HLM – Chapter 63 The Second Soul Heart

Lawyer Muller had helped Wang Bo several times already, and he was about to help him with another major issue, so Wang Bo felt he had to prepare dinner properly.

Since he owned a ranch, Wang Bo decided to slaughter a young lamb for the meal. Lamb was one of New Zealand’s most renowned meat products—fragrant and not greasy. The cowboy had long wanted to try lamb, but Wang Bo had always refused.

This time, hosting Lawyer Muller, he couldn’t be stingy.

The cowboy had already picked out a plump lamb and slaughtered it. When Wang Bo came back, he said, “Hey boss, Mortak’s ranch is pretty good. The lambs he sent have amazing meat quality. I’ve never seen such orderly marbling in lamb meat before.”

Lamb quality is mainly judged by color, taste, broth quality, fat, and frost crystals. The latter applies to frozen meat since fresh, on-the-spot butchering is rare in the market.

Among these, marbling is one of the most important indicators of beef and lamb quality. It refers to fine streaks of fat evenly distributed in the lean meat, resembling marble patterns.

Butchering cattle and sheep was the cowboy’s specialty. He had already divided the lamb into parts for different uses. The two hind legs would be roasted, the tenderloin deep-fried, the spine with meat used for hot pot, and other cuts like ribs and breast meat were also properly allocated.

Wang Bo told the lawyer to make himself comfortable while he went to prepare the meal.

But Lawyer Muller shook his head. “I’d like to take a look around the castle. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like this in New Zealand.”

Wang Bo whistled and called over Commander, the African grey parrot. “Show this lawyer uncle around, give him a tour of your home.”

Commander flapped his wings, opened his beak and said, “Ah, come with me! Ah, I’ll show you!”

Lawyer Muller was stunned again. “Oh my God, this—is this an African grey? I can’t believe how dexterous its speech is!”

Charlie laughed. “This little guy is no ordinary parrot. If you knew Chinese, it could even chat with you in that.”

“Ah, your mom blew up!” Commander immediately shouted in Chinese.

Luckily, the lawyer didn’t understand Chinese. Otherwise, Wang Bo would have had to beat the bird and apologize—this fellow just couldn’t drop his foul catchphrases.

Wang Bo marinated the lamb slices and ribs. He started preparing the lamb spine hot pot.

Unfortunately, the weather was a bit warm. Had it been winter, enjoying lamb spine hot pot would have been absolutely perfect.

He disassembled the spine by joints and chopped up the front leg bones, then blanched them in hot water to remove blood and gamey odor.

But even after the water boiled, there wasn’t much scum or blood foam, and there was no strong mutton smell—just the natural fragrance of meat.

“Damn, this really is quality meat. Can the Pasture Heart even improve lamb quality?” Wang Bo had initially dismissed Bowen’s words, but seeing it with his own eyes now, he was quite excited.

He poured out the water, placed the leg bones at the bottom of the pot, arranged the spine bones on top, added water, and began stewing over high heat.

He had lived in Beijing for several years, one of the capitals of lamb spine hot pot, and had picked up a few techniques from dining out at “secret recipe” hot pot joints.

As the fire licked the bottom of the pot, the clear water slowly turned milky white. Before it boiled, he added a spice packet, green onions, ginger, and sugar.

Back in Beijing, he used to mix his own spices, but in the small town of Omarama, he had to settle for a pre-packed Chinese seasoning mix, which contained peppercorns, fennel, cumin, star anise, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

While the hot pot was simmering, he began preparing other dishes.

Lamb slices were ideal for stir-frying with green onions. He first seared the slices in oil, took them out, and then stir-fried with snowy white onion segments and green chili before adding the lamb back in.

Dish after dish came out of the kitchen, and after about forty minutes, the lamb spine hot pot was also ready. When he lifted the lid, a rich aroma burst forth. Zhuang Ding outside the kitchen perked up, ran in, jumped up, and leaned on the stove to peer into the pot.

Wang Bo fished out a piece, cooled it down, and fed it to Zhuang Ding. The little guy knew Wang Bo treated him well—he rubbed his head affectionately against Wang Bo’s leg before happily grabbing the bone and running off to devour it.

Outside, on the grill, the two lamb legs had developed a roasted crust. Bowen saw Wang Bo and shook his head. “Such a pity. This grill is no good—otherwise the lamb could’ve been even better.”

Wang Bo pinched off a piece and asked, “Where’s the seasoning? Let me try.”

Bowen handed over a plate of coarse salt. “Sheesh, putting seasoning on lamb this good is a waste. God himself once said—great lamb should be eaten plain, just dipped in salt.”

Wang Bo rubbed the lamb in some salt and tasted it. It was tender, juicy, and rich in flavor—the original, primal taste of meat burst in his mouth.

At dinner, both Charlie and Lawyer Muller praised the food. The lawyer even said, “Wang, first of all, let me compliment your cooking—it’s Michelin 3-star level! Secondly, where did you buy this lamb? The flavor is outstanding.”

Wang Bo took the opportunity to advertise his ranch. And these lambs hadn’t even spent much time on his pasture yet—imagine what the meat would be like after six months?

Vaguely, Wang Bo saw a great business opportunity. With lamb of this quality, he could easily charge double or triple market price.

Just like that famous line from the movie Big Shot’s Funeral: People who can pay $2,000 for a house don’t mind paying $2,000 more. What’s a successful person? Someone who always buys the most expensive, not necessarily the best.

And his lamb was the best. So it had to be the most expensive—sold exclusively to successful people.

The four of them thoroughly enjoyed the meal, especially since it was held in the castle’s grand dining hall. Although the setup was simple, it carried a noble atmosphere. The lawyer, a bit of a poser, even took several selfies before eating—Wang Bo’s impression of him instantly changed…

After the meal, Lawyer Muller got to work preparing the materials for suing New Zealand’s transportation authority, while Wang Bo and the others started getting ready for Christmas.

In the blink of an eye, he’d already been in New Zealand for nearly a month, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day less than a week away. And just a few days after Christmas—it would be New Year’s.

Even though he had moved out since college, being over 10,000 kilometers away from home still made him homesick. He missed his aging parents working in the fields.

Such feelings were especially intense during holidays like Christmas Eve. “Every festive season, homesickness hits hardest.”

Before Christmas, Wang Bo opened the system panel and saw the lottery spin was available again. So he tapped “Spin.”

The wheel whirred, and Wang Bo shouted, “Stop!” Finally, the pointer landed on the “Soul Heart” zone. Then, the Soul Heart twisted, and another pet heart jumped out.