Chapter 168: Roasted Meat Party
After downing a chicken drumstick and a whole chicken wing, Xiang Chuan’s ancient stomach was greatly satisfied. Fully recharged, she immediately turned back to continue roasting meat.
The three behind, Ouyang Yating, evenly divided another chicken drumstick. The more they ate, the more they salivated. The chicken legs marinated in soy sauce and pepper had a slight salty taste, and after roasting, the crispy skin and meat had a tight texture different from stewing, bringing the three a taste impact no less than their first taste of tofu. After finishing the chicken drumstick with lingering desire, the three exchanged a glance and simultaneously reached for the sliced roasted chicken on the plate.
When Xiang Chuan brought over the second plate of roasted meat, she saw the roasted chicken that had been half devoured and the three slacking club members happily drinking juice nearby.
This feeling of only me working while others slack off is really unpleasant. Xiang Chuan thought, so she directly listed some items, sent the three to the warehouse to fetch things and process them in the kitchen before coming back to eat the roasted meat.
“Why so many vegetables? Is Xiang Chuan planning to make a full vegetarian meal with these and soy sauce?” Class President Lu Daiqing sat at the bar counter by the kitchen, watching the three (relative to modern people) skillfully cutting tomatoes, potatoes, and such. The kitchen AI was washing and peeling the vegetables brought from the warehouse. It wasn’t that Lu Daiqing was making a fuss; usually, the A Bite of China Club practiced with two people, and the remaining one was either tutoring Xiang Chuan, helping in the store, or chatting with their Class Eight Grade One slacking group. Having three people in the kitchen together only happened before during the emergency cooking special training for the classmates.
The only possibility was that their club president Xiang Chuan had another sudden idea. But hadn’t Little Star One and Little Star Two just taken stack after stack of heat-resistant rectangular plates from the kitchen? What was this for now? Lu Daiqing touched his chin in doubt.
“We just finished a full meat grand feast, now come process some additional ingredients.” Ainuo had just finished cutting tomatoes, checked the light screen, and was also full of doubt: Why so many vegetables? Grill them too?
“Roasted meat? Using that seasoning from your previous outdoor study topic?” Lu Daiqing adjusted his glasses, recalling the taste of beef noodles from yesterday, and swallowed.
“Yes, paired with the newly made roasting… roaster? Oven? Something like that name.” Ainuo replied absentmindedly, momentarily unable to recall the name of this ancient cooking equipment, so he decisively fudged the unfamiliar term, “Anyway, it’s completely different from the chicken soup or stir-fried chicken the club president usually makes.”
New kitchenware!
Chicken with a different texture!
The Class Eight Grade One students around who were quietly listening to the kitchen sounds, and some fellow students whose tastes had been spoiled by the A Bite of China Club Small Restaurant and Yue Xiang Restaurant, caught these two keywords and instantly couldn’t sit still. The Class Eight Grade One students, who had long mastered the divine skill of “rushing to Xiang Chuan first to mooch new food,” quickly paid their Star Yuan and dashed out of the small restaurant straight to the nearby brick stove.
Class President Lu Daiqing, who was by the kitchen preparing to turn and call his class’s foodies to help, saw the seats behind him emptied out, so he could only give an awkward laugh. As he prepared to enter the kitchen to lend a hand, Ouyang Yating, who had been silently cutting vegetables, suddenly turned her head: “Class President, you should go too. The kitchen is already crowded.”
“Ouyang classmate, no need to be polite, as class president I must…”
“Please. Go. Eat. Roasted. Meat.” She said word by word.
It wasn’t that Ouyang Yating didn’t want help, but if her class’s literally howling-for-food foodies had knife skills up to standard, Xiang Chuan wouldn’t have immediately adjusted the school anniversary small store cooking plan after seeing their results from a week of practicing cutting vegetable shreds.
Ouyang Yating clearly remembered Xiang Chuan picking up the classmates’ cut vegetable results with a face full of black lines and saying: “I wanted you to cut vegetable shreds, not vegetable slices.”
The level was self-evident. Even Class President Lu Daiqing wasn’t much better. So rather than letting him come cut tomato slices into tomato wheels, it was easier to shoo him to Xiang Chuan to eat meat.
After seeing off Class President Lu Daiqing who looked back three steps per step, the three A Bite of China Club members continued their vegetable cutting work.
In front of the brick stove.
When the three and Little Star One transported the cut vegetables over, they saw a roasting scene lively as if the recent school anniversary hadn’t ended long ago.
Class President Lu Daiqing and class cadres like Mandy and Fu Chengkai were helping cut meat. Nancy, with the vice class president title, held a plate-sized chicken legs sitting beside Xiang Chuan chatting about something. Class Eight students led by Long Xiaoxian and Qing Ke were devouring the meat on the baking pans at a literal storm-suction speed.
