Chapter 142: The Secret Within the Ancient Jar

Wang Kuan grew more and more spirited as he spoke, excitedly adding, "And there's another absolute madman, Michael Fux, who made his fortune selling mattresses in his youth. Grandpa Michael has a collection of a full 130 sports cars! Quite the opposite of Phil, he loves to buy the very first car of every model."

"Take the first McLaren P1 MSO, or the first Ferrari F12 TDF, for instance. If he really couldn't get his hands on the global number one, he'd settle for the regional first, like the very first Huayra in the United States."

"He owns two LaFerraris—a red convertible and an orange coupe. The coupe has an official name: Arancio Triplo Strato. Only four of those exist worldwide, and his is car number three, the very first one in America."

"McLaren even custom-blended a completely unique paint job exclusively for him. At the press conference, the old man actually sighed and complained: 'My house is too small, I don't have any space left to store more cars!'"

"Damn, my place is huge. Would you like to keep them in my garage?"

Zhuang Chen patted Wang Kuan on the shoulder, reeking of naked envy, jealousy, and hatred. Deep down, the nature of collecting has no hierarchy; whether you're collecting aircraft carriers or spark plugs, to put it bluntly, it's all just a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

As long as you have a few sports cars to flex with, hoarding a pile of them is useless. You'd be much better off twirling a pair of walnuts or wearing a couple of bracelets of Hainan yellow rosewood, pulling them out to enjoy yourself anytime, anywhere.

He called Hao Baoli to make an appointment. Since the older man liked tea, he brought two catties of Shifeng Longjing as a gift. It happened to be the old man's day off, and he was delighted, telling them to come straight to his house where he would personally cook a few of his signature dishes for them to try.

Zhuang Chen quickly rounded up Hu Hai and headed straight for their destination. The executive chef of the State Guest House was going to cook personally?

Heh heh heh...

Since it was still early, they sat down to chat first. Hearing that Zhuang Chen had tasted his way through both Tai Shi cuisine and Tan cuisine, Hao Baoli sighed, "I don't know when it started, but people grew weary of the hustle and bustle of grand restaurants and eateries. Epicures love to squeeze into narrow alleys and side streets, searching for delicious delicacies and that long-lost sense of tranquil serenity..."

"Private-kitchen cuisine is private food, family-style cooking; it cares nothing for culinary schools or rigid conventions, as long as no one else makes it and the flavor is unique. Most of them are hidden away, sometimes even without a sign, with no fixed menu and no dedicated waiters. Yet the cooking techniques are often handed down through generations, possessing a distinctive flavor and limited availability that you simply cannot find in commercial restaurants."

Hu Hai poured tea for the two of them and joked, "If you ask me, your culinary skills are definitely no less inferior than the Tan or Li family traditions. Once you retire and find it hard to stay idle, why not..."

"Forget it!" Hao Baoli glared at him, laughing and scolding, "It was hard enough retiring so I can finally enjoy some peace and quiet, and you want to keep me tied to the stove?"

Zhuang Chen smiled without a word. Don't let the old man act tough now; once he truly retired after a lifetime of worrying over the stovetop, could he really sit still?

After chatting for a while, Hao Baoli stood up and said, "It's a rare treat for you to visit today. Since I've got nothing better to do, I'll whip up a few dishes for you and see how they taste."

Zhuang Chen stood up and followed him into the kitchen to help out. Under Hao Baoli's direction, he busied himself happily, feeling a great sense of warmth and intimacy.

The old man nodded inwardly. The basics were quite solid; he had clearly practiced before. He patted Zhuang Chen on the shoulder and said, "Not bad! You've got what it takes to be an apprentice at Diaoyutai!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Zhuang Chen felt quite thrilled inside—to have the head chef of the imperial kitchen say those words gave him serious bragging rights!

The ingredients were prepped in no time. It was a rare blessing to steal a lesson right beside Hao Baoli. The old man took charge personally, explaining as he cooked, "Marshal shrimp rolls were originally created when Montgomery revisited China in 1961. This shrimp comes from special four-head prawns from the Bohai Sea, combined with cheese. Instead of pounding the shrimp into a paste, it's gently crushed with the back of a knife to preserve a realistic sense of texture, so that when you cut into it, a Russian-style creamy gherkin sauce flows out."

