(Readers with incomplete Chapters can refresh the table of contents and reload the content.)
From a purely culinary perspective, Chen Jingle had a fairly high acceptance of wheat-based foods. As long as it tasted good, he was fine with it. It was even better if it contained meat—big, fragrant chunks of meat! He was a staunch carnivore. Wheat food without meat? What was the difference between that and eating grass?
His family rarely made bread at home, let alone handmade noodles. He always felt that the entire process—from kneading the dough to letting it rise, and finally steaming it—was incredibly troublesome. Yet, people in regions where wheat was the staple food seemed to never tire of it. This was simply a dietary difference.
Chen Jingle only started making it after watching an online tutorial, feeling that it was manageable and that he had learned the ropes. With the enhancement of his system’s abilities, he felt that learning anything was a breeze. He could grasp new skills effortlessly, even performing better than the instructional videos themselves.
When it came to making wheat foods, the most crucial step was naturally letting the dough rise. If the dough didn’t rise well, the final product definitely wouldn’t taste good.
He mixed flour, baking powder, yeast, and white sugar with warm water in specific proportions, then added a bit of lard before kneading it all together and setting it aside to rest. The purpose of the lard was to ensure that the steamed buns would turn out large and white.
Next, he could start preparing the filling. Since he was making sauced meat buns, he obviously had to make the sauced meat. He diced pork belly and blanched it in boiling water to prevent it from remaining undercooked during the steaming process. Then, he stir-fried it in a wok until it turned a scorched yellow before adding white sugar, yellow wine, white liquor, and dry yellow soybean paste. Finally, he tossed in minced scallions, minced onions, and diced shiitake mushrooms, stir-frying everything until it was fully cooked and aromatic before pouring it out to set aside.
By this time, the dough had pretty much finished rising. He rolled it into small dough balls slightly larger than ping-pong balls, then used a glass bottle as a makeshift rolling pin to flatten them into wrappers. Afterward, he scooped several spoonfuls of the sauced meat inside.
Since he was eating them himself, he naturally had to make large meat buns. Why skimp on the meat? It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it! Today, he absolutely had to make massive meat buns!
He stuffed and stuffed until the wrapper couldn’t hold any more, then pinched beautiful pleats into it. Just like that, a gorgeous meat bun was perfectly completed. He pinched and pinched, making one after another... In the end, he used up all the dough and filling without wasting a single bit. Into the steamer they went!
There wasn’t a dedicated steamer for buns at home, so he made do with the rice cooker’s steaming basket. The steaming process was quick. Just smelling the pervasive aroma that wafted out made Chen Jingle feel entirely satisfied.
"As expected, it always comes back to carbs!"
He turned off the heat, took one out, and set it aside to cool slightly before eagerly digging in. With a single bite of the piping-hot, oversized meat bun, the lingering fragrance coated his lips and teeth, filling his mouth with rich grease. It was a bit scalding, but it was incredibly fragrant and delicious! One word to describe it: awesome! Two words: pure comfort!
"I could consider shooting a first-person perspective video, waiting until midnight to post it, and then throwing in two hundred yuan for a boost, specifically targeting overseas students."
HEHE!
He wondered if they would be jealous! However, there were risks to doing this; first and foremost, he had to ensure his address wouldn’t be leaked.
[Great job, baby! You have successfully completed the practical task. Reward: Elimination of one scar on your back.]
Chen Jingle turned a deaf ear to the system prompt. He was busy! The rice cooker’s steaming basket was a bit small, and the two tiers could only steam eight buns at a time. Any more and they wouldn’t fit, so he had to steam them in multiple batches. He had made quite a few, after all.
After finishing one and confirming it wasn’t a failure, he hurriedly took the rest out, plated them, and put the next batch in to steam. Since he was steaming so many, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t finish them today. He could save them for tomorrow’s breakfast, or even consider making some homemade pre-packaged buns by vacuum-sealing them and tossing them in the fridge for a few extra days. For a southerner, having to knead dough from scratch every time they wanted to eat buns was indeed a bit troublesome.
Chen Qiyun finished school at noon and hurriedly ran over to ask, "Brother Le, what are we having for lunch?"
"Sauced meat buns!"
"They’re terrible. Don’t eat them. I didn’t prepare a portion for you."
"You’re lying! I can already smell how fragrant they are. Leave two for me! I’m going back to drop off my backpack first." Chen Qiyun glared and pouted before sprinting off as fast as her short little legs could carry her, her backpack bouncing behind her.
TCH!
Why wasn’t she this proactive about going to school?
A short while later, Chen Qiyun reappeared. Facing Chen Jingle’s stern gaze, she hastily showed off her freshly washed hands, then eagerly picked up a meat bun and took a bite.
Fragrant! It was truly too fragrant! Compared to this, the meat buns sold outside were absolute garbage! The meat filling alone was incomparable, let alone the soft and chewy wrapper. As for the "buns" her mother had made in the past, she could only sneer.
