Reborn – Super Chef – Chapter 55 – Meet the Mother in Law So Soon?
The smell of the grilled fish was blown by the wind into all four directions. It was actually very easy to coax out the fragrance of grilled fish, however, Ye Chui’s grilled fish brought with it an element of aromatic spices that blended perfectly with fresh smell of the fish’s flesh. Even lovers, hidden under trees and behind bushes did not have the mood to murmur sweet nothings to each other any more. Quite a number of people started converged onto the source of this aromatic scent.
This was the seductive power of gourmet food. The tourists gathered at the top of the hill could still resist the smell of cooking done by ordinary people with their ordinary technique. However, though the equipments used by Ye Chui was simple to the point of being crude, his technique was the real thing. In the end, none could resist.
At this point, why would Wang Shiyu waste her time talking to Zhao Hongyu? Hugging the bottle of butterflies, she skipped her way to where Ye Chui was. Zhao Hongyu was left standing there like an idiot, completely forgotten what Wang Shiyu had conned him into doing. He breathed in deeply, and had to swallow hard, “Just how was this fish grilled? So fragrant, ah…”
However, Zhao Hongyu was not one to admit defeat so easily. While on the bus, he had disdainfully told Ye Chui that he wished to compare Ye Chui’s grilled fish against the feast he had brought up to see which was better. Seeing his comrades eyeing Ye Chui’s little spot, he quickly called a few of his good friends over. “It’s almost lunch time now, this time I’ve brought loads of good things to eat. They are all popular products from my dad’s canteen. Definitely loads better than what he’s making over there.”
By making this declaration, Zhao Hongyu clearly intended to treat this as a competition with Ye Chui. He placed a picnic blanket just a few dozen meters away from Ye Chui, sat down and began taking out vacuum sealed boxes and popped open each one. This act attracted the attention of more than a few people. There were: braised eggplant[1], spiced beef[2], stir fried celery with firm tofu[3], stir fried Chinese lettuce with black fungus [4], simmered mushrooms with green veggies[5], mabo tofu[6]…
One after another, the dishes filled up the picnic blanket. It was curious how he managed to pack so much into his backpack. At first glance, the dishes looked like glittering jewels and packed quite an attraction to the eye. Zhao Hongyu quickly called everyone to sit down, even handed out chopsticks to them. “There’s no need to be so modest, come and sit down, ba. I still have steamed buns[7] and steamed bread[8] in my backpack. Everyone please sit down and enjoy yourself..”
Seeing their class monitor so enthusiastic, those who regularly hung out with Zhao Hongyu felt it hard to decline, so they sat down in a circle around the picnic blanket. These were all the normal dishes from the canteen, however, for some reason there’s a big difference in terms of taste today. To put it briefly, the food that were light and tasty now tasted heavy and greasy.
Under normal circumstances, being able to eat such food during a spring outing would produce a super blessed feeling. Especially after a long hike, people would be hungry and would happily gorge on these food. However, after inhaling Ye Chui’s shockingly alluring grilled fish, and having to eat these heavy food, everyone suddenly had difficulty swallowing — if you had to eat ‘hollow heads’[9] while inhaling the scent of roasting meat, can you really continue eating?
A fat carp[10] had been roasting over charcoal fire for about seven to eight minutes, it’s skin all golden brown. Ye Chui took out some cumin, and lightly sprinkled it over the fish, taking it’s tastiness level up another notch.
How could Lin Wei, the gluttonous little cat, have any more interest in catching crabs? She squatted next to Ye Chui, eyes fixed onto the grilled fish anxiously waiting for the moment to eat. She wouldn’t stop asking, “Ye Chui, Ye Chui, is it done yet?”
“Just a little longer,” Ye Chui felt very amused as he replied, thinking back to that day on Feng Ye hill where they cooked beggar’s chicken and Lin Wei’s impatient manner.
They were encircled by tourists who had been lured in by the smell. Each of them eyeing Ye Chui as he fiddled with the fish. A middle aged man actually came forward with a smile and a he-he laugh as he asked, “Little brother, do you sell this fish? I will buy it from you, cash.”
“Apologies, we’re actually here for a picnic, not selling.” said Ye Chui with a smile as he shook his head.
“You just name a price, I promise I’ll pay up.” the man refused to give up as he persisted.
“Really not selling.” Ye Chui felt himself sweating a little. He really did not realize how grilling a fish could turn into an actual circus. However, that was unsurprising, these were people who had not had meat for over 80 years, and have not build up against a resistance against the smell of grilled fish, what more against fish grilled by super chef Ye Chui? Even some delicate and reserved looking girls looked like they really wanted to reach out and grab the fish for themselves.
