Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 29 "Grandma Lu" Enters the Grand View Garden

Chu Zihang's home is the "Peacock Mansion" in the east of the city.

Thanks to his uncle, Lu Mingfei had heard of this villa community, which was described as having the best location, the highest land price, and the largest land area in the city.

Lu Mingfei still vividly remembers the scene from that time.

My uncle, holding a newspaper, shook his head and spoke passionately, saying that even a random toilet in the Peacock Mansion cost more than his own house, and that we should be wary of capitalism. He said these rich people should be dragged off to hang streetlights!
But Lu Mingfei felt that his uncle at the time didn't really want to criticize capitalism; he just made that statement because he wasn't one of those rich people...

"This is the first time I've ever seen a villa whose land area is measured in 'mu' (acres). This could be considered a small estate, right? If you randomly pick one and walk around it, it would be about 200 meters long!"

Lu Mingfei looked out the window, glanced at the speedometer, and silently counted the time it took for the Mercedes to pass by the exterior wall of a villa. After completing the estimate, he couldn't help but sigh.

Chu Zihang's heart skipped a beat. He finally understood why Lu Mingfei had seemed so conflicted when he first asked Lu Mingfei if he wanted to come for dinner.

For Chu Zihang, this matter was actually very simple. His own people were his brothers, so what was there to worry about when he brought his brothers home for dinner?
But it was different for Lu Mingfei. As "Grandma Lu was visiting the Grand View Garden for the first time," she inevitably had many worries.

Just as he was pondering how to "enlighten" or "comfort" Lu Mingfei, he heard Lu Mingfei's next muttering.

"But with such a small area, it would be a bit difficult to hide eight hundred axemen, wouldn't it?"

So what does this have to do with the eight hundred axemen?
Chu Zihang cancelled the "coaxing and comforting" plan.

On the one hand, he felt that he couldn't keep up with Lu Mingfei's thought process.

Ambushing axemen... Is this some kind of trap? But even if it's the worst, shouldn't the ambush be machine gunners instead of axemen? We've been modernized for so long, the trap should also be updated to reflect the times.

On the other hand, he felt that Lu Mingfei didn't need his guidance or comfort at all. It would be strange if this kind of erratic behavior continued to fester!

Lu Mingfei had no idea what Chu Zihang was thinking; he was just a little nervous.

Just like an octopus squirting ink when it's nervous, the more nervous he is, the more he tends to overthink.
By the time Uncle Chen drove the car through the automatically opening ornate iron gate, around the sculpture fountain, and slowly brought it to a stop, he had already completed a logically consistent "story immersion."

"Dilu, you stay here and wait for me. I'll be right back!"

Lu Mingfei closed the car door, touched the Mercedes-Benz, and mentally gave himself some rather childish advice.

It's as if if he encounters any danger, this Mercedes-Benz will undergo a spectacular transformation like "Bumblebee" from Transformers and rush over to save him.

However, it's said that "Dilu" is unlucky for its owner. Who knows, this Mercedes might not be able to transform in time or stop in time, and end up taking Lu Mingfei a little further away, perhaps even to the underworld...

But Lu Mingfei didn't care about any of that. Did he want "Dilu"? He wanted to become Liu Bei riding on "Dilu"!

The Liu family seems to have a special buff when facing a trap, making them exceptionally adept at escaping. As for myself, being from the Lu family, with the same initials in my surname's pinyin, perhaps I could find some connection thousands of generations back?
"You must be Lu Mingfei?"

Lu Mingfei was pulled back from his daydream, which had gone completely off track, by this greeting.

He looked closely and realized that he was now in front of a huge living room that exuded understated luxury. This living room alone was more spacious than all the rooms in his aunt's house combined, and there was a beautiful aunt looking at him curiously.

The beautiful auntie is already middle-aged, but even without makeup, she is still a stunning beauty with a delicate oval face. With makeup, she would definitely be a beauty that could topple kingdoms.

"Yes, yes, I am Lu Mingfei! Auntie, you are so beautiful. No wonder my senior brother is so handsome; he looks more like you!"

