Rebirth: I became rich by farming

Chapter 700: Chapter 700: The Water-Dripping Guanyin (6/25)

Fan Tianyu hung up the phone and immediately set out. Meanwhile, Mei Mengzhen had just finished her class. Clutching her books, she hopped onto her skateboard and dashed straight to her brother Mei Mengchen’s elementary school. This is where the advantage of having a school close by comes into play—it’s really convenient for picking up kids.

Mei Mengzhen hurried all along the way and finally made it just in time for when Mei Mengchen’s school ended for the day. When Mei Mengchen lined up and came out, he spotted his sister at once, his excitement was beyond words. He waved his hand and greeted Mei Mengzhen, who immediately waved back in response.

Just as Mei Mengchen was thrilled, the little girl standing beside him asked, "Mei Mengchen, who is that person?"

Mei Mengchen answered with pride, "That’s my sister. She’s pretty, isn’t she?"

The little girl took a serious look at Mei Mengchen’s sister and indeed found her very pretty. She generously praised, "Your sister is so beautiful."

"Yeah, oh, when can we get going? My sister must be getting anxious," Mei Mengchen said just as the teacher led their group out of the school. After being dismissed, they scattered toward their respective family members waiting for them.

Mei Mengzhen opened her arms and embraced Mei Mengchen, who was over the moon with happiness. However, now that he was an elementary school student, he felt a bit embarrassed to act like a baby in public with his sister. So, after a short hug, he stepped out of Mei Mengzhen’s arms and asked, "Sister, are we going home?"

Mei Mengzhen didn’t think much about it and simply said, "Not right now, let’s go have dinner at Xiyuan first. Brother Tianyu is bringing his family over today, so we’re all eating together."

And it just so happened that today, she was going to taste Grandpa Pei’s new dish.

Grandpa Pei’s new dish was still the abalone he had chosen half a month ago, except instead of being ready to be tasted a week later as initially said, it got postponed until now, taking half a month to try.

The dish indeed needed a solid one-week preparation, with work going on day and night. However, that was just the cooking time—Grandpa Pei had spent another two or three days preparing the ingredients, and the next three or four days were dedicated to studying ancient recipes. Hence, the dish could only be eaten half a month later, today.

As for the dish itself, Mei Mengzhen was truly looking forward to it because even hearing about the ingredients gave her an idea of how delicious it would be.

With such delectable food at Xiyuan, He Yiran and Yan Keke naturally didn’t want to miss out. The two first returned to their community, and then He Yiran drove them there.

Just as Mei Mengzhen picked up her brother, He Yiran’s car had already parked at the school entrance. Right after she finished speaking, He Yiran’s car stopped beside them, and Mei Mengzhen got into the back seat with her brother, heading straight for Xiyuan. They had barely entered Xiyuan when Mei Mengzhen could smell the wafting scent of food in the air—it was truly fragrant. "Oh my, it smells amazing," said Mei Mengzhen.

The scent was so enticing that even Mei Mengchen couldn’t help but comment, "It smells so good, so good."

Mei Mengzhen couldn’t wait to get back to the private room, so she led her brother straight to the back kitchen, where they saw Grandpa Pei still watching over the stove at the kitchen entrance.

Mei Mengzhen approached with her brother, greeting him, "Grandpa Pei."

"Grandpa Pei."

Seeing it was the sibling duo, Grandpa Pei said, "You’re here. Good timing, I was just about to take the pot off the stove. You can try it right here."

The siblings nodded eagerly. As Grandpa Pei began to extinguish the fire, Yan Keke and He Yiran also walked in.

Hearing that Grandpa Pei was about to lift the lid, all the kitchen staff gathered around, drawn to the dish which had a beautiful name: "Dripping Water Guanyin."

The main ingredient was, of course, the previously reserved abalone. If it had been a dried abalone, it would need to be soaked for three or four days to soften, but they used fresh abalone, so this step was skipped. Before cooking, Grandpa Pei also soaked it in pure water for two or three days, which was not a problem.

Then came the preparation of other ingredients: an old chicken, an old duck, and a pigeon. They were blanched together in a pot to remove the bloodiness, and then they were ready to be cooked.

The pot was filled with pure water, into which a not-too-old ginseng root was added. Then, a rack was placed over the water, with the processed abalone set in the middle, topped with a duck suspended above. The dish was steamed over a high flame. Due to the condensed heat at the top, the essence of the chicken, duck, and pigeon slowly seeped out. Meanwhile, careful attention was needed to prevent the bottom of the pot from drying out and to maintain the heat, for the abalone should not be left overnight. Once the fire stopped, the abalone would be spoiled.

The ginseng-steamed duck was only part of the initial two days. On the third day, the ginseng was replaced with Ganoderma, and the duck with chicken, steamed for another two days. After those four days, the Ganoderma was replaced with deer antler, and the chicken with pigeon, which was then steamed for another three days. After seven days of preparation, the dish was almost complete.

The dry-steaming method was primarily used to gently extract the essence from the ingredients. Because the process was slow, the abalone could absorb this essence, enhancing its flavor.

Perfecting the abalone was one thing, but to achieve a complete and exquisite dish in terms of appearance, aroma, and taste, more was needed.

Grandpa Pei brought out the abalone and poured the juice from the plate back into the pot. He added salt and sugar, oyster sauce, and cornstarch to create a thick soup, which he then poured over the abalone. With this, "Dripping Water Guanyin" was truly completed—it looked incredibly tempting.

Since Grandpa Pei had made it, he wouldn’t prepare just one. After three abalones were served, he personally sliced them and distributed pieces to everyone—one piece each, not an extra slice to be found.

When the dish finally entered everyone’s mouths, the rich flavors combined with top-tier ingredients left no room for criticism. Indeed, as Grandpa Pei had claimed, it was a dish even more delicious than Buddha’s Temptation. Considering the complicated preparation and the amount of ingredients used, Mei Mengzhen immediately decided to change her restaurant’s signature dish to the "Dripping Water Guanyin" they were sampling at that moment.

Mei Mengchen, munching on the abalone in his mouth, was incredibly exhilarated. He already loved seafood, and today’s seafood was even better than usual. He couldn’t resist the urge for another piece as soon as he finished the first one. "Sister, it’s so delicious. I want more," Mei Mengchen said.

But there wasn’t any left, and even if there was, Mei Mengchen couldn’t have more. Grandpa Pei explained, "This dish is too nourishing. It’s better for children to eat less of it."