Love Apartment: Yifei is my junior aunt

Chapter 137 South Wind's Invitation

As soon as Zeng Xiaoxian said this, everyone looked at Yifei with strange expressions.

Good heavens, they're using us as guinea pigs.

Yifei looked at everyone's gazes and said with some grievance, "I just wanted you to try my new dishes. Every time Meijia makes a new dish, you all flock around to taste it, but you don't want to eat what I make."

"You all say my cooking is terrible. How can I improve if you don't eat it or give me feedback?"

Seeing that Yifei was about to burst into tears, everyone felt guilty.

Have they been too harsh in mocking Yifei's cooking skills? No matter how strong-willed or mentally resilient Yifei is, she is still a girl after all.

Everyone avoids Yifei's cooking, which is tantamount to constantly hurting her self-esteem.

Feeling guilty, everyone first showered the participants with compliments, and then those who hadn't yet tried the "Double Happiness" dish started eating.

"Sis, your 'Double Happiness' dish is actually quite good, but you added a tiny bit too much lemon juice and mustard oil. If you reduced it by just a tiny bit, say seven-tenths less, it would be absolutely delicious."

Zhanbo forced a smile and gave Yifei a thumbs-up, praising her skillfully. Ever since Yifei learned to cook, he had been forced to eat her cooking, so these words of praise came out of his mouth almost effortlessly.

However, he still choked on the wasabi, and with each word he spoke, large tears streamed down his face like pearls.

To be honest, judging from Zhanbo's current tearful appearance, he could easily audition for the lead role in a Qiong Yao drama if he were dressed as a woman.

While chewing, Curry Sauce comforted Yifei, saying, "Sister Yifei, actually, the dishes you make aren't that difficult... cough cough cough..."

The curry sauce, choked by wasabi, frantically waved to Yu Mo for help: "Water..."

I can tolerate the citric acid, but this wasabi is truly unbearable.

Even the most carefree curry sauce is no match for this "Double Happiness" dish, let alone anyone else.

Guan Gu couldn't help but sneeze after just one bite, and instinctively spoke in Japanese as he sneezed.

Although I couldn't understand what he was saying, judging from his tone, it was clearly not the dry praise he usually gives after regaining his senses.

Wan Yu was about to say a few words of comfort when her expression changed. She didn't even have time to ask for water before rushing to the bathroom to rinse her mouth.

As for Zeng Xiaoxian... he rolled his eyes and fainted. When Meijia finally managed to shake him awake, he started wailing and even started speaking in the Fuzhou dialect.

Nanfeng, who was fortunate enough to have a few phrases of Fuzhou dialect taught by Teacher Zeng, couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

After everyone else rinsed their mouths or drank water, all eyes turned to Nanfeng, the only one who hadn't touched his chopsticks yet.

Nanfeng merely picked up a shredded potato with her chopsticks, glanced at it, and then turned to ask Yifei, "You just said that we're all willing to eat Meijia's new dishes, but we don't want to eat yours..."

"Just one question for you: after you made this thing, did you even taste it yourself?"

"Uh..." Yifei was speechless, her lingering aggrieved expression instantly transforming into a fawning smile. "That's not important... right?"

Nanfeng put down her chopsticks: "You, the cook, don't even want to try your own new dishes, yet you complain that we don't want to eat your food?"

The others suddenly realized, "That's right!"

She doesn't even eat the food she cooks, so why should we be her guinea pigs?

And look at how her expression changed so quickly; it's obvious that her earlier grievances were all fake, just an act for everyone to see.

So what exactly were we feeling guilty about just now?!

The thought that everyone had just been praising Yifei against their conscience made them want to disappear into the ground.

No, it should be that we need to find a crack in the ground and shove Hu Yifei inside!

Nanfeng watched as everyone first praised Yifei's cooking skills against their conscience, then forced him to eat the "Double Happiness" dish, and finally, after learning the truth, they had expressions of shame and anger. Nanfeng felt a sense of pleasure.

It's no wonder he waited so long to tell the truth.

Hahaha……

"Um... I'll go get the second dish."

Yifei glared fiercely at Nanfeng, who had ruined her plans, and tried to sneak into the kitchen to avoid trouble, but Meijia pressed her down as soon as she got up.

"No rush. I think Nanfeng makes a lot of sense. Even I, the referee, can't stand it when you cook but don't eat the food yourself and make everyone else be your guinea pigs."

She raised her finger firmly and said, "First, absolutely no acting on impulse! Second, absolutely no wrongdoing will be overlooked! Third, the judgment will be absolutely fair and impartial!"

