Married the Tough Guy After Transmigrating

Chapter 124: Chapter 125 Duck Goods

He looked down on Xu Ying and said, “So what’s your demand?”

Xu Ying smiled, her face seemingly cute but giving off a chilling vibe, “I’ve always believed in an eye for an eye. Since Chen Yanran decided to pick a fight with me for no reason, of course I have to repay her in kind.

Chen Yanran wants to return to the city, right? Tell her you can help her.”

“Isn’t that deceiving her?” Dong Wenqiang’s face changed slightly.

Xu Ying clapped her hands, “You know what to do since I have a grudge against her!

If you agree, come to the restaurant for lunch tomorrow. If not, pretend I never said anything!”

After saying this, Xu Ying continued with her tasks.

The Dong Family members were all cut from the same cloth, their selfishness etched into their very being. Being able to return to the city, Dong Wenqiang was one hundred percent willing.

In the afternoon, after getting off work, Xu Ying went to buy some duck ingredients, but not in large quantities.

Thankfully, she still had some in her secret space, enough to last a while.

Ever since Xu Ying unlocked the feature to keep food fresh in her space, she always made extra when cooking, storing the leftovers there.

Whenever she wanted to eat, the food would be just as warm and fragrant as when she put it in.

Xu Ying wanted to try and see how the multi-purpose marinade would turn out.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝονǤᴑ.ᴄο

Her culinary skills were already great before, but ever since unlocking this feature from the system, she found the flavors to be even better.

Just thinking about the multi-purpose marinade duck ingredients made Xu Ying’s mouth water uncontrollably.

After getting home, Xu Ying parked her bike and bolted into the kitchen.

She prepared and cleaned all the necessary ingredients: duck neck, wings, feet, gizzards, head, and intestines. This time, she got everything she wanted to eat ready to go.

She also prepared some vegetables, like potato slices, kelp knots, lotus roots, and tofu skin, all cleaned and set aside.

The duck ingredients needed to soak longer, to allow the blood to fully leach out. After soaking, she removed and set them aside, along with thinly sliced ginger and chopped green onion.

Then she prepared some spices: star anise, cinnamon, licorice, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chili… and tied them into a spice bag to use later.

She heated a pot and poured in a sufficient amount of water, then added the cleaned duck ingredients, some ginger slices, green onion, a pinch of Sichuan peppercorns, and cooking wine to remove any gamey taste.

She brought it to a boil over high heat and skimmed off the impurities. After skimming, she continued to boil for 5 minutes, then removed the ingredients and rinsed them with clean water.

She brought the pot to a boil again, adding the cooled duck ingredients followed by the prepared spices, some ginger slices and green onion, dried chili, a small amount of Sichuan peppercorns, a few pieces of rock sugar, along with some salt, soy sauce, a can of beer, and a bit of dark soy sauce for color.

She poured in enough water to cover the ingredients, stirred everything evenly, brought it to a boil, then reduced to medium heat and covered the pot to simmer for dozens of minutes.

After dozens of minutes, she removed the lid, and the duck ingredients had fully absorbed the flavors from the broth. She turned up the heat to reduce the liquid, constantly stirring until the sauce thickened, at which point it was ready.

She dished it out, and the spicy and hot duck ingredients were complete, with a bright color and a fragrant aroma, the meat was firm and spicy, and exceptionally delicious.

After the duck was done, Xu Ying cooked the vegetables briefly in the pot. They didn’t need long to become flavorful and were quickly ready to be taken out.

Smelling the spicy and tantalizing aroma of the meat in the air, Xu Ying couldn’t help but eat a duck foot first.

The braised duck foot had the perfect pull, the flavor penetrating deep into the bone, the meat deliciously fresh, each bite was more energizing than the last.

Huo Chen could smell the delicious aroma from far away. He hesitated at the front door for a while but ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation of the delicious food and knocked on Xu Ying’s door.

“Who is it?” Xu Ying quickly secured most of the meat into her space, closed the kitchen door, and then went to open the front door.

Who would be looking for her so late?

Opening the front door, she saw Huo Chen. Xu Ying felt a bit happy upon seeing him, “Why have you come?”

“I’ve brought you some firewood and charcoal, haven’t you lit a fire in your house?” Huo Chen entered the courtyard and discovered that no smoke was coming out of the chimney of Xu Ying’s house.

His expression instantly turned stern. In such cold weather, how cold must it be for a girl like her not to light the stove and sleep in the house.

“You can’t be careless living alone; you need to light the stove to warm it up. Otherwise, it’ll be too cold. It’s going to cool down even more soon, it might even snow, and what if you catch a cold?”

This was the most Huo Chen had ever spoken at once, and Xu Ying was being lectured like a little chick.

Feeling the concern from someone else made Xu Ying very happy, especially since it was Huo Chen who was showing the concern, she seemed even happier.

“I know, have you had dinner yet? I made some braised dishes.”

Huo Chen nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll help you light the stove later. It’s too cold otherwise, and you are so thin, you must be cold.”

Xu Ying nodded. She had originally planned to wait until she was about to rest, then go back to tell her mother, so that her big brother could come and take care of it.

Now that Huo Chen had offered to take care of it, that was fine too.

“Thank you!” Xu Ying said with a smile.

Huo Chen didn’t speak, taking the matches and charcoal and walking towards the house.

Xu Ying hurried over to help him open the door.

Huo Chen also reached out a hand, and their fingers touched briefly, both swiftly retracting their fingers.

Xu Ying felt her heartbeat quicken, this feeling made her heart feel like it was about to burst out of her chest.

Huo Chen’s earlobes turned red as he saw her pull her hand back, and then he stretched his hand out again to open the door.

The hearth was pretty easy to clean up; Huo Chen had it sorted out in half an hour.

Just like the slowly warming temperature of the stove, the small flame between them was also burning slowly.

“This way, the house will be warmer. Remember to add the hot water from this pot into the kettle.

When you go to work, cover this up, and it’ll definitely not go out before you get off work. Later on, you can even cook something here,” Huo Chen instructed one by one.

Xu Ying, looking at his side profile illuminated by the flames, couldn’t help but daydream. Indeed, men look the most handsome when they are serious. How was this guy made, as if every part of him was meticulously crafted?

Huo Chen, feeling the gaze, turned his head to see Xu Ying staring straight at him.

The flames warmed the whole house, and Huo Chen felt his heartbeat pounding non-stop. Being stared at by the girl he loved, even if his skin was thick, he couldn’t bear it.

Moreover, when it came to love, he was extremely thin-skinned; being stared at by Xu Ying for a while made Huo Chen feel almost breathless, as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest.

“Xu, Xu Ying, I’m hungry,” Huo Chen quickly called out loudly to wake Xu Ying.

Xu Ying instantly snapped back to reality, still with a bit of dazed cuteness in her eyes. Seeing that, Huo Chen felt an itching in his heart.

“If you’re hungry, let’s go outside and eat something. Later, take some back for yourself, and help me bring some back for my parents, and also some for Granny Huo,” Xu Ying said as she led him out.

Knowing his appetite, Xu Ying directly took out a large basin of duck dishes and vegetarian dishes for Huo Chen, afraid that he wouldn’t have enough to eat.

Then she packed two baskets of duck dishes, a larger one for her parents; her family was large, and a basket of duck dishes looked plentiful, but in reality, a few bites each and it would be gone.

There was also a good amount for Granny Huo, mainly because Huo Chen could eat a lot.