Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1013 The Taste

Chen Hui said, "It's possible. Our soup contains Chinese medicine ingredients, so it should last for a few more days."

An Laowu said, "I've thought about it, Xiaowei. We don't need to copy others. There's only so much water in a bowl of instant noodles. As long as we get the amount of soup in right, it will taste good, just like stew. These days, aren't the soup packets used in restaurants based on the amount of water? It's the same principle. The difference is the vegetables. Stews have vegetables in them. You guys figure out how to add vegetables to the noodles."

Liu Hongliang said, "Potatoes, green beans, eggplants, peppers, scallions, right? And pickled cabbage."

An Laowu said, "It doesn't need to be so complicated. Just a small bowl. Too much will make it too messy. Potatoes, green beans, and scallions. You can make a separate dish of pickled cabbage, just add a packet of the stewed cabbage. You don't need much, just enough for two bites."

Chen Hui said, "You can add some bone meal to the seasoning packet."

Liu Hongliang said, "Why not just cook the potatoes and green beans, grind them into powder, and that will do?"

An Laowu's eyes lit up: "Hey, this trick can be tried, let's give it a try, it feels like it's about the same."

Sister Jin said, "We need to add sugar. I've been wanting to say this for a while now: add a little bit of sugar to the seasoning. It enhances the flavor."

Li Na asked, "Why?"

Sister Jin said, "An old chef once told me that no matter what dish you're cooking, add a little bit of sugar, but don't let it taste sweet. It will still make people feel that it tastes good. I don't remember exactly what he said, but the point was that sweetness is the most acceptable and willing taste for people. Even if you can't taste the sweetness, your taste buds can, and then you feel comfortable and that it tastes good."

Chen Hui said, "That makes sense. Isn't it said that sweetness is the taste of happiness?"

An Laowu said, "Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty—sour is listed first because it's the most stimulating, but actually sweet is the most important. Sour is generally not added except in special dishes. Sweet, bitter, and salty are the basic flavors, with sweet coming first."

Jin asked, "How spicy is it? I heard that people from the South can handle a lot of spicy food."

Old Man An shook his head: "Spicy isn't a flavor, it's poison. Flavor is in your mouth, understand? You can't feel it anywhere else except your mouth. But where can't you feel spiciness? You can feel it even when you rub it on your body, even when you poop."

Everyone laughed. Li Na and Sister Jin blushed bright red and glared at An Laowu. An Laowu said, "Don't glare at me. I'm telling the truth. If you can smell everything, it'll be terrible. Think about it, how can you poop and pee properly? What will your stomach be like after eating all day?"

Chen Hui thought for a moment and said, "You know what, what Fifth Brother said does make sense. Think about it, apart from the spiciness, it seems to be true. You only taste it in your mouth, not your tongue. You can't feel anything anywhere else when you put it on."

Liu Hongliang said, "Thinking about it this way, if you could taste things in your stomach, you really wouldn't be able to eat properly. The key thing is that you wouldn't be able to stand the digestion process either."

An Laowu said, "My family has been studying food for generations, and we've figured out a lot of things. Take spicy food, for example. Not being able to eat spicy food doesn't mean you don't like it, you understand? Tolerance to spice, that's just a habit, you can train it."

Li Na said, "When people say someone is ruthless, they mean vicious. We don't usually pay attention to it, but when we think about it, it's really true. People have known for a long time that 'spicy' can be poisonous."

Xiao Wei said, "We've gone off-topic. Let's get back to Li Na, about your and Jin Jie's mother-in-law. Don't either of you have anyone you like?"

Li Na said, "Yes, I like Chen Hui, but he doesn't want me." She looked at Chen Hui with a pitiful expression.

Chen Hui said, "Darling, I have feelings for you too, but alas, we are destined to be apart. You should find someone to marry. If you have a daughter, I will definitely treat her like my own daughter-in-law."

Before anyone could react, Li Na's slap landed on Chen Hui's head: "You beast, you even dare to lay a finger on my unborn daughter."

An Laowu said, "You two really should think about this. Among this group of people, you two are the only ones who haven't settled down yet. People still have to live their lives after all. Now that your careers are taking off, it would be so much better to have a stable family. Your parents are probably getting anxious, even if they haven't said anything."

Sister Jin leaned back on the sofa and said, "What can we do? Can this be rushed? What if we can't find someone suitable?"

An Laowu said, "Tomorrow, I'll look around for you two. You two should also try to find someone suitable. If you meet a few more, you're bound to find someone compatible. You're so busy these days, and the few people you meet at the company are all already taken. What are you going to do?"

Xiao Wei asked Wang Dawei, "Dawei, when are you coming over from your family?"

David Wang said, "My wife might come at the end of the year. The child needs to go to school, and the family doesn't agree with her coming to study in the mainland, so she'll have to go to a boarding school. We'll arrange everything first before she comes. It will be a bit hard for her, running back and forth between the two places."

Chen Hui asked, "How old is your child? Is it a boy or a girl?"

David Wang said, "He's a Form Four student, a boy, very mischievous, likes to sing, already has a girlfriend, and won't listen to reason."

Liu Hongliang asked, "What's Form Four? Is it a year of study?"

Chen Hui said, "They don't call it high school there. From Form 1 to Form 7, you have to take the Certificate of Education Examination after Form 5. Only if you pass the exam can you go to Form 6. Form 4 is equivalent to our first year of high school. After Form 7, you have to take another exam to go to university."

Li Na said, "We have six years of primary school, six years of middle school, and four years of university. They have six years of primary school, seven years of middle school, and how many years of university?"

Chen Hui said, "I was almost sent to Hong Kong to study during those three years."

Wang Dawei said, "That's right, that's exactly it. Studying is very hard."

Xiao Wei said, "Then, is it more cost-effective for us to go to university in Hong Kong after graduating from high school here? We can skip a year of study."

Chen Hui shook his head and said, "No, you'll have to study for a year beforehand to make up for Form 7, otherwise you won't be able to keep up. There will be a gap in your studies." (The school system has changed now.)

Li Na patted the sofa: "We've gone off-topic again. Weren't we talking about our relationship?"

Everyone was taken aback and looked at her. Then they started making a ruckus, and Sister Jin laughed so hard she could barely stand.

Liu Hongliang stood up and said, "Alright, I'm not going to chat with you anymore. I have to go back. My master wants to eat egg sausage, so I have to go buy some."

Xiao Wei said, "Write a report on Xidu's development plan and let me take a look. Also, how are Anlei's shares divided now?"

Liu Hongliang said, "The shares are waiting for Geng Hui to calculate; I don't understand it."

Xiao Wei nodded, and Liu Hongliang waved goodbye to everyone and left. Chen Hui said, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel like the places where Hongliang stayed smell like pigsties."

An Laowu said, "It's a neurotic problem. My wife says she always feels like I smell of cooking oil on me. I haven't touched a spoon in a year, so where would that smell come from?"

Xiao Wei asked Sister Jin, "Sister Jin, among all of us, inside and out, isn't there anyone you like? I mean, someone who's single."

Sister Jin said, "Who's single? You, Xiao Hui, Xia Xia, Hong Liang, Xie Xiaolong, who's single? Even Dawei is dating now. Oh, that Xiaomia, she's really something, I'm even tempted. Who else is single? Xiao Wu, An Hongbo."

Chen Hui scratched his head: "Yeah, it seems like there are too few men here, it's all women."

(End of this chapter)