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Chapter 89 - 88 Sugar

Pan Ling, fuming, went to find the vegetable stall owner and came back with another, even larger radish that was also a bit moldy.

Jiang Feng:…

Well, that vendor really has a knack for swindling people relentlessly, a rare sight indeed. Jiang Feng asked Pan Ling to take him to the vegetable stall, and they went to confront the vendor together.

“Little girl, why are you back again? Didn’t I give you a bigger radish without charging you extra when you complained about the freshness? You agreed to it just then, didn’t you?” The stall owner was a middle-aged uncle in his forties or fifties, blaring silly videos on his phone with the speaker on. Seeing Pan Ling come back, he was clearly irritated.

Realizing that this vendor was new and he hadn’t seen him before, Jiang Feng said, “Sir, you’re being a bit unjust this time. Swindling someone once and being caught, then attempting to swindle them again.”

“What are you talking about, young man?” The vendor stood up, trying to intimidate Jiang Feng with his mere 180-pound frame.

Jiang Feng was not just anybody; a mere 180-pound strongman was nothing in his eyes. He took out the radish and placed it on the stall: “This radish is moldy too. You see how to deal with it.”

The vendor fell silent.

“Either refund the money or exchange it. My classmate didn’t know she got ripped off. If she had already taken it home, she would have had to accept it, but since you’ve been caught doing something so underhanded on the spot, you also have to accept it,” said Jiang Feng.

“Alright, alright, if you’re dissatisfied, then you’re dissatisfied. You’re making a fuss about the radish being moldy. You should accumulate some virtue with your words at your young age. If you want to exchange it, exchange it yourself,” the vendor shouted impatiently. “Don’t come back a third time. Are you thinking I’m too good-natured to exploit?”

Pan Ling was too angry to let it go and wanted to quarrel with the vendor but was stopped by Jiang Feng.

They were just there to exchange the radish; there was no need to argue over such a small matter.

Among the few radishes on the stall, Jiang Feng picked through them, finding only two good ones. The rest were more or less moldy. He glanced at the unfriendly-faced vendor and mentally condemned the vegetable stall.

Without a diamond drill, it dared to undertake the work of swindling customers with ceramics; this vegetable stall wouldn’t last long.

After exchanging the radish, Jiang Feng went to the meat stall to buy some pork.

He had previously bought carrots and, passing by a nearby vegetable stall, saw some decent-looking green peppers, so he bought a few. Now he headed to a meat stall to buy a couple of ounces of pork loin to stir-fry with green peppers and made some stir-fried carrots as well. The three friends would enjoy the hot pot together blissfully.

After visiting several meat stalls, either the lean loin meat was sold out, or the cuts of meat were really poor. Left with no choice, Jiang Feng had to settle for a piece of pork belly to take home.

Chen Xiuxiu enjoyed eating the pork belly stir-fried with hot peppers. In her words, the alternation of fat and lean meat combined with the spiciness made for a particularly satisfying chew.

Once they finished their shopping, from the vegetable stalls to the meat stalls, Chen Xiuxiu was still picking out meatballs by the freezer.

“Pan Pan, you’re finally here. Do you think we should get the mushroom balls or the Beef Balls? And what about these crab sticks and fish sticks, not to mention the purple potato balls, should I buy them? For the lamb, should I get the box that’s 48 yuan or the one that’s 58 yuan?” Pan Ling crept up behind Chen Xiuxiu and poked her, but without turning around, Chen Xiuxiu continued examining the meatballs in the freezer.

“I’d advise against buying their Beef Balls,” said Jiang Feng. The mushroom balls came in bagged packaging from a well-known brand, so they probably wouldn’t taste too bad, but the Beef Balls seemed to be made by the store themselves, and he didn’t have much faith in their quality.

Chen Xiuxiu turned around to see Jiang Feng also holding a few bags of vegetables: “Weren’t you out of town? Are Uncle and Auntie back with you?”

“I came back alone. Let’s have dinner together tonight, at my place. I’ll cook us a couple more dishes,” Jiang Feng stepped closer to look at the meatballs in the freezer. They were all the same, all frozen and not very fresh. “These meatballs are all the same; just pick a few at random. The 48 yuan and 58 yuan lamb meat from this store are identical. There’s another store up front where they sell fresh lamb slices. We can check it out in a bit to see if there’s any left.”

“Sure, you go ahead and pick,” said Chen Xiuxiu, who had great trust in Jiang Feng’s skill in selecting ingredients.

Jiang Feng chose a few of each type of meatbail, then led them to a shop in the corner to buy two boxes of lamb. The three friends carried several bags of groceries home.

Jiang Feng had already stayed one night at home with Jiang Weiming. Apart from the bedroom and kitchen, which they did not clean, there was a lot of dust accumulated elsewhere over the dozen or so days they had been away.

