Chapter 329: Efficiency of Systemic Medicine

Later, Sichuan chefs adapted the dish from Shandong cuisine, resulting in two main approaches: One is the Shandong style, where the raw duck is blanched with mushrooms and green cabbage hearts, then steamed with ginkgo nuts, jujubes, lotus seeds, and ginseng; the other is the Sichuan style, where the duck is boiled to remove the fishy smell, then lightly fried in oil, and finally wrapped with ham, pig tongue, pork tripe, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots before steaming.

Both methods are complicated in their own way. The final steaming process takes three hours. Combined with the previous series of preparations and the cooking of auxiliary ingredients, it takes about four hours to make the whole dish.

However, the cooking instructors available in the market are only providing popular science advice, and the systematic recipes are slightly different from the two methods.

After slaughtering the fat duck, the instructor skillfully cut an incision under the wings, removed the internal organs, cut off the tail tip, chopped off the neck bones, chopped off the wing tips and duck feet, took out the duck tongue, and cleaned the duck belly.

Then put the duck into boiling water, add ginger and peppercorns to remove the fishy smell, cook until the duck changes color slightly, take it out after about fifteen minutes, and fry sugar-colored water to apply all over the duck.

Next, the duck skin is basted in low-temperature oil and the accompanying ingredients are prepared, including steaming the ham, slicing mushrooms, and winter bamboo shoots. The accompanying ingredients are then neatly arranged, and the oiled duck is placed on top. It is then tightly wrapped in gauze. A layer of blanched pork ribs, ginkgo nuts, and lotus seeds is placed in the steamer, and the gauze-wrapped duck is placed on top. The steamer is then gently steamed for three hours.

The key is to fry the duck in low-temperature oil and steam it gently over low heat. During the frying process, the instructor constantly tests the oil temperature with chopsticks. When the oil is warm enough, he picks up the duck and scoops up oil with a spoon, pouring it over the duck one spoonful at a time until the whole duck is evenly and lightly browned. A little more and it will be too burnt, and a little less and it will not be crispy.

The heat during slow steaming is also adjusted three times. Turn to medium-low heat when the water boils, and adjust to low heat again when the fragrance begins to dissipate. After steaming for half an hour, turn to a very weak low heat, and then turn off the heat and simmer according to the time calculated by the watch.

In the final analysis, these two points are all about testing your control over the heat. One degree higher or lower in temperature is the key to whether the dish tastes good or not.

Three hours later, the instructor opened the steamer and Zhao Xiaojing stared at the gauze bag that wrapped the duck.

Unexpectedly, the instructor simply removed the lid and walls of the steamer along with the gauze bag, poured out the original juice of the duck steamed under the ribs, blanched the vegetable hearts with the original juice, then removed the vegetables and added the sauce, stirring quickly while reducing the juice. Only when the juice was almost reduced did he untie the duck and place it on a plate. He placed the steamed ham, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots under the duck, and placed the juicy green vegetable hearts on top, and then poured the reduced soup over them.

After the soup was poured on, the whole plate of divine duck became moister and shinier, like the finishing touch, and the steaming aroma filled the air.

Five hours had passed after the entire production process was demonstrated. The instructor disappeared as usual, leaving behind a plate of duck with excellent presentation and color and a mouth-watering Zhao Xiaojing.

Zhao Xiaojing was about to attack the duck with starry eyes when the cell phone rang outside. At the same time, Su Yuchen knocked on the door tentatively twice.

"Come in!" Zhao Xiaojing looked at the duck eagerly, saved the scene in a second, and stepped back, picking up the phone while shouting.

"Mirror, I..."

"Hmm? Third Aunt?"

The two shouted at the same time.

"Oh, then you answer it first!" Su Yuchen's eyes lit up when he heard that it was Dong Mei calling, and his gossipy heart quickly ignited. He urged and quickly sat next to Zhao Xiaojing.

Zhao Xiaojing also picked up the phone at the same time.

"Third Aunt."

"Xiao Jing, Lao Ren's apprentice has already found out the result. The court's indictment was delivered to Zhou Jianye two days ago. Lao Ren's apprentice also came forward to mediate with him this morning."

"So fast." Zhao Xiaojing wasn't too surprised. She checked the date. It was the twelfth day of the first lunar month, a Friday, the last working day. The system was indeed incredibly efficient once it was activated. "So what did you say? What were the results?"

"Ah, I didn't find anything too outrageous. The house isn't in his name, but he paid for the renovations, about 250,000 yuan. The rest of his savings are his regular salary savings after starting work, about the same as I guessed, around 200,000 yuan, all in stock funds.

We couldn't find anything else, but this time it was surprisingly smooth. Old Apprentice Ren said this was the fastest and most painstakingly successful time he'd ever applied for an investigation warrant. We took the warrant and went to Mingcheng to investigate, and the results came back very quickly, in about one trip. They themselves didn't expect it."

Dong Mei's tone was indifferent. She no longer had the anger and forbearance she had when she first found out. Instead, she had an inexplicable feeling of loneliness.

"It's good that everything went smoothly. Then he didn't lose his temper when he received the indictment, right? Why is mediation still necessary?" Zhao Xiaojing praised the system potion again in her heart and said with a smile.

"Haha, he did something disgusting, how could he have the nerve to lose his temper! I applied for property preservation, and his bank cards and payment apps were frozen. Then he received the indictment, and his face turned green, but he still pretended to be patient and said we could talk it over." Dong Mei sneered, "Mediation is a standard procedure of the court after an appeal. I thought he would not give up until he got to the Yellow River. Who knew he would beg for forgiveness at first? After I presented all the evidence, he gave up and agreed to a mediated divorce. His pretense is disgusting."

"How should the property be divided now?"

"The 250,000 yuan for the renovations was recovered from that woman, and the court will handle it. He was the party at fault, so I'll get a larger share of the property. This house in Yangcheng was divided up by the factory decades ago. We both work, and I originally had half. Now the house is mine, and the 250,000 yuan after the recovery belongs to me. He'll give me another 100,000 yuan, and there's nothing else. This was all agreed upon by the lawyer this morning."

The bank card hasn't been found, and he's refusing to admit it. Now he's saying it belongs to his boss, that it's a company card, and that it's just with him for safekeeping. I think he must have other money, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed so readily. But even the court can't find it, so there's nothing else we can do."

Zhao Xiaojing sighed and nodded silently. Zhou Jianye must have other money. According to Wang Jiandang, he'd earned a hundred thousand yuan in commission from a single project. After all these years of work, how could he have only this little savings? But worrying about this untraceable money now would do no good and only add to her worries.

"If you can't find out, just pretend it doesn't exist. Three hundred and fifty thousand is not a small amount, and you are finally relieved. Fortunately, you have a job and you will have a pension in the future." Zhao Xiaojing comforted.

"Just consider it as the salary I earned from being a nanny all these years, buying things for his parents, and taking them to the hospital. I wish your sister Yanyan could be half as sensible as you." Dong Mei sighed heavily.