Twenty-Fifth Meow

That night, Huo Zheng came to He Yunzhou’s door as usual, as promised.

The place that was obviously visited every day not long ago, seemed a little strange this time. Huo Zheng stood at the small, shabby, and narrow doorway, in an unusually complicated mood.

God knows why he gave He Yunzhou such an answer—is it because of the faint sorrow and the urge to stay revealed between the lines of that message?

Huo Zheng originally thought he was a hard-hearted person. After all, he had been able to cut off all unnecessary emotional entanglements easily and calmly for so many years.

But only He Yunzhou broke the precedent again and again.

Probably still can’t bear it bah…

Huo Zheng thought.

Can’t bear to hurt him.

That person’s untimely awkwardness and subtlety as well as that rare tenderness, although inconspicuous, are so precious in the monstrous and noisy world in which Huo Zheng lives.

Huo Zheng himself knew that if he really says goodbye to He Yunzhou, I’m afraid it would be difficult for him to have such meaningful and tender emotions in his next life.

It’s a pity that he really has no way to become the person in He Yunzhou’s heart.

It’s just that even if Huo Zheng had indeed made a decision, he still couldn’t bear to be suddenly so indifferent and estranged from He Yunzhou.

After eating his meal, then make it clear in front of that person, and completely cut off his delusions.

Huo Zheng said this to himself in his heart. Then with a deep sigh… knocked on the door that had become familiar.

“Just a moment…”

Not long after the knocking on the door fell, Huo Zheng heard He Yunzhou’s somewhat panicked response through the door.

Huo Zheng unconsciously tightened the muscles on his face, and his heartbeat was a little fast — He didn’t know what expression to use to face He Yunzhou this evening.

Probably busy with something, after knocking for a while, the door was opened by He Yunzhou.

The strong fragrance, accompanied by the dim light in the small room, also poured out at the same time.

Even standing in the doorway, you can hear the roar of the range hood in the kitchen. The TV in the living room is on, broadcasting a boring family drama with overly idiotic dialogue, mixed with Nangua’s noisy meows.

Putting it in anyone’s home will only make people feel noisy, shabby, and impoverished… Once tainted with He Yunzhou, this person, it’s like possessing a wonderful enchantment, turning into a small, trivial, gentle daily life.

“Sorry, I was busy in the kitchen just now and couldn’t get my hands off it a bit.”

He Yunzhou was still wearing an apron with gloves on one hand and the other on the doorknob.

He raised his head and showed a somewhat tired but gentle smile at Huo Zheng.

Everything seemed to be the same as before, but when Huo Zheng saw the other party’s face, a stormy wave suddenly set off in his heart.

He Yunzhou, whom he finally met again after many days, looked far more haggard than Huo Zheng remembered.

The slightly red and swollen eyelids and sunken cheeks, as well as an exceptionally thin figure due to extreme weight loss… The moment those details came into view, Huo Zheng’s heart ache slightly.

For the first time in his life, Huo Zheng has some regrets.

Maybe he really shouldn’t, shouldn’t torture a person like this.

“What’s the matter?”

On the contrary, He Yunzhou was still trying to hide his strangeness in front of Huo Zheng.

“Oh, nothing.”

Huo Zheng composed himself, but in the end, he still didn’t have the heart to pierce He Yunzhou’s weak disguise.

He forced himself to act as if he knew nothing and walked into He Yunzhou’s home.

As soon as he saw the current appearance of He Yunzhou’s home, Huo Zheng felt He Yunzhou’s pain and hardship clearly during this time.

Having come to He Yunzhou’s home so many times, Huo Zheng knew very well that He Yunzhou wasn’t the kind of person who would make a mess of his home. Although the furnishings of his house is messy, it’s just to get things easily. In other areas, He Yunzhou will always clean up neatly…

[“After all, if you have a cat, you still have to clean it anyway. You don’t want it if you leave things in the wrong way.”]

Huo Zheng even remembered how He Yunzhou whispered to himself with a wry smile on his face.

But now, Huo Zheng saw He Yunzhou’s living room which can only be described as messy.

Scattered books and empty coffee cans occupy almost the entire coffee table, and the sofa was also full of cat hair. At a glance, it was clear that it hadn’t been cleaned up with a vacuum cleaner for a long time. There were also a few scattered snack boxes on the floor, which are being plucked by Nangua as a toy to play with.

Just seeing He Yunzhou’s current home, Huo Zheng could feel a deep sense of decadence and despair.

His heart seemed to be squeezed tightly by an invisible hand.

“I’m really sorry, I’ve been busy these days, and I haven’t taken care of cleaning up the house too much. In fact, I cleaned up all afternoon this afternoon, except for the living room, the other places have been cleaned. If you mind, go to the dining room to stay?”

He Yunzhou noticed Huo Zheng’s expression was strange for the first time, his face suddenly flushed and he quickly explained embarrassedly.

In the past few days, he has been in a daze to catch up with the draft. He survived entirely by drinking coffee and eating takeout. He can only race against time to sleep, let alone clean the house. So in these days, He Yunzhou’s house is indeed like a large garbage dump.

