Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1289 - 658: Gifts of Appreciation

The first watch, asking for pink.

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Roast duck generally falls into two schools: hanging oven roast duck and enclosed oven roast duck. Both schools have their unique characteristics. Hanging oven roast duck uses an open flame, while enclosed oven roast duck uses a concealed flame, making it easier to control the heat with a hanging oven. However, hanging oven roast duck is comparatively more expensive because it requires firewood from fruit trees such as jujube, peach, and pear. Nevertheless, the duck skin and meat roasted with fruit tree firewood have superior taste and appearance.

Lian Manman personally prefers hanging oven roast duck. After comparing, she finally decided to use the hanging oven method. Based on her memories and information found in books, Lian Manman drew a diagram of a hanging oven. She remembered the saying, "one person’s wisdom is short, three people’s wisdom is long." After completing the diagram, she specially brought it to the study to show Mr. Loo and Wu Lang.

Lian Manman roughly explained the use of the hanging oven to Mr. Loo and Wu Lang. Mr. Loo, being well-versed and knowledgeable, was very interested in Lian Manman’s idea of specially crafting a hanging oven for roast duck. The final hanging oven diagram was a result of extensive discussions among the three of them, with Mr. Loo adding his refinements before it was finalized.

Looking at the final diagram, Mr. Loo expressed his anticipation for Lian Manman’s specially crafted roast duck.

Lian Manman smiled to herself, noting that Mr. Loo had a certain trait. If he were an ordinary person, he might be called a foodie. But since he’s Mr. Loo, he should be referred to as a gourmet. Of course, there’s another specific term for this trait—gourmet glutton.

With the design in hand, the next step was to find a craftsman to make the hanging oven. This task was entrusted to Lian Shouxin. To prepare the secret recipe roast duck, Lian Manman still had many other things to prepare.

For making roast duck, generally raising Hepu ducks is not enough; the best are stuffed ducks, which are raised by force-feeding. The method of raising stuffed ducks has existed since ancient times but hasn’t been widely promoted, so records are very scarce. Lian Manman has some understanding of this, but regarding the specific feed ratios and the amount of force-feeding each day, she does not have accurate data.

In order to acquire these data, Lian Manman decided to personally raise those twenty or so Hepu ducks. This way, she could adjust and determine the feeding data through daily observations and experiments. Lian Manman’s plan was that by the time she had this data, the batch of Hepu ducklings would be hatched and ready for use.

As for the preparation of the ducks in the secret roast duck recipe, including the method of slaughtering and removing the entrails, there are also strict requirements. Lian Manman explained all these to Lady Zhang, who, along with Han Zhong’s Wife, went to practice. Of course, there were too few Hepu ducks to use as practice objects, so they had to use the local ducks raised at home.

This task was not difficult at all for Lady Zhang, who was skilled in cooking.

The results of Lian Manman’s preparation work were most evident on the family’s dining table, meaning that the family could eat duck dishes almost every day. Duck meat is somewhat cooling, making it suitable for consumption in this season. Especially the old duck soup; after drinking it for a while, the family’s skin improved tremendously.

These preparations couldn’t be completed in a day, and Lian Manman was not in a hurry to achieve immediate success. Every day, besides personally taking care of the twenty or so Hepu ducks, she would visit the side yard to see Da Gui and Da Gui’s wife incubating ducklings.

Before the hanging oven was completed and delivered, Lian Manman still had plenty of free time.

Because she was initially preoccupied with the matter of the Hepu ducks, it wasn’t until the second day that Lian Manman had the time to sort out the various local products and gifts Wu Lang brought back. What Wu Lang brought back was a mixed bag of items, a vast array, and looking at these things was almost like seeing Wu Lang’s entire journey laid out before them.

Every little object could evoke a scene, and perhaps an interesting little story. Lian Manman and the others deliberately waited until Wu Lang was home to sort through these things just to hear Wu Lang talk about the scenery and amusing incidents he encountered along the way.

With so many things, apart from what they kept for themselves, Lady Zhang, Lian Zhizhi, and Lian Manman discussed and sorted out a few portions to give away as gifts. To the Zhang Family, Wu Family, Wang Youheng, and Lian Yeye. Besides these people, Lian Manman specially sorted out three additional portions, one to be given to Shen Jin, another to Shen Qian, and one to Master Chu.

On this day, after Lian Manman had prepared the three gift packages, she went to Nian Garden together with Mr. Loo, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi.