Chapter 85 (2/2)

Lin ShuYi didn’t respond. Actually, if speaking of his real age, then he shouldn’t be that much younger than Shen Fu. The youth of his body didn’t hinder the maturity of his heart, and what’s more, he had even experienced death already. Compared to the grand ambitions of his past life, in this lifetime, what he wanted more than anything was just to live an ordinary life with his family.

Grandfather Shen nodded in agreement, but added, “Although Xiao Yi is still a child in age, I’ve always felt that he’s much more sensible than ordinary children.”

This was also the reason why the Shen family often overlooked his age.

Pulling out a chair by his side, Shen Fu gestured for Lin ShuYi to have a seat, and Lin ShuYi remembered the reason why he came upstairs. “All the food is done, so everyone can eat now.”

Under Lin ShuYi’s direction, two girls brought up plate after plate, one by one. Six delicate cold dishes, adjusted to be light in flavor to suit Aunt Shen’s condition, without any heavy seasonings.

Then eight hot dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike. Tender pork trotters that melted in one’s mouth, crispy little fish tossed with green peppers, light and tasty celery sauteed with lily bulbs, sweet and delicious pine nuts and corn kernels. And finally, three medium bowls of soup: glutinous rice flour dumplings in sweet rice wine, savoury crucian carp with tofu, and the goji berry, dangshen, and pigeon soup made specially for Aunt Shen.

Aunt Shen stared at the table, awestruck. “You made all of this?”

Lin ShuYi nodded. “Go ahead, auntie, try it.”

Because Aunt Shen really didn’t have that much of an age difference with Shen Fu and Shen Yan, she really didn’t like them calling her ‘aunt,’ but when a tender boy like Lin ShuYi called her that, it didn’t make her feel uncomfortable at all. Making a noise of agreement, Aunt Shen picked up her chopsticks and prepared to eat. “Dad, I haven’t had such good food in such a long time, you won’t mind if I start eating first, right? And you guys eat too.”

Grandfather Shen watched as his daughter abandoned all polite table manners, revealing her true personality as soon as she started eating, and couldn’t help but laugh. He looked at her with a pampering gaze. “Go ahead, eat, this was all made for you by Lin ShuYi. Enjoy it to your heart’s content.”

WIth her chopsticks in hand, Aunt Shen’s gaze bypassed all the delicate little dishes Lin ShuYi had prepared just for her, and landed on a bright red and numbingly spicy liangfen sprinkled with green coriander leaves. Secretly, while the rest of the Shen family wasn’t paying attention, she snuck bite after bite into her bowl.

Although she was pregnant, she had really, really missed these kinds of hot and spicy cold-tossed dishes! Why couldn’t she eat a bit more than she should to satisfy her cravings?

The liangfen was made by Lin ShuYi himself, using fine, sifted sweet potato flour. Although the colour wasn’t as pretty as liangfen made with pea flour, the taste was much stronger. Paired with crunchy crushed peanuts, hand-ground sesame paste, bright red chili oil, and refreshing balsamic vinegar, Aunt Shen closed her eyes as soon as the flavors touched her tongue.

She ate mouthful after mouthful, completely unable to stop, and even as her mouth was numb from spiciness she still reached her chopsticks out again.

“ShiMan.” Alan called lightly, and Aunt Shen paused. Then she slowly shrunk her chopsticks back.

“You should try it too, it’s really good!”

Alan already knew that Aunt Shen was sneaking bites when he wasn’t looking, but since he also knew that she really missed this dish, he didn’t say anything. However, a pregnant person still shouldn’t eat too much spicy food. Seeing how much Aunt Shen enjoyed the liangfen, Alan picked up some of it himself, and had a taste.

Alan had had his share of Chinese food over the years, and closing his eyes too, he had to admit it really was delicious. From his perspective, he couldn’t pick out a single flaw. And being the owner of a restaurant chain himself, he couldn’t help but have a completely new level of respect for Lin ShuYi.

In his opinion, only a chef who could cook such common dishes to perfection could truly be called a chef. Someone who could only make a dish taste good because of it’s rare ingredients wasn’t someone impressive at all. But no matter how good it was, Aunt Shen still couldn’t eat too much.

Looking at the pout on her face, Alan chuckled. “If you really want to eat more, then rinse with some water first.”

Aunt Shen refused with a stubborn shake of her head. If she washed all the spices off, then what was the point of the dish!

Lin ShuYi, who was used to Aunt Shen with her occasional childish temper tantrums, placed a different dish in front of her. “This isn’t spicy, and should still taste good. Auntie, why don’t you try some of this?”

The crisp, sliced bell of a flame jellyfish, peeled peanuts, light green celery, and bright orange carrots; Aunt Shen initially tried a bit to give Lin ShuYi some face, but found that even though it wasn’t spicy, it wasn’t any inferior to the numbingly spicy liangfen. Using what seemed to be just a little bit of salt, sugar, and vinegar, with no extra seasonings, the dish still held its original flavors, cool and fresh, crisp and refreshing. Could it be that Aunt Shen had too much western food, and had reached the point where she found any Chinese food delicious?

Actually, this dish did have something particular about it. Although Lin ShuYi didn’t put any visible seasonings, he did add a bit of extra ingredients to adjust the taste. Fresh fish sauce, a bit of soup stock, and the proportion of salt to sugar to vinegar, all these little details contributed to the overall taste of the dish.

Aunt Shen who really just wanted to eat Chinese food really ate her fill all in one sitting. With a wave of her hand, she decided she was going to stay here from now on to continue eating all this good food.

After eating, Shen Fu, who had prepared well in advance, brought Aunt Shen to take a look at his newly constructed house. Aunt Shen was full of endless praise, and was now even more determined to live here. With a house built this pretty, and her nephew’s other half this skilled, it seemed that her decision to return to her home to have her child was the right decision after all.

Only Alan furrowed his brow a little bit. His wife was going to be leaving him, so why did she seem so happy?

It seemed that this husband of the Shen family still didn’t completely understand his foodie wife’s true personality.