And today, after he made an appointment with Huo Zheng, he suddenly realized that his home was a mess like a doghouse.

In fact, according to He Yunzhou’s real thoughts, he should ask Huo Zheng on another day, but Huo Zheng’s response was too fast and too decisive. Plus, the original meal was to apologize… He Yunzhou was embarrassed to say about rescheduling.

“It’s ok.”

What He Yunzhou didn’t expect was that Huo Zheng, such a fussy and difficult person, was very considerate this time.

“I… don’t mind,” He said softly, with a subtle expression and deep gaze.

He Yunzhou immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s good. Wait a little while, dinner will be ready soon, and we’ll eat lamb tonight… I always feel that the two of us will accidentally eat till very full. Then, it’s just in time to clean up the living room to digest food?”

After submitting the draft, He Yunzhou was in a really good mood, and Huo Zheng also didn’t seem to mind his abruptness the other night. Naturally, He Yunzhou’s tone became particularly relaxed, “Good…”

Huo Zheng gave He Yunzhou a deep look and nodded.

And He Yunzhou, who had returned to the kitchen to focus all his attention on cooking, naturally didn’t realize Huo Zheng’s hesitation at that moment.

However, it can’t be said that He Yunzhou was too slow. After all, the dish he made today to apologize can be described as a “big meal” from any aspect.

The editor in the editorial department suggested that He Yunzhou make the lamb^[1]Specifically, tan sheep, are famous for their fur with long curled hair. leg into hand-held lamb,^[2]Picture belowbut He Yunzhou did not intend to do so.

In general, hand-held lamb is best to use warm-bodied mutton that has been slaughtered. It is also best to choose fat and thin lamb chops and other parts of the meat. It tastes delicious and melts in the mouth.

The lamb leg sent to He Yunzhou was just a small front leg itself. The meat was thin and frozen, so making it into a hand-held lamb does not achieve the best taste.

But if you take this lamb leg directly to the bone, marinate it a little, then stuff it with meatballs, scallions, garlic, apples, walnuts, and other fillers, then tied with cotton string into the oven, brushed with honey and spices, and roasted over high heat until golden brown, is a suitable cooking method.

Among them, scallions and garlic can maximize the freshness and aroma of the lamb.

Not to mention that sweet and sour apples have the effect of relieving greasiness and softening the meat. The apples that softened after being cooked at a high temperature can add just the right sweetness to the lamb. Equally important are the meatballs stuffed in the lamb leg—meatballs made from three fat and seven thin^[3]Not sure about the English term but this means it’s 30% of fat meat and 70% of lean meat, which is soft, tender, and fragrant after cooking, and has a better flavor. chopped pork. Eating without additions will always make people feel a little greasy, but when stuffed in the lamb leg and roasted together, the mellow meat and oily flavor of pork just happen to fill the lean lamb leg with an oily fragrance.

The remaining lamb bones aren’t wasted at all. After crushing the bones with the back of a knife, put them directly into the pot. Fry the marrow and lamb fat out of the bones over low heat, sprinkled with tomatoes, celery, and other ingredients to sauté, and finally pour in the stock to simmer.

In the end, you only need to use a strainer to filter the residue, and you can easily get a rich and sour delicious lamb bone soup.

As for the main course tonight, it is the small potatoes with skins.

Brush the skin with water and drain it. Put them on the bottom of the baking tray with large slices of carrots and corns, and sprinkled lightly with rock salt and herbs.

Above the baking tray is the grill, on which the lamb leg is placed. This setup is to allow the lamb oil and meat stock to ooze from the lamb leg after roasting at a high temperature, which can drip down onto the potatoes at the bottom and the rest of the side dishes.

The meat stock is so fragrant and rich, which can be said to condense the most delicious and oily feature of lamb leg, and this kind of potatoes and corns filled with meat stock is most suitable for eating with soft and delicious lamb. In addition, for this roasted lamb leg, He Yunzhou also went to the vegetable market and bought a bag of tender endive.

The most suitable vegetable to go with lamb is a vegetable with a slightly bitter taste and a very crisp taste.

Wash the bitter endive with salt water and soak it in ice water for a while, then drain and tear it into small pieces. A finger-long red pepper is chopped into pieces, a head of red garlic is crushed and drizzled with sesame oil with a little sugar, two spoonfuls of lemon juice, and the same amount of soy sauce, it’s a simple sauce for the cold, bitter endive salad. This slightly sour, slightly sweet, rich, and fresh taste of the sauce is in perfect harmony with the refreshing and delicious bitter endive.^[4]Picture below

Not to mention, putting such a plate of green and fresh cold vegetables next to the sizzling, golden lamb leg is visually appealing enough to make your index finger move.

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The author has something to say:

Mr. Huo is also falling in love alone today.

Mr. He is concentrating on cooking.

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The recipe for the cold bitter endive is practical, but the focus of the sauce is actually white sugar and rice vinegar, which is not written in the text.

Small chili pepper, lemon, garlic, white sugar, rice vinegar, and steamed fish soy sauce. Just these items (sesame oil can be added or not).^[5]This is still part of the Author’s Note.

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Hand-held lamb:

Endive: