Chapter 3: Jade-Eyed Rabbit, tell me what you like to eat, and I will know...
It was early in the morning when Qin Yonglian returned home.
When I turned on the lights, I saw only a sofa in the huge living room, and the bright light made the room seem even more empty.
The cell phone rang suddenly. He just glanced at the caller and threw the phone on the sofa.
The man rolled up his sleeves and walked into the kitchen, thinking about making some stomach-warming sweet soup to reward himself.
In stark contrast to the bleakness of the living room, the kitchen is like an arsenal for super warriors, fully equipped with all kinds of cooking equipment.
I opened the refrigerator and scanned it carefully, and suddenly a sense of emptiness came over me.
Qin Yonglian suddenly had no appetite, so he just took a bottle of sparkling water and went to the balcony.
The balcony faces the sea, and you can see the white houses at the foot of the mountain and the dark blue sky in the distance at a glance.
In the early morning light, clouds with golden edges appeared on the horizon.
The cigarette in his hand was like the tail of a firefly, with sparks flickering. Qin Yonglian turned his face to the side and exhaled a long puff of white smoke into the wind.
After a short break, I opened my phone and saw only one message:
[Yonglian, morning tea at 9am on Sunday, August Residence.]
The Qin family's unchanging and sacred family ritual is called: drinking morning tea, which is used for regular communication between elders and younger generations.
This time, he was like Cinderella, finally getting the crystal slipper ticket.
Having not slept all night, Qin Yonglian lay on the bench on the balcony to rest. In a daze, he seemed to have had a sudden dream.
24 hours ago, I was living alone in a quiet house on this island, as usual.
But in the past 24 hours, he met many unexpected people and did some very interesting things. Even his father Tan Ansen, who had never taken the initiative to look for him, showed up in person.
"It will only take a moment."
In the dream, someone looked at him mischievously, his eyes flickering, and his crisp laughter was like a gust of wind, blowing lightly across his heart.
Qin Yonglian suddenly opened his eyes, but was immediately forced to close them again because of the glare of the sunlight.
He just took a short nap on the balcony, and the sun had already risen completely from the horizon.
The man rubbed his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief, muttering to himself: "It will only take a moment."
Yes, all he needed was just a moment.
This "moment" was just a moment, but he had been waiting alone for twenty years before it came, and it required a compromise between him and the Qin family.
Whales surface to breathe, and the water jets they spout are spectacular and can reach heights of up to 12 meters.
He jumped into the sea just to breathe, and the waves he created were as huge as the movement of a whale.
Qin Yonglian smiled self-deprecatingly.
*** ***
Sunday morning, Tsim Sha Tsui, August House Chinese Restaurant.
The restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows offer a stunning view of Victoria Harbour, where ferries shuttle busily between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula.
By the window, a kind old lady with silver hair sat among several young people. This combination of old and young was very conspicuous.
There was a suffocating silence. Qin Yonglian covered his mouth and yawned. In order to take a picture of the eyes of a crab as small as a grain of rice, he stayed up all night again.
This yawn had nothing to do with staying up all night, but rather the people sitting next to him that made him feel very tired.
The annoying thing is that I have the same DNA as them in my body, and we are all Tan Ansen’s children.
He is now the only representative of the family of the first wife Deng Yuqian. Qin Yongli and his wife were seriously injured in a car accident and are recuperating in Canada.
Second wife Li Yue had two children. Her son, Qin Yongyi, was three years older than him, while her daughter, Qin Aiyue, was the same age as him.
Sitting with Qin Aiyue was his cousin Qin Yuan.
The girl closest to Old Lady Qin is Qin Aiqiao, the daughter of Qin Ansen’s third confidante Qiao Yixin, who is only eight years old this year.
As for offspring, Qiao Yixin worked very hard and now has a two-year-old boy named Qin Yongzheng.
"Rites, righteousness, honesty and integrity, respecting propriety, practicing righteousness, being honest and upright."
Qin Yonglian recalled what Grandpa Qin had said back then. Just like collecting dragon balls, this time the grandchildren of the Qin family can summon a dragon.
The man couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smiled.
Old Mrs. Qin looked at this most unique and best-looking grandson, thoughtfully.
Meeting the old lady's inquiring gaze in the air, Qin Yonglian smiled politely in response.
"Yonglian, when was the last time I saw you?" Old Mrs. Qin took a sip of tea gracefully.
"This Spring Festival, my eldest brother and his wife were about to go to Canada for recuperation."
"Well, no wonder. Yonglian, I see you've grown taller again."
