Chapter 33: Poison poison poison (9)
In order to make Lu Xiao come out of his self-envisioned belief that he was beyond redemption, Ren Zhu intended to stage an ‘even if you can’t move freely, you can also perfectly cook’ kind of play performed by a real idol.
The leading role was precisely the person whose craftsmanship was exceedingly good and for the majority of the time, had a face that was as cold as an iceberg, Chef Yin. The supporting roles were Ren Zhu and Lu Ming. At the same time, they also served as the spectators of this play. Although at this moment, the leading role’s mood did not seem particularly good, nevertheless, since he already agreed, he still accompanied Lu Ming and Ren Zhu to go to that shabby building on Sunday.
The moment Chef Yin saw the dilapidated building, the expression on his face became slightly profound. Even though he had envisioned all kinds of images in his mind, this kind of building still gave him a certain impact. At this moment, Lu Ming was carrying a large bag of ingredients. Regarding the fact that he actually lived here, he was also somewhat embarrassed. However, he soon adjusted and said: “I have saved up most of our money to use for my brother’s surgery. The rent here is cheap.”
Beside him, Ren Zhu nodded approvingly: “En, money should be used on important things. However, it’s not really safe here. I have also gone to your house before and saw that the sunlight in the building isn’t particularly good. In consideration for your brother’s health, I think it’s better if you find a relatively cosy place with abundant natural light.”
Initially, Lu Ming had already prepared his heart to receive certain sympathy or ridicule. However, he did not expect that he would hear this kind of sincere proposal and seriously thought about it. When he opened the door of his house and saw that it was indeed dark and gloomy inside, he immediately felt that the words Teacher Ren said were not wrong.
Oh right, because Ren Zhu took the initiative to send the money back, the Lu brothers began to acknowledge him. Lu Xiao felt that Ren Zhu’s character was practically impeccable. In the few days that Lu Ming was in contact with Ren Zhu, he also gradually started to accept that at the time, Ren Zhu might have really only wanted to test him. Or it might just be because Teacher Ren ate something poisonous and it also damaged his brain. Otherwise, how could he possibly have had such a big change? However, it was undeniable that Lu Ming liked this change very much, and he hoped that this change would continue to stay like this.
“Brother! I brought Teacher Ren over. What are you doing?” When Lu Ming entered the house, he first switched on the lights. With the lights shining, the seemingly dark room instantly became brighter. Initially, Ren Zhu had thought that when he walked into the house, he would still see things messily scattered all over the floor. As a result, he was surprised to find that the house had become very clean and tidy. There was even an additional small simplistic sofa in the middle of the living room, looking very cute and cosy.
“The house has been tidied up pretty well.” Ren Zhu laughed.
Lu Ming raised his chin with pride: “Of course. My brother stayed at home and cleaned the house real good.”
When Ren Zhu heard this, he continued to laugh and didn’t say anything. Who knew what the actual situation was.
At this moment, Lu Xiao came over from the balcony. He wore a white T-shirt and casual linen pants. Smiling, he said: “I was just hanging up the washing. You guys have come.”
Lu Ming naturally told Lu Xiao that he wanted to bring people home. However, he was afraid that his brother would not agree to seeing other people cook, and so he only said that he would bring Ren Zhu over to eat for the purpose of giving thanks. Hence, when Lu Xiao saw Yin Feng turn up without being invited, the smile on his face became stiff.
This person who was standing in the top ten of the star chef list, why would he come to their house? Did he come to humiliate him? Or to pity him? They were practically the same age. When his hands were still fine, there was already a big distance between him and Yin Feng. Now that his hands are destroyed, why would Yin Feng come to see his miserable appearance?!
In this split second, Lu Xiao’s expression became gloomy and indignant: “Lu Ming!” Angrily facing his little brother, he loudly roared: “What’s the deal with this person?! Why did he also come to our house?!”
The four people present all clearly understood who this ‘he’ was referring to. Lu Ming saw that his brother was seething and his face was turning red, his mood even started to become unsteady. He didn’t expect that his brother would actually have such a big reaction and immediately panicked: “Brother! Brother! Don’t get agitated ah! It’s not good for your health! I, I am just……”
“What do I look like right now! If you use your brain to think, you should also know why I am so agitated!! How can I not be agitated ah? I have now already become like this, you still bring him here to do what? To ridicule in my face that I am a useless person?!” Lu Xiao’s mood was extremely stimulated. Fiercely pointing his finger at Lu Ming, he roared: “That year, I shouldn’t have-!”
Before he could finish saying those hurtful words, Ren Zhu rapidly took out a tomato from the bag of ingredients in his hand and directly stuffed it into Lu Xiao’s mouth. Lu Xiao fiercely bit down and his mouth was filled with a sweet and sour taste, causing him to choke and start coughing. However, the ice-cold taste also slightly eased his agitated mood.
By the side, Ren Zhu looked at this suddenly irritable man and compared him with Chef Yin who from the start was silently looking on with a cold face as though the current situation was unrelated to him. He suddenly wanted to laugh. “Alright. Your brother spent a tremendous amount of energy to invite him to come and cook a meal for you. Even if you’re not happy, you still need to hold it in ah.”
When Lu Xiao heard these words, his eyes widened. Did this person say the wrong thing? Shouldn’t it be that when Ren Zhu saw that he was so agitated, he would make Yin Feng leave? When Lu Xiao was about to say something else, Chef Yin finally spoke: “I am very busy. Don’t have the time to ridicule you. Can I start? I still need to go to the restaurant at night.”
Lu Ming heard this and hurriedly nodded: “Yes. Yes. You can start whenever you want! That, how about we start tying now?”
