“Doctor Qin, what are you going to cook?” asked Zhang Dafu enthusiastically as they got to the kitchen.
“Tang Tang has just recovered from her illness. She’d better have a light meal. I’ll just make her some porridge,” Qin Haodong replied. “Are there any ingredients for making eight-treasure rice porridge?”
“Yes, but it’s raw that hasn’t been soaked. It is not suitable to cook porridge immediately.”
Zhang Dafu silently despised Qin Haodong, “It is pretty common knowledge that to cook eight-treasure rice porridge, the ingredients have to be soaked no less than four hours in advance. He wants to cook eight-treasure rice porridge directly. Apparently, he is a complete layman!”
“Never mind, just give me the ingredients!” Qin Haodong insisted.
Zhang Dafu couldn’t say no. So he took a small bowl of the ingredients and brought them to Qin Haodong.
Qin Haodong took a look at the bowl and said, “That’s too little. I’m sure Tang Tang is not the only one who will eat later. Take some more.”
“Er… ”
Zhang Dafu was kind of speechless. Since he became the cook of this family, the Lins had become very dainty and fussy about their food. Ordinary food could not arouse their appetite at all. How could they want to eat ordinary eight-treasure rice porridge?
But he would just listen to Qin Haodong. It was not him who was going to lose face, after all.
With this idea in mind, he scooped up a large bowl of ingredients.
After washing the ingredients, Qin Haodong began to cook the porridge. Of course, he knew that the ingredients usually needed to be soaked for several hours before cooking porridge, but he, the Emperor Green Wood, didn’t need to do that.
He was born with a constitution of wood of the five elements, and his cultivation belonged to the highest wood element, so he could manipulate plants with ease. The grains in his hands released all their value. Ten minutes later, a strong ambrosial aroma of food filled the kitchen.
“Wow, it smells good. Doctor Magic, your porridge smells delicious. When can I have it?”
The little girl stood by, staring at the boiling porridge in the pot and could not help but swallowed. Then she put a small white finger into her mouth, like a little foodie.
“Tang Tang, that’s unsanitary.”
Qin Haodong said, taking the little girl’s finger out of her mouth.
“But Doctor Magic, I really want to have some porridge now!”
“Wait a minute. It’s okay now!”
Qin Haodong said, turned off the fire on the stove and brought down the porridge pot.
Zhang Dafu watched from the sidelines. When he smelled the porridge, he was startled, wondering how Qin Haodong cooked the porridge that it could smell so good.
Watching Qin Haodong bring down the porridge pot, he couldn’t help but remind, “Doctor Qin, the soaked grain has to boil for about half an hour to eat. The porridge has only been cooking for 10 minutes. Is it not time yet?”
“Never mind. My cooking method is unique and the porridge is already ready,” replied Qin Haodong, holding the pot in one hand and the little girl in the other. “Let’s go, the porridge is ready!”
“Yeah, yeah, the delicious porridge is finally ready… ”
Tang Tang was thrilled to return to the table with Qin Haodong, her two big cute eyes fixing on the porridge pot, never leaving.
Out of politeness, Lin Zhiyuan and Lin Momo sat at the table and waited for Qin Haodong without moving the chopsticks. Their faces glistened with surprise when they saw Qin Haodong return so soon, with a pot of sweet-smelling porridge in his hand.
“Doctor Magic, come on, come on, Tang Tang can’t wait!”
The little girl said as she swallowed hard.
“Hang on, it’s okay now!”
Qin Haodong then filled a bowl of eight-treasure rice porridge, stirred it with a spoon and launched a little bit of Icy Life Energy on his hand to cool it down. Soon a bowl of porridge with the right temperature was brought to Tang Tang.
He put a spoonful of eight-treasure rice porridge into the little girl’s mouth and asked, “How is it?”
However, Tang Tang didn’t answer him. She grabbed the spoon from Qin Haodong’s hand and devoured it quickly. Everyone was amused to see how lovely the way she performed.
After laughing, Lin Momo felt a little curious, “Is this guy’s porridge really that good?” You know, Tang Tang was a family treasure. She had eaten all kinds of delicacies and was very picky about food. Lin Momo had never seen her like eating something so much.
Sensing Lin Momo’s confusion, Qin Haodong filled two more bowls of porridge and placed them in front of Lin Zhiyuan and Lin Momo respectively. “Here, try it.”
Lin Momo first picked up the spoon and ate it in a ladylike way. Then she scooped up the porridge as quickly as the little girl did, as if she were competing with others. At this time, she was not at all an ice beauty.
Looking at the two beauties acted like two foodies, Lin Zhiyuan could not help feeling contempt for them. “We are a wealthy family, and we have eaten all kinds of delicious food. It’s just a bowl of porridge. How could you behave like this?”
As he thought, he also took the spoon. When the first bite of porridge into his mouth, his eyes widened suddenly and he began to devour. Soon his porridge was finished.
“Oh, my god. This tastes so good! I’ve never had porridge so good before,” Lin Zhiyuan exclaimed. “Doctor Qin, you’re a great cook. Can I have another bowl of porridge?”
Qin Haodong smiled and filled Lin Zhiyuan’s bowl. Meanwhile, Lin Momo also ate up her porridge. Though her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, she still handed the bowl to Qin Haodong.
