Chapter 44：Chains by Nick Jonas

Even if he had amnesia and was reduced to a rural villager, Shen Wei Hou Shizi's momentum was not even slightly diminished. At the moment, his eyebrows were wrinkled, his thin lips were tightly frowning, and he glared at Zhou Yun Sheng, his atmosphere oppressive.

However, Zhou Yun Sheng wasn't an ordinary person, he raised his chin, stretched out his hand and pointed towards him, "You there! Have I offended you?"

The man's skin was very white, under the sunshine, he looked like a carved jade doll, without the slightest flaws. The only color on him was his very red lips, it attracted people's gazes. His handsome features were complimented by glittering, gorgeous, peach eyes. His eyes were very beautiful, but they held great arrogance.

If he was a Ger, the people who'd want to marry him would trample Zhu's threshold.

Qin Ce stared at him and his mind spoke a two-line verse – Beautiful like jade, matchless. Unfortunately, the outside was beautiful, but the character was repulsive.

Thinking of this, Qin Ce indifferently removed his line of sight and continued hoeing.

Zhou Yun Sheng didn't intend to bully him, he shrugged off his silence and continued about his business. He picked up some crumbled soil and examined it, trying to read the drought. Suddenly, a warm voice shouted behind him, "Little Black [Hei. It's the type of name you'd give a pet], come for dinner!"

Because Qin Ce lost his memory and had dark skin, Zhang Shulin nicknamed him Black. He also saw that he was strong and muscular, so he wanted to recruit him into his family.

Therefore, since he saved Qin Ce, he'd done his best to act charming, his care was also very meticulous.

When Qin Ce heard his call he immediately put away the hoe, his cold eyes slightly melted, revealing a gentle look. Looking at that expression, Zhou Yun Sheng had a tingling feeling that Qin Ce might be his love.

That man was very mysterious, he never kept his memories, he was sometimes the protagonist, sometimes a supporting role, sometimes a cannon fodder, it made him unable to predict who he would become this time. The only way to sense him was through close contact.

Now, he would've liked to check Qin Ce's identity, but it was really difficult, he couldn't just walk up to him and kiss him, right? If he did that, then Zhu Ziyu's fate would be even worse, then what would be the point of coming to this world?

Zhou Yun Sheng looked at Qin Ce, but Qin Ce's cold eyes stabbed at him, the gentle eyes from when he'd looked at the protagonist disappeared. Zhou Yun Sheng's heart stilled- that person would never treat him so coldly, it's not him.

The protagonist's appearance could only be considered as above average, but his warm temperament was very attractive. Coupled with his red glowing Zhi, his worth immediately surged. But, his family was too poor, he had a lot of helpless relatives to take care off, so he still couldn't find the right husband.

At this point, the protagonist also saw him, his smile was immediately replaced by a sneer, he glared at him.

Zhou Yun Sheng patted off his dirty palm, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Have I offended you too?"

"I'm Zhang Shulin." The protagonist neutrally replied.

"Zhang Shulin? Should I know you?" Zhou Yun Sheng slightly rubbed his chin, his bright facial features made any expression he put on look arrogant.

He took his secret recipe, then, in a blink of an eye, he forgot about him, was his life or death not even worth his time? What a wicked rich man!

Zhang Shulin really wanted to strangle him, but Qin Ce held his wrist as an implicit warning. He let out his held breath and calmly replied, "You're a busy person, how could you remember me? I just saw you here inspecting and came to greet you. Have you eaten yet Landlord? Why don't you join us?" He opened the cover on the basket, revealing sesame seed biscuits, pickles, boiled eggs and other things.

Zhou Yun Sheng glanced at it with disdain, then turned away without answering. Zhang Shulin's anger rose again. Qin Ce held his wrist and gently stroked his Zhusha Zhi in silent comfort. He calmed down.

The two people ate the sesame cake, and stared mockingly at the stumbling landlord, who tripped over uneven ground and foliage several times.

"I was going to tell him that there would be a drought soon, so he could reserve some water, but now it seems it's too late." Zhang Shulin laughed.

"Zhu Jia is wealthy, they must have a secret storage of food, plus grain stored to be sold. You don't have to worry about them." Qin Ce touched his hairy head.

"Yeah, what the hell? As usual, when natural disasters strike, only the poor still suffer." Zhang Shulin gave a frustrated sigh. But he cheered up after he thought of the good things about this world. He was gay, so when he'd dropped into a world where men and men could be bright and happy, and even marry and have children, he was ecstatic. Even though he was lost in a strange world, he was relieved.

Qin Ce didn't reply, he picked up the last egg, peeled it and bit it in half. He ate one half, and pushed the other half into the other man's mouth.

While the protagonists were getting cozy, Zhou Yun Sheng had taken the carriage back to Zhu home. He changed out of his casual clothes and walked into the dining room.

"Master, this is something called Lo Mei, Zhang was selling it in many varieties, I bought one of each, have a taste." Lushi placed some bowls on the table.

"This is stewed pork."

"This is stewed tofu."

"This one's stewed Qianzhang."

