Chapter 321: 320 Soybean Participation
Matchmaking was even more joyful than getting married oneself!
Although he had never been married.
And had never successfully made a match.
But that didn’t stop him from feeling very happy.
Jiang Feng happily took a deep breath, indeed, the air felt different when one was happy, oh wait, why did the air also have a hint of a burnt smell?
“Oh no, your porridge!” Jiang Feng exclaimed in shock.
“Oh no, my porridge!” Fang Zhuoyue hurried to salvage the situation, but it was already too late.
Mr. Fang would be revisiting the sensation of burnt-tasting porridge at noon today.
By the time Jiang Feng brought the wontons and lotus egg custard to the emergency room, Jiang Zaidi had finished his IV and was sitting on a small chair in the emergency room waiting for the results.
Since the clay pot for cooking the eight-treasure porridge was quite large, Jiang Feng planned to carry it over in two trips, first taking two servings of wontons and lotus egg custard, then going back for the eight-treasure porridge.
Seeing his lunch, Jiang Zaidi felt a hint of desolation in his heart.
In this cold hospital, only the meat-filled wontons could bring him a bit of warmth.
Jiang Shoucheng also felt desolate looking at his lunch.
This morning, he had heard from Sun that his little brother had originally come over today specifically to cook for him, preparing to make spicy dishes, but now all the water-boiled fish, water-boiled meat slices, water-boiled beef, and spicy diced chicken were gone, and he could only order takeouts like braised pork, braised fish, braised pig’s trotters, braised lamb to sustain life in such a way.
It was bad enough that he didn’t get any wontons, but there was also no lotus egg custard for him.
Jiang Shoucheng sadly swallowed the braised lamb in his mouth.
This restaurant didn’t cook the lamb well, blacklist it, and never order from them again!
Jiang Zaidi picked up a wonton and swallowed it in one big gulp.
Jiang Feng was just a beginner at making wontons, so they weren’t very well done, and Jiang Zaidi thought they were just ordinary.
He quickly finished the bowl of pure meat wontons and slurped the chicken soup from the bowl until it was all gone, then turned his attention to the lotus egg custard.
When no one was competing for food, Jiang Zaidi liked to save the tastiest for last.
As a piece of custard entered his mouth, Jiang Zaidi’s eyes lit up.
Little brother’s culinary skills had advanced again!
The custard was smooth and fragrant, melting on the tongue as if it would slide down the throat without the need to swallow.
Jiang Zaidi remembered when he was very little, before Jiang Feng was born, Mrs. Jiang once fell ill and didn’t want to eat anything but craved custard, so, Sir made it for her for several days in a row.
At that time, Jiang Zaidi was learning to cook from Sir in the countryside and also ate custard for several days. It was this feeling, this smooth taste, this sensation as if it could melt on the tip of one’s tongue. Although it wasn’t the same as the flavor he had in his childhood, the pleasure of deliciousness was exactly the same.
Having devoured a large bowl of custard, Jiang Zaidi felt that his recent hardships were not in vain.
His efforts were not wasted!
Little brother truly was the culinary master among the younger generation of the Jiang family. He must buy the apartment above his little brother’s place, no, if he was going to buy, he should buy the one right across!
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Pay in full, no, get a mortgage for a house and strive to pay off the loan within 10 years—after all, life is precious.
Jiang Zaidi wiped his mouth and saw Jiang Feng carrying a large clay pot of Eight Treasures Porridge towards him.
“De, how are you feeling now?” Jiang Feng asked as he set down the Eight Treasures Porridge.
“Pretty good,” Jiang Zaidi licked his lower lip to indicate that if he could get a serving of Four Joyful Meatballs right now, he could be discharged immediately.
“De, just wait a moment, I’ll go get you a…” Jiang Feng was about to say he’d go get a bowl when he saw the one next to Jiang Zaidi that had originally held wontons, now looking shiny and new, borrowed from the orthopedic canteen.
“Help yourself to some porridge first. I’ll go get that bowl,” Jiang Feng quickly corrected.
