Chapter 48: Make It If You Want to Eat It!

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Make It If You Want to Eat It!

He chatted briefly with Liang City. Once the other party started work, their conversation temporarily came to a halt.

As for being urged to meet with Zhong Qing... Chen Jingle scratched his head.

"How should I put it? I feel like I’m lacking an impulse—the kind of impulse that makes you travel to another city just for one person," he mused.

At the very least, Zhong Qing hadn’t been able to make him feel this way yet. This had nothing to do with Zhong Qing personally; she was indeed a good girl. It was more that he seemed to have lost the ability to love someone. In a way, Liang City was right to scold him. This old geezer had no self-awareness, yet he still expected the other party to take the initiative.

"Perhaps we should chat a bit longer," Chen Jingle pondered.

After all, frequent chatting could indeed make the relationship between two people develop rapidly, giving them a cognitive illusion about their connection. Many players and heartbreakers operated exactly like this. However, Chen Jingle believed that if one approached it with genuine sincerity, this illusion wasn’t necessarily a bad thing—at least in the initial stages of getting to know each other.

First, a shower. He changed into a clean set of clothes.

Chen Jingle was a man of very low material desires. He owned no more than eight sets of everyday clothes for all four seasons. A certain Longevity Emperor might just talk the talk, but Chen Jingle actually walked the walk. He had four sets for summer and four sets for winter. What about spring and autumn? Lingnan didn’t have those seasons.

Returning to his systematic study schedule, his morning class was once again history. If philosophy deepened one’s thinking, then history made one wise.

For a time, Chen Jingle had enjoyed watching *Lecture Room*. Personally, he thought it was quite good for an educational program. "At least when it comes to storytelling, it’s much better than a lot of other shows," he thought. Any program that could make ordinary people interested in the subject was a success. And after reading so many history books recently, Chen Jingle could confidently say he had gained quite a few new insights.

For instance, he previously believed that all contemporary history was ancient history. This statement was actually imprecise.

"If one believes that history is simply past events that can be plucked individually from the river of time, then it’s true to say that ’all contemporary history is ancient history.’ They possess the conditions for comparison," he reasoned. "But if one considers history as the comprehensive collection of all past human societies—a discipline of study—then you definitely can’t make that claim."

The key lay in how one defined history. This issue was profoundly complex, enough for professional scholars to debate for a long time. As a mere beginner, Chen Jingle had no right to spout nonsense. He decided he was better off honestly going through the *Outline of National History* first.

His current history study plan had already progressed to the Tang Dynasty.

Across five thousand years of history, the importance of the Tang Dynasty was self-evident. It was the next great unified dynasty following the Sui, and far more powerful. Because the two dynasties were so close in time, the short-lived Sui Dynasty—despite ending the Southern and Northern Dynasties and reunifying the nation—generally received low evaluations from later generations.

The territory of the Tang Dynasty was unprecedentedly vast. Without exaggeration, its comprehensive national power was number one in the world at the time. However, after the An Lushan Rebellion, the massive empire began its decline from prosperity to ruin. This event also served as a major dividing line in many people’s understanding of Tang history; they usually knew much more about the early period and far less about the later period.

Chen Jingle was no exception. If he added up all the Emperors from the mid-to-late Tang and the end of the dynasty, he barely recognized a few. Because of this, he absolutely dared not claim to truly understand Tang history.

Golden Tang, Golden Tang. Compared to the mighty Han, the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty manifested in far more aspects, truly achieving a state where a myriad of nations came to pay tribute. This legacy was so profound that later generations constantly sought to recreate the scene, even viewing it as a historical duty.

Wang Anshi once wrote in his poem, *Phoenix Mountain*: "I wish to be a carefree youth of the Five Mausoleums, born in the eras of Zhenguan and Kaiyuan. To spend a lifetime fighting cocks and walking dogs, oblivious to the safety and perils of heaven and earth."

This meant that those who lived during the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan eras were blessed, residing in the absolute zenith of an empire. If one lived in Chang’an with a bit of pocket change, comfortably spending every day fighting cocks and walking dogs for a lifetime, that was the ultimate joy. When even a Prime Minister of the Great Song yearned for it so deeply, ordinary people’s desires went without saying.

Although Wu Zhou existed in the middle of this era, the overall impact was minimal.

