Chapter 204: Why Does the "Beef Offal" Soup at Your Place Feel Like a Bomb?
Lin Yibai carried the bull p**** in her hand. Her heart was excited, and her hands were shaking. She had seen this thing before, but never eaten it!
Luckily, cooking it was pretty easy. Just remove the smell, then slowly stew it over low heat.
She was still young, so even though her body was a bit weak, eating a little for herself was fine. But giving it to her love rival to eat? Was that really a good idea?
Still, this was a good thing!
Lin Yibai saw herself as someone who liked to share. And good stuff should be shared with important people, right?
She took a deep breath and firmly said, "If I, a girl, can eat this and be fine, then what could a strong, healthy young man possibly complain about?"
But thinking from the other side…
If he’s already full of energy, would eating something like this just make things... even more “extra”?
Lin Yibai didn’t really understand. She didn’t know how powerful this kind of "super supplement" really was. Because when she was full of energy, back in her younger days, she never ate this thing either.
People usually have the most energy in high school, right?
Boys running around like crazy. If no one stopped them, they could tear the school down.
So, to prepare well, Lin Yibai went to bed early.
The next day, before the sun came up, she went to the meat market.
Because cooking the bull... thing by itself still wasn't tasty enough. She bought a pig’s stomach from the meat stall.
Back home, she tried to remember the recipe her grandma had taught her.
"Blanch the bull… thing and the pig stomach in hot water to remove the smell. Then add red dates, goji berries, angelica root (herb), cinnamon, Sichuan aconite (herb). If you have some saffron, throw in a few strands too."
Her grandma once said this combo was a favorite among top leaders when she was a head chef at a state-owned dining hall. She even added an old soft-shelled turtle into the soup back then.
Ah, but dealing with turtles was too much trouble.
As for the fancy herbs Grandma mentioned. Lin Yibai was just renting a small apartment, so she only had red dates, goji berries, and angelica root, which she often used for making meat soups.
She threw 3 to 5 red dates into the pot, added half a root of angelica. Goji berries would go in later, if you add them too early, they’d get mushy and taste weird.
She set the induction stove to low heat and let it slow cook.
Then she yawned softly and covered her mouth.
"(_ _)( - . - )( - o -)...( - . - )"
It was summer, so the sky was already light outside, but it wasn’t even 6 AM yet.
Lin Yibai went back to bed for a nap. When she woke up again, it was because of a call from her annoying love rival.
Still half asleep, she answered the phone weakly, “Hello~~”
Xia Changyu could hear how sleepy she was and said apologetically, “Are you still sleeping? Do you have part-time work today? I can come pick you up later.”
These days, Lin Yibai wasn’t so against the kindness from her "rival." She glanced at the clock, it was already past 7, and yawned again.
Then she said, “Just come wait downstairs around 7:40.”
Xia Changyu agreed right away, “Alright. I’ll stop by the morning market and bring you some breakfast too.”
Lin Yibai quickly stopped him, “No need.”
Xia Changyu: “Huh?”
Lin Yibai scratched her messy bed-hair like a bird’s nest. Then, after a long pause, said, “I woke up early today and went to the market. I bought pig stomach, I’m cooking it for you.”
Xia Changyu sounded surprised and happy. “Really? Pig stomach soup? I haven’t had that in so long!”
Lin Yibai got up. She looked at herself in the mirror.
She lazily stretched her body, and the soft morning sunlight came through the curtain, gently lighting up her figure, making it look beautiful and peaceful.
If we had to give it a name, then yes, it could be called “pig stomach soup.” But... after thinking for a second, Lin Yibai politely said, “Actually, it’s pig stomach with beef offal soup.”
Xia Changyu didn’t mind at all. He happily replied, “As long as it’s made by you, I’ll eat whatever it is.”
Lin Yibai said, “Let’s hope you mean that!”
Pig stomach... well, it’s close enough to beef offal soup.
After more than an hour of slow cooking on low heat, she poked the pig stomach with her chopsticks. It was already soft and tender, ready to eat.
Then she grabbed a handful of goji berries and tossed them into the pot. A real man, no, a real housewife, never looks back at how many goji berries she’s thrown in. The secret to using goji berries in soup is, don’t cook them too long.
Just boiling them in hot water for a few minutes is enough to bring out the taste and color. If you stew them for hours, they’ll turn into a pot of mush.
Then...
She sighed and walked to the bathroom.
Back to being a guy now, huh? Wait, yes, she had changed back into her male body.
But honestly, unless someone pulled down Lin Yibai’s underwear, there really wasn’t much difference between her and a girl anymore.
Now fixing her hair and getting ready had become a real problem.
She hadn’t used a towel to dry her long hair for quite a while now. She had face wash, skin cream, and all that skincare stuff...
“Why am I even doing this? It’s so annoying!!”
She didn’t really understand why she had made things so complicated. But, she just kept doing it anyway.
