In “The Beloved of a Rich Family”, there was only a brief mention of the family history of the Yu family: the ancestors of the Yu family had an imperial chef, and the Yu family can be counted as a famous family in the capital for several generations up to Yu Antong.
But later, the descendants of the Yu family have no talent in cooking. They could only rely on the recipes and secret techniques handed down by their ancestors to barely maintain the reputation of the imperial chef family. But the food business relied heavily on the taste, so no matter how famous they used to be, without a good chef in the family, their trajectory had been bleak and tepid. It was difficult to regain the prosperity of the past.
Xing Lixuan also knew about the history of the Yu family. He thought that maybe Yu Antong’s fancy knife skill was all he got.
As far as knife skills alone are concerned, as long as he practiced hard, he could reach this level.
Yu Antong added water to the pot and boiled it first, waiting for the water to boil.
While boiling the water, he peeled and diced the blanched tomatoes. He then poured a small amount of oil into the pan, heated it, added onion, ginger and garlic and sautéed them all until fragrant. He poured the tomatoes and sautée into the boiling pot, and gently stirred it until it turned into soup. Into the increasingly-aromatic soup, he added sliced ham, the sauce, and cooked on high heat.
As he waited for the soup to cook, Yu Antong asked Xing Lixuan, “How much do you eat?”
The smell wafting from the kitchen was getting stronger. Xing Lixuan, who said he had no appetite, had already been aroused. But for the sake of his face, Xing Lixuan insisted, “I won’t eat, you can make your own.”
Yu Antong didn’t listen to him. He eye-balled on Xing Lixuan’s portion and added a bit more. He ended up making three bowls.
Then he took out two eggs and cracked them open, poured them into the boiling pot. He lowered the heat as he thickened it with starch. He added a little salt, vinegar, a few drops of sesame oil, and stirred evenly. Finally, he turned off the fire.
After the hand-rolled noodles were cooked, Yu Antong took out the noodles and poured the thick tomato, ham, and egg soup on the noodles.
Yu Antong shouted, “Dinner is ready~”
Xing Lixuan has long been hooked by the scent and his stomach growled. He has been busy with work and forced into marriage during this period, and he really had a loss of appetite as a result of continued fatigue. He felt that every meal he ate was tasteless, and it only became an energy source to fuel his activities.
But now, he actually felt famished. He inwardly drooled at the prospect of trying the divine-smelling noodles that Yu Antong cooked.
It’s been a long time since he had this feeling of looking forward to a meal. On top of that, it’s just a very homely bowl of tomato and egg noodles. It was strange.
As soon as Yu Antong said that the meal was ready, Xing Lixuan simply pretended that he hadn’t said that he would not eat, and sat down cheekily.
Yu Antong deliberately waited for him to take a bite before saying, “Didn’t you say you don’t want to eat it?”
With noodles still in his mouth, he replied, “I see that you have cooked my share. It’s only polite to eat it for your sake.”
Yu Antong wanted to laugh hard, but he only let out a few giggles. He didn’t want to make Xing Lixuan feel ashamed, so he just sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and started to cool down his portion.
With the first bite into the noodle, the sour taste of the tomatoes bursted, whetting the appetite. It made the mouth wet with saliva, as anticipation of the taste bud skyrocketed.
Because he added a little sugar when making the sauce, the sweetness of the sauce and the eggs overwhelmed the sourness of the tomatoes. The sourness wasn’t the star of the dish, after all, it was just for masking the slight fishy smell of the eggs.
The hand-rolled noodles were smooth yet chewy. However, it had been left for a long time in the fridge, so the taste wasn’t top-notch.
On the whole, the taste was rich and varied, a complete satisfaction.
Yu Antong nodded happily. ‘Fortunately, my craftsmanship has not declined.’
He wanted to ask Xing Lixuan how it tasted. But when he turned around, he saw that the taller man had a refined appearance, but in fact, he had eaten half a bowl of noodles in the blink of an eye.
