The Feast

Chapter 23: For the Sake of Gourmet Food

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: I’m going to do my best to see if I can put out at least a chapter every two days. Admin and I have informally agreed not to trespa.s.s into each other’s territory and this is a slight violation of our agreement. However, at this point, I will be very happy to receive a scolding email from Admin…

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Gumihou

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Best regard,

Gumihou

PS: On a side note, I’m going to keep putting the above message up, in order to make sure nasty thieving sites has more of a problem stealing our translations.

Queue: Actually, that rascal Duan Tingxuan has four boys and two girls by three different women…

Lao Niang: Welcome! We’re happy to have you here. Reviews are the best way to get recommendations!

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Now, onwards to The Feast!

“Pei!” Su Nuan Nuan spat. “You’re telling me that she’s of a n.o.ble character? Hehe! Do you even believe yourself? True, she never mentioned anything about divorce papers. If she is really that stupid, she’d never be put in charge of your concubines. All she had to do is make you angry, and here you are, all righteously p.i.s.sed off and ready to fight.”

“Unfortunately, even in her dreams she would never have imagine that her husband is a closeted foodie who is weak against gourmet food. Thus, allowing me to leap over this obstacle. Kekeke, this is definitely a case where man proposes and G.o.d disposes. Hey, you tell me, when Madam Yun realizes this, do you think she’ll die of frustration?”

“In just a few months your tongue has gotten this sharp and poisonous.” Duan Tingxuan has no other retort to make and could only turn his head away, just in time to catch Hong Lian come out of the kitchen with a worried look on her face.

She quickly rushed the few steps over to them, bobbed a greeting to Duan Tingxuan, smiled and said. “Missy, the two ducks have been dressed and cleaned as per your instructions. We’ve lightly salted it and hanged it up in the kitchen cupboard.”

“En, good, tomorrow get the kitchens to send an oven over.” Su Nuan Nuan nodded in approval. After thinking for a bit, she added, “If that surname Xue woman refuses to give us what we want, just say the master is the one who wants it…”

“Wei!” Duan Tingxuan’s face was all black. “Can you please don’t use my name to embezzle for things? To say all this in front of me, do you think I’m deaf?”

“Yi? Don’t you want roast duck? Or duck soup? If not, then it’s fine. Don’t say I didn’t inform you, my skills with roast duck is not too bad…” Su Nuan Nuan’s face was expressionless.

Without waiting for her to finish, Duan Tingxuan looked like he was about to choke, he forcefully swallowed and shouted. “Wait a minute, who says I don’t want to eat them?”

“You said it yourself, ah. Don’t ruin your reputation with embezzlement…” Su Nuan Nuan watched him with her head tipped to the side, her innocent looking expression nearly driving him mad: This woman…your mother, is getting harder and harder to deal with.

“Fine, fine, just get the oven, just say that I want it.”

In the end, the lure of roast duck was too great. Duan Tingxuan stared at Su Nuan Nuan with a face full of tears, he just could not understand how he was eaten up so thoroughly by the opponent. It’s not like he never had roast duck before, he was even sick of duck soup. Why is it that when this woman talks about roast duck and duck soup, he had the feeling that the flavours would be unique?

The bone soup with the fat and impurities skimmed off was so delicious that Duan Tingxuan almost swallowed his tongue. The bright and fresh fragrance with just a hint of sweetness was truly unforgettable. And those bones, perhaps due to the long stewing process, the meat on those bones were so tender that it did not have to be removed by hand. With just a gentle poke with the chopsticks, the meat just fell right off. When he placed the soft meat on his tongue, it just melted away leaving a gentle fragrance without a hint of greasiness.

The prince was actually in tears. He had never eaten such delicious meat in his life. The Hua Diau Fuling Pork [1] he had had at the Imperial Palace last new year could not even be compared. He really could not understand, just how this woman come up with such cooking techniques? It was just too delicious!

He drank two large bowls of the soup in one go, ate the meat off three pieces of bones. At that moment, he did not bother with table manners. The only thing in his mind was the third bowl of soup. He had to finish the second bowl quickly in order to get the third bowl of soup. The pot of soup was not large, he estimated that there was only one bowl of soup left in its depths. It was just too bad that he could not have the whole pot to himself.

“Hong Lian, bring your lord another bowl.” Duan Tingxuan was in the middle of destroying another piece of large bone, and did not bother to look up as he said this.

However, he did hear when Hong Lian said. “Master, the last bowl of soup has been given to Missy.”

