Three elderly people, including Lu Cuiling, tasted the steamed duck with rice wine and were really amazed. Lu Cuiling also tasted a unique hint of nostalgia.
Lu Cuiling put down her chopsticks and said with some regret: "Well, this is the taste, steamed duck with rice wine."
When everyone heard this, they looked at Lu Cuiling in surprise.
Quan Chengping said, "You probably don't know this, but this dish was once Yifan's grandmother's specialty, and it was Yifan's mother's favorite when she was a child, so Yifan's grandmother often cooked it for Yifan's mother."
Feng Yifan was even more surprised: "Mom, it turns out that grandma can also cook this dish?"
Lu Cuiling sighed and said, "The methods are similar, but the taste is different. The ingredients used to marinate the duck are not right. You can't just use fermented rice wine and salt. You need to add some spices to marinate it, instead of adding spices when steaming it. And pouring oil at the end is not right either."
Sun Mingxing listened and thought about it carefully, and felt that he had not paid attention to these things when he was doing it.
If you follow what Lu Cuiling said, when marinating the duck, mix the spices with salt, apply the spice salt on the inside and outside of the duck, and then apply the glutinous rice wine on top. In this way, the glutinous rice wine, salt and spices are sealed and marinated together, which will make the duck more flavorful.
Lu Cuiling went on to say: "Also, the ducks they chose were not very good. They should have been Jinling white ducks, but not the fat ones. They should have been smaller white ducks."
Sun Mingxing listened carefully and even wrote down some of the ingredients that Lu Cuiling mentioned.
Then he humbly bowed to Lu Cuiling and said, "Thank you very much for your teaching. Today, I, Sun Mingxing, have learned a lot."
Lu Cuiling smiled and said, "Master Yifan, you don't have to be polite. You are already amazing to have achieved this with your own research."
Sun Mingxing said humbly: "My recipe is still not good enough, and it is still not as good as Yifan's. This time, I am grateful to you who have eaten it before and told me some recipes."
Lu Cuiling smiled and said, "I also hope that Grandma Yifan's craftsmanship can be restored to the world."
Obviously, this dish made Lu Cuiling start to miss her mother.
Lu Xihu and Quan Chengping immediately looked at each other. The two old men thought that this should be a good opportunity to persuade, so they planned to persuade together again.
But Lu Cuiling didn't wait for them to speak, and said directly: "Uncle, uncle, you don't have to say anything, I won't go back for the time being."
The two old men were speechless and didn't know what to say next.
Lu Cuiling added: "Now, I have to take good care of my wife and let her give birth to the baby smoothly. Other things can wait until later."
Upon hearing this, the two old men could only nod in agreement.
Feng Yifan and his friends ate the remaining food together.
Lu Cuiling even left half of the Steamed Duck with Fermented Rice Wine for her granddaughter to pack and take back.
Sun Mingxing and Su Liancheng both responded with a smile that they could actually make another one and pack it up to take back.
Lu Cuiling refused: "No, that would be a bit of a waste, and children won't eat much."
Feng Yifan also said, "Yes, yes. Isn't it advocated to eat all the food now? Don't waste it. Take this half back. Ruoruo may not be able to finish it."
Su Ruoxi said: "I definitely can't eat it, but you can let Ruoruo, Xixi, Feifei and the others eat it together."
Seeing that the whole family insisted, Sun Mingxing and Su Liancheng had no choice but to agree.
Afterwards, everyone sat in Fujing Building and chatted for a while.
When it was almost time to pick up Ruoruo, Lu Cuiling stood up to say goodbye to the two old people and asked Feng Yifan to drive back together, without even letting Feng Yifan see the two grandfathers off.
But the two old people didn't care because they also had their own cars.
The two planned to stay in Huaicheng for a while. They also needed to meet with Feng Jiandong again to see Feng Jiandong's attitude and then try to find a way to persuade Lu Cuiling.
Watching Feng Yifan and the others drive away, Quan Chengping said to Lu Xigu, "Old Lu, it looks like it's hard to persuade Xiao Lingzi here."
Lu Xigu shook his head and sighed, "It's really hard to persuade her. When my sister-in-law passed away, it was still difficult for Xiao Lingzi to get over it."
Quan Chengping asked: "What should we do then?"
Lu Xigu said: "Wait, meet Feng Jiandong and see his attitude."
Quan Chengping nodded in agreement.
On the way back, the atmosphere in the car seemed a little strange at first. Feng Yifan looked back through the rearview mirror from time to time, trying to see some clues from his mother's face, but his mother remained expressionless.
Su Ruoxi, who was standing next to her, saw her mother-in-law's expressionless face and was a little afraid to speak.
