Heaven! This Was Definitely Heaven!
There was also a pot of bubbling "Imitation Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup." It was made with an old hen and pork bones, along with various ordinary warming medicinal herbs (definitely not protected spirit plants!). After simmering over low heat for hours, the broth was clear and golden, with a rich, lingering aroma. One whiff made the blood and qi feel as though they were flowing freely.
On the chopping board sat the ingredients for "Jade Spirit Vegetables with Shrimp," ready for the wok. In reality, they were just ordinary green peas, corn, diced carrots, and fresh river shrimp, but with his knife skills and control of the heat, their colors came together like jade and agate, a delight to behold.
The entire kitchen rang with a symphony of clashing spatulas, bubbling broth, and crackling oil, while the peerless aromas mingled until they formed one rich, inseparable whole!
Martial Uncle Zhang took in the bustling scene before him, his nostrils twitching as he breathed in the aroma elevated from ordinary ingredients. It filled him with pride, and a smile of satisfaction spread across his face, like an old farmer looking at a bumper crop.
Yao'er, just wait! Today, your martial uncle will use meat from the market to make you a feast fit for an imperial banquet! I guarantee it'll taste much better than those protected animals!
He swung up the large ladle again, its surface gleaming from years of soaking in oil. His gaze was resolute, as though he were carrying out a sacred mission.
Using a limited budget and ordinary ingredients, he would create boundless delicacies, fill the belly of the family's little ancestor with her "free-flowing stomach and bowels," and, while he was at it, show that old mage from the West what Chinese cuisine was all about!
When Chu Yao was "escorted" to the dining room by her master and eldest senior sister and saw the enormous square table packed with a dazzling array of dishes, her eyes went wide, and her breathing stopped for a moment.
Heaven! This is definitely heaven! Martial Uncle Zhang! I'll never secretly complain about you shorting me on meat again! You're my god!
The dishes, with their tempting colors and mouthwatering aromas, seemed to radiate a holy light of their own, instantly brightening the mood that had been somewhat gloomy because of her impending journey (not that it was).
In particular, when she looked over the spread and realized that eight or nine out of ten dishes were the "dream dishes" she usually craved and drooled over, a warm rush of gratitude, happiness, and irrepressible appetite surged into her nose and eyes, nearly bringing this "tough girl" to tears on the spot.
Wahhh... Martial Uncle remembered! He remembered them all! He knows I love the cartilage in sweet-and-sour pork ribs! He knows I like the crispy, browned edges on guobaorou! And Jade Spirit Vegetables with Shrimp, red-braised cloud-treading beast, seven-colored spirit chicken steamed with glutinous rice in lotus leaves... Wahhh~ He knows! He knows everything!
Martial Uncle Zhang had clearly put his heart into it, taking the honored guest Dumbledore's tastes into account. The thick, glossy red sauce coating the sweet-and-sour pork ribs shone like a gemstone, its potent sweet-and-sour scent filling the air; the guobaorou had been fried golden and crisp and piled high in large slices, with a translucent sweet-and-sour glaze poured over them, enough to make one's mouth water at a glance; and there were several plates of delicate Suzhou-style sweets: pine nut and jujube paste rice cakes, osmanthus-syrup lotus root, rose square cakes...
Without exception, Martial Uncle Zhang had secretly—or rather, openly—added a "lethal dose" of sugar to every one of them, afraid they wouldn't be sweet enough to kill...
Ah, no, he was afraid they wouldn't be sweet enough to express his warmth toward their guest.
Dumbledore's blue eyes, hidden behind his half-moon spectacles, lit up at the sight of the table full of Eastern delicacies. They were utterly different from his usual fare, yet held a strange charm.
Tentatively, he used chopsticks (uh, wait! Dumbledore knew how to use chopsticks?!) to pick up a small piece of sweet-and-sour pork rib and put it in his mouth.
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