“What?”

Duan Tingxuan felt like he had been struck by lightning. Looking at the full bowl of soup in front of Su Nuan Nuan, he gritted his teeth and said. “Can you really finish such a large bowl of soup by yourself? Just quickly give me half, you’re a woman, so should watch your figure or you’ll turn into an ugly fatty.”

“It doesn’t matter since I’m already married, furthermore an abandoned wife. Who cares if I turned into an ugly fatty? It’s better to just eat good things happily.” Su Nuan Nuan smiled as she continued to nibble at the large rib bone in her hands.

Duan Tingxuan eyes looked like they were about to spew fire, he hated that he couldn’t just s.n.a.t.c.h that piece of bone from her hands. However, as a man, his face wasn’t quite that thick, so he could only reluctantly let go of the matter.

After the soup was gone, Duan Tingxuan eyed the empty bowls on the table in front of him. He picked up a pair of chopsticks, tapped at the edge of one bowl and crossly said, “The soup is gone, the bones are all gone, but I’m still not full, now what?”

Su Nuan Nuan had three little bowls of soup and three pieces bones and was actually quite satisfied. However, when she thought of Si Ping, Hong Lian and Xiang Yun who only had a single bowl of soup and one piece of bone each, most likely none of them were full yet, she sighed. While she did not care if Duan Tingxuan’s dog, Si Ping, who could suffer for all she care for having such a greedy master, both Hong Lian and Xiang Yun were her personal maids, and she could not bear to show a cold face to them.

After thinking for a bit, she suddenly remembered the 2 jin of beans she had been stewing to make bean paste buns. She had actually prepared those to make travel rations once the divorce papers were served. In the whole excitement, she had actually forgotten about the pork bone soup. When Si Ping appeared with the two wild ducks, Su Nuan Nuan had decided to settle on a wait and see approach, thus the red bean paste had not been used up yet.

She had intended to make bean paste snacks. However snacks, whether steamed or baked, requires time, but seeing that rascally prince licking his empty bowl like a starving wolf, it’s obvious that patience was not abundant in that one. She guessed that by the time the the snacks are done, it would be supper time. Even if Duan Tingxuan was willing to wait, Su Nuan Nuan was not willing to have this rascal hanging around Mei Yue Lou too long.

Therefore, she decided to try a different recipe and frowned as she considered her options. Suddenly, the ideal recipe occurred to her and she clapped her hands in excitement, laughing, “I have it, a delicious snack that’s quick and easy to prepare. Normally, we won’t be able to make this thing easily, but since the lord is here we could make use of him. Why don’t we make that?”

“What is it?” Duan Tingxuan was immediately suspicious as he stared at Su Nuan Nuan. “You better explain every thing properly and don’t just see me as a coolie[2].”

“For this sort of snack, if you’re unwilling to become a coolie, you won’t get to eat it.” Su Nuan Nuan’s eyebrows twitched. “Either you become a coolie, or you scram. Which do you choose?”

Too hateful and arrogant, actually telling me to scram. Duan Tingxuan bristled with anger, he was about to erupt into the king of all rages when Su Nuan Nuan continued, a yearning look on her face, “Xue Mien Tou Sa (Snow Soft Bean Paste) snacks, ah. It’s been a long time since I’ve last tasted it. Just thinking about it makes it feels like my saliva is about to overflow…”

The acc.u.mulated energy fizzled out just like that. The prince’s two eyes were full of stars: A snack that could make even this woman salivate, just how delicious is it? Also, Snow Soft Bean Paste snacks? Even the name sounds lovely and alluring.

“What do you need me to do?”

The prince asked unhappily as he rolled up his sleeves. He had lost all hope for his tongue and belly. These two body parts no longer belonged to him. They were actually spies and hidden agents sent by Su Nuan Nuan. As long as there are good things to eat, no matter how he made up his mind to resist, he would be defeated by these two characters.

Author’s notes: Ha ha ha! It’s all for the sake of gourmet food, ah. Please vote and bookmark, ou ou ou!

[1] Hua Diau Fuling Pigs – Pigs that are fed on expensive Hua Diao wine (a type of Xiao Shing wine) and Fuling fungus to make them delicious. Kind of like wagyu beef that’s fed on beer and given ma.s.sages.

[2] coolie – cheap labour

Here’s a picture of what I imagined Su Nuan Nuan made, complete with peanuts! I got the image from eatingclubvancouver.com

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