Qin Haodong also filled her bowl with porridge. At this time, the little girl became anxious. “Leave some porridge for me! Leave some porridge for me! Doctor Magic, leave some porridge for me… ” she slurred as she ate.
Qin Haodong dotingly patted her little head and said, “Don’t worry. There is more!”
“Doctor Qin, can I have a taste?”
Qin Haodong looked over his shoulder. It was Zhang Dafu, the chef.
Zhang Dafu was full of curiosity. He had never seen the Lins eat with complete disregard for their images. If it wasn’t for Lin Zhiyuan being a billionaire, he’d really think he was Qin Haodong’s capper. “It’s just a bowl of eight-treasure rice porridge. Aren’t you too exaggerated?” he wondered.
At the same time, he was curious to have a taste of Qin Haodong’s porridge.
“Okay, welcome to give advice!”
Qin Haodong said and gave Zhang Dafu a bowl of porridge.
Zhang Dafu put a spoonful of porridge into his mouth and immediately felt a strong aroma hitting his taste buds, a thousand times stronger than what he had just smelled.
“This is the delicate fragrance of dried longan, this is the rich fragrance of dates, this is the sweet coix seed… ”
He chewed slowly, enjoying the satisfaction the eight-treasure porridge brought to his taste buds. At this time he finally understood why the Lins were so obsessed with this porridge. The eight-treasure rice porridge cooked by Qin Haodong was awesome.
Unconsciously, Zhang Dafu felt hot tears on his cheeks. Yes, he did burst into tears, because of the palatable porridge.
Lin Zhiyuan glanced at Zhang Dafu with renewed disdain. “You’re a chef. How can you cry over a bowl of delicious porridge? What a shame!”
Thought with this in mind, his hand did not rest. Soon he brought the empty bowl back to Qin Haodong.
Zhang Dafu quickly finished his porridge, too. Although he wanted to have another bowl of porridge, as a cook, he could not fight over the food with the host, so he could only reluctantly put the bowl on the table.
He had no idea how Qin Haodong could make such toothsome eight-treasure rice porridge. He watched the whole cooking process and did not see him use any special techniques.
Pressing down on his doubts, he said to Qin Haodong, “Doctor Qin, I’ve eaten all kinds of delicacies in my life, but I’ve never tasted such tasty porridge before. I’m impressed with your cooking. I apologize for what I said.”
He was now convinced by Qin Haodong’s cooking. Just now he claimed that Qin Haodong’s cooking was not as good as his. Now he knew he was too confident in his own cooking.
Zhang Dafu then bowed apologetically to Qin Haodong and continued, “Doctor Qin, I think you are more talented in cooking. If you want, I can recommend you to the capital right now. With your skills, you will definitely become a top chef of China, even an imperial chef.”
After that, he looked at Qin Haodong longingly. But Qin Haodong just smiled. How could he, the Emperor Green Wood, possibly be a cook? Only his relatives were entitled to his food.
“Thank you, chef Zhang, but I prefer to be a doctor.”
“But… Doctor Qin, please reconsider it. It’s really a pity not to be a chef with your talent… ” Zhang Dafu continued with persuasion.
“There’s no need to think about it. I just made Tang Tang something to eat. I’m not interested in being a cook.”
A hint of disappointment appeared on Zhang Dafu’s face, and he said quickly, “Doctor Qin, since you don’t want to be a cook, could you teach me how to cook? I am willing to worship you as my teacher!”
Qin Haodong waved and said, “You can’t learn my cooking!”
It was not that his cooking skills could not be passed on, but Zhang Dafu really could not learn them. He, the Emperor Green Wood, was the only person in the world who could use it.
“Well.”
The disappointment on Zhang Dafu’s face grew, but he could not say anything. He retreated to the side silently.
“Doctor Qin, is there any porridge left?”
Lin Zhiyuan asked, holding up his bowl again.
“No more, Mr. Lin!” Qin Haodong answered.
He had deliberately overcooked the porridge, but he didn’t expect it to be eaten up so soon.
Lin Zhiyuan reddened as he realized that Qin Haodong hadn’t eaten yet.
At this time, the little girl patted her round belly and said, “Doctor Magic, your porridge is so yummy. I want more!”
“You have just recovered from your illness. You must not eat too much at one time. I’ll do it for you another day!” said Qin Haodong.
“All right then!” said the little girl obediently. “Doctor Magic, can you send me to the kindergarten?”
“Not today. I have something to do later. I’ll send you to the kindergarten tomorrow, okay?”
Qin Haodong did have something to do. Lin Momo had agreed to let him be Tang Tang’s sworn father. When her daughter called her father for the first time, he must give her a gift anyway. That was why he did not mention it this morning. He was going out to get a present for Tang Tang.
“All right. Doctor Magic, keep your word. Let’s pinky swear!”
The little girl said, putting out her white little finger and entwining it with Qin Haodong’s.
After breakfast, Lin Momo took Tang Tang to the kindergarten, and Qin Haodong left the Lin family.
Tang Tang’s fever reminded him that little kids were weak and prone to get sick. The best way to change this situation was to remold the kid thoroughly. So he decided to give Tang Tang a Marrow-Cleansing Pill.
Refining Marrow-Cleansing Pills was a simple matter for him. All he had to do now was gather up the herbs. After leaving the Lin family, he came to the medicine market located in the western suburbs of Jiangnan City.