"Grandma, when I first came to Hong Kong, I was 1.2 meters tall. 20 years later, I've only grown to 1.92 meters. Including when Grandpa passed away, you've only seen me three times in total, so you think I've grown taller."
"Yonglian, what are you talking about!" Qin Yongyi frowned and interrupted him.
There was a hint of awkwardness in the air, and only the little girl Qin Aiqiao was still concentrating on eating the crystal lava pig bun.
Qin Yuan straightened up, feeling a little uncomfortable.
This was clearly a routine gathering of the direct descendants of the Qin family. He deeply regretted why he was caught by someone to join the number to attend this Hongmen Banquet.
He just happened to have the last name Qin, and he had no intention of getting involved in this war without gunpowder just for the sake of morning tea.
Twenty years later, the Qin family clearly still disliked this illegitimate child, even if he was the old lady's grandson. Even the old lady rarely met with Qin Yonglian.
Qin Yuan heard his mother gossiping about what happened back then. It was said that Qin Ansen almost gave up the entire Qin family for that foreign woman, and the old man even prepared assassins.
The farce ended, mother and child were separated, and the child was recycled like an object. Everyone is a victim, with pain that cannot be healed.
"Eat it while it's hot," Qin Yongyi said with a sullen expression, hinting, "Yonglian, you like Western food. I wonder if Chinese food suits your taste?"
Qin Yuan didn't dare to breathe, feeling the invisible anxiety of the second young master. He stole a glance at this big Buddha who was not easy to mess with. He was really restless and was implying that the illegitimate son was a foreigner.
"My second brother really understands me. No wonder some people say you can tell a person's character from their favorite foods."
Qin Yonglian glanced at the dumplings in the steamer on the table. "The fresh meat dumplings at Bayueju are famous for their eighteen golden folds. It's a pity that the third dumpling from the right only has sixteen folds."
Qin Aiqiao stared with sparkling eyes, lowered her head and counted carefully, "Really! Brother Lian, you are amazing! You can find it with just one look."
Qin Yuan thought to himself, sister, you don’t know the true ability of this devil in front of you. He is basically a walking human microscope.
Qin Yonglian smiled slightly, picked up the bun with two missing folds, and started eating silently.
*** ***
Everyone has their own thoughts about breakfast, and they eat it long and slowly.
During the dinner, the old lady couldn't help but choke up when discussing the illness of Qin Yongli and his wife. "Yongli has loved racing since he was a child. I have always been worried about him. I didn't expect that he would eventually get into a car accident because of this."
Qin Aiyue wiped her grandmother's tears and said, "Big brother and sister-in-law are lucky people. God bless you two, and you will have a happy future."
While the affection between the grandparents and grandchildren was being displayed at one side of the dinner table, Qin Yonglian, who was half full, rested his chin on one hand and looked out the window at the sea with boredom.
The second month after Qin Yongli’s car accident, he was called to Qin Ansen’s office.
His father, who had always been well-maintained in his memory, began to have crow's feet at the corners of his eyes from that day on.
Qin Ansen put forward a condition to him, and in return, he also put forward a condition to his father.
After the two agreed to each other's conditions, Tan Ansen said something meaningful:
"Yonglian, the person I love most in my life is Anna, because she is the most disobedient. Now, among all my children, you are the most disobedient."
Tan Yonglian's pair of emerald eyes were exactly the same as Anna's. Tan Ansen only took a glance and then looked away. "You go back. Go see her in my place."
Favorite? Qin Yonglian couldn't help but sneer.
So, at this time when everyone is paying attention, they were reluctant to let any child clean up the mess, and just pushed him out to take the blame.
The second wife's family had a different consideration. If the illegitimate child had not suddenly intervened, it should be the second wife's children who would be entrusted with the important task.
Second wife Li Yue was furious. She hated Deng Yuxi for having the foresight to know that she only had Qin Yongli, and fearing that he would not be competitive enough, she rushed to take this little foreigner under her wing.
Qin Yongyi looked at Qin Yonglian who was still in a trance. He had always disdained to take this younger brother seriously. He could just live like a shadow, so why did he come out to snatch things from him?
On second thought, the Tan family is a wealthy and powerful family with business empires all over the world. They do have an heir to the throne. This mixed-race kid might have been lurking for twenty years, waiting for such a day.
This neglectful look now makes people even more angry.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Qin Yongyi pointed at the table and said, "Yonglian, I heard you're going back to university to attend classes?"
"Yeah." The young man responded quickly, not hiding his weakness at all.
"After all, I only have a high school diploma, which doesn't quite fit the image of a domineering CEO. I have to live up to the library my father donated."