There were also people who, after studying Ye Chui’s grilling technique, decided that it wasn’t anything special or difficult. They had rushed off to the shop to buy various tools for fishing and cooking, making the shop owner really happy. However, for some reason their fish never quite achieve the fragrance of Ye Chui’s level, but it wasn’t bad either.
For a time, a lovely aroma floated across Ma Lan Hills, oh, and intersperse with the smell of accidentally burnt flesh…
“It’s done!” Ye Chui was quickly done with the first fish.
Lin Wei was already holding plate in her hand taken out from Ye Chui’s backpack, Wang Shiyu was also not far behind. Dumping the bottle of butterflies to the side, a little white hand reached out to grabbed the fish. However, she was thwarted by Lin Wei who smilingly stuffed a plate into those grabbing hands.
While they were fooling around, Ye Chui had used a knife to cut open the grilled fish, exposing the tender flesh under the charred skin. Fragrant and spicy, fresh and tasty fish was quickly cut into small pieces and split across several plates. He also called An Jing over to come and eat.
Lin Wei could not wait to take the first bite. Delicious flesh split into juicy freshness, leaving her speechless with happiness. Her smile when she looked at Ye Chui had turned her eyes into crescents — Ye Chui had the feeling that, if were to make his love confession now, this little sister would definitely agree…
A few close acquaintances of An Jing came one after another, An Jing turned awkward eyes at Ye Chui.
Ye Chui smiled, and nodded, “Let’s eat together, ba.”
When these words came, they obeyed like it was an imperial decree. Each immediately sat down. An Jing had always been the quiet sort, while her relationship with people had always been not bad, a pretty girl would always be the envy of other girls. However, who wanted to think that deeply right now? They all wish to be her best friend, if only because An Jing has an older brother who could make such delicious food…
The male students were very industrious and busied themselves catching fish, prawns and crabs. For that moment, it seemed that Ye Chui had become the main focus of this class of students. A few, clearly older faces, also mixed in with the crowd and shamelessly pretended to be Year 1 students from Class Three.
With this, the little crowd with Zhao Hongyu suddenly became restless. .
“An Jing’s brother is letting every eat his grilled fish, ah.” this student craned up his neck to stare at the crowd, he glanced at this comrades. “What are we waiting for?”
“Let’s go!” someone actually set down their chopsticks.
Seeing a few of his friends standing up to leave, Zhao Hongyu quickly called out, “Aih, what’s so great about grilled fish? Aren’t there still a lot of dishes here, why aren’t you eating?”
“Sorry, these are pretty hard to swallow…” someone said as he breathed in deeply, grilled fish smells really delicious, ah.
“You guys have no loyalty at all!” Zhao Hongyu was getting angry now. “If you really go over there, then our friendship is over!”
Hearing this from Zhao Hongyu, the few friends were shocked. They exchanged looks with each other, and made a decision. Together, they said, “If it’s over, then it’s over, ba.”
Having said this, they disappeared like a wisp of smoke, running towards Ye Chui’s side.
Zhao Hongyu, “… …”
Face filling with resentment, he stabbed at the dish of celery and firm in a temper, and threw some of it into his mouth and chewed grimly. Then, unable to help himself, he sadly said, “This really is hard to eat…”
Ever since Ma Lan Hills had started breeding fish, prawns and crabs to lure in tourists, today was the first time that this activity received such attention. Ye Chui spent his time busy grilling fish, prawns and crabs and did not even get the chance to eat any.
At this point, a mouthful of fragrant fish was sent next to his mouth. It was Lin Wei who had picked up the fish flesh with her chopsticks to feed him.
Ye Chui smiled, and ate the fish. He noticed at the corner of Lin Wei’s lips was s tiny bit of leftover fish, so he reached out to brush it away — the was the couple’s most intimate action up to this point.
Lin Wei only reddened a bit, but did not reject his gesture.
“Is my grilled fish good?” Ye Chui asked with a smile.
Lin Wei made a hei-hei laugh, and nodded enthusiastically. The taste of fish was definitely delicious, but more importantly, this type of joyful communal eating had improved its taste several times over.
“Then, this morning you mentioned that there’s something you will only tell me if my grilled fish is good, can you tell me about it now?” Ye Chui continued, he still remembered this matter.
“En, en,” Lin Wei nodded, her face serious as she stared at Ye Chui. “When you have the time, will you come and see my mother?”
“… ah?”
Ye Chui’s hands suddenly froze in place.
Surely, I’m not going to see mother-in-law so soon?
[1] Braised eggplant
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Yum!
It was kinda mean of author to have the friends of the bad guy betray him, it kinda show them as being not trustworthy persons.
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