Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 383 Medicinal Cuisine

The rain continued until it almost dawned when it finally stopped.

Afterward, Ma Lu and Gu Qingyi set out towards the mountain bottom, with the nearest county town being Yuchang County, but it was also a hundred miles away.

Both Gu Qingyi and Auntie Zheng were injured, and the latter was even with a toddler, so even with horses, they couldn’t travel fast.

Ma Lu accompanied them for ten miles, passing through a small village, with the countdown on the Traveler’s Bracelet showing less than twenty minutes remaining.

Ma Lu and Gu Qingyi agreed to meet outside the south gate of Yuchang County in six days, then he made an excuse to fall behind, found a secluded place, wrapped up the valuables and two sets of clothes he couldn’t take with him, and buried them underground.

Done with that, he entered the village and found a farmhouse that seemed honest, paying a hundred copper coins to leave a packhorse he’d swiped from the temple in their care.

The reason for choosing the Xingtong Escort Agency’s packhorse, which was used for hauling goods instead of faster mounts like those of He Qisheng and others, was mainly that the packhorse was mild-tempered, making it more suitable for a novice like Ma Lu.

By the time he finished these tasks, time was almost up, and Ma Lu vanished on a ridge in the field.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back on the sofa in his rental apartment.

"How’s the new plane?" Old Wang asked.

"Not bad, although a little different from what I imagined, but the surprises turned out to be quite interesting. I might even be able to live out my childhood martial arts dreams. The ingredients there are also very special," replied Ma Lu as he handed over the Collection Bag to Old Wang and started tearing into a bag of potato chips.

"I’m not sure if there are other ingredients out there, but as soon as I turned on the scanning feature, all I got were these kinds of things. So, what do you think is good to make with them?" he added.

"These ingredients can be used to make medicinal cuisines," Old Wang said after looking at them.

"Medicinal cuisines?"

"Yes, simply put, it’s about the common origin of food and medicine, using food as medicine, integrating medicine into food, to give the food properties that prevent and treat diseases, nourish the original vital energy, strengthen the body, and so on."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I also remember, it seems my country had similar dishes in ancient times, some of which are still preserved to this day. But how to put it, it’s not that there are no effects, but if you say they are noticeable, it doesn’t seem that obvious. Some ingredients even possess toxicity, so... it’s quite delicate."

"It’s because of the ingredients," Old Wang said. "Your plane has only the most basic ingredients. Naturally, most medicinal cuisines can’t exhibit their full effects."

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"I see, wait... so you’re saying if you were to make it, the effects of the medicinal cuisines would be very evident?"

"Correct," Old Wang nodded.

"How evident?"

"I can make you a dish, and you can try it for yourself," Old Wang offered.

"Sure, I’m quite hungry," Ma Lu accepted.

After the Traveler’s Bracelet leveled up to Level 6, Ma Lu had to spend 17 hours on every trip outside to collect ingredients. That was why he was opening a bag of potato chips as soon as he got back. But after a moment, he added, "Make a little less."

There was no helping it; Mainly because since Old Wang’s arrival, Ma Lu’s diet had drastically improved, and, unlike Saitama or Zoro who had intense self-discipline, it was difficult for Ma Lu not to eat when delicious food was in front of him, and even harder not to overeat.

This led to Ma Lu being seven pounds heavier compared to when he graduated from college. Fortunately, these seven pounds were nearly all on his stomach, and as he wore thicker clothes in winter, it wasn’t noticeable yet.

But if it continued like this, it definitely wouldn’t do. Half a month ago, Ma Lu determinedly made up his mind, spent 8888 to get himself a VIP gym membership for a year, and also drafted a strict diet plan.

However, half a month had passed, and he hadn’t been to the gym even once, and that diet plan had remained just a plan.

He weighed himself the day before yesterday, and he had gained another half a pound.

Great, that was even faster than the rate of weight gain before he decided to lose weight.

Ma Lu felt it was very difficult for his weight to drop, especially half an hour later when Old Wang brought out a big stewed chicken from the kitchen.

Ma Lu couldn’t control his hands at all, and while complaining, "Didn’t I tell you to make less," he had already picked up his chopsticks.

The chicken stewed by Old Wang was perfectly cooked, with a layer of golden fat floating on the clear soup, forming a tempting gloss, and the meat fell off the bone with just the nudge of chopsticks.

Old Wang also thoughtfully matched it with a rice cake for Ma Lu’s main dish, although it looked a bit dark and unappetizing. Stay tuned with novelbuddy

Ma Lu first gnawed on a chicken leg, then ate two wings with the rice cake, and even finished a bowl of chicken soup after that.

The chicken soup tasted even better than the meat, concentrating the essence of the whole stewed chicken. Ma Lu soaked the remaining rice cake in it, turning it into a chicken soup soaked rice.

As a result, he accidentally overate again, and by the time he realized it, he had already consumed most of the chicken.

Ma Lu let out a satisfied sigh, then put down his chopsticks and looked back at Old Wang.

"I saw goji berries, red dates, and lotus seeds among the ingredients, but I remember I didn’t bring back red dates. Did you use regular ones instead? Won’t that affect the ultimate result?"

"No, because this stewed chicken isn’t a medicinal meal. I didn’t add the ingredients you brought back. Not only the red dates, but the goji berries and lotus seeds I used were all from the supermarket you previously visited."

"Huh?" Ma Lu was stunned for a moment. "Then, where’s the medicinal meal?"

"You’ve already eaten it."

"When? How come I don’t know about it? I just ate half a chicken just now," Ma Lu was bewildered, but soon he thought of something, "Wait a minute, don’t tell me the medicinal meal is... that rice cake?"

"Exactly, the dish is called Lotus Leaf Charcoal Cake."

"Eh, then why did you stew a chicken?"

"Didn’t you say you were hungry?"

"..."

Either way, at least the chicken was pretty tasty, even though he estimated that after this meal, he would probably gain another two ounces.

Luckily there was still some time before summer, and Ma Lu turned his attention back to the medicinal meal and asked Old Wang, "I know about lotus leaf cakes, but what is a Lotus Leaf Charcoal Cake?"

"Lotus leaf ash, also known as lotus leaf charcoal, is made by frying and calcining the Qingyun Dried Lotus Leaves you brought back, then crushing them into a fine powder and mixing it into the rice cake to make the Lotus Leaf Charcoal Cake."

"You can eat lotus leaf ash?" Ma Lu asked in surprise. "What’s the effect of the Lotus Leaf Charcoal Cake?"

"It can make you lose weight," Old Wang said. "If you don’t believe it, you can go weigh yourself."

"Huh?!" Ma Lu immediately fetched the body fat scale from under the bed in the bedroom. After using the restroom to relieve himself, he stepped on the scale.

He held his breath as the number on the scale jumped around and finally settled at 68.1kg.

"Holy shit!" Ma Lu immediately exclaimed in surprise.

He remembered weighing himself two days ago, and that number had reached 69. He hadn’t expected that after another two days, and right after a big meal, his weight had actually dropped instead of increased; he was almost 2 pounds lighter than last time.