Chapter 32: Transcending the Ordinary and Entering Sainthood in Cooking (Part 2)

  Jang Hu-bin couldn't understand Yoo Hee-jin's excitement at this moment. From a young age, Yoo Hee-jin had received all the love and care in the world. Although Yoo Ji-hoon was a man who held grudges, he was meticulous in taking care of Yoo Hee-jin and didn't dare to be negligent in any way. No matter how busy he was with work, every weekend Yoo Ji-hoon would personally cook her favorite dishes for Yoo Hee-jin. Now that so many years have passed, the warmth of their family life back then still makes people nostalgic. Although Yoo Hee-jin is now a mother herself, she doesn't know how to cook because she was spoiled since childhood. So after her father passed away, Yoo Hee-jin never had dinner at home again. Eating at home might seem like an ordinary thing to others, but for Yoo Hee-jin, it's a luxury! For Yoo Hee-jin, the concept of "home" has become very distant. After her father passed away, Yoo Hee-jin never experienced the warmth of family again and only relied on her mother. Now Jang Hu-bin's suggestion brought back memories of their family's warmth and made her yearn to experience that long-lost family atmosphere once more.

  Women are born to be shopping crazy, whether it's strolling through malls or street stalls, even supermarkets are no exception. Since I haven't cooked at home for years, it can be said that except for the range hood and gas stove, which are relatively permanent kitchen utensils, all other kitchen utensils and tableware at home are poor and white, showing how huge the workload of shopping is! Moreover, women are born to be picky, even with a baby's temperament, Zhang Huban's heart was screaming for mercy! After more than an hour of shopping, Liu Xijun finally stopped her crazy shopping behavior. Under the cashier's surprised gaze, poor Zhang Huban left the supermarket like a migrant worker, carrying big and small bags, if this cashier knew that it was just to cook a meal at home, I wonder what expression she would have.

  Because there were too many things, Zhang Huban didn't want to put them in the storage ring under the daylight, and Liu Xizhen was eager to go home and cook. So they took a taxi despite their home being not far from the supermarket, and having a free laborer with them. When passing by the Western Paradise, Zhang Huban suddenly remembered something, asked for the key to the bar from Liu Xizhen, and rushed back to the bar to fetch some cocktail equipment and foreign wine. Liu Xizhen was very curious about Zhang Huban's behavior, wondering if he could really make cocktails, which is a job full of difficulty and art that can't be learned without years of practice. But Zhang Huban had only been at the bar for just over a month, and Liu Xizhen couldn't associate him with making cocktails, asking what he was going to do with these things, Zhang Huban looked at her with an idiot-look and said: "Of course, I'm going to make cocktails!"

  "Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! You can actually mix drinks? Go ahead and brag!" For some reason, when she was with Zhang Huban, Liu Xizhen found herself particularly relaxed. Under the preconceived notion that Zhang Huban absolutely couldn't mix drinks, when she heard him say he could, Liu Xizhen burst out laughing without any restraint.

  As a master of Yuan Dynasty, there's no need to mention bartending, just picking up the ingredients can directly brew wine in his hands. Poor Zhang Huban, as the highest existence of Wudang, was ridiculed by an ordinary secular woman, yet he couldn't show any dissatisfaction on his face, and could only secretly comfort himself that he didn't have the same vision as women.

  All women seem to have a cleanliness habit, especially those like Liu Xijin who are well-born and beautiful. Their symptoms of cleanliness are more severe. As soon as she entered the house, she plopped down on the sofa, panting and saying in a delicate voice: "I'm exhausted!", her jade-like hands holding tissues and fanning herself up and down. Before Zhang Huban could fully appreciate Liu Xijin's charming and alluring lazy demeanor, Liu Xijin had already furrowed her eyebrows and rushed upstairs. As she reached the second floor, she turned back to Zhang Huban with a flirtatious smile and said in a delicate voice: "Huban, I'll leave everything downstairs to you, I'm going to take a shower!", then disappeared in an instant, leaving behind only a string of giggles. It seems that Liu Xijin is in a very good mood today!

