Chapter 161: A Thief in the Bai Family?
Stepping into the Bai Family’s kitchen, Shen Lu couldn’t help but sigh. ’It really is nice to be rich.’
The Bai Family’s kitchen was nearly the size of the back kitchen in her own shop. All sorts of utensils, both familiar and unfamiliar to her, were arranged neatly. To her left stood a rack holding not just fruits and vegetables, but also a wide variety of seasonings.
To her right were three large refrigerators for storing perishable ingredients.
There was also one man and two women in the kitchen. Judging by his attire, the man was the head chef, and the two women were his assistants. The women were currently trimming vegetables, while the head chef stood before the stove, simmering a stock.
Bai Wanwan never set foot in the kitchen, so it was Bai Lei who led Shen Lu there.
"Uncle Qian, this is Shen Lu. She’s a friend of my sister and me. She’s going to cook a few dishes, so please give her a hand."
The man, addressed as Uncle Qian, turned around. "Of course, Young Master."
Shen Lu planned to make the assorted marinated meats and pumpkin cakes today, as well as marinate the pork ribs. That way, she could finish cooking as quickly as possible tomorrow.
Uncle Qian asked Shen Lu what she planned to make and promptly assigned one of his assistants to help her.
The pumpkin was peeled, cubed, and steamed until tender. Sugar was added, and it was mashed into a puree. Once it cooled, a suitable amount of glutinous rice flour was mixed in. After letting the dough rest for a while, it was divided into small portions, filled with red bean paste, coated in white sesame seeds, and pressed into flat cakes. Then, all that was left was to brush a pan with oil and slowly pan-fry them over low heat until both sides were golden brown.
"I’ll leave the pan-frying to you, if you don’t mind." Shen Lu entrusted the task to her assistant. It wasn’t a complicated job; anyone could do it well as long as they were careful.
Shen Lu took out the aged master brine she had brought with her, ready to prepare a new batch.
Although Shen Lu had said she wouldn’t bring her own ingredients or seasonings, the aged master brine was the key to the marinated dishes. To ensure the flavor was just right, she had no choice but to bring a container of it.
A large pot of braising liquid needed time for the flavors to meld. While she waited, Shen Lu washed the other ingredients, blanching the ones that required it. Once the liquid was ready, she would add the ingredients to be braised.
It was a rather tedious job. Each ingredient had a different cooking time, which meant they had to be added to the braising liquid in a specific order.
Shen Lu pulled up a chair, sat down in the kitchen, and started browsing on her Light Brain. A message from Fu Cheng popped up.
Fu Cheng: Have you made it to the Bai residence?
She checked the time—he had sent it two hours ago.
Shen Lu stuck her tongue out playfully. She’d been in such a rush that she hadn’t noticed the message. Now that she’d seen it, she hurried to reply.
Shen Lu: I’m here. Sorry, I just saw your message.
Fu Cheng clicked to view the message the moment he received it.
’She’s safe.’
Fu Cheng’s heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally settled. The weather was awful today, and Shen Lu had left by helicopter. Even though he knew nothing was likely to go wrong, he couldn’t help but worry.
’Shen Lu doesn’t have a superpower. If there was an accident, she’d have no way to protect herself. What would happen if she fell from a height of several hundred meters?’
Fu Cheng didn’t dare to imagine it, yet he couldn’t stop worrying.
’I want to call her, but I’m afraid she’d find it too forward.’
’Their relationship feels so intimate, yet there’s also this distance between us. I don’t know how to define it, and I don’t know what I should do.’
’It seems all I can do is wait.’
Fu Cheng: It’s fine, I was just asking. Go on with what you’re doing.
He thought their conversation would end there, but to his surprise, more messages from Shen Lu came pouring in.
Shen Lu: Were you worried I might get into an accident on the helicopter because of the bad weather?
Shen Lu: Don’t worry, don’t worry! The Bai Family is very reliable. They said the helicopter is the military’s newest model, the Eagle-5. A little storm is nothing to it.
