Edited by Wiji and Noks
“That year the General was four years old,” said Uncle Ming. “The Old General served as the Division Commander of the 12th Army Skyhawk Division. I was his guard. At that time, the Old General was stationed on Planet Tieta. Once, there was a rare vacation and I was able to go home. He also said that he had finished his work early in order to spend time with his wife and child. We returned to Xingdu, and he took the Old Madam and General to play.”
"Have you heard of Xianai Town, Mr Xiao Le? It is the Old Madam's hometown. In fact, the General’s grandfather and grandmother were no longer there at that time. They went back to let the General see where his mother had grown up. But who could have thought that they would be caught in a sudden earthquake in the town. In the morning of that unfortunate day, the three of them had decided to go to the school to visit one of their old teachers. But later, I only saw a ruined school. They…" Uncle Ming said the last word very lightly, as if nothing had truly happened, as long as he kept it to himself.
“Some students told me that the Old General and the Old Madam were still able to run away at that time, but they stayed behind in order to save people.”
“I didn’t dare tell the General about this matter, but even at that time when he was still a child, he was very clever and not easy to trick. Before we left the town, he already knew from others’ lips about the real events that took place. The rescue was still underway, and the General squatted in a forest not far from the school and waited. He waited until all rescue work was completed.”
“Did you not let him see his parents for the last time?” Le Yao asked.
“No,” said Uncle Ming. “He was too young. The psychologist didn’t recommend it.”
Le Yao vaguely guessed the reason for that, but he didn’t know what to say next.
All of a sudden, he thought of Xu Yao’s wall painting in his house in Xingdu. The painting was a night forest, dark and gloomy, and invoked a mood similar to despair at a glance.
At that time, he had wondered why Xu Yao had put up that kind of a painting. Now, he seemed to know the reason.
Le Yao pondered over whether or not heroic spirit could be passed down through genes. Because, as a soldier, Xu Yao was really outstanding, and it must be similar to his parents.
“Mr Xiao Le, Mr Xiao Le?” Uncle Ming called him twice.
“Ah? What’s the matter, Uncle Ming?”
“You should be careful while cutting vegetables,” Uncle Ming said, “How could you let your mind wander while you have a knife in your hand? At this stage, bleeding is no joke.”
“Ah, right. I was just in a bit of a trance,” Le Yao coughed a little. Seeing that Uncle Ming’s eyes were moist, he quickly diverted the topic and said, “By the way, Uncle Ming, would you like to join us for dinner tonight? I’m going to make a lot of delicious food.”
“Thank you, Mr Xiao Le, but I can't join you today. We’ll set off to Vodapei the day after tomorrow, so I have some matters to attend to later. Let's eat a meal together another day, after all, there will be plenty more opportunities in the future.”
“Then… alright. Thank you for helping me today, Uncle Ming.” Le Yao then handed some of his homemade fish balls to Uncle Ming, “Here, you can try this. I made some fish balls with a 650,000 yuan fish.”
“Six hundred and fifty thousand yuan?” Uncle Ming whispered, “Which fish is so expensive?”
“That’s the fish.” Le Yao pointed to the leftover fish, “The General said it was worth 650,000 yuan. The first time I used it to cook dinner, I didn’t even dare to put any seasoning.”
Uncle Ming: “…”
Uncle Ming took a bite out of a fish ball and felt that it was not good to expose Xu Yao's lie. But seeing that Le Yao would very carefully make each ball, and was afraid of it falling, he felt that it would be unreasonable if he didn't say anything.
How can you bully an honest child like this?
So Uncle Ming said, “The General was just teasing you. The fish isn't that expensive, at most it costs 150 yuan per pound.”
Le Yao: “What?”
Uncle Ming added, “Don’t tell the General that I told you that.”
Le Yao grinded his teeth and nodded, “Good, okay, Uncle Ming.”
Xu Yao! Old fox! Just wait till you come back!
Because he had asked Xu Yao in advance, Le Yao knew that the Commander was not picky about his food and ate almost everything, so he decided to make some dishes that he was good at. After all the ingredients were prepared, he sent a message to Xu Yao, asking him when they would be back. Then he started to put all the ingredients into the intelligent chef’s stomach.
For steamed dishes and soups, he let intelligent chef do all the work, as these dishes did not require extra seasonings. For the more difficult ones, such as the bacon rolled vegetables, fish balls, and xueyi dousha, Le Yao was helped by the intelligent chef. Otherwise, he would not have been able to do it all alone in such a short time.
All in all, the timing was pretty good. When Xu Yao had just arrived home, Le Yao already had two cold dishes finished. The rest of the soup, crabs and so on, were also almost ready.
The room was filled with a delicious fragrance. When Guan Xuefeng, Xu Yao and Tang Ye entered the door, their stomachs almost cried out. Guan Xuefeng had always known that Huaxia was rich in seafood, but this was the first time he had smelled such delicious seafood dishes.
“Come here, Le Yao. Let me introduce you to my teacher.” Xu Yao said, “This is my teacher, Commander Guan Xuefeng. Just call him Uncle Guan like I do.”
“Hello Uncle Guan, I'm Le Yao.” Le Yao was wearing an apron and slippers. He was very sincere and said with a smile, “Welcome to Huaxia. Please take a seat. I’ll have dinner ready in a minute.”
“Thank you for your hard work. I’m giving you trouble, Xiao Le,” Guan Xuefeng said with a kind smile, “But I'm honoured I can eat food made by Xu Yao’s wife in my lifetime. I used to think that no one would take a fancy to this kid. He looks like a good officer on the outside, but inside, he’s just like a fox, not a good thing at all.”
