Chapter 28 What? I have milk sticks? The little red flower belongs to someone else?

After a busy day yesterday, An Fusheng was exhausted early and slept exceptionally well all night. He woke up at dawn this morning feeling refreshed and alert.