Meijia, the referee who had been relatively inconspicuous throughout the entire name dispute, exercised her refereeing authority for the first time: "I hereby declare that you will also participate in this Labor Trial, and eat with everyone else. Does anyone have any objections?"

"No!"

The crowd cheered, "The referee was brilliant!"

"Very good." Meijia looked at Yifei with a smile. "Yifei, do you have any objections to this referee's decision?"

Yifei shook her head dejectedly: "No."

The world is big and the referee is the biggest.

This is the most important rule in the entire name battle, and it's the standard that everyone must follow if they want to continue playing this game.

Each of them picked out some shredded potatoes and ginger from their own plates and handed them to Yifei: "Please enjoy."

Yifei glanced at Nanfeng with a sullen expression. The two of them simultaneously raised their chopsticks, each holding shredded potatoes and ginger, and stared at each other.

"Brave warrior, let's share this last meal before we're beheaded!" Nanfeng joked.

The two of them put a full mouthful of shredded potatoes and ginger into their mouths, chewed a few times haphazardly, and quickly swallowed it.

One second, two seconds, three seconds... ten seconds...

Half a minute passed, and Nanfeng and Yifei's expressions remained unchanged, which made everyone's eyes widen.

"Are these two monsters?" Zeng Xiaoxian asked, his mouth agape in surprise.

Yu Mo was a little worried: "How long are they going to keep staring at each other like this?"

Several seconds later, Yifei asked in a hoarse voice, "Which side are you on?"

"I'm here, you're there," Nanfeng replied, gesturing with her hands.

While everyone else was wondering what was going on, the two of them ran quickly to the kitchen and the sink, each on one side, and started frantically rinsing their mouths.

"cut……"

Everyone leaned back in their chairs.

After the two pretentious guys awkwardly sat back down, Meijia brought out the second dish from the kitchen.

"What's the second dish called again?" Meijia asked.

Yifei swallowed the water Yu Mo handed her and said, "The second dish is amazing, it's called 'Ten-Ingredient Chicken Wings'."

Meijia opened the lid, and inside were chicken wings emitting a rich aroma.

"It looks like cola chicken wings, but the smell... I estimate that a third of the smell was caused by it," Guan Gu said, covering his nose.

Looking at the chicken wings that looked pretty good, everyone picked up a piece and nervously took a bite.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

Nanfeng rinsed her mouth, looking at Yifei with a shocked expression: "You cooked cola chicken wings with Chinese medicine?!"

I thought "Double Happiness" was the limit, but this "Perfect Chicken Wings" is just as good.

This isn't some kind of innovative Fei cuisine; it's clearly a culinary guide to the world of culinary disasters!

"It's a medicinal soup, a complete tonic soup." Yifei swallowed the chicken wing in her mouth without any effort. "This recipe was passed down to me by your grandfather. We drank a lot of this when we were kids."

Nanfeng recalled what Yifei said: "It was that Chinese medicine with Coptis chinensis, Sophora flavescens, Phellodendron amurense and other weird, terribly bitter herbs added. I was wondering why it tasted so familiar."

"And I added a little innovation too," Yifei said, pointing to the things on the plate that were clearly not chicken wings.

The word "innovation" that she uttered sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Wanyu picked up her chopsticks and curiously flipped through the food in the plate.

"Goji berries, lotus leaves, hawthorn... what is this?" she asked, picking up a clump of unidentified objects.

Yifei wasn't entirely sure either, but after taking a closer look, she confidently declared, "This is dried tangerine peel."

"Orange peel is orange peel, but is the dried tangerine peel in your house just peeled off the orange?" Xiaoxian muttered under his breath.

Yifei emphasized again, "This is dried tangerine peel... just a little newer."

[In her inner world, Yifei ate an orange and said: I know that aged tangerine peel is better, but there just happens to be no tangerine peel for sale around here. What else can I use?]

As she spoke, she casually tossed the orange peels into the trash can. When Yifei finished eating all the oranges and saw her hands were empty, she froze in shock.

[Yifei looked around and, making sure no one was nearby, quickly squatted down and started rummaging through the trash can.]

[After washing, it should still be usable, right?]

Zeng Xiaoxian was too lazy to argue with Hu Yifei. He looked at the dried tangerine peel that Wanyu was holding and felt it looked familiar: "Yifei...where did you get this orange?"

Yifei pointed to the sofa and coffee table that had been put back in place: "It's just the fruit on the coffee table."

"...Do you remember when you bought this orange?"

Yifei waved her hand dismissively: "I don't remember. Who cares about these things?"

"Heh, when did we ever buy oranges?"

Zeng Xiaoxian pointed to the coffee table and said, "I've forgotten how this orange came about. Anyway, it's always been in our suite. It even moved into 3601 earlier than Zhanbo and Wanyu."

