Chapter 71 Specialties
"That's great, thank you, but Boss Du, isn't that the Qinggong you just did in the novel?"
Xiang Yuanyuan took the basin, looked at the braised beef in it with a smile on her face, then took Du Ruo to the living room on the second floor, but she couldn't help but ask a question.
"No, not even close. Eh? You've cleaned it up. It's much neater now."
Du Ruo responded casually, then looked around the living room, quite surprised.
The last time I came here, the living room was not dirty, but it was quite messy, especially the various wine bottles piled up randomly. But this time when I came here, I found that it was a lot tidier, especially the wine bottles were completely gone.
"Ahem, well, I lived alone before and didn't care about the details. Now Qi lives with me. Oh, by the way, Qi is cooking tonight. I only made one dish, and Qi cooked the rest."
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Xiang Yuanyuan's face. In fact, the second floor was cleaned by Li Qiyao, and she was just helping out.
"If you are too lazy to clean in the future, you can ask the aunties working in the guest rooms to come and clean it for you. They are very meticulous and clean very well."
Du Ruo saw Li Qiyao still busy in the small kitchen, so he went over to greet her, and then said something to Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Okay, then I'll go find Xiaoling and ask her to help me arrange it."
Xiang Yuanyuan nodded quickly after hearing this.
The two chatted for a while, and then Yang Chenguang came over.
Holding a large bag of fruit in his hand, he looked around the second floor with curiosity. He had never been up here before. It was inappropriate before and he didn't want to sleep on the sofa at night. But now that Du Ruo was here, it didn't matter.
Du Ruo and Yang Chenguang moved the table to the balcony, and brought out the dishes from the kitchen one after another and set the table. The balcony on the second floor of the tavern was quite large and could accommodate everything. Looking at the dishes on the table, the three of them did not touch their chopsticks. They just stared with wine bowls in front of them.
"This is the last dish. You can eat now."
Li Qiyao came out wearing an apron and holding a plate of food, and told the three people to start eating.
"Thank you for your hard work, chef. Please take a seat. I didn't expect Qiqi to be not only beautiful and good at painting, but also a great cook."
Du Ruo gave a thumbs up and praised. To be honest, Li Qiyao has indeed changed a lot this time when she came here. I don’t know if it’s because she has become familiar with everyone, or because the haze from before has begun to dissipate, but she has become a lot more cheerful, at least she doesn’t frown all the time anymore.
"Come on, come on, cheers~ I wish Ah Qi a new life and hope he can find his prince charming soon."
Xiang Yuanyuan waited for everyone to sit down and raised their glasses to wish each other a happy new year.
Only then did Du Ruo understand the purpose of today's meal.
"Cheers~"
It’s a good thing for everyone to raise their glasses together, so just be happy.
At the dinner table, Xiang Yuanyuan did not eat staple food. She ate the dishes and drank wine, but her chopsticks always reached for the dish in front of her, as if she had a special liking for that dish.
Li Qiyao was the type who ate like a cat. She took a little bit of each dish and then had half a bowl of rice in her bowl. She stopped eating while she was eating. But she was also very surprised that she had eaten all the other dishes but didn't touch the dish in front of Yuanyuan.
The one who enjoyed the meal the most here was Du Ruo. Perhaps because the couple knew how much Du Ruo ate, today's meal was not only large in quantity but also extremely rich, allowing Du Ruo to eat to her heart's content.
But when Du Ruo picked up the dish in front of Xiang Yuanyuan, Xiang Yuanyuan and Li Qiyao both took a look at the piece of meat that Du Ruo was holding with his chopsticks.
"Hey, how was your fun today?"
Yang Chenguang asked from the side, it’s just a casual chat anyway.
"The scenery is great, but it's a pity I didn't bring my drawing board."
"It's okay, Qi. Come over and play anytime later."
Xiang Yuanyuan consoled him. "Are you going back? Why don't you stay for a few days?"
Du Ruo frowned. He tasted something different in the piece of meat. The meat was a little soft, but not the kind that would fall apart at the first bite. It also had a lingering feeling. This was simply because the meat was delicate. Du Ruo knew what he had just picked up as soon as he tasted it, and also understood why the two women behaved like that.
"Well, I have to go back. The studio has to reopen quickly. Although I don't have to pay rent, it's not good to keep it idle."
Li Qiyao smiled. She could resume her career without any worries. She believed that her future would be even better.
"This is a good thing. Come, I wish you a smooth sailing in your reopening. We in Yangjia Village welcome you to come and visit at any time."
Yang Chenguang raised his beer and clinked glasses with Li Qiyao's drink. Then he drank it in one gulp, picked up the chopsticks and casually picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
"This dish is good. It tastes quite special and is fried well. It's suitable for drinking."
The dish Yang Chenguang picked up was the one in front of Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Well, it's a local specialty. If you like it, eat more. It's good for your kidneys."
Xiang Yuanyuan smiled and pushed the plate in front of her forward.
"It doesn't matter whether it nourishes the kidneys or not, it's just quite suitable for drinking."
Yang Chenguang originally wanted to be polite, but after hearing what Xiang Yuanyuan said, he immediately picked up the food with a few chopsticks and started eating with the wine.
The night wind blew by, taking away Li Qiyao's melancholy about leaving. The four of them drank and chatted happily under the light on the balcony.
At the end of the meal, Yuanyuan and Du Ruo were still eating and drinking, while Yang Chenguang and Li Qiyao only occasionally picked up their chopsticks and chatted about their own interesting stories.
"This dish is good. It's the first time I've eaten this kind of meat. What's it called? I'll get some someday."
Yang Chenguang put the last piece of meat on the plate into his mouth along with the side dishes, and asked Xiang Yuanyuan with some reluctance. Apart from Xiang Yuanyuan who ate a few more pieces at the beginning and Du Ruo who only took two pieces, the rest went into Yang Chenguang's stomach.
"Rat..."
Xiang Yuanyuan replied nonchalantly that this was a specialty in her family and her grandfather especially liked to eat it with wine. When she was a child, she often stole her grandfather's wine and snacks, so she did not resist like other girls.
"..."
The air suddenly became quiet, and Li Qiyao covered her mouth and laughed. This dish was cooked by Xiang Yuanyuan herself, but she watched her cook it, so she knew what it was long ago. That's why she didn't taste it just now, it's just that it's hard to say.
Du Ruo also looked indifferent. He had been in Guangdong Province for more than ten years and had eaten Zhongcun Sanbao once, so it was not that he was against it, he just didn't like it that much.
Only Yang Chenguang was silent, holding his wine glass, wondering what he was thinking.
"Don't worry, these are field mice we caught in the sugarcane fields, and then smoked with our own straw. They are clean and hygienic. We have always eaten them this way."
Xiang Yuanyuan comforted him, which made Yang Chenguang feel a little relieved.
"It also nourishes the kidneys~"
Du Ruoyouyou joked that in the country, as long as you add the phrase "it can nourish the kidneys and strengthen the yang", the value of this kind of food will immediately double.
"Boss Du, Plum Blossom Mantis Boxing Champion Lang is here to visit us!!"
Just when Yang Chenguang wanted to ask Du Ruo if he had known about it a long time ago, someone downstairs shouted. It was Wang Lang who practiced Mantis Boxing this morning.
(End of this chapter)
