Translated by Serena Love

Edited by Azure and lullaby

Chapter 35: Flatbread in Soup

"Is it good?"

"It will do."

"Here?"

"A little lower."

"Is it here? Do you want me to press harder?"

"Well, push harder."

"Do you feel it?"

"No."

Tang Qiaoqiao slapped Shen Yue's calf. "If you don't feel it, then why do you want me to push harder?"

"If you don't push hard, how do I know if I would feel it?" Shen Yue was lying down on the recliner, stretching his legs on the mat, watching Tang Qiaoqiao's hands glide over his leg as if she were playing the piano.

Tang Qiaoqiao frowned and muttered, "No, I have acupunctured and massaged it so many times… Why don't you feel anything?"

Could it be that she hadn’t infused enough spiritual energy, or maybe he wasn’t eating enough vegetables?

Shen Yue could actually feel it—just barely. Recently, he could feel a slight tingling sensation in his legs every night, as if he had returned to the growing stage in his youth.

But he didn't want to tell her because Tang Qiaoqiao seemed to be particularly concerned about the progress of his leg recovery as if something would happen once he was cured.

"I think we should ask Dr. Liu to come and do a full check-up," Tang Qiaoqiao said carefully. Dr. Liu was the only doctor in China who had been with him through every stage of his treatment. He knew Shen Yue’s condition better than anyone.

"Don't take a mile when I give an inch," Shen Yue sat up straight. "I’ve told you this before—I’m not seeing a doctor."

"Let Dr. Liu have an examination, so we can also know if your leg has recovered after this period of treatment." Although she had spiritual power, she couldn’t see the changes in his body with naked eyes. She did not have any skills in surgery, so she had to look for a doctor.

More importantly, in a few days, she’d be leaving to film in another city. Aunt Wang wouldn’t understand the details, and if Dr. Liu could help with his rehabilitation, she would feel more at ease.

Shen Yue: "No, don't do it."

Tang Qiaoqiao didn't accept it and said stiffly, "Then I won't make anything for you to eat."

Shen Yue glared at her, he wanted to have a backbone and say he would not eat, but he just couldn’t do it.

He paused and said, "Even if you want to, I'm afraid you won't be able to invite him."

"Why not? Isn't Dr. Liu your family doctor? Doesn’t he always treat your family?"

"He used to be," Shen Yue laughed at himself and smiled, "But after I called him a fraud, he swore he’d never come back."

Dr. Liu and the Shen family had known each other for a long time, especially with Shen Yue's father. He was once a top doctor in China. Even now, after retiring, he often went to some well-known hospitals for medical treatment. He liked to study intractable diseases. Such high-level doctors had a little temperament and thought that the patient must listen to them. If the patient dared to make trouble with him, his temper would be more aggressive than the patient.

In the beginning, Shen Yue was paralyzed in a car accident and saw doctors from all over the world, but it was fruitless. After returning to China, Dr. Liu suggested that he should be treated with his own research method.

But at that time, Shen Yue had already lost all his hope. He was tortured by various medical treatments and no longer trusted anyone, so he quarreled with him several times. When he scolded a few words about him as a quack doctor, Dr. Liu was furious and vowed never to treat him again.

As a result, there was today's stalemate.

After listening to the cause and effect, Tang Qiaoqiao said in a cold voice, "You deserve it. If it were me, I wouldn't bother taking care of you."

"It's better if you ignore me and leave me alone, and I will feel peace and quiet." Shen Yue left Tang Qiaoqiao agitatedly. Holding his legs in both hands, he moved his body from the mat with hard work.

Tang Qiaoqiao laughed angrily at his childish behavior.

"Do you mean that as long as I can convince Dr. Liu, you will let him check your leg?"

"Get him to come first and then we'll talk about it." Shen Yue said.

Tang Qiaoqiao: "Just wait."

She rushed to find Aunt Wang. Shen Yue said that Dr. Liu had known his family for a long time. Aunt Wang had been in the Shen family's house for more than ten years, and she should be familiar with Dr. Liu.

After chatting with Aunt Wang, Tang Qiaoqiao learned that Dr. Liu was not a native of Beijing but from Shaanxi. He moved to Beijing with his parents when he was a teenager. Aunt Wang also said that when Dr. Liu came to give the old Mr. Shen a routine check-up, he often talked about his hometown. He said that he couldn't eat authentic Shaanxi food in Beijing. Aunt Wang had even tried to make it for him several times, but it didn't suit his taste.

Tang Qiaoqiao snapped her fingers as an idea struck. There was a way. She personally called Dr. Liu, and the man who answered the phone had a warm, friendly voice.

"Hello, Dr. Liu, my name is Tang Qiaoqiao, and I’m Shen Yue's wife."

When Dr. Liu heard a strange woman with a soft voice, he thought a patient rudely called his private phone. But when he heard that the other party was from the Shen family, he was a little surprised. "With Shen Yue's temper, is there a woman who would want him?"

Tang Qiaoqiao: '...Well, I think so too.'

Doctor Liu: "Has Shen Yue finally softened, and he wants me to give a check- up?"

Tang Qiaoqiao smiled and said, "No, I want to invite you to dinner."

"Just for dinner?" Dr. Liu was surprised.

"Yeah, you can be regarded as Shen Yue's uncle. I should treat you for dinner."

Doctor Liu hesitated.

Tang Qiaoqiao: "You must come, or I won't be able to explain to the old lady."

"Okay, okay," Dr. Liu also wanted to see what this woman looked like.

After 12 noon, Dr. Liu came to the villa. Tang Qiaoqiao went to the door to greet him.

Dr. Liu's hair was already half-white, but he was very energetic. Although he was old, he still wore a coat printed with cartoon characters, like an old troublemaker.

