CH 9

Establishing connections.

Of course, Cheng Yun had to live his life, and he wanted to live it comfortably. As the saying goes, ‘If you don’t want to lose your child, don’t let the wolf in.’ To gain something, you have to give something first.

He adjusted his clothes and knocked on Dr. Liu’s door. Soon Dr. Liu came out to open it for him.

“Cheng-Ge’er? What happened? Is there something wrong at home?” Dr. Liu, like the village head, couldn’t think of any other reason for Cheng Yun’s visit at this time, other than asking for his help.

Cheng Yun repeated what he had said to the village head. Sure enough, Dr. Liu also showed surprise on his face. However, his family only had him, so he didn’t think too much about it. He looked at the duck meat in Cheng Yun’s hand and quickly invited him inside.

Dr. Liu was a kind-hearted person. Although the bowl of duck meat looked delicious, he still asked Cheng Yun many questions.

“I heard that you got married to the third son of the Yang family. Is life still going well for you? When you were young, your mother used to bring you here often and say she wanted to cure your illness,” Dr. Liu pointed to the area below his ear, “but I couldn’t do anything about it. It’s innate. But since you have now agreed to marry the third son of the Yang family, don’t worry about it. Just live your life the way you want.”

Perhaps Dr. Liu was used to chatting with his patients, he talked a lot to Cheng Yun. He also said that it was better to marry someone kind-hearted than someone unreliable, and gave him a few examples. He said that someone in the village had married a gambler, and the money they earned was not enough to support their family because the head of the family had spent it all on gambling. Cheng Yun knew that this was all well-intentioned advice from Dr. Liu, so he did not refute it and agreed to everything he said.

After chatting for a while and seeing that Dr. Liu had no intention of stopping, Cheng Yun finally said, “Dr. Liu, please have some food first. The duck has been cold for a while now, and if we wait any longer, it won’t taste good.”

“Ah,” Dr. Liu responded, “you see, once I start talking, I can’t stop. Come on, Cheng-Ge’er, get yourself a bowl and chopsticks. Let’s eat together.”

Cheng Yun quickly refused, “Hongjin is still waiting for me at home. We already have food ready at home.”

He thought for a moment and decided not to hide his intention, “Actually, I do have something I want to ask for your help with. I heard from Aunt Wang that your son runs a restaurant in town. I thought I would let you taste this duck dish that I made at home. If you think it’s good, I want to try my luck and sell the recipe to the head chef at the restaurant.”

Dr. Liu immediately understood what Cheng Yun was asking for. He looked at Cheng Yun and saw a hint of shyness in his eyes, but they were clear and showed no hint of calculation. At most, this was just a shortcut.

“It’s just a small matter. Although Dr. Liu could help with the relationship, it would be his son who ultimately makes the decision. Not to mention, if Cheng-Ge’er’s lives a good life and the couple live in harmony, it will be fine. He had been unable to help Cheng-Ge’er and it would fulfill his long-standing wish of helping to improve Cheng-Ge’er’s physical condition.

Dr. Liu neither agreed nor refused. He looked at the roasted duck and asked Cheng Yun to bring a bottle of white wine from the main room. When Cheng Yun came back with the wine, Dr. Liu had already started eating.

Dr. Liu loved to drink. The roasted duck had a hint of wine flavor and paired well with the wine. Although the roasted duck itself didn’t seem to be anything special, Cheng Yun’s culinary skills surprised Dr. Liu. He was pleasantly surprised after taking a few bites, and asked Cheng Yun to pour more wine for him.

“Cheng-Ge’er, your culinary skills are incredible,” praised Dr. Liu, giving a thumbs up. “This roasted duck is so delicious that I’ve never tasted anything like it before. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely help you spread the word. Such a delicious dish shouldn’t go unsold in town.”

Originally, he only intended to do Cheng Yun a favor, but after eating the roasted duck, Dr. Liu’s thoughts became more active.

His son, Liu Wen, owned a restaurant in town, and although the business was doing well, there were still many competitors in the city. Even if they could take away all the business, it was always a little lacking.

