Chapter 156

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

Lin Xi, who had originally been curled up listlessly on the sofa, now sat up slightly straighter.

She leaned toward the floor-to-ceiling window from which the aroma drifted, her small nose twitching lightly as she kept sniffing that faint, intermittent scent in the air.

Lin Xi's eyes were bright and shining, a hint of flush rising on her pale little face, and an expression of longing actually appeared on her features.

"Xi Xi, what did you just say?"

Lin Yiming felt his own voice trembling slightly; he could hardly believe his ears.

He walked back to the sofa side, gaze fixed on Lin Xi's little face, and asked again in a somewhat urgent tone to confirm.

For a long time, because of his daughter's condition, Lin Yiming's nerves had been constantly taut.

At this moment he didn't even dare to be sure whether he had just experienced an auditory hallucination.

Lin Xi blinked her eyes, her nose still sniffing nonstop: "Dad, it smells like someone outside is cooking something delicious, so fragrant."

Her voice was somewhat weak, still a bit hoarse, but Lin Yiming heard it clearly.

A huge surge of joy rose from the bottom of his heart, making his breathing grow a few degrees heavier.

Ever since Lin Xi fell ill, no matter what food smell she caught, she would always feel uncomfortable and want to vomit.

Afraid she would be stimulated again, the villa's kitchen hadn't been lit for a long time.

Even when he ate things with almost no smell like sandwiches in the villa, he had to avoid his daughter.

But now, his daughter smelled the scent drifting in from outside, and not only did she not show any discomfort reaction.

And judging by her appearance... she actually seemed a bit like she wanted to eat?

In those eyes of his daughter that had always been dull, curiosity and longing were actually flickering at this moment.

Could it be that heaven opened its eyes and let his daughter's illness suddenly get better?

The moment this thought rose, he impatiently wanted to verify it.

Lin Yiming hurriedly picked up that bowl of liquid food the nutritionist had just delivered not long ago, tentatively held the bowl out to Lin Xi, and carefully said: "Xi Xi, how about... eat a mouthful of this?"

Lin Xi's little face instantly scrunched into a ball, her body quickly shrinking back into the sofa, shaking her head nonstop.

Clearly, Lin Xi was still full of resistance toward food.

Lin Yiming understood — it seemed his daughter's illness hadn't gotten better, but rather she had been attracted by that unfamiliar fragrance outside.

He wanted to go see what exactly it was that could make his daughter show this much interest.

"Xi Xi, Dad will go out and take a look; you stay home obediently and don't run around."

Setting down the bowl in his hand, Lin Yiming stood up; he wanted to immediately rush out of the villa to seek the source of the fragrance outside.

At this moment there was only one thought in his heart.

His daughter had been sick for so long, and this was the first time she showed desire for food — he absolutely could not miss it.

No matter what the source of that fragrance was, he would pay whatever price to buy it back for his daughter.

Even if that thing was made with however precious ingredients, as long as his daughter was willing to eat, he would let his daughter eat it every day.

"Dad, I want to go too."

Lin Xi sat up, her thin little hand lightly tugging at the corner of Lin Yiming's clothes.

Lin Yiming froze for a moment, subconsciously wanting to refuse.

His daughter hadn't eaten any real food for a long time; her body was emaciated beyond shape, and usually walking a few steps made her pant.

He was just about to speak, but when he lowered his head and saw the anticipation on his daughter's little face, he couldn't bear to refuse.

Lin Yiming nodded, carefully picking Lin Xi up

Lin Xi's body was light as a feather; through the clothes he could feel her bones were somewhat knobby.

Lin Yiming looked at his daughter's face with heartache and said softly: "Alright, we'll go together!"

He carried Lin Xi and pushed open the villa's gate; the fragrance in the air grew a few degrees richer.

That fragrance was indeed very enticing; Lin Yiming sniffed carefully and detected the smell of tomato and beef from within.

He couldn't help but be surprised in his heart — this tomato-stewed beef was a very common thing, yet he never expected someone could actually make it this fragrant, even more appetite-arousing than the high-end cuisine he had eaten before.

Lin Xi forcefully twitched her nose, extended a slender finger, and pointed at the Villa No. 8 not far away: "Dad, the fragrance seems to be drifting from over there."

