Chapter Eighty-One: A Flock of Gulls and Egrets Take Flight at the Second Watch

  Zhou Yi's this move is called "Shaking the Ball".

  A real good meatball is not steamed or fried, but pounded. For example, the "Four Happiness Meatballs" in Shandong cuisine, and recently, a new dish called "Guo's Family Meatballs" by Guo Yonggang, a rising star in the culinary world, uses a whole piece of five-flower pork weighing one catty, which is pounded into meatball shape. When customers arrive at the restaurant, they can hear the loud pounding sounds from the kitchen, and those who don't know might think it's someone educating the next generation, but actually, they're just cooking.

  Crab meat is loose and not as tough as pork, so Zhou Yi can't smash it to the ground like a four-joy ball. He can only play a trick, using gravity to create a "smashing" effect.

  This "Meteor Chasing the Moon" is much more beautiful than ordinary dumplings. As soon as this dish comes out, regardless of its final taste, its splendor alone is enough to give face to Wei Shufen's natal family and fully stimulate the appetites of several women...

  After calculating that the time was almost up, Zhou Yi put away his hands and arranged the eighteen crab meat balls in a steamer basket, placing them over low heat for a gentle steam. Ten minutes later, he took them out of the pot and poured the sauce made from osmanthus wine, crab roe, and ginger on top of the fragrant crab meat balls, Ah, this presentation...

  These eighteen crab meat balls are all the same size, and under precise control of fire, the crab meat is neither overcooked nor undercooked, just like crystal carvings. The previously wrapped crab roe faintly appears, just like a piece of red jade inlaid in high-quality Hetian jade. Then let Zhou Yi pour the crab roe soup on it, and it's as if another layer of golden yellow coat is added outside.

  Jīn jiǎo yù yuè wán, dāng zhēn shì míng xià wú xū; bù yòng chī, rèn shuí kàn shàng yī yǎn, nà yǎn jing jiù bá bù chū lái le……

  As soon as the Steamed Crab with Osmanthus Fragrance was placed on the table, a wave of fragrance wrapped in osmanthus flavor wafted through the air; The most wonderful thing is that the osmanthus fragrance and crab freshness complement each other perfectly, not only does it not disperse the crab's freshness, but also removes some of the pungency, making the crab's freshness more mellow and smooth, and the aftertaste will be even longer. Moreover, with the neutralizing effect of osmanthus, when eating this dish, you can taste the freshness of the crab while other dishes won't be overpowered by the crab's flavor, resulting in a loss of taste.

  It can be said that this dish of Jin Yu Wan not only exhausts clever thoughts, but also subtly conforms to the Chinese doctrine of the mean; gentle and peaceful, empty and receptive, it not only satisfies hunger, but also elevates the diner's realm.

  This is what's called 'food culture'. In comparison, a certain country's practice of eating sliced raw fish only serves to reveal the bloody jungle law and humanity's primitive beastly nature. It's just like Wu Dalang playing with a night owl - whatever kind of person you are, that's the kind of thing you'll eat.

  With Zhou Yi's craftsmanship, even a gourmet like Cao Yidao would go crazy, let alone Wei Shufen and her family? Wei Shufen's mother had been in poor health for a long time, with a weak body, but after taking one of the meatballs, the old lady's eyes sparkled, and she immediately forgot about the troubles with her relatives over chicken eggs. She lowered her head and started devouring the meatballs, swallowing three of them in one go.

  Two silly kids, Li Jia and Xiao Zi, were also at the level of a rice bucket. As soon as they saw it, they got anxious and were about to rush up to grab some food, but Li Yuanfang picked up her chopsticks and slapped them on the back of their hands: "What are you grabbing? The old generation hasn't finished eating yet, and you dare to move your chopsticks?" While speaking, she quickly picked up three or four meatballs with her chopsticks and put them in her own plate. With a thick face, she said: "Brother Zhou, your craftsmanship is really good..."

  Wei Shufen had just taken a bun and put it in her mouth, when she saw this scene, suddenly 'pfft' laughed out loud, and coincidentally Zhou Yi's bounced-out bun was as elastic as a ping-pong ball, she couldn't hold it in her mouth, the bun 'whooshed' and rushed towards Erlangzhai.

