Chapter 547: Life Lessons
Grabbing a lively, bouncing carp from the water, Lin Tian tossed it into the sink with great force, stunning the fish.
"Ah!"
At the same time, Yan Xinrou and Liou Qingcheng both screamed, covering their luscious red lips.
Lin Tian was startled by the two of them, "What are you two doing? You scared me. It’s just killing a fish, right?"
"Is... is this how you kill a fish?" Yan Xinrou asked, trembling, while craning her neck to take a glance into the sink.
"This is how you kill a live fish. How did you do it before?" Lin Tian asked.
Yan Xinrou pointed at the fish, swallowed hard, and said, "You just place it on the cutting board, then... raise the knife with both hands and chop it. After a few chops, it’s dead..."
Lin Tian was speechless for a long while, then gave a thumbs-up in admiration: "Impressive! How about... you guys leave? I’ll handle the kitchen on my own."
"No worries, I’m here to see how your cooking skills are. If you don’t do well, I can guide you," Yan Xinrou said, acting like an elder. She then tugged on Liou Qingcheng’s arm and said, "Learn as much as you can, it’s embarrassing for a girl not to know how to cook."
Liou Qingcheng didn’t argue back. To find someone who can out-talk their own mom is probably not born yet.
Lin Tian smiled helplessly, glanced at the time, and realized it was near mealtime, kicking up the pace.
He placed the stunned carp on the cutting board, trimmed off the tail fin, dorsal fin, and pelvic fin. Then, with a flick of his knife, he gutted the fish until it was clean.
Next, using the knife, he scraped off the scales, particularly giving extra attention to the back by the dorsal fin. This area is where the fishiness is strongest. Some people have a fishy taste because they don’t remove the slime from the back.
Finally, Lin Tian made a few incisions on the fish’s body with the knife, creating a crisscross pattern to help it absorb flavors better.
"Qingcheng, could you help me wash some green onions? Mom, the fish is cleaned, rinse it a few more times with water," Lin Tian instructed. His hands didn’t stop moving, with his left hand pressing down the meat and his right holding the kitchen knife. Then ’chop chop chop’, he cut quickly, the speed so fast that it made Yan Xinrou dumbfounded. Can chopping vegetables be this easy?
After that, Lin Tian pretty much took over the kitchen. Even his left hand pulled out a ’Black Dragon’ dagger to use as a kitchen knife, chopping swiftly with both hands.
As for Yan Xinrou and her daughter, they could only help on the side, washing radishes and such, but even so, they couldn’t keep up with Lin Tian’s cooking speed.
Quickly, five dishes with great color, aroma, and taste were all prepared, making people’s mouths water just looking at them.
As for the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Soup, that was solely for Lin Tian...
Liou Zhengming wasn’t reading the newspaper but stood at the kitchen door watching Lin Tian’s every move, finding it increasingly hard to understand this young man.
Can someone really be this outstanding?
Except for the fish soup and sweet-and-sour pork slices, the other three dishes were vegetarian. They were also on the cooler side, suitable for someone like Liou Zhengming with high levels in three areas.
"As usual, aside from this fish soup, no other meat is allowed," Yan Xinrou said.
Liou Zhengming had a dejected face. When will these meatless days end? Looking once more at the fish soup on the table, its color was much better than what Yan Xinrou could make — a pure white broth, looking very thick.
It’s just... he’s been drinking this fish soup almost daily lately. Seeing it makes him feel queasier than seeing medicine. But it’s better than having no meat.
There wasn’t any guest or host distinction, Lin Tian and Liou Qingcheng sat together, with the two elders across from them.
"Lin Tian, the three of us will have some wine, Qingcheng, you drink soda," Yan Xinrou instructed.
"Why?"
"You two had so many times last night, you might be pregnant! You can’t touch even a drop of alcohol now," Yan Xinrou said with a look of consideration.
Liou Qingcheng took a deep breath of the fragrant air, suppressing her inner anger.
I am a little fairy, I can’t lose my temper, I can’t get angry, I must smile!
Putting on a smile more pitiful than crying, Liou Qingcheng nodded, "Soda it is."
She wasn’t mad about not being able to drink alcohol, but because of this mother...
"Cheers!"
Yan Xinrou laughed like a flower, raising her wine glass and shouting. The other three hurriedly raised their glasses as well.
"Dad, try Lin Tian’s cooking," Liou Qingcheng said, picking up a big chunk of vegetables with her chopsticks and placing it in front of Liou Zhengming’s bowl. Nearly half of the plate went into it, piling up like a small mountain.
Liou’s face turned almost liver-colored, and it was his most hated water spinach... isn’t this meant to disgust him?
"It’s an honor to be the first to taste the dish made by the son-in-law, hurry and try it," Yan Xinrou urged repeatedly, and from her expression, you could tell she was making Liou ’test the poison.’
’A wife’s orders must be obeyed.’
Bitterly reciting this in his heart, Liou picked up a small piece of leafy vegetable, thinking: if this dish is off even a little, I won’t eat it! Then I’ll scold this brat to tears and storm off! I’m the father-in-law, I’m the biggest!
The moment the leaf touched his mouth, a perfectly enticing flavor stimulated Liou’s taste buds, with a unique yet irresistibly savory aroma lingering in his mouth.
Is this still my most hated water spinach?
Seeing her father’s strange expression, Liou Qingcheng wasn’t worried at all; she was very aware of the quality of the dishes Lin Tian made. If Liou Zhengming wasn’t satisfied, there might not be any food in this world that would satisfy him.
Without saying a word, Liou wolfed down the green vegetables, looking utterly content.
"Oh, slow down, you ghoul! If you eat it all, what will we eat? Can you at least have some dignity, not look like a starving ghost!"
Yan Xinrou slapped her husband on the shoulder, but it didn’t stop his devouring.
Seeing this, Yan Xinrou wasn’t to be left behind, picked up her chopsticks, and began grabbing food into her bowl.
"Lin Tian, eat quickly. Otherwise, you’ll end up with an empty stomach."
With that, Liou Qingcheng also joined in, grabbing the food quickly with equal force.
Lin Tian was dumbfounded. What’s going on? Am I in a group of starving ghosts? With every blink, more of the dish disappeared. Soon, the plate was nearly empty, with only some sauce left.
"Lin Tian, don’t say that mom and dad bullied you, it’s you who weren’t quick enough. That’s how the world works, slow hands get nothing, mom’s teaching you a life lesson here,"
She righteously declared as she ate leisurely.
Lin Tian was completely defeated; only Yan Xinrou could come up with such bizarre logic.