Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 359 Sword Rain, Roast Chicken, Why Doesn't Anyone Believe the Truth?

The town has many wanted criminals.

Li Zhaoting didn't do a strict count; he just looked at them a few times and found more than thirty. The most famous one was a young woman selling canvases on the street.

The woman's name was Zeng Jing. Three months ago, she married Jiang Asheng, a young errand boy who delivered messages. The matchmaker was an oddball among oddballs, and also a martial arts master.

Other matchmakers try to find young and beautiful women, and try to find some advantages.

The men and women this matchmaker brought to her for blind dates were either a handsome young man with a bunch of oddball women, or a young girl with a bunch of oddball men; she never brought a normal person, and she never made a single deal.

It's clear the matchmaker is having a great time.

She enjoys seeing the other person's expression change from expectation to disappointment and then to anger. If someone tells you, "I've prepared three blind dates for you, namely Yifei, Dilraba, and Yuanyuan," and you arrive to find three adorable female bodhisattvas in front of you, what kind of expression would you have?
Conversely, if someone tells you they're introducing you to six Daniel Wus, and when you arrive you find out they're actually the Six Immortals of Peach Valley, you're considered good-natured if you don't flip the table on the spot.

This is a matchmaker's "hobby".

She was the most unique matchmaker in the entire town.

She has never closed a single deal, yet she lives a happier life than anyone else. She is also the only person in the last ten years or so who has ever tricked Mr. Mai. All the other matchmakers have failed, but she is the only one who can embarrass Mr. Mai.

Mai Laoguang is a thief.

Making a thief lose face is a dangerous thing.

He could very well steal all your possessions, including the chickens in your yard and the eggs in your kitchen.

Old Mai is capable of doing something like this.

But he didn't do it.

He obediently accepted the matchmaker's manipulation.

They diligently prepare roast duck and roast goose every day.

Until Guo Dalu smashed her nose, Leng Xue took her back to the roast meat shop, and she watched helplessly as Leng Xue ransacked her decades-long fortune, and saw Li Zhaoting reach for the freshly roasted duck, Feng Qiwu roared to the sky: "The stolen goods are inside the roast duck!"

After saying that, he glared fiercely at Li Zhaoting: "You can't take my money! You can't take my money! Even if you can catch me, you can't take my money..."

Li Zhaoting: ┓(`)┏

I really came here to eat Peking duck!
Mai Laoguang was rather unlucky; he was arrested in the autumn, and with less than a month until his execution, his roast meat skills were lost forever, leaving only one batch left in the oven.

Li Zhaoting hated wasting food, so he decided to take all the roast ducks and geese back with him.

To my surprise, it contained gold and silver treasures.

Feng Qiwu's face was contorted with rage, his eyes blazing: "You've gone to great lengths, yet you haven't received a single penny. The Four Great Constables are upright and incorruptible; they won't share any of the money with you!"

Leng Xue almost laughed out of anger.

Do you know who this fortune teller is?
Do you think he'd even bother with this little bit of jewelry?

Originally, he really didn't care about these jewels, at most he would just take a couple of gold ingots to buy groceries. But after Feng Qiwu said that, Li Zhaoting really took a liking to these jewels. He took out a few white jade bracelets and casually put them in his pocket.

Phoenix Perching on the Wutong Tree: o((⊙﹏⊙))o
He looked left at Leng Xue, then right at Li Zhaoting.

Is he Leng Xue, one of the Four Great Constables?

The Four Constables are upright and incorruptible; how could they allow someone to steal stolen goods? Could the rumors be wrong?

"Brother Leng, I have a large family, so I need to give you some jewelry as a reward. How about this, consider this the bounty for capturing Feng Qiwu, I don't need anything else!"

"Yes, that's fair, I agree!"

He was cold-blooded and indifferent, and spoke very little.

"The Four Great Constables, you're all just seeking fame and fortune, you're all hypocrites! This is all my money! Put my money down, put my money down..."

Feng Qiwu knelt on the ground, letting out the roar of a wild beast at the end of its rope, howling in agony from being severely wounded in a trap. He seemed to be in a daze, coughing up blood from the corner of his mouth.

