There’s no pre-made food here to bake. But that doesn’t stop him from getting started right away.
Seafood and beef just arrived by air. There’s a local chicken, some pork neck chops, and a few greens. They can all be roasted after a little prep.
Charlotte quickly took charge. She decided to make the local chicken into beggar’s chicken. She’d look up the recipe online later.
Oysters and clams would go straight into the oven. Lobster too. Crab was fine, but Evelyn couldn’t eat it plain. If it was made into curry crab, she might have some. The pork neck needed marinating first, then it could be grilled. Same for the pork belly. As for vegetables, just lettuce and corn. Nothing else.
Charlotte’s quick, decisive orders left Owen stunned.
After listening, Lucas brought out the grill and the oven. If they wanted to fry, they could do that too.
Evelyn wanted to help wash the dishes. But they were already done.
So she just took a bamboo skewer and started threading corn and lettuce. They’d be ready to roast later.
Owen and Lucas were in charge of the barbecue. Charlotte handled the frying. Alexander took care of the chicken.
Evelyn was the most relaxed.
“Charlotte, this reminds me of when we used to go on picnics!” Evelyn said with a smile as she threaded the corn.
“This is way more fun than those old picnics. By the way, can your husband handle the beggar’s chicken?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m not sure! But he should be fine. He always finds a way. I’ll go check on him!” Evelyn said proudly, lifting her head to look for Alexander.
She put down her work and went to find him.
In front of a small mound, Evelyn saw Alexander. He had taken off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and was burning something.
“Alexander, what are you doing?” Evelyn walked over, curious.
“First, I’m heating the soil. Then I’ll put the chicken in,” Alexander explained. “Is everything ready over there?”
“Almost. I came to see what you’re up to!” Evelyn said, her eyes fixed on the fire, as if a fragrant chicken would jump out any second.
Alexander burned the brush, then moved it aside. He placed the whole chicken into the pit, covered it with soil, moved the fire back, and kept burning.
“What’s this called again?” Evelyn was even more curious.
“First, you heat the soil. Then you put the chicken in. The heat spreads evenly. After covering it with soil, you keep burning wood on top. That keeps the heat going. The chicken cooks perfectly,” Alexander explained. “It’s like baking a sweet potato.”
“Isn’t a baked sweet potato baked in an oven?” Evelyn asked, squatting beside him with a smile.
“You’ve never had one baked like this?” Alexander looked at her.
“No,” Evelyn shook her head.
“Next time we go to Misty Isle, we can roast some.”
“Okay!” Evelyn looked forward to it. She felt she could learn a lot from Alexander.
After all the fussing, they finally got to rest and eat.
“Why don’t we just go to a barbecue buffet next time? We wouldn’t have to work so hard!” Owen complained as he ate.
“At a barbecue place, would you get grilled squid this good? Or fried chicken? Or burnt corn?” Lucas asked.
“That’s true,” Owen nodded in agreement.
“Cousin, you’re praising me and criticizing me at the same time. Why pick on my burnt corn? Sure, it’s a little charred, but that makes it more flavorful, doesn’t it?” Charlotte protested.
“Didn’t I just compliment you?” Lucas replied with a smile.
“Weird.”
“It really is delicious!” Evelyn echoed Lucas, taking another bite of corn.
After a while, Alexander wiped his face.
“Alexander, you’re amazing at making beggar’s chicken!” Charlotte said, giving a thumbs-up.
“Thanks. I’m a late bloomer. I’m not good at learning, so I just brute-forced it,” Alexander said modestly.
“That’s still really good. The first time I tried, it was half-raw.”
“You can actually make something this technical?” Lucas exclaimed. Everyone in the family knew his cousin was a terrible cook.
“I went on a trip with classmates and bragged that I could cook Chinese food. One classmate had heard about beggar’s chicken from somewhere and asked if I could make it. So I said yes. Later, I had to actually make one. It wasn’t fully cooked, but they all said it was delicious. They didn’t even leave the chicken butt behind!” Charlotte said vividly.
Evelyn giggled. Lucas shook his head, laughing and crying at the same time. Owen’s eyes widened as he looked at Charlotte, then said admiringly, “Being able to bluff your way through something is a skill in itself.”
“Exactly!” Charlotte replied, lifting her chin triumphantly.
Alexander peeled the roasted shrimp and placed them on a plate. After peeling a few, he handed the plate to Evelyn.
Evelyn took the plate and ate the shrimp with sauce. She thought coming here to barbecue was way more fun than going to a buffet.
They didn’t head back until the moon was up.
Evelyn was tired from all the fun. Soon, she fell asleep against the back of her seat.
At a traffic light, Alexander adjusted the back of her chair so she could sleep more comfortably.
Lucas got a phone call. He asked Owen to take Charlotte home, said he had something to do, and drove off.
Charlotte and Owen were in the same car. But since they weren’t familiar with each other, they had nothing to say.
Finally, Owen broke the silence.
“Are you classmates with Evelyn?”
“From elementary school to high school,” Charlotte answered.
“That’s a long time.”
“Yeah, we grew up together!” Charlotte said triumphantly.
“No wonder you’re so close. Is this the first time we’ve met? I don’t think I saw you at their wedding,” Owen continued.
Charlotte’s mood darkened at the mention of that.
“If you saw me, that would be a real ghost story.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s not talk about that. You and my cousin are classmates too, right?”
“Not classmates. We used to be neighbors. We’ve known each other since we were kids. We played together.”
“No wonder you look younger than them.”
“Can’t help being naturally beautiful,” Owen sneered.
Later, Lucas got a call from the hospital.
When he arrived, he saw Charlotte with a bandage on her forehead. He frowned and asked, “What happened?”
It turned out that when Owen said there was no way to improve on natural beauty, Charlotte blurted out, “Are you gay?”
Then, there was no helping it. Owen got so excited that he slammed on the brakes. Charlotte hit the front windshield directly.
The pain made her curse Owen’s ancestors for eighteen generations.
Evelyn, who had been sleeping the whole way home, had no idea what happened to them. In fact, she went home and kept sleeping.
It was Alexander who carried her back to Sterling Manor.
When she woke up after nine, she went to take a shower.
After the shower, she left the bathroom, picked up the cordless phone, and called Charlotte. Since Charlotte already knew she was married to Alexander, she didn’t have to worry about using the landline and exposing her relationship.
The phone rang for a long time. No one answered.
“Already asleep,” Evelyn muttered.