Ren Zhu also put down the ingredients in his hand and opened a cloth bag: “En. Simply fastening these would take more than ten minutes. We must carefully tie these ah. Otherwise I reckon your brother would come up with more excuses.”
Lu Ming glanced over at his slightly dazed brother and emotionally nodded. In fact, his brother was a very good person. Even if his mood was now very temperamental, that was only because he felt that there was no hope. Hence, so long as he could see hope, his brother would definitely get better.
Consequently, Lu Xiao sat in his wheelchair and saw his brother and Ren Zhu start to do this and that to the cold and aloof handsome young man sitting on the sofa. Regardless of whether they were fastening a plank to his arm or using soft adhesive tape to bind his fingers, this person sitting on the sofa was as unmovable as a mountain, as though he wasn’t currently being bound in all kinds of ways by these two people, but rather was in his own peaceful meditation.
Lu Xiao was not stupid. After his agitated mood calmed down and he saw the actions of these two people, he had already guessed what they wanted to do. However, even if he guessed their method, Lu Xiao still felt that their actions were simply absurd and ridiculous. Even if Yin Feng was a talent who was ranked 8th on the star chef list, being bound to this degree, he would still have no method to make delicious food. In the end, he would only be able to show him a very lacking dish. How could that reignite his hope? If the dish that a chef makes is not beautiful or delicious, then why should they still be a chef?!
Lu Xiao coldly thought in his heart that these three people were just childishly doing something useless.
However at this moment, sitting on the sofa the entire time, Yin Feng turned his head and saw the ridicule flashing through Lu Xiao’s eyes. He said: “In the eyes of summer insects, they have never known the existence of snow. Watch carefully.”
Now, both of Yin Feng’s arms were bound. Although they could still move normally, every action seemed a little stiff. Also, of his ten fingers, six of them were bound such that only his index fingers and thumbs could still move. At this moment, even holding a knife would probably be very challenging.
He stood up and walked in front of Lu Xiao, apparently to let him clearly see his current state. He then calmly walked towards the kitchen. Even though his arms were bound with planks and adhesive tape, his figure still looked incomparably confident and at ease.
Lu Xiao clenched his teeth and followed him to the kitchen.
The next half an hour could be said to be Yin Feng’s performance show. Ren Zhu, Lu Ming and Lu Xiao stood outside the kitchen and watched him only use two fingers on each hand to slowly but exceptionally steadily make a braised pork ribs dish. Both of his arms were bound so he couldn’t proficiently toss the pan, but his every toss was still very steady. His two fingers were very hard to control, but he made all the seasoning and flavouring without hesitation.
The slow and slightly sluggish actions at the start unexpectedly had a very natural and flowing sense of beauty in the end. Yin Feng had only spent half an hour. Although he looked ridiculous with his arms bound, his each and every move seemed to be exceptionally charming and beautiful.
In the end, he took the braised pork ribs out of the pan and steadily arranged them into a beautiful configuration on a plate. He then turned his body to indicate to Ren Zhu who was watching in amazement: “Eat.”
“Ah.” Ren Zhu exclaimed. He then quickly took out his chopsticks and picked up a piece to put in his mouth. That wonderful flavour once again flooded his taste buds. No matter how many times he had eaten it, Ren Zhu still felt that nothing could beat the flavour of these braised pork ribs that most conformed with his tastes.
“How is it?”
Teacher Ren smiled, feeling extremely happy: “It’s still the same flavour! It’s still the same recipe! Delicious!”
As a result, the forever cold Chef Yin suddenly smiled. It was just like the ice and snow had melted, smiling foolishly at Ren Zhu.
However, he quickly turned around and looked at Lu Xiao who was speechlessly staring like a fool. “Summer insects cannot talk about snow. A finch does not know a swan. But you can be either the finch or the swan. You are not looking at others, but yourself. In this world, there has never been a person who is determined to use their everything to do something and still can’t do it well. At least not in cooking.”
Lu Xiao abruptly clenched his fists: “…… But I am not a talent like you!”
Yin Feng sharply fixed his gaze on him: “I hate the word ‘talent’ the most. It’s just like this word can negate all my effort and hard work.”
“Seeing how pitiful you are, I can secretly tell you that at the start, even if it’s me, I would also scorch the pan when making noodles and include egg shells when making egg fried rice.”
When Ren Zhu heard these words, he almost couldn’t hold back his laughter. Who was it that said they had never scorched the pan before?
Chef Yin’s cold chicken soup for the soul continued: “And now the reason why I can still make a dish I’m satisfied with even though I’m bound like this is only because I have diligently practised countless times. Braised pork ribs is the dish I make the most. Ever since I started holding the kitchen knife, up until now, I would make this dish every day. Every time, I would put in my utmost effort to make it the best.”
Lu Xiao opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he discovered that he had nothing to say. He looked at the young man who was tied up in a mess but had a firm expression on his face, and suddenly had the urge to cry. After a long while, he hoarsely said: “Can I also do my best?”
Yin Feng said: “You need to ask yourself that. I am not you.”
Lu Xiao tearfully laughed: “I can also do it.” It’s just spending a little more time and a little more energy, that’s all. He believed that he could still do it in the end, because just then Yin Feng not only let him understand that if he worked hard he could reach the peak, but he also made him recall that the most important thing about cooking was the desire to make something delicious, rather than having neat knife work or a gorgeous pan toss.
Lu Xiao raised his head and looked at Ren Zhu who was eating the pork ribs with relish. He then smiled at Yin Feng: “This braised pork ribs dish, who are you making it for? From what I can see, it represents your unparalleled desire.” Only then would you make it every single day, making it until it has reached the peak.
Yin Feng’s eyes abruptly became cold, while Ren Zhu froze on the spot.
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