Chapter 120 I've become handsome! I always told you that losing weight isn't good; you don't look as handsome as before...
"Knock knock knock!"
There was a knock on the door.
An Fusheng put Afu down and went to open the door, where Ji Fengnian was standing.
"What do you want?" An Fusheng asked.
"Grandma asked me to bring you some fruit." Ji Fengnian raised the fruit plate in his hand.
"Oh, thank you." An Fusheng took the fruit plate, but Ji Fengnian stood at the door without moving. "Is there anything else?"
"Um..." Ji Fengnian scratched his head, "What do you think of me?"
An Fusheng didn't quite understand what he meant: "What do you mean, 'how'?"
Ji Fengnian: "I've been helping out in the kitchen these past two days. Do you think I'm doing alright?"
An Fusheng shook his head thoughtfully: "Not really."
"Huh?" Ji Fengnian didn't expect him to be so direct. He had indeed made some mistakes while helping in the kitchen these past two days, but he was strong and quick, and overall he was pretty good. Why was he not doing well? He tried to struggle a bit: "What's wrong with me?"
An Fusheng forked a piece of watermelon and ate it. The watermelon was cool, crisp, and sweet, and the gloom that had been lingering in his heart was instantly dispelled. An Fusheng ate a few more pieces, and then carried the plate to his seat.
Ji Fengnian followed him into his room: "Tell me, what's wrong with me?"
If you were to ask An Fusheng what Ji Fengnian would do well, he might have to think for a while. But if you were to ask him what he wouldn't do well, An Fusheng could come up with something off the top of his head: "Cut the shredded meat into strips the thickness of a thumb. Your younger siblings will eat half of it, and the other half will still be sticking out of their mouths. Do you think that's acceptable?"
Ji Fengnian scratched his head: "They seemed to enjoy the meal very much..."
An Fusheng: "When kneading glutinous rice flour, I told you to add some water, but you added a whole basin of it, turning the rice flour dough into rice soup. Ten pounds of rice flour couldn't be saved. Do you think that's acceptable?"
Ji Fengnian scratched his head again: "...I...I said I'd eat it, I won't waste it."
An Fusheng: "Last night when I was making tea eggs, you asked me to add tea leaves, but you ended up adding a whole bag of cloud ear fungus. This morning, the pot lid was pushed up really high. Do you think that's acceptable?"
Ji Fengnian continued to scratch his head: "Didn't we use all the wood ear mushroom powder we ate this morning? We already used it all."
An Fusheng: "What about the bottle of gas, the bottle of rice wine, and the three bowls that were broken in the kitchen?"
Ji Fengnian was scratching his head in frustration, and stammered, "Is it really that bad?"
An Fusheng: "Is what I said not true?"
Ji Fengnian finally experienced speaking in Wen Xinghe's soft voice: "Yes."
An Fusheng asked, "Are you asking me these questions because you want to work at the orphanage's restaurant?"
Ji Fengnian did think so. Wen Min had previously said that he was too young for the orphanage to accept him, but in the past few days he had noticed that everyone seemed to listen to An Fusheng when it came to cooking. He wanted to try to persuade An Fusheng, but he didn't expect to be so bad. He was too embarrassed to admit it. "I didn't. I was just asking casually."
Ji Fengnian did make a lot of small mistakes while helping out in the kitchen these past two days, but he wasn't entirely useless. He was very strong, and he could easily move many heavy things that Wen Yue couldn't carry. When An Fusheng wasn't around, Wen Yue really couldn't do without him.
An Fusheng wasn't entirely preoccupied with things he couldn't change. He was also planning for the restaurant and his future. If he couldn't stay in the kitchen in the future, the kitchen would really need someone strong to help Wen Yue. But Ji Fengnian was only fourteen years old, so An Fusheng couldn't use him even if he wanted to, and he could only regretfully give up.
Ji Fengnian came out of An Fusheng's room looking completely dejected.
His grandparents asked him what was wrong, and he shook his head and said nothing was wrong.
...
Nothing happened at the time, but three days later Ji Fengnian suddenly disappeared.
