Chapter: A Unique Request
Many seasonings were needed to make Nine-Turn Large Intestine.
Coriander, white pepper powder, scallions, dried chili, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, dark soy sauce, cooking wine, starch...
Nearly twenty kinds of seasonings in total.
The first step of Nine-Turn Large Intestine was wrapping the intestine. Fold the pig intestine inside out and wrap it into four layers, then fix both ends with toothpicks in a cross shape.
Second, fill a pot with water and add dark soy sauce, scallions, ginger, cooking wine, dried chili, pepper powder, salt, and Sichuan peppercorns. Put in the pig intestine, boil it over high heat first, then simmer over low heat for about two hours.
After stewing until soft, pick it up and cut it into sections—each section about 2.5 centimeters long—and pour soy sauce on for coloring.
Pour oil into a wok and heat to 70% hot. Put the cut intestine sections into the wok and fry them.
Add sugar, cooking wine, rice vinegar, pepper powder, and other seasonings one by one.
Add water and cook until the soup thickens. Finally, sprinkle with coriander.
Because Cheng Yu hadn't cleaned it thoroughly, in addition to the fragrance of the seasonings, there was also a unique smell from the intestine.
Mina walked into the kitchen. The Silver Wolf Clan had a keen sense of smell. She couldn't help but frown when she caught the smell of feces in the air. "Cheng Yu, are you stewing shit?"
"What do you mean stewing shit? Authentic Nine-Turn Large Intestine sounds better."
Ugh~
Mina almost vomited and quickly fled the kitchen.
The manor's wooden house covered several thousand square meters and had many empty rooms.
Cheng Yu found an empty room at random and brought the authentic Nine-Turn Large Intestine there to prevent the smell from drifting everywhere.
"General Barney, that thing is ready."
Coming to the garden, Cheng Yu gave Barney a knowing look.
Barney followed Cheng Yu to the room. Smelling the "unique" aroma of large intestine in the air, his expression became slightly intoxicated. He couldn't wait to walk to the table and taste it with a fork.
The flavor of Nine-Turn Large Intestine was mainly sweet and sour, with slight salty and spicy notes. It was fatty but not greasy, crispy but not mushy, soft and glutinous, with rich layers of flavor.
Most importantly, Cheng Yu hadn't washed it completely clean.
Barney's eyes suddenly opened wide, tears forming in the corners. "Ah~ This taste~ is the youth that's passed away~"
The taste of the authentic Nine-Turn Large Intestine evoked Barney's memories of the past.
It was as if he'd returned to the time when he and his friends bravely entered the ruins and were trapped in the magic circle.
Like all heroic adventure stories, the young warriors and their companions trusted and helped each other, delved deep into secret realms, killed monsters, and obtained inheritances.
Though they were unfortunately trapped in the end and had to eat shit to survive, the friendship and bond between companions were indelible.
[Positive Emotion Value +48]
The system notification sounded in Cheng Yu's mind.
The positive emotion value increased so much at once?!
Cheng Yu was shocked.
Under normal circumstances, diners gained 3-8 points of positive emotions when eating Cheng Yu's food. When eating in a hungry state, they gained 10-15 points.
But Barney had just generated 48 points of positive emotion value.
This is more intense than drugs.
Barney exclaimed, "Brother Cheng Yu, this dish is delicious in itself, and the unique smell is the icing on the cake. How did you do it?"
"Actually, I kept part of it when I cleaned the intestine," Cheng Yu confessed to Barney.
Barney's lips curled in a faint smile. "Did you do it on purpose or by accident?"
"On purpose."
"Very good."
Barney grinned and gave Cheng Yu an approving look. This is exactly the taste I wanted.
This is too absurd! Cheng Yu marveled internally.
Who would've thought the most powerful general of the Black Sun Empire would have such a special hobby?
Barney ate the entire plate of authentic Nine-Turn Large Intestine. He felt his youthful blood rekindled—as if he'd become ten years younger.
"My youth has returned!"
Grandpa, you're almost sixty. What youth? Cheng Yu complained internally.
The two walked out of the house and into the garden outside.
"Ebel, give this Brother Cheng Yu ten gold coins. The dish he cooked was truly delicious."
Barney was extremely satisfied with Cheng Yu's authentic Nine-Turn Large Intestine. It was his exact preference.
Ebel was stunned. "Wait, what about the delicious dish?"
"I ate it all by myself."
"You didn't leave any for me?"
Ebel was indignant that the old guy Barney had eaten alone.
"You wouldn't like that dish."
Barney and Ebel were friends. He didn't want to feed his friend shit.
Ebel pulled ten gold coins from his magic pouch and gave them to Cheng Yu.
After collecting the ten gold coins, Cheng Yu said to Barney and Ebel, "Have a quick lunch here before you leave. My treat."
These two were high-ranking officials of the Northern Fortress. Building a good relationship would make things easier in the future.
"Friend Cheng Yu has invited us so kindly. I won't refuse."
Having just watched Barney eat alone without getting any, Ebel happily agreed to stay for lunch.
At that moment, Mina and Ivennie came out and saw Cheng Yu sitting in the garden basking in the sun. One walked to his left, the other to his right.
Mina hugged Cheng Yu's arm, rubbing her head against him affectionately.
Though Ivennie had been claimed by Cheng Yu last night, she was still a little shy—not as open as Mina.
Seeing an orc beauty on Cheng Yu's left and an elf beauty on his right, Barney couldn't help but speak up.
This Brother Cheng Yu is so young, yet he has two beautiful women accompanying him.
So he reminded Cheng Yu in the tone of someone who'd been there. "That... Brother Cheng Yu, I have some advice for you."
"What advice?"
Cheng Yu looked at Barney blankly.
"Young people should be restrained. Don't indulge in excessive lust. As the saying goes: young people don't know the value of essence; when old, they look at the empty... pen... and shed tears."
Barney was willing but unable when facing his ferocious wife at night.
"Really? I'll have to be more restrained in the future."
"That's right."
Barney nodded.
Just then, Barney suddenly noticed Mina looking at him with a bit of ferocity.
Realizing his words had offended Mina, he stopped talking to Cheng Yu and turned to chat with Ebel instead.
"Mr. Ebel, I just heard from General Barney that you're a fifth-tier mage. Could you teach me a type of freezing magic?"
There were no refrigerators in this world. It was impossible to keep food fresh for long. Cheng Yu now had magic talent comparable to the elves. He wanted to learn freezing magic to preserve food.
Ebel looked Cheng Yu up and down. "Magic requires talent. Not everyone can be a mage. Do you have magic talent?"
Among all professions on the Celsis Continent, the priest profession had the highest talent requirements, followed by mage, alchemist, and finally warrior.
Precisely because the warrior profession had low talent requirements, the number of warriors far exceeded other professions.
"I have some talent. I don't need to learn advanced magic. I'll just learn some low-level freezing magic to refrigerate meat."
"Alright."
Ebel pulled a magic book from his magic pouch and handed it to Cheng Yu.
"This is a first-tier spell—low-level freezing magic. Very common freezing magic. I'll lend it to you for three days. After three days, have the cavalry bring it back to me at the Northern Fortress."
"Thank you, Mr. Ebel."
Cheng Yu thanked Ebel and put away the magic book.