We drove through several intersections like this.
Feng Yifan finally spoke up: "Mom, since that steamed duck with fermented rice wine is my grandma's specialty, why didn't you tell me earlier? I can add it to our Su Ji's menu. If you do this now, won't Fu Jing Lou get there first?"
Lu Cuiling still had no expression on her face and glared at her son through the rearview mirror.
But after glaring, a smile appeared on Lu Cuiling's face.
"Okay, look at you two, why are you so nervous? Don't you just want to know what your two grandfathers said to me?"
Su Ruoxi reached out and held her mother-in-law's hand, and asked softly, "Yes, Mom, what did grandpa and the others tell you?"
Lu Cuiling sighed and said, "What else can I say? It's nothing more than asking me to go back and forgive your grandfather. After all, he is an elder, a little stubborn, and will be more face-saving, but he is still an elder after all. I still have to give him a way out and ease the relationship between father and daughter."
Su Ruoxi still asked softly: "Then mom, do you agree?"
Lu Cuiling shook her head: "Of course I didn't agree. When your grandma passed away, I went back. I went back with your father-in-law. We were very humble at the time, but he allowed his brothers and sisters to mock me. How could I forgive him?"
Su Ruoxi naturally followed her mother-in-law's opinion and said, "Mom, it's definitely Grandpa who is wrong."
Feng Yifan was driving in front and said, "Mom, according to what you said, it was my uncles and aunts who mocked you and my dad at that time. Maybe it had nothing to do with grandpa?"
Lu Cuiling immediately reached out and patted her son's back: "You little brat, who are you siding with?"
Su Ruoxi also chimed in: "Yes, you should stand on your mother's side."
Lu Cuiling added, "If your grandfather hadn't given his approval, would your uncles and aunts dare to do that to me? Humph, lend them some courage."
Feng Yifan said helplessly: "But you don't have any evidence either, right?"
Lu Cuiling was asked this question and she had no idea what to say.
Su Ruoxi saw that her mother-in-law looked unhappy, so she quickly said, "Mom must have had feelings. What evidence do you need? If grandpa didn't do it on purpose, those people are mom's brothers and sisters. How could they dare to mock mom and dad like that?"
Feng Yifan could only continue to say: "Some things, we can't just look at the surface, maybe they just want to do this, to make mom hate grandpa?"
Lu Cuiling immediately asked: "Why do they do that?"
Feng Yifan said: "Maybe he doesn't want you to go back and divide the family property."
Lu Cuiling immediately said, "What kind of broken family fortune is that? Does your mother care about it?"
Feng Yifan could only say: "Mom, of course you don't care. You are a strong woman now, and you and my dad are also vegetable tycoons, but they care."
After hearing what her son said, Lu Cuiling felt that this might be a possibility.
And the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Su Ruoxi saw the change in her mother-in-law's expression and began to change her words: "Mom, Yifan actually has a point. Maybe they really want to divide the family property among themselves and exclude you, so they deliberately stir up trouble between you and grandpa so that you can't go back?"
Feng Yifan and Su Ruoxi have now reached a tacit understanding.
On the way back, the mother didn't say a word at first, and the couple exchanged glances and made plans.
He planned to have Feng Yifan play the "villain".
Then Su Ruoxi agreed with her mother-in-law.
This slowly brings out some of Lu Cuiling's real thoughts.
Lu Cuiling thought about it seriously and said, "Maybe what you said makes sense, but it is definitely impossible for me to go back and admit my mistakes. I don't think I did anything wrong."
Su Ruoxi immediately said, "Of course, Mom, you must be right. If you hadn't insisted on marrying Dad, how could Yifan have come into being? And wouldn't Ruoruo have disappeared too?"
Lu Cuiling said, “That’s right.”
Feng Yifan followed up and said, "Mom, I think you are definitely not wrong, but we should still seriously consider whether to go back to see grandpa. At least there are some things that we should understand clearly. We can't let others plot against us without knowing the reason, right?"
Su Ruoxi agreed, "Yes, Mom, Yifan is right about this. We can't be unclear about it."
Lu Cuiling was really moved by what the young couple said.
But she didn't nod in the end: "Let me think about it first. When Grandpa Ruoruo comes over on the weekend, I'll discuss it with him."
Su Ruoxi looked at her husband through the rearview mirror, and finally Feng Yifan could only nod slightly.
Seeing her husband nod, Su Ruoxi said, "Well, Mom, you can discuss it with Dad."
Feng Yifan drove directly to the Gujie Kindergarten.
Park the car first in the parking lot that was converted from a small market opposite the kindergarten.