Three days later was the eighth day of the first lunar month. Wen Min had called the rescue center earlier because it was a holiday and the rescue center had left Ji Fengnian at the welfare home. They had agreed to pick him up after they returned to work. Today was the day the rescue center said they would come to pick up Ji Fengnian.
During the few days that Ji Fengnian stayed at the welfare home, except for the first day when he caught up on sleep, he was always the first one up at the welfare home. Every day, he would clean the welfare home spotless, and then sit at the bottom of the stairs to block the children and take them to play. Later, when no one wanted to play with him anymore, he moved on to the kitchen to mess with the pots and pans. This morning, while everyone was still sleeping, they heard the faint sound of cleaning, but when they got up, they didn't see him.
A group of adults and children searched the entire orphanage, but they couldn't find a trace of Ji Fengnian.
Later, Wen Xinghe whispered, "He might have left. He said yesterday that he wouldn't play with me anymore."
Ji Fengnian had said before that he didn't want to go home, fearing that his uncle would send him to an orphanage if he went home, and that without a household registration, he would lose his family's house. The moment they found out that he had disappeared, the adults all guessed that he was hiding, so even though Wen Xinghe's words seemed like a child throwing a tantrum, everyone believed him.
In fact, Wen Xinghe was certain that Ji Fengnian had left not only because Ji Fengnian said he wouldn't play with her anymore, but also because Ji Fengnian said that children suffer too much. When an adult stands next to a child, the child automatically loses all autonomy. Even if the adult cheats or acts cunningly, no one will open their eyes or speak up. The world doesn't allow children to walk alone, so he'll wait until he's grown up.
...
The search for Ji Fengnian was taken over by the rescue center, but everyone at the welfare home still couldn't help but look around everywhere they went.
Grandparents no longer take the child to the same park regularly, because they're worried that Ji Fengnian might go to other parks.
An Fusheng and Wen Yue couldn't help but look around while they went grocery shopping.
Several days passed, and there was no news from the rescue center, nor was there any trace of Ji Fengnian found at the welfare home.
Once the Spring Festival is over, everyone gets busy. Restaurants continue to operate, and with school starting soon, children finally pick up their homework that they had abandoned over the winter break and start working on it day and night.
Xu Sannian also returned from her grandfather's house.
When Xu Sannian left before the New Year, she brought a lot of pickled vegetables and chili peppers made by An Fusheng to her grandfather's house. Her grandfather loved them, so when Xu Sannian came back, he specially instructed her to send a portion of all the local specialties she brought back to the welfare home. As expected, Xu Sannian brought all kinds of local specialties from her grandfather's house to the welfare home as soon as she got home.
A few days ago, everyone was busy looking for Ji Fengnian and didn't have time to cook, so Grandma cooked a meal.
An Fusheng discovered that his grandmother's cooking tasted completely different from his own, but it was still very delicious, so he pestered his grandmother to teach him how to cook.
After learning to cook from his grandmother, An Fusheng discovered that his grandmother's cooking skills weren't the best; she was even better at making soup.
When An Fusheng was learning to cook from his grandmother, he would also make some soup. However, the soup was completely different from the soup his grandmother made. An Fusheng used to think that drinking soup was just because the food was too dry and needed some soup to balance it out. Now he has discovered that drinking soup is also a very profound art.
Grandma's soup-making skills not only lie in the combination of ingredients, but also in the freshness of the ingredients, the quality of the soup-making utensils, and the control of the heat. Most impressively, she also pays attention to the combination of various medicinal herbs and their health benefits. Every day, Grandma would tell An Fusheng about the different soup ingredients and their effects. An Fusheng thought that Grandma was even more knowledgeable than traditional Chinese medicine doctors.
Xu Sannian brought back a lot of local specialties, including many medicinal herbs. An Fusheng carried them to his grandmother, who examined them with great familiarity: "This Smilax glabra can be used to make soup with pork bones, along with some yam slices, lotus seeds, barley, and Poria cocos. It strengthens the spleen and removes dampness, making it perfect for spring. And then there's Artemisia capillaris, with red dates, adzuki beans, dried tangerine peel, raw collagen slices, and half an apple. Make a crucian carp soup; it's clear, sweet, and delicious, and it also removes dampness, making it very suitable for spring..."
