Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System-Chapter 156 - 99: Watch Carefully, This Pot Will Smell Amazing!

Chapter 156: Chapter 99: Watch Carefully, This Pot Will Smell Amazing!

"Go find a job or something."

Li Younan’s words made the already closed and somewhat quiet hotpot restaurant seem even more silent.

Lu Xiaolan blinked, silently lowered her head, dipped a slice of beef tripe into the soup, put it in her bowl, blew on it, and took a taste, "Hmm... can’t quite tell."

For her, most hotpots tasted the same.

But maybe because of Li Younan’s words suggesting something was off, she felt as though something was indeed missing, but she couldn’t pinpoint what.

Chen Kunjie was slightly stunned for half a second. After confirming that Li Younan was serious, he nodded in realization and said, "Oh, you mean my work skills are so strong that if I found a job, I’d earn more than running a hotpot restaurant, right?"

Li Younan couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Chen Kunjie burst into laughter, then sighed a bit regretfully, sitting across from Li Younan. He silently lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, then turned his head aside and gently exhaled the smoke towards an empty area.

He only took one puff before he discarded the cigarette on the ground and put it out. He then asked somewhat insistently, "Is it really that bad? To be honest, I can’t taste the difference."

Li Younan didn’t respond as he added some side dishes into the pot.

Chongqing hotpot is fond of using a nine-square grid. In each square, Li Younan placed a different ingredient, silently waiting for them to cook.

Li Younan raised his eyes a bit, "Let’s wait for the hotpot to be done, I’m hungry."

Chen Kunjie blinked and nodded, "Oh, want a drink?"

Li Younan said, "A bottle of beer for me, get her a can of Jiaduobao."

He gestured towards Lu Xiaolan as he spoke.

Lu Xiaolan protested defiantly, "I want beer too."

And then received a light tap on the head from Li Younan.

The hotpot certainly wasn’t bad, in fact, it might even be better than some he’d had in Chengdu. It was definitely enough to fill the stomach.

But Li Younan had only taken a few bites before the spiciness brought tears to his eyes. Sighing lightly, he looked around and said to Chen Kunjie, "Could I trouble you for a bowl of hot water?"

Chen Kunjie looked at him strangely, "What do you need hot water for?"

But he got up to fetch it anyway.

Then, under Chen Kunjie’s utterly shocked gaze, Li Younan dipped a slice of cooked beef into the hot water before eating it.

Chen Kunjie expressed his firm disapproval of this way of eating hotpot, "You’re from Sichuan, man! Aren’t you supposed to be immune to spice?"

Li Younan ignored Chen Kunjie.

After a while, he stood up, "Got any fried rice?"

Chen Kunjie was still absorbed in the "soulless" way Li Younan was eating hotpot and shook his head instinctively.

Li Younan sighed lightly, "I had a feeling there wouldn’t be. But there must be some leftover rice from yesterday?"

Chen Kunjie blinked, "No leftovers, but there’s a pot from this morning."

Li Younan nodded, "That’ll do, the residual moisture should be about right..." He got up and asked, "Where’s the kitchen?"

Chen Kunjie looked skeptical, "You’re gonna fry rice? I can do it."

Li Younan gently patted Chen Kunjie’s shoulder, "Never mind, I’ll do it myself."

Chen Kunjie didn’t insist further.

Once Li Younan headed to the kitchen, Chen Kunjie turned his gaze to Lu Xiaolan.

Lu Xiaolan, not being a socially extroverted person, looked up in a daze.

Chen Kunjie chuckled, "Are you Li Younan’s cousin?"

Lu Xiaolan nodded.

"Do you smoke?"

Lu Xiaolan looked shocked and quickly shook her head.

"Then are you dating?"

Lu Xiaolan shook her head again.

Chen Kunjie laughed, "Then you must be a close cousin."

Lu Xiaolan cautiously lowered her head, her expression a bit odd, and started eating faster.

...

The kitchen quickly echoed with the noise of the range hood humming loudly.

Soon after, Li Younan came out carrying a large bowl of fried rice, holding three small bowls in his other hand.

He placed the steaming fried rice on the table.

Li Younan said to Lu Xiaolan, "Have some fried rice."

Lu Xiaolan nodded quickly.

Chen Kunjie stared at the fried rice made by Li Younan, with a slightly strange expression, and said, "Give me some too."

Li Younan pointed at the bowls on the table, "Help yourself."

The three of them each served themselves a bowl.

Li Younan was just eating to fill his stomach and hadn’t cooked with much care.

But his fried rice was different from the average, as he added some shrimp, creating a kind of seafood fried rice.

The fried rice was notably vibrant and colorful. The cooking was spot on, with each grain distinct, the egg golden and even, the shrimp both decoration and main ingredient.

After one bite, Chen Kunjie couldn’t help but glance more at Li Younan and sped up his eating.

After finishing a bowl, Li Younan still didn’t feel full.

After all, the hotpot was too spicy for him, so he hadn’t eaten much of it, relying mostly on the fried rice to fill up.

Unexpectedly, there wasn’t quite enough fried rice... Chen Kunjie, with no sense of decorum, went ahead and scooped all the remaining rice into his own bowl while there was still a bowl’s worth left, before Younan could react.

For a moment, Li Younan felt a bit conflicted.

Chen Kunjie, while scooping rice, said to Li Younan, "Make yourself at home, eat as if it’s your own place. If you want more, just go fry some more."

"Heh..."

Li Younan put down his bowl, remained silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Seeing you so down and out, I feel better inside."