Feng Qiwu's greed for money is different from Huo Xiu's.

Huo Xiu had lived a life of luxury for decades. If you locked him up and starved him for a few days, he would buy a flatbread for 50,000 taels of silver and a pot of hot water for 100,000 taels of silver without hesitation.

Feng Qiwu was used to a life of poverty. Although he had several chests of gold and silver jewelry at home, he ate leftovers from customers every day and drank thin porridge and cold water. Plain noodles with garlic were a birthday treat for him.

Even if he were starved for three days and three nights, until he was dizzy and his vision blurred, he wouldn't utter a single word.

The clamping device used this method before, starving Feng Qiwu for five days and five nights. Feng Qiwu refused to confess even at the cost of his life, because the clamping device was greedy and unwilling to let the God of Wealth starve to death.

As it turns out, Feng Qiwu won his gamble.

A greedy constable cannot win against the phoenix perched on the parasol tree.

Only a constable who is not greedy for money can defeat him.

Being cold-blooded is more than just "not being greedy".

Leng Xue is the poorest of the Four Great Constables.

Firstly, he often fought to the death and was slashed until he was covered in blood. If it weren't for Zhuge Zhengwo's expertise in medicine, which saved him the cost of medicine, he wouldn't even have considered seeing a doctor.

Secondly, Leng Xue's swordsmanship is very special. His strongest skills are breaking the sword and wielding the sword. When fighting to the death with his enemies, he always breaks his precious sword when the battle is at its most intense.

Leng Xue spends 80% of his salary on these two things.

As a result, all three senior brothers have a side job.

A ruthless part-time orthopedic doctor, treating skin and flesh injuries.

Iron Hand works part-time as a blacksmith, mainly responsible for forging swords. Since Cold-Blooded's swords break frequently, he can just forge a piece of broken iron; it doesn't need to be exquisite and sharp.

Chasing Life works part-time as a deliveryman, mainly responsible for carrying the bloodied Leng Xue back to prevent him from dying on the way.

Looking at the seven or eight boxes of gold and silver jewelry, five or six boxes of haphazardly piled-up pieces of silver, and three or four boxes of rusty copper coins with rotten ropes, Leng Xue silently stared at the sky.

Phoenix perches on the parasol tree, what are you trying to achieve?!

Feng Qiwu could not answer this question.

He was driven mad by Li Zhaoting. He coldly took away Feng Qiwu and the stolen goods.

Li Zhaoting took away the roast meats and pots and pans.

Mai Lao Guang Roast Meat Shop thus became history.

Instead, a roast chicken shop was set up.

The shop owner's name is "Old Lu".

This name is very similar to "Mai Lao Guang".

Using the place of birth as the name directly, the difference is that Lao Lu's surname is Lu. If his surname were Zhang, he would be called Zhang Lao Lu, but since his surname is Lu, he would be called Uncle Lao Lu.

Since the name represents the place of birth, it is easy to tell that Uncle Lu is best at making roast chicken and braised chicken.

What are the differences between braised chicken, roasted chicken, and stewed chicken?
Simply put, they are all "braised".

There's no need to deep-fry the chicken; just blanch it and then braise it directly.

Roast chicken needs to be deep-fried and braised for a shorter time, resulting in a slightly drier texture that is firmer and chewier.

Braised chicken needs to be deep-fried and braised for a long time. The meat will easily separate from the bone with a gentle pull of chopsticks.

I want to know how good their roast chicken is. What should I observe?
The answer is, of course... braised chicken!
Chicken broth is not braising liquid, but a type of aspic that forms during the roasting of chicken. This is common in northern China, especially in autumn and winter.

Leftover stewed fish will leave fish jelly, which can be used to eat with porridge or dip steamed buns; one can eat three bowls in one meal.

The most common one, of course, is... pork skin jelly!

Uncle Lu is very good at making chicken jelly.

He called it chicken brine.

When Li Zhaoting, posing as a gourmet, explained the above theories to Wang Dong and the others, they chose to turn their heads away, refusing to listen to the ramblings of the unorthodox Taoist.

