Special Era (Part 2)

Because of the campfire, Jiang Huiqin's originally stiff and slow movements quickened slightly. She remained curled up like a squirrel, counting and recounting the treasures she'd found in the garbage heap. After checking them seven or eight times, she slowly got up with satisfaction.

"Yesterday they snatched those two good pieces of wood and were so smug about it. A bunch of idiots. I deliberately left them there for them to take. They can't even recognize good things when they're right in front of them." Jiang Huiqin put the bird's nest into the clay pot and, carrying the pot, struggled to climb over the garbage mountain. Her movements were as slow as an old woman's.

"What's wrong with your back?" Li Mingyi, with his sharp eyes, noticed something was wrong and became anxious. "Did they push you this morning and injure you?"

"I'm not an old lady, how could I get injured from just one push? I fell last night when I snuck out to climb trees and get bird eggs. Otherwise, where do you think those 6 eggs came from? Did they fall from the sky?" Jiang Huiqin said carelessly, rubbing her waist with her right hand. "It'll be fine if I just lie down for a while."

"You stop talking. You're not even fully recovered yourself, why are you worrying about me? Pull the quilt up, you haven't even covered your feet."

Jiang Huiqin walked to a pile of damp, rotten wood, kicked them apart with her foot, and rummaged through them, pulling out a few pieces.

Several very plump mushrooms were growing on those pieces of wood. She picked off a few large ones and hid them in the clay pot before leaving the shed.

Not long after, Jiang Huiqin returned with the clay pot filled with water, the cleaned mushrooms, and the bird's nest.

Because they were soaked in water, her already somewhat suppurating and cracked hands began to bleed.

Noticing her hands were bleeding, Jiang Huiqin secretly wiped them on herself when Li Mingyi wasn't paying attention. Her clothes were already so dirty that their original color couldn't be seen, so a few more streaks of blood wouldn't be noticeable.

Jiang Huiqin placed the clay pot over the campfire and began to cook the mushroom soup.

Soon, the aroma of the soup spread out. Jiang Huiqin stingily added a small pinch of salt to the soup, lifted the clay pot, and said, "I'll trade this mushroom soup for a bowl and a spoon from Carpenter Chen."

"There's a spoon. I hid it under the wooden frame the day before yesterday," Li Mingyi said, pointing to the wood supporting the shed.

"Perfect. We'll owe him two fewer mushrooms, and we can each have one," Jiang Huiqin said happily, pleased that she could save two mushrooms.

A moment later, Jiang Huiqin returned with the clay pot, which still contained half a pot of soup, a wooden bowl, and a pair of chopsticks. Only one mushroom floated alone in the clay pot.

"One mushroom isn't that tasty, and I don't like mushrooms anyway. You can't use a spoon, and you'll just spill things on the ground and waste good food. Here, eat the mushroom first." Jiang Huiqin placed the clay pot back on the fire and used the chopsticks to pick up a mushroom, bringing it to Li Mingyi's mouth.

Li Mingyi did not open his mouth.

"You eat it. I don't like mushrooms," Li Mingyi turned his head.

"If you don't eat it, I'll throw it away!" Jiang Huiqin threatened. "Mushrooms are nutritious. Eating mushrooms helps with injuries. Your leg has been like this for over a month; eating mushrooms will help it heal faster."

Seeing that Li Mingyi still refused to eat, Jiang Huiqin directly shoved the mushroom into his mouth.

Simple and crude, but very effective.

Then, she began to use the mushroom soup to cook the bird's nest, stirring it occasionally with the chopsticks. When the bird's nest was soft and tender, she generously sprinkled in a small packet of seasoning and then put the bird eggs in to cook.

The final dish, a bizarre hodgepodge, was cooked. Jiang Huiqin placed the bird's nest in the center of the bowl, arranged the peeled bird eggs next to it, and carefully picked up the clay pot, pouring the soup along the rim of the bowl.

Li Mingyi could vaguely tell what kind of strange dish she was making.

"This is how you make Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices."