“Yes! Uncle Guan, your comments on his nature are absolutely pertinent.” Le Yao said, “He has a stomach full of evil tricks. If he was not my marriage partner designated by the marriage center, I wouldn’t have married him.”
“Hm? Who are you not going to marry?” Once he was home, Xu Yao didn’t behave as he did outside. He smiled and tickled Le Yao’s neck with a smile, “When you see Uncle Guan, you instantly complain about me. Did you forget that the pocket watch you made on my face hasn’t disappeared yet?”
Le Yao immediately closed his mouth, pretended not to hear, and slipped into the kitchen.
Xu Yao said, “Uncle Guan, do you see that? That’s what he’s like. He’s very funny.”
“It’s good to have some fun between husband and wife, but you have to be careful not to tease him too much, lest the table be overturned,” said Guan Xuefeng.
Xu Yao laughed, “Have you ever seen someone who can make me yield?”
Tang Ye said, “I also advise you not to tease him too much.”
Xu Yao smiled and said nothing.
Guan Xuefeng said exasperatedly, “Just don't overdo it.”
Xu Yao muttered in his heart, If I want to do it, then I'll do it. Otherwise, where is the joy of life? The most fun thing in my life right now is to tease and bully Le Yao every day.
Le Yao’s dishes were done and he was about to serve them. Suddenly, he felt a cold shiver that almost made him spill the soup in his hand. What happened?
Fortunately, Le Yao could stabilize the soup bowl in time. He first brought over the assorted dishes, such as the fried cashew nuts with celery, fried fish balls, stir fried mushrooms, etc, to the table, and then brought the winter melon and vermicelli soup, roasted eggplant, bacon rolls, sweet and sour ribs, spicy stir fry shellfish, beef fillet with pepper, and finally, he brought over the xueyi dousha and steamed crab.
The people who had been aroused by the fragrance were immediately salivating over the table full of dishes. The red, green, yellow dishes, all with attractive colors and aroma, just looked too appetizing.
Le Yao said, “Uncle Guan, please have a taste. I didn’t know what you liked to eat, so I’ve made dishes for all kinds of tastes.”
Guan Xuefeng was surprised and said, “These were all made by Xiao Le?”
Guan Xuefeng had never eaten the dishes made by the intelligent chef, as he didn't like it. All of those cut dishes were of the same length, the silk was all equally thin, and the pieces were the same thickness. But looking at these dishes, whether they were strips, silk, or slices, they all had a layered sense, not at all carved from a rigid mold.
“Uncle Ming and the intelligent chef helped me” Le Yao answered with a smile, “If I had done this alone, we wouldn't have had a lot of dishes ready by now.”
Le Yao had handed over the egg white, minced fish and mashed meat, as well as the stir-fry and stew to the intelligent chef. Otherwise, those dishes would only be finished by him after a long time. However, he had prepared the dishes and the ingredients himself, so although the intelligent chef helped him a lot, it was totally different from the dishes which were wholly made by an intelligent chef.
“By the way, what about Ming Shan?” asked Guan Xuefeng.
“We are going to Vodapei the day after tomorrow. Uncle Ming should be going to the ship to check the reserves around this time.” Xu Yao said, “He looks at it in person every year, otherwise he wouldn’t be at ease.”
“It's important to be cautious. I’m relieved to have him,” Guan Xuefeng said, then casually sandwiched his chopsticks around a portion of spicy stir-fry shellfish. He preferred shellfish.
Originally, he had picked some to have a taste, but who knew that after the food entered his mouth, he immediately wanted to applaud!
“How is it, Uncle Guan? Is it to your taste?” asked Xu Yao.
“Hehe. You kid, you really found a treasure. How were you able to catch someone so amazing?” Guan Xuefeng said, “Xiao Le is a good cook.”
“Isn't that right, Uncle Guan?” Tang Ye said, “I've said it before, that all the good things have been caught by Xu Yao. I’ve had a meal here once, and I instantly felt that the food in the cafeteria was tasteless.”
“Don’t envy me too much,” Xu Yao continued nonchalantly, “This is just life.”
“You indeed need a spanking, you know? But I know I'm no match for you.” Le Yao, then directing his attention to his guests, said, “Uncle Guan, Lieutenant General Tang, if you think it’s delicious, you should eat more. I’ve cooked a lot.”
“What is that one?” Guan Xuefeng pointed to the xueyi dousha and said, “It’s my first time seeing such a dish.”
“This is a dessert. It’s called 'xueyi dousha'. It’s filled with bean paste and the outside layer is made out of egg whites. Please have a taste,” said Le Yao.
Xu Yao and Tang Ye had already moved their chopsticks to the plate. This time, they felt that the layer of egg white outside was soft and fluffy, and the bean paste inside was sweet but not too sweet. One bite is full of happiness!
Xu Yao felt that the taste was exactly the same as his little wife, while Tang Ye felt that he was going to become lemon essence.
Guan Xuefeng was more realistic and enjoyed the delicious dishes, so he spoke less and ate more.
When I turned old, I naturally became slower at eating than younger people. Then, I had to sit at a table with two stupid students who did not know how to respect the old, so I could only eat quickly!
Le Yao finished his dinner and got up, “I’ll go get some juice.”
No one was drinking at the table. Seeing that Xu Yao didn’t mention it, Le Yao reckoned that they either could not drink wine, or didn't want to. So, he went to get some juice.
The juice was all green, but the ones for Guan Xuefeng and Tang Ye were a light green while the one in front of Xu Yao was a deep green.
Xu Yao said, “Why is mine different?”
Le Yao smiled, “You are my husband. It's special.”
Xu Yao thought that Le Yao's smile was a little naughty, so he put the cup to his nose and smelled it. He smelled the fragrance of celery!
…