Novel Bin Chapter 116 – Beancurd’s Past Life Must be a Virgin Maiden […what’s with this title?]
Chapter 116 – Beancurd’s Past Life Must be a Virgin Maiden [...what’s with this title?]
The beans that have been steeping over night have almost reached the optimum stage. Mike placed the beans into the grinding machine and while the machine worked to grind the beans into paste, he did the prep work for making [Juicy Burgers]. In the middle of his work, Mike glanced over at Abbé Mia who was sitting quietly by herself in the dining room. Since he had prepared a couple more handfuls of soybeans last night, he could let her try this new food and gauge the taste of the locals here.
The filtered soy milk was then placed in the iron pot to be cooked, and the fragrance of soybeans soon began to float out of the kitchen.
“What a lovely scent of soybeans.” Abbé Mia’s eyes brightened. The smell sent her back to her childhood where her mother used to let handfuls of beans soak overnight in a bowl. The softened beans would then be simmered over a low fire with a pinch of salt. The smell that filled their tiny room was just like this. The soybeans cooked by her mother were sweet and fragrant. Only, it’s been years since she had eaten soybeans. Could it be that Boss Mike is making boiled soybeans?
Once the [Beancurd] was done, he scooped out two bowls of it, drizzled savoury sauce and assorted condiments on one, and served the other in a crystal like syrup. Mike placed both bowls in front of Abbé Mia and smiled, “These are the new products. They are called [Beancurds], please try them.”
“[Beancurds]?” Abbé Mia looked at the two white china bowls with bright eyes. The soft, slightly wobbly thing in the porcelain bowls looked even whiter than the bowl itself. The way it jiggled when placed on table made it looked very cute and that itself certainly tempted her to try some.
The one on her left smelled of sweet syrup, while the other one looked more extravagant with its finely chopped toppings and well coordinated colours. The subtle scent of fragrant soybeans and sweet syrup caught her nose and dragged her attention away from the right bowl and she soon found herself mesmerized by the crystal like quality of the dark orange syrup.
“This one here is called [Sweet Beancurd] and the other one is [Savoury Beancurd], you’re welcome to pick whichever one you like to eat first.” Mike said, Abbé Mia’s expression was really easy to read.
“But, it’s not even afternoon yet.” Abbé Mia looked up at Mike, then at the [Beancurds] in front of her, clearly at a loss.
“These are dishes that haven’t gone public yet, so tasting them would be considered part of your job. So, go ahead, ba.” Mike smiled, her thoughts were really straightforward and easy to guess.
Abbé Mia’s eyes brightened, who knew that this job also have taste testing as part of its work. Though both bowls of [Beancurds] looked really delicious, the one on the left tugged at her heartstrings a bit more. She looked up shyly, “Then... can I try the sweet one?”
“Of course.” Mike’s smile was a little forced, feeling a tiny bit defeated. For other world people who had never even seen [Beancurds] before, it looked like they’ll most likely lean towards sweet ones when given a choice between sweet and savoury.
However, he was now the boss of a restaurant, and had already decided to abstain from the Sweet vs Savoury dispute. It could be said that he was now starting to understand that every individual have their own likes and dislikes.
Like Moby, who always starts his day almost religiously with a [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] and never ordered a second [Juicy Burger] after trying it out that first time. Whereas Sargerass came exclusively for the [Juicy Burger] and nothing else. As the boss of a restaurant, he came to this understanding after seeing incidents like these with his own eyes.
This restaurant will continue to sell both sweet and savoury [Beancurds] without discrimination. And while he could foresee that customers might prefer the sweet variety more, it probably would not degenerate into something like the North Faction vs South Faction Beancurd Dispute in his past life. The sweet vs savoury rivalry in this world probably won’t be too bad.
With Mike’s permission, Abbé Mia carefully lifted the left bowl and carried it closer to herself. She picked up a white porcelain spoon made from the same material as the bowl and slid it at an angle into the [Beancurd].
The texture was kind of like cooked egg yolk, but bouncier. The small cut she made in the [Beancurd] was looked pure white, but was soon covered by the sticky dark gold syrup. She slowly lifted her spoon with a bit of the [Beancurd] on her spoon. The little mountain wobbled at every move, and the syrup seemed to make it sparkle as she brought it close to her eye. It was like looking at some kind of delicate piece of art.
“How pretty.” Abbé Mia seemed to have gone silly from the mesmerizing sight of the [Beancurd]. Soon, however, the sweet smell tempted her so much that she almost unconsciously closed her mouth over the spoon. The sweet and tender warmth of the [Beancurd] filled her mouth, the rich, sticky texture of the syrup was strong, band blended perfectly with the gentle flavour of the soybean. The sensation in her mouth was so sublime that her eyes just slid shut in ecstasy.
The sweet sensation enveloped her whole being, it was as though she had fallen with a gentle plop into a pool filled with candy, all she had to do was reach out and she could grab all the best candies in the world. This was her childhood dream. From a very young age, sweets and candies were incredible luxuries for her. The days she went to bed starving were so numerous that she did not even dare to expect sweets in her life.
A tear rolled down her cheek from the corner of Abbé Mia’s eye and fell with a plop onto the table. This feeling of sublime happiness was so potent that she had no words to describe it.
When she swallowed the mouthful of [Beancurd], there was no weird after taste, only the gentle fragrance of soybeans was left in her mouth along with a subtle sweetness. She opened her eyes and stared into the bowl of in front of her, and could not resist another spoonful, and another, and another, and somehow it felt like the deliciousness of the [Beancurd] was pushed further and higher and-
[Ting!]
The spoon chimed gently against the bowl. Abbé Mia blinked, left within the bowl was a tiny pool of the red syrup. All of the [Beancurd] had been eaten up, however she could not resist the urge to pick up the little bowl and swiped the bottom of the bowl with her tongue, this sweetness was just too mesmerising.
“Is it good?” Mike asked expectantly, though he had some idea what Abbé Mia’s answer would be since he had seen her lick the bowl with his own eyes,
“En, en, it’s super delicious. It’s sweet, and soft and just too, too perfectly delicious!” Abbé Mia’s cheeks were bright red as she set her bowl down. The day before she had already embarrassed herself once by licking a plate, but this flavour was just too amazingly delicious and she could barely stop herself at just one lick.
She paused, and then rubbed her cheeks thoughtfully and said with glee, “Also, my cheeks feels really cool and refreshing, I think my skin is more tender than usual.”
“It has a beautifying effect?” Mike was surprised by this unexpected news. He’d been expecting some special effects from the [Beancurd] ingredients, but he never expected it to beautify the skin. This would be an irresistible temptation for women, especially if the effects proved to be universal. He could already foresee women flocking over to eat the [Beancurd] for the sake of beautifying themselves.
“Would you like to try the savoury one?” Mike looked at Abbé Mia questioningly, it’s possible that Abbé Mia is partial to the [Sweet Beancurd] only because she’d only tried one type of [Beancurd]. It’s possible that she might change her mind if she tried the [Savoury Beancurd]].
“No need, I feel that [Sweet Beancurd] has to be the most delicious.” Abbé Mia shook her head, rejecting his offer. In her mind, the happiness evoked by such pure sweetness was simply irreplaceable, she just couldn’t imagine [Beancurds] being savoury at all.
[Translator: Ahahaha, I have a feeling that Mike will probably be quite depressed from this...] [Gumihou is sorry for the late chapter, she has an interview tomorrow and as mentioned earlier, April updates will most likely be scattered...]