Chapter 14: The Taste Is Wrong
"Why are you making chicken soup?"
At nightfall, Yin's angry voice rang out in the courtyard.
"You ruined a good egg-laying hen !"
"I see you guys are working so hard, so I just want you to have some chicken soup when you come home in the evening, so you don't have to cook."
A childish voice responded, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
"You can't be so mean, look at what you cooked."
Yin's voice suddenly became weaker, and the anger in her words mostly dissipated.
"Forget it, it's just a chicken. Our family doesn't need that much now. This kid knows to help you share the burden now. How filial he is."
The honest and simple Feng Shouli quickly advised that although it was a pity that the hen could only lay eggs, it had already been put into the pot and cooked. What was the point of getting angry at the child?
"Feng Shouli, stop pretending to be a good person and come over here and taste the chicken soup your son cooked. I don't even know how much salt he put in it. Is this for human consumption?"
Upon hearing this, Feng's father stepped forward and scooped a spoonful with the soup ladle. After taking a sip, his rough face, which was exposed to the sun and rain, wrinkled up. It was too salty and really inedible.
“How much salt did you put in?”
Feng Shouli turned his head and looked at the seemingly gentle child standing obediently beside him.
"I don't know. I put it in based on my feeling. Did I put in too much?"
Feng Qing'an was also a little uncertain, because the chicken exploded suddenly and there was no time to add the chicken blood, so he added more salt to the soup and cooked it for a longer time.
"Add more water to the soup!"
Feng Shouli turned back to Yin, then stared at Feng Qingan and said seriously,
"A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. You are a scholar, so just focus on your studies. Your mother can do the cooking. You should stop interfering!"
"A gentleman stays away from the kitchen. This doesn't mean that a gentleman stays away from the kitchen. What it really means is..."
Feng Qing'an wanted to give some scientific advice, but no one was listening to him. Although Feng Shouli tried to comfort and persuade Yin, this honest farmer was actually very distressed in his heart, because this was a chicken that could only lay eggs .
"I probably can't be a gentleman!"
Feng Qing'an left the kitchen and walked into the yard. Looking at the lively little lives in the yard, he sighed consciously.
A gentleman should have a heart of benevolence and righteousness, and he must continue to practice the "Soul-drawing and Blood-Refining Technique", and the objects of practice can only be these chickens and ducks. Apart from poultry, there are no other living things for him to practice.
Woof! Woof!
Seeing Feng Qingan, the puppy running around in the yard immediately rushed over. The man and the dog played for a long time until Yin's voice called him to eat, and Feng Qingan then went into the house.
"Eat it, you've ruined all this!"
A full bowl of chicken soup was brought up and placed on the dining table, but it was closest to Feng Qingan, so that even with his short arms he could reach it.
"Dad, Mom, eat!"
After Feng Qing'an ate for a while, he realized that he was the only one who put his chopsticks into the bowl of chicken soup, while his parents only picked up some vegetarian dishes.
"This chicken soup doesn't taste right, eat it yourself!"
Yin's face showed a look of disgust.
"You eat it, I don't like chicken!"
Feng Shouli said with a smile while holding the large bowl.
“…”
The child said nothing and continued to eat from his bowl with his head down. He had heard similar words too many times. There were always various excuses. When he was ten years old in the past, he would have believed them. But when he was ten years old in this life, he would no longer believe such words.
Feng Qing'an stretched out his chopsticks, scooped out a piece of chicken from the soup bowl, took a bite, and after chewing for a while, his little face with a greasy mouth suddenly wrinkled, then he opened his mouth and spit out, and the chewed chicken mixed with rice crumbs fell into the bowl.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing her son spit out the food in his mouth, Yin immediately asked with concern.
“This meat doesn’t taste right!”
"What's wrong? Is it too salty? That's your fault for adding too much salt!"
"No, it's not. It tastes really weird. I can't put my finger on it. It feels like something is wrong. It's different from what I've eaten before!"
Feng Qingan frowned, looking serious.
"What's wrong?"
Yin was a little surprised. She also reached out her chopsticks, picked up a piece of chicken, took a bite, chewed for a while, and looked at Feng Qingan.
"There's nothing wrong with this taste!"
"There's something wrong, Mom, your mouth isn't right, Dad, try a piece, my mom can't taste it!"
Feng Qing'an looked at his father. Listening to the conversation between the mother and daughter, Feng Shouli was also a little puzzled. He picked up a piece of meat from the soup bowl and chewed it repeatedly, still puzzled.
"What's wrong with this? It's new!"
"Your mouths are all wrong!"
Feng Qing'an muttered to himself, and then, under the gaze of his parents, he picked up another piece of meat, chewed it for a while, frowned, opened his mouth and spit it into the bowl.
"There's something wrong with this meat. Could it be a sick chicken?"
“Nonsense!”
"Don't talk nonsense, how could it be a sick chicken?"
The couple immediately reprimanded the child for making trouble, but they were unwilling to believe in superstition, so they each scooped out a piece from the soup bowl, tasted it carefully, and confirmed with each other that the meat was fine.
"I guess they added more water and boiled it again, so the taste is a little off, that's why Erniu thinks it's weird!"
Feng Shouli found a reason for his son's abnormal taste.
"You are too picky. If there is a famine, you will starve to death. Hurry up and finish your bowl of rice. Don't leave a single grain of rice!"
Yin scolded.
"oh!"
Feng Qingan cleaned his bowl in a few bites. After finishing his meal, he looked at his parents and said,
"This bowl of chicken soup, you two can eat it if you like. I will never touch it. It tastes too weird!"
"Eat it if you want!"
Yin said impatiently.
"The taste is wrong in the first place, you just can't taste it!"
Feng Qing'an returned to his room muttering to himself, but after closing the door, he couldn't help smacking his lips, savoring the taste of the chicken.
The parents in both lives are so alike, wishing to give their children all the best.
But he really can't finish a whole pot of chicken soup! Isn't it better for the whole family to finish it together?
His family has this now. Feng Qing'an adapts very quickly to the leap-forward improvement in the quality of life, because he has already enjoyed a better life. However, his parents are still stuck in the past, leading a frugal life .
For example, his father Feng Shouli could have been a local landlord and enjoyed the life of a master comfortably, but he chose to carry a hoe and work in the fields.
His mother, Yin, was not much worse. She did everything herself. With their current financial situation, they could have hired a few maids and long-term workers and lived a comfortable life, but they just couldn't calm down.
Feng Qing'an was helpless about this and could only use some cleverness and tricks occasionally.