Well, no need to ask.
Yu Antong was used to chewing slowly, so he didn’t finish half a bowl, but Xing Lixuan had already cleaned off his bowl.
Xing Lixuan, who hadn’t had a good meal for a long time, pursed his lips in satisfaction. He temporarily put aside his prejudice against Yu Antong, and praised him sincerely, “This is the best tomato egg noodle I have ever eaten.”
Staring straight at the extra bowl with hopeful eyes, the majestic young master of a wealthy family looked as if he had been starved for days.
Yu Antong laughed, and pushed the bowl to him, “Eldest Young Master, this is also for you, please eat it for the sake of my face.”
It was rare for Young Master Xing to feel embarrassed.
After the meal, Xing Lixuan sat on the sofa and wanted to have a good talk with Yu Antong. “Unexpectedly, you still hide this skill. The master chefs in Juying Tower may not be able to make a bowl of home-cooked noodles to your level. Your uncle Yu Qingnian… he doesn’t know this ability of yours, does he?”
When Yu Antong was cooking, he kept watching and knew that the younger man didn’t add any special ingredient. And yet, the taste was divine.
Yu Antong knew that Juying Tower was owned by the Yu family’s opponent, the Shen family.
Jiangcheng was an international coastal city with a developed economy, dense population, and a well-developed catering industry.
Both the Shen family and the Yu family were engaged in catering, and they were the two most famous local enterprises in the catering industry in Jiangcheng.
In the past, when someone’s family had distinguished guests and relatives, it’s only polite to invite one of these two catering-industry giants for the food.
It’s a pity that the culinary successors of the Yu family were not as good as the Shen family’s. But even with that, the Shen family also was in decline.
With the development of the times, many entrepreneurs from other places and even foreign countries have poured into Jiangcheng. The influence of the Shen and Yu family in the catering industry had been getting smaller and smaller. The younger generation preferred places with good interior design and environment, as they wanted to take photos and post them on Moments.
However, as Jiangcheng’s local brands, both families have always been on par. Even if they are not as good as before, they have not been kicked out by a third party.
Until Yu Antong’s generation – the eldest son of the Shen family gave birth to an eldest grandson named Shen Yunqing who was talented in cooking.
This made the Shen family suddenly overwhelm the Yu family, and forced Yu Qingnian to want to develop other industries even more urgently.
The reason why Yu Antong has a deep memory of Shen Yunqing was not because he thought that this person was so good at cooking, but because this person in the book was the male supporting character who had a crush on the protagonist gong. He was brilliant and beloved enough by the readers that many of them hoped that he would end up with Xing Lixuan instead.
Although the author did not continue to write, Yu Antong also felt that if the author really wanted to change the protagonist shou, he would definitely change it to Shen Yunqing.
Yu Antong was too lazy to think about these business twists and turns when he was full. No matter what was written in the book, he only had his eyes on Xing Lixuan anyway, and he would not give it to anyone else.
Of course Yu Qingnian didn’t know his culinary skills, after all, he was no longer the original Yu Antong.
Xing Lixuan’s last sentence was to ask him, but his tone was firm. If Yu Qingnian knew Yu Antong’s amazing cooking skills, he would have used him to revitalize the Yu family’s Baifang House. When the Yu family was on the verge of bankruptcy, how could he be willing to let Yu Antong marry into another family? That’s just a waste of human resource.
Xing Lixuan stared at Yu Antong’s eyes and asked, “Since you hid it so well in the Yu family, why did you expose it in front of me?
Yu Antong looked like a particularly spoiled cat, provocative for no reason. “Because you are my husband~”
Xing Lixuan’s heart skipped a beat, and he ended his eye contact with Yu Antong immediately, as if evading.
The taller man instead said, “Let me reiterate: although I am married to you, I have no relationship with you, so please don’t be too intimate with me. It will only make you appear frivolous and not well-educated.”
Hearing this, Yu Antong lowered his head and waggled his fingers without saying a word.
