I Awakened to a Farming TALENT

**Chapter 94: The Perfect New Year‘s Eve Feast (Part 2)**

Jiang Tingyun picked up the duck and swiftly chopped it into small pieces.

Heh. Once the feathers were off, the duck looked lean and fit — clearly well-exercised. A real free-range farm duck. Looked like the vendor hadn’t lied to her.

*Chop, chop, chop.* She cut at lightning speed. The duck was lean, but its rear was way too fatty. No thanks. She hacked off the duck‘s bottom and tossed it aside.

Zhu Lili, who was cutting pumpkin and sweet potato nearby, immediately stopped her. “Hey! That’s a big chunk of meat. Don‘t throw it away.”

“...It’s the duck‘s rear end?” Jiang Tingyun looked bewildered. Who wouldn’t toss that?

Zhu Lili‘s face stiffened. “Oh... I meant maybe Senior Brother likes it.”

“I don’t like it. When it‘s done, Zhu Lili, you eat it yourself.” Pei Jingmo walked in carrying the gutted and cleaned sea bass.

“Yes, sir.” Zhu Lili bowed her head obediently.

Terrifying. You reap what you sow.

Jiang Tingyun quickly took the fish. Nothing special needed for this sea bass — just stuff the cavity with ginger slices and scallion knots, marinate lightly with salt for a bit, then steam it directly later.

The star of the show was still this lemon duck. The key to the dish was the seasonings.

Authentic lemon duck required four kinds of sour ingredients: salted lemon, pickled ginger, pickled scallions, and pickled chili peppers. Ideally, you also wanted yellow plum sauce to get that special tangy, zesty flavor.

But Jiang Tingyun didn‘t have all the ingredients — only salted lemon and pickled scallions. Still, even if not strictly authentic, it would surely be delicious.

She sliced ginger into slivers, sliced garlic into pieces, then pulled out her precious jar of salted lemons. She fished out a few lemons, removed the bitter seeds, chopped them up, and set them aside. Then she dug some pickled scallions out of the jar.

With the ingredients just about ready, she turned on the heat, got the wok nice and hot, and added oil. She stir-fried the ginger, scallions, and garlic until fragrant.

Then she threw in the duck pieces — already blanched to remove any gamey smell — and stir-fried them vigorously. Once the duck skin had tightened and the excess fat had rendered out, she added salt, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, pickled scallions, and various other seasonings, stirring everything evenly.

At this point, she added some beer or water and let it simmer for a while.

Don‘t rush to add the salted lemon. If you cook lemon too long, it will definitely turn bitter — even preserved lemon works the same way.

Only when the dish was almost ready to come out did she add the chopped salted lemon, along with some green and red chili pepper rings for color.

The preserved lemon’s flavor seeped into the duck, both removing the duck‘s distinctive gamey notes and adding a tangy, savory, salty freshness to the dish. It was the soul of the whole preparation.

When that sour, spicy, mouthwatering aroma wafted out, everyone’s mouths instantly flooded with saliva.

Taking advantage of being the chef who needed to taste-test, Jiang Tingyun quickly tried a piece. The firm duck meat entered her mouth, and her eyes closed in bliss.

Made this way, there was absolutely no gamey taste. Sour, spicy, and salty collided on her tongue, mingling with the rich aroma of salted lemon. The more she ate, the more flavorful it became. So appetizing!

Seeing that the meat dishes were just about ready,

Jiang Tingyun sped up. She put the various steamed dishes into the steamer — besides the “Gold and Silver Mountain” prepared earlier, there was also a platter of sweet potato, pumpkin, and corn, which she called “Bumper Harvest of Five Grains.”

There was also glutinous rice mixed with lard and white sugar, steamed with assorted dried fruits and green-and-red shreds — typically called Eight Treasure Rice, but today its name was “Gold and Jade Fill the Hall.”

“Boss, the vegetables are all washed!”

With the steamer going, Jiang Tingyun quickly started on the vegetable dishes.

Stir-fried cabbage — this was called “Boundless Wealth Arrives!” Cold mixed water celery — today‘s name was “Diligent and Hardworking.”

None of these dishes were particularly special, but on New Year’s Eve, they were all given auspicious meanings.

Along with the previously fried meatballs, called “Reunion and Togetherness,” Jiang Tingyun had made a full table of ten dishes before noon.

“Everyone, this New Year‘s Eve feast is called ’Perfect in Every Way.‘”

Jiang Tingyun stood with her hands on her hips, very pleased with herself. She was such a little genius at naming things!

But the Qionghua Restaurant crew’s attention wasn‘t on her hodgepodge of random auspicious names. Their hearts had already latched onto each and every delicious dish.

Every one of those chicken, duck, fish, and pork dishes smelled so tantalizing. All the different aromas mingled together — the whole restaurant was so fragrant it was almost intoxicating.

Mixed in were the sweet scents of sweet potato and pumpkin.

Sweet, sour, spicy, salty, fresh — Jiang Tingyun had covered every flavor!

“Hold on, everyone. No sneaking bites yet. The ancestors eat first.”

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“A wisp of green smoke pays homage to the nine heavens.” [1]

Jiang Tingyun set out a square Eight Immortals table, brought out an incense burner, and lit candles and incense.

Then she placed the prepared dishes on the table, filled bowls with rice, poured cups of wine, and prepared to honor the ancestors.

She had no idea what the proper ceremony was for paying respects to the founding masters. She just did what she’d always done for ancestor worship — pulled out four long benches, faced the sky outside the door, and called out in all directions.

“Founding Master Jiang Ming, Founding Master Pei Jue, Founding Grandmother Zhu Wangxing, Founding Master Jin Chengdao — your juniors offer fine food and wine. Come and eat!”

“Dad, Mom, I‘m not in Suzhou this year. Grandpa, when you see them down there, bring them along to Qionghua Restaurant for a meal.”

Her voice trailed off. She murmured softly to herself.

Uncle Liu had finally finished folding a whole basket of gold and silver ingots. He found a meditation cushion from somewhere.

“Come, come, everyone. One by one, kowtow.”

Then he found a large iron pot and started burning the folded ingots and spirit money inside.

Strangely enough — whether because the weather was too cold or because the ancestors had actually come to eat — the steaming hot food cooled down completely very quickly. Not a wisp of steam remained.

When the last stick of incense burned out and the two candles had melted away,

Uncle Liu said cheerfully, “The founding masters are done eating! They finished really fast this year.”

“May all you ancestors eat and drink well. Bless all of us — keep us safe and healthy.” Jiang Tingyun chanted as she pulled the benches back.

The ancestor offering was complete.

Having eaten only an early breakfast, the Qionghua Restaurant crew had been working and hungry ever since. Finally, it was time to eat!

“Come on, come on — you guys reheat the dishes! I’ll prepare the hotpot. We‘ll start New Year’s Eve dinner now! Then tonight, we‘ll all go set up the stall and check out the night market!”

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**[1] Cultural Note — New Year’s Couplets :** The phrases “Sweep away the dust from the old cottage” (Chapter 93) and “A wisp of green smoke pays homage to the nine heavens” (Chapter 94) are poetic couplets traditionally written on red paper and pasted on doorways or ritual objects during Chinese New Year. The first expresses the wish to clean away the old year‘s troubles; the second is often placed near incense burners during ancestor worship, evoking the idea that the smoke carries offerings to the heavens.