After finishing one large meat bun, Chen Qiyun wore an expression of pure bliss and decisively grabbed a second one.
"Full after just two?" Chen Jingle asked in surprise.
Chen Qiyun said in sheer frustration, "I had a bowl of congee before coming over." What a huge loss. If she had known, she wouldn’t have eaten it, even if it meant getting scolded by her grandmother. Now look at her—she couldn’t eat any more even if she wanted to.
Chen Jingle realized what had happened and couldn’t help but laugh.
After eating and drinking his fill, he took a midday rest. His afternoon classes proceeded as usual, and Chen Jingle completed them all earnestly. At around six o’clock, Liang City finally appeared.
"Handsome, I’m here!"
After parking his car, he chuckled and walked into the courtyard, sticking out his small paunch. "Have you eaten yet? If not, let’s go grab a bite together!"
Chen Jingle waved his hand. "I haven’t eaten, but forget about going out. I steamed some buns today, and I don’t really want anything else."
"Steamed? Did you buy them?"
"Are you looking down on me? I made them myself."
"Aha, you actually have this skill? Are there any extra? Let me try one," Liang City teased, poking his head toward the kitchen.
"No problem."
Chen Jingle wasn’t a stingy person, so he immediately brought out the meat buns, which still retained some residual heat.
Holy crap!
The moment he ate the first one, Liang City’s eyes widened. "Did you add some special ingredients to this?"
"Why else would it be so fragrant?"
"I’m a professional, you know," Chen Jingle said smugly, crossing his legs.
"Delicious!" Liang City polished off the bun in a few bites, even sucking the grease clean off his fingers. He instinctively reached for a second one but suddenly paused, turning his head to look at Chen Jingle.
Chen Jingle jutted his chin. "It’s fine. There’s enough."
"Then I won’t hold back." Liang City chuckled. He was also a meat lover—one could tell just by looking at his physique. He was always screaming about wanting to lose weight, yet the numbers on the scale never went down. If it weren’t for his gout, which prevented him from eating many things, he would probably be even more exaggerated.
"Alright, I can’t eat any more." After devouring three in a row, Liang City finally stopped. He licked the corners of his mouth and hurried off to wash his hands. He had been so focused on eating that he nearly forgot the main business. "About those pots of flowers..."
"Done. They’re over there. Take a look and see how they turned out." Chen Jingle pointed to the side.
"Like I know anything about—holy crap!" Liang City’s eyes widened once again, and he hastily leaned in closer.
Okay, he didn’t understand flowers, but he still possessed basic aesthetics. He remembered that they hadn’t looked like this when he dropped them off that morning. At the time, while the potted flowers had been well-nurtured and could be described as having lush branches, abundant leaves, and blooming flowers, their ornamental value was quite average—not even comparable to the two pots Chen Jingle had given him over the past couple of days. However, looking at them now, they had undergone a drastic transformation!
After Chen Jingle’s pruning, all the superfluous branches and leaves had been removed. Every single pot now boasted a unique shape that could completely be classified as art-grade.
HISS! Incredible!
"Brother! You are my actual blood brother! Badass, way too badass!" Liang City’s voice trembled with excitement. These were no ordinary potted plants; they were clearly his stepping stones to a successful promotion! "I won’t bother with any extra pleasantries. In short, thank you!"
"Did they help?" Chen Jingle raised an eyebrow.
"They definitely will!" Liang City nodded fiercely. "I’ve asked around. Director Liu’s biggest hobby is cultivating flowers. Catering to his interests is much more practical than anything else."
This sounded like he was taking the Madam route. Chen Jingle smiled faintly and didn’t say anything. He had no interest in such matters, but he wouldn’t object either. On the contrary, he should offer his full support. If Liang City returned to the downtown area, it would benefit him as well.
After bidding Chen Jingle farewell, Liang City took the flowers and hurried to Director Liu’s home without stopping.
Sure enough, the moment Director Liu saw the pruned bougainvilleas, he was thoroughly delighted. He repeatedly expressed his thanks and tried to keep him for dinner. However, Liang City declined and merely drank a cup of tea.
"Teacher Zhong and my daughter are waiting for me at home. Let’s make it next time." He wore a bashful expression as he spoke.
Director Liu became even more satisfied. A young man like this—diligent in his work and loving toward his wife and child—deserved to be given important responsibilities.
Alas, Liang City’s skin was still too thin. Plus, he had just eaten three large meat buns. If he stayed for dinner now, on one hand, it would seem a bit abrupt. On the other hand, if he ate too little, it would make him look like he had a poor appetite or lead them to mistakenly think the food wasn’t to his taste; but if he ate a lot, he would end up bursting his own stomach.
He wasn’t like Director Zhao, who could still put away three massive bowls of tangyuan despite having diabetes. It was better to save the opportunity for next time when everyone was prepared, allowing him to leave a better impression on the leader. As long as Director Liu continued to cultivate flowers, he would still think of him and need his help.