Chapter 21: The Culinary Tycoon

Mountain Treasures and Business Opportunities

Jelly figs, scientifically known as Ficus pumila, are the fruit of the climbing plant Ficus pumila. They can be used for medicinal purposes, but they are also a great food item.

Yu Qingze looked at the large patch of jelly figs climbing on rocks and nearby trees in front of him, feeling extremely delighted. These were excellent food items for relieving summer heat and dampness!

He still remembered when he was a child at his grandfather’s house. Every summer, several trees in the village would be covered with these jelly figs. The villagers would pick them and make them into a jelly-like dessert, adding honey or sugar to it. It was cool and refreshing, similar to jelly, and incredibly delicious.

The method of preparation is also very simple, and he remembers it.

After discovering this good thing, Yu Qingze didn’t care about his reputation for being “visually-challenged” anymore. He directly picked a large, plump fruit of the Liangfen fruit.

With his left shoulder injured and unable to lift his left arm, he could only use one hand to pick. Fortunately, the Liangfen fruits on the vines weren’t high up on the trees; some were even on nearby rocks, which weren’t too high. He easily plucked them.

Not far away, the equally “visually-challenged” Chang Hao found another mushroom and excitedly picked it, wanting to show off again. But when he turned around, he realized that Yu Qingze had already stopped looking for mushrooms and was picking something else instead.

“Big brother Yu, what are you doing? I found another mushroom, making it two!” If you don’t hurry and find more, you won’t catch up to me. Chang Hao walked over to Yu Qingze, holding the two mushrooms he found, and curiously looked at the small pile of fruits on the ground.

“We can eat these. I’ll make them for you this afternoon, I promise you’ll like it!” Yu Qingze didn’t even turn his head and stood on his tiptoes to pluck the jelly figs from the top branch. It had a greenish color, was plump and large, and surely contained a lot of fruit jelly inside.

“We can eat this? Isn’t it medicine?” Chang Hao was quite surprised. He had known about this fruit for several years but never knew it was edible. He had only seen the Doctor pick it for medicinal use.

Yu Qingze finally plucked the fruit from the top and explained with a smile, “Many medicinal ingredients can be eaten as well.”

“Oh, is it delicious?” Chang Hao was most concerned about this question. “Will it taste medicinal?”

Yu Qingze tapped his forehead and jokingly scolded, “You little foodie, if it tastes medicinal, you won’t eat it?”

Chang Hao smiled and rubbed his forehead, shamelessly saying, “If it’s delicious, I can tolerate a slight medicinal taste!”

Yu Qingze laughed and turned to continue picking fruits.

Chang Hao also stopped looking for mushrooms. Since they couldn’t find any, it was better to pick these wild fruits. They were all around them, and they didn’t have to make an effort to search.

The two of them picked a bunch of fruits. When Yu Qingze felt they had enough, they used their clothes as makeshift bags and went to find Grandpa Chang and Chang Le together.

Grandpa Chang and Chang Le were also surprised when they picked these fruits, but since Yu Qingze said they were edible, they probably were. Anyway, when Yu Qingze pointed at the grass on the ground and said it could be made into something delicious, they didn’t doubt it and happily ate it.

Grandpa Chang and Chang Le picked a lot of mushrooms, totaling about three or four catties, and poured them into one bucket. Yu Qingze and Chang Hao put the harvested jellyfruit into another bucket.

The group returned home with a full harvest.

During the Ghost Festival here, there’s no need to avoid certain foods, and there’s a custom of eating duck, which sounds like “press” in Chinese, implying the act of suppressing ghosts.

Grandpa bought a duck from a neighbor’s house yesterday.

After returning home, it was already close to noon, and the family started to prepare lunch.

Chang Hao cooked the rice, and Grandpa Chang prepared the duck.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Yu Qingze first had Chang Le chop the chicken into pieces and blanch them. Then they put the chicken and matsutake mushrooms into a large sand pot, added ginger and garlic, and placed it on a small stove for Chang Hao to simmer. Chang Le went to wash the vegetables, while Yu Qingze started plucking the duck feathers with Grandpa Chang.

After processing the duck, they opened it up. Half of it was reserved for dinner, while the other half, according to Yu Qingze’s plan, was prepared for Ginger-Braised Duck.

“Brother Le, why don’t you make it today?” Yu Qingze said.

Chang Le looked at him and waved his hand, indicating that he had never made Ginger-Braised Duck before, hadn’t even heard of the dish, and had never seen Yu Qingze make it either, so he didn’t know how to do it.

Yu Qingze pulled down his wrist and said, “It’s alright, I’ll teach you. Just follow my instructions.”

Chang Le hesitated for a moment.

Yu Qingze pointed to his left hand and said, “I can’t lift my arm yet.”

Chang Le nodded immediately. He realized he was being careless. Yu Ge was still a patient now, how could he let him cook? He felt a bit guilty about it.

