Chapter 83
Mr. Li was stirring the wok with enthusiasm, boasting proudly: “Look, my spicy chicken is so hot and fragrant, it’s way better than that roasted duck, isn’t it?!”
To thoroughly show Aunt Wang and the roasted duck who was in charge, Mr. Li had specially brought out a massive wok and filled it with a ton of chili peppers, creating a red, eye-catching scene.
And, to grab everyone’s attention, he threw in all sorts of seasonings, like dried chili, pickled chili, MSG…
It didn’t matter whether it tasted good or not, the key was that the aroma had to be strong! The stronger, the better!
The neighbors didn’t know much about cooking, but it certainly smelled good. Though the scent wasn’t very natural, it was vibrant and festive, and visually it was eye-catching.
Meanwhile, Aunt Wang’s roasted duck, wrapped in layers of black cloth, was still hidden. Not only did they have no idea what it looked like, they couldn’t smell any aroma either.
When compared to that, Mr. Li’s spicy chicken was clearly the winner.
They had been neighbors for so many years, so of course, they immediately supported Mr. Li:
“Yeah, Old Li’s spicy chicken smells amazing.”
“The color looks intense, so fresh! How could that roasted duck compare? And let’s not forget, that duck’s been sitting there for half a day, it’s probably cold by now…”
“I’d pay a hundred bucks for this spicy chicken. That roasted duck? Heh, even if they paid me a hundred bucks, I wouldn’t eat it!”
Their support wasn’t without reason.
Mr. Li, thrilled by their praise, immediately grabbed bowls and started serving the spicy chicken as soon as it was ready, giving everyone a helping to take home.
This was free food after all, so naturally, everyone enjoyed the treat and praised Mr. Li even more.
Although they were praising him, they still couldn’t help but glance anxiously at Aunt Wang’s convenience store.
It was strange.
Normally, when Mr. Li caused trouble like this, Aunt Wang would immediately rush out with her tools and engage in a fierce battle with him.
But today, even though Mr. Li was almost strutting in front of her door, Aunt Wang hadn’t made a move.
Was she preparing something big?
…Aunt Wang wasn’t preparing anything at all.
When she heard Mr. Li’s noise outside, she just found it childish!
The kitchen’s range hood hummed loudly as Aunt Wang bustled around in the kitchen, spinning like a top.
Her son and daughter-in-law were sitting at the table. They had both been working out of town and had just taken some time off to visit. They brought plenty of gifts and local specialties for Aunt Wang. Originally, they planned to take her out to a good restaurant for a meal to celebrate, but Aunt Wang insisted on cooking herself.
“Mom bought something good from a talented young chef today,” Aunt Wang said happily. “Just a little preparation and it’ll be a gourmet dish. Just wait, you won’t be disappointed.”
Her son and daughter-in-law smiled and said it sounded great, but when they turned around, they muttered quietly:
“Isn’t Mom’s cooking… pretty average?” Her daughter-in-law Lin Mo couldn’t help but ask. “Why is she so confident today?”
Wang Xuan looked at his mother’s confident demeanor and wasn’t so sure himself.
He had grown up with his mother’s devilish cooking skills. His taste buds were nearly numb by now. When he was in middle school, his teachers even thought he was being abused at home because of the strange food he ate every day.
Seeing his mother so confident in the kitchen today made him uneasy, but he didn’t know how to express it.
“Ah, it’s fine,” Wang Xuan reassured his wife. “If it really doesn’t taste good, we’ll sneak out for some barbecue later to make up for it. We rarely get to visit Mom, so let’s just let her enjoy herself and make her happy.”
The young couple sat at the table, anxiously waiting.
Aunt Wang was busy in the kitchen, but she also kept her ears open to listen to the commotion outside.
She, of course, heard Mr. Li’s taunts.
“That old man, at his age, arguing with a three-year-old, doesn’t he feel ashamed?” Aunt Wang muttered.
“Yeah,” her daughter-in-law, Lin Mo, laughed in agreement, “A three-year-old kid doesn’t have that much experience. Even if he lost to the old man, the old man still didn’t win fairly.”
Aunt Wang sneered: “The thing is, he can’t win! Boss Xiao Lan’s cooking skills easily crush him by tens of thousands of times.”
Her son and daughter-in-law looked at each other in confusion.
A three-year-old’s cooking skills are better than Mr. Li, who’s sixty?
That couldn’t be right!
After hearing Aunt Wang’s story about “Boss Xiao Lan,” the young couple became even more uneasy.
They had previously suspected Aunt Wang’s cooking skills, but now they couldn’t help but question her mental state.
The story of a three-year-old selling roasted duck on a stall sounded more and more ridiculous!
And based on what she said…
The roasted duck Aunt Wang was making for them was from the leftovers she bought from “Boss Xiao Lan” at noon?
The young couple exchanged nervous glances and whispered to each other:
“Honey, if things go wrong later, you should run first and not worry about me.”
“How can I do that? We’re a married couple, for better or worse!”
“…Well, the roasted duck might be a bit bad, but it’s not going to kill us, right?”
“We can’t be sure. Look at Mom’s advanced mental state.”
The couple fell into silence.
They were restless.
This silence lasted until Aunt Wang uncovered the pot—
The red braising sauce in the clay pot had come to a boil, bubbling away. The braising liquid was filled to the brim with roasted duck. The crispy skin of the duck had an enticing red sheen, softened by the sauce, making it look rich and oily, highlighting the tender and firm duck meat.
