My Manor

"Hiss, I drank too much!" The next morning, Jiang Hai was woken up by the urge to urinate. He opened his eyes weakly. Last night, he could no longer remember how much he drank. Of course, he didn't drink too much or black out.

But this morning, his head still hurt. After going to the toilet, Jiang Hai looked at his phone. It was already past nine o'clock. He didn't want to sleep anymore. To be honest, he couldn't sleep anymore. He just lay on the big bed and stared at the ceiling in front of him.

Suddenly, Jiang Hai felt that he was really... bored?

"It's a big holiday, and there's no one around me. What's going on?" He sat up helplessly. After others became rich, they all had wives and concubines. He had been rich for half a year, right? Although it wasn't exactly half a year, it was at least half a year, but he was still alone. He hadn't even called for a paid service. It seemed that he was really a good man.

"I feel ashamed when I talk about it! I won't say more, it's all tears." Shaking his head helplessly, Jiang Hai sighed. He was really born with a star of misfortune. He had money but no woman. How ugly would he be?

Of course, although Jiang Hai was definitely not handsome, he was not ugly either. He was 1.88 meters tall, with single eyelids, but his eyes were not small. He used to be a little nearsighted, but since he had the True Dragon Essence, it had been cured. He used to be a little overweight, but since he had the True Dragon Essence, his body had become almost perfect. His developed muscles were not particularly swollen, but they were definitely not bad. Those muscles didn't look like the traditional streamlined muscles of Orientals. They were the kind of muscles found between Orientals and Westerners. You could tell at a glance that they were very developed and full, but you couldn't feel the heaviness.

Logically speaking, Jiang Hai, who was young, rich, good-looking, and of decent height, should be the darling of those beauties.

But what made Jiang Hai a little depressed was that it seemed that he had not received much attention. Of course, this was also related to his staying at home.

Since he wasn't going to sleep anymore, Jiang Hai jumped out of bed, washed up, and prepared to go downstairs. When he reached the first floor, he found that Burke Dahler had already arrived and was preparing the turkey.

The turkey was similar to the Chinese roast chicken, but it was much larger and more troublesome.

Yesterday, Jiang Hai had heard them talk about the specific method, which was really troublesome. It seemed that Burke wasn't making this for the first time and was very skilled. Jiang Hai looked at the plate next to him, where Burke had placed a lot of things—carrots, parsley, onions, chestnuts, butter, etc.—a large plate. This turkey was bought by Jiang Hai last time, and it weighed 23 pounds, which was really not small.

The most important part of roasting a turkey is not roasting, but the thawing method. So Burke had already prepared this turkey yesterday. First, it had to be taken out and thawed in a place with a temperature of 2-4 degrees. After thawing, the turkey was washed, its neck and internal organs removed, and two cups of salt were added to two gallons of water to soak the turkey, which was then placed in a cool place for more than four hours. Then, the turkey was taken out of the saltwater, rinsed under running water, wiped dry with paper towels, and placed in a cool place for eight hours before it could be used. Making a turkey, then, was a very troublesome and thankless task.

Burke had come over early this morning, preheated the oven, and then mixed the things he prepared with butter, stuffing them into the turkey's belly. He then tied the turkey legs and fixed the wings with ropes.

Next, he took out some vegetables like lettuce, placed them in the prepared baking tray, added a cup of water, and arranged the rack into a V shape. He spread butter all over the turkey, wrapped it with tin foil to prevent it from burning, and placed the turkey breast down in the oven. After baking for 45 minutes, he took the tray out and used the juice in the tray to baste the turkey.

Then, the turkey was flipped with the breast side up, a half cup of water was added, and it was baked for another 15 minutes. After that, it was basted again, turned 180 degrees, and placed back in the oven to bake for another 15 minutes.

After another round of basting, the turkey was left to bake with the breast facing up for 30 to 45 minutes. This depended on preference. If you liked burnt food, you could bake it longer; if you preferred tender food, bake it shorter.