Shen Lu: Thanks for your concern.
Fu Cheng felt a tug at his heart, and his turbulent emotions strangely settled.
His eyes traced over her messages, word by word, and he slowly exhaled.
Fu Cheng: That’s a relief.
Shen Lu: Okay, you get some rest. I’m going back to cooking.
Shen Lu closed the chat window and placed the beef tongue into the braising liquid.
Shen Lu didn’t think much of Fu Cheng’s concern.
’It’s perfectly normal,’ she thought. ’We’ve been depending on each other for so many days, and this is my first time staying out overnight, especially in such awful weather. If he didn’t show a little concern, I’d have to call him cold-blooded.’
At ten o’clock that night, Shen Lu lay down to sleep. On the second floor, Bai Lei stealthily opened his door and tiptoed out, with an equally furtive Bai Wanwan trailing behind him.
The brother and sister slipped into the kitchen, found the large pot of marinated meats Shen Lu had prepared, and lifted the lid.
"You go get a slotted spoon," Bai Wanwan ordered her brother without ceremony. She’d hardly ever been in the kitchen and had no idea where anything was.
Bai Lei was different. Like a man possessed by a hunger demon, he often snuck into the kitchen in the middle of the night looking for snacks. He knew his way around here very well.
Bai Lei sighed in resignation. He not only grabbed a slotted spoon but also a plate and chopsticks. They couldn’t just eat with their hands, after all. That would be so uncivilized.
"It’s a shame the pumpkin cakes are in the fridge getting cold, otherwise we could have eaten a couple," Bai Wanwan lamented. "My mouth was watering when we were watching the security footage in my room. And it’s all your fault for not letting me come down sooner."
"I’m having one first." Bai Lei completely ignored his sister, as if she were just spouting nonsense. He fished a chicken foot out of the braising liquid and eagerly began to gnaw on it.
"Bai Lei, you’re unbelievable! Shouldn’t I get the first bite?!" Bai Wanwan snatched the slotted spoon, swished it around in the braising liquid a few times, and pulled out not just chicken feet, but duck gizzards and wings too.
Bai Lei: !
"Sis, you can’t take that much! Didn’t we agree we were just coming down to try a piece or two?"
She had scooped up a whole plateful. With that much gone, it would be obvious someone had been snacking.
Bai Wanwan rolled her eyes at him. "So what? Food is made to be eaten, isn’t it? Besides, this is my house. I’ll eat whatever I want in my own kitchen."
Bai Wanwan polished off a duck wing in one go, savoring every bite.
"But... I still don’t think it tastes as good as what she makes at her shop." After finishing another chicken foot, Bai Wanwan licked her lips and offered her sincere opinion. "It’s not that it isn’t delicious, but it feels like something’s missing."
Bai Lei pondered this for a moment. "Looks like our guess was right. Shen Lu’s secret is her ingredients. She only brought that small container of master brine; all the other seasonings and ingredients were ours. That’s why it doesn’t taste as good as when she uses ingredients from her own shop."
"Did your Spiritual Sea feel that soothing effect when you were eating?"
"Nope."
"Oh, well." Bai Wanwan shrugged, then scooped up another plate of marinated meats and headed upstairs.
This stuff was the perfect snack for binge-watching shows. She was going to eat her fill tonight.
Bai Lei knew he couldn’t stop his sister, so he figured he might as well join her. He grabbed a large bowl, scooped it full, and took two bottles of soda back to his room as well.
And so, when Shen Lu got up and entered the kitchen the next day, she noticed that some of the marinated meats seemed to be missing.
At first, she wasn’t sure. But after she scooped some up with a skimmer to get a better look, she was certain. Some of it was definitely gone.
’Did a thief break into the Bai Family’s home?’
’But they wouldn’t ignore all the valuables just to steal the marinated meats I made.’
Shen Lu mulled it over. The most likely culprits were the siblings, Bai Wanwan and Bai Lei. Sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night to steal marinated meats sounded exactly like something those two foodies would do.