"What 'how'? This is it!" Jiang Huiqin took out another box of luncheon meat, waving it in front of Li Mingyi as if showing off. She opened it, cut out a few thin slices, and wrapped them around the bird eggs.

"Do you really think I'm stupid? Trading the Lao Feng Xiang gold bracelet for just a bit of bird's nest? I also traded for this unopened box!" Jiang Huiqin carefully wrapped the tin box in cloth and hid it back in the garbage heap. "The rich have their ways of eating, and the poor have theirs. Even my brother wouldn't be able to make the same ingredients as well as I can."

"You just boast," Li Mingyi said with a smile.

Jiang Huiqin helped Li Mingyi sit up and, as if presenting a treasure, handed him the bowl. "Try it quickly."

Li Mingyi picked up a piece of bird's nest and tried to feed it to Jiang Huiqin.

"It's my birthday, why would I eat this? I still have some bran left from this morning; I'll cook the bran later." Jiang Huiqin said, and then she started rummaging through the garbage mountain again.

In the end, Jiang Huiqin ate a bird egg.

As soon as it entered her mouth, Jiang Huiqin's eyes turned red. At forty or fifty years old, she cried like she was a teenager, tears streaming down her face.

"What I made is really delicious." Jiang Huiqin covered her mouth, trying to wipe away her tears discreetly.

"Yes, this is the most delicious Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices I've ever eaten." Li Mingyi said, holding the bowl, his eyes also turning red.

Jiang Feng had been watching from the side, and his eyes also turned red without him realizing it.

"Why are you crying? I'll make it for you again next year on your birthday."

There would be no next year. Jiang Huiqin died of illness that winter.

Darkness.

Jiang Feng sat stunned in his chair.

Li Mingyi's memory was short. Jiang Feng had only been inside for about 4 hours, but it was incredibly oppressive.

Before Jiang Huiqin spoke, the very air exuded despair.

In such an oppressive space, in such a desperate environment, Jiang Huiqin could still laugh and curse, which made Jiang Feng admire her from the bottom of his heart.

After sitting quietly for a while to calm his mind, Jiang Feng clicked on the attribute panel.

Indeed, a new recipe had been added.

[Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices (Imitation) E-rank][Can be improved]:

Creator: Jiang Huiqin

Dish Details: A dish that is poor in both ingredient pairing and seasoning, yet it became a beacon of light in Li Mingyi's darkest moments due to Jiang Huiqin's outstanding culinary skills and the special circumstances, supporting him to live on. It provides no special buffs.

Number of times that can be made per day: 1. (0/1)

Can be improved?

What does this mean?

Does it mean I should have freedom to play around with it during preparation to make it tastier?

Jiang Feng was a bit unsure.

The evaluation of this dish was on par with Wang Shitou's Pure Meat Wontons, but Wang Shitou's wontons were bad because his own skills were lacking. Jiang Huiqin's Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices was bad due to limitations in ingredients and environment. There was a fundamental difference between the two.

If he were to improve it, there was a huge amount of room for creativity.

If he made major changes, he could alter everything, even directly changing it into the original Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices.

But Jiang Feng knew the game's intention definitely wasn't this.

How should he improve it?

Ingredients? Seasoning? Or Heat Control?

What's more, the game stipulated that he could only attempt it once a day. Jiang Feng felt that by the time he successfully improved this dish, it might already be New Year.

Perhaps this year's New Year, or perhaps next year's.

In the memory, Li Mingyi said it was the best Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices he had ever eaten. This was practically a hint delivered to his doorstep. Speaking of which, this game is really something. The task details stated that the Tai Feng Lou head chef Jiang Chengde's Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices was unforgettable, but the task requirement was to have Li Mingyi eat the Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices from his memory.

If not for this memory, Jiang Feng would definitely have been misled into trying to make the original Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices.

It was impossible to follow Jiang Huiqin's original method. For one thing, Jiang Feng didn't have the skill to stuff food into a trash heap and hide it for days before taking it out to cook.

Uncle-in-law was also getting old, and his stomach couldn't handle it.

Jiang Feng clicked on the accompanying video tutorial, starting to research how to make a more reliable improvement.