Chapter 299 - Testing the Waters

Chen Yang took the opportunity to look around and noticed that nobody was paying attention to him.

Suddenly, he attacked and slapped Wang Hong’s buttock again.

“Ah…”

Caught off guard by the attack, Wang Hong instinctively wanted to cry out, but before she could make much noise, she quickly covered her mouth.

To avoid drawing attention from the people around her.

Wang Hong turned around and glared at Chen Yang furiously, hating him so much that it made her teeth itch.

It wasn’t the first time Chen Yang had suddenly attacked her like this.

But in such a situation, she couldn’t really say anything and could only storm off in embarrassment.

Watching Wang Hong’s embarrassed fury, Chen Yang snickered a couple of times, then went back to the clinic.

He set down the iced drinks he was holding and continued walking inside.

As he passed by an inner room, he heard the voices of two women talking.

Chen Yang couldn’t make out what was being said, but he could tell that there were people talking inside.

“Hopefully the village chief can find out something,” he muttered.

Unable to hear clearly, Chen Yang didn’t stay long and directly went to the kitchen to check on the hot pot.

Upon lifting the lid, he saw the water boiling furiously.

Lots of chunks of game hen were tumbling inside.

Though it hadn’t absorbed the flavors yet and both the water and the meat’s colors hadn’t changed, opening the lid released a strong fragrance.

“Not seasoned yet, it needs to cook a bit longer.”

Chen Yang put the lid back and then walked out of the kitchen to the backyard.

The hot pot didn’t need any additional ingredients now; he just needed to make sure the fire didn’t go out.

So there was no need for Chen Yang to stay in the kitchen all the time.

Moreover, the temperature in the kitchen was very high, unbearable.

Chen Yang stayed in the backyard for about half an hour.

Just as he was thinking of returning to the kitchen to see how the hot pot was doing, Wu Kexin suddenly came out of the inner room.

“Chen Yang, is the hot pot ready yet?”

Wu Kexin came out and immediately asked this when she saw Chen Yang.

But instead of answering her, Chen Yang walked up to her and asked, “Village chief, how’s the investigation going?

What did Ruoxi tell you?”

“She told me, but not much,” Wu Kexin looked back at the inner room then continued, “Let’s eat first.

I’ll talk to her more in the evening and update you then.”

“Alright then, I’ll go and check if the hot pot is ready.”

Seeing this, Chen Yang nodded and then went to check on the hot pot in the kitchen.

After boiling on high heat for over an hour, all the ingredients had released a rich fragrance.

And the broth and the meat had both absorbed the flavors well.

Chen Yang first picked up a piece with chopsticks to try, and it tasted very good.

It even seemed tastier than rabbit meat.

“The hot pot is ready, call Ruoxi out to have dinner,” Chen Yang called out to Wu Kexin at the kitchen entrance.

“Okay.”

Wu Kexin nodded and turned to leave.

Chen Yang put out the fire, then with a damp cloth, he moved the hot pot out.

He also prepared two pairs of bowls and chopsticks for the women.

Set up on the dining table, Yang Ruoxi’s mood seemed okay.

Her face always had a hint of a faint smile.

“Not bad, Chen Yang, you’ve got some skills.

I actually thought that without me and Sister Kexin’s help, you would be stuck with it until late,” Yang Ruoxi said, smelling the rich meaty fragrance from the pot.

Chen Yang chuckled, “It’s nothing, just basic skills.”

“Psh, you’re so full of yourself!”

Yang Ruoxi rolled her eyes at Chen Yang, then took the bowls and chopsticks he had brought and gave them to Wu Kexin.

“Sister Kexin, let’s dig in, the hot pot smells wonderful!”

“Mmm, let’s dig in, I’m starving!”

Kexin nodded, and then everyone started eating together.

The meal was delicious.

It wasn’t that the cooking method was anything special, but the taste of the wild chicken was much better than rabbit.

It might also be because they were used to eating rabbit.

As they ate the nearly stewed wild chicken meat, the two women praised it endlessly.

“It’s really fantastic!

Chen Yang, you are truly a master chef.

Every time we eat what you’ve cooked, there’s always an unexpected delight.”

Ruoxi praised.

“Haha, I think so too.”

Chen Yang nodded unabashedly, which naturally drew an eye roll from Ruoxi.

When faced with delicious food, naturally no one would talk during the process.

All three of them were focused on savoring the delicacies, so it didn’t take long for a pot of meat to be completely devoured by the three of them.

After finishing the wild chicken hot pot, it was time for drinks.

Burp…

All three were fully satisfied, sitting on stools, burping continuously.

“Chen Yang, I’m so full, and so hot, could you go to Uncle Niu’s house and get a couple of ice creams?”

After sitting and resting on the stools for a while, Ruoxi suddenly turned her head and asked Chen Yang.

Seeing Ruoxi sweating profusely from the heat, Chen Yang immediately nodded, “Sure, I want one too.”

Chen Yang stood up, then turned to Kexin, “Mayor, do you want one too?”

“Of course.”

Kexin gave Chen Yang an eye roll, as if to say it was a no-brainer.

On such a hot day, after eating hot pot with just one fan blowing, who wouldn’t want an ice cream?

“Hehe, alright, wait a moment then.”

Chen Yang felt his own question was a bit silly, so after a sheepish laugh, he left.

He went to Uncle Niu’s at the head of the village to fetch the ice creams.

By the time they finished the hot pot, it was already past eight in the evening.

By then, most of the villagers of Liuhe Village had finished their dinners and were about to head to the village square to enjoy the breeze and chat.

Just as Chen Yang stepped out, he ran into Aunt Zhang who was also heading to the village square.

Aunt Zhang saw Chen Yang and immediately asked with a smile, “Heading somewhere, Yang Zi?”

“Aunt Zhang, I’m going to Uncle Niu’s place to get something.”

Chen Yang replied.

“Oh, I’m going that way too.

Shall we go together?”

“Sure.”

Chen Yang didn’t refuse.

Given Aunt Zhang’s age, keeping company with Chen Yang, she naturally couldn’t stop chatting.

The clinic was at most three hundred meters from the village square, a walk of no more than three or four minutes.

But even over this short distance, Aunt Zhang managed to engage Chen Yang in a lot of gossip.

Asking if Chen Yang had a girlfriend…

who were those two girls last time, what was his relationship with Ni, if he was in contact with Zhang Xueying, how those two are doing at their family home.

Upon hearing this barrage of questions, Chen Yang immediately felt overwhelmed.

He somewhat regretted agreeing to walk with Aunt Zhang.

But since he had already agreed, and Aunt Zhang had asked, he naturally couldn’t just ignore her.

So he could only respond with a wry smile.

No girlfriend, all just friends, constantly in touch with Zhang Xueying, also taking good care of Zhang Xueying and her mother.

After answering, Chen Yang knew that if he stayed, Aunt Zhang would definitely have an endless stream of questions.

So before Aunt Zhang could speak again, Chen Yang quickly made an excuse to leave.

“Aunt Zhang, since we’ve reached the village square, I’ll head off first.

I still have guests at home, we can chat next time.”

With that, Chen Yang swiftly slipped into Uncle Niu’s house, grabbed four ice creams, and left.