An Fusheng knew that his grandmother knew everything. Wen Yue had previously said that she needed to bring a notebook to learn how to cook from An Fusheng, and now An Fusheng had brought a notebook directly. His grandmother kept talking, and An Fusheng kept taking notes.
Seeing how diligently An Fusheng was learning, Xu Sannian couldn't help but ask, "Master, are you going to switch to a different cuisine?"
An Fusheng was still immersed in the various sweet and delicious soups his grandmother had described, and unconsciously said, "Delicious."
Xu Sannian: "You want to eat? I'll take you to eat."
An Fusheng: "Huh?"
Xu Sannian: "Shall I take you to eat something delicious?"
An Fusheng: "What do you want to eat?"
Xu Sannian: "My dad's friend's granddaughter is having a birthday party. We're having a seafood feast, all super fresh seafood flown in from the air. The chef is amazing too. Do you want to go?"
An Fusheng used to live in Fushan Village, where he ate mountain delicacies and river shrimp, and had hardly ever eaten seafood. Now that he's here, he's in charge of all the cooking. He's not good at cooking seafood, so at most he'll buy a few shrimp and make some shrimp cakes. He rarely gets to eat other seafood, so he'd really like to try it if he had the chance. Besides, what did Xu Sannian just say? There's a really great chef. As a chef, who could refuse to taste a chef better than themselves? But it's Xu's father's friend's granddaughter's birthday party, isn't that a bit too distant a connection? "That's not really appropriate, after all, I'm an unrelated person."
Xu Sannian: "Isn't that what I'm here for?"
An Fusheng: "But they are your father's friends, and it was your father who invited them. You are just an extra, so it seems a bit strange to add me as well."
"Uh...that's true." Xu Sannian chuckled awkwardly, then added, "Actually, they invited a lot of people, so they don't care if we're just there for show. They want a lively atmosphere, and we shouldn't just eat their food for free. We should bring gifts."
An Fusheng still felt it wasn't a good idea: "Let's forget about it."
...
An Fusheng thought the matter was over, but a week later, Xu Sannian came to the welfare home excitedly to invite An Fusheng to a birthday party.
An Fusheng was stunned: "Didn't you say it was over?"
Xu Sannian: "I've prepared all the gifts."
An Fusheng: "..."
Xu Sannian: "Go change your clothes quickly and dress up to look handsome."
An Fusheng hesitated for a moment, then said, "I think it's better not to. I don't think it's a good idea."
Xu Sannian: "What's wrong with that? Hurry up, my dad is waiting for us."
An Fusheng: "Uncle... Uncle, are you taking us there?"
Xu Sannian: "Yes."
An Fusheng was urged by Xu Sannian to change his clothes. Xu Sannian said that he didn't need to dress formally. An Fusheng didn't have any formal clothes. He always wore the original owner's clothes, except for a new set of clothes he bought during the Chinese New Year.
At that time, everyone was buying clothes with a Chinese style. Grandpa and Grandma also chose a set of clothes with a Chinese style for An Fusheng. He wore a white stand-up collar shirt inside and a black Chinese knotted suit jacket on the outside. The pants were a pair of straight-leg black trousers. Straight-leg trousers are not as fitted as traditional suit trousers, which is just right so that they do not look too formal.
An Fusheng came out after changing his clothes, and Xu Sannian was so surprised that he exclaimed, "Master, how come you've become so handsome in just a few days that I almost didn't recognize you?"
On New Year's Day, An Fusheng was cooking, but then Ji Fengnian's arrival caused a lot of chaos. An Fusheng didn't think to change into new clothes, and this was the first time he had worn these clothes.
Others who saw it also praised and admired the practice.
Grandma: "I always said my eldest grandson is very handsome."
Grandpa: "I always said my eldest grandson is a handsome man."
Wen Yue: "My older brother is so handsome!"
Wen Min: "Clothes really do make the man. I should buy more new clothes for Fuzai in the future."
