"Ah? Zhou Chengze?" Qiao Yin thought she misheard, "Isn't he in Beijing's Hospital of Sciences?"
"I heard he applied to be transferred to the branch over here." Huang Ling simply and frankly informed about the current situation. Then in a subtle tone, she added, "I happened to see him last time. To tell you the truth, I think he came here to find you. Since Zheng ZiHao has already gotten back together with his first love, then why don’t you think about getting together with Zhou Chengze?"
Qiao Yin hurriedly picked up a pillow to cover her face and sobbed as she fake cried, "You know that it's impossible between us, why do you still mention this? It's already friend zoned, okay....?"
After a few seconds of being speechless, Huang Ling said again: "That's right," she said leisurely, "I forgot he can't cook..."
The two chatted for a long time, and finally ended the conversation when Huang Ling arrived home. Then Qiao Yin got up from the bed and ran to the bathroom to take a shower and got old popsicle out of the fridge and sucked on it while making dinner. The next day she got up early to go buy the groceries, first she picked up a chicken, then bought some baby cabbages, and finally went to the pork stall. She carefully recalled how much food the two of them ate last time when she had dinner at Xiao Yang's. After thinking for a while, she finally bought a generous meaty pork shoulder.
After dropping off the ingredients at home and stocking them in the refrigerator, she changed her clothes and rushed to the law firm. On the way she bought fried dough sticks and soy milk, which barely filled her stomach.
Once work was over, Qiao Yin hurriedly said goodbye to her colleagues and hurried home. She first used heat to remove the hair on the skin of the pork shoulder and then threw it into a pot of boiling water to boil it for a few minutes. When it was clean, she got it out, took a knife and made a few beautiful cuts. Then she put green onions, ginger and bay leaves in another pot of boiling water, along with the pork shoulder in and left it to cook until it was half done, before turning off the stove.
She then took out pork shoulder and placed it on the steaming plate in a pan, put the lid on and left it to steam. The shoulder needed to steam for a hour and a half, so Qiao Yin used this time to start mixing the garnish. She heated up some oil in a wok and then began to stir-fry the green onions, ginger, and garlic until the delicious aroma filled the air. She then threw in some cinnamon, bay leaves and star anise into the mix, then poured in a large glass of water, added some rock sugar, soy sauce and five-spice powder, then left it to cook for forty minutes with low heat.
Then she turned her attention to the salt-baked chicken.
Before heading out that morning, she washed the chicken and hung it up to air dry. So she brought it down, wrapped it in salt-baked paper and put two sticks through the neck and tail, then she went about prepping the deep pan. She heated the iron pan and covered the inside with coarse salt. When the salt turned yellow, she added another layer of salt before putting the wrapped chicken in the pot and burying it with the remaining coarse salt.
Then she put on the pan lid and left it to bake for about six minutes, before flipping over the chicken and letting it bake for another six minutes.
At this time, the sound of the door bell rung from the living room and Qiao Yin ran to open the door without taking her apron off. Seeing her hurriedly opened the door, Xiao Yang subconsciously glanced at the direction of the kitchen: "Should I help?"
"No, there is only one soup and vegetable dish left." She said as she led him to the sit on the sofa, then she returned to the kitchen, with a smile on her face, she called out, "You watch TV first. The remote control is on the coffee table. There's tea and other beverages there, drink whatever you like ."
Xiao Yang stood up and was ready to go help, but before he had taken a step, he changed his mind and sat down again. His eyes swept through the hot tea and juice on the coffee table, before finally picking up the canister of TieGuanYin Oolong tea.
The evening news was already on the TV, and since he was not interested in other programs, he did not change channel. He glanced around the living room, then put down his teacup and got up again, slowly walking around the room. After working as a police officer for a long time, he had developed a certain habit. Whenever he entered a new environment, he had to become familiar with it and make a preliminary judgment.
Qiao Yin lives alone and is busy with work, so although the apartment was not spotless, it was still clean and tidy. Except for the necessary furniture, there were no extra small accessories in the room. The floor was a simple waxed wooden floor, which looked very comfortable when matched with the warm brown tones of the furniture.
The sound of the kitchen stove fan ceased, he guessed that she was almost finished so Xiao Yang walked into the kitchen to help.
The three main dishes and one soup appetizer were brought to the table one after another, and the two finally sat down at the table. Before digging into the main, they each drank a bowl of mushroom meatball soup, Xiao Yang ate a piece of meatball and showed some interest "Did you make these meatballs yourself?"
The shape of the meatballs were beautifully kneaded, and the meat was very firm yet juicy. The meat was lightly fried before being put in the soup so the skin was crispy, and the meat inside was very juicy, with a moderately salty taste, with hints of ginger which was mixed into the meat. The shiitake mushroom slices in the soup made it look even more delicious.
