Picking up the remaining beef, Zhou Yi placed about five or six pounds of it onto the cutting board, while the rest went straight into the refrigerator.
The amount in front of him was more than enough for the family dinner tonight; the rest could be kept as future reserves. To handle the beef before him, Zhou Yi did not use a knife. Instead, he took up a rolling pin—an undeniably magical tool.
Top-grade short ribs weren't only tender; they also came with crisp little rib bones. Using a knife would not only make them difficult to cleanly separate, but would also cause the loss of much of their natural flavor.
For this kind of beef, the best method was pounding. With thousands of strikes from the rolling pin, the muscle, sinew, and tiny bones would all be crushed and mixed together, while the meat juices would be absorbed right into the mash.
When the beef finally turned into a juicy stuffing, Zhou Yi added pepper, salt, a little chili, and then mixed in chopped green onions and diced shiitake mushrooms, stirring until it became a perfect filling.
Next, he took out several eggs—five or six—and beat them into a thick egg mixture. This would be the final component needed for his beef potstickers.
Like steamed dumplings, potstickers were at their most delicious the instant they left the pan. So for now, he had to set them aside and move on to preparing the next main dish.
He brought out sea bass, a free-range hen, and some seasonal vegetables and mountain delicacies. Tonight, he intended to make sea bass and chicken soup dumplings.
Lifting a large sea bass—easily eight pounds, nearly as long as half of Zhou Yi's arm—he sliced open the belly in a single stroke and began clearing out the innards with bold, sweeping motions. It was astounding that such a rough method could still clean the inside perfectly without damaging the delicate flesh, preserving its flavor to the greatest extent.
Once cleaned, Zhou Yi wielded his knife with dazzling speed. In a flurry of movements, he filleted the entire fish. Large, uniform slices of snowy flesh fell into the plate like drifting petals—identical in size, and even the ratio of skin to meat remained unchanged.
By the time only a spotless fish skeleton remained, a thick stack of fillets had already piled up before him.
However, fish flesh was naturally loose and unsuitable on its own as dumpling filling. He needed other ingredients for support. Adding a few eggs, bamboo shoot cubes, and diced shiitake, along with salt and cooking wine, he mixed everything thoroughly. As a fish filling, this was perfectly sufficient. The remaining issue lay with the soup.
He placed the cleaned hen into a pot with ginger slices, scallions, and shiitake mushrooms. Using his abilities, he kept the fire under precise control, adding egg whites at intervals. Only when the entire hen had simmered until completely soft and falling apart did Zhou Yi move the tall soup pot to a side burner to keep warm over low heat.
At this point, the main courses were nearly prepared. Next came the centerpiece dish of the evening—lobster—chosen to welcome the arriving guests.
First, he removed all the meat from the largest lobster, mixed it with ginger powder, a bit of egg, pepper, and salt, and hand-beat it into ping-pong-sized shrimp balls. Then he placed soaked bamboo fungus, lion's mane mushrooms, matsutake, wood ear mushrooms, and shiitake into a clay pot to simmer; after that, he added Chinese yam, white radish, and the prepared shrimp balls.
Clay pot cuisine relied on the most original flavor of mountain and sea delicacies, so artificial seasonings were unnecessary. The only thing to watch for was the impurities that surfaced. To ensure nothing disrupted the purity of the lobster flavor, Zhou Yi used telekinesis to monitor everything inside the pot, extracting impurities the instant they appeared. Ironically, this main dish ended up being the most time-consuming.
With one hand finally free, Zhou Yi sent Xia Ruisi a message asking where they were. Her reply soon came—they had just left New York City. Zhou Yi checked the time: just past 6:30.
Feeling he still had time, he took several onions and apples, peeled them, and placed them into a frying pan. He added a splash of rum, then simmered chopped beef with various seasonings and water until it reduced into a thick sauce. He poured the sauce into a small kettle.
Then, Zhou Yi prepared the remaining three blue lobsters—removing the heads, keeping only the tails and the intact meat, coating them in cornstarch and crushed nuts, and lowering them into sizzling oil. As they cooked, the lobsters turned a beautiful golden color, and the aroma alone was enough to make one's mouth water.
When he finished plating the fried lobsters, the estate's front gate slowly opened. The voice-recognition gate responded normally to only three people—and Xia Ruisi was one of them.
Clearly, they had just arrived. As Zhou Yi removed his apron and walked toward the gate, he opened it just in time to see Ororo, Jean Grey, Xia Ruisi, and three other young men and women stepping out of the car.
Greeting the invited guests, Zhou Yi first gave Ororo and Jean a warm hug. Then, glancing at Xia Ruisi and the three young people beside her, he said:
"Welcome to my home. I'm Zhou Yi, Xia Ruisi's brother. For you two ladies, this isn't our first time meeting. But for this gentleman, you're a new face, so I should introduce myself properly."
He nodded to Kitty and to the girl named Fei Wenli—who had been with Xia Ruisi previously—then extended a hand to the tall, muscular boy with neatly trimmed short hair and a calm demeanor.
