Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1334: Xia Mubing Side Story (2)_2

Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng’an walked into Fen Garden and headed to the dining room like they knew the place well. The dining room was empty, with only one table left; all the other tables had been put away. It was clear Fen Garden really hadn’t been doing much business lately.

Xia Mubing wasn’t in the dining room, so he was definitely in the kitchen. The two of them headed toward the kitchen again. Sure enough, the kitchen door was open, the smell of food drifting out. From the sound of it, Xia Mubing should be frying something.

Smelling the aroma of food, Zhao Cheng’an instantly stopped pretending to be full, even his hiccups were gone. He ran in cheerfully: "Xia Sheng, what delicious thing are you making? It’s not mealtime, is it?"

Qin Huai quickened his pace to follow, and the moment he stepped into the kitchen his eyes met Xia Mubing’s. Xia Mubing was the same as ever: with no expression he looked quite fierce, but right now there was a faint smile on his face. Qin Huai knew this was probably the kindest smile Xia Mubing could manage in daily life.

Qin Huai also smiled at Xia Mubing.

"I figured you’d get here around this time, so I timed it to fry crispy apples. I had Xiao Hang send you over and then go check the rooms I prepared for you two in the back yard. He won’t be back for a while. You and Qin Huai should hurry up and eat the crispy apples while you can."

When he finished speaking, Xia Mubing swiftly scooped out the crispy apples fried to perfection in the pan, drained the oil, plated them, and handed the plate to Zhao Cheng’an.

Zhao Cheng’an took it very naturally, picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of crispy apple, blew on it more than ten times, then stuffed it into his mouth and started eating with a look of complete satisfaction.

Qin Huai had seen this scene countless times back at Taifeng Building. Whenever Xia Mubing or Master Chen made something extra just for Zhao Cheng’an, it was basically like this. If Qin Huai happened to be there, they’d shove some to him as well, let him have a couple bites as hush money.

Zhao Cheng’an handed the plate to Qin Huai, signaling for him to eat too.

Qin Huai used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of crispy apple, didn’t blow on it, just held it for a bit to let it cool down slightly, then smiled and greeted Xia Mubing:

"Xia Sheng, Happy New Year."

Back when they were first in Beiping, Zhao Cheng’an pulled the three of them into a group chat. Qin Huai didn’t understand at the time why Xia Mubing changed his name to Xia Sheng and Zhao Cheng’an changed his name to Chen Sheng. After they made the group nobody spoke in it; whenever Zhao Cheng’an talked with Xia Mubing he always messaged him in private.

It wasn’t until Qin Huai woke up that he realized this was actually the two of them leaving a hint for him.

When the three of them first met, these were the names they knew each other by.

"Hurry up and eat. I originally planned to make crispy apples for you on the Lantern Festival. Later I thought about it and realized I can’t make them for Xiao Hang — more precisely, I can’t let Xiao Hang know this dish is called crispy apples. Before he comes back, you two hurry up and finish them."

"Why can’t you let Zhang Guanghang know? Is he allergic to apples?" Zhao Cheng’an asked.

"That has to do with something from a long time ago. I’ll tell you when we have time later."

Since Xia Mubing put it that way, naturally Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng’an had to speed up, eating the crispy apples in big mouthfuls.

After the whole plate of crispy apples was gone, Zhao Cheng’an finally sighed with feeling: "It really isn’t New Year if you don’t eat crispy apples. Back when we were at Taifeng Building, every year at New Year, Master Jiang would fry a ton of crispy apples for us as snacks."

"Yeah." Qin Huai nodded. "When Mrs. Qin was still alive, the Jiang Family’s New Year’s Eve dinner was really lavish, and crispy apples were always on the table as a starter. After Mrs. Jiang passed away, the Jiang Family’s New Year’s Eve dinner got very simple. Other than the must-have Jade-and-Gold Cabbage every year, the rest of the dishes depended on how busy Master Jiang was."

"What on earth does Jade-and-Gold Cabbage taste like?" Zhao Cheng’an let out a longing sound. "It’s been eight lifetimes and I’ve never once eaten Jade-and-Gold Cabbage. Qin Huai, how come I never thought back then to grab my bowl and chopsticks and run straight to Master Jiang’s place on New Year’s Eve, snag a chopstickful of Jade-and-Gold Cabbage and then bolt?"

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai felt that after seeing Xia Mubing, Zhao Cheng’an’s IQ had plummeted, and Chen Sheng had taken over his account. Usually Zhao Cheng’an still had to put on an act so he’d seem like a normal person, but in front of his senior brother he didn’t bother at all, he just wanted to be a fool.

Maybe a Mayfly just likes being a fool.

"I also made a little something to pad your stomachs. You probably ate a bit on the plane and aren’t really hungry now. Eat a little side dish first, we’ll have a proper meal tonight." Xia Mubing was very tolerant of fools. He walked over to another stove, lifted the lid off the clay pot simmering there, and inside was an abalone and chicken casserole.

The abalones weren’t big, all small abalones, cross-cut beautifully. Both the abalone and the chicken were coated in the same rich brown sauce; you could tell it had been simmering for quite a while. The chicken had soaked up all the sauce and would surely be very tender and falling apart in the mouth.

Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng’an didn’t stand on ceremony, dragging over little stools to sit down and start eating this "side dish."

Xia Mubing also pulled over a little stool and sat down, sitting beside them and watching the two eat.

Qin Huai knew that Xia Mubing hadn’t yet heard the wonderful stories of his last few lives, nor did he know what Qin Huai’s obsession was. Even if he’d heard Zhao Cheng’an retell it, with Zhao Cheng’an’s character, it would either be exaggerated or missing key parts.

He very much needed to tell it again.

So Qin Huai gave a condensed version and quickly went through it once more. Xia Mubing sat quietly at the side listening. By the time he’d roughly finished talking about Zhao Guanghang, Xiao Hang still hadn’t come back, so Qin Huai took the chance to ask what he wanted to ask.

"Xia Sheng, last year I told you I ran into Wei Guo and his descendants in Z City, and asked you to contact Mr. Li so Taifeng Building could be handed over to Wei Guo. You said you weren’t ready yet. Were you really not ready, or were you afraid it would affect my Crossing Tribulation, so you didn’t dare go?" Qin Huai asked.