Chapter 9: Yam Porridge

Thanks to the knife, Lu Lin peeled the yam and chopped them into pieces deftly, then he boiled some water and put some coarse rice into the pot.

Lu Lin hesitated for a little while and sneaked back to the convenience store to get some good rice. The texture of coarse rice was indeed very off-putting, there was sand mixed into them, it was quite unpalatable for Lu Lin who grew up eating refined grains. Lu Lin then put the chopped yam into the pot when the rice was half cooked.

Sometimes Lu Lin would just shake his head and smile bitterly on thinking about how modern people complain how people had been abusing chemicals and fertilizers, Lu Lin thought he preferred eating clean foods fertilized by chemicals to organic grainy rice.

Living in this time and space was strenuous work, one would suffer even more if he couldn’t keep his body and soul together.

Lu Lin didn’t plan to conceal the convenience store for long, he wanted to let them find out in a subtle and strategic way.

Lu Lin checked the salt jar, there was not much left. So he refilled it with the fine salt in his store, salt was cheap in modern days, but it was precious in that time and space just like in ancient Rome and ancient C Country. The expression to be worth one’s salt meant you were competent and deserve what you were earning. Engaging in illegal salt was a grave crime here.

Lu Lin had already served the porridge to Chen Xiao Mai and Chen Xiao Cai when Chen Xiao Mi came back. But Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mai were the only two who were having it with relish, Chen Xiao Cai just sat at a corner, sulking.

The aroma of the porridge was so wonderful, it looked pleasant to the eye too. But Chen Xiao Cai had said he wouldn’t have any of the muddy stick, so he chose to sit in the corner even though he would very much like to give the porridge a try.

Chen Xiao Cai would cast a glimpse at Lu Lin from now and then, hoping Lu Lin would ask him to have some. However, Lu Lin had seen that boy right through, and he decided to have some fun. He just pretended he had not seen those fiery stares and he would just turn around and ask Chen Xiao Mai in a warm and gentle voice, “Do you like it?”

Chen Xiao Mai nodded and beamed with smiled, “Yum!”

Chen Xiao Cai scolded his baby brother harshly in the heart, ‘You silly Little Three! Whoever feeds you is your God? This Lu Lin is just a coward who dares not go hunting, don’t smile at him!’

“Hey, you are back. Would you like some porridge? I left you some in the pot, just help yourself.” Lu Lin smiled at Chen Xiao Mi on seeing him entering the room.

Chen Xiao Mi’s mouth was already watering when he smelled the aroma, so he went to the cooking bench and served himself some porridge. His eyes glowed as he gulped it down, he was surprised to find the muddy sticks so tasty. He didn’t buy a word when Lu Lin said these muddy sticks could be very tasty with some proper cooking.

Chen Xiao Mi served himself one more bowl and savored every mouthful of the warm and rich porridge, the taste buds and the stomach seemed to enjoy the porridge even more on a cold night like this.

Chen Xiao Cai stared at his brother, drooling, how he wished he could have some too.

Chen Xiao Mi noticed his brother who was sitting at the corner, “Cai, the muddy sticks taste so good, he didn’t lie to us.”

“Really? Is it yummy?” Chen Xiao Cai murmured.

“Haven’t you had yours yet?” Chen Xiao Mi looked confused.

Chen Xiao Cai blushed, he went to the cooking bench and served himself a bowl without explaining anything.

Chen Xiao Cai almost choked when he had his first taste, he exclaimed in his heart, ‘Is it really the muddy stick in my mouth? How come no one told me it’s taste so good! The Lu family know this secret all along? How come they haven’t told anyone! Wait, I got it! I would keep it to myself as well, I would store these muddy sticks for winter for my own family!’

Chen Xiao Cai had a few more mouthful of the porridge and he made up his mind that he would dig as many as possible from the day after.

“But brother, have you noticed there’s something wrong?” Chen Xiao Cai said, smacking his lips.

It had been so long since Chen Xiao Mi enjoyed a meal so much, he recalled the texture of the porridge and realized what his brother was talking about, it was the rice, the rice tasted so smooth.

“It felt like this rice was polished rice, hmm, did the yam make the rice taste better? Has the yam turned coarse rice into good rice?”

Chen Xiao Cai rolled his eyes, “Is that possible?”

“Maybe it’s him, I heard some chefs in those wealthy families can cook really nice dishes using plain ingredients. But I didn’t expect a man like him could have such great cooking skills.”

The view that men were superior to women took strong root, cooking was usually considered as women’s duty. Chen Xiao Mi was quite surprised that Lu Lin would serve him such tasty food.

The host Lu Lin actually didn’t cook at all, the Lu Lin from modern society didn’t cook much either, but he was generous with the ingredients and seasoning material plus he had seen a lot of new ways of cooking compared to the villagers in that time and space.

Chen Xiao Cai pouted, “It’s so savory, I’m afraid we will have to buy salt soon, that wastrel!”

Chen Xiao Mi frowned on hearing that, ‘Oil, salt, it looks like I have to work harder, this my partner of mine is not the thrifty type.’

Chen Xiao Cai checked the salt jar and he was surprised to see the bulging pile in the jar, he remembered there was only a thin layer of salt left! He was even more surprised after he took a close look, it was fancy fine salt instead of coarse salt in the jar!