Untouchable Lovers-Chapter 80 - 77: Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy, Salty
Chapter 80: Chapter 77: Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy, Salty
Chu Yu returned to the mansion as the sky was growing dim with the onset of evening. After a day full of twists and turns, she felt somewhat weary, but she didn’t rest just yet. Instead, she pulled someone aside to ask where Rong Zhi was in her own courtyard. Without even changing her clothes, she went straight to find him.
During the ride, she had already uncovered the mystery behind her. Recalling the odd expressions of the palace attendants she had encountered, she came to a sudden realization, knowing that the palace would probably be abuzz with rumors again tomorrow.
But she didn’t care.
When she didn’t find Rong Zhi inside the house, Chu Yu returned to the bamboo grove. This time, Rong Zhi was not sitting on the green stone platform that was visible as soon as one entered the grove. The green stone platform was desolate and empty. Chu Yu reached out to touch it, and her fingertips were met with a chill.
Rong Zhi’s heart must also be like hers, not quite at peace, right? The goal of three years had suddenly disappeared. Such an abrupt change would be hard for anyone to adjust to and accept.
The current Rong Zhi was perhaps in some secluded corner, quietly contemplating.
...
Just as she was about to turn back to search elsewhere, Chu Yu suddenly caught a faint scent of what seemed like roast meat. Her heart stirred, and she walked deeper into the bamboo grove. As she walked, the fragrance grew increasingly rich, reminding her that she hadn’t really eaten much today due to her comings and goings to and from the palace.
Upon reaching a corner of the garden at the edge of the bamboo grove, Chu Yu unsurprisingly spotted Rong Zhi. He was casually sitting on the ground, with a wooden rack set up before him and a fire burning beneath it. A branch lay across the rack, and on it was strung a bird, slightly smaller than a chicken, already plucked bare and roasted to a golden brown. It was an unidentified species.
The aroma emanated from this roast bird.
A sudden tranquility filled her heart. She didn’t know if it was because of the bird or the person.
Rong Zhi’s exquisite and refined face showed no expression, and the white of his garments was stained with a bit of soot. The firelight flickered, too fickle to illuminate the profound darkness of his eyes. The light seemed to be completely absorbed the moment it fell into his pupils.
Even as he roasted, he appeared composed and graceful, his movements fluid as a drifting cloud or flowing water.
He lifted a bottle nearby and sprinkled some powder over the little bird. The aroma immediately intensified, becoming irresistibly tempting. Chu Yu could no longer hold back. Taking two steps forward for every three she intended, she sat across the fire from Rong Zhi and said with a smile, “Let’s share it, half each.”
Rong Zhi looked up at her and, not surprised, just smiled faintly and said, “Is the Princess sure she wants to eat it?”
Chu Yu laughed, “Are you telling me you’ve laced it with poison here?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Rong Zhi gazed at Chu Yu for a moment, with an oddly amused smile. He moved aside the wooden rack that held the roasting meat. After it cooled for a moment, he drew a slender, palm-sized knife from his sleeve. He cut off a piece of meat from the bird’s leg, about half the size of a palm, skewered it on the blade, and handed it to Chu Yu, “Given the shortage of proper utensils, I ask that the Princess make do. However, dining in such a manner has its own unique flavor. Please give it a try.”
The slice of roast meat was less than half an inch thick, one side golden-brown and glistening with oil, the other white and tender. The blend of color and fragrance was incredibly appetizing. Chu Yu took the knife handle, blew on the meat carefully a few times to make sure it was not too hot, then brought it to her mouth.
A moment passed, and Chu Yu stopped chewing without any expression on her face. Rong Zhi smiled knowingly and pointed to the fire, indicating she should spit it out there. He casually took the knife back from her hand.
Chu Yu hesitated briefly but ultimately forced down what was in her mouth. She looked at Rong Zhi and chose her words carefully, “Did you, perhaps, use the wrong seasoning?” The meat itself was roasted perfectly, with a crispy skin and tender inside that tasted splendid when bitten into, but the issue was with the seasoning that had penetrated the meat.
The taste of the roast wasn’t extraordinarily bizarre. Unlike the overly salty or bland dishes made by cooking novices, it only contained a slight distortion. Within the saltiness that seeped into the meat, there was an out-of-place bitterness and sweetness. The combination of these two flavors made it taste strange.
It was like mixing colors. It should have been green but accidentally became a strange blend due to a mix-up with red and yellow pigments.
Seeing Rong Zhi’s intelligent demeanor, he did not seem like a culinary nincompoop, so how could this happen?
Rong Zhi faintly smiled, offering no explanation, but picked up the small knife to examine it closely. The blade still had most of the piece of grilled meat that Chu Yu had just left unfinished, and he didn’t throw it away, instead he lowered his head and gently bit off a piece.
