Delivering meat.

During the waiting process, Cheng Yun put the rice in the pot. He was determined to cook a delicious meal today and was generous with the amount of rice, wanting to make sure Yang Hongjin was satisfied.

After that, he followed Aunt Wang’s instructions and grabbed a handful of salt from the jar of duck blood, stirred it evenly, and placed it in the corner. He took a larger bowl and filled it with hot water, then placed the jar of duck blood inside to let it sit.

He didn’t really understand the principle behind this, thinking that this method was surprisingly simple. He couldn’t help but think of when he used to go out to eat hot pot and a plate of duck blood would cost ten yuan or less, but would cost two to three times that at a restaurant. It was truly a huge profit.

The aroma from the kitchen grew stronger and stronger. Even though Cheng Yun told Yang Hongjin to wait outside, he refused and followed Cheng Yun around, staring at the stove. Cheng Yun couldn’t do anything about it, so he gave him a small task to do. “Go wash the bowls and chopsticks and put them on the table. When the rice is ready, put it in the bowls.”

Yang Hongjin got to work quickly and carefully, never being lazy or careless. By the time he had finished, the rice was almost ready.

Cheng Yun estimated the time and lifted the lid of the pot, and the sauce had become thick. The duck meat had turned a dark red color that made one’s mouth water. He scooped five bowls of duck meat onto a plate and fried some vegetables with the leftover sauce in the pot.

He called for Yang Hongjin to come in and turn off the stove, but that guy’s eyes were immediately drawn to the duck meat in the pot. Cheng Yun found it funny and playfully scolded him, “Hurry up and turn off the stove, and when the rice is ready, bring it out.”

Yang Hongjin nodded foolishly and turned off the stove. When he brought out the rice, Cheng Yun had already placed all the dishes on the table. He gave them each a large bowl of white rice and announced, “Okay, let’s eat!”

He picked up a large piece of duck meat for Yang Hongjin, urging him to try it. Yang Hongjin swallowed his saliva and quickly ate it, exclaiming, “It’s delicious!” But Cheng Yun helplessly found that his opinion wasn’t very reliable as he didn’t have much reference value.

He picked up a piece himself and tried it. The aroma of the sauce spread in his mouth as soon as he took a bite. The combination of sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce formed a perfect balance, sweet and sour and appetizing. Unexpectedly, using rice wine added a subtle fragrance to the dish, and after chewing for a while, a faint rice fragrance appeared.

The duck had not been stewed for long in the pot, but the heat was just right, making the meat not too soft or too hard. However, Cheng Yun preferred to eat meat that had been stewed until it was half-tender. It felt like it melted in your mouth and left a lasting aftertaste.

After making this dish for the first time and achieving such a level of success, Cheng Yun was quite satisfied with himself. He thought for a moment, then picked up two pieces of meat and put them in Yang Hongjin’s bowl, asking him to try it first. He then went to the kitchen and got a clean new bowl, picked up three or four pieces of meat, and went to the neighboring Aunt Wang’s house.

Aunt Wang’s husband, Wang Dalang, had just come back from the field and was smoking at the door. He saw Cheng Yun smiling and nodding at him. Aunt Wang had just finished cooking and greeted him warmly as he entered. “Cheng-Ge’er, have you eaten yet? We just finished cooking. If you haven’t eaten yet, let Hongjin come over and eat with us.”

Cheng Yun shook his head with a smile. “We’ve finished cooking too.”

He handed the bowl to Aunt Wang and said, “Here, take a look. This is the duck Xiao-er helped slaughter this afternoon. I messed around with it a bit and found it to be quite delicious. I want you to try it and give me your opinion.”

Aunt Wang looked surprised as she took the bowl and saw that the duck was still steaming hot, with its fragrance wafting in the air. Even Wang Liang couldn’t help leaning over to take a look.

“This duck is so beautifully made,” Aunt Wang said as she handed the bowl back to Cheng Yun. “It’s a good thing. You take it back and eat it. We have meat to eat here, so don’t waste it.”

Cheng Yun pushed the bowl back, refusing to take it. He thought for a moment and decided not to hide his intentions from Aunt Wang. “I was thinking that if this duck was delicious, I would take it to the restaurant in town and try my luck. Ordinary families don’t make this dish often because it’s too expensive, but it’s different for the wealthy families in town. They don’t lack money, but they do lack fresh and new things.”

Aunt Wang pondered for a moment and muttered, “That makes sense.”

She suddenly slapped her forehead and said, “Oh, Cheng-Ge’er, take this bowl of duck to Doctor Liu next door to the village chief’s house. His son runs a restaurant in town, the one near the south gate. Doctor Liu likes to drink, and this duck is perfect with it!”

Cheng Yun’s eyes lit up. He thought this was a shortcut. He was still thinking about how to open this door, and then Aunt Wang gave him such good news. Being a good person really pays off. If he hadn’t been thinking of repaying Aunt Wang, he wouldn’t have received such information.

But he didn’t take the bowl of duck back. After much persuasion, he finally managed to get Aunt Wang to accept the food. He then hurried back home and filled two bowls with new meat. Each bowl had two or three pieces of meat. It didn’t look like much, but it was already good to have meat to eat during this time.

