134: The tempting aroma of beggar's chicken

The cracked mud ball finally shattered.

Pieces of dry, hard mud fell off, revealing a vibrant emerald green underneath.

But before Lin Kai and Hua Hanyao could get a clear look,

a cloud of high-temperature steam rose, enveloping that emerald green.

Then, a rich, savory aroma, mixed with the fresh scent of lotus leaves, burst forth without warning, as if a seal had been broken.

And with an extremely fast expansion speed, it instantly enveloped Lin Kai and Hua Hanyao.

“Gulp!”

“Gulp!”

Two sounds of swallowing saliva rang out almost simultaneously.

“Is this the smell of beggar's chicken? Is beggar's chicken really this fragrant?!”

Hua Hanyao asked, somewhat disbelieving, after she came back to her senses.

Lin Kai was still in a daze.

It wasn’t until the drool at the corner of his mouth was about to drip down that he suddenly woke up, quickly raised his hand to wipe away the drool, and then said with a surprised expression:

“This smell is truly too tempting! I’m already very full, but after smelling this, my body is trembling, and I just wish I could eat it right now!”

Hua Hanyao tilted her head slightly, intoxicated by the alluring scent wafting through the air.

“It’s really too fragrant! I feel like, even if I just smell this, I could eat three big bowls of plain white rice!”

Lin Kai listened to his girlfriend’s words and agreed wholeheartedly.

“This smell is truly invincible! It’s hard to imagine how delicious this beggar's chicken must be!”

As the two were exclaiming,

at this moment, without the insulation of the outer mud shell, the overall temperature of the beggar's chicken had already dropped somewhat.

The most direct manifestation was that the steam enveloping the outer layer began to dissipate, revealing the emerald green, bulging lotus leaf ball underneath.

Seeing this, Hua Hanyao immediately became anxious.

“Oh no, the beggar's chicken is going to get cold, and that will greatly reduce its texture and taste!”

“Stop exclaiming, hurry up and keep throwing rings!”

Upon hearing this, and seeing water droplets already sliding off the fresh, emerald green lotus leaf surface, Lin Kai immediately knew that time waits for no one.

He quickly bent down and took out two rings from the last twenty.

He held the two rings together as one, took a deep breath, then flicked his wrist, using skill to toss them out.

The two rings spun in the air.

At first, they maintained the same flight path, but in the latter half, the two rings diverged, separating one in front and one behind.

One landed on the open ground.

The other landed on the beggar's chicken, but was quickly bounced off.

A look of disappointment appeared on Lin Kai’s face.

However, he quickly adjusted his mindset, knowing that this was his first attempt, and it wouldn't be so easy to succeed.

Therefore, he picked up two rings again, still holding them as one, and then continued to throw them out with skill.

Only this time, because the force applied to the two rings was different, the two rings still couldn't hit the target simultaneously.

Hua Hanyao was anxious but still encouraged him.

“Don’t worry, you can do it!”

Lin Kai nodded.

He learned from the previous two attempts and this time held the two ends of the rings with both hands. Then, like someone pouring water from a basin, he threw the two rings out together.

The situation improved this time; the two rings maintained the same flight path throughout.

However, because he used both hands, the force was not well controlled, causing both rings to land on the open ground.

But Lin Kai showed no dejection; instead, he smiled with confidence, as if he had seen a glimmer of hope.

While his touch was still there, he quickly picked up two rings, still holding them with both hands, fixed his gaze on the target, and threw them out with a slight effort of his arms.

This time, the rings landed closer to the target.

Hua Hanyao also saw hope and a smile appeared on her face.

“Very good! Keep it up!”

Lin Kai nodded, picked up two more rings, took another deep breath, and then threw them out.

This time, the two rings flew up and down in the air, steadily descending towards the target.

When the lower ring first landed on the beggar's chicken, preparing to bounce off,

the second ring had already arrived, accurately pressing down on the first ring, instantly pushing the first ring back onto the beggar's chicken.

The changes during this period were too fast, so fast that Lin Kai and Hua Hanyao didn't even have time to blink.

When they looked closely and saw a ring firmly resting on the beggar's chicken, a surge of joy and excitement immediately filled their hearts.

“That’s amazing!”

Hua Hanyao, forgetting herself, hugged Lin Kai tightly from behind.

“Hahahahaha!”

And Lin Kai was also incredibly excited, laughing non-stop.

At this moment, Lu Chuan and He Jingrui, who had been observing the whole time, were full of admiration.

To quickly discover the elasticity trap of the rings and, combining it with the characteristics of the beggar's chicken's outer mud ball, devise a corresponding solution, this young couple was indeed clever.

Lu Chuan stepped over the red line, picked up the beggar's chicken from the ground, then walked up to Lin Kai and Hua Hanyao, and said with a smile:

“Congratulations, this is your prize!”

Perhaps because they were too happy, Lin Kai and Hua Hanyao looked at the sincere Lu Chuan, and for a moment, they didn't dislike this “shrewd businessman” as much.

They exchanged glances, then Lin Kai stepped forward to take the beggar's chicken.

“Hehe, thank you, Boss!”

Not only was he not scolded, but he was also thanked by the customers, Lu Chuan immediately smiled somewhat awkwardly.

“Are you eating now, or taking it to go?”

Lin Kai was surprised.

“There’s a take-out service too?”

He Jingrui, who was standing nearby, quickly nodded, bending down to take out a take-out box from a large crate.

“Yes, brother, yes! Not only do we have take-out service, we also have mosquito repellent service!”

Upon hearing about the mosquito repellent service, Hua Hanyao’s eyes immediately lit up.

“No need to take it to go, we’ll eat it here! And, can we get the mosquito repellent service?”

“Coming right up!”

He Jingrui then took out things like floral water and mosquito coils from another large crate, handing them one by one to Lin Kai.

And Lu Chuan also took out a folding table and chairs, placing napkins and disposable gloves on the table, and finally, a mood light by the table.

Seeing this, Lin Kai couldn't help but give a thumbs-up.

“Wow, your service is really thorough!”

Meanwhile, Hua Hanyao had already impatiently pulled Lin Kai to sit down.

“Gloves, gloves, let’s eat quickly! I can’t wait!”

Lin Kai smiled apologetically at Lu Chuan and He Jingrui, then he and Hua Hanyao began to unwrap the lotus leaves from the beggar's chicken.

As the lotus leaves were peeled off layer by layer, the aroma wafting out from the inside became increasingly rich.

It made the two of them swallow their saliva continuously.

“I can’t take it anymore, the more I peel, the hungrier I get!”

“It smells so good! It really smells so good!”

Even though the beggar's chicken was still very hot to the touch at this point, under the temptation of these alluring aromas, the tightly wrapped lotus leaves were quickly all peeled off.

Then, the two saw a golden light flash.