Salted  Roasted Goose

Xia Jiao’s “dream-learning plan” was temporarily put on hold.

Her dreams were filled not with serious lessons from Teacher Zhang but with sweet and delightful foods of all kinds.

Xia Jiao discovered that quitting her job truly lifted her spirits. Especially after deciding to change jobs, everything became more enjoyable. Food tasted better, she fell asleep faster, her water intake increased, her energy levels rose, and she even managed to go for morning runs and evening walks. She had more energy to appreciate the flowers and plants along the roadside, to try new snacks and fruits she had never tasted before, and her hair loss significantly decreased.

If she had to point out a downside to quitting, it was that she had gained two pounds.

Xia Jiao was quite troubled by this.

Early in the morning, she turned down Wen Chongyue’s invitation to eat breakfast immediately. Instead, she went to the bathroom to freshen up, washing her face and hair thoroughly. After drying off, she wore only a nightgown, held her breath, and solemnly stepped barefoot onto the body fat scale.

Well, that was good.

She had gained two pounds.

Xia Jiao covered her face in disbelief. “I can’t believe I weigh a kilogram more!”

Wen Chongyue calmly took out a Lorraine quiche^[1]Lorraine quiche is a savory pie from France, made with a flaky pastry crust and a filling of eggs, cream, bacon, and cheese. It’s baked until golden and is often enjoyed for breakfast, brunch, or … Continue reading that smelled of cheese and butter. He poured warm fresh milk into Xia Jiao’s personalized breakfast cup filled with blueberries and cereal. “I forgot to tell you, my body fat scale has a margin of error.”

Xia Jiao struggled to accept this reality, but she calmly recalled, “I weighed even more last night at the convenience store.”

Wen Chongyue said calmly, “There’s always some error in household measurements; let alone outside?”

Xia Jiao pinched the flesh on her waist. Well, she hadn’t felt much change yet.

She said with a worried expression, “No wonder I’ve felt like my clothes have been getting smaller lately.”

Wen Chongyue replied, “It’s the clothes that shrank, not you.”

Xia Jiao looked up and asked, “Teacher Wen, do you always speak so nicely?”

Wen Chongyue placed a small porcelain dish filled with carrot and nut appetizers in the center of the dining table. He also drizzled a drop of Italian balsamic vinegar over the shrimp and vegetable salad, which included roasted eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, and broccoli. The aroma of breakfast wafted over, attempting to tempt Xia Jiao, who was still contemplating her body fat scale.

Wen Chongyue said, “I’m just stating facts. Jiao Jiao, you don’t need to be so anxious about your figure.”

Xia Jiao slowly exhaled.

True, her new job didn’t require her to maintain a specific body shape anymore.

Wen Chongyue arranged the chopsticks and spoon, announcing the breakfast and the start of a new day: “Let’s eat.”

Indeed, it was time to eat.

The cat’s meal was also ready.

Freshly opened canned food, boiled shrimp, and chicken breast were prepared, along with specially grown, lush green cat grass seedlings.

Xia Mi eagerly munched away, even preferring to knock the food from its bowl onto the floor to nibble. In contrast, Wen Quan was more aloof, eating the canned food in its bowl at a leisurely pace, refusing to let even a speck dirty its beautiful fluffy collar.

When Xia Jiao and Wen Chongyue returned to Yangzhou, the two kittens did not follow. Considering that Xia Jiao’s home lacked cat supplies and that the cats could easily get stressed, Xia Mi and Wen Quan temporarily stayed at Wen Chongyue’s house. Yu Tan had promised to come over daily to help care for the kittens.

Traveling from Suzhou to Yangzhou wasn’t far. With the spring sunshine shining brightly, Xia Jiao applied sunscreen and carefully flipped through the design albums Yu Tan had shared, along with some of her personal design concepts.

Unlike other floral designers, Yu Tan didn’t excessively pursue expensive imported flowers; instead, she advocated for a harmonious integration of flowers with architecture, scenery, and nature.

