Chapter 113: Ye Qing’s Cooking Skills

Hearing Su Dai’s words, Jiang Yan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“Soil? I know a place where we can get some!”

She remembered that when the extreme heat first hit, she’d once used her jetpack suit to land on the rooftop of a building.

There were several flowerbeds up there.

Back then, all the flowers, grass, and trees in the beds had withered and died, but the soil remained.

No matter how heavy the rain is now, there’s no way all the soil in those flowerbeds could have been washed away. There should still be some left.

It’s probably turned into mud, so it’ll take some effort to dig it out.

“Where?” Su Dai was taken aback.

Right now, it was pouring nonstop outside, and everything that could be flooded was submerged under dozens of meters of water.

“The rooftop of our building,” Jiang Yan replied, putting on a mysterious air as she pointed upwards.

Su Dai looked even more surprised. “The rooftop?”

She’d already been curious about why Jiang Yan had moved to the Qianshui Bay complex, and now she found out Jiang Yan had even been up to the roof—this only made her more puzzled.

Though, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t that big a deal.

“Yeah.” Jiang Yan nodded. “You guys can go up and have a look. There are a few flowerbeds up there, and the edges are pretty high. The drainage is good, so while some soil has probably been washed away by the rain, there should still be some left.”

Actually, she knew that before the extreme cold arrived, there would be a day or two when the rain would stop.

That would be the best time to collect the soil.

But there was a problem: vegetables take time to grow from seeds to something edible.

And in times like these, seeds were incredibly precious and had to be used sparingly.

So, the bigger the vegetables could grow, the better.

Getting the soil back now was basically a race against time with the heavens.

“Alright, we’ll go up and check it out tomorrow,” Su Dai agreed. She still had some questions, but it wasn’t the right time to ask.

Meanwhile, Sun Jingtao and Ye Qing had already cleared off the dining table.

On the table sat an alcohol stove, with a shallow pot set on top.

There was food inside the pot, covered with a lid.

As the stove heated the pot, an enticing aroma began to waft through the air.

It smelled just like spicy grilled fish.

Even though Jiang Yan hadn’t lacked for good food lately, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.

Sun Jingtao set down the last pair of chopsticks and said, “Alright, honey, you and Jiang Yan can come sit down now.”

“Come on, Jiang Yan, let’s go taste Xiao Ye’s cooking,” Su Dai said, pulling Jiang Yan along.

Over there, Tian Jiliang, Ye Qing, and Sun Jingtao each took a seat.

“Haha, I’m the oldest one here, so I’ll shamelessly take the seat of honor,” Tian Jiliang laughed.

When he smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes looked deep enough to catch a few mosquitoes.

Jiang Yan didn’t stand on ceremony and sat right next to Ye Qing.

Once everyone was seated, Sun Jingtao lifted the lid off the pot.

A cloud of steaming, spicy fragrance instantly filled the room.

The pot was bubbling away.

It really was grilled fish.

To be precise, it was Chongqing-style grilled fish.

Normally, you’d marinate tilapia or grass carp with salt, cooking wine, and five-spice powder, then roast it in the oven until the outside was golden and crispy.

After the first roast, you’d wash and slice onions, cabbage, celtuce, lotus root, bean sprouts, and other veggies, lay them on the bottom of the tray, then place the fish on top.

Finally, you’d fry up a special spicy sauce with Sichuan peppercorns and fresh chilies, pour it over the fish and veggies, add a bit of broth, and simmer it over low heat or bake it again.

At the end, you’d sprinkle on fresh cilantro, red chili strips, and fried peanuts for garnish.

What they had now was a super-simplified version of spicy grilled tilapia.

Because the fish was big, the head and tail had been removed, and the remaining flesh was sliced thin.

The sauce seemed to be straight-up spicy hotpot base, stir-fried with extra dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns.

To Jiang Yan’s surprise, she spotted fresh bean sprouts and onions in the pot, along with tofu skin, kelp, and shiitake mushrooms.

The last three were dried goods that just needed to be soaked in water.

“Oh wow, this smells amazing!” Jiang Yan couldn’t help but praise.

Ye Qing, sitting next to her, glanced over and gave a shy, boyish smile.

“Of course! Anything Xiao Ye makes is guaranteed to be delicious!” Su Dai said proudly, and picked up a piece of fish for Jiang Yan.

Then she gave Tian Jiliang a big piece as well.

The lighting in the room wasn’t great, but Jiang Yan could still see that the fish was perfectly cooked.

The outside was crispy and golden, the flesh inside was white and tender, and with the spicy, fragrant sauce, it was mouthwatering.

Sure, the fish was mutated—who knew what strange things it had eaten?

But at this point, having food at all was a blessing, and no one was going to nitpick.

Jiang Yan didn’t mind either.

After all, if she was going to survive in this environment, she’d have to step out of her comfort zone sooner or later.

That comfort zone definitely included her usual eating habits.

“And there’s onion, tofu skin, mushrooms, and fresh bean sprouts! Wow! This is honestly the best feast I, Tian Jiliang, have ever had in my life!” Tian Jiliang exclaimed.

He’d once been an investment director at a listed company, used to high-end business banquets and all sorts of delicacies.

On a normal day, this grilled fish wouldn’t have been anything special.

The ingredients and seasonings weren’t exactly fresh.

Even the water for cooking the fish was rainwater.

Sun Jingtao and the others had made a simple water filter to clean it up a bit, but that was it.

But right now, when some people didn’t even have enough to eat, this really was a rare delicacy.

“We haven’t had a proper meal in months. Since we’re all together today, I thought we’d splurge and treat ourselves,” Su Dai said with a grin, picking up a piece of fish for Ye Qing as well.

“Oh, almost forgot—there’s this too! Since we’re all together, let’s have a little drink!” Sun Jingtao said, pulling out a bottle of cheap sake from under the table.

When they’d gone out looking for supplies the past couple of days, they’d found an employee cafeteria in a bank inside a high-rise office building.

They’d found quite a few good things there.

Most of it had spoiled in the heat, but they’d brought back whatever they could.

Tian Jiliang, though tempted, said, “It’s getting colder by the day. This liquor is precious—shouldn’t we save it?”

“No need! Let’s enjoy it while we can! We’re happy today, so let’s have a drink and warm up together!” Sun Jingtao replied, pouring a little into disposable cups for everyone.

Jiang Yan wasn’t used to drinking liquor.

But she didn’t refuse.

She was just here to join in the fun.

“Cheers!” Sun Jingtao raised his cup first.

“Cheers!” Everyone echoed, their spirits high.

Jiang Yan took a sip, and to her surprise, it tasted just like water.

All the alcohol had long since evaporated, leaving it bland and flavorless."