Lu Mingfei offered a sincere compliment.

"Wow, you're so good at talking! Son, you should learn from me. I've never heard you praise me before!"

The beautiful auntie giggled, her voice clear and delicate, like a girl in her early twenties.

"Let's eat first."

Chu Zihang remained expressionless, as always, concise and efficient. He was long accustomed to his mother's girlish personality, which had remained consistent from childhood to the present. This was typical of women who were both beautiful and fortunate; naturally, someone would take care of everything for them, so they didn't need to endure any hardship or suffering to grow up.

"Ugh... What a disappointment!"

The pretty auntie puffed out her cheeks and looked at Lu Mingfei, "Little Mingfei, what about you? Are you hungry?"

After some communication, Lu Mingfei's passive ability, [Emotional Perception], has been activated.

His initial anxiety gradually subsided, and the way the address and inquiry were genuine and sincere, without any pretense.

As expected, like father, like son. Senior Brother Chu's mother is so kind and approachable!

Lu Mingfei secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately nodded confidently, "I've been looking forward to Auntie's cooking for a long time!"

If it weren't for the fact that the "meal" time allocated by the system was running out and felt rather urgent, Lu Mingfei would have been happy to dawdle for a while longer, but with the electric shock warning looming in the air, he had no choice but to give up.

"Okay! Eat more later, I think my cooking today was a great success!"

The pretty auntie seemed to be showing off, skipping and hopping as she led the way.

Lu Mingfei still didn't realize the seriousness of the problem. He still thought that when the beautiful aunt said "I think," it was a humble way of saying that she thought it was very good based on her personal taste.

Until he saw the dish on the table.

Actually, the other dishes looked quite good, with excellent color, aroma, and taste. However, this one was simply too eye-catching, and its flavor was too overpowering, almost completely drowning out the aromas of the surrounding dishes.

Have you ever seen a multicolored black? Lu Mingfei has.

Have you ever smelled something so burnt that it looks like pure carbonized material mixed with a salty, savory vinegar smell? Lu Mingfei could smell it.

The pretty auntie was standing in front of the dish, her face beaming with a "how about it, praise me!" expression.

Now Lu Mingfei finally understood why his senior brother had reminded him to eat less before they came – he was worried that he would be poisoned!

"This is……"

Lu Mingfei tried hard to search his mind for possible related words. He remembered that some obscure European literary works he had read in the literary society contained content about "high-end cuisine".

Foreigners tend to name dishes by combining the ingredients, their origin, and the cooking method, because the most expensive part is the ingredients; everything else is secondary. I'm explaining in detail where the money went, not to try and rip you off.

If we were to package it using their naming conventions, a dish that's popular all over China could be called "Old Sichuan Spicy Braised Tender Jade Tofu with Minced Lean Wagyu Beef Tenderloin in a Thick Broth," and we'd have to add "Limited Time and Quantity Special Offer for Singles" after that. That would be pretty much the right name.

The Chinese name for this dish is "Mapo Tofu".

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and could only make up words based on what he saw and smelled. He continued, "Salty and sour black truffles paired with a special Quanjude roast duck dyed coconut shell charcoal-colored dry pot"?
"It's braised duck with vinegar and blood."

The pretty auntie said, "I learned how to make it from my mom when I was little. I hadn't made it before, so I might have gotten a little rusty... but it's no big deal, it's delicious!"

Are you sure it's because you're inexperienced? I feel like you're incredibly skilled! Even a complete beginner who has never made this dish before would find it extremely difficult to achieve this flavor!
[Warning, it's time for our planned dinner. Countdown continues...]

Lu Mingfei had no choice but to sit down with a death wish.

A mouthful of charcoal won't kill you, but an electric shock might!

I'm not feeling well today, I think I have a cold and my head is dizzy... This chapter is to make up for yesterday's, and there will be two more chapters of today's later, but I can probably only write one chapter before 12 o'clock. I'll continue to write the second chapter tomorrow, and I should be better by tomorrow!

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(End of this chapter)