Yu Qingze smiled. In fact, his right hand was fine, and he could easily cook with one hand, but he just wanted to see Chang Le do it.

Moreover, if you want to have good cooking skills, it’s essential to practice regularly. But given the current conditions in this world, they couldn’t afford to let Chang Le practice cooking with food that was meant to be eaten. So Yu Qingze could only teach him step by step, guiding him while he learned and practiced at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

Starting from chopping the duck meat, Yu Qingze didn’t lift a finger throughout the process. He only gave verbal commands and instructions, letting Chang Le do everything.

Meanwhile, the chicken being stewed in front of the stove had begun to emit a fragrant aroma. It simmered and bubbled, mingling with the rich scent of the matsutake mushrooms, making one’s mouth water just from the smell.

“Smells so good!” Chang Hao, tending to the fire, leaned closer to the sand pot and took a deep sniff of the tantalizing aroma, with its fresh and sweet flavor.

Chang Le licked his lips, feeling hungry.

“Xiao Hao, the fire is too high. Lower it a bit, or the soup will dry out later,” Yu Qingze noticed that the soup had pushed the lid aside and quickly reminded Chang Hao.

“Oh, okay.” Chang Hao quickly took out two pieces of firewood. His brother loved soup, and if there was no soup left, his brother wouldn’t have anything to drink.

On the other side, under Yu Qingze’s guidance, Chang Le first chopped the duck meat into pieces and sliced the ginger and red chili peppers. Then they boiled water, blanched the duck pieces, rinsed off the blood, and drained them. In another pan, they sautéed the ginger and garlic until fragrant, then added the duck pieces and stir-fried until golden. They added the sliced ginger and stir-fried it evenly, followed by soy sauce, white vinegar, and cooking wine, stirring well. Finally, they added enough water to cover the duck meat, brought it to a boil, then simmered it over low heat. When there was a small amount of remaining broth, they added salt and sliced red chili peppers, stir-fried until the sauce thickened, and sprinkled it with chopped green onions. And it was done.

After plating it, Chang Le looked at the Ginger-Braised Duck in the bowl. The duck meat was golden and shiny, the ginger soaked in the broth, and the vibrant red chili slices and green onions added richness to the colors. It looked very appetizing.

This was made by himself. Chang Le had a smile on his face as he picked up a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Yu Qingze, asking him to taste it.

Yu Qingze took the chopsticks, picked up a small piece of duck meat, chewed it a few times, swallowed, and then extended his thumb, saying, “Mmm, it tastes great.”

In fact, there was a difference in taste compared to when he made it, but for someone making this dish for the first time, it was really good. He was happy to see Chang Le’s satisfied expression and wanted to make him happy.

Chang Le’s eyes brightened at his words, and a smile curved on his lips. He placed the bowl of food on the nearby table.

Being acknowledged by his master made him happy.

“You should have a piece too.” Saying that, Yu Qingze switched the chopsticks to the other end and picked up another piece of duck meat, naturally bringing it close to Chang Le’s mouth.

Chang Le looked at the chopsticks in front of his mouth, hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should eat it.

“What’s wrong? Eat it. You made it yourself. Ahhh—” Yu Qingze urged, even coaxing him.

Chang Le’s face flushed, and without thinking too much, he quickly opened his mouth and took a bite of the meat.

“How is it? Does it taste good?” Yu Qingze asked with a beaming smile.

Chang Le nodded with his head lowered, his ears turning red. He didn’t even know the taste of the duck meat in his mouth; all he knew was that his face and ears were burning, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Yu Qingze looked at his reaction and smiled, pursing his lips.

Chang Hao, the young boy, lowered his head and suppressed his laughter.

By the time the duck meat was ready, the stewed chicken with matsutake mushrooms was also almost done. Yu Qingze added some salt for seasoning and then asked Chang Hao to take out the firewood.

Chang Le also stir-fried some greens, and lunch was ready.

With chicken and duck, they had the delicately flavored stewed chicken with matsutake mushrooms and the rich and satisfying ginger-braised duck. They also had a plate of vibrant green vegetables. For a rural family, it was a plentiful meal.

Everyone started by having a small bowl of chicken soup. The soup perfectly blended the rich aroma of the chicken with the sweetness of the matsutake mushrooms, leaving everyone wanting more. The pot of chicken was barely touched, but the soup was already almost finished.

Then they started eating.

Chang Le paid special attention to his grandfather and younger brother’s reactions to the duck meat. Seeing that they both said it was delicious, his heart blossomed with joy, feeling particularly satisfied.

After the satisfying lunch, everyone felt full, their bellies round.

However, for a little food lover like Chang Hao, he still couldn’t forget about the wild fruits they had picked in the morning. Yu Qingze had promised to make something delicious with them for him to eat.

After taking a nap, he went to the kitchen to find Yu Qingze and started pleading, “Brother Yu, when are we going to make the jelly?”