She then sprinkled some garlic and chopped scallions, and a steaming hot roasted duck was ready.
What was impossible to ignore… was the fragrance.
Aunt Wang had bought a high-quality clay pot, and aside from a small vent hole, the aroma of the roasted duck had been trapped inside.
But as soon as she lifted the lid, the rich fragrance and white steam rushed out all at once!
The son and daughter-in-law were stunned.
“Wow! It smells so good! What is that aroma?? It’s so tempting!”
“Mom, did you make this roasted duck?”
“This… this technique,” Wang Xuan was even more incredulous. He remembered the dark dishes he had eaten as a child, and he couldn’t connect that with the steaming roasted duck in front of him. “Mom, did you hide your skills all these years just to torture me…?”
Aunt Wang: “…What nonsense are you talking?”
She couldn’t help but give Wang Xuan a little smack on the head.
However, Wang Xuan had actually guessed right, and it wasn’t surprising at all — after all, who knows a mother better than her son?
“This roasted duck was made by Boss Xiao Lan,” Aunt Wang said. “I just heated it up by boiling the braising sauce they packed, and then added the sliced roasted duck. That’s it, nothing fancy.”
Aunt Wang was very self-aware about her cooking skills.
She had eaten half a duck at lunch and was amazed by how good it tasted. Though she had wanted to finish the remaining half herself, after some hesitation, she decided to save it for dinner to share with her son and daughter-in-law.
She took a clay pot, poured in the braising sauce that Boss Xiao Lan had packed, and heated it up. Then she added the sliced roasted duck and simmered it in the pot for a while. Just like that, with no extra steps.
But even so, the result was amazing!
The braising sauce itself was aromatic, with a unique salty-sweet flavor, and the roasted duck dipped in the sauce had a fantastic taste. After simmering in the clay pot, the duck wasn’t as crispy as when it was freshly roasted, but it took on a different kind of flavor.
Since Aunt Wang had brought out the steaming roasted duck, her son and daughter-in-law couldn’t take their eyes off it:
“Looks like this Boss Xiao Lan really knows what they’re doing…”
“Gurgle, gurgle.”
“Mom, I misunderstood you earlier!”
Not long ago, they were frowning and sighing. Now, their attitude had completely flipped. They eagerly grabbed chopsticks, their eyes sparkling as they looked at the clay pot, ready to dig in.
They looked like two starving people reincarnated.
Seeing the couple’s reaction, Aunt Wang felt a sense of satisfaction and joy in her heart, as if she had been vindicated.
She placed the roasted duck on the table and said, “You’ve been traveling all day, you must be starving. Eat, eat.”
With a thud, the roasted duck was placed in front of them.
The couple’s eyes flashed with sharp intensity, and their chopsticks moved swiftly like dragons, precisely picking up pieces of the roasted duck and putting them in their mouths.
The next moment, they couldn’t help but exchange a look.
They both saw the shock in each other’s eyes.
Why?
Because this roasted duck was… unbelievably… delicious!
Unlike the freshly roasted crispy duck, the roasted duck soaked in the braising sauce offered a special kind of deliciousness. After being steamed in the hot sauce, the crispy skin wasn’t as crunchy anymore, but instead became soft and thin. However, this made the flavor of the duck meat stand out even more.
With one bite, the duck meat soaked in the braising sauce was incredibly tender, chewy, and full of texture. With every chew, delicious juices burst out. As they took big bites, they could also taste the oil that had seeped into the sauce, salty and fragrant, bringing an unmatched sense of satisfaction.
The more they chewed, the more flavorful it became.
Unlike the roasted ducks on the market, which are often served with various complicated garnishes and seasonings, the roasted duck in front of them only had the simplest braising sauce and roasted duck, which truly showcased the chef’s culinary skills.
Even though the duck had been left for half a day and had cooled down, after being simmered in the simple braising sauce, it had regained such an enticing fragrance.
It was absolutely amazing.
The couple’s chopsticks were flying, almost leaving afterimages, as they ate, praising the taste endlessly:
“So good, so good!”
“Mom, you have great taste. You found this delicious roasted duck, ahhh!”
“This braising sauce is so fragrant, and the duck meat is so delicate and salty, the combination is really amazing.”
Aunt Wang smiled in satisfaction.
She took a small bowl, added some of the roasted duck, and scooped a few spoons of braising sauce over the white rice, mixing them together. She was eating rice with the braising sauce and duck.
The white rice, after mixing with the braising sauce, took on a glossy texture, sticky and smooth. With one bite, the duck’s oily fragrance soaked into the rice, making it so flavorful that it could make anyone dizzy with deliciousness.
As she ate, she also went to check if her door was securely closed.
“We can’t let this aroma get out,” Aunt Wang said quietly, “If the neighbors find out, it’ll be bad.”
What she didn’t know was…
The aroma of the roasted duck had already spread out through the crack under the door, wafting through the streets…
The people who had been attracted by Mr. Li’s spicy chicken now perked up their noses, looking confused as they searched for the source of the fragrance.
Mr. Li couldn’t help but get frustrated: “Aunt Wang, you’re playing dirty tricks!”
Even though he said that, his mouth couldn’t stop twitching.
Saliva was dripping down…
So will that Aunt Wang’s son and daughter in law also queue up for Boss Lanlan’s roasted duck tomorrow?