In the kitchen on the third floor, Long Fei turned on the gas stove and began to simmer Li Wenwen’s traditional medicine, as well as his own.
He didn’t have a kitchen at home and had to use Lin Shanshan’s.
Neither she nor Li Wenwen cooked regularly, so the newly renovated kitchen was spotless, its full set of pots and pans unused.
Long Fei thought to himself that these two really wasted resources, if he had this kitchen he would cook good meals every day.
To stew herbal medicine, a ceramic pot is best.
It insulated heat slowly, perfect for simmering over a gentle flame.
The most suitable vessel for pill refinement was a copper cauldron, but sadly the inheritance from the Seven Stars Temple included no method for crafting such tools.
According to "The Shennong Herbology," this kind of copper cauldron is made by purifying fine copper, leaving not a single impurity.
Copper heats up quickly and evenly.
The pills refined in it have fewer impurities and are of higher quality. Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
Would Gongsun Sheng’s spirit be upset seeing him use a gas stove and an iron pot to cook the medicine, maybe so angry his beard would curl?
He stood watch by the pot, constantly adjusting the flame.
Whether it was a simple soup medicine or the more difficult pills, the heat needed to be very precise.
When to use what kind of heat.
Even a slight deviation could significantly reduce the medicine’s potency.
Lin Shanshan, now in pajamas, leaned against the kitchen doorframe, munching on an apple while watching Long Fei.
The pajamas were sheer, revealing a hint of ivory skin.
Long Fei glanced over and swallowed his saliva, asking her, "What’s up?"
Lin Shanshan smacked her lips, eyeing him, "I’m just curious, since when did you understand medicine?"
Long Fei boasted, "I’ve always known, I just kept a low profile and never showed off."
Lin Shanshan nodded her head thoughtfully, analyzing, "Then you’re pretty suspicious. You’re good at fighting, gambling, and you know a bit of medicine. You’ve been content to be a security guard, working your way up to my sister’s side. If you say you want to marry my sister, but you and Wang Xiaoya are also entangled. Tell me, could it be that you’re after my family’s wealth?"
Long Fei gave a thumbs up, chuckling, "I didn’t see it coming, you’ve got potential as a detective! You’re right, I am indeed after your family’s wealth. I’ll take over your family’s company first, then make you and your sister my maids, to serve me every day!"
Lin Shanshan laughed out loud, "Don’t just talk the talk! If you really can do it, I’m willing to be your maid."
Long Fei gave her a look, "Forget it, I can’t afford a maid like you who only knows how to enjoy herself and can’t even cook!"
Lin Shanshan struck a cute pose, cooing, "I can’t cook, but I can sing, dance, and warm the bed!"
Long Fei was amused by her cuteness; he had heard of brothers-in-law teasing their sisters-in-law, but never of a sister-in-law flirting with her brother-in-law.
Once the herbal soup was ready, the medicinal aroma spilled out.
The entire house was filled with a fragrance of plants, distinctly different from the scent inside a pharmacy where medicine is prepared.
This is the difference that control over the heat makes. Most people cook medicine haphazardly.
A mix of herbs – cool, hot, sour, bitter, spicy – is boiled together, naturally creating a pungent smell.
But in Long Fei’s pot, the herbs were layered.
The lowest layer’s aroma came out first, followed by the middle layer, then the top layer.
Without the scents mixing, the resulting fragrance was naturally pure plant essence.
Once Li Wenwen’s medicine was ready, Long Fei turned off the heat, filtered out the residue, and poured the herbal soup into a bowl for Lin Shanshan to take out.
His own medicine was plentiful and needed several additions, requiring more time to brew.
Li Wenwen sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, constantly wiping her nose with tissues.
"Miss Li, please have your meal!"
Lin Shanshan approached with a smile and handed her the herbal soup.
Li Wenwen took it, sniffed, and said, "The Chinese medicines I’ve had before were always so pungent, why does this smell so fragrant?"
