The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 9 [Parts 1 to 6] by Natsu Hyuuga

Author:Natsu Hyuuga
Language: eng
Format: epub

Just as En’en had predicted, when the two women got back to the living room, Yao and Lahan were engaged in a lively conversation.

“Our capable En’en’s cooking is the stuff of rumors, and I hoped I would have a chance to try it. So strangely enough, this turn of events is quite congenial to me,” Lahan was saying.

“Yes, her cooking is wonderful. She could hold her head up anywhere as a chef, and it’s nutritious, to boot!”

Where’d he hear rumors about En’en’s cooking?

Maomao’s question was soon answered.

“Her older brother’s restaurant is very popular, and word is that his little sister is nearly as good as he is.”

“Yes, I think she’s every bit as skilled as any head chef,” Yao said, the acclaim coming easily to her lips. Maomao remembered hearing that Yao had helped En’en’s brother, making him her family’s chef. Apparently he’d struck out on his own sometime after that.

Was it because of the change in family headship? If En’en’s brother had been let go by Yao’s uncle, that would do something to explain her antipathy towards him.

“I’ve had the privilege of dining three times at his restaurant. Ahh! It was a meal to remember each and every time.”

“Three times? When did you go? The menu changes every season, right, En’en?”

“Yes. In fact, he finds the freshest ingredients each month.”

Talk of En’en’s brother was enough to get Yao really engaged. She passed the conversation to En’en, who joined in. So far from delivering a lecture about numbers and calculations, Lahan turned out to be quite the conversationalist—a fact Maomao didn’t necessarily like.

Instead, she focused on savoring the crispy duck skin. The mixture of oil and herbs was caught up in the flatbread, which she topped off with some sweet, spicy jiang. Each bite filled her mouth with the rich flavor of meat, the herbs providing a pleasing texture, all complemented by the sublimely simple flatbread. It was enough to make her mouth water.

It was, in a word, delicious.

“Ahh, that’s wonderful,” said Lahan, evidently of the same opinion. He was, as we’ve said, an excellent talker. He must be, to have gotten the reticent Yao to open up to him so readily. If anything, the conversation had gone a little too well, and En’en was somewhat perturbed.

For a while, the only sound that came from Maomao was chewing. Her plate was empty before she knew it, and there was just enough space left in her stomach for dessert.

“I’ll go get some fruit,” En’en said. She left the room and returned with a glass vessel containing tangerines. The peels had been removed, the seeds carefully extracted, and they’d been steeped in sugar water. The acidity would work wonders in cutting through the fat and oil from the duck.

“That was delicious,” Maomao said as she set down her chopsticks. She was eager to get to the real topic. “Lahan, you haven’t taken any books off the bookshelves, have you?”

“Books from the bookshelves?” he asked, giving her a questioning look as he took another scoop of fruit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.