The Game of Life TGOL

Chapter 533: Chapter 531: A Murder Triggered by a Bowl of Chicken Soup Noodles

Jiang Feng stopped the tomato and scrambled eggs, but not the previously cooked stir-fried greens and diced lotus root.

Drizzled with a ladle of boiling hot chicken broth, the stir-fried diced lotus root was emitting a strangely enticing aroma.

Jiang Feng: …

It was all his fault, he was the one who had opened the door to a new world for Tian Lin.

Seeing Jiang Feng come over at this time, Tian Lin was somewhat surprised and said with a smile, “Feng, you actually came. I thought you weren’t going to show up. Have you had lunch?”

“No.”

When Jiang Feng left the house, he hadn’t thought of anything else and was focused solely on the side mission.

“Then it’s perfect, the dishes are just out of the pot and still hot. Wait a moment, I’ll dish out the lion’s head meatballs, and we can start eating right away.” Tian Lin wiped her hands on her apron and walked to the stove to lift the lid.

There were five lion’s head meatballs in the pot, and aside from looking a bit fragile as if they would fall apart with a poke of chopsticks, there was nothing wrong with them. Their color and taste were perfectly normal, and there was no foam on the surface.

Tian Lin carefully scooped the five meatballs into a bowl, generously poured over two ladles of chicken broth, and the aroma wafted out.

Jiang Feng noticed that only half a pot of the newly stewed chicken broth was left in the pot.

“Feng, come and take a look at how auntie did this time. I followed all your instructions. The chicken broth isn’t greasy either; I scraped off the chicken fat and put it in a bowl before stewing the chicken,” said Tian Lin, a bit proud.

Jiang Feng leaned in to examine the lion’s head meatballs in the bowl and picked up a few bits of minced meat with chopsticks for a taste. He found that as long as Tian Lin was willing to follow the recipe seriously, she could also make normal dishes.

The meat had a proper balance of fat and lean, the taste was a bit bland, but it wasn’t a big deal. The rich chicken broth flavor was enough to cover this minor flaw.

It was a dish of lion’s head meatballs that met the average culinary skill level of a housewife.

“Not bad, auntie. Just keep using this method in the future and you’ll be fine. Meimei will definitely like it,” Jiang Feng encouraged her, then turned to look at the stir-fried lotus root and greens.

The stir-fried lotus root drenched in chicken broth definitely belonged to the dark cuisine category. Just the smell made Jiang Feng realize something was off, but the greens…

They actually smelled delicious.

The vibrant green leaves still had faint traces of yellow chicken broth on them, the greens looked fresh and juicy, and the fire control seemed quite appropriate.

“Auntie, did you fry this plate of greens with lard?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Yes,” Tian Lin responded cheerfully, “frying with lard brings out the flavor. Meimei has loved these lard-fried greens for the past few months.”

Jiang Feng and Tian Lin brought the dishes to the table, including the stewed chicken, of which only half a pot of broth remained.

Because of her pregnancy, Zhao Mei’s tastes changed drastically and she didn’t like chicken, and Grandpa Zhao and Zhao Zhuangshi couldn’t eat anything too oily or rich. Tian Lin was solely focused on watching Zhao Mei eat. As long as Zhao Mei enjoyed her meal, Tian Lin was completely satisfied, and she herself just ate a bit here and there.

Thus, the pot of stewed chicken naturally became a treat for Jiang Feng and Zhao Mei’s husband.

The two of them each had a big bowl of chicken without broth, with none of the drumsticks, wings, or breast meat missing.

Tian Lin raised the chickens very well, so naturally, the stewed chicken was excellent. Her method for stewing chicken was basically the same as for braising meat: simmer on a low heat without adding anything, occasionally throwing in a couple of ginger slices was the most she would do. Stewing meat in this way might not be acceptable to everyone, but for chicken, it resulted in a delicious dish.

In yesterday’s cooking lesson, Tian Lin not only learned that drizzling a scoop of chicken broth when the dish is served enhances the flavor, but she also learned that adding a bit of cooking wine when making meat dishes can remove any gamey taste.

The stewed chicken with a touch of cooking wine was even more delicious than the usual.

After polishing off a bowl of stewed chicken, Jiang Feng began to wonder if he should exercise the shameless spirit passed down through the Jiang family, showing up at the Zhao family’s place for a bowl of stewed chicken whenever it was mealtime.

However, this thought was quickly dismissed after he tasted the lotus root.

While the lotus root drenched in chicken broth had a strange taste, the greens with chicken broth had a unique flavor. This left Jiang Feng undecided on whether he should persuade Tian Lin to stop pouring chicken broth over her dishes or to selectively pour it on certain dishes.

As Jiang Feng wrestled with this dilemma, Zhao Mei and her husband were both quite happy.

Zhao Mei joyfully gnawed on lion’s head meatballs, while her husband sat beside her eating stewed chicken with equal contentment. This scene reminded Jiang Feng of the pandas he had seen at the zoo recently. The couple’s way of holding their bowls while eating meat was very similar to pandas munching on bamboo.

“Mom, make a couple more for tomorrow, and just bring lion’s head meatballs and rice for the day after tomorrow’s health check, no need for other dishes,” Zhao Mei said lazily after finishing her meal.