Qin Yongyi: “…”
Tan Aiyue was indignant for her brother, her eyes revealing undisguised sarcasm. She turned the turntable in front of Tan Yonglian and said, "The steamed chicken feet with soy sauce are good. Try it. After all, you are best at picking up dead chickens." (Picking up dead chickens is a metaphor for getting a bargain.)
Qin Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "..." Is the Third Miss so straightforward?
He didn't know how to report today's dinner to the eldest lady when he got back.
Qin Yonglian stretched out his chopsticks to pick up some food, but his hand slipped and landed on the peanuts next to the chicken feet. "Oh no, someone's lost the chicken*." (Not catching the chicken is a metaphor for missing an opportunity)
After the words were spoken, the atmosphere froze and the situation became a little awkward for a moment.
Qin Yuan again: "..." What a bunch of childish ghosts, what chickens, they are just chickens pecking at each other.
Mrs. Qin shook her head and raised her hand to gently caress the little guy who was eating happily the whole time, "Ai Qiao, you are still the best."
After receiving the praise, the little girl looked up happily for praise.
The old lady picked up the chicken feet and gave them to her granddaughter, saying without revealing any trace: "Here, only obedient children will be rewarded."
*** ***
Sunday is the time for the Foodie Knights to get ready to go, and this time it is the captain Bai Ying's turn to choose the meeting place.
The name of the molecular cuisine restaurant "Island Forest" sounds very intriguing.
The concept of "molecular cuisine" has been often heard in the food world in recent years. Its emergence is an important milestone for humans to truly understand food from a microscopic perspective.
Molecular cuisine breaks down and reconstructs the cooking process using modern scientific theories such as physics, chemistry, and biology①.
Simply put, it is to deconstruct and reorganize traditional cooking methods, causing various physical and chemical changes in food, challenging the limits of people's vision and taste buds.
"For example, after molecular gastronomy processing, traditional mashed potatoes appear in a foamy state, or lychees become the form of caviar." Bai Ying argued confidently while studying the encyclopedia knowledge on his phone.
Zhang Caiyi is not very interested in theoretical knowledge and the principles behind food. She usually only focuses on eating itself.
But today, after patiently listening to Bai Ying's introduction to molecular gastronomy, she asked her mysteriously, "Do you know why this restaurant has such high ratings?"
Bai Ying asked back: "Isn't it because the food is delicious?"
They ordered the store’s signature dessert, “Mango Egg Yolk”.
When the dessert was served, it looked like the yolk of a raw egg. When it was cut with a knife, the juice instantly overflowed.
This is the most common encapsulation technology in molecular cuisine, made from alginate and calcium chloride powder②.
Popping candies are innovatively added to the surface of the sphere. When you take a bite, the sweet mango immediately fills every corner of your mouth, giving diners a great sense of surprise.
The moment the delicacy entered his mouth, Bai Ying felt that his soul resonated with it.
The girl closed her eyes and ate three mango egg yolks in a row, dancing with excitement.
The feeling of eating a satisfying meal is wonderful, like a shooting star that has traveled across light years and found its home.
Sometimes, to evaluate the quality of a restaurant, you only need to look at the quality of its desserts.
Bai Ying couldn't help but admire it from the bottom of her heart, and she gave this "Island Forest" full marks.
Zhang Caiyi understood Bo Ying's satisfied look and revealed another bonus point: "The chef of this restaurant is super interesting!"
"Have you seen it?" Bai Ying was curious and looked at the photo on the phone that Zhang Caiyi handed over.
"Eh? Why is it a rabbit head?"
"Yes! Everyone calls him Mr. Longlong." Zhang Caiyi's tone was filled with unconcealable excitement.
"We wanted to invite him to the show, but he declined several times. So, it's up to you to do it yourself. The chef never shows his face. When he takes photos with fans, he always wears a bunny headgear and green contact lenses. Very unique, isn't he?"
The mysterious blue-eyed rabbit in the "Island Forest", Mr. Longlong?
Bai Ying's heart was touched for no reason, and she inexplicably thought of the man with a pair of blue eyes who was hit on the forehead by her a few days ago.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Happy New Year 2021
I wish all the little cuties good health and good luck in the new year, and enjoy every moment of the present, michi!
In 2021, we agreed to meet in a good story!
【Notes】
① Introduction to molecular cuisine, taken from Baidu Encyclopedia and the Internet.
②Mango egg yolk, shared by molecular cuisine master El Buili chef Ferran Adria.
Considering the better reading experience, I wrote the Cantonese dialogues in the article directly according to our Mandarin reading habits.
The author whispered: Our Xiao Tan is a hidden language genius. Dear friends, if you have any learning questions, you can leave him a message.
Xiao Tan said loudly: Welcome to leave messages and ask questions.
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