Perspective Medical Genius Young Master

Chapter 896: Chapter 898 Flashback

Tang Rong couldn’t hold it any longer. After five minutes, she took out her phone to check, but there was no news at all. This made her even angrier. Not to mention making a phone call, how could he not even reply to a text message? How long can it take to reply to a text? It seems like he really doesn’t care.

On Xiao Yifei’s side, following the address Hu Jingtang had sent him yesterday, he finally arrived at the agreed place before eight-thirty. As soon as Xiao Yifei entered the place, he felt refreshed and invigorated. The morning sunlight softly spilled onto the secluded path, and inside the two doors was a square courtyard, with houses in all four directions—east, west, south, and north—uniformly made of blue bricks and black tiles.

Under the locust tree in the courtyard was a bluestone slab supported by a concrete pillar, softly shimmering. There was a hand-pumped well, with a reservoir built at the water outlet. Standing in the courtyard, Xiao Yifei didn’t know which house Hu Jingtang lived in, so he patiently stood in the center of the courtyard, reasoning that they would come out once they saw him.

Hu Jingtang was preparing breakfast in the southern room. Looking out into the courtyard, he noticed Xiao Yifei standing there and quickly went out to greet him, "Xiao Yifei, you came quite early. I haven’t prepared breakfast yet. You go inside and have a seat. Linlin, you entertain Brother Xiao for a while."

After saying so, the old man pulled Xiao Yifei into the house, then spoke to a young girl who was busy inside.

"Grandpa, just sit back and relax. The food I make is definitely not worse than yours. You just have a good rest!" the young girl said while busying about.

Silently, Xiao Yifei thought to himself that this girl was probably his granddaughter.

Upon hearing the young girl’s words, Hu Jingtang seemed very pleased and said to Xiao Yifei with a smile, "This is my granddaughter, Hu Lin, currently studying at Peking University!" The old man’s face was full of unconcealed pride when talking about his granddaughter.

"That’s impressive! It means you’ve taught her well, raising such a clever child," Xiao Yifei said. For some reason, at this moment, he also thought of his own grandpa. Perhaps when grandpa mentioned him to others, he had the same proud expression.

"This has nothing to do with me. This child, I’ve scarcely looked after her since she was little. All her achievements today are the result of her own efforts." Hu Jingtang said.

"Absolutely, my grandpa was always too busy to be home when I was a child, where would he have had the time to look after me?" Hu Lin couldn’t help but interject upon hearing the conversation between the two.

"Am I not your real grandpa anymore, for you to roast me like this, not leaving me any face in front of Xiao Yifei," Hu Jingtang felt a bit embarrassed.

"That’s quite normal. When I was little, my grandpa was always busy treating patients every day, and I never really ate the meals he cooked. Lunch was always just a pack of instant noodles," Xiao Yifei added.

"You really had it rough, then. Although my grandpa was busy, he still managed to have meals with us every day and often cooked for us, too."

"But it’s been ages since he last cooked. Today, he decided to cook personally for you, waking up early to prepare the meal. You’re really lucky, I’m a bit envious of you," Hu Lin said.

"You lass, stop talking and focus on cooking. Do you need me to come and help?" Hu Jingtang said, seeing his granddaughter seemingly a bit overwhelmed, he went over to lend a hand, creating a harmonious scene.

Only Xiao Yifei was left sitting idly, feeling a bit embarrassed letting an old man and a young girl do the cooking while he, a grown man, sat doing nothing.

So he stepped forward and asked, "Do you need any help? Sitting here alone is a bit dull for me."

"No need, just wait another five minutes, and the meal will be ready. You’re the guest, after all, where would it be reasonable to have you cook?" Hu Jingtang said.

Before Hu Jingtang finished his sentence, Hu Lin handed him a cloth and said, "Since you’re feeling bored, how about you wipe down the table?"

Therefore, Xiao Yifei happily took a cloth to wipe the table. He always felt super awkward when everyone else was busy while he did nothing, so he would rather do something than be idle there.

Soon, the dishes were all served. Xiao Yifei helped set the dishes and chopsticks; in such an old-fashioned house, he felt as if he had returned to his childhood in his grandpa’s rural hometown. Back then, his grandma was still around, and he felt like the happiest child in the world.

Once all the dishes were served, Xiao Yifei couldn’t help but exclaim, "Wow, your breakfast is so sumptuous, even richer than my lunch or dinner!"

On the table, besides the basic soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks, there were four small dishes, none of which Xiao Yifei had seen before. But just looking at the colors of these dishes and smelling their aroma, Xiao Yifei was already immersed in the feast.

Unable to hold back, Xiao Yifei asked, "Do you eat such lavish breakfasts every morning?" Thinking of his own three meals a day—sometimes a packet of milk was enough for breakfast if he was in a hurry, and if time permitted, having one or two buns was already a great breakfast—seeing this really struck him today, and he finally understood why Mr. Hu wanted to invite him for breakfast.

"This dish is Beijing stir-fried liver, a traditional Beijing snack. It features a glossy, saucey red broth, fragrant liver, and fat intestines with a rich flavor that’s neither greasy nor mushy.

Hu Jingtang quietly listened to Xiao Yifei’s praises, then pointed at a dish on the table and patiently explained to him.

"Isn’t it said that breakfast should be eaten well, and lunch should make you full? I’ve never had big aspirations in life, just liked to eat some good food. This stir-fried liver, back when I studied at Beijing Medical University, a dorm mate from Beijing frequently brought this home-cooked dish for us, and we ate it all up in no time." noveldrama

"The school cafeteria’s food was neither filling nor affordable, so whenever he brought any delicacies from home, we would finish it in less than five minutes. Among them, this stir-fried liver was my favorite. Later, he even specially took me to his home, where I had a freshly made meal that I’ll never forget in my lifetime."

"It was so delicious that I begged his mother to teach me the recipe, and from then on, I started making it myself," Hu Jingtang said proudly.

Xiao Yifei picked up his chopsticks, tasted a bit, nodded repeatedly, and said happily, "It’s really delicious. Mr. Hu, would you teach me the recipe, so I can try making it at home too?"

It had been a long time since Xiao Yifei had such a tasty meal. He felt that nowadays many restaurants’ dishes taste the same—either overloaded with chili pepper or ketchup, without any originality.

He continued, "Mr. Hu, I didn’t notice you were a hidden gourmet expert, knowing so much about food. It seems I need to learn more from you in the future."

"There’ll be plenty of opportunities. As long as you want to learn, I’ll teach you everything," Hu Jingtang said, unable to contain his happiness upon hearing Xiao Yifei’s compliment.