Chapter 91

Hanying glanced at Xu Mo upon hearing this, then laughed and said, "It is quite bright." She then asked the little girl a few questions, mostly about her age, and the little girl answered them one by one.

After some time, the chicken was cooked. Xu Mo took it out of the fire, let it cool slightly, and then tapped the surface with a multi-functional dagger, causing the dry mud to fall off, revealing the tender white chicken inside.

As soon as the chicken was exposed to the air, a fragrant aroma mixed with the smell of meat filled the room. Everyone in the house, upon smelling the aroma, couldn't help but take a deep breath, and a整齐的 'sigh' of inhalation echoed through the room. There was no way to resist; the aroma was simply too enticing.

Hanying had once eaten meat soup cooked by monkeys in the Cloud-Breaking Mountains, which was still better, but the others couldn't help but drool.

Ding Jian stared deeply at the chicken a few times, inhaling the scent as if intoxicated, "This smell, this smell, heaven..." As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, unable to find the right words to describe it. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and looked at Xu Mo, guessing uncertainly, "This fragrance... this fragrance... could it be because of those roots and tree barks?"

Xu Mo nodded.

Ding Jian's face was full of disbelief, and he said, "How is that possible? Each of those roots and tree barks smells terrible, how could they become so fragrant after roasting?"

Though he said this, the facts before his eyes left him no choice but to believe.

Each of those roots and tree barks indeed had a strong, pungent smell, and each was extremely unpleasant. However, when mixed together, they transformed completely. But such a transformation could only be achieved with Xu Mo's powerful sense of smell.

"Husband!" The woman in the northwest corner, upon smelling the fragrance, couldn't help but gently push the man next to her, cooing, "I want to eat chicken."

The man, helpless, stood up again and walked over to Xu Mo and the others. From the conversation between Ding Jian and Xu Mo, he understood that the chicken was made by Xu Mo, and Ding Jian was just along for the ride. Therefore, he ignored Ding Jian and spoke only to Xu Mo.

With a smiling face and a pleading tone, he said, "Friend, I'll give you ten thousand yuan for this chicken, how about it?"

Ding Jian waved his hand at him, impatiently saying, "Get lost, get lost!" After a pause, he couldn't help but curse, "Ten thousand yuan! You have the nerve to say that. If I had such a chicken, I'd sell it to you for ten thousand yuan."

He then mocked, "Looking at your wretched appearance, you've never seen anything. The Imperial Feast at the Jingji Grand Hotel in the capital costs 88,888 yuan per dish. To be honest, I've had the Imperial Feast, and in terms of taste, even if it were a hundred times better, it wouldn't match this chicken."

The man nodded repeatedly, but in his heart, he was not convinced. He had heard of the Imperial Feast, thinking that the high price was due to the elaborate presentation, with taste being secondary. The main reason was the rarity of the ingredients, some of which were even endangered species. How could it not be expensive? This chicken smelled good, but who knew how it would taste. Even if it tasted good, it was just a common wild chicken. How could it be compared to the Imperial Feast?

Thinking this, but seeing the other party's attitude, he knew that ten thousand yuan would not be enough to buy the chicken. He then changed his offer, "Friend, how about ten thousand yuan for half the chicken? This chicken is so big, you might not finish it anyway."

He was still speaking to Xu Mo.

Xu Mo didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of change. Not long ago, he couldn't even find a lousy job. Now, he had just made a chicken, and someone was willing to pay ten thousand yuan for half of it, begging him to sell it. In just a few years, the world had changed so unexpectedly.

He couldn't help but look at Hanying, who seemed to guess his thoughts and looked back at him. Their eyes met, and Hanying couldn't help but reach out, gently holding his hand and smiling.

Ding Jian glared at the man, shouting, "Get lost, or I'll beat you up!"

The man continued to plead, raising his offer several times, eventually reaching fifty thousand yuan, but Xu Mo ignored him. The man, feeling disheartened, finally stopped and walked away.

The young woman with him couldn't help but throw a tantrum, tearing at his clothes and scolding him. The man tried his best to calm her down with countless kind words.

Xu Mo knocked off all the mud, and the chicken was still hot. He wrapped his hand in a clean cloth, tore off the two chicken legs, and gave them to Hanying.