This dish was just the ticket. Most importantly, Cheng Yun’s culinary skills were the key. According to Cheng Yun, this roasted duck was just something he came up with on a whim, and he could easily make more dishes that would maintain this level of quality. If he could make more dishes like this in the future, Liu Wen’s restaurant would no longer have to worry.

Helping Cheng Yun and improving Liu Wen’s restaurant business was a win-win situation that no one would refuse.

Cheng Yun was surprised at how smoothly everything had gone. It was clear that the dish was a great success. In this era, people didn’t care about the consequences of their eating habits, as long as they were well-fed.

He thanked Dr. Liu, who promised to inform him as soon as he had any news, and Cheng Yun went home with a smile on his face.

With happiness in his heart, Cheng Yun’s footsteps also quickened a bit. With all the back-and-forth, quite a bit of time was wasted, and by the time he was returning, the sky had already completely darkened.

Thinking about his future livelihood, Cheng Yun almost forgot that Yang Hongjin was still waiting for him at home. When he saw someone standing at the door from afar, he took a deep breath.

From a distance, Yang Hongjin saw his wife and called out to Cheng Yun excitedly.

Cheng Yun ran back to the house, covered his mouth to silence him, and closed the door before releasing him.

“Wife!” Yang Hongjin called out as soon as he had a chance.

Cheng Yun saw that the dishes on the table were the same as when he left, and sighed in his heart. He turned around and pulled Yang Hong to sit down, saying, “Didn’t I tell you to eat first? Why haven’t you touched any of these dishes?”

He picked up a piece of meat and tasted it at the edge of his lips. Although the oil on the meat had begun to coagulate, probably due to the weather, the dish was still warm and had not cooled down completely. Therefore, Cheng Yun decided not to reheat it in the wok.

He had originally wanted to serve hot and steaming food to Yang Hongjin, but the delay made the food less tasty. Cheng Yun couldn’t help but glare at Yang Hongjin again.

However, Yang Hongjin seemed to be completely oblivious to Cheng Yun’s complaints. He continued to smile and call out to his wife without any concern.

“Alright, stop shouting,” Cheng Yun couldn’t stay angry with him and left only two pieces of meat for himself, putting the rest into Yang Hongjin’s bowl and stuffing the meat into his mouth. “Hurry up and eat. Let’s wash up and go to bed after we finish.”

After some fuss, Cheng Yun finally managed to sit down and have a decent meal. He had worked hard all day and was hungry, but because of the hot and humid weather, he could not eat much, even if it was Five-Cup Duck . He divided the greens and meat with Yang Hongjin, mixed them together, and swallowed it quickly to fill himself up.

After the meal, Cheng Yun looked at the soaked duck neck and innards and poured out the soaking water, dried them off, and placed them in a cool corner to deal with tomorrow.

When he finished, Cheng Yun went to the backyard to check on the small crops. They seemed to have grown a little taller than they were in the afternoon. Cheng Yun took a chopstick and made a mark to compare with tomorrow’s height.

Yang Hongjin went to the backyard to find Cheng Yun, not waiting for him in the room like he did yesterday. He pulled out a towel and said with a silly smile, “Wife, let’s take a bath.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yun froze, and his face turned red again, unable to compete with the image still imprinted in his mind from earlier. He didn’t know why he had made that move, acting on impulse. It was embarrassing to think about it now, let alone washing Yang Hongjin at this moment.

He tried to resist and told Yang Hongjin, “You’ve grown up, you should learn to wash yourself.”

However, Yang Hongjin just looked at him strangely, blinking his eyes as if he didn’t understand what Cheng Yun was saying.

After staring at each other for a while, Cheng Yun gave up completely, shook his head with a bitter smile, and wondered why he was even arguing with someone who had the mindset of a child.

He reluctantly took the towel from Yang Hongjin and once again touched his entire body, feeling guilty and ashamed afterwards.

At that moment, Cheng Yun wished that Yang Hongjin would never recover, so that he wouldn’t have to look back and regret his actions in the future. How deep of a hole would he have to dig to bury himself completely?

(ㅅ´ ˘ `)♡