IRDFPFCIW Chapter 34

After dinner, Jiang Tang and the others sat in the courtyard, holding a glace of freshly squeezed tomato juice and enjoying the leisure time in the evening.

Lu Rongming excitedly shared funny stories from his time in the military with Jiang Tang and Qin Fei, while Chen Yisheng finally got to eat the honey-glazed barbecued pork he had been craving for days. He was in a good mood and didn’t interrupt Lu Rongming’s storytelling.

In a corner, Lin Yucang and Wen Renyuan circled the little snow wolf a few times, squinting and examining it closely.

Lin Yucang flicked his fluffy tail and asked first, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Wen Renyuan chimed in with a low voice, “Be honest!”

The little snow wolf squatted in the middle and tilted its head in confusion.

Seeing this, Wen Renyuan clicked his tongue in impatience, his tail flicking rapidly behind him.

Unexpectedly, the little snow wolf spotted Wen Renyuan’s wagging tail. Its eyes lit up, preparing to pounce.

Wen Renyuan quickly extended his front paw to press the little snow wolf’s head down. The snow wolf, which was much larger than him, was easily pinned to the ground, flailing its four paws. But it thought Wen Renyuan was playing and excitedly rolled over, ready to continue the game.

Wen Renyuan: …

Is this really a wolf and not a stupid dog?

He turned to Lin Yucang, “I don’t think it’s pretending.”

Lin Yucang looked at the happy little snow wolf rolling on the ground with some disdain. “Agreed.”

Jiang Tang lay in a rocking chair, taking a sip of tomato juice as the night breeze gently brushed his face.

Looking at the three fluffy creatures in the corner, he felt quite pleased. Look at how well they were getting along. Each of them was a good son in his eyes.

“Come here, little ones!”

Jiang Tang smiled and waved at the fluffballs. His smile radiated kindness at any angle.

Wen Renyuan and Lin Yucang’s lips twitched slightly, but it was too late. The little snow wolf had already darted over like an arrow.

Wen Renyuan: …

Lin Yucang: …

Wen Renyuan scoffed, “Boring.”

Lin Yucang sneered, “Flattering.”

By the time Wen Renyuan and Lin Yucang sauntered over, the little snow wolf was already snugly nestled in Jiang Tang’s lap, claiming the spot firmly.

They could only watch as Jiang Tang lowered his eyes and gently scratched the little snow wolf’s chin, patted its head, and pinched its ears.

Jiang Tang’s delicate fingers ran along the little snow wolf’s spine from head to tail.

The wolf’s tail wagged joyfully, almost creating a blur.

“Why are you so well-behaved, little one?” Jiang Tang was amused by the snow wolf’s appearance. The more he looked at it, the more he liked this well-behaved fluffy creature. He couldn’t help but lean down and nuzzle the little snow wolf affectionately.

Wen Renyuan and Lin Yucang: …

They felt quite sour and regretful now.

The next morning, Jiang Tang woke up to find the well-behaved fluffy ones by his side. He suddenly felt as if he were still dreaming.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he stretched lazily, and a kitten brought him his slippers.

On the other side, the little fox helped him adjust the blanket, smoothing out the corners.

Jiang Tang: ???

Wen Renyuan set the slippers by Jiang Tang’s feet and then jumped onto his lap. The serious expression on his face seemed to say “praise me”.

Jiang Tang was pleasantly surprised. Although confused, he still reached out to pat the kitten’s head. “You’re great, little one! Thank you!”

Wen Renyuan frowned. Just one pat and that was it?

The place in Jiang Tang’s arms was taken away. The little snow wolf next to him was so anxious that he paced on the floor, nuzzling Jiang Tang’s leg, which tickled him and made him laugh.

“Stop rubbing against me…” Jiang Tang lifted the kitten from his lap and placed it on the bed. He stood up and stroked each fluffy creature in turn. “What do you all want for breakfast? How about some wontons?”

After a quick wash-up, Jiang Tang headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He suddenly craved chicken soup wontons this morning.

For the chicken soup base, Jiang Tang preferred a lighter flavor. He added a bit of oil to the pot and then placed a piece of chicken skin in to grease the bottom.

Next, he added the chicken carcass and fried it carefully to avoid burning since there was little fat. Once the bones turned slightly golden and the pot had some browned bits, he added enough hot water to cover the chicken. After boiling, he skimmed off the foam.

He tossed in some ginger and chopped green onions, covered the pot, and let it simmer on low heat for a while.

While the soup cooked, Jiang Tang made two thin egg pancakes in the pan and sliced them into strips for later use.

Then he prepared the meat filling for the wontons. Using a food processor, Jiang Tang minced the pork and placed it in a bowl. He added light soy sauce, salt, pepper, egg whites and a little oil, then stirred in one direction until it became sticky.

For making small wontons, the meat filling should be slightly salty since drinking the broth is also important when eating eating wontons. The soup is mainly responsible for the deliciousness. The wonton wrappers are mild, so a bit of salt in the filling enhances the flavor, making both the soup and the wrappers tastier.

There are many ways to wrap wontons. Jiang Tang chose the simplest method for convenience: place the meat filling on one side of the wrapper, fold it over, and pinch the edges together. Since it was the dough he had just rolled out by hand, it didn’t need to be wetted.