"What?!"

Yifei's eyes widened, and she ran to the toilet again.

"vomit……"

Seeing Yifei rush into the toilet to vomit, everyone quickly signaled Meijia to throw away the plate of "Ten-Ingredient Chicken Wings".

If it were just unpalatable, that would be one thing, but with this wretched thing that's hard to tell whether it's new or aged tangerine peel, everyone is too afraid to even touch it.

……

As one innovative dish after another was served at the table, everyone finally understood what unparalleled creative talent truly meant.

Oatmeal, beef, and pineapple soup; stir-fried pork floss with green and bell peppers; glutinous rice balls filled with stinky tofu; dragon fruit, lotus root, and pork rib soup...

These dishes are pushing the limits of human physiology and psychology.

Of course, it would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that all of Yifei's innovations are rubbish. At least Nanfeng quite liked her steak sandwich that used ice cream instead of salad dressing.

It would be even better if the steak didn't sizzle and bleed.

But no matter what, most of Yifei's innovative dishes are still the kind of failures that everyone comments are "not even worth remembering".

Faced with such a "culinary" challenge, Nanfeng, Xiaoxian, Wanyu, and a series of other contestants eventually gave up and chose to withdraw.

Now, only Ziqiao and his senior brother, who are still sitting at the dining table, are left, striving for their title of "White Dragon in the Waves".

Ziqiao covered his mouth, trying not to make any big movements, otherwise he was really worried that his stomach acid would churn up.

"Senior brother, you're about to give up, aren't you? I'm sure I'll win this test."

The eldest brother had also taken off his glasses, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

He clutched his growling stomach, but still defiantly raised his head and said, "There can only be one winner today..."

"..."

"...That's me!"

The two were locked in a fierce battle, neither willing to admit defeat.

Zhanbo walked up to Guangu and asked, "Guangu-kun, how long do you think they can hold out?"

"It's hard to say, hard to say. I estimate they'll need three more rounds to decide the winner."

Just as Guan Gu was expressing his speculation, Mei Jia brought out a plate of beggar's chicken stuffed with houttuynia cordata, which immediately killed the game.

Upon smelling the odor, the senior apprentice could no longer bear it, raised his hand to indicate that he had given up, and then rushed into the bathroom like lightning.

Ziqiao couldn't even savor the joy of victory and hurriedly ran back to 3602 to use the restroom.

Meijia announced in front of the remaining people: "The test of labor, Ziqiao's team has won!"

"The current score is 3 to 2, which means that both sides need to go through the final two-point test to determine who wins and who loses."

Yifei leaned against the corner and waved her hand weakly: "Given our current state, let's postpone the final test until tomorrow."

Meijia nodded: "Okay, we'll talk about the final test after breakfast tomorrow. Now we only have one problem left... what should we do with all this leftover food?"

"Dump it all!!!" everyone shouted in unison.

While wasting food is wrong, it must be based on the premise that the food is edible.

Most of Hu Yifei's innovative dishes would only be disposed of in the hazardous waste category, even if garbage sorting were applied.

Yifei covered her face, too ashamed to speak.

……

After dealing with the hazardous waste, everyone, having completed their ordeal, ordered takeout.

Everyone desperately needs their favorite food to salvage their damaged taste buds, but given their current physical and mental state after undergoing five major trials, it doesn't support them getting together for another big meal.

Yu Mo stood quietly to the side and took out her phone to order takeout when she suddenly felt someone tug at her sleeve.

Nanfeng appeared silently beside her without her noticing. He leaned slightly towards Yu Mo and pointed his thumb towards the door.

Seeing that Yu Mo was still looking at her with a blank expression, Nan Feng could only whisper, "Come with me, let's go eat something delicious."

"Just the two of us?" Yu Mo asked in a low voice.

Nanfeng smiled and said, "Everyone's been playing all day and must be tired. Do you think they look like they're slumped in their chairs and could go out to eat with us?"

"And what about you?" Yu Mo asked with concern, looking at the undisguised weariness between Nan Feng's brows.

"I know my own body perfectly well."

Nanfeng paused for a moment: "It's understandable that everyone is too busy with the competition to welcome you today, but we can't let you have to eat takeout for your first meal after moving in."

He winked at Yu Mo, then pointed to the door again and said, "Let's go, Harley..."

"Miss Qin Yumo."

Yu Mo's eyes lit up instantly. She turned her head to look at everyone, some of them engrossed in ordering, others with their eyes closed in rest, and then decisively grabbed Nan Feng's wrist.

"Let's go."

The two left silently, stepping into the dark yet bright night together.

I'm coming

(End of this chapter)