Chapter 46

Wei Linxuan grinned as he thanked them. The large group took off their down jackets, sat on the heated kang bed, and started eating. Before long, the villagers arrived as well.

The delicious food Mama Lu had mentioned was naturally home-raised chickens, fat ducks, white geese, and black pigs from the countryside, all fed on grain—absolutely green and pollution-free.

When Papa Lu had stocked up for the New Year before the holiday, he had bought live chickens, ducks, and pigs directly from the villagers. Aside from one pig slaughtered on New Year's Eve, with its pork and ribs hanging in the yard, the remaining chickens, ducks, and geese had been kept in their pens. There were also bighead carp and common carp raised in the reservoir, bought alive and kept in large basins to be killed fresh whenever they were eaten.

Now that they were entertaining guests, Mama Lu dragged a chicken and a goose from the pen, took a rack of ribs, several pig trotters, and a chunk of pork knuckle from the shed, then lifted a fish from the basin.

Through the window, Wei Linxuan saw Papa Lu and Mama Lu sharpening their knives in the yard. He bumped Lu Heng with his shoulder and asked with a grin, "Hey, didn't you brag that you knew how to kill chickens? Why aren't you out there killing one?"

Lu Heng shot Wei Linxuan an amused look. "How was that bragging? I really do know how to kill chickens."

"Then go do it. I'll have the cameraman record your heroic bearing properly. Then you'll be impressive—a man who's seen blood!"

Seeing the expression on Wei Linxuan's face that clearly said, I don't believe you, Lu Heng chuckled, threw on his coat, and went outside.

Wei Linxuan followed after him and watched Lu Heng walk over to Mama Lu, pat her shoulder, and take the cleaver from her hand.

Mama Lu turned and said, "You child, what are you joining the fun for? Go keep Linxuan company inside and have a nice quiet chat."

"Wei Linxuan asked me to perform chicken slaughter for him." Lu Heng weighed the cleaver in his hand and glanced back at Wei Linxuan. Then—

Wei Linxuan's eyes widened abruptly as he watched in disbelief. Lu Heng calmly slit the chicken's throat, expertly drained its blood, scalded and plucked it with hot water, opened its belly and pulled out all the intestines and innards, then singed off the chick's fine down over the fire. Finally, he switched to another cleaver, chopped the chicken into pieces, and tossed them into a basin.

The Big Speckles strolling around the yard all shuddered violently, clenched their butts, and ran away clucking.

Even though they knew their owner would not kill them for meat, going through this several times every year was still terrifying!

The Big Speckles ran back to their coop, still shaken, and decided that next year they would definitely eat well and work hard at laying eggs QAQ

The cameraman stood in front of Lu Heng, dazedly filming the entire process of Lu Heng's "wanton slaughter of chicken lives."

Watching the unruffled Lu Heng, Wei Linxuan suddenly thought, Damn, why does he look so sexy and charming?

Were all men who could cook like this?

Wei Linxuan unconsciously glanced at Papa Lu, who was cleaning the goose in the yard, then at Big Brother Lu, who was scaling fish nearby, and sincerely concluded, This really depends on looks.

Even while handling ingredients, Big Brother Lu looked much more handsome than Papa Lu.

Wei Linxuan felt that if he were the one cooking, he would definitely look even more handsome than Lu Heng.

Lu Heng turned back to look at Wei Linxuan and raised an eyebrow. "Believe me now?"

Wei Linxuan gave a sly grin. Instead of answering, he stepped forward, picked up the cleaver, and said, "I want to help cook too."

Since lunch included chicken stewed with potatoes, Wei Linxuan figured he could at least help cut up some potato chunks.

Lu Heng silently watched Wei Linxuan sharpen the knife with great determination and could not help telling him, "You can't use the same knife for vegetables and meat."

Wei Linxuan: "..."

Lu Heng explained with a smile, "And you can't use the same cutting board either. The flavors will mix, and it isn't hygienic."

Wei Linxuan: "..."

"Most importantly, the potatoes for stewed chicken don't need to be cut with a knife. You can just scoop them out with a spoon."

Wei Linxuan set down the cleaver with a straight face, looking like I have feelings, but I refuse to say them aloud. He trudged back into the kitchen to find Mama Lu.

Mama Lu smiled. "Don't listen to Xiao Heng's nonsense. You can cut potatoes for stewed chicken with a knife too."

"Mom, you'd better give him a spoon to scoop them out with," Lu Heng said as he followed them into the kitchen. "He's never cooked before. What if he cuts his finger with a knife? It's the New Year—it wouldn't be lucky."

"That makes sense." Mama Lu suddenly understood. Her son really was thoughtful. She pulled out a stainless steel spoon from the chopstick holder and handed it to Wei Linxuan, reminding him, "Be careful."

Wei Linxuan stared blankly at the large unpeeled potato in front of him. It was truly huge, heavy in his hand, even bigger than his palm.

Holding the potato in one hand and the spoon in the other, Wei Linxuan gestured helplessly, having no idea where to start.

Lu Heng stood behind Wei Linxuan and secretly laughed for quite a while before finally stepping forward, taking the potato, and rapidly peeling it. Then he stuffed the peeled potato into Wei Linxuan's hand, pressed down the other hand holding the spoon, and scooped. "...That's all you need to do. Take your time and be careful not to scrape your hand."

"You're underestimating me, aren't you?" Wei Linxuan snorted coldly, waving for the cameraman to make sure he filmed his heroic cooking pose.

He even gave him a friendly tip: "Shoot from a forty-five-degree angle above, from the side. That's my best angle."

Lu Heng: "..." He truly did not even want to comment.

The two stood in the kitchen, one peeling potatoes and the other scooping out potato chunks. By the time Lu Heng had peeled every potato, Wei Linxuan had only slowly finished two.

That level of efficiency was truly unmatched.

If they relied on Young Master Wei's work speed, they would probably only get chicken stewed with dried green beans and dried eggplant for lunch. Potato chunks were basically out of the question!

Lu Heng casually took another spoon from the chopstick holder and stood beside Wei Linxuan to scoop potatoes.

Wei Linxuan was thoroughly unconvinced by the ridicule. Watching Lu Heng's skilled yet rough movements, he could not help picking at him. "Look at you. All my potato chunks are the same size, even their curves are nearly identical. Now look at yours—they look like they've been chewed by a dog. You're one of the promising newcomers Huaxia Imperial Entertainment is heavily promoting. Can't you have at least a little sense of aesthetics?"