Biting off small, elegant pieces of meat, Rong Zhi ate with great composure and pleasure, seemingly undisturbed by the bizarre flavor.
Seeing him like this, Chu Yu suddenly thought of a possibility, “You… can’t taste anything?” If that were the case, it would make sense. A colorblind person would have difficulty mixing colors perfectly, and a person without a sense of taste wouldn’t know what real deliciousness was, naturally making it hard for them to cook tasty dishes.
But as soon as she uttered her guess, Chu Yu refuted her own speculation, “No, that’s not right, if you couldn’t taste flavors, why would you season the food? Your sense of taste… I mean, your tongue… Is there something wrong with it?” Chu Yu pondered aloud.
Rong Zhi lowered his head to bite off the last piece of meat on the blade. Under the glow of the firelight, his light-colored lips shimmered softly. His eyelids, like shutters, half-closed, a few strands of his jet-black hair fell slightly, obscuring half of his face.
When he looked up again, he turned to the side and smiled, “Yue Jiefei, could you do me a small favor and pass a message to the cooks for me, asking them to send over the prepared wild hare?”
Yue Jiefei was usually inseparable from Chu Yu, shadowing her like her own shadow, only as a guard, he often hid in hard-to-detect places. Hearing Rong Zhi’s instructions, he first looked at Chu Yu who nodded, and then he turned and left.
After Yue Jiefei had left, Rong Zhi continued, “My tongue…” he paused for a moment, as if considering how to phrase it, “tastes flavors differently from others. What people find bitter, I find slightly sweet; what is said to be sour, I feel a bit salty. What I find delicious doesn’t necessarily sit well with others.”
He shrugged with a sense of resignation, yet he appeared unconcerned, “That’s just how it is.” The cooks in the Princess Mansion were all aware that his taste preferences differed from others, and when preparing food for him, they would always make a separate portion, unaware of the real reason behind it.
Chu Yu was astonished and after a moment said, “Besides me, who else knows about this?”
Rong Zhi smiled faintly, and picked another small piece of meat from the already slightly cooled roasted bird. His right arm, which had been broken, didn’t need a sling anymore, though he still couldn’t exert much force on it. Yet his uninjured left hand was extremely agile, moving as gracefully as a skillful swallow, “No one else has inquired about this matter, they just think I have an eccentric taste, so only the Princess knows the true reason behind it.”
Chu Yu frowned and said, “How can it be like that?” With such a sense of taste, wouldn’t dining with others be inconvenient for him?
Rong Zhi smiled and licked his greasy lips, “Actually, when I was younger, it was normal like everyone else’s. Perhaps after tasting too many poisons, it somehow changed to this. I don’t know how to cure it, but since it hasn’t caused much trouble, I’ve been living with it for years.” Unable to eat what most others made, he began experimenting with seasonings and inadvertently developed a knack for cooking, which could be considered an unexpected gain.
Rong Zhi spoke lightly, but Chu Yu somewhat understood that his “living with it” was not as comfortable as it sounded. Yet seeing that he didn’t wish to elaborate, she did not pursue the topic, instead diverting it, “Why hasn’t Yue Jiefei come back yet?”
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Rong Zhi looked at Chu Yu for a moment, his gaze teasing as it swept around her, and then he smiled enigmatically, “He probably won’t be back for a while.”
Indeed, as Rong Zhi had said, when the butchered and cleaned rabbit was delivered by the servant from the kitchen, Yue Jiefei still hadn’t returned.
Rong Zhi skillfully threaded and cut the rabbit, placing it over the fire. As he turned the rabbit meat, he seasoned it with salt and brushed on sauce, and soon enough, another delicious aroma wafted through the air.
Chu Yu glanced at the roast bird he’d barely eaten and couldn’t help asking, “How much do you plan to eat at one meal?” Wasn’t one bird enough?
Rong Zhi smiled, “This is prepared for you, Princess. Although my taste may be unusual, making regular meals for others isn’t difficult. Please wait for a moment, Princess; it will be ready soon.”
Once the rabbit meat was ready, Rong Zhi extinguished the fire and handed the skewered rabbit to Chu Yu. She tasted it and found it indeed delicious, and decided to have her dinner right there.
On the quiet edge of the bamboo forest, as the evening darkened, a man and a woman, a bird and a rabbit, each enjoying a piece, exchanged smiles. Although the scene was strange, it had its own appealing charm.
After the two had eaten their fill and rested for a while, Yue Jiefei returned, his face filled with joy as if he had learned something pleasing. Rong Zhi gave Yue Jiefei a knowing glance and then looked at Chu Yu, before rising to his feet and dusting off the ashes from his robe with a flick of his sleeve, “Princess, your timing is serendipitous. I have something to tell you. Please, come with me.”
Chu Yu asked instinctively, “What is it?”
Rong Zhi smiled, “Has the Princess forgotten? The three tasks you set for me the other day… the first one…” is now completed.