"My mother's husband, Uncle Jiang made it." Qiao Yin said with a nod, her big eyes sparkling, she was not at all uncomfortable about mentioning her stepfather. "It's delicious, right? He taught me once, but I didn't have enough energy to mince the meat. So I asked my mother to bring me some anytime they make it."
Xiao Yang nodded and bit down on half a meatball, "It's delicious."
"Try the braised pork shoulder." She urged, seeing him finished the soup. "I'm not very talented, but fortunately, I did pretty well today."
The pork shoulder was served in a white porcelain dish, it was covered with golden brown sauce, which looked very enticing. He tasted a piece, the skin and meat were soft and supple, it melted in his mouth with the juice, fatty but not greasy. There are several methods to cook the braised pork shoulder, but the most important thing about the steaming process is the time and heat - which she controlled well, so the taste of shoulders is naturally good.
After Xiao Yang swallowed , he raised his head and made eye contact with Qiao Yin. Her big eyes were curved like crescent moons as she smiled, they seemed to be shining as she expectantly waited for him to comment. Originally, he wanted to compliment her, but seeing the look in her eyes, he swallowed the words on his lips.
"You can try to stew it next time, if you have time." He said calmly and extended his chopsticks to the plate of baby cabbages. "It takes a long time to cook, but it's easier to make."
Maybe because she did not actually expect that he would comment on her dish, Qiao Yin couldn't help but freeze for a second. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but then she was cut off when a phone notification rung out.
Xiao Yang frowned, took out his phone and then stood up, and glanced at Qiao Yin "I'm taking a call." He then pressed the answer button as he walked over the balcony, after listening for a bit, he nodded and said, "I will head over immediately."
Qiao Yin listened attentively, and when he hung up the phone, he returned to the table. Before he could speak, she asked, "Did something happen at the station?"
"Yeah." He didn't explain much and simply said, "I'll go first, take your time."
"Wait a minute, I'll be quick." She said as she picked up the plate of salt-baked chicken and stood up and ran into the kitchen. After a short while, she returned with a lunch box in a plastic bag and handed it over to him, looking up with a smile, "You haven't had much to eat so take the salt-baked chicken. It's all cut and you can eat it cold."
Originally he thought that she would be a little disappointed, but Xiao Yang would not have expected her that she would look so unaffected, as if nothing had happened. He casually took the lunch box and thanked her casually, and then put on his shoes. Before leaving, he turned his head and glanced at her. After thinking about it for a bit, he said: "Next time when I have time to cook, I will call you again."
Qiao Yin excitedly nodded like a chicken, and then unexpectedly she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on his chin. He never expected that she would suddenly do that and so Xiao Yang froze. Before he could regain his soul, she quickly went inside and then hiding behind the door, she peeked though a small gap, revealing only a pair of curved eyes as she said: "Be careful. "
...And the door was completely shut.
After standing motionless in the corridor for nearly half a minute, Xiao Yang turned and walked down the stairs carrying the lunch box. When he arrived at the police station, Yan Cong who was on the night shift was yawning at his desk.
Seeing Xiao Yang suddenly appear, Yan Cong, who was still mid-yawn went wide-eyed: "Huh? old Xiao, why are you here?"
Xiao Yang walked over to his desk with no expression, he did not give any explanation and simply dropped the bag with the lunch box on his desk, "Dinner."
"Did you take the wrong medicine today that you actually remembered to bring me dinner?" Yan Cong was very astonished. With eyes still wide, he took out the lunch box from the bag. He couldn't help but be suspicious, however, his opening of the lunch box was exceptionally swift, "And it's actually salted-baked chicken?"
Xiao Yang sat down in the chair next to him and wordlessly glanced at the salt-baked chicken in the lunch box. The chicken skin was a beautiful golden brown, and the meat underneath it looked delicious and tender. It really looked good. Yan Cong had already unceremoniously grabbed a chicken leg and began to eat, chewing as he quietly said: "Hmm...it tastes different from what you made before..."
"My neighbor made it." Xiao Yang offhandedly responded as he opened the drawer and took out a Rubik's Cube.
Yan Cong's ears immediately perked up, "Neighbor? It's not attorney Qiao, is it?"
Xiao Yang played with the Rubik's Cube in his hands, eyes down as he ignored him.
This attitude could be considered normal for him, but why did it feel off? Yan Cong deeply scrutinized Xiao Yang while biting the chicken leg, he pressed his chin thoughtfully.
Old Xiao definitely has something going on...
(End of Chapter 9 raws)
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YukkiMuch: Hehe~ I would love to hear your thoughts on Qiao Yin's bold actions~ and how you think Xiao Yang will react
~Thank You for Reading, Please Comment Below~
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