Lin Shanshan sat down, shrugged, and said, "It’s probably the herbs. Your herbs smell fragrant, so the medicine comes out fragrant as well."
Li Wenwen carefully took a sip with a spoon, fearing the bitterness, so she only drank a little.
Unexpectedly, although the medicine was bitter, it had a hint of sweetness, and it actually tasted like coffee when she drank it.
Lin Shanshan had been afraid of drinking Chinese medicine since she was young, staring at her with discomfort, "Is it bitter?"
Li Wenwen shook her head, "No, it’s not bitter, and it even tastes a bit sweet!"
"How is that possible!"
Lin Shanshan didn’t believe it, took her spoon, and deliberately tasted it.
It was just as Li Wenwen had said, the taste really wasn’t bitter.
She expressed some amazement, "With eight kinds of Chinese medicine, it shouldn’t taste , right?"
Li Wenwen worriedly said, "Could it be that Long Fei messed it up?"
Lin Shanshan thought for a moment and said, "Wait a minute, I’ll ask an expert for you!"
She took out her phone and immediately got in touch with An Xiaoke.
An Taiyan often treated her grandfather, and she had known An Xiaoke for a long time.
They were about the same age; An Xiaoke was a bit of a homebody, not liking to go out much.
So they hadn’t spent much time together, and Li Wenwen hadn’t even met her.
Lin Shanshan sent her the details and also took a photo to ask her if there could be a problem with such medicine.
Before long, she replied with a surprised emoji, and asked in a voice message, "Who made this medicine?"
Lin Shanshan and Li Wenwen exchanged glances, feeling a thump in their hearts, wondering if there really was a problem.
She typed back, "It’s the man I brought back to Grandpa’s house last time!"
An Xiaoke said, "How is that possible, this is a three-part method of preparing Chinese medicine, only old Chinese doctors know this."
"What’s ’three-part’?"
Lin Shanshan was somewhat curious.
An Xiaoke explained, "It’s a method of preparing Chinese medicine, where you divide the medicine into three parts to cook. This way, you can extract the purity and freshness of the medicinal ingredients to the greatest extent. You need to have quite a skilled control over the heat to achieve this."
Lin Shanshan didn’t quite understand, but the gist was that Long Fei’s medical skills were very impressive, almost on par with An Taiyan.
This made Lin Shanshan puzzled. Last time, Long Fei was seeking treatment from An Taiyan.
If his medical skills were really that high, why would he need to seek treatment from someone else?
She thought about the green patch on Long Fei’s chest and wondered if he could really have some serious illness that necessitated buying hundreds of thousands worth of Chinese medicine to treat.
This worried Lin Shanshan a great deal. Whether Long Fei was her brother-in-law or her business partner, she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Lin Shanshan sent An Xiaoke a thank-you emoji, took her phone to the kitchen, and immediately shouted at Long Fei, "Brother-in-law!"
"What’s the matter now?"
Long Fei turned around and looked at her, too lazy to correct her anymore.
Lin Shanshan focused on his chest and said, "Take off your shirt and let me see!"
Long Fei’s eyes widened, and hugging himself, he said, "Shanshan, isn’t this inappropriate? If your sister found out, she’d kill me, right?"
Lin Shanshan blushed and said, "What are you talking about? I want to see the green patch on your body!"
Long Fei touched his head with an embarrassed smile; this misunderstanding was getting out of hand.
He unbuttoned his shirt to show the green patch to her.
Curious, Lin Shanshan reached out and felt it up and down, her small hands cold and very smooth.
Feeling her touch this way, Long Fei felt somewhat awkward and quickly stepped back, buttoning up his shirt quickly.
"Why are you suddenly so curious about this?"
He stared at Lin Shanshan, uncertain of what she wanted to do.
Lin Shanshan pouted, looking upset, "Brother-in-law, you don’t have some sort of terminal illness, do you?"