Chapter 249: Friendship Between Men
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The two of them quickly grew familiar and enjoyed a pleasant conversation. Their conversation led them to the sitting room, where Zhou Hengyang served a special fruit tea Su Wen had prepared.
Su Wen quietly listened to the conversation. They were discussing some matters of import. She was quite surprised they got along so well; they even discussed the possibility of hunting together to obtain the furs she wanted.
Su Wen felt relief wash over her.
Not a moment ago, she had thought Zhou Hengyang wanted to give He Changming a good beating, which caused her anxiety to spike. It seemed she had been overthinking things. ‘I knew it! The Zhou Hengyang I read about was a cunning, black-bellied person. How could he hit someone in public?!’ Su Wen thought.
Su Wen strolled into the kitchen with a newfound peace of mind, determined to show off her cooking skills. The rice was ready, having been cooked earlier. All that remained were the dishes: home-cooked braised eggplant, stir-fried long beans, and scrambled eggs cooked with chili. The main dishes were not ready. All that was left was for her to cook them!
“Big Sister, I’ve taken care of the wild pheasants. Wild rabbits are harder to deal with… What if I don’t finish in time?” Su Qing asked, her words laced with anxiety.
Her older sister had said she wanted to make a stir-fried diced rabbit, but she had not finished preparing it. Now, it was probably too late…
“It’s fine…”
Su Wen was halfway through her sentence when Zhou Hengyang appeared at the kitchen door, asking, “Wenwen, is everything alright? Do you need help with the wild rabbit?”
“Yes!” The wild rabbit’s skin was still intact- -it showed the hunter’s skill.
“Leave it to me. Brother Changming and I can handle it.” Zhou Hengyang patted Su Wen on the head with a gentility foreign to her and left with the wild rabbit in tow.
This new development left Su Wen gobsmacked.
Su Wen could not understand the relationship between men. How long had it been? In less than half an hour, He Changming had become Brother Changing.
Could it be that Zhou Hengyang swung that way? It would explain so much about his lack of interest in the women who threw themselves at him in the novel. Did he just have different tastes?
Ah… Su Wen shuddered.
If so, she would not need to hide when she changed in her room. However, He Changming was in a dangerous situation. As a man with an indomitable spirit, he might break if he were to travel the bend of no return.
Su Wen would not be surprised if that happened. Zhou Hengyang had the looks and physique any man or woman would die for in a partner. His charm was so great he could even cause straight men to question their sexuality.
“Big Sister, what are you thinking about? Why are you smiling and then frowning like that?” Su Qing had goosebumps running the length of her arms and legs as she listened to her older sister’s strange laughter.
It was terrifying!
Su Wen shook her head, freeing herself from those errant thoughts, and snickered. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just pictured something funny. Alright, enough of that. Let’s get to cooking!”
Su Wen’s expression became exceptionally serious once she stopped letting her imagination run wild. She sliced the plump pheasant into small pieces before marinating it in cooking wine, salt, a combination of thirteen spices, dark soy sauce, some light soy sauce, and a teaspoonful of ground ginger.
After which, she cut the chilies and scallions, peeled the garlic, and heated the oil in the wok. To ensure the wok heated evenly, she had to stoke the flames continuously, adding more firewood when necessary. She then threw in the aromatics at high heat before lowering the temperature and adding the marinated pheasant when the former had turned golden brown. Soon, the smell of cooking meat suffused the air.
Once the pheasant was partially cooked, Su Wen added boiling water and a few other condiments to the mix and closed the lid. Now, she had to let it stew. Su Wen added more water to prevent the stew from burning whenever the water level dropped too much.
Pheasant meat was different from the grain-fed chickens they raised at home. It had to be cooked in a certain way to bring out its fragrance, and the best way to do so was to stew it slowly over firewood. Pheasant meat was often chewy if not cooked well, making it less tasty than ordinary grain-fed chicken. Therefore, Su Wen watched the wok, never letting the water level drop too much. She started at high heat and slowly tapered it to a simmer..