“All right, Mom also saved you half a pot of chicken broth. There will be plenty of lion’s head meatballs!” Tian Lin said with a smiling face.

“Health check?” Jiang Feng was a bit curious.

This time, Zhao Mei wasn’t sleepy after eating and was in particularly good spirits. She explained gently while caressing her belly and leaning against the chair, “Yes, I had made an appointment with the doctor before the new year, and I’m going to the city for a check-up the day after tomorrow.”

“Will you come back after the health check?” Jiang Feng asked.

“I’m staying in the city after the prenatal checkup, I’m about to give birth and I can’t take all this back and forth.” Zhao Mei said with a smile.

“Then what about your meals, Meimei? Eating in the hospital cafeteria?” Jiang Feng was naturally most concerned about Zhao Mei’s dining situation.

“My mom asked your uncle for the keys to their place yesterday.” Zhao Mei replied.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Jiang Jiandang’s home is right next to the hospital, just over a 20-minute walk away, and it was undoubtedly a good choice for Tian Lin to stay there.

“It’s just that I don’t know whether the two babies in my belly are boys or girls. They’ve been so active these past few days, keeping me up at night. I bet they are two rascals.” Zhao Mei looked at her belly tenderly.

Jiang Feng couldn’t tell if it was his imagination or what, but he always felt that Zhao Mei’s belly seemed a bit bigger today than yesterday.

“Maybe it is one boy and one girl, making up the character for ‘good.'” Jiang Feng joked with an air of sincerity.

“If it’s twins, that would be fantastic.” Zhao Mei laughed, looking at Jiang Feng as if she remembered something, “By the way, I heard you went to your girlfriend’s place before the New Year.”

The burly husband, who had been sitting next to Zhao Mei looking at his phone and serving as a backdrop, couldn’t help but perk up his ears at her words.

“It was… just… just attending her cousin’s funer… I mean, engagement party, nothing else. It was just a coincidence, that’s all. My girlfriend is especially close to her third cousin, and it just so happened that he got engaged before the New Year, so I went along.” Jiang Feng mentally apologized to Wu Jiaxue several times.

Zhao Mei and her husband both revealed a knowing smile.

Just as Jiang Feng was at a loss for words and didn’t know how to explain himself, Zhao Mei spoke up first: “Jiang Feng, when your wife gets pregnant in the future, make sure you don’t act like my husband here; a perfectly fine pregnant woman could be angered to death by him.”

Zhao Mei’s husband: ?

Jiang Feng: ?

Jiang Feng wanted to explain that he didn’t have a wife, but then thought, no, that’s not right, I do have a wife.

No, that’s not right either, my wife is not my wife yet.

No, that’s not right; she should be my wife, but she’s not my wife yet.

No, that’s not right; how can she still be my wife if she’s not my wife anymore?

Still not right…

Jiang Feng was caught in a loop because of Zhao Mei’s comment.

Unaware, Zhao Mei took the opportunity while others were away, with only Jiang Feng and her husband there, to pour out her grievances: “When I first got pregnant and my belly wasn’t that big yet, I couldn’t get him to lift a finger for me, couldn’t even get him to pour me a glass of water.”

“Later on, my ankles swelled up and I couldn’t fit into my pants. I asked him to accompany me to buy pants, and he actually asked me, ‘How come you’re getting swollen legs instead of a swollen belly while pregnant?'”

“I won’t even mention what happened before, but last night I ate a normal dinner, and although I had so much, he still went to make noodles for me at past one o’clock in the morning as usual. He made a huge bowl and told me to eat it all. How could I eat that much? I only have two extra children in my belly, not two extra stomachs.”

“It was you who said you were hungry last night…” Zhao Mei’s husband couldn’t help but interject to defend himself.

“What did I say, did I say I wanted a bowl of noodles? And your bowl of noodles didn’t even have chicken soup in it!” Zhao Mei glared coldly at her husband.

Zhao Mei’s husband: …

Jiang Feng: …

Both men started nodding frantically; nothing is more important than a pregnant woman, whatever Zhao Mei says goes.

“Brother-in-law, you really shouldn’t have, you still made noodles for Meimei after she was full. And to make noodles without even adding chicken soup…” Jiang Feng said with a serious face.

“Yeah, it was inconsiderate of me to forget to add chicken soup when making the noodles.” Zhao Mei’s husband meekly admitted his mistake.

Seeing her obedient cousin and husband, Zhao Mei suddenly felt much more relaxed. The anger from not getting chicken soup noodles dissipated, and she even began to feel sleepy.

Zhao Mei yawned.

“Wife, are you sleepy? If you are, go get some sleep!” Zhao Mei’s husband said attentively.

Zhao Mei nodded her head, supporting her belly with one hand as she stood up and headed towards the room.

Watching this scene, Jiang Feng was deeply moved and pulled out his phone to send a WeChat message to Wu Minqi.

“Qiqi, when you get pregnant in the future, I’ll definitely let you have duck blood and vermicelli soup if that’s what you want, or chicken soup noodles if you prefer. You can eat at 1:00 a.m. if you wish or even at 3:00 a.m. if that’s what you crave!”

Wu Minqi, who received the message: …

Was her Feng hinting at something?