Doctor Liu was also looking at Tang Qiaoqiao. He liked the girl as soon as he saw her. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also full of vigor and vitality.

Dr. Liu came to the dining room and looked at the empty table. "What are you going to invite me to eat?"

Tang Qiaoqiao: "Sit down for a while ."

After a while, Tang Qiaoqiao put the tray in front of Dr. Liu.

He saw a large bowl of crumbed bread in soup and two meat sandwiches with preserved chili sauce on the plate.

Dr. Liu had expected a fancy dinner, but instead, he was greeted by a simple snack from his hometown.

Tang Qiaoqiao smiled sweetly. "Dr. Liu, I know that you are from Shaanxi. I prepared it especially for you."

Dr. Liu looked at the dinner tray, then looked at the smiling woman in front of him. He picked up his chopsticks and stretched them out to pick a soaked bun.

Flatbread in soup, beef and button roujiamo, and noodle soup with sheep blood were called the "Three Shaanxi Must Haves".

Compared to the other two must-haves, flatbread in soup was more complicated to make because just cleaning the pig intestines and pork belly took extra effort. The intestines must undergo at least a dozen processes such as stroking, scraping, turning, plucking, turning back, and bleaching to completely remove the internal dirt. This was not the end. After washing the large intestine and pork belly repeatedly until the color turned white, the cook needed to put the cleaned large intestine into an empty pan to bake to roast the smelly juice in the meat thoroughly. Next, they had to rinse it several times, so the large intestine and pork belly would not have a fishy smell. Then wash the fatty intestines and pork belly, simmer in a pot over medium and low heat until it is soft and remove it to dry.

The soup base was also very particular. In order to make it, Tang Qiaoqiao had to smash the big bones of the pig to reveal the full bone marrow, and boil it with the pork and an old hen. She added cinnamon, fennel, grass fruit, star anise, and other spices to cook for two hours until the soup base became rich, creamy white.

For the flatbread, Tang Qiaoqiao made the traditional Shaanxi Baiji steamed bun.

The characteristic of this white bun was that the bottom should be roasted to a beautiful golden color, and the outer skin was crisp.

The roasted white buns were broken into pieces the size of soybeans and placed in a large porcelain bowl. Then the chilled cooked large intestine, cooked pork belly, pork, and chicken were cut into a diagonal shape, neatly stacked on the bun, and placed in a bowl with a handful of blanched vermicelli.

The boiling broth was repeatedly poured on the intestines and buns, then added to the sauce, a large handful of fresh garlic sprouts, coriander, and then poured into the hot soup again. To make it spicy, she added a spoonful of red oil chili to give it more vigor.

Dr. Liu picked up a large piece of intestine, closed his eyes, and savored it carefully.

The large intestine was extremely soft and tender, fat but not fishy, ​​and very chewy. The soup base from the big bones and chicken was rich and mellow. The umami had soaked into the intestines, making it oily but not greasy.

Every piece of steamed bun and every vermicelli had soaked up the soup and was very soft in the mouth.

The handful of garlic sprouts was the finishing touch—extremely fresh and tender. When eaten together with the intestines, they provided a refreshing contrast that relieved the greasiness.

Doctor Liu immersed himself in the food and ate half a bowl of flatbread in soup before finally slowing down his eating speed.

He picked up the Roujiamo pork sandwich with bacon sauce. The half-opened Baiji steamed bun was filled with braised pork.

Braised pork is made by putting the pork belly in the broth, simmering for two hours until caramelized. It contains more than ten kinds of spices. The marinated meat was ruddy in color, simmered extremely soft, and trembling and shiny in hand.

Roujiamo couldn't be made with lean meat alone. It required a combination of fat and lean meat, so it was fatty but not greasy, lean but not woody.

Dr. Liu took a bite of the pork bun. The gravy burst into his mouth instantly, and the fragrance was overflowing. The outer layer of the white bun was so crispy that it would drop juice after a bite.

'It's so enjoyable!'

Tang Qiaoqiao thought that Dr. Liu was in advanced age and might be bloated after eating too much, so she only brought up a bowl of flatbread in soup and two Roujiamos.

Unexpectedly, Dr. Liu ate it all in one go, and even the soup was drunk cleanly.

Then she saw Dr. Liu put down the bowl and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Fresh!"

He hadn't eaten such authentic food from his hometown for a long time. He couldn't help asking Tang Qiaoqiao, "Are you from Shaanxi too?"

Tang Qiaoqiao smiled and shook her head.

"That's weird. How did you make it taste so authentic? It tastes like it was made by a master from Shaanxi that had made it for decades."

Tang Qiaoqiao smiled. "You only want to say that it is delicious, right?"

"Of course, it is delicious."

"Dr. Liu is very kind."

"I haven't been back to my hometown in the past few years, and I wasn’t able to find any satisfactory Shaanxi restaurant here, but the gourd head steamed bun you made today is absolutely delicious."

Tang Qiaoqiao: "I still have a bit left. I have a lot of intestines and braised pork. I’ll bring it back for you later."

"Little girl, you tried to please this old man. There must be something you need."

"Since you asked like this, if I still hid it, it would be rude, isn't it? It is for the one upstairs," Tang Qiaoqiao raised her eyes upstairs. "I would like to ask you to check his body, but I know that he offended you before."

Dr. Liu said with a laugh, "So you gave me gourmet food to please me?"

"Did it work?" Tang Qiaoqiao said mischievously.

Doctor Liu pretended to sigh, "Short mouth soft hands."

"Ha," Tang Qiaoqiao clapped her hands and laughed, "So you agree."

---

[T/N: Short mouth soft hands is an idiom meaning if you eat other people's food, you can't talk bad about them and have to listen to their wishes.]

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