The boy gripped Zhou Yi's hand firmly and said in a steady voice, "Nice to meet you for the first time, Mr. Zhou. I'm Peter. Thank you for inviting me."
"Welcome, young man. Having Xia Ruisi's friends here is my pleasure." Zhou Yi patted Peter's shoulder and stepped aside. "Please, come in, ladies and gentlemen. Make yourselves at home. It's just a bachelor's place, but I hope you'll find it comfortable."
As the young guests and the two teachers stepped into the hall, looking around with curiosity, Zhou Yi grabbed his sister and asked in a hushed voice:
"Hey, Xia Ruisi—who is that boy? And don't tell me he's your—"At this moment, Zhou Yi had fully taken on the role of the worried older brother. Truth be told, Peter had made a good first impression, but if the answer turned out to be what he feared… well, Charles and the others could go collect him from the bottom of the Atlantic.
"You're worrying way too much." Xia Ruisi shot him a playful glare, then leaned to his ear with a mischievous whisper.
"I'll tell you—Peter and I are just regular friends. But I think he's got a thing for Kitty, so I invited him over. I'm planning to help them make a little progress while we're off campus!"
"…Xia Ruisi, has anyone ever told you that you're being incredibly shady right now?" Looking at her foxy grin, Zhou Yi sighed and teased her anyway.
In response, Xia Ruisi gritted her teeth and gave his waist a hard pinch. It didn't really hurt, but Zhou Yi still cooperated by making a dramatic grimace.
Satisfied with the reaction, she lifted her chin proudly and ran off to join her friends.
Watching the somewhat shy young guests, Zhou Yi rubbed his waist exaggeratedly and said, "Girls, gentlemen—if you think this place is boring, why not have Xia Ruisi take you to the game room for a bit? I promise my collection won't disappoint."
He glanced at the helplessly head-shaking Ororo and the cross-armed Jean Grey, then added:
"And if you're worried about your teachers, relax. I'll keep them occupied until dinner."
Seeing that neither Jean nor Ororo intended to stop the kids, Xia Ruisi immediately pulled her two girlfriends upstairs—she'd been here enough times to know exactly where the game room was. Peter, looking slightly embarrassed, glanced at the teachers, then followed the petite Kitty out of the hall.
Once the young people left, Zhou Yi casually wrapped an arm around Ororo's slender waist and smiled at the two women. "Perfect timing. I need two extra hands in the kitchen."
Ororo quickly slapped away his wandering hand and shot him a glare.
"Don't fool around. Jean is still here."
Jean Grey simply turned her head aside and said calmly, "I didn't see anything."
Her attitude only made Ororo more embarrassed. After all, Zhou Yi was a bit younger than her, and being openly affectionate with him in front of her friend was hard to accept. Her resolve grew firmer—she absolutely refused to let Zhou Yi take advantage again.
In the end, Zhou Yi had to raise both hands in surrender. He didn't mind acting affectionate with Ororo in front of Jean—but the dishes certainly minded. If the fried lobster sat too long, it would turn soggy.
So he tried again."Alright, alright, my fault. But ladies, I really do need your help."
"What do you want me to do? I only know how to make pasta," Jean replied frankly.
"It's easy. Just follow my lead." Zhou Yi gently tugged Ororo along and guided both beauties into the kitchen.
Seeing the fully prepared ingredients, Ororo glanced at Zhou Yi in surprise, her tone carrying rare praise.
"This is the first time I realized—you actually have the talent of a chef."
"Believe me, it's absolutely professional-level." Zhou Yi grinned as he picked up a thick dumpling wrapper, scooped in a spoonful of beef filling, and sealed it with quick, nimble fingers.
Watching Zhou Yi wrap several dumplings in just a second, Ororo rolled her eyes, while Jean attempted to imitate him—only to burst the wrapper completely.
"You call this easy?" Ororo said irritably. As someone used to Western cuisine, this particular craft was far beyond her skill set.
"Trust me, this is already the easiest part. Just keep practicing."
"I'd rather make sandwiches. Anything else you need me to help with?" Ororo said after ruining a pile of wrappers.
"Alright, sweetheart. If you don't mind, could you fetch something for everyone to drink? I haven't restocked in a while, so I only have wine and the milk that gets delivered. I'd rather not have the kids complain about the host being unprepared."
"No problem—leave it to me." Ororo jingled the keys and left with a light step. Perhaps, for her, this kitchen was no less stressful than a battlefield.
Watching her leave the estate, Zhou Yi turned back to Jean and smiled.
"Alright. Judging by the look of it, I think you might need a little help."
Jean Grey was still locked in a fierce struggle with the dumpling-wrapping technique, and judging from the misshapen results in front of her, the outcome was far from promising.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
"Living in Marvel: Starting by Building 2B Missy (18+"
" Marvel: Glory of the Sun God (18+) "
" Marvel: This Position of Authority, I'm Taking It for Sure "
" Marvel: Zaun Captain America, Villains Call Me Ancestor-Man (18+) "
"Marvel Summoning Villains "
"Marvel: Weekly System Refresh, King of S.H.I.E.L.D. "
many more are available 57+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)