  Two silly children had just opened their big mouths and were drooling, when one of them swallowed the pill in one gulp. He smacked his lips twice and said, "Shufen, why is the pill you spat out so delicious?" Charmed by this, Wei Shufen covered her face with her hand and coquettishly shook her mother's arm, saying, "Mother, look at silly brother..."

  She was wholeheartedly eating her meatballs and casually responded with a sentence: "What's there to be afraid of? You're going to be a member of the Li family, what does it matter if Lai Zi eats your leftovers?"

  "Ah? Li Yuanfang was overjoyed: "Then thank you, dear family! You're not being unreasonable..."

  Shufen was taken aback, and then she also laughed. She seemed to be blaming Zhou Yi with a glance: "Can't blame Dr. Zhou, this pill is more effective than medicine pills, it even cured my loss of appetite..."

  With this one pellet of Golden Jade Wrap, the lifelong major event of the two drunkards is settled!

  ***

  Not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was time for autumn planting. The mountainous area of Yunshui has abundant rainfall, fortunately this year the heavens opened their eyes, and there were no continuous rainy days, so the villagers all planted autumn vegetables or wheat early, expecting next year to be another good harvest.

  Zhou Yi's one song, "Unwrapping the Golden Jade Pill", unexpectedly made it difficult for the two drunkards to take down Wei Shufen, the beautiful and delicate girl. It is said that both families have already gone through the engagement ceremony and set a good date, just waiting for a grand wedding; Zhou Yi also completed the system task, successfully upgrading his "Music" sub-profession to level 9, becoming the first great composer, songwriter, singer, medical god, and culinary god in Chinese history...

  This is unprecedented and unmatched, truly without equal in history.

  Even in the mountains, Zhou Yi startled a flock of egrets. With his performance on Mid-Autumn Night, he caught the attention of many young women and widows, who thought this Dr. Zhou was not only talented but also handsome, and most importantly, didn't put on the airs of a city intellectual, what a great person, so suitable to be our family's son-in-law...

  Then, the yellow flower big girl in the mountain was like the autumn cicada, finding all kinds of excuses to squeeze into Zhou Yi's other courtyard. Zhou Yi was so annoyed... It wasn't just others, but also Yuan Fang's legendary little cousin, who would come with Li Yuanfang and his wife every time, chatting until late at night; because of Li Yuanfang's face, he couldn't say anything, and had to busily entertain them with tea and food, unable to escape the gaze of the little cousin.

  After holding on for a few days, Zhou Yi finally couldn't bear it anymore. The village didn't want him, and the city was too big to go! It just so happened that the seed merchant he had asked Zhang Zuo to find earlier also replied, and according to his requirements, the high-quality pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks all arrived with the goods, which was a good excuse to avoid for a while.

  Inside the all-powerful idle system, there are rice seeds, wheat seeds, radish seeds, and Chinese cabbage seeds, but it doesn't sell living creatures. Zhou Yi wants to raise some poultry and livestock for himself, so he still has to find a seed-selling merchant, and he needs good breeds; Zhang Zuo is also quite capable, the animal company he found is even a multinational one, according to Zhou Yi's requirements, there are American ducks, African pigs, British roosters, and Tibetan Plateau sheep, everything is available. However, the price is not cheap either, roughly estimated, it would cost around 180,000 yuan.

  He went to pay off the debt to Liu Ke and the cost of buying high-priced wheat seeds for autumn planting, Zhou Yi felt that he was running out of money again. Pickled radish is profitable, but it can't withstand the expensive things in the system...

  It doesn't matter how much money he has, the problem is that his parents will eventually find out about his hiding in the mountains. If he achieves something and makes a lot of money, it's okay to explain, but if he ends up with nothing, his parents will definitely make him a target for criticism, and that would be big trouble.

  Jiayiqi has already started thinking about making a fortune, but it's not easy to maintain a leisurely life while earning a convincing amount of money.

  But Zhou Yi believes that there are always more solutions than difficulties. The cold and hungry sparrow will not die, as long as it's not too late, there will be a day when it can enter the bridal chamber!

  Just drag it on, wait for the opportunity to talk again. Thinking of making money, Zhou Daxian started to slack off again... Ah, life is so difficult! If everything in the system was free, that would be great...

  PS: Thank you for the reward from brothers '々风' and '苏醒中い', thank you for the five-star rating vote from brother '天残天弃'. Thanks a lot:)

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