CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: A MAN WHO TAKES THINGS SERIOUSLY IS THE MOST ATTRACTIVE

Ye Manman was settled at home to enjoy the newly bought snacks, while He Chen went out after braising the duck, returning home very late.

"Did you go hit someone?"

"Yeah, he doesn’t know it was me."

Before coming home, He Chen took a walk outside to tidy up his clothes and wash his hands clean. Facing Ye Manman, he didn’t have a bit of the intimidating aura he had while hitting someone; his whole demeanor turned soft.

At this moment, Ye Manman wasn’t afraid of that punk coming to bother her again; she was more worried about whether that skinny guy could endure He Chen’s hits.

If something serious happened, it would be too much of a loss.

Perhaps seeing her concern, He Chen proactively said.

"Don’t worry, I avoided critical spots, nothing will go wrong."

He didn’t want Ye Manman to think he was just a brute who only used violence.

"That’s good, he won’t come back, right?"

However, Ye Manman didn’t think violence was necessarily wrong. If she could fight, she would’ve beaten that skinny monkey on the spot herself.

Now He Chen vented her anger for her, and she felt quite satisfied.

He Chen responded with a hum, took out the chopsticks, and opened the lid of the braised duck pot, instantly releasing a rich aroma.

"He won’t come back, he knelt down and promised. Plus, I warned him, if he sees you outside, he should avoid you; otherwise, next time, he won’t be able to leave the hospital."

Who would have thought He Chen’s means could be so ruthless.

Ye Manman shook her head, responding a few times, but at this moment, she felt no fear and all her thoughts were drawn to the braised duck in the pot.

"This should be ready, right? The aroma wafted out ten miles; before you got back, many people came to our house asking what we were braising."

For some reason, He Chen’s cooking skills were quite impressive; he could create the right flavor by casually blending the complex marinade.

Ye Manman had almost forgotten the taste of this thing, drooling with craving.

He Chen couldn’t help but smile, quickly serving her a piece of duck wing.

"Careful, it’s hot. Try and see if it’s good?"

Before buying the spices, he specially asked the shop manager how to mix them to braise meat deliciously, and then slightly adjusted the formula according to the pot size himself afterwards.

He had never made this before and wasn’t sure about the taste, so he anxiously watched Ye Manman’s lips, worried it might not taste good.

"Hmm...it’s not bad, just seems like something’s missing."

Ye Manman took a few small bites, feeling the flavor was somewhat similar, but it wasn’t spicy, numb, or sweet, just very ordinary braised taste.

Upon hearing this, He Chen also picked out a piece to taste.

"The braised flavors sold outside seem to be like this. What flavor do you think is missing? I can try to improve it."

He thought it was quite tasty; the town sold braised items too, and he had bought some braised vegetables for the family before with about this taste, though braised meat was apparently tastier.

Ye Manman shared her thoughts, He Chen pondered for a moment, and then added corresponding Sichuan pepper, dried chili, and rock sugar according to his spice proportion.

His humble learning attitude moved Ye Manman, but honestly, she wasn’t quite sure if it would be delicious; after all, she had never cooked anything, let alone such complex braised dishes.

"I’m also not sure if it can be done this way... If it doesn’t taste good, don’t blame me."

"No worries, I’ll make adjustments, and I’ll let you try it once it’s done."

"Great~"

So Ye Manman simply ate some duck and dishes with an ordinary braised flavor and went to play with her new supplies.

The skincare and toiletry products from this era weren’t sophisticated enough; she needed to research whether they suited her skin.

He Chen fiddled with the small stove for a long time, even borrowing Ye Manman’s notebook and pen to record the spice ratios, and by the time Ye Manman was about to fall asleep, he came into the room with a delighted expression holding a bowl.

"Want to try? I think I made the flavor you described—numb, spicy, and sweet."

He looked so much like a little student seeking praise after winning an award that Ye Manman couldn’t help but want to laugh.

But looking at the bowl with a duck collarbone that seemed over-braised but familiar in appearance and aroma, she couldn’t resist reaching out to pick it up.

The blackened collarbone entered her mouth, and her drowsy head instantly became clear.

She exclaimed in surprise.

"This is the taste! Delicious!"

"He Chen, you’re amazing, how did you manage to make this? Genius!"

This flavor of braised duck was unprecedented in this era; even though it wasn’t that spicy, the sweetness and numbing effect made up for the slight lack of spiciness.

Moreover, the spiciness can be adjusted anytime by changing the amount of chili; Ye Manman sincerely felt that He Chen’s ability to figure out such an excellent taste in such a short time was genius-level.

"This could be sold for sure, people would love it!"

She didn’t want to sleep anymore, getting up to eat more, still holding onto the gnawed clean collarbone bone, unwilling to throw it away.

He Chen blushed from her praises, and seeing how much she enjoyed eating, he felt that the time spent figuring out the recipe was truly worthwhile.

The two chatted as they ate.

Ye Manman made a suggestion.

"Since we have so many ducks at home, why not braise them like this to sell, you’d definitely make a big profit."

She was sure anyone who hadn’t tasted such a rich flavor would be hooked once they tried it.

He Chen had more considerations though.

"If I sell it individually, the costs wouldn’t be worthwhile; supplying it regularly to a window requires investing money and manpower too. So, I can’t sell it immediately, but I’ll think of a way. Tomorrow, I’ll take some to try it out."

His mind seemed to work especially fast when talking about these things. Watching him, with furrowed brow, writing and drawing in his notebook, Ye Manman felt as if she was witnessing the rise of a great leader.

But a leader also had to be obedient.

"He Chen, I’ll keep the notebook safe for you; I wrote the things to buy tomorrow on the first page, don’t forget."

"Mhm, don’t worry."

He Chen lacked any extravagant cravings for food. Instead, once he thought of a money-making method, he was unstoppable. After Ye Manman had her fill, he put down his pen.

The notes he wrote were concise yet very organized, and just one glance left Ye Manman feeling that he had turned those few pages into something like a PowerPoint presentation. If he knew how to draw, she’d even suspect he’d add some pictures.

Indeed, a man focused on his work is most attractive.

Ye Manman couldn’t bear to interrupt his thought process.

"Are you full? Do you want to make something different for you to try tomorrow?"

He remembered there were many bracken in the mountains, just thinking about using this recipe to braise them made him anticipate how good they would taste.

Ye Manman gave a response and then naturally climbed onto his back.

"Okay, let’s go to the mountains again. We’ll bring back more different game today, I want to eat mushrooms too. Last time, I didn’t even get to try the chicken fungus, huh, they all got eaten by them."

"Alright, I’ll make you some tomorrow."

He Chen moved swiftly, even with a person on his back, dashing through the mountains at night like a nimble leopard.

Manman’s golden finger had been figured out mostly by now.

The success condition was the rationality of things, not wishing for anything to appear anywhere.

For instance, wild bulls and sheep couldn’t appear in the mountains, so no matter how she imagined, they didn’t manifest before.

But even having such extraordinary ability was inhuman enough, and Ye Manman felt very content, at least she never lacked meat to eat every day, and she could quickly push forward He Chen’s rise to the top.

Returning to the wealthy life before entering the book was now within sight.