Chapter Fifty-Seven: Braised Duck with Perilla
Yang Churuo stared blankly at Lu Yao. She was truly bewildered, as dazed as a chick swaying in the wind and rain.
However, Yang Churuo didn't think of it in a positive light. After all, she was an ordinary person who didn't use the internet often. Most of the things she could think of that could make her famous online were bad. So she panicked and hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
Knowing she had frightened the girl, Lu Yao lowered her voice and said gently, "Didn't you take a set of photos of Li Youran? Those photos went viral online, and people followed your account and even found our studio. Now, quite a few people are asking you to do photoshoots."
After saying that, Lu Yao opened Li Youran's social media account and showed her the video.
The photos had already garnered a million likes and went viral in just one night, which shocked Yang Churuo. A small trending topic appeared below the photos: the rainy atmosphere was incredibly photogenic.
Yang Churuo opened the comments section—
These photos have such a great atmosphere! I want to go to Yuncheng to take some photos too, they're so evocative!
Ranran is so pretty! The first set of photos was also beautiful. I saw in the comments that Ranran said they were all taken by the same photographer, no wonder! Kisses!
[I'm going to take out a loan to sue my photographer.] Some say she even posted photos of herself that she paid a lot of money for, and netizens in the comments section overwhelmingly supported her decision to take out a loan to sue.
After scrolling through the comments, it was mostly praise for Li Youran's beauty and people saying they wanted to get photos taken with her. Of course, Yang Churuo also noticed everyone talking about Yu's Little Restaurant; the pictures Li Youran posted were so enticing that everyone was drooling or eating bowls with their mouths full of emojis. Her social media comment section was obviously flooded with comments too—
Yang Churuo was startled and opened her social media account.
She loves documenting her life, often posting pictures of delicious food, fun activities, and drinks on her social media. Lately, the food she's been posting frequently is from Yu Ji's Little Restaurant. Sure enough, after clicking on it, netizens who followed the trail were drooling—
[It seems that photographer Yang really loves the food at this restaurant; I feel like she eats there every day!]
To be honest, the food at this restaurant looks incredibly tempting; it's making me hungry.
[I'm getting hungry just looking at this! Shredded pork with garlic sauce, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, hot and sour shredded potatoes, braised rice with chestnuts and sausage—can you come find me in my dreams?]
[I was trying to lose weight, but after seeing these photos, my phone got a virus and redirected to a food delivery app. I ordered myself an extra spicy bowl of snail rice noodles with fried egg and duck feet, and extra spicy noodles. It was really scary, I'm posting this to warn you ladies. Since I ordered it, I guess I have to eat it all.]
The videos and photo albums she posted about the food from her small restaurant generally received tens of thousands of likes, with the latest one even having over 100,000 likes.
“Now many people ask me if I have time. There are so many beautiful girls. Just thinking about how many girls dressed up like flowers will come to our studio makes me happy,” Lu Yao said. She also felt that the girls were buzzing around like little bees, but not annoying at all.
However, Lu Yao still respected Yang Chu Ruo's opinion, saying, "I haven't given a definite answer to those photo shoot requests yet. See if you can handle it."
Her salary consists of a base salary, commission, and bonuses. The more she shoots, the more she earns. After all, such immense wealth is not something she may encounter again in the future. So Yang Churuo said, "Let me check the schedule first."
"good."
Inside the shop, Yu Miaoyin cut the duck she bought into pieces. The ducks at this shop were very good, and the owner plucked the feathers very cleanly, so she didn't have to do much processing. Aunt Zheng also came to help, saying, "Back in my hometown, I used to go and help with weddings and funerals. I'm good at slaughtering pigs, chickens, and ducks."
Yu Miaoyin scooped up a handful of perilla leaves and smelled them. A refreshing herbal fragrance instantly filled the air. It smelled wonderful. "Then I was right to confess to you."
Aunt Zheng said, "Actually, I should be especially grateful to you, and you pay a very high salary and even provide meals."
