Chapter 666: Shameless Squad of Two
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Beef is indeed a perfect match to hotpot,” said Jiang Changxi as she held onto a slice with her chopsticks and observed the changes going on.
The moment the rolled beef entered the boiling hotpot, it immediately unfolded. And in less than a second, it started wrinkling like a wave.
“Done.” Jiang Changxi lifted the slice up and without dipping into any sauce, she directly stuffed it into her mouth.
One did not need to be bothered about one’s image when eating hotpot. Therefore, Jiang Changxi directly stuffed the entirety of the beef into her mouth.
The moment the beef entered her mouth, a spicy sensation a.s.saulted her senses. After chewing on it, the juice from the beef burst out, adding an aromatic flavor to the spicy flavor of the broth.
Spicy and fragrant, that was the taste of this beef.
“Hiss, so delicious, so spicy,” Jiang Changxi couldn’t help but to cover her mouth and said.
“Yeah.” By the side, Wu Hai who had just eaten a piece nodded his head repeatedly in agreement.
“This tofu is not bad,” Ling Hong pointed at the white tofu floating on the pot and said.
That’s right. A white tofu had appeared from the bottom of the bright red spicy broth, ebbing up and down on the surface.
The tender white tofu created a clear contrast against the glossy red, further whetting their appet.i.te.
“Of course. I feel the same as well.” Wu Hai then picked one up, preparing to eat it.
“That’s mine,” Ling Hong glared at Wu Hai and resentfully said.
“No, no no. This is the tofu in the pot. Anyone can eat it. But this particular piece of tofu will definitely taste better,” Wu Hai said smugly.
“I hope the spice kills you,” Ling Hong said, still dissatisfied.
“I love spicy food.” Wu Hai directly stuffed the tofu into his mouth.
What was the tofu? Unfortunately for him, the tofu was a type of food that was the most absorbent, able to hold a lot of the spicy broth within. After smugly stuffing the tofu into his mouth, Wu Hai was immediately hurt by the scalding hot broth.
“Hiss, delicious. Hiss, it’s somewhat hot though,” Wu Hai said while gently chewing on the tofu.
He was right. The tofu would become more tender the longer it was boiled in the hotpot. Moreover, it had also absorbed a lot of the scalding broth in it.
The moment the fragrant and spicy broth burst out of the tofu, it filled Wu Hai’s mouth with an interweaving taste of the delicious broth, the sweet aroma of the tofu, and the tender sensation the tofu gave off when one chewed on it.
While swallowing the tofu, Wu Hai felt like he had swallowed a mouthful of boiling and spicy broth, an incomparably pleasant sensation.
“Delicious.” Wu Hai exhaled deeply.
“Yeah. I feel like it tastes even more powerful today,” Ling Hong said in agreement.
“I think it’s time to eat some duck intestines,” Jiang Changxi suggested all of a sudden.
“True,” Wu Hai immediately agreed with a nod the moment food was mentioned.
The duck intestines provided by Yuan Zhou’s restaurant were different than what other places provide. The intestines would be served in a tray. The tray had the markings of green leaves on it, while the duck intestines would be soaked in iced water, silently lying there and looking incredibly fresh, tempting one’s appet.i.te.
“A hotpot is not worth having without some duck tripes,” Wu Hai picked up a duck intestine and said.
“A hotpot is not worth having without frozen beer,” Ling Hong continued after taking a chug off a newly opened can of beer.
“Who said that?” Yin Ya who was observing them by the side couldn’t resist and asked.
“Me.” Wu Hai immediately nodded his head.
“And me.” Ling Hong added.
“Why so?” Yin Ya asked in confusion.
“No idea.” Jiang Changxi shrugged.
“Fine.” Yin Ya did not say much.
She was not from Sichuan, therefore, she did not understand why a hotpot must be equipped with those two items. In any case, when having a hotpot here at Sichuan, duck tripes would be served regardless of whether one liked it or not. Then again, even Wu Hai and Ling Hong had no clue as to why this was the case.
The duck intestines served by Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was very standardized in terms of length. Each intestine had a length of 19-centimeter.
After boiling them in the broth, only half the length would remain. And that length was just perfect to stuff it into one’s mouth.
“Hey, your duck intestine is done,” Ling Hong reminded Wu Hai.
