Chapter 20

Tan Wenlei couldn't help exclaiming, "Whoa, Sixteenth Uncle really has a discerning palate. He could even taste that?"

Qing Mengzhu found it incredible too. "Maybe he's eaten it so often that it tasted familiar."

Tan Wenlei said, "I think so too."

Then Tan Wenlei said to Qing Mengzhu in a mysterious tone, "Hey, do you know who Sixteenth Uncle is?"

Qing Mengzhu had already looked him up online. "I do. He's a retired senior official, and his son founded a publicly listed company."

Tan Wenlei instantly lost his appetite for gossip. "That reaction of yours, tsk."

What else was I supposed to say? Qing Mengzhu thought.

His stepbrother had just won an international award and was at least a talent of national standing. Could the CEO of a publicly listed company be more impressive than someone who had won an international award?

Author's note:

There are two updates today so I can go premium on Saturday. Keep scrolling for another chapter!

Chapter 20

Ever since Qing Guozhi had eaten the vegetables from Qing Mengzhu's home, he had returned to the village for a stroll almost every day, occasionally buying vegetables from Qing Mengzhu.

The old man came back so often that he even told Qing Mengzhu he was considering moving back to the countryside, returning to his roots.

Pingkou Village was well developed, and getting to downtown Vine City was convenient too. There probably wouldn't be much difficulty adjusting if he moved back.

Whenever the old man muttered about it, Qing Mengzhu simply listened and left it at that.

Pingkou Village was good in every respect, except that its medical resources were fairly ordinary. Even without traffic, the nearest top-tier hospital was over forty minutes away by car. For someone in his seventies, the risk was too great.

The old man's family wouldn't be happy about it.

Whenever the old man returned to the village, he liked to wander around, and the place he visited most often was Qing Mengzhu's home.

That day, Qing Mengzhu had just returned from checking on his lotus when he saw the old man waiting at his door, carrying a white cloth bag.

When he saw Qing Mengzhu return, the old man beckoned to him with a mysterious look. "You're back? Come quickly, I've got something good to show you."

Qing Mengzhu hesitated before walking over. "What is it?"

The old man lifted the bag in front of him and gently opened it. "Look!"

Qing Mengzhu peered inside and saw three rather gaudily colored birds. "What are these?"

The old man said, "They're called flying dragons. They make a wonderfully flavorful soup, so I brought them especially for you!"

Qing Mengzhu looked at the patterns on their feathers and had a feeling this might be criminal. "Can we eat them?"

The old man said, "Of course we can. Would I get you into trouble?"

Qing Mengzhu looked up at him. "Wait, let me check."

He used the image recognition function on his phone to scan the birds in the bag and soon found information on them—they were Chinese grouse.

After reading carefully, he showed the old man his phone. "A class-two nationally protected animal."

The old man glared. "These were raised by a friend of my son's. They're not wild!"

Qing Mengzhu was skeptical. "Really?"

The old man said, "If you don't believe me, I'll have the owner send over proof they were farmed and the purchase record."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "You'd better have him send them."

The old man stared at Qing Mengzhu. "Hey, you really are stubborn."

The old man soon had someone send over the relevant documents. Qing Mengzhu checked them carefully and confirmed that the birds in the bag could be eaten and that it wasn't illegal. Only then did he carry the birds into the courtyard with the old man and prepare to clean them.

Qing Mengzhu asked, "How should we eat these birds? Make soup, or...?"

"Soup," the old man said. "They make a wonderfully flavorful soup!"

Qing Mengzhu said, "Then I'll go get some dried mushrooms."

The old man followed him and asked, "What mushrooms do you have? If you don't have any good ones, I'll call someone to bring some over."

Qing Mengzhu glanced back at the old man, then took him over to a cabinet and found the mushrooms he had dried.

Chanterelles, ganba mushrooms, porcini, coral mushrooms... They were all rare mushrooms with exceptionally good flavor.

The old man silently put away the phone he had taken out. Even if he asked someone, he might not be able to get so many delicious wild mushrooms.