After saying that, she worked even harder. Yu Miaoyin lit the stove, without adding any oil. After heating the dry pot until it was very hot, she put the duck pieces in to fry. The duck fat slowly rendered out, and the duck skin became incredibly crispy and fragrant. In another pot, she added hot oil, scallions, ginger, and garlic. The hot oil released all the aromas. She poured the fried duck back into the pot, added seasonings, stir-fried it, then added a small amount of perilla leaves and stir-fried until fragrant. After a few stirs, she poured in enough hot water to cover the duck and simmered it over low heat. She let the meat slowly cook in the broth, becoming more and more tender, and the meaty aroma infused into the broth. Finally, she added the remaining perilla leaves and stir-fried them with the duck until fragrant.
When she makes braised duck with perilla, she likes to add the perilla in two stages. The first time she adds it, the hot oil and temperature allow the perilla's spiciness to be quickly released and infused into the duck meat to remove any gamey smell. The second time she adds it, she stir-fries it again to make the whole dish more fragrant.
By the time the dish was almost ready, several people had already arrived at the restaurant. Liang Hekang brought his grandmother and cousin with him.
My cousin looked at the small restaurant's shabby decor and cried out in anguish, "This isn't McDonald's! I don't want to eat here!"
Liang Hekang rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on. "Your cousin only brought you here to eat because he loves you."
"Wah—" A loud cry startled everyone in the shop, who turned to look.
Grandma Liang covered her ears and pretended not to hear. Liang Hekang patted his wide-open mouth, and his cousin let out a comical wailing. Amid the comical wailing, Liang Hekang said to him, "Grandpa, don't cry. How about I order you McDonald's to eat here?"
He was sobbing, but when he heard there was McDonald's to eat, he immediately stopped crying and said, "Okay, thank you, cousin, you're the best."
Liang Hekang:......
"We also have braised duck with perilla today, and we want to have stir-fried rice noodles too." Grandma Liang's eyes lit up as she looked at the menu. Just looking at the names of the dishes made her imagine how delicious they would taste, and she thought it would be so wonderful to eat them. When she saw the last item, she said, "Let's order one of each."
Braised duck with perilla leaves was Grandma Liang's most anticipated dish. Aunt Zheng first brought out the stir-fried rice noodles, followed by hot and sour shredded potatoes, chestnut and sausage rice, and finally the braised duck with perilla leaves.
Each dish glistened with oil, emitting an incredibly enticing aroma. The rich, dark brown rice noodles lay in a light, brownish broth, topped with large slices of tender beef and fresh kale; the spicy and sour shredded potatoes also glistened with oil, the bright color of the chili contrasting beautifully with the pale yellow of the potatoes; another dish, chestnut and sausage rice, featured so many sausages and chestnuts that they almost covered the rice, yet the aroma of the crispy rice crust at the bottom still managed to waft out. Not to mention the braised duck with perilla leaves, the duck skin, with its charred edges, coated in a rich broth, and the softened perilla leaves nestled among the duck meat…
My cousin, who was waiting for McDonald's, suddenly turned his head and his eyes lit up. "This smells even better than McDonald's! I want to eat it too!"
Grandma Liang snorted and lectured her grandson, "Who was it that just shouted that they wanted to eat McDonald's? Your cousin only brought you here because he loves you. We don't usually bring just anyone here."
My cousin wiped away his tears, realizing that his grandmother was right to scold him. It was wrong of him to cry so loudly in the small restaurant. But he was just so upset. His cousin said he would take him to eat something delicious, and he thought McDonald's was the best food in the world, so he felt that his cousin was lying to him.
My cousin lowered his head and whispered, "I'm sorry, cousin. I'm sorry, grandma."
Given his good attitude in admitting his mistake, the two allowed him to eat. My cousin's favorite food in his life is McDonald's, and after trying the food at the small restaurant, he was amazed. After taking a bite of fried kway teow, he shouted loudly, "This is so delicious!"
My cousin ate his way through the dishes, from fried rice noodles to hot and sour shredded potatoes, then to braised rice with chestnuts and sausage, and finally braised duck with perilla leaves. He exclaimed in surprise, "This duck doesn't taste like duck, but it's so delicious!"