Zhou Yun Sheng tried some of each as Lushi introduced them, causing Tweety's mouth to water, she praised, "I don't know how that family comes up with so many strange recipes, I've never heard of these things being used in food, especially these vegetables, aren't they really strange? Those preserved eggs were forgettable, but this Lo Mei is really salty and delicious, really memorable. If not for Zhang, I'd never know that this stinky stuff was both edible, and delicious. Oh yes, young master, I heard his family was opening another stand, this time to sell something called hot pot, can you bring me there one day?"

"This is really delicious?" Zhou Yun Sheng put down his chopsticks and laughed, "I don't think so. They need to cut down on the fennel, add more cinnamon, add two more Gecko [type of herb] to the marinade, three monk fruits, and five teaspoons of coriander. Then it'd at least be worth the price. "

Tweety lost her appetite as she listened, her face green, "Young master, did you make a mistake? Gecko? Actual Gecko? Aren't they used in traditional medicine to treat lung blockage? How can you use them for cooking? Won't they stink up the pot?"

"This little girl has no insight." Zhou Yun Sheng threw away his handkerchief, and cheerfully laughed at Tweety, "Most of the ingredients in this Lo Mei are also used in Chinese medicine, but they don't look or taste like medicine. If used properly, they can create delicious food. Zhang is so popular, I thought their food would at least entertain me, but it looks like they don't know what they're doing. Get me a pen and paper, I'll improve the recipe."

Tweety skeptically got him the pen and paper and asked, "Master, how can you tell what's in this Lo Mei, have you eaten it before?"

"I've never told you, I have a sensitive tongue. Forget about this Lo Mei, I can even tell which river the water was drawn from in a cup of tea." Zhou Yun Sheng smiled a captivating smile.

Tweety undoubtedly believed him, she immediately started grinding ink, anticipating the outcome.

Zhou Yun Sheng re-wrote the recipe, he carefully annotated the proper boiling method, the type and amount of seasoning, boiling degree, how to cut with the knife, etc. They were strict rules.

When he finished the recipe, he sat down to work. He called Zhu Lao Si and ordered him to lower the tenants' rent from the original 50% to 30%.

Every 50% rent, Zhu Lao Si would secretly take 20%. Now that the boss reduced it to 30%, then wouldn't his profits bite the dust? If he was anyone else, they would temporarily hold off on their profiteering, but he had been using Zhu Ziyu to fulfill his ambition for so long that he'd developed the balls of a leopard. Not only did he not reduce the rent, he added an extra 10%, turning it into 60%. With such a rise in an already steep rent, the villagers started to seriously complain.

——————-

When the cook received the recipe, he very dedicatedly spent three days and three nights effort to make a few dishes of Lo Mei. Each time he took a little taste test, he'd widely open his eyes and eagerly suck on his tongue.

"Although the Lo Mei was developed by Zhang Jia, the boss' changes turned it into a peerless dish. In my opinion, we could serve this to the King!" The cook gushed to Tweety.

Tweety was twisting a piece of brined duck neck, gnawing on it, she didn't have the will power to leave her food to reply to him. After finishing it, she gave a comfortable sigh, then she threw him another recipe, "This is the hot pot recipe that master improved, quickly get on it, let's have hot pot tonight."

"Great! He he he! Tweety girl, come help me bring these dishes to the dining room." The cook couldn't wait to start on the new recipe.

Carrying the fragrant lunch into the dining room, Tweety curiously asked, "Master, after you changed the recipe, the taste is so much better. Since Zhang's Lo Mei is making so much money, why don't you also open a Lo Mei shop? And his hot pot will certainly not taste as delicious as yours will, so how about a hot pot restaurant too?"

"You're being too mean, little girl." Zhou Yun Sheng poured a glass of wine and casually said, "Bankrupting poor people is like killing their parents. Since the Lo Mei and hot pot was developed by Zhang Jia, why should we fight with him for it? It's just for our dining table, not for money. The world is so big, how can you stress yourself out trying to make all the money? Living comfortably is the best way to go."

Tweety agreed after she listened to his reasoning.

With the glass of wine and delicious Lo Mei, Zhou Yun Sheng felt slightly drunk. He contemplated on the protagonist's cheat. The protagonist was a chef in modern times, he'd studied food for a long time. However, Chu Yunguo was a very backward country in terms of culinary advancement, their food was very monotonous. Forget about Lo Mei, hot pot, buns, dumplings and other traditional food, even soy sauce, dark soy sauce, bean paste and other condiments were not yet invented.

The protagonist was overjoyed when he'd noticed, he started perusing developments in food and wine, embarking on the road to riches. And this cheat also helped him firmly grasp the heart of the loyal dog, who was a foodie, so the protagonist became the biggest winner in life.

Zhou Yun Sheng originally thought that the protagonist's cooking must be superb, but when Lushi brought him some food, he'd learned that the so-called 'new strange food' was at the level of a roadside stall. Although Zhang Shulin had studied cooking, he was from an ordinary middle-class household, he couldn't afford to eat or buy the ingredients to make delicious high-class delicacies. He only knew commoner food.

He actually got puffed up with pride over this low-class food? Zhou Yun Sheng gulped down his cup of wine while he thought of the more important question: It seems Qin Ce already loves Zhang Shulin, if it was that guy, he couldn't love someone besides me. So, Qin Ce should not be him. Then, who is it? He wouldn't become a passerby, right? The world is so big, where can I find him?