Even though Chen Jingle had received a modern education grounded in a materialistic view of history, he was still awestruck by the power and prosperity of the Great Tang Empire. After all, his ethnicity was rooted here—that was an objective fact. It was simply unrealistic to expect him to completely abandon his nationalistic sentiments.

The strength of the Tang Dynasty was primarily reflected in its territory, military, economy, and culture. As for whether its might brought any benefits to ordinary folks and the lower classes? Chen Jingle believed it did. But to call it some feudal paradise or a highly developed society far surpassing modern times was utter nonsense. The limits of social productivity were clear. At the very least, the tolerance afforded to the commoners paled in comparison to that given to nobles and officials, and was perhaps even lesser than that granted to foreign merchants.

At the same time, the Tang Dynasty bequeathed a cultural treasure to future generations: Tang poetry.

According to research, nearly fifty thousand recorded Tang poems had been passed down to posterity, and they still exerted a massive influence today. Chen Jingle didn’t understand the strict metrical rules of poetry, but having familiarized himself with the *Three Hundred Tang Poems*, he could recite them even if he couldn’t compose them. By reading extensively, his proficiency naturally increased. It was just like singing—if someone sang enough, an occasional flash of inspiration might lead them to hum a melody rivaling the classics.

He could easily tell whether a poem was good or not. What was the standard for a good poem? Chen Jingle couldn’t articulate it, but it certainly wouldn’t be something like: "You pee a line, I pee a puddle."

Therefore, Chen Jingle deeply admired modern people who wrote classical-style poetry. To compose decent ancient-style poems without a supportive creative environment was a display of innate talent and brilliance. However, poetry could easily be categorized as an entirely separate field of cultural study; it wasn’t suitable to abandon history class halfway to research it.

"I’ll skim through history first," he told himself. "If I’m interested later, I can slowly study Tang and Song poetry."

His practical class was the usual advanced cooking study. The main dishes he prepared today were Purple Gold Phoenix Claw and Saltwater Choy Sum.

There was no special reason; he just suddenly had a craving for them. Acting on a whim, he decided to make them himself, purposely running to the supermarket after his studies to buy a kilo of ingredients. Phoenix claws were a rather common dish in Cantonese Cuisine, typically ordered when visiting a teahouse for dim sum. However, they varied in flavor and preparation methods.

The Purple Gold Phoenix Claw was quite unique. It utilized the "tiger skin" frying technique, and the key to its flavor was the Purple Gold Chili Sauce. This gave it a deep crimson hue, making the finished product far more visually appealing than standard phoenix claws. Crucially, the texture was rich. The skin was plump with gravy, giving it the sensation of a soup dumpling. When eaten, the skin easily separated from the bone, achieving a truly tender, fall-off-the-bone state while being incredibly flavorful!

To get good tiger skin, soaking in water was essential. The principle was exactly the same as tiger-skin braised pork—after frying, the claws had to be submerged in water for a period. Then, during the steaming process, that beautiful and delicious tiger skin would appear.

Next came the crucial formulation of the sauce. As for completely replicating the closely guarded secrets of time-honored brands... he couldn’t make any guarantees. But generally speaking, ensuring the taste was on par with restaurant quality was definitely achievable.

"Purple Gold Sauce, broad bean paste, Chu Hou paste, Char Siu sauce, Shacha sauce, peanut butter, honey, salt, golden and silver garlic, black pepper..." he recalled.

It was a lot of seasoning, but that was the secret to deliciousness. The layers of flavor had to be rich enough. Furthermore, the ratio was critical. Chen Jingle mixed it based on "experience."

COUGH COUGH.

During class, what belonged to the system was his. What the system knew, he knew. He certainly wouldn’t miss such a blatant opportunity to steal culinary secrets.

As for the Saltwater Choy Sum, he figured that eating too many phoenix claws would get cloying, so this dish would cleanse his palate. Many people considered Saltwater Choy Sum to be thoroughly unremarkable, but that wasn’t true at all. It was a dish that heavily depended on the occasion. If a person didn’t eat much meat normally, its deliciousness wouldn’t shine. But during holidays, after gorging on mountains of rich meats and fish, Saltwater Choy Sum would absolutely be the most fought-over dish on the dining table.

It was perfect for cutting through the greasiness of the phoenix claws.