Grandma Liang took a bite of the braised duck with perilla leaves. The duck meat was infused with the aroma of perilla, making it exceptionally fragrant and not at all gamey. The duck skin had a unique oily flavor, incredibly dry and fragrant without being greasy, and the duck meat was also very chewy. The aroma of perilla and the flavor of the sauce were perfectly integrated into the meat. The perilla was particularly effective at removing any gamey taste and enhancing the aroma; there wasn't a trace of fishiness, and the best flavor of the duck meat was preserved.
Grandma Liang looked at her grandson with a puzzled expression.
Having eaten the food cooked by his uncle and aunt, Liang Hekang must have guessed that the duck flavor his cousin described was actually the gamey smell of meat. No wonder his cousin thought McDonald's was the best food in the world. Poor kid, his mouth is pitiful too, suffering so much because of him.
He explained to Grandma Liang, who burst into laughter and gave her grandson a large piece of duck. There was a McDonald's meal next to him, but he didn't even glance at it. He picked up the large piece of duck his grandmother had given him and put it in his mouth, gnawing on it like a giant chicken leg. His teeth tore off chunks of meat; there wasn't a trace of dryness. The aroma of the meat and the savory sauce swirled in his mouth, and even the bones were easy to gnaw on.
In the hotel, Li Youran, who had been sleeping until noon, discovered that the set of photos she had posted the night before had gone viral. Her first reaction was to quickly send a message to Yang Churuo to share the good news.
Li Youran: Photographer Yang, you're famous now!!!
Yang Churuo had just finished filming a customer, a local. After packing up her things, she rushed to a small restaurant for a meal.
Yang Churuo picked up her phone and smiled faintly. She replied, "Of course, don't you know who I am?"
Li Youran: Let's go to a small restaurant together for a meal. I miss you and the food there so much.
Yang Churuo: Okay.
The two met again at the small restaurant. On the way there and while waiting for their food, she kept admiring her beautiful photos. You couldn't blame her for being narcissistic; after all, she was so beautiful that it was pleasing to the eye. Li Youran gained many fans thanks to these photos, as did Yang Churuo, and even Lu Yao's studio became popular.
As Yang Churuo spoke of these things, she couldn't help but marvel at the immense power of the internet.
Li Youran arranged another set of photos, as she also planned to spend the National Day holiday in Yuncheng, strolling around, eating, and drinking.
The small restaurant was unusually lively and packed with people. The group of high school students all chose to take their food back to the classroom to eat, since the restaurant was so popular that there was no room for them.
Meanwhile, Liu Jiang brought home the packaged braised duck with perilla leaves and braised rice with chestnuts and sausages, while Xiao Yu was playing with a jigsaw puzzle in the living room.
Zhang Yuling was overjoyed to see her daughter's weight gradually increase. As long as her daughter ate well and grew up healthy and happy, that was enough. She only had one child and had no other expectations; peace, health, and happiness were the greatest blessings.
"Xiaoyu, come and eat." Liu Jiang put down the packed food, and as soon as he lifted the lid, a fragrant aroma wafted out.
Xiaoyu looked at the food with bright eyes, eager to eat. Her mother gave her chopsticks, and her father pushed the rice in front of her. Xiaoyu scooped up a big mouthful of rice and put it in her mouth.
She felt surrounded by happiness, with the love of her parents and the happiness brought by the delicious aroma of hot food.
Liu Jiang especially loves this braised duck with perilla. The duck meat is so tender that it easily falls off the bone with a gentle pull in your mouth. When you bite into it, you can taste the unique aroma of perilla mixed with the meat's fragrance. The salty and savory flavor is mixed with a hint of the perilla's spiciness and fragrance. The broth seeps into the duck meat fibers and blends perfectly with the duck's umami flavor. It's delicious.
After Liu Jiang finished eating, he picked up another piece of duck meat. Xiao Yu nudged him and said, "Dad, this chestnut and sausage rice is also delicious. You should try it."
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