To check if the turkey was cooked, you needed to use a thermometer. The chicken breast should reach 74 degrees Celsius, and the chicken leg should be above 77 degrees Celsius. Only then was the turkey fully roasted.

When eating, you could choose to eat it directly or cut it into slices and dip it in something. In the United States, someone had already made a sauce that was considered perfect for roast turkey. It was made by mixing sweet noodle sauce, sesame oil, peanut butter, Thai sweet sauce, and cherry sauce. It tasted quite good.

Mrs. Philemon had already made the roast turkey sauce a few days ago. She kept some for herself and gave the rest to Jiang Hai.

"Hey, Uncle Burke, are you alone? Where are the others?" Jiang Hai opened the door, letting the two dogs out to go to the toilet. He walked to the kitchen and asked Burke-Daller.

"They went to the cowshed first. The cowshed needs to be fed today as well. Philemon took his two sons to inspect the manor. As for Mrs. Philemon and the others, they are preparing other food at home. You know, there's a lot to do tonight, but I only know how to cook this," Burke-Daller said with a smile and a shrug. Although it was Christmas and people were on holiday, the cows had no holiday, and they couldn't starve for three days.

"Oh, I see! Is there anything I can help with?" Hearing Burke-Daller's words, Jiang Hai chuckled. Finding these hardworking men was really a good thing for Jiang Hai.

"Cut the beef. We'll roast it later," Burke-Daller said, smiling.

Hearing this, Jiang Hai responded and walked into the kitchen to begin helping.

It is said that if you live by the mountain, you can eat the mountain; if you live by the water, you can eat the water. Jiang Hai's place is both a fishery and a ranch, so naturally, the main food is beef and seafood. Of course, in addition to beef, fish, shrimp, and crabs, there was also a main dish today—lobster! This was the main dish Jiang Hai had been dreaming about for so long, but unfortunately, the lobster wasn't caught by him. He bought it in Winthrop.

In China, lobsters have always been a symbol of nouveau riche, or rather, luxury goods. Of course, the main people who eat this are the nouveau riche because the lobsters in China are really not that big. Although they taste good, at least in terms of appearance, they can't compare to those in the United States and Australia. In fact, not long ago, people in the United States and Australia almost didn't eat lobsters. They thought they weren't delicious, not to mention the trouble of eating them with little meat. In short, they weren't considered tasty. So lobsters in those places were considered food for the poor, and the prices of lobsters and abalone were never that high.

It wasn't until China reappeared on the world stage that people all over the world suddenly realized how rich the Chinese were and how much they loved to eat lobsters. In just a few years, the price of Australian lobsters skyrocketed from a few Australian dollars per pound to over 30 Australian dollars, which is equivalent to more than 100 yuan for nine taels. This isn't too expensive in China, where any hotel would charge over 1,000 yuan for a two-pound lobster. But in Australia, this price was outrageous.

The fishing companies in Australia, including freight, oil, and customs duties, sell to China at a price more than double that of local prices. No matter how stupid they are, they know where to sell.

As for the United States, the most famous is naturally the Maine lobster, or the legendary Boston lobster.

However, the main production area of Boston lobsters is Maine. Due to local policies and the fact that it's on the east coast, the lobster must travel through either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean to reach China. But everyone knows how dangerous it is to send it through Africa and Somalia. So, the Maine lobsters are not sold in large quantities to China. The prices remain low locally, but in Winthrop, where Jiang Hai bought them, they were sold for about $50 each, each around 30 cm.

When Jiang Hai had almost finished cleaning up the beef, the others returned, and the villa became lively, especially after Philemon arrived with his two sons. The eldest son, Louis, was more laid-back, just looking around and sitting down to chat while occasionally helping his uncles with some beer.

As for his youngest son, John, his eyes would be shining. After all, he had yet to enter society and viewed everything with envy—the two big dogs Jiang Hai raised, his latest game console, and the 3D projection TV. Since coming to Jiang Hai's house, John found his eyes weren't enough. This was where top otakus lived!