Compared to how she used to live as a guy, the change was huge.
Her toothbrush no longer looked like a worn-out broom. Her towel was now clean and tidy, with a faint nice smell.
She didn’t want to be a girl. But she was already living like one.
Of course, one of the most important things today. Now that she had briefly turned back into a guy, she had to check her body.
Like Doraemon the robot cat, she pulled a ruler out from the bathroom counter.
Then, she measured a certain part of her body...
It felt like there were flashing lights all around.
Then came a dramatic sound effect, “DUN-DUN-DUUUN!”
That ruler now seemed to have a new name, "The Lying-to-Yourself Ruler."
Lin Yibai sighed and muttered sadly, “Gone again… it really shrank… I lost another 1 centimeter!”
Every time she changed back to her male body and measured. She could see clearly just how much she had lost.
And the result... was never disappointing.
She had taken one small step closer to being a real girl, and one big step further from being a guy.
She threw the ruler back and said, “Lying-to-yourself ruler? Pfft, it should be called the ‘Waiting-to-be-a-girl ruler,’ right?”
"Waiting-to-be-a-girl ruler!"
She smacked her own face with her palm. What a weird way to start the day again!
Still, she wasn’t worried about people finding out she had turned back into a guy.
In fact, with 39% of her body now permanently changed, turning back into a girl now took less than half the time it used to.
With her body’s current state, living daily life as a girl had already become completely normal. And changing back into a boy was now the rare form.
Lin Yibai shook her head and didn’t want to think too much about it. She picked up a bar of soap and carefully washed her hands. After all, she still had to handle the next step of making the pig stomach and beef offal soup!
Actually, the next step was pretty simple, chopping things up.
She sliced the whole pig stomach into strips. Then she took the bull’s “dingdong” and cut it into pieces that didn’t really look like “dingdong” anymore.
She sliced the long piece diagonally like a big sausage so it looked totally different. She also chopped up two braised eggs and mixed them into the soup.
Next, she blanched a handful of rice noodles, cooking them until they were about 70% done, then scooped them out and put them in a heat-keeping container.
She poured in the pig stomach and beef offal soup. Because honestly, eating that stuff on its own is way too greasy. Turning it into noodle soup was much better.
Finally, she sprinkled some chopped green onion and cilantro on top.
Just like that, a bowl of rich and delicious pig stomach and beef offal rice noodles was perfectly finished in front of Lin Yibai.
She ate one bowl by herself first.
Then, after Xia Changyu arrived, she took the heat container and went to the temporary parking spot outside the neighborhood.
As soon as they met, Xia Changyu looked surprised and said, “Whoa, your face looks so bright and healthy today. You must be in a really good mood!”
Lin Yibai was shocked.
Wait, what? She had only eaten a little bit, was the effect really that strong?
Or maybe her body had been so weak before that she didn’t notice anything?
Well, whatever.
She handed the container to her love rival and asked, “You haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Do you want to eat it now, or take it with you to the office?”
Xia Changyu asked, “What did you make?”
Lin Yibai said, “Pig stomach and beef offal noodles.”
Xia Changyu nodded and said, “Rice noodles, huh? Then I’ll eat it now! If I wait too long, they’ll get too soggy.”
He didn’t want to miss the chance to eat something this girl had made just for him.
When he opened the container, he saw the pig stomach, and something that looked a little strange... was that really “beef offal”?
Well, in some places, the “dingdong” is part of beef offal, so calling it offal wasn’t wrong at all.
He took a bite, and his eyes lit up. Wow, the taste was surprisingly good!
One bite of pig stomach and offal, then a slurp of noodles, followed by a big mouthful of the rich soup. Even if a god showed up, he wouldn’t trade this meal for anything!
The only problem was, Lin Yibai had given him way too much.
Xia Changyu was eating from the lid of the container, so he asked, “This is a lot. Do you want to share some?”
Lin Yibai exhaled, she felt a little hot, and quickly waved her hand, saying, “No, no, I already ate before. If you can’t finish it, just throw it away. Don’t force yourself, don’t eat it if you’re full.”
She was really good at “adding fuel to the fire.”
It was just like when people drink alcohol and a girl says, ‘If you can’t drink, don’t force yourself~’
Xia Changyu ended up eating the whole thing in one go. Lin Yibai just watched, her teeth clenched.
She now felt her whole body getting warm and fuzzy. That soup... really was strong stuff!
If a lieutenant general from World War II had tried it, they probably would’ve said, “This soup is battlefield-level amazing.”
Xia Changyu smiled and said, “That was really good! Let’s eat it together next time!”
Lin Yibai was shocked and blurted out, “Huh? I—I—I… No, I’m not eating it again.”
Xia Changyu looked confused, “Why not?”
Lin Yibai looked flustered and avoided eye contact, “No reason. Just… don’t ask.”
Why?
Because...
If I eat one more bite, I might explode.