Ouyang Yating glanced at the five or six baking pans piled on the ground, refreshing her understanding of her classmates’ eating speed once again.
Not even half an hour!
“Xiang… Club President, the vegetables and things you wanted, Little Star One has brought them.” Ouyang Yating declined the chicken leg offered by Nancy, leaned close to Xiang Chuan and said loudly. It was too noisy nearby; normal volume couldn’t be heard.
“Okay, I’m coming now. Nancy, watch the stove for me, call me over in five minutes.” Xiang Chuan turned back, saw the ingredient boxes carried by Little Star One, her eyes lit up, and she bounced over, directing Little Star One to place the boxes on the serving plates.
The Class Eight crowd saw Xiang Chuan coming and voluntarily made way. Their class’s this one was their gourmet master to be supplied to. As for the other three, if there’s good food it’s fine, if not, hello classmate, goodbye classmate.
Xiang Chuan washed her hands, took a lettuce leaf from the ingredient box brought by Little Star One, put sliced beef on it, added a few tomato slices, and took a bite. The fresh sweetness of lettuce and tomatoes perfectly neutralized the meat’s grease, instantly reviving her stomach that had gone greasy from crazily gorging on chicken and beef. After stuffing two or three vegetable wraps in a row, Xiang Chuan satisfiedly patted her little belly. Only then did she notice how quiet it was around, turned her head, and met her class students’ gazes as if looking at some wondrous creature.
“What’s wrong? If you want to eat, make your own wraps.” Xiang Chuan waved the lettuce leaf in her hand.
“Uh… eat uncooked vegetables?” Nan Ke and Mandy et al. still couldn’t quite adapt.
“Eating raw vegetables was very common in ancient times. A big feature of this thing in my hand is that it can be eaten raw, with a crisp texture and a bit sweet. This vegetable variety is very good.” Saying so, Xiang Chuan took a bite, licked her lips, somewhat reluctant to finish. Such crisp lettuce would probably be on the high-price vegetable counter in supermarkets in the city where she used to work. As expected of an excellent variety preserved 30,000 years later. “Also things like tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, etc. Ancient records show a considerable portion of vegetables could be eaten raw directly, even tasting better than when cooked.”
Real or fake? The Class Eight Grade One students looked at each other.
Actually in ancient times raw seafood was popular too. Xiang Chuan muttered inwardly, but for modern youth who hesitated even at raw vegetables, it was a bit too early. Wait until our fleet achieves seafood freedom someday.
In the end, the ones trying were still the fearless Chou Manman and Ouyang Yating trio. But after one bite, the four couldn’t stop, and seeing this, the surrounding classmates’ appetites overpowered their physiological fear, rushing up to join the vegetable wrap making ranks.
“If you really can’t get used to raw lettuce, go to the restaurant side and order a juice to cut the grease. Eating only meat can easily make you queasy.” Xiang Chuan instructed, while not forgetting to drum up business for her small restaurant. This meal would probably consume quite a bit of chicken inventory and the limited soy sauce. At least let her break even on drinks and beverages.
After saying that, she returned to the rotary kiln, sucking fruit milk and munching raw lettuce. No way around it, protein really fills you up, especially after four roasted eggs down the hatch. If not for the juicy raw lettuce and tomatoes right in front of her, she really couldn’t fit anything else.
But roasting something else would be fine. Xiang Chuan picked up the eggplant and custom small kitchenware from another ingredient box sent by Little Star One, skillfully split the eggplant, spread it out, sprinkled minced garlic, drizzled soy sauce, placed it on the edge of the baking pan, preparing to roast it along with the next round of meat.
Xiang Chuan focused on handling the eggplant, not noticing the vegetable wrap army behind had fallen into somewhat awkward silence due to the sudden arrival of homeroom teacher Zhu Bingwen and the principal.
After all, rest time had long passed. For the A Bite of China Club members, this was testing new cooking equipment and actualizing the outdoor study product. But for other clubs—this was skipping class!
Including class president Lu Daiqing and those like Chou Manman whose club was next to A Bite of China Club, instantly broke out in sweat.
The principal did want to say something to them, but smelling the aroma that lured him here and seeing the red and green vegetables in everyone’s hands, he subconsciously swallowed, and the words out of his mouth became: “Can I have one?”
Zhu Bingwen beside him: “Me too, one portion, add two more of these red ones, smells really good. Hey, classmate, you’re going inside to buy a drink? Help me and the principal get juice. I’ll have apple juice, principal wants orange juice.”
Class Eight Grade One crowd: …You two are so proficient at ordering.