Lou Lan: "Mmm-hmm!"
Several children stood opposite An Fusheng, craning their necks and staring blankly for a long time: "Big brother? Did you transform?"
An Fusheng was surrounded by onlookers before being pulled away by Xu Sannian.
Mr. Xu's car was waiting outside. When he saw Xu Sannian and An Fusheng come out, the driver got out and opened the door for them.
An Fusheng was stunned when he saw the driver; he thought it was Xu's father driving.
Xu Sannian skipped and hopped toward the door the driver had opened for her.
Mr. Xu sat in the back. An Fusheng greeted him and thanked him before walking to the passenger seat, opening the door, and getting in.
Mr. Xu was wearing a suit today. At first glance, An Fusheng thought he looked very serious. After An Fusheng sat down, he didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. He regretted coming to freeload with Xu San Nian.
Mr. Xu was really serious today because Mrs. Xu was suddenly unable to accompany him to the banquet. He felt wronged and angry, but Xu San Nian was still a child and had not taken over the family business. It would be impolite for her to attend alone to her business partners, so he had no choice but to go. Therefore, he was not in the mood to talk.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Xu's father was called away by his friends, leaving Xu Sannian and An Fusheng alone. An Fusheng finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
Xu Sannian patted An Fusheng: "Don't be nervous."
An Fusheng: "Is your father in a bad mood today?" Could it be because Xu Sannian brought him along without permission?
Xu Sannian: "Yes, because my mom didn't come to the banquet with him, he was bored by himself."
"Oh? I see." An Fusheng finally breathed a long sigh of relief, at least it wasn't because of him.
"Don't be nervous, let's go get something to eat," Xu Sannian said.
Xu Sannian led An Fusheng to the food area. Although the banquet had not officially started yet, the host had prepared a lot of appetizers, desserts and drinks. Moreover, since everyone had just arrived and was busy socializing, there were not many people in this area.
The most desserts An Fusheng had ever seen were at the last buffet he went to. The desserts here were even more numerous and exquisite than those at any buffet. Back in the village, he thought the best cook in the world was his grandmother, followed by himself. But after coming here, he realized there were just too many amazing cooks out there.
Xu Sannian recommended several desserts that she thought were incredibly delicious to An Fusheng, who tasted them one by one. "They're really delicious, sweet but not cloying, and beautifully presented. These chefs are amazing!"
Xu Sannian whispered, "Hehe, I knew it. But eat less first, there's a seafood feast coming later."
"Xu Sannian?"
As the two were talking, someone suddenly called out to Xu Sannian from behind.
An Fusheng looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man in a silver-gray suit staring straight at him.
The man walked up to An Fusheng and Xu Sannian in a few steps and asked An Fusheng, "Who are you?"
Xu Sannian asked the man, "Who are you?"
The man's gaze abruptly shifted from An Fusheng to Xu Sannian. He pointed at Xu Sannian with a trembling finger, his lips shaking for a long time before finally saying, "You ask who I am?"
Xu Sannian nodded: "Yeah, who are you?"
The man cried out in anguish, "You...you...you don't remember me?"
Xu Sannian: "So, would you please introduce yourself?"
The man snorted, seemingly very resentful that Xu Sannian had forgotten him, but he still introduced himself despite his words: "I am Zhaolin."
"Zhaolin?" Xu Sannian looked as if he had lost his memory.
Zhaolin was furious: "I'm a little fat boy!"
"Little Fatty?" Xu Sannian circled Zhao Lin a few times before finally remembering, "It's you, Little Fatty! So you're Little Fatty! You've changed!"
Zhaolin smugly hummed, "I've become handsome."
Unexpectedly, Xu Sannian then said, "I told you it's not good that you've lost weight. Really, you're not as cute as before."
Zhaolin: "!!!"
Xu Sannian used to go to kindergarten with Zhaolin. Back then, Zhaolin was chubby with a round face, and Xu Sannian loved to pinch his cheeks. Then one day, he suddenly became thin, and Xu Sannian was very disappointed. He never expected that even his appearance had changed. No wonder he didn't recognize him at first.
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