Chapter 144: Cooking Fish Soup
Mutton soup is nourishing, and fish soup is also nourishing.
Yin Chengjue discovered that since he got together with Rong Yu, his skill in making fish soup had significantly improved.
This was Yin Chengjue's secret recipe fish soup. Before steaming, the entire fish must be coated with a special seasoning sauce and gently massaged to let the flavor penetrate, then placed in water to simmer.
The simmering process required appropriate stirring with a large ladle to ensure both sides were heated evenly, so it cooked through faster.
The method of stirring was also quite particular. Previously, Yin Chengjue hadn't known the tricks of the trade involved, hadn't understood the balance of pressure and pace, and had just stirred recklessly and wildly. His strength had been heavy and fierce, causing the perfectly good fish to fall apart, losing its form. Although the soup made that way was still delicious and rich, fish soup with disintegrated flesh often contained small bones. While it was tasty, one still had to be careful not to get pricked by the bones.
Yin Chengjue had previously been too rough, and was angrily bitten on the lip by the "prickly fish," the mark taking several days to fade.
Moreover, this had a significant side effect: after cooking once, the next time would have to wait several days later.
To ensure sustainable development, through multiple practical exercises, Yin Chengjue finally figured out the tricks of the trade and successfully mastered the advanced technique of stirring the fish with a large ladle without letting it fall apart.
First, the entry of the large ladle into the water could not be too rough; it had to be gentle, slow, and gradual. Upon first entering the warmth, one must not forget oneself due to eagerness and act too boldly. While that might have cooked the fish faster, it lacked the mellow aroma of a slow simmer over low heat.
The more it was like this, the more one had to adjust their mindset, push forward slowly, stir gently, letting the fish better adapt.
Only when the fish meat was seen slightly changing color, becoming more tender and fair, could one increase the intensity, stirring, agitating, turning the fish over and over to ensure even heating.
When necessary, he could first remove the large ladle from the water, dip the ladle surface into some seasoning, put it back into the water, stir gently, then take the ladle out again to taste for saltiness.
If the flavor was sufficient, he could put the ladle directly back into the water to continue stirring the fish. If the flavor was still lacking, he could continue applying the special seasoning.
After repeating this back and forth, he could cover the pot and let it steam for a while. During this time, he remembered not to take the ladle out.
After simmering with the lid on over low heat for a while, he lifted the lid, and a fragrant, hot steam rushed towards his face. The delicious taste of the fish had already blended into the soup.
This also meant this pot of fish soup was half done.
This was also the most critical moment in making the soup, because the fish was already cooked. If stirred forcefully, it would definitely fall apart. Then, with bones in the soup, one was sure to get pricked, leading to several more days without delicious fish soup. So now, one had to be even more careful, with deep and shallow motions, executing every step perfectly, ensuring the fish flavor infused the soup without losing its shape.
To make a good pot of fish soup, Yin Chengjue used ninety percent of his patience, finally managing, at the last moment, to cook the fish soup to the milky white color shown in the cookbook.
Yin Chengjue wiped the sweat from his forehead and face, looking down at the fish soup he had painstakingly prepared with his own hands. The intact fish was soaked in the milky white soup; the essence of the fish meat had melted into the soup through the slow simmering over low heat.
"Xiao Yu, look, my skill at cooking fish soup is getting better and better, right?" Yin Chengjue looked at his perfect masterpiece, his heart stirred, and he couldn't help but take out his phone, take a "click" photo of his finished fish soup, and hold it up to Rong Yu's eyes.
Because he had over-exercised at the gym earlier, Rong Yu was currently lying panting on the sofa, looking like he had no strength to pay attention to Yin Chengjue. It wasn't until Yin Chengjue put the photo in front of him that his slightly dazed eyes suddenly cleared, and he quickly tried to grab Yin Chengjue's phone.
Yin Chengjue raised his hand, not letting him catch it.
"Delete it!" Rong Yu said through gritted teeth.
Yin Chengjue comfortingly gently rubbed Rong Yu's back: "I think it turned out quite well, look how nice this fish looks, look at this fish soup…"
"Shut up! Yin Chengjue, stop talking!" Rong Yu's face flushed red with shame and anger, making a move to snatch Yin Chengjue's phone again.
"Xiao Yu, why aren't you calling me brother anymore?" Yin Chengjue covered the area over his heart, looking hurt. "So love disappears, right?"
Rong Yu: "How about you take the ladle out first."
Yin Chengjue shook his head: "How can that be? I worked hard to cook this fish soup, and I haven't had time to drink it yet. Using a large ladle to drink fish soup is the most delicious."
Yin Chengjue smiled again: "However, if you're willing to call me husband, I'll consider it."
Rong Yu said without hesitation: "Husband!"
Yin Chengjue instantly showed an expression of success: "Yes, wife, your husband cooked your favorite fish soup tonight, come and try it."