“I know. Look at your piece. It’s already rolled up and ready to be eaten.” Wu Hai then fished up his duck intestine and ate it.
A melodious “Ka cha ka cha” sound could be heard when the duck intestine was being chewed on.
The duck intestine had the perfect freshness. Therefore, it was springy and tender. It carried along with it the flavor of duck, incredibly tasty. On top of that, it wasn’t greasy. Rather, it was numbingly hot and felt extremely good in the mouth.
Naturally, the delicious taste unique to meat also erupted from the intestine, interweaving with all other tastes in the mouth.
“Not even a tiny bit of the duck’s fishy smell was in there. That’s why I love the ingredients provided by Boss Yuan.” A pleased expression covered Wu Hai’s face. His face was flushed red, but that was from the spiciness instead of his emotion.
Jiang Changxi ate one piece of duck intestine, picked up another piece, boiled it in the broth, and said, “Yeah. This duck intestine is way too tasty. It’s springy and tender. Despite being super spicy, the aroma of the meat is still preserved.”
“Yeah. How wonderful would it be if Boss Yuan also provides beef and lamb slices,” Ling Hong said in regret.
“At least we still have the duck intestines.” The witty Wu Hai took the chance to eat more while the two were busy talking. At this point, he already had his third piece.
A duck had a length of about 60 centimeters, while its intestines were about six times its body length. Therefore, one duck would have about three-meter long intestine. However, only the small intestine was suited for hotpot. Therefore, the actual part of a duck’s intestine that was usable was less than one meter.
As such, one tray of duck intestines served by Yuan Zhou wasn’t too large a portion. It would definitely be enough for one customer since a set of this would have eight pieces of intestines served. But it was obviously insufficient to satisfy three people.
Although they had ordered three sets of these, eight pieces were nothing. Shortly after the intestines arrived, a war started between the three over the intestines.
Naturally, the most cunning one among them was Wu Hai. He had successfully eaten three additional pieces, with Jiang Changxi having successfully eaten two additional pieces. Because of this, Ling Hong was the most pitiful person, having only eaten three pieces in total.
“There, there. It’s just some duck intestines. There’s still the tripes here waiting for us. You can eat first.” With a generous look on his face, Wu Hai pa.s.sed over the tripes that had been brought here by Ling Hong himself to him.
“Hoho, I was the one who brought these tripes 20 minutes ago,” Ling Hong picked up a piece of tripe and said brashly.
“Yeah, that’s why you get to eat first,” Wu Hai placed the plate down and said in agreement.
“As a man, you shouldn’t be so stingy,” Jiang Changxi patted Ling Hong’s shoulder and said with a serious look on her face.
“As the saying goes, villains collide together,” Ling Hong summarized their actions with a simple sentence.
“Don’t worry, we will allow you to eat two extra pieces of the tripes,” Wu Hai said with a wide beam on his face while rubbing his beard.
By the side, Jiang Changxi smiled in agreement. This angered Ling Hong so much he laughed from it instead. Speechless, he focused on the piece of tripe he was holding instead.
“Sure. Wait while I eat the portion allocated to me.” Ling Hong then picked up the plate and placed it before him.
‘It doesn’t matter if he eats two extra pieces. No matter what, he’s the one who brought the tripes,’ the two thought.
Naturally, if these tripes were provided by Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, however much Ling Hong could eat would depend on himself. Jiang Changxi and Wu Hai would show no mercy in such a situation.
Ling Hong did not feel like speaking anymore. After s.n.a.t.c.hing up all the duck intestines provided by Boss Yuan, they rewarded him with two extra pieces of tripes that was brought here by him. These two were a totally shameless squad of two.
Wu Hai and Jiang Changxi lived by a principle of saving their faces while outside and at home, but not when they were in this restaurant.
Splas.h.!.+
The broth boiled, and on top of the broth, numerous bubbles popped out without stopping with the pieces of tripes roiling about within the broth. They were the regular customers here ever since Yuan Zhou had started selling hotpot. Therefore, they knew what to do in this situation.
Ling Hong started picking up the tripes while counting.
Since they had just eaten the duck intestines, the tripes did not feel as springy to the mouth. Fortunately, the spicy broth was spectacularly delicious, making up for what they felt was lacking.
“Jia Jia, one more set of hotpot broth,” Ling Hong said after stuffing three pieces of tripes into his mouth successively.