These cuīpí niángāo hadn’t undergone any processing beforehand. They appeared to have only been lightly washed and dried before being set aside to cook.

Unlike boneless chicken strips, which required considerable marinating before cooking, these cuìpí niángāo were truly unprocessed. After examining the niángāo skewered with bamboo sticks for a while, Liu Yuan put them down, shook his head at Bai Zhu and Lin Fei, and said, “They weren’t marinated; they’re just ordinary niángāo.”

How could such “simple” niángāo, without any processing, be made different from others? The group exchanged puzzled glances.

Just then, the first batch of cuìpí niángāo was ready. Wen Mingtang took them out of the pot and quickly picked up a sauce brush from the earthenware jar beside her, brushing a generous layer of orange-red sauce onto the two sides of the light yellow cuìpí niángāo.

The bright orange sauce coated the pale yellow cuīpí niángāo, instantly transforming the seemingly ordinary niángāo into something incredibly tempting. Freshly cooked, the niángāo were still warm, and the hot sauce released its unique sweet and spicy aroma.

Inhaling the enticing fragrance, Liu Yuan took a deep breath. Just as he was about to reach for the niángāo, he saw Wen Mingtang, who was brushing on the orange sauce, not stop. After finishing, Wen Mingtang grabbed a handful of roasted sesame seeds from a nearby sesame jar and generously sprinkled them over the rice cakes. The already appealing niángāo, now coated with the white sesame seeds, looked even more adorable, their color becoming even more vibrant.

While everyone was still drooling over the cuìpí niángāo, Wen Mingtang had already put down the first skewer and reached out to brush sauce onto the row of niángāo next to it.

By the time everyone belatedly realized what was happening, the first skewer of cuìpí niángāo was already in Lin Fei’s hand.

This speed… was truly astounding; no one knew when Lin Shaoqing had even reached for it!

Watching Lin Fei leisurely take a bite of the cuìpí niángāo, everyone swallowed hard and looked on expectantly: for some reason, Lin Shaoqing’s solemn, expressionless face paired with the skewer of cuìpí niángāo in his hand looked strangely comical.

However, Lin Fei, who was eating the cuìpí niángāo, didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. On the contrary, he appeared completely at ease, looking incredibly content.

He blew lightly on the cuīpí niángāo and then took a bite.

The crispy “crunch” sound as the crispy outer layer broke through the skin instinctively made everyone’s mouths water. When Lin Fei took a bite and pulled the cuìpí niángāo apart, watching the long, stringy strand of niángāo stretch, the unique soft and chewy texture of the niángāo immediately came to mind.

Imagining the soft and chewy texture of the niángāo beneath the crispy outer layer, everyone subconsciously swallowed. Fortunately, Wen Mingtang was quick, unlike the meticulous and slow process when making the first skewer of cuìpí niángāo. Wen Mingtang arranged the niángāo one by one, brushing the sauce back and forth several times on the surface of the arranged niángāo. In just a few brushes, the surface of several niángāo was covered with the orange-red sweet and spicy sauce.

Brushing sauce, sprinkling sesame seeds, flipping them over, brushing sauce again, and sprinkling sesame seeds – in just a few breaths, the cuìpí niángāo were ready.

This time, no one made the same mistake as before. As soon as Wen Mingtang finished sprinkling the sesame seeds, everyone immediately reached out to grab the cuìpí niángāo that had been brushed with sauce. In the blink of an eye, the whole pot of cuìpí niángāo was gone.

The cuìpí niángāo, fresh from the pot, were still steaming hot, and even if everyone wanted to swallow them whole, the heat wouldn’t allow them to do so.

Smelling the sweet and spicy aroma of the sauce, they had to blow on the surface of the niángāo slightly before taking a bite.

Although the cuìpí niángāo was simple to make, and I could roughly imagine its texture and deliciousness, the actual taste made me realize that their expectations were somewhat lacking.

The orange-red sauce was both sweet and spicy; these two seemingly contradictory flavors were strangely blended together. Unlike what they had imagined—just sweet and spicy—it also seemed to have a slight garlic flavor, a perfect finishing touch that made the orange-red sweet and spicy sauce even more irresistible. The cute white sesame seeds on the surface were not only pretty but also added a layer of sesame aroma to the crispy rice cake. One bite revealed the crispy outer layer coated in sauce, just as I had imagined, while inside was the soft, sweet, and glutinous rice cake itself.

Who hadn’t eaten niángāo? Perhaps it was the contrasting crispy outer layer that made the soft, sweet niángāo inside seem even more pronounced, with a subtle aroma of glutinous rice permeating the sweet and chewy texture. Once the stringy niángāo inside was completely broken and put into the mouth, the soft, sweet niángāo, combined with the crispy outer layer, infused with sweet, spicy, and sesame sauce, created a unique, slightly sticky texture.

This unusual texture made it increasingly addictive, one bite after another. By the time the first batch of cuìpí niángāo was finished, the second batch had already been brushed with sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds by Wen Mingtang and was ready to serve.

Everyone hurriedly reached for the second skewer.

Seeing the group engrossed in eating cuìpí niángāo, Ji Caimai took the skewer Wen Mingtang offered and asked leisurely, “Is your stomach still full?”

Knowing beforehand that Wen Mingtang was making niángāo, he had deliberately eaten less rice, unlike Liu Sicheng and Bai Sicheng, who hadn’t had enough and had half a bowl extra.

Especially Liu Sicheng, who had been burping earlier; it was a mystery how he had managed to stuff that crispy rice cake into his stomach.

Hearing Ji Caimai’s teasing, Liu Yuan held up the cuìpí niángāo in his hand, took another bite, and, while chewing and enjoying its unique “sticky” texture, said, “Didn’t Master Wen say before that snacks and meals might not take up the same stomach? I see this cuìpí niángāo is sweet, so it’s probably considered a snack, and I can still eat it.”

Ji Caimai looked at Liu Yuan, who had become noticeably rounder even though he saw him every day, pursed his lips, turned around, and took another bite of the cuìpí niángāo in her hand: Forget it! With such delicious food in front of him, he shouldn’t think about anything else.

After a late meal and two more cuìpí niángāo, Liu Yuan finally let out a satisfied burp, rubbed his stomach contentedly, and said, “Now I’m full, thank you, Master Wen!” As he spoke, he raised his hand towards Wen Mingtang, who was eating cuìpí niángāo.

Wen Mingtang smiled, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Lin Fei, who was taking out a thin file from his sleeve pocket.

Sure enough, the next moment, Lin Fei’s voice rang out: “Full? Now that you’re full, it’s time to get to work!”

(End of Chapter)

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