“Now!” Knowing that Chang Hao had been looking forward to it for a long time, Yu Qingze agreed.

He had originally been making cold noodles with Chang Le in the kitchen, but when he saw the eager little food lover, he washed his hands and started making the jelly.

Chang Le also paused and watched him make the jelly.

First, they cut open the fruits and removed the seeds, placing them on a clean cotton cloth and wrapping them up, tying the opening securely. Then they immersed the end with the seeds into the pre-prepared cold water.

Yu Qingze had a lot of fruit seeds, so he used the wooden basin they used for cooling noodles and filled it with a large amount of water.

After a few minutes, Yu Qingze firmly held the cloth while Chang Le washed his hands and vigorously rubbed, kneaded, and squeezed the bundle of fruit seeds, extracting the milky fruit gel. The entire process was done in the water.

When there was nothing left to squeeze out, Yu Qingze took out the cloth bundle and set it aside, removing any fruit seeds that had accidentally entered the water. Then he left the basin of water as it was.

Chang Hao watched the entire process without blinking, and now seeing Yu Qingze walk away, he asked, “Brother Yu, is it done?”

Yu Qingze nodded. “Yes, just leave it there. We can eat it in a little while.”

Chang Hao pointed to the basin of water, wide-eyed. “Drink this water? Is that it?”

Yu Qingze laughed and said, “It won’t be just water in a little while. Hey, don’t touch it. Let it sit there. It will surprise you later.” Seeing that Chang Hao wanted to shake the water, Yu Qingze quickly stopped him.

There was no honey at home, but there was a small jar of sugar syrup. Yu Qingze scooped out some and added a bit of water to dissolve it. They would use it later.

Chang Hao stood motionless by the basin of water, waiting to be surprised by what would happen later. But after watching for a while and seeing no changes, his legs became numb, so he stood up and went to help his brother cook cold noodles.

However, after helping for a while, he couldn’t resist running over to take a look.

After he ran back and forth five or six times, he suddenly noticed that something seemed different about the water.

“It’s frozen! Brother, come and see, it’s frozen!” Chang Hao exclaimed, pointing to the basin, calling his brother to come and look.

Curious, Chang Le walked over and saw that the water in the basin had disappeared, and it had frozen into a solid block, transparent in appearance!

Yu Qingze came over and said, “It’s ready to eat!”

He took four small bowls and spooned the frozen jelly into them, then poured the dissolved sugar water into the bowls. He handed them to Chang Hao and Chang Le, saying, “Try it.”

The two took the bowls, and the frozen jelly inside was sparkling and transparent, resembling gemstones. But as soon as the spoon touched it, it could be easily cut, very tender.

Chang Hao scooped up a piece with a spoon and put it in his mouth. It was cool and refreshing, and he felt a surge of energy. The frozen jelly had a sweet taste, and he was about to chew it when it slid down his throat.

Chang Hao: …Oh, no need to chew!

“It’s delicious!” Chang Hao immediately scooped up a large spoonful and quickly “drank” it down.

Chang Le took a sip and also had a pleasantly surprised expression. He initially thought liangfen was similar to liangmian and liangpi, but it turned out to be like this. It should be considered a type of dessert.

But it was really delicious, cool and refreshing, smooth and tender. He had been busy making liangpi and felt hot, but now he felt comfortable all over. He had never eaten this kind of dessert before, made from “frozen water.”

Seeing their expressions, Yu Qingze smiled contentedly and then carried a bowl of liangfen to the main room for Grandpa Chang, who was repairing a hoe.

After tasting it, Grandpa Chang also highly praised it. He abandoned the hoe for now since it was so hot outside and decided to have a couple more bowls of liangfen in the kitchen first.

“Big brother Yu, can’t we sell this liangfen too? There are so many fruits in the mountains, and it tastes so good. The recipe is also simple. It would be a waste not to sell it. And I’m sure it will sell well!” Chang Hao, while eating, didn’t forget to explore business opportunities. Lately, he had been working at the stall and thought about whether every food item could be sold for profit.

Grandpa Chang and Chang Le nodded in agreement.

Yu Qingze said, “We can sell it. I’ve been thinking that we should make and sell it in a few days. It will definitely be more popular than mung bean soup, and the recipe is simple. We just need to buy some sugar, but it would taste even better with honey.”

Having made up their minds, they discussed going to the mountains the next day to gather some ingredients.

Since picking jelly figs and pine mushrooms in the mountains, Yu Qingze had developed a keen interest in the mountains. There were many mountain delicacies, and who knows what other good things they might discover if they explored more?

The next day, Yu Qingze went to the mountains with Chang Le and Chang Hao. Grandpa Chang stayed home alone. Around mid-morning, when it was almost noon, unexpected guests arrived at their house.

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Translator has something to say: Sorry my lovely readers for the delay in updating. I was super busy last week with work so, this week I had to catch up on school. Barely managed to finished this chapter just now.