Chapter 17: All the Meat for You

The vivacity in her eyes was simply mesmerizing.

It wasn't until the knife in his hand was taken away that the simple man snapped out of his trance.

"Then you do it. I'll go help with the fire." He averted his eyes in a fluster and muttered softly.

His reaction greatly lifted Lin Ruannan's spirits.

It seemed she wasn't entirely useless after all; at least she could still make this man lose his composure.

Feeling smug, she continued her work without stopping.

Using the thick slices of pork that Bai Cheng'an had cut earlier, she didn't change the cut but decided to make thick-cut twice-cooked pork.

Many ingredients are needed to make twice-cooked pork, and she had them all in her portable supermarket, but she couldn't find a suitable opportunity to take them out.

Seeing Bai Cheng'an still focused on tending the fire, she hobbled out of the house quietly.

Some spices were absolutely necessary, but what she valued most was the onion in the twice-cooked pork. That was the soul of the dish; without it, it wouldn't be twice-cooked pork.

After preparing everything, Bai Cheng'an's honest voice came from the doorway again.

"It's still raining. Why did you go outside?" His voice was full of obvious confusion.

Lin Ruannan turned around, waved the items in her hand, and smiled without saying a word.

"I didn't see those things last time I was over there," Bai Cheng'an said with a frown, skeptical.

Of course not, because she had just bought those things from the supermarket.

Fortunately, Bai Cheng'an didn't seem intent on getting to the bottom of it. Seeing her return with the items, he moved aside.

Sometimes, he really was quite simple-minded, Lin Ruannan thought.

Making twice-cooked pork also required boiling the meat first, and the pot of water Bai Cheng'an had boiled came in handy.

After boiling the meat and draining it, it was time to stir-fry the twice-cooked pork.

The fresh and fragrant aroma was something boiled pork could never achieve. Just smelling it made Bai Cheng'an's mouth water.

He had bought a lot of meat yesterday, and now that the weather was cooler, it wouldn't spoil. Today's portion was about half a kilo, with another half left in the basin.

The over two kilos of meat, mixed with onions and the peppers Lin Ruannan had bought from the supermarket, filled two plates.

The rice grown in Daliang was not particularly tasty. The grains were not plump and were broken into small pieces, looking quite unappetizing.

For Lin Ruannan, who was used to fragrant white rice, it was actually a torment.

She wanted to take out the plump, translucent rice from the supermarket to cook, but since Bai Cheng'an had already bought rice, she couldn't find an excuse to buy more.

Having only meat and no vegetables made the meal a bit greasy. Lin Ruannan only ate a small bowl of rice and a few pieces of meat, focusing mainly on the onions in the twice-cooked pork.

After finishing the onions from her plate, her eyes darted towards Bai Cheng'an's plate.

The big, rugged man could eat a lot of meat. Not just the flavorful twice-cooked pork, but even plain boiled pork without rice.

He shoveled rice into his mouth, making slurping sounds that were quite appetizing.

Seeing the girl across from him eyeing his dish, Bai Cheng'an thought she hadn't had enough meat and generously poured half of his plate into Lin Ruannan's bowl.

Lin Ruannan, whose bowl had been empty, was a bit dumbfounded by the sudden extra meat.

"Eat more; you're too skinny." Bai Cheng'an grinned and helped himself to another bowl of rice.

Since all his meat was now in Lin Ruannan's bowl, he could only scrape the oil from his dish into his rice.

"What's this red thing? Why is it so spicy?" he asked, holding up a piece of red pepper with his chopsticks.

"Chi... chili... chili pepper." Lin Ruannan mumbled as she moved the meat back to Bai Cheng'an's bowl.

"Chili pepper? What's that?" Bai Cheng'an asked again.

Lin Ruannan's hand froze for a moment, then she remembered that chili peppers weren't native but were brought over from the Americas.

This era didn't exist in any history books and probably wasn't from her time either.

It was perfectly normal for there to be no chili peppers here.

"A... a seasoning," she replied with a smile.

Bai Cheng'an nodded with a half-understanding look as he stuffed the chili pepper into his mouth. Seeing her still putting meat into his bowl, he couldn't help but frown again.

"You need to eat more meat," he said seriously.

"It's too greasy." After transferring the meat, Lin Ruannan also pushed the bowl of twice-cooked pork she hadn't eaten much of toward him.

Although she didn't know what he did for a living, it was clear that his strength required a lot of calories to maintain.

"You're too thin," Bai Cheng'an emphasized once more.

Lin Ruannan pouted and promptly picked up a piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth.

Thin? She wasn't thin at all, okay? While the twice-cooked pork was more palatable than plain boiled meat, it was still greasy. Eating too much of it made her feel uncomfortable, rather than satisfied.

With a piece of fatty meat now in his mouth, Bai Cheng'an frowned even more.

"I... I... I... I'll... I'll eat this," Lin Ruannan stammered as she picked up a piece of onion.

Seeing how tasty Bai Cheng'an's rice mixed with the meat juices looked, she also scooped some rice and mixed it with the juices left in her bowl.

It was very flavorful but also very spicy.

After eating half a bowl of rice, her cheeks turned red, and it felt like her mouth was on fire.

It was strange. She was used to eating spicy food, yet she was still affected. How could Bai Cheng'an, who had never eaten chili peppers before, not react at all?

Watching him eat the chili peppers as if they were just vegetables, she wondered if he even noticed the spiciness.

She opened her mouth slightly to ease the heat and quickly drank two sips of cool water, finally feeling some relief.

"Don't... don't... you find it spicy?" she asked, panting.

"Hm?" Bai Cheng'an looked at her, his nose slightly red.

Just from that one action, Lin Ruannan understood.

It wasn't that he didn't find it spicy; he was just enduring it! Seeing his red nose, how could it not be spicy?

"Want... want... some water?" She poured some water into a cup and asked with a tilted head and a smile.

Maintaining his usual expression, Bai Cheng'an took the water she handed him, drank it in big gulps, and let out a light sigh.

Holding back her laughter, Lin Ruannan used her chopsticks to pick out the chili peppers from his bowl.

"You... you... don't have to finish them," she said helplessly.

Eating so many chili peppers could harm his stomach.

"Okay." Bai Cheng'an, who thought he had to eat everything on his plate, probably realized the power of the chili peppers now and responded softly.

In the end, all the meat and onions in the bowl were eaten, but the chili peppers were left untouched.

Bai Cheng'an felt that the two meals with chili peppers were the most flavorful meals he had ever had in his life.