After all, those who live near the mountains live off the mountains; the executive chef's freezer was naturally stocked with all kinds of rare ingredients. The more Zhuang Chen watched, the more he admired him. What is a true master?

He watched as the old man sliced a whole block of tofu horizontally and vertically one hundred and eight times, keeping the depth and thickness completely uniform. Placed in clear soup, it bloomed like a silver chrysanthemum...

Supreme skill looks effortless,
Handling heavy burdens as if they were light.

Such craftsmanship—forget about eating it, just watching it was an enjoyment in itself!

For the colorful shredded fish, the fish bones were first removed, and the fish meat wasn't just sliced; those slices were further cut into thin shreds, coated in marinade and batter, then swiftly rolled through hot oil and scooped right back out to ensure its fresh, tender, and smooth texture.

By the end of it, let alone fish bones, just by looking at the appearance, you wouldn't even know it was fish unless someone told you...

For the Huadiao-drunken crabs, each crab was marinated in fifteen-year-old Huadiao wine for two days until their cooling nature was completely neutralized. It looked simple, but it required immense skill.

If the marinating time is too short, the wine aroma isn't strong enough; if it's too long, the alcohol taste overpowers everything else. Only when the wine aroma is just right, matched with plump crab meat, will every bite release juices with a subtle plum flavor that is refreshing, crisp, and appetizing.

"This is snow eel, unique to Xianju in Taizhou. According to local records: they emerge during heavy snows, weighing anywhere from over ten jin to twenty or thirty jin at their largest. They taste exquisite, usually dwelling in deep pools beneath stone cliffs, and never emerge except during snowstorms."

Hao Baoli opened the packaging and said with a hint of excitement, "Because of their special living environment, difficult reproduction, and scarce numbers, they are a rare sight. These are all wild giant snow eels, and I saved two specifically to test-cook. You lot are in for a real treat today!"

He had Hu Hai fetch a clay jar from the cabinet and slowly opened it, saying, "These are the crayfish I marinated a few days ago from Qianjiang, Hubei, weighing about 100 grams each. Visually, you want shells with a greenish-bright luster, and any with broken claws or whiskers are tossed aside. They are purged with flowing water to cleanse all impurities from their bodies, then steeped in a drunken marinade concocted from twenty-year-old Shaoxing Huadiao wine, plus over a hundred kinds of spices and traditional Chinese herbs."

Zhuang Chen looked at the crayfish before him. Each shell was red and bright, with towering dark eyes and intact whiskers and claws—a feast for the eyes, every single one of them looking like a high-end gourmet masterpiece.

Another jar held crispy golden sea cucumbers. Their color was a bright, golden yellow, with clear abalone sauce and an intense aroma. When slowly sliced, the flesh was as white as congealed suet, with a crispy exterior and a tender interior...

"Traditional methods dictate that the bigger a sea cucumber is expanded, the better. But through my research, expanding it to 1.5 times is actually the most effective. It guarantees a soft and waxy texture while fully absorbing the essence of the rich broth."

Zhuang Chen looked at the dozen jars packed tightly inside the cabinet and felt his mouth water. Now *this* was true heritage!

The three of them ate and chatted until late into the night. When he finally got home, took a hot bath, and lay back comfortably in bed, he reflected on all he had experienced lately, once again marveling that life is like a play, and a play is like life.

The biggest change huge wealth had brought him was confidence. That might sound a bit pretentious, but it was the absolute truth.

It gave him the courage to face life actively, the qualification to experience all kinds of wonderful lives, and the confidence to make new friends, kindred spirits from every corner of the earth...

He finally discovered that he was actually quite secretly romantic and passionate after all, only he used to be used to suppressing it—or rather, he lacked the capital to truly confront the desires deep within his heart.

Looking not far away at the turtles moving around leisurely and comfortably, he recalled how his master loved lying in the sun, twirling walnuts in his hands, humming a little tune, always wearing an expression of contentment...

Grandma the director always loved sitting under the eaves, her face wreathed in smiles as she watched the children run back and forth in the courtyard, finding joy even if she sat there all day long...

Suddenly, he had an epiphany:

In this lifetime,
Isn't life all just a matter of mindset?