The moment he heard it was Eight Treasures Porridge Jiang Feng had cooked, Jiang Shoucheng’s spirits lifted. He no longer cared for the braised pork, braised fish, braised pig’s trotters, and braised lamb in front of him and followed Jiang Feng to the break room.
Thanks to the small supermarket near Benevolent Doctor that always had a discount on instant noodles with a free bowl, the ER break room was never short of bowls. Jiang Feng had been frequently visiting the ER these days, and there was even a bowl assigned just for him in the break room.
Xu and Sun were gathering in the break room, soaking instant noodles.
They had recently been tempted by the expiring discounted bagged noodles and were now tiptoeing around the expiration date, determined to finish off a dozen or so bags of instant noodles within their shelf life.
Today, Sun was having a pickled pepper beef-flavored bowl, while Xu was enjoying the old altar pickled vegetable flavor.
As soon as Jiang Feng opened the door, the smell of instant noodles hit him.
“Hey, Jiang’s here! I haven’t seen you for a while,” Xu hurried to his feet upon seeing Jiang Feng. “I was off last time you came. The salted duck eggs from Gaoyou my mother sent me have arrived. I brought them today, I’ll go get them for you.”
As he spoke, Xu went to the cabinet to fetch the salted duck eggs for Jiang Feng. A big bag of salted duck eggs held about fifty, rather heavy to lift.
“Why are you eating instant noodles?” Jiang Feng asked.
“The noodles we stocked up on are about to expire; it would be a waste not to eat them,” Xu replied, picking up his bowl to continue slurping his noodles.
“You can’t just eat instant noodles. I made some Eight Treasures Porridge; it’s out there. You guys should also go and have a couple of bowls!” Jiang Feng invited.
Xu and Sun hesitated for less than three seconds between wasting instant noodles and having some Eight Treasures Porridge before they made their decision, grabbing new bowls from the shelf to wash.
“Brother, Xu’s salted duck eggs are really delicious! We had some the other day. The yolks are runny; you poke them with chopsticks, and the oil just drips down your hand, incredibly fragrant. It’s just that the egg whites are a bit too salty. I had to drink three bowls of plain porridge with one salted duck egg,” Jiang Shoucheng said to Jiang Feng as they went out to scoop porridge, and unexpectedly ran into Zhou who was returning with takeaway fried onions.
“Dr. Zhou, I’ve cooked some Eight Treasures Porridge. Would you like to join us for some?” Jiang Feng asked.
“Ah? Thank you,” Zhou was still as reserved as ever.
Dr. Zhou went into the break room to put down his takeaway and fetch a bowl. When he came out, as if remembering something, he approached Jiang Feng and asked, “By the way, Jiang, these past few days I’ve been eating quite a bit of your cooking and I’ve felt a bit embarrassed. It just so happens that yesterday my grandpa sent me some bean ginseng he made himself. I’ll bring you a couple of bags tomorrow.”
“Bean ginseng?” Jiang Feng was puzzled before expressing his surprise, “Duchang Bean Ginseng?!”
“You know of it?” Zhou was astonished. “My grandpa is from Duchang. Every year, he makes bean ginseng, and it’s considered one of the best in their area. If you like it, I can bring you more.”
“Thank you so much,” Jiang Feng said.
A few years back, when Chen Duxiu had gone on a business trip out of town, he brought back some Duchang Bean Ginseng. Chen Xiuxiu used it to make hotpot. The texture was quite unique, and Jiang Feng and Chen Xiuxiu had always longed for it. Later, under Chen Xiuxiu’s strong insistence, Chen Duxiu made a special trip to buy the bean ginseng, but the taste and texture didn’t compare to the first time they had it.
As the saying goes, the flowers you intend to bloom may not flourish, but the willows you plant without intent may grow into shade. Jiang Feng and Chen Xiuxiu had coveted the Duchang Bean Ginseng for so long without finding a good source, and Jiang Feng had nearly forgotten about it. Now the bean ginseng was coming to him on its own.
What should I make with the bean ginseng? Hotpot, maybe?
Jiang Feng made up his mind—hotpot for tomorrow night.
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