Lin Yiming looked up along the direction of her finger and saw that next door's Villa No. 8, the kitchen window was half-open, and faintly vague figures could be seen inside.

"Dad, let's hurry over and take a look!"

Lin Xi lightly patted his shoulder with her little hand, her voice carrying rare cheerfulness.

Her eyes stared fixedly at that half-open window of Villa No. 8, her little face full of anticipation.

Lin Yiming nodded vigorously, carrying his daughter and striding toward the neighbor's.

…………

Inside Villa No. 8.

Lu Feng wore an apron, standing before the operation counter of the open-plan kitchen, expression focused as he kneaded dough.

In the casserole behind him, tomato beef brisket was bubbling away with a gurgle-gurgle, rich aroma filling the entire villa.

Yesterday Hu Daye sent him quite a lot of fresh tomatoes, each one round and plump, both big and red.

It could be seen that the tomatoes Hu Daye sent were all carefully selected, better than what could be bought in supermarkets.

When he returned last night, Lu Feng specially brought some tomatoes back; today he happened to be at home making himself a bowl of tomato beef brisket noodles.

At just past ten in the morning, he had already started preparing early.

The tomatoes had already been scalded with boiling water, a cross cut into the top, and with a gentle tear the tomato skins peeled away, revealing the soft flesh inside.

Peeled tomatoes easily fry into a sandy texture; this lets the tomatoes' sour-sweet texture thoroughly permeate the beef brisket.

Lu Feng diced the tomatoes into small cubes, then put them into a large bowl and set them aside, and next began handling the beef brisket.

The beef brisket was naturally still premium yellow beef bought from the System Mall; Lu Feng first cut the brisket into large pieces, washed them clean, then put them in a cold-water pot to remove the blood foam, afterward scooped them out and washed them clean with warm water.

Next he poured an appropriate amount of oil into the pot; when the oil temperature rose, he added bay leaves, cinnamon bark, star anise and other spices, then added scallions and ginger and slowly stir-fried until fragrant.

After the fragrance was stir-fried out, Lu Feng fished out the fennel seeds and Sichuan peppercorns completely.

These spices are small in size; if not fished out clean, later when eating one might accidentally eat them, which would affect the texture.

Then Lu Feng put the blanched beef brisket into the pot and continuously stir-fried.

After the brisket went into the pot it let out a sizzling sound; after a round of stir-frying, every piece of brisket was coated in a glossy sheen of oil.

High heat melted the fat inside the brisket, giving off a hint of charred aroma.

After stir-frying for a while, Lu Feng poured the diced tomatoes into the pot.

The spatula in Lu Feng's hand kept turning; the tomato dice slowly melted into a thick sauce, evenly coating every piece of beef brisket.

The tomatoes' sour-sweet aroma blended with the beef's fragrance and permeated throughout the villa; smelling it made one unable to help swallowing saliva.

Then he added cooking wine and dark soy sauce to the pot for simple seasoning, then poured in boiling water to cover the brisket and started stewing.

After stewing for over half an hour, the brisket was already stewed tender; a light poke with chopsticks could pierce through.

The tomatoes had completely stewed into the soup; the soup in the pot turned an appetizing orange-red; looking at it made one's appetite surge.

Lu Feng turned the heat to low, letting the tomato beef brisket continue stewing in the pot, and began kneading dough to prepare handmade noodles.

He had just finished kneading the dough when he heard the sound of a doorbell from the doorway, exceptionally clear in the quiet villa.

Hearing the doorbell, Lu Feng couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

Since moving to Yunding Huating, he had not yet become familiar with the people here; the villa had never had visitors.

Lu Feng patted the flour off his hands, washed his hands clean, and walked to the main gate.

From outside the door came the faint sound of a little girl's somewhat surprised voice: "Daddy, it's here, I can smell the fragrance inside..."

Lu Feng opened the main gate and saw a middle-aged man holding a little girl standing at the doorway.

That little girl looked pale of complexion, her body somewhat skin-and-bones, her arms thin to a frightening degree.

The little girl opened wide eyes; once the main gate opened she stared toward the kitchen inside, her little nose twitching, looking extremely cute.