Then he asked his mother and wife to wait at the entrance of the kindergarten, and he ran back to Su Ji to push his father-in-law over.
Lu Cuiling said directly: "Hey, why are you pushing your father-in-law over here? Don't come to pick her up when you go back. Ruoxi and I will pick her up and send her to the dance studio. You go back and prepare the meal. You don't need to take care of us here, and don't push your father-in-law around."
As she spoke, Lu Cuiling reached out and handed the half duck she had packed to her son.
"Go back and prepare the duck a bit, and give it to the children to taste in the evening."
Seeing that his mother had already made all the arrangements, Feng Yifan had no choice but to take over the duck and left the task of picking up his daughter to the child's grandmother and mother.
"Okay then, Mom, you and Ruoxi should be careful."
Lu Cuiling nodded: "I understand, go ahead."
Su Ruoxi also said: "Well, my mother and I know."
After bidding farewell to his mother and wife, Feng Yifan, carrying a large bag of half a duck, walked along the ancient street, which was already crowded with people, all the way back to Su Ji.
Although it had been quite a few days, the first thing everyone did when they saw Feng Yifan was to ask about the opening of Su Ji.
Feng Yifan could only patiently explain to everyone over and over again that the business could not be opened for the time being.
After returning to Su Ji, Feng Yifan did not enter through the front door, but went directly into the kitchen through the back door.
Seeing Shi Jiahui, Catherine and Tom busy in the kitchen, Su Jinrong was instructing the two of them.
After entering the room, Feng Yifan raised the half duck in his hand and said, "Come on, I'll give you something good today, everyone come and have a try.
Dad, this is the "Steamed Duck with Rice Wine" that Uncle Nine developed. "
Su Jinrong was a little surprised when he heard this: "Oh? Ninth Senior Brother asked you to go and try this dish?"
Feng Yifan nodded: "Not only this one, but also crab dumplings, tofu skin buns, and pheasant and melon minced meat."
Catherine and Tom were confused by the list of dishes.
Su Jinrong and Shi Jiahui smiled at each other.
Su Jinrong said, "It seems that you, Yifan, have set a good example for Fujinglou. Ninth Senior Brother has also started to study Red House dishes. If these four Red House dishes are cooked, they will really be in line with the characteristics of Fujinglou. It seems that Fujinglou will have to be renamed 'Red House' in the future, right?"
Shi Jiahui smiled and said, "That's true. If that's the case, we really need to change the name to Red Mansion."
Feng Yifan said: "Not really. Fujinglou is still Fujinglou, and Honglou cuisine is just a specialty."
Su Jinrong asked again: "Yifan, your ninth uncle has started to make a move, you can't fall behind, otherwise you will lose face for Su Ji, and I will not forgive you."
Although Su Jinrong's words were a bit harsh, he actually had a smile on his face, and it was obviously a joke.
Feng Yifan responded with a smile: "Dad, don't worry. If I lose to Uncle Nine, how can I support Su Ji? Not only will I lose face for you, but also for Grandpa."
While speaking, Feng Yifan had already taken out the duck that he had packed.
Take a plate and set it aside, ready to process.
At the same time, Feng Yifan also gave some to his father-in-law, the eldest sister and two people in the kitchen to try.
After eating it, Catherine and Tom were very surprised at first.
Catherine said: "This duck is delicious, with a sweet flavor, and the meat is very tender. It doesn't feel dry at all. It tastes really good."
Tom also gave it a thumbs up and said it was delicious.
After tasting it, Su Jinrong and Shi Jiahui both thought it tasted very good.
Su Jinrong still pointed out some shortcomings: "But the taste is still a bit monotonous, just salty, it is a little bit like salted duck."
Feng Yifan said, "Well, my mother also told me about this. She told me that my grandmother used to make this dish, and she even gave her recipe to Uncle Nine."
Shi Jiahui was a little surprised when she heard this: "Yifan, your mother's family is also a family of culinary experts?"
Feng Yifan shook his head and said, "No, my grandfather is a businessman and my grandmother is a traditional woman."
Su Jinrong said: "This dish originated from Jinling. Yifan's mother is from Jinling, so it's not surprising that Yifan's grandmother can make it, but this dish has been lost for quite a long time."
Feng Yifan nodded: "Dad, it can't be considered a lost art, but it should be said that it has not been seen by people for a long time."
Su Jinrong agreed with his son-in-law: "Yes, it is not shown in front of others. Now through the hands of your ninth uncle, it can be considered to have recovered a little."
Feng Yifan continued: "Then let me add a little bit of brilliance to it."
After saying that, he started to take action.