“Knock, knock, knock.” At six in the afternoon, there was a knock at the door.
“Who is it?” Kang Er Zheng climbed out of bed and opened the door. It was A Yao. “A Yao?”
“Uncle, dinner’s ready.” A Yao said.
“Oh, okay, let’s go eat.” Kang Er Zheng put on his shoes and went to eat.
He came to the Kang family living room.
He saw a plate of strange-looking chicken on a platter.
There was also a chicken in a pot.
“Hmm? These two chickens look familiar.” Kang Er Zheng sat down and looked at the two chickens.
He craned his neck to look at the courtyard, discovering that the two chickens were gone.
“Uncle, these two chickens are the ones from the courtyard.” Xiang Lan answered.
“Really, those two?” Kang Er Zheng was convinced. “How did you make this dish?”
“This is a specialty dish from Shanghai, Five-Spiced Imperial Concubine Chicken. It's delicious.” Xing Zi introduced enthusiastically.
“This is the old hen soup I made.” Xiang Lan also introduced the chicken in the casserole.
Looking at the two chickens, Kang Er Zheng fell silent.
“Uncle, try it, it’s really good.” Xing Zi said.
“Okay.” Kang Er Zheng nodded and picked up a piece of chicken and ate it.
To be honest, it tasted quite good, but the chicken flavor wasn’t very strong, there was more spice flavor.
“How is it, Uncle? My cooking skills are good, right?” Xing Zi asked confidently.
“Yeah, it's pretty delicious.” Kang Er Zheng praised.
“Uncle, have some soup.” The elder sister-in-law poured a bowl of soup for Kang Er Zheng.
Before they ate, they always had soup before the meal.
“Thank you.” Kang Er Zheng took it and said thanks.
Seeing how filial his nephews’ wives were, he planned to protect them when his older brother scolded them later.
“So, did you leave some chicken for your older brother?” Kang Er Zheng asked.
“We left some.” A Yao answered.
“Don't leave any, just eat it.” Kang Er Zheng said.
“Ah? Why? Dad hasn’t eaten yet.” Da Lao Guang and A Yao were puzzled.
“Well, you know what kind of chickens these are?” Kang Er Zheng asked.
“A chicken is a chicken, what else could it be?” They shook their heads.
“These are Qingyuan free-range chickens that Liang Bo brought to give your father.” Kang Er Zheng said.
“Free-range chicken?” Da Lao Guang and A Yao were stunned.
“You’ve figured it out, right? This free-range chicken, the best way to eat it is blanched. Before your father went out for tea, he wanted to kill a chicken and eat it blanched, but you guys ruined it. You added so many spices that the original flavor of the chicken is gone. Do you think he'll be angry?” Kang Er Zheng said.
“This...” A Yao and Da Lao Guang were stunned, and then they also became worried.
They were both local residents of Guangzhou.
They could understand that the best way to eat free-range chicken was blanched.
To enjoy the original flavor of the chicken.
Xiang Lan and Xing Zi didn’t understand.
“No way, it’s still delicious even if it’s cooked, right?” Xing Zi said curiously.
“Xing Zi, it’s different. We Cantonese people prefer to eat fresh, the inherent flavor of the ingredients. We try not to add other seasonings, which will destroy the inherent flavor of the ingredients.” A Yao explained to Xing Zi.
The “fresh” that Cantonese people talk about is the inherent flavor of the ingredients.
“What do we do then?” Xiang Lan became worried after hearing this.
Kang Bo already had some objections to their wives, who were not from Guangzhou.
Now they had done something wrong, they were sure to be criticized.
“You don’t have to worry too much. We will finish these two chickens now, destroy the evidence, and then your older brother won’t know how we cooked it. A Yao, go to the market and buy another chicken to replace it.” Kang Er Zheng had already figured out a solution.
“Good idea, let’s eat quickly.” A Yao agreed.
“Why not buy two, why only buy one?” Xiang Lan didn’t quite understand.
“We eat one, your older brother won’t blame us.” Kang Er Zheng replied.
“Oh oh.” Xiang Lan finally understood.
“Don’t say so much, just eat.” Kang Er Zheng urged.
The group quickly finished the two chickens.
“You guys wash the dishes, I’ll go buy a free-range chicken now.” A Yao finished and went out.
As he walked to the door, he happened to meet Kang Bo and Liang Bo returning.
“Dad!?” A Yao was shocked to see his father back.
“A Yao? Why are you so flustered?” Kang Bo frowned at A Yao’s appearance.
“A Yao, long time no see.” Liang Bo greeted A Yao.
“Liang Bo, long time no see.” A Yao quickly greeted him.
“Dad.” Seeing the visitors, Xing Zi and Xiang Lan called out.
“Good.” Kang Bo nodded, then introduced the two to Liang Bo. “A Liang, these are my two daughters-in-law, this is my eldest daughter-in-law Xiang Lan, and this is my third daughter-in-law Xing Zi.”
“Liang Bo.” Xiang Lan and the elder sister-in-law politely greeted him.
“Nice to meet you, I’ve been to your wedding.” Liang Bo smiled and replied.
He had also attended Xing Zi’s wedding banquet.
That was also the day he decided to move back to Guangzhou. All his old friends were in Guangzhou, and he really wasn’t used to living in Qingyuan.
“Older brother, Liang Bo, are you back from tea?” Kang Er Zheng asked with a smile. “Did you eat?”
“We’re old teahouse buddies, we won’t go hungry.” Liang Bo said with a smile.
“Come have some tea.” Kang Er Zheng brewed some tea for them.
“By the way, A Zheng, where are my two chickens? Did you feed them? Don’t let them die.” Kang Bo was worried about the two chickens.
“Those two chickens…” Kang Er Zheng hesitated for a moment. “We ate them. They were delicious, really fresh and sweet. Liang Bo, the chickens you raised are really good, the meat is tender and juicy.”
“It’s delicious, right?” Liang Bo was proud to hear Kang Er Zheng’s praise.
“Did you eat both of them? Didn’t you leave any for me?” Kang Bo was curious about how delicious they were, and asked.
Kang Er Zheng couldn’t say that they were all eaten, so he could only let A Guang and A Yao say it. He looked at A Guang and A Yao.
“Dad, we ate them all. They were too delicious.” Da Lao Guang said.
“You ate them all?” Kang Bo was a little angry that they didn’t leave any for him.
“Forget it, Cai Shen Kang, if they like to eat then let them eat. Anyway, I’ll get you two more in a while.” Liang Bo generously said.
“Really? Then thank you, A Liang.” Hearing Liang Bo’s words, he was no longer angry.
“A Liang, I have a bottle of good wine, you should try it.” Kang Bo was not stingy, and planned to let A Liang try the wine Kang Er Zheng bought for him.
“That would be great.” Liang Bo said curiously.
“You wait a moment.” Kang Bo went to the cabinet next to the kitchen window to take out a bottle of wine.
“Hmm?” After taking out the wine, he saw through the window that there was still a lot of chicken left. “Didn’t you say you ate it all? Why is there still some?”
With a questioning look, he reached in and took out the plate of chicken.
There were chicken heads, chicken feet, chicken necks, and a few pieces of chicken skin.