Hanying, seeing his care, was delighted and said, "How can I eat so much?"

Xu Mo said, "Eat it, it's fine if you can't finish it."

Hanying thought for a moment and gave one of the chicken legs to the little girl named Mengmeng.

Xu Mo was surprised and then tore off the two chicken wings to give her.

He then used the multi-functional dagger to cut the chicken in half, giving one half to Ding Jian. The seasoning for the chicken was made from roots and tree barks, and the taste was not the best, at least not refined.

He could have chosen not to eat it, but if he didn't eat the chicken he had roasted, others might think he was being pretentious. After all, explaining the concept of abstaining from food in a few words was impossible, and who would believe him if he said it?

The little girl named Mengmeng came from a wealthy family and was used to eating good food. She took a bite of the chicken and immediately called out to her mother, "Mom! Mom! The chicken this uncle made is so delicious." She stood up, ran to her mother, and offered the chicken leg to her, saying, "Mom! Try it, it's really delicious! Mom!"

"Go ahead, I don't eat," the little girl's mother said.

Xu Mo, hearing her voice, was startled. The woman's voice was hoarse, and her breathing was so weak that it seemed even speaking a sentence was a struggle.

The little girl, unaware of her mother's condition, simply said, "Oh," and started eating.

The little girl's mother looked at her and suddenly said, "Mengmeng, who gave you the chicken leg?" Her tone was slightly stern, as if she was using the opportunity to teach her daughter a lesson.

The little girl pointed at Hanying and said, "This auntie."

The little girl's mother asked, "What did Mom teach you?"

The little girl was taken aback, looked at her mother, and then realized, saying to Hanying, "Thank you, auntie."

Hanying smiled and replied, "You're welcome."

The little girl then looked at Xu Mo, "Thank you, uncle," and turned to Ding Jian, "And this uncle."

Xu Mo, seeing the little girl's mother teaching her, smiled and nodded at the little girl. The little girl, meeting his gaze, shyly turned away, seemingly afraid to look at him.

Ding Jian took the opportunity to ask the little girl's father, "Going home?"

The little girl's father was taken aback and then said, "No, taking my wife to see a doctor."

Ding Jian said, "Oh," and looked at the little girl's mother, then asked, "The old doctor in this forest?"

The little girl's father nodded, his expression serious and worried, clearly concerned about his wife's illness.

Ding Jian didn't say anything more.

Hanying, concerned, asked, "What's wrong with her?"

The little girl's parents seemed to have a hard time explaining, looking at each other. Finally, the little girl's father said, "A strange illness, we're not sure what it is, we have to see the doctor to know." He sighed, his voice filled with sorrow.

Hanying, hearing this, didn't ask any more.

Ding Jian took a few bites of the chicken and then asked Xu Mo, "What do you do?"

Xu Mo, hearing this, didn't know how to answer. Hanying answered for him, "He... runs a restaurant."

Ding Jian was surprised, "Where is your restaurant? I've never heard of it. With your boyfriend's cooking skills, your restaurant should be famous."

Hanying said, "The... restaurant hasn't opened yet."

Ding Jian said, "Oh," and then to Xu Mo, "I have a friend who runs a five-star hotel in the capital. Are you interested in joining? The salary is negotiable."

The hotel was his friend's, not his, but the taste of the chicken made him confident enough to speak on his friend's behalf. He was sure his friend would be grateful. He hadn't seen Xu Mo cook before, but just this one dish of Beggar's Chicken was more than enough to be the head chef at any five-star hotel.

This dish could even become the hotel's signature dish, significantly enhancing its status. He could clearly foresee that once this dish was introduced, all the wealthy food enthusiasts in the capital would soon wear out the threshold of his friend's hotel.

Xu Mo shook his head, "Sorry, I don't have such plans for now."

He had faced many hardships in his job search, being discarded like a piece of trash. Living in the wilderness had cleansed his soul, but the shadow of those experiences still lingered. If nothing unexpected happened, he would never work under someone else again.

Ding Jian shook his head, deeply regretful, "That's too bad."

He then took out a business card, handed it to Xu Mo, and said, "If you change your mind, you can call me anytime."

At this moment, the little girl's father's phone rang. He took it out, looked at it, and his face lit up. He answered, "Hello! We're here."