With that, Yin Chengjue took the large ladle out of the fish soup, also bringing out some soup with it, held it to Rong Yu's mouth, and said in a coaxing tone: "Come on, wife, open your mouth, your husband will feed you."
Three hours later, Rong Yu was lying on the sofa, and Yin Chengjue was sitting beside him, using a hairdryer to dry his hair.
After bathing, Rong Yu really didn't want to move a single finger, letting Yin Chengjue put his pajamas on him.
With someone helping dry his hair, Rong Yu could free his hands to watch videos on his phone.
It was still "Blood Mist," still the episode with Yin Chengjue's face. When Rong Yu turned on the comments, he saw the entire screen screaming about wanting to have Yin Chengjue's babies.
Rong Yu gritted his teeth, carefully looked up to confirm Yin Chengjue's attention wasn't on his phone, then moved his fingers, typing rapidly: Because of your comments, he comforted me for a long time, and even handed a bunch of little monkeys over to me for safekeeping!
However, the comments were truly too many, and Rong Yu's account wasn't a VIP member. The comment he sent was quickly overwhelmed and lost in the crowd of "ahhhh" comments, failing to make even a tiny ripple.
Rong Yu had to go to Weibo and casually opened the trending searches.
Looking closely, there were actually six trending topics related to Yin Chengjue.
Of course, just a single photo alone wouldn't have caused this. It was mainly because during the post-production editing, they intentionally zoomed in the shot, emphasizing Yin Chengjue's gaze. Just as everyone's eyes were on Yin Chengjue's looks, two trails of blood tears flowed down from his eyes.
This image was quite impactful, otherwise people wouldn't have come to blow up the trending searches.
Everyone looked at this oil painting, and someone suddenly had a bright idea, remembering that figure who appeared for zero-point-something seconds in the behind-the-scenes footage.
Going back to look again, they were surprised to find it was Yin Chengjue?!
It was just that the vampire character design required his face to be made paler, and the Yin Chengjue seen in the "Don't Look Back in the Dark" variety show was completely bare-faced. Comparing the two, the difference was quite significant, which was why they didn't recognize him at first. Now, with the comparison, it was instantly clear.
Yin Chengjue's Weibo quickly gained followers, most asking if this meant he was planning to enter the entertainment circle.
With a face like that, it was simply a ticket gifted by heaven!
However, just as everyone had started spontaneously forming fan groups, Yin Chengjue, who hadn't posted on Weibo for a long time, made a rare appearance.
Yin Chengjue iry V: Thank you for your concern. First, my cameos in "Don't Look Back in the Dark" and "Blood Mist" are because I invested in them. Initially, there wasn't enough funding to hire people, so I stepped in myself. Second, I already have a significant other. If you keep saying those misleading things, I really won't be able to appease that person back. Finally, since you're all following me, I'll mention this: the animated version of "Blood Mist" is in production. Yes, I'm also the investor. Please look forward to it.
[iry: love Rong Yu]
This short paragraph contained two explosive pieces of news.
One was that he was already taken, making fans who positioned themselves as girlfriend fans heartbroken and leaving. The other was that the "Blood Mist" animated version was in production.
The book fans and drama fans of "Blood Mist" originally came just for the gossip, but unexpectedly saw such explosive news and instantly went crazy, immediately calling friends to come see.
Both the variety show "Don't Look Back in the Dark" and the web series "Blood Mist" were currently highly popular, and Yin Chengjue had a hand in both. This made people inevitably believe in Yin Chengjue's judgment.
Since Yin Chengjue took over the company, he had only personally invested in these two projects under his own name, and both became huge hits. This definitely couldn't be achieved by luck alone!
After posting on Weibo, Yin Chengjue put his phone aside and said to Rong Yu, who was browsing Weibo: "So? I've already directly said I have someone at home. Are you less angry now?"
Rong Yu turned his head away: "You didn't say it was me."
Yin Chengjue poked his cheek: "It doesn't affect me much, but for you, if this gets exposed, your star path could be over. You have so much talent, you could definitely climb very high, let more people see you. You could go much farther; don't let this matter hold you back."
"I don't feel like this is a constraint..." Rong Yu said, then sighed: "It's fine, I know you're also thinking of me, I understand."
Yin Chengjue opened a document on his phone and handed the phone to Rong Yu, saying: "Don't overthink it. Here, this is the script I promised you before that I would help you write. I've already polished the original storyline. Take another look to see if there's anything that needs changing. I've already thought of a name, let's call it 'Traces of Ghosts.' The male lead searches for traces of the ghost by every means possible, only to discover in the end that he himself is the ghost. The male supporting role tries by every means possible to kill the male lead, but ends up being killed instead."
Yin Chengjue cleared his throat awkwardly, somewhat embarrassed, and said: "This is also my first time writing something like this. If you think it's not good, give me some face, don't laugh."
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