Then he folded the wonton wrapper in half again, dampening the two corners slightly, and pinched the ends together. A small and delicate wonton was made in Jiang Tang’s hands.

Wrapping the wontons was easy. Jiang Tang quickly finished making the entire batch.

He dropped the wontons into boiling water. Small wontons had thin wrapper and cooked quickly. After one to two minutes of boiling, he fished them out.

In a bowl, Jiang Tang added a pinch of salt and light soy sauce for seasoning and placed the egg strips he had just cut. It was a pity there was no dried shrimps or seaweed.

Jiang Tang remembered looking down at this Earth-like barren planet from the spaceship before and seeing its blue-green hues. There must be vast oceans here.

When he had the chance to visit the beach, he might discover plenty of seafood. This would make their ingredients abundant.

Jiang Tang mentally noted his plan to visit the seaside.

Jiang Tang poured the chicken soup into a bowl, added the wontons, and finished with a drizzle of sesame oil and white pepper.

Having a bowl of nutritious and flavorful chicken soup wontons in the morning was simply the best.

As he scooped up a wonton to taste, Jiang Tang nodded in satisfaction. It was indeed delicious.

The little snow wolf sat patiently by Jiang Tang’s feet. Its bright eyes were fixed on the spoon in his hand. It had been following Jiang Tang around the kitchen, clingy but not annoying.

Jiang Tang chuckled. He scooped up another wonton, blew on it, and offered it to the little snow wolf. “I’ll let you eat one secretly first, don’t tell…”

Just then, Jiang Tang noticed from the corner of his eye the other two fluffballs staring at him with resentful eyes. His next words got stuck in his throat.

Jiang Tang: …

This damm guilty conscience.

In the end, he fed each fluffy creature a small wonton.

When he fed Wen Renyuan, the latter’s sour expression almost stretched to the ground, making Jiang Tang’s hand holding the spoon tremble slightly.

Jiang Tang inexplicably felt an odd atmosphere, but he didn’t expect that this awkward and weird atmosphere would pop up every few days for the next month.

Whenever Jiang Tang showed affection toward one fluffy creature, the other two would immediately notice and begin to stare at him silently. Jiang Tang could see the blame, grievance, and resentment in their eyes… mostly from the kitten and the little fox.

This forced Jiang Tang into the role of a water bearer.

But Jiang Tang was a certified fluffy enthusiast. Even if he was constantly scorned by the fluffballs while busily serving them, he never got of it and even found it painful and fulfilling.

“Tang Tang, do you need more pets? This one eats a lot.”

Hearing this, Jiang Tang glanced at Chen Jiesen, who was sitting on the sofa and stuffing the cat ears into his mouth desperately.

“What’s this… it’s so good!”

Worried he might choke, Jiang Tang poured Chen Jiesen a cup of tea. “That’s called cat ears. Eat slowly, no one’s competing with you.”

Upon hearing the words “cat ears”, Wen Renyuan’s ears perked up. He was secretly pleased. Not “fox ears” or “snow wolf ears”, but “cat ears”—ha!

“Oh right, I almost forgot the main thing.” Chen Jiesen clapped his thighs and pulled over a thin young man beside him. He gave an introduction, “This is Gu Chen. He wants to discuss a collaboration with you.”

The young man named Gu Chen was handsome and slender, wearing gold-rimmed glasses that gave him a scholarly appearance. He looked more like a recent college graduate than a businessman.

“Hello, Mr. Jiang Tang.”

Jiang Tang had a good impression of Gu Chen and shook his hand. “Hello, no need to be so formal. You can just call me Jiang Tang.”

“Jiang Tang,” Gu Chen changed his words naturally, “I heard from Chen Jiesen that you’re looking for a reliable partner, so I took the liberty of visiting to strive for an opportunity of collaboration.”

Although Jiang Tang didn’t show it on his face, he was a bit surprised by Gu Chen’s use of “strive.”

Gu Chen explained that his family was skeptical about “natural foods”. Their family business had not ventured much into the field of natural food, but he had discovered big opportunities within it.

He had previously been involved in selling natural foods, but getting them was challenging, and only a few nobles were willing to pay. Gu Chen had begun to doubt his initial ideas until he discovered Jiang Tang’s live stream through Chen Jiesen’s recommendation.

Jiang Tang’s live stream reignited Gu Chen’s hopes like a spark in the dark.

After a detailed discussion, Jiang Tang was very satisfied with Gu Chen and decided to collaborate with him. Just as they were about to delve deeper into their exchange, a fluffy creature suddenly dashed over from nowhere.

The little snow wolf rushed into Jiang Tang’s arms, whining as if seeking affection, looking a bit wronged.

The other two followed closely behind but lagged a step. They could only stare unkindly at Jiang Tang and the little snow wolf in his arms.

Jiang Tang gently stroked the fluffy creature in his arms and asked softly. “What’s wrong, little one?”

Seeing the little snow wolf obediently letting Jiang Tang pet it and seeking his affection, Gu Chen’s mouth opened into an O shape in surprise.

Cousin… cousin?!