Jiang Feng went to the kitchen to prepare the groceries while Chen Xiuxiu and Pan Ling willingly helped mop the floors.

After a busy session, Jiang Feng had two dishes cooked and the pot for hot pot was boiling on the table. The pot’s base was a cheap 19.9 yuan hot pot base, which essentially lost its flavor once boiled and mixed with other ingredients, which is why Chen Xiuxiu specifically bought two packs, just in case.

The three friends gathered around the hot pot, watching the bubbles churning inside the pot and enjoying the pleasant atmosphere.

“Eh, how come you stir-fried with pork belly today? You always complain about it being too fatty,” Chen Xiuxiu exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the pepper-fried pork.

“There was only pork belly available,” replied Jiang Feng.

Chen Xiuxiu took a chopstickful to taste.

[Ding, you’ve earned 1 experience point.]

Jiang Feng: ???

“It’s too fatty; it doesn’t taste as good as when it’s stir-fried with lean meat,” added Chen Xiuxiu, frowning.

Jiang Feng:…

Heh, fickle woman.

You didn’t say that a few years ago.

“Fat? I think it should be okay, I just saw Jiang Feng seemed to have cut off quite a bit of the fat. Let me try.” Pan Ling reached out with her chopsticks.

[Ding, you have gained 377 experience points.]

Jiang Feng: !!!

His look at Pan Ling suddenly changed.

She was not just Chen Xiuxiu’s best friend, not just a friend on the surface, Pan Ling was simply an angel, the most generous person Jiang Feng had met so far in giving out experience points!

“It’s delicious, super delicious! This is the best spicy pork stir-fry I’ve ever had!” Pan Ling praised without thinking, “It tastes way better than what my mom cooks, and even better than our school cafeteria!”

“Jiang Feng, did you deep-fry this meat?” Pan Ling asked curiously, “How did you do it? Teach me, is there a secret recipe or something? I’ll go tell my mom, hercookingis really bad!”

“If you think your mom’s cooking is bad, why don’t you cook yourself? But yeah, your mom’s cooking is really not good,” Chen Xiuxiu remarked sarcastically.

“It was actually decent a few years ago, but these past few years she’s been reading all sorts of rubbish articles on WeChat, talking about how using too much salt, soy sauce, and seasoning is bad for health. Every time she cooks, she almost wants to weigh the salt and soy sauce on a scale first—the taste… sigh!” Pan Ling sighed deeply, filled with bitterness and tears.

“Jiang Feng has been learning to cook since he was a child; his family runs a restaurant, you know that. Ah, that’s right, you haven’t eaten in their restaurant before, have you? Uncle Jiang’s cooking is even more delicious than his,” Chen Xiuxiu bluntly revealed Jiang Feng’s background.

Jiang Feng:…

Please remove that ‘even more.’

“My mom doesn’t let me eat outside, she says it’s not clean. Haven’t you seen that I always eat with you guys at the school cafeteria in the evening?” Pan Ling said with a wry face, “She only goes on business trips a few days a year, and during that time, I have to seize the chance to eat fried chicken. Who has time to go to Jiang Feng’s family restaurant?” Pan Ling said as she grabbed another piece of meat.

[Ding, you have gained 392 experience points.]

Jiang Feng looked at Pan Ling, feeling as though she was surrounded by a holy light.

Chen Xiuxiu took a bite of a carrot.

[Ding, you have gained 47 experience points.]

“Your stir-fried carrot has improved a lot since the summer,” Chen Xiuxiu said, “I remember before I left, you made me that tomato and egg stir-fry, you put so much salt it almost killed me.”

Jiang Feng:…

I’m begging you, stop talking, don’t bring up the dark history.

“But why did you add sugar when you stir-fried the carrot?” Chen Xiuxiu asked.

Jiang Feng was stunned.

He had indeed added sugar, maybe just sprinkled a dozen granules in because he was distracted at the time. The sugar and salt jars were placed side by side, and he mistook the sugar for salt. But he quickly realized it and a slight shake of his hand had dropped some into the pan.

Chen Xiuxiu actually tasted it.

“Do you… think it’s sweet?” Jiang Feng was astonished.

“It’s not particularly sweet, but I tasted the flavor of white sugar. I just don’t understand why you would put sugar in a stir-fried carrot. Is this a common practice in Alan City?” Chen Xiuxiu asked curiously.

Jiang Feng was truly dumbfounded by her sense of taste.

So the legendary tongue really existed.

He knew Chen Xiuxiu had a sensitive palate; when they went to eat at street stalls, whether the vendor had added MSG and how much they’d put in, she could tell with just a taste. She was the ultimate street stall lightning rod.

But Jiang Feng had not realized Chen Xiuxiu’s taste buds were so incredibly sensitive.

At that moment, Jiang Feng really felt like channeling Sir’s tone and patting Chen Xiuxiu on the shoulder saying—

You’re a damned waste not becoming a chef!