Yang Hongjin saw him coming and going and didn’t even bother to eat the delicious food. He stood up and called Cheng Yun “wife” a few times, but Cheng Yun was too preoccupied with his thoughts of the Five-Cup Duck. He had no time to deal with him and asked him to stay home and eat by himself.

Seeing that Cheng Yun was about to go out again, it was probably because in the past few days, Cheng Yun had been in such a good mood towards him and had been making him delicious food to eat, that Yang Hongjin had lost his previous cautiousness. Just as Cheng Yun was about to step out of the house, Yang Hongjin hugged him from behind and said pitifully, “Wife, let’s eat.”

Cheng Yun was stunned for a moment, and his face turned a little red after he reacted. He used to like men, but had never been close to any of them. Subconsciously, he had kept his distance from others.

Since coming here, although he reluctantly accepted the fact that he had a ‘husband’, this husband was silly and being with him was even more like taking care of a child. It wasn’t until this moment, when the two of them were pressed close together, and Yang Hongjin’s strong arms trapped him in his embrace, that Cheng Yun realized that this husband was a real, physically mature man.

He tried to suppress his pounding heart and patted Yang Hongjin’s hand, turned around and touched his head, saying, “Be obedient and wait for me at home. I’m going to give something to Doctor Liu, and I’ll be back soon.”

Unexpectedly, the usually obedient Yang Hongjin suddenly became stubborn, grabbing Cheng Yun’s hand and not letting him go. “Wife, let’s eat.”

Cheng Yun repeated his words patiently, and then thought for a moment. With a red face, he stood on his tiptoes and quickly kissed Yang Hongjin’s forehead, pinched his face, and said, “You quickly go back to eat, and wait for me. If you behave well, I’ll come back early.”

Yang Hongjin was completely stunned, touching his forehead. Cheng Yun took advantage of this moment to slip away, and after walking for a while, he found that his cheeks were still very hot.

Doctor Liu’s house was not far away, but Cheng Yun still went to the village chief’s house first.

Ordinary people rarely go to someone else’s house during mealtime, so when the village chief’s wife opened the door, her expression wasn’t very good.

Cheng Yun pretended not to notice her expression and said hello before asking to see the village chief.

The village chief’s wife was not happy and said, “The village chief is having his meal. Do you have urgent business?”

Cheng Yun raised the bowl in his hand and said, “We just slaughtered a duck at home, and I’m afraid it will spoil if we keep it for too long in this hot weather. I brought some for the village chief to try.”

When the village chief’s wife found out that Cheng Yun had come to deliver meat, her expression changed again and again. She smiled awkwardly and welcomed him in.

“Cheng-Ge’er? What’s up?” Cheng Yun had some reputation in the village, but not for anything good. It was well known that he had a pale red dot under his ear, and that he had married Yang Hongjin, the fool of the Yang family.

Cheng Yun pretended not to see the expressions on everyone’s faces and smiled, handing out one of the bowls of meat and saying, “We just slaughtered a duck at home, and I’m afraid it will spoil if we keep it for too long in this hot weather. I brought some for you to try.”

The village chief was even more surprised when he heard it. Who would be generous enough to send meat to someone else’s home these days, let alone from Cheng-Ge’er’s family? Everyone knows that he and Yang Hongjin are a match made by their families because they are both low in their families. When did they have the means to send meat to others?

However, Cheng-Ge’er still held the two bowls in his hands, and the smell was really fragrant…

Sure enough, the next sentence Cheng Yun said was, “Our Hongjin is not sensible. If something happens in the future, we will need to ask the village chief for help.”

The village chief was relieved when he heard this. Cheng was trying to establish a relationship with him. He had not had much dealings with this Cheng before, and he had only heard about their family situation from the villagers. He did not expect that he was also someone who understood the ways of the world.

The duck in the bowl looked too tempting, and the village chief was initially polite and declined, but when he was glared at by his wife standing beside him, he obediently accepted it and politely said, “Has Cheng-Ge’er eaten? If not, please sit down and eat together.”

Cheng Yun pretended not to see the glare from the village chief’s wife and raised the other bowl, saying, “Please have some. I still need to go and deliver some duck meat to Doctor Liu. Hongjin is still waiting for me at home.”

“Of course, of course,” the village chief stood up and saw Cheng off to the door. As soon as Cheng left, he hurriedly went back to his room and couldn’t help but pick up a piece of duck meat and put it in his mouth.

“It’s so fragrant!” The village chief indulged in the flavor, but when he lowered his head, he saw that there was only one piece of meat left in the bowl with three pieces originally. He quickly took the bowl back and, for a rare moment, said impolitely to his wife, “This is Cheng-Ge’er’s filial piety to me. Go, go, go, pour me a glass of wine.”

The village chief’s wife “hummed” at him, but she also ate the meat and tasted the delicious duck meat. She thought in her heart that Cheng was really wasteful. She didn’t know how much seasoning he used to cook the duck, and he even sent meat to others. Can they still afford to live like this?