Qing Mengzhu took the mushrooms to the kitchen, washed them several times in warm water, then covered them with water to soak.

The old man followed him and couldn't help asking, "Haven't you only been back a short while? Where did you get so many delicious mushrooms?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "When I have nothing to do, I go up the mountain. After searching often enough, I got the hang of it."

The old man said, "Knowing what you're doing isn't enough. You need luck too. You've got pretty good luck, kid. I haven't even seen some of these mushrooms before. Are you sure they're edible?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Absolutely sure."

He had scanned these mushrooms with the Interstellar Mall. Their classifications were clear, and they were all edible.

Seeing how certain he was, the old man laughed several times beside him, full of feeling. "If I'd known so many mushrooms when I was young, I wouldn't have had to go hungry. You really have a knack for this, kid."

Qing Mengzhu swiftly cleaned the three Chinese grouse the old man had brought and put them in a clay pot with the mushrooms to make soup.

He brought it to a boil over high heat, then let it simmer over low heat.

While the soup simmered, Qing Mengzhu busied himself around the front and back of the house. With nothing else to do, the old man followed him around.

As they walked, the old man found himself unable to go any farther.

The steam drifting out of the kitchen grew thicker, and the aroma of the soup grew stronger. It seemed to stir people to their very core and linger on their minds.

The old man fetched a small stool and sat at the kitchen door. "It smells so good. Far too good."

Qing Mengzhu reminded him, "It still needs to simmer a while."

The old man shook his head. "I know. I'll wait right here."

Qing Mengzhu let him be.

While they waited, Qing Mengzhu found time to stir-fry three dishes, one with meat and two vegetarian, and steamed a pot of fluffy, snow-white rice. That was their lunch.

The rustic side dishes the old man usually loved so much didn't get a single glance from him now. All he wanted was the soup.

Holding the soup ladle, he urged, "Quick, quick, quick, ladle out the soup first. My hand isn't steady, so you add the salt."

Qing Mengzhu walked over and looked at the soup in the clay pot. He scooped a spoonful of salt from the jar, added it, and stirred with the ladle. Smelling the aroma wafting up at him, he said, "It's ready."

The old man eagerly ladled out two bowls of soup. "I've had it a couple of times at home too, but yours smells especially good."

Qing Mengzhu said, "Maybe it's because there are so many wild mushrooms in it."

The old man carefully carried one bowl to the dining table. "I don't know. I'll have to taste it."

Qing Mengzhu warned him, "There's a layer of oil on top, and the soup underneath is very hot. Please be careful."

The old man said, "I know."

But once he sat down at the table, the old man eagerly scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and put it in his mouth.

What an exquisitely flavorful spoonful of soup that was!

It was savory, rich, and hot. Once he drank that spoonful, his entire attention was on the soup, leaving him no thought to spare for anything else.

The taste of the Chinese grouse, the flavors of the various mushrooms, even the hint of salt in it were enough to make him savor them again and again.

The more he savored it, the more flavorful it seemed, and the more he could taste its complex aromas.

Qing Guozhi had lived for more than seventy years, but he had never tasted such flavorful chicken soup.

Several seconds passed after he drank the soup before the old man opened his eyes and sighed. "To have a bowl of soup like this in my lifetime, I could die content."

Qing Mengzhu frowned slightly. "Please don't say that."

The soup was delicious, but the old man's reaction was far too exaggerated.

The old man said, "I'm already this age. Why can't I say it? All right, all right, I won't say it."

The old man slowly and contentedly finished his bowl of soup. Only then did he pick up his bowl and start eating, saying slowly to Qing Mengzhu, "Mengzhu, what do you think of this flying dragon soup?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "It's good."

The old man said, "Then do you want to raise them? I'll take care of the permits and breeding stock."

Qing Mengzhu looked at him. "Do you want to raise them together?"

The old man waved a hand. "What partnership? At my age, I stopped wanting to bother with things like that long ago. I just saw all the empty space in front of and behind your house and thought you might want to raise chickens. Why not raise flying dragons instead? They taste good and fetch a high price, so they're more profitable than chickens. If you want to raise them, I'll give you a few."