On the contrary, Xing Lixuan felt that what he said was too much. He remembered that Yu Antong was actually an orphan. He really shouldn’t say that a person whose parents died early that they weren’t educated.
Just when he regretted talking too much, he saw Yu Antong raised his eyes cautiously and asked, “Is this too much?”
The innocent small eyes revealed a sense of ignorance, which made Xing Lixuan stunned for a moment.
However, in the next second, Yu Antong smiled slyly, leaned close to him and said, “But what should I do if I still want… to be more intimate with you? You’re my husband, after all~”
Xing Lixuan withdrew his body, showing an evasive gesture of refusing Yu Antong’s approach. Frowning fiercely, he said, “You…”
Because the taller man retreated, Yu Antong had to lean forward. When Xing Lixuan was about to speak, he stretched out an index finger to block Xing Lixuan’s mouth.
Yu Antong’s slender and pretty index finger stuck to Xing Lixuan’s lips. With one leg on the ground, he knelt on the sofa with his other leg. Leaning forward, he pressed his body on him. “Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Isn’t it good to follow your heart, even if it means to shed the shackles of worldly rules and regulations? After all, it’s not going to harm others, right?”
Yu Antong smiled, his black pupils reflected the shining lights, while his phoenix-eyes made him look like an unattainable and arrogant prince.
But his voice was gentle and soft, like a cat who was cuddling and acting coquettishly. “Today is our wedding night, isn’t it normal for me to want to do something intimate with my husband? We have a bridal chamber waiting for us. It’s a waste to not enjoy it to the fullest.”
The thunderstorm outside gradually subsided. After Yu Antong finished speaking, the whole room became quiet, even a needle drop could be heard.
The ambiguous atmosphere, silent seduction, sensuous posture, plus the warm and vivid touch made Xing Lixuan, who has been single for twenty-five years and has never had such close contact with his peers, have unsteady breathing and fuzzy thinking.
Xing Lixuan didn’t even know that men could act like a baby.
‘No, it shouldn’t be like this.’ Obviously his investigation results showed that Yu Antong was an ordinary college student who had no friends. He was a timid person with a very low sense of existence. A University was the best university in Jiangcheng, but it was not ranked in the whole country.
He didn’t believe that a timid and introverted person for twenty years would completely change his personality in one day, unless…
‘That’s right! Unless he did it on purpose!’
Xing Lixuan was sure that he had guessed the truth.
Yu Antong should have married him under the pressure of his uncle. In the final analysis, both of the marriage parties were forced. Yu Antong’s temperament has changed drastically, he must have made this appearance on purpose to annoy him, so that he would not touch him at night.
So in conclusion, the more eager Yu Antong was to have sex with him, the more afraid he actually was.
He had an acting skill befitting of an actor, it’s a pity he didn’t pursue the entertainment industry. Even Xing Lixuan almost fell for his act.
Thinking that he had guessed Yu Antong’s true motive, Xing Lixuan snorted and finally regained control of the situation. He no longer avoided Yu Antong’s approach.
On the contrary, he turned against the guest and pressed Yu Antong on the back of the sofa all at once, pinching his chin and approaching him.
The aura of this tall and handsome man bursted, making Yu Antong’s heart fell into turmoil.
Come, come, he wants to experience the happiness of adults!
In the next second, Xing Lixuan said coldly, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. I will give you one last chance, tell me what Yu Qingnian said to my grandma. Do that, I won’t touch you, otherwise…”
Yu Antong: “???”
‘What happened? Young Master, what are you thinking?’
Even if he forced him to answer, Yu Antong genuinely didn’t know. And if he knew, he wouldn’t answer anyway.
Yu Antong’s heart was filled with joy, and he became very playful.
He tilted his head and tilted his neck to avoid Xing Lixuan’s approach, “Don’t, don’t come here!”
In fact, the villain in his heart danced: ‘Come on! come! Hurry up and punish me forcefully without pity!’
