Old Deckard had started cooking before he went to find them. He roasted some chicken until it looked white and tender.
As they drank the beer, the chicken finished cooking. Old Deckard took out the chicken, placed some sausages on the roaster and said, "Fragrant spicy chicken salad complemented by Winslow beef sausages. You guys will feel so satisfied."
There could be no salad without dressing and vegetables. He brought out some tomatoes, capsicums, onions, and cut them into small pieces before cutting up the chicken and throwing everything into a salad bowl.
After which, he heated up a pan and threw some seeds in for stir-frying.
While he was stir-frying, he introduced the seeds. "These are fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and black pepper seeds. I am making garam masala. This dish would not be complete without garam masala."
Li Du did not catch what he said. "What? Chacha malala?"
Old Deckard started laughing and clarified, "It's garam masala. It's a type of spice blend that's commonly used in Indian roast. If you guys would like to make it, you guys can buy it from an Indian general store—they usually have it."
Sophie nodded. "I know, garam masala. It's very fragrant, has a tinge of sourness, and sulfur taste. It's a very interesting type of seasoning."
"Correct," Old Deckard replied. "As garam masala contains ground up green mango powder, it's sour. As for the sulfur taste, it contains a type of mineral called black salt.
"However, ordinary garam masala doesn't contain black salt as it's very expensive. Sophie, the one you ate is a top grade garam masala."
The variety of plant seeds quickly finished cooking. With a small grinder that he carried along with him, he very quickly ground the variety of seeds into powder—it made a wick wick sound.
Following which, he added some green mango slices, ginger powder, mint leaves, and table salt, before he continued grinding. Ultimately, the resulting powder formed was garam masala.
Having prepared the seasoning, he took out a few more items such as some herbs, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin powder, sweet pepper powder, and so on.
He mixed the items together and poured half into the garam masala, before pouring the other half into the salad bowl. He then proceeded to gently mix them together.
Seeing this, Li Du marveled, "This dish is really tedious. Old man, you sure know how to enjoy life, preparing so long just for one meal."
Old Deckard gave him a bitter smile. "There's too much suffering in life," he said. "I have to find every possible way to make myself happy, or else, how could I go on?"
Li Du nodded. After hearing Brendan and Alicia's explanation, Li Du knew that Old Deckard had lived an arduous life. It was one of the reasons he'd decided to fork out money and help those people.
Old Deckard tossed the ingredients evenly in the big bowl before adding in salt. He then placed a cup of lemon juice beside the bowl and said, "Prepare to eat. If you guys would like to have a sweet and sour taste, you can add the lemon juice yourself."
Li Du handed his and Sophie's plates to him. The old man very meticulously placed a lettuce leaf on top of the plates before putting on the salad.
He poured the remaining garam masala and salt over the plates and passed them over. "Come, take the roasted sausages and see if you like the food."
As Li Du was hungry, he took a huge bite when he got his plate.
A fragrance along his taste buds was suddenly released into his mouth. It was a very refreshing and unique taste that blended the flavors of the oil from the plant seeds.
The salad dish depended solely on the garam masala for flavor. As Li Du had not eaten the dish before, he felt that it was especially novel and delicious.
Old Deckard passed a sausage to him and said, "Eat them together. Bite carefully and don't scald yourself as the sausage contains rich butter."
When complemented with the beef sausage, the taste was even more extraordinary. As the beef sausage contained butter, it had a unique meat fragrance after being roasted.
Without the beef sausage, the refreshing flavor of the vegetables and lemon juice was too exotic and became sickening after a while. The greasiness of the beef sausage was balanced out by the refreshing flavor of the vegetables, making the taste just right.
Li Du passed another bottle of beer to Old Deckard and said, "Just the delicious food is not enough. Have it with a good beer and let's toast. This is such a perfect combination!"
Old Deckard signaled to Sophie. "Lady, want one as well?"
Sophie shook her head, smiled and said, "Sorry, I can't drink alcohol because I'm a religious person. I'm also a surgeon, and can't drink alcohol because of that as well."
Old Deckard nodded. "You really are a good lady. I've seen a lot of religious people who, other than Christians, didn't care about the rules of their religion."
Sophie poured a bottle of soda, which she had brought along, into a cup and said, "Although I follow the teachings of the Lord, I also respect other people's life choices. Live in the moment and be the best you can. Cheers."
Li Du began to smile. He adored this aspect of Sophie, where even though she had her own principles and morals, she would not ask others to abide by them.
While eating, Sophie asked Old Deckard about his son's health condition.
The old man looked worried when the matter was brought up. He then proceeded to explain the situation.
Sophie was a very reputable surgeon in Flagstaff. As she had earnestly studied medicine during her time in university and as a postgraduate, she had extensive knowledge in her field of work.
Old Deckard's phone contained the diagnostic reports and photos of the medical imaging data. After having a detailed look at them, Sophie gave him an optimistic smile. "This isn't a serious problem. The injuries aren't actually that severe. The stress fractures on the bones of his leg and feet were due to him doing heavy work for a long period of time. He will be able to completely recover after some rest . . . "
She explained a lot of information to Old Deckard, such as which area of the fracture was in the stage of organized hematoma and that time was needed to allow the fibers to grow, which area was in the stage of callus formation and had begun healing, and so on.
While listening to her detailed explanations and solutions, Old Deckard gave a smile, which made his face look better.
Honestly speaking, the diagnosis of the doctors were also the same. However, they did not explain everything to him in such a serious and detailed manner.
The source of the fear was the lack of knowledge. As Old Deckard did not understand his son's bone fracture condition; he was anxious. Although he had asked a doctor before, the doctor brushed him off.
As Sophie had helped him remove the fear in his heart, the old man was very grateful.
They finished eating when the explanation ended.
Li Du shook Old Deckard's hand and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, old man. As I am unable to repay your kindness, I'll leave the beer for you."
As only four bottles had been drunk from the box of beer he'd brought over, five bottles were left.
Before Sophie left, she consoled Old Deckard again. "This is a very common injury in the surgical department. No surgery is required and resting will be enough to let the body recuperate on its own. Your son's injuries were classified as serious due to him having multiple fractures. It's just a way of classification in medicine."
Old Deckard shook her hand and thanked her repeatedly. "With a doctor like you in Winslow, maybe we won't need to be afraid all the time."
On the way toward their camp, Li Du raised his eyebrows at Sophie and said, "Well done, lady."
"It was my responsibility," Sophie slowly said in Chinese.
Li Du gave her a thumbs up. "You are a really fast learner."
Sophie giggled. "Of course, I have a genuine master's degree. Unlike some people who graduated from a diploma mill."
"To be honest, I haven't graduated," Li Du grieved.