Of course, there were also some boldly colored pieces that Xia Jiao admired with sparkling eyes.

Xia Jiao’s parents had worked hard in Tianjin for many years, but their earnings could never keep pace with the rising housing prices. The profits from their fruit shop are barely compared to the landlord’s rent increases. Eventually, they returned to Yangzhou, bought an apartment, and reopened a small fruit shop, which was doing quite well.

As an only child, Xia Jiao first took the bedding from her room outside to air it out when she returned home. Her parents were busy taking care of the shop and didn’t hire extra staff.

By five o’clock, Mother Xia hurried over, both curious and pleased to welcome Wen Chongyue.

Especially after learning that Wen Chongyue could cook and about his specific income, she felt even more satisfied.

“—Sit down, I’ll handle it,” Mother Xia stopped Wen Chongyue from standing up. “How can you let a guest do all the work? Jiao Jiao, come here and lend a hand.”

Xia Jiao jumped up, complied, and gestured for Wen Chongyue to sit on the sofa and watch TV.

Huaiyang cuisine is slightly sweet, and Mother Xia personally made lion’s heads. The family didn’t like fatty meat, especially as they were older and couldn’t handle it, so she selected a mix of three parts fatty to seven parts lean. The pork was freshly slaughtered and sold, a fine cut of streaky pork, which had to be finely chopped into pomegranate-sized pieces.

Xia Jiao was responsible for cutting water chestnuts into tiny pieces when she suddenly heard Mother Xia say, “When are you two planning to have kids?”

Xia Jiao chuckled helplessly, “We haven’t even had the wedding yet.”

“Listen to me,” Mother Xia said. “It’s better to have kids when you’re young. Your body recovers faster. While I’m still able, I can help take care of your kids. Once I’m old, I might not be able to handle it.”

Xia Jiao replied, “No, no, I need to earn money first.”

She hadn’t thought about this issue at all, but fortunately, her mother only mentioned it once, and the conversation shifted to Wen Chongyue’s character and how he handled things. Xia Jiao responded according to the earlier agreed-upon remarks about their relationship—friends from work who had a good feeling for each other and decided to try dating without telling their families to avoid unnecessary worries.

After managing to navigate that topic, the meat filling was ready, and Mother Xia urged Xia Jiao to order salted goose while also preparing century egg salad.

The tricky part was Mother Xia’s braised lion’s head. The minced meat and water chestnut mixture had to be mixed with eggs, chopped green onions, ginger, and starch, shaped into round lion heads, and fried in hot oil.

The traditional Yangzhou lion’s head^[2]Yangzhou Lion’s Head is a traditional Chinese dish featuring large, soft meatballs made from ground pork. The meatballs are usually braised in a rich broth with vegetables like cabbage or bok … Continue reading recipe required poaching to set the shape before slow braising overnight, but time was limited since they needed to serve the guests that evening. Mother Xia prepared a quick braise.

The aroma of the water chestnut and pork spread through the kitchen as Mother Xia fried the lion’s heads, retrieving them and heating the pot again—no oil should go to waste, so she had Xia Jiao fry the spring rolls frozen in the fridge.

She started a new oil pot, added a spoonful of base oil, tossed in ginger slices and scallions, along with braising sauce, and diluted it with water. Once it boiled, she added the fried lion’s heads to simmer until the flavors melded. Once the sauce thickened, she added rock sugar to dissolve and thicken the sauce.

Xia Jiao felt hungry just smelling the aroma and sneakily stole a piece of fried spring roll, only to be caught by Mother Xia.

Mother Xia laughed helplessly, “You little glutton—go on, check on Chongyue. I’ll handle things here.”

Xia Jiao blanched the baby bok choy and, before leaving, grabbed another spring roll to munch on, savoring its deliciousness.

She had been away for too long and missed a home-cooked meal.

Father Xia returned home early today as well. Usually, the fruit shop stayed open until eight-thirty, but today it closed at six-thirty. He also brought back some fruit—not the usual overripe or less attractive ones, but fresh and appealing.

