bowl released an elegant flavor, like the aroma of aged wine, and Liu Ying was imdiately entranced, “Humph, I knew sothing must have gone wrong, how could I reap failure from a new dish I spent a month creating in earnest!”
She opened her eyes again, looking at the second bowl of ran, the calm surface of the broth reflecting Liu Ying’s confident and assertive young face, “Let’s see what that guy has to justify his pointers——”
The spoon broke the still water surface.
Hmm?
Just as Liu Ying was about to scoop up a spoonful of broth, she suddenly froze.
In the bowl, the water glimred.
A completely different flavor, ethereal, and transcendent as if leaked from an immortal palace, and Liu Ying heard her stomach’s fierce protest.
“This flavor, it’s off!”
Liu Ying exclaid.
She looked down carefully at the food in the bowl, a glimpse of a skirt’s shadow fleetingly appeared within the shimring light.
Unable to resist, she rubbed her eyes, her pink mouth opening wide in exaggeration.
Was that my “treasure”? Liu Ying thought, recognizing a faint familiarity with the silhouetted skirt, her face scrunching up, her large eyes flickering with struggle.
After a while.
A voice seed to echo in her head:
“Do you wish to know what control is?”
“I want to know!”
Finally, Liu Ying cast aside all hesitation, drank the second mouthful of broth.
Again, a shadow of a skirt erged in her vision.
Except this ti, the shadow seed even more real, accompanied by wisps of smoke emanating from an immortal realm, and Liu Ying felt as though her petite body was pierced by an ethereal strike, she stood on the clouds, a goddess in a snow-white long skirt danced gracefully nearby.
She stared dumbstruck, completely imrsed in this “ethereal” taste, sinking deeply.
…
Footsteps approached the main hall from the back kitchen.
Liu Ying’s steps were a bit hurried, her breath chaotic, a layer of sweat remaining on her forehead, as she stood in front of Xia Yu.
Xia Yu was seated, she was standing, their eyes eting on the sa level.
Seeing the lingering shock in Liu Ying’s eyes, along with an intense curiosity, Xia Yu was secretly pleased.
Ha.
A promising child indeed, no, it should be called the three virtues of a loli.
No no…
Damn it, all thanks to Aunt Qing talking about being a loli-con!
Xia Yu quickly retracted his wandering thoughts and glared at Zhu Qing, who, completely unaware of what happened, returned an innocent look as if to say she did nothing wrong.
“So, can you explain, what kind of ‘control’ did you taste? Share your understanding.” Xia Yu leisurely inquired.
Liu Ying, with sweat on her forehead and her pale moon-colored cross-collared top exposing a neck beaded with newly perspired sweat.
Her clenched little fists kept sweating, her heart pounding furiously, Liu Ying felt more nervous than ever, after all, she was only a twelve or thirteen-year-old child, not very adept at controlling her emotions. Thus, with a trembling voice that suddenly softened, she foolishly asked: “Did…did you use magic on ?”
Xia Yu chuckled and said: “Stop!”
“Don’t talk mysticism, in the kitchen, I was right in front of you, never touched the ingredients, let alone you, how could I cast a spell?”
“How is that possible!”
Liu Ying shouted, “It was rely altering the seasoning amounts, why with the sa ingredients, and ran made by my own hands, why were the two bowls not on the sa dinsional plane?”
“And so, is that your tasting insight? Just sentintal words?” Xia Yu’s smile remained unchanged, yet a faint chill in his eyes made Liu Ying acutely aware.
An inexplicable panic surged up in her heart.
An unexplainable sixth sense told Liu Ying she must answer calmly and cautiously; else a door would close firmly before her eyes.
The scenery beyond that door was splendid and captivating.
“Whew——”
Near Xia Yu, Liu Ying took deep breaths, the sweat on her forehead and within her collar finally started to stop.
Geniuses always stand at heights, possessing traits ordinary people lack.
After about a minute, Liu Ying cald down completely, biting her lip, pondering for words, she slowly articulated: “Changing seasoning amounts? Wait, you’re trying to tell that control isn’t just expressed in cooking temperature, but also through seasonings or spices? Oh, I think I get it, control equates to mastery, the way you tweak the seasonings like a formula to build a frawork and harness it, hence the treasures in the bowl are fully drawn out in characteristics and flavor…”
“That’s right, this type of control, seemingly over seasonings, indirectly manages and harnesses the ingredients!”
Hearing this, Xia Yu and Zhu Qing exchanged a look.
If she kept speaking, the conversation would beco nonsense, so Xia Yu interrupted with a wave: “Very good!”
He blinked, “The treasure you put in the bowl is the ‘Treasure Cover Mushroom’, right?”
Liu Ying frowned, looking like she was about to cry, pouted and murmured: “So you knew all along…”
“Was the ran recipe your own creation or inspired by sothing else?” Xia Yu subtly asked, his eyes flashing brilliantly.
Feeling as if her intelligence was questioned, Liu Ying bristled and yelled sharply: “This is my own recipe! My original creation!”
Hearing this, Xia Yu couldn’t help but sigh.
Destiny?
Fate?
No doubt about it, the treasure Liu Ying used in her bowl was the “Treasure Cover Mushroom”, also known as “Long-skirt Bamboo Mushroom”, the main ingredient of the ancient Chinese recipe “Treasure Cover Mushroom Noodles”.
It’s unimaginable that Liu Ying independently incorporated the “Treasure Cover Mushroom” in her bowl, cooking ran with a recipe closely resembling the ancient one, without any inspirational reference.
As it happens, the original creator of the “Treasure Cover Mushroom Noodles” recipe was Liu Maoxing!
Now Liu Ying, with her dish closely approximating the ancient recipe, proves her brilliance, no less inferior to any contemporary genius…
Thinking of this, Xia Yu montarily lost focus:
“So this is what is called luck.”
“The Liu lineage truly refuses to fade into obscurity at dusk.”
He rubbed his face vigorously.
Damn fate, it’s remarkable how a little girl not even at the top level could create sothing akin to an ancient recipe, Xia Yu couldn’t help but imagine wildly, could it be Liu Maoxing visits his descendants in dreams to pass on knowledge?
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