When Uncle Lu served a small bowl of chicken broth and a plate of freshly steamed, fluffy steamed buns, I dipped the buns in the broth and took a bite. I almost flung my nose off.

Even Wang Dong, the laziest man in the world, was attracted by the aroma and couldn't help but fight for the steamed buns. For Wang Dong, this was an extraordinary achievement.

Guo Dalu ate five steamed buns and said with lingering satisfaction, "I thought that after Mai Laoguang was arrested, I would never be able to eat delicious chicken, duck and goose again. I didn't expect that Uncle Lu still had such skills. There is always someone better."

Yan Qi exclaimed, "I originally thought that Lao Li was just pretending by only eating the chicken broth and not the chicken meat. I didn't expect him to be a real gourmet. I am from the same hometown as Uncle Lu, but I didn't know that there was such delicious food in Shandong."

Wang Dong nodded: "The key is that it's cheap!"

Wang Shenglan didn't say anything, she just ate in silence. She really liked the roast chicken and chicken broth that Uncle Lu made, and she had already eaten six or seven fist-sized steamed buns.

Martial artists who cultivate their bodies have abundant qi and blood and eat a lot, but such overeating is still somewhat inappropriate.

Li Zhaoting coughed softly.

Wang Shenglan looked at Li Zhaoting pleadingly, like an orange cat that clearly wanted to eat and wanted to protect its food, but dared not bare its teeth and could only smile ingratiatingly.

Li Zhaoting said gently, "Overeating can be harmful to your health. Since you think it's delicious, let's come back to eat here again tomorrow. The shop is right here, it's not going to fly to the sky, is it? Why burden your stomach?"

Li Zhaoting gently stroked Wang Shenglan's hair.

Wang Shenglan rubbed her stomach: "Hmm~ I really am not overeating. I do feel like I haven't eaten enough. Maybe it's because I have made a breakthrough in martial arts and my appetite has increased a lot. It's like I can't get enough to eat. I could eat a whole cow."

"what?"

Li Zhaoting was slightly surprised.

Wang Shenglan's martial arts skills have indeed improved steadily, but there has been no qualitative leap. In terms of body refinement, Wang Shenglan still has some gaps compared to top figures.

Of course, these top figures refer to Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and Li Cunxiao, one of the Thirteen Protectors. These people were martial artists who had reached the pinnacle of body refinement and possessed unparalleled physical strength.

My martial arts skills haven't improved, and I'm very hungry...

Li Zhaoting grabbed Wang Shenglan's pulse point.

This pulse...this pulse...

Wang Shenglan seemed to have thought of something, and looked at Li Zhaoting with great surprise, gently stroking her lower abdomen.

"I am..."

"I ate too much, and now I have bloating!"

"Isn't it... mine..."

"It seems your martial arts skills are indeed about to break through."

"It would have been better not to break through at all!"

Wang Shenglan was dejected and lost her appetite.

Upon seeing this, everyone burst into laughter.

Guo Dalu asked curiously, "Li Bansian, are you two lovers or husband and wife? Why are you always... always sneaking around? Are you being threatened?"

Guo Dalu racked his brains to organize his thoughts and managed not to utter any inappropriate words. Given Wang Shenglan's current state, she was truly as strong as a mountain, and if she wielded her Overlord Spear, even Li Zhaoting would have to back down.

Li Zhaoting said, "We are husband and wife, my lawfully wedded wife. Her family is quite famous, so when we go out for fun, we easily run into acquaintances who flock to flatter us. So we simply use aliases to travel around."

"Is your name also an alias?"

"My surname really is Li!"

"Where's the name?"

"My name is Li Zhaoting!"

"Pshaw! Talking big!"

　Old Lu is a character from the novel *The Overlord's Spear*, a work featuring Wang Shenglan. Wang Shenglan particularly enjoys Old Lu's chicken sauce. The original text describes her eating breakfast, dipping steamed buns in the chicken sauce. The buns were fresh out of the steamer, piping hot, while the chicken sauce was icy cold, creating a unique flavor. She had already eaten two buns, each larger than Deng Dinghou's fist.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)