Father Xia tried his best to maintain a solemn and serious demeanor as the future father-in-law, but unfortunately, his experience wasn’t quite enough. Usually, he could handle customer interactions smoothly, but facing his daughter’s boyfriend for the first time, he managed only to squeeze out, “Is everyone at home doing well?”

Wen Chongyue said, “Thank you, Uncle. Everything is great. My dad is still thinking about visiting you, but he is unsure when you will be free.”

Father Xia replied, “Anytime is fine… Is Xia Jiao doing well with you?”

While eating strawberries, Xia Jiao listened as Wen Chongyue said, “Xia Jiao is very gentle and smart. Thank you both for raising her so well.”

Father Xia beamed with joy, looking like someone who was nervously trying to find topics to discuss during a meal with a roommate for the first time. “So, shall we have a drink?” he asked.

Wen Chongyue responded, “I brought some alcohol too. Would you like to try it?”

Understanding the preferences of someone in Father Xia’s age group, Wen Chongyue did not bring any fine wine. Older generations tend to prefer white liquor, and it is customary to gift Maotai to them. This time, he brought eight bottles, which is considered a lucky number. As expected, after a couple of drinks, Father Xia began to shower Wen Chongyue with compliments, looking at him with admiration as if he wanted to bond with him immediately.

Xia Jiao’s worry about the potential conflict between her father and her husband—oh no, the “father-in-law and son-in-law conflict”—never materialized. Perhaps it was because Wen Chongyue was good-looking and had excellent social skills. Her parents were unaware of their rushed marriage and believed Wen Chongyue’s explanation of getting the marriage certificate “on a whim.”

Wen Chongyue felt apologetic and said he shouldn’t have hidden it from them. Unexpectedly, Father Xia waved his hand dismissively, saying, “It’s fine. I know my daughter well. She has that temper; you’ll have to bear with it in the future.”

Xia Jiao: “…”

In addition, Wen Chongyue successfully won the approval of both elderly people from other aspects. He had chosen all the gifts for their visit, giving Mother Xia an expensive cashmere coat and a matching cashmere scarf. She looked stunning in the mirror. As for Father Xia, in addition to the liquor, he gifted him a complete set of high-end fishing gear. As soon as dinner was over, Father Xia eagerly unwrapped the gift to study the matching and functions of the entire fishing set.

Xia Jiao was stunned. “Is it really that easy?”

There was no awkwardness at all. Now, her mother affectionately called him “XiaoWen,” while Father Xia addressed him as “Chongyue,” as if Wen Chongyue were truly his son.

Wen Chongyue patted her head and said, “Uncle and Aunt are very understanding.”

Xia Jiao hummed in agreement.

Their house was small, with only two bedrooms. The small room on the shaded side had become half a storage area, and at night, Wen Chongyue slept on Xia Jiao’s small bed. After washing up, when he opened the door, he saw Xia Jiao in her pajamas, lying on the bed with her feet propped up, engrossed in watching videos.

Wen Chongyue reminded her, “That’s not good for your eyes.”

Xia Jiao turned around and asked, “Really?”

Wen Chongyue wiped the water that had splashed on his cheek with a towel and replied, “Yes.”

Xia Jiao tried to act cute, saying, “Then I’ll just play for a little while, just a little bit.”

She rarely acted like this, probably because she felt relaxed at home, which made her tone unconsciously more affectionate and soft.

Unfortunately, Wen Chongyue was firm. He walked over and tried to take the tablet away. “Playing on the tablet while lying on the pillow before sleeping can hurt your eyesight.”

Realizing this, Xia Jiao quickly pulled the pillow away and tossed it onto the nearby chair. She continued to lie down, pressing down hard on the tablet with both hands.

She said, “Then if I don’t lie on the pillow, it won’t hurt my eyesight.”

°.✩┈┈∘*┈˃̶୨୧˂̶┈*∘┈┈✩.°

Translator’s Note: Don’t forget to get your role at 🎭-get-roles-🎭 on Discord 🛎️ to stay updated on new chapter releases! 📚✨