Li Ying lazily leaned against Lu Xunguang's chest when there came from outside the door A Man's rather concerned inquiry in a hushed voice.
"Sister, are you all right? Just now I seemed to hear you suppressing moans. Could it be that you've sprained a bone and are in great pain?"
"Sister, whenever I got bruised or injured in the past, Auntie would always boil two eggs for me. Rolling the hot eggs over the injured area often worked wonders. Just now I did the same and prepared some boiled eggs. Sister, please open the door quickly. A Man is here to help you with your injury!"
At A Man's words, Li Ying's drowsiness instantly flew to the ends of the earth.
"Suppressing moans." This silly girl, what on earth had she heard!
"Sister? Sister?"
Not hearing a response for a long time, A Man grew even more worried. She raised her voice and knocked on the cabin door.
Li Ying blushed. She cleared her throat and was about to respond when she looked up and saw Lu Xunguang looking at her with a satisfied and half - smiling expression.
This man rarely showed such a sly look like a fox. Li Ying was both ashamed and annoyed. She glared at him half - angrily.
Seeing that A Man was about to break into the cabin, Lu Xunguang calmly helped her tidy up her clothes. Without any delay, he made a swift leap out of the window.
Only then did Li Ying rush to open the door in a flurry. She walked unsteadily, which made A Man even more worried. A Man quickly stepped forward and supported her.
"Sister!"
A Man proudly presented the several steaming eggs wrapped in her skirt in front of Li Ying. Without a word, she peeled the eggs and was about to apply them to Li Ying's injury when she didn't see any bruise at all. Her movement froze in mid - air.
"Lu Xunguang got there first again!"
Only then did A Man realize what had happened. No wonder she seemed to have faintly heard a man's voice just now.
She dejectedly stuffed half an egg into her mouth and was choked by the solid egg yolk. It was Li Ying who quickly poured her a cup of hot tea.
Li Ying couldn't help laughing. She gently patted A Man on the back while a new idea came to her mind.
Apart from the meat grilled on volcanic rocks, another special local delicacy was undoubtedly the hot - spring egg.
She composed herself and interrupted A Man's self - pity. With a smile, she said, "I saw that you didn't eat much with the sailors just now. I guess you're hungry now. I made A Man worried. Sister will cook for you herself as an apology."
Li Ying changed her clothes and left the cabin. She pushed A Man to take a bath in the sulfur hot spring. In front of A Man's wide - eyed astonishment, she casually tossed several raw eggs into the hot spring and told her to fish them out before getting out of the bath. Then she slowly got up to check the remaining ingredients.
The sailors were quite kind and had left all the thinly sliced high - quality beef for them.
This was exactly what Li Ying wanted. She washed her hands and boiled a pot of water.
This meat was carefully selected by her. The plump fat was embedded in the bright red tender meat like marble patterns. It only needed to be briefly blanched in boiling water until it changed color and then could be set aside.
Then she took the scallions and cut them into thin oval slices. She stir - fried them in melted butter until they were translucent, then added brown sugar, rice wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce and stir - fried them with the tender beef slices. She poured in a little broth and simmered.
The sweet aroma of the sauce penetrated the meat. The paper - thin beef slices curled up in a beautiful arc. Every time she picked up a chopstick of beef, it trembled slightly. The rich aroma of the fat brought a touch of warmth, and the shiny caramel - colored sauce made people instinctively swallow their saliva.
Li Ying also selected some mushrooms and konjac silk as side dishes. She poured the simmered meat slices, scallions and the soup over the white rice while it was still steaming hot, and sprinkled some finely chopped seaweed and sesame seeds on it.
Just then, A Man finished washing. Wiping her damp long hair, she walked over hungrily and doubtfully presented the eggs in front of Li Ying.
"Sister, I'm so hungry!"
She couldn't wait to take the blue - and - white bowl, but Li Ying just smiled and calmly stopped her.
"You should break the hot - spring eggs over the beef rice."
A Man was skeptical. Although the eggs had been soaking in the hot spring for nearly an hour with her, could they really be cooked just by the water temperature of the sulfur spring?
Seeing Li Ying smiling, A Man had no choice but to nervously and gently crack the eggshell.
The tender egg liquid gently slid onto the center of the rice bowl. When the bamboo chopsticks broke through the soft egg white, the slightly sticky egg yolk slowly flowed out, golden and covering every piece of beef.
It was like the rising sun illuminating the layers of stable mountains, adding a touch of liveliness.
"Now you can start eating."
As soon as Li Ying finished speaking, A Man couldn't wait to pick up her chopsticks.
This beef was high - quality wagyu, plump and juicy. It was cooked to perfection and was extremely tender. Paired with the slippery hot - spring egg, the taste was even richer and more mellow. It seemed that there was no need to chew at all, and the meat slices would naturally slide down the throat.
Even the sailors who had already eaten to their hearts' content couldn't help but come to Li Ying shyly and ask for a bowl of beef rice.
Li Ying agreed to all of them. Seeing everyone enjoying the food, a calm and faint smile appeared on her face.
This beef rice was nothing extremely rare in a restaurant on normal days.
But on this desolate volcanic island, with the hot - spring eggs cooked at a low temperature in the volcanic hot spring.
The final process of "breaking the egg by oneself" added a full sense of ritual to this ordinary home - cooked dish.
Based on this, apart from the single - serving beef rice, a hot - pot for multiple people could also be prepared. Each guest could use the eggs they boiled themselves while soaking in the hot spring as a dipping sauce and eat them with the meat slices. It must be a novel and popular business.
Li Ying quickly calculated in her mind how to develop this small volcanic island, how to design the most reasonable and detailed tour route, and what kind of entertainment activities to arrange so that the guests would feel at home and reluctant to leave.
Lu Xunguang didn't slack off either. He quickly wrote a letter, casually whistled, and a hunting falcon let out a long whistle. It came through the air like an arrow piercing the clouds and landed steadily on his shoulder. It picked up the letter and flew towards the Lu family's bank in the capital.
At the bottom of the salt lake, one could easily scoop up handfuls of white lake salt. According to Li Ying, as long as the impurities were filtered out, the salt was washed and repeatedly exposed to the sun, it could be eaten.
It seemed that it was necessary to quickly transfer people from the capital to manage this salt field.
The two exchanged a knowing look.
Presumably, they would be very busy in the days to come.