  The kitchen and dining room were on the first floor, so Zhang Huban didn't follow Liu Xijun upstairs, even though he wanted to. Nowadays, society is filled with high-tech gadgets everywhere, including the kitchen. The range hood, gas stove, pressure cooker, and other appliances were unfamiliar to Zhang Huban, who was used to cooking over an open flame in a wok. Although Zhang Huban was extremely intelligent, otherwise he wouldn't have broken through to the Golden Elixir stage at the age of 100 and become a master of the Nascent Soul stage, it still took him fifteen minutes to figure out how to use these new appliances. Fortunately, Liu Xijun was taking a shower at the time, or she would have seen Zhang Huban's curious expression as he examined the appliances and immediately suggested ordering takeout or going out to eat. However, the sound of Liu Xijun's showering upstairs distracted Zhang Huban, whose ears were more sensitive than usual, causing his concentration to waver and his learning ability to decline; otherwise, he should have been able to master the use of all the appliances within ten minutes.

  Now that the key problem of using kitchen utensils has been solved, cooking and making meals is still an easy task for Zhang Huban, who has been in this industry for nearly a hundred years.

  Since Ryu Hye-jin is not here, Jang Ho-bin doesn't need to deliberately conceal his astonishing and unconventional exceptional skills. If someone or a chef were to pass by now, they would definitely be left staring in shock, unable to believe what's happening before their eyes.

  For Zhang Huban, chopping vegetables, killing fish, and scaling are not even needed with a knife. A true martial arts master can do it all with just his mind, let alone someone like Zhang Huban who is already at the level of an immortal. With just a slight use of his spiritual power, all the vegetables and fish were prepared, leaving only the cooking to be done.

  In the Xuanwu Immortal Realm, to satisfy Zhang Sanfeng's appetite, Zhang Huban had studied hard and learned various famous dishes from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign, as well as local specialties. He even formulated his own unique seasonings that were far beyond what we have today like MSG or soy sauce. Since there were only two people, they didn't prepare too many dishes, but still managed to cook six dishes and one soup, all of which were Hangzhou cuisine.

  Actually, Hangbang cuisine is "Mizong cuisine". The earliest Hangbang cuisine can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty over a thousand years ago. At that time, Lin'an was a prosperous capital city, and famous chefs from all over the country gathered here, making Hangzhou cuisine reach its peak. According to historical records, Hangzhou cuisine is divided into two schools: "Lake" and "City". The former mainly uses fish, shrimp, and poultry as ingredients, excels in techniques such as stir-frying, clear stewing, and tender braising, emphasizing the flavors of freshness, tenderness, and crispness. The latter mainly uses meat as ingredients, with steaming, stewing, braising, and roasting as its main cooking methods, emphasizing light oil, light sauce, and fresh and tender flavors, focusing on the combination of salty and fresh flavors.

  Perhaps it's been a hundred years since Zhang Hupan has been in the culinary industry, and he may be the only one from ancient times to the present. This also destined that his dishes are unparalleled in the past and future. Although Zhang Hupan's cooking is derived from Hangzhou cuisine, it has deeply imprinted with the marks of "Lake" and "Chengxiang", but far surpasses these two schools.

  "West Lake vinegar fish", "braised pork ribs in soy sauce", "garlic mashed amaranth", "windproof dock eggplant", "fragrant crispy winter melon", "clearing the eyes bitter gourd", and "West Lake water shield soup". Six dishes and one soup, all effortlessly prepared. Suddenly, a rich aroma wafted out of the kitchen, stirring up boundless appetite.

  Taking a bath, women are always meticulous and slow, unlike men who can finish with just one loud shout. At this moment, when Zhang Huban had laid out all the dishes on the dinner table, the beauty was still nowhere to be seen emerging from her bath. Of course, thanks to his hundred years of culinary experience and his cultivation since he was a baby, Zhang Huban's cooking speed is absolutely four or five times that of ordinary people, which is also one of the reasons why Zhang Huban finished cooking but the female lead had yet to appear.

  After cooking a good meal, Zhang Huban began to worry about Liu Xijun's birthday gift! Although his Qiankun ring had countless top-grade jade stones, Zhang Huban already knew the value of those jade stones and giving them to Liu Xijun would not be embarrassing. Although the emerald he gave to Liu Feifei last time did not catch Liu Xijun's attention, Liu Xijun thought it was just a good fake emerald, but Zhang Huban did not want to take out those valuable emeralds again as gifts. On one hand, Liu Xijun not recognizing the value of the emerald last time does not mean she won't recognize it this time! Once Liu Xijun knows the value of the emerald, Zhang Huban will have a hard time finding a suitable reason to explain. On the other hand, if Liu Xijun thinks the emerald is just fake, then Zhang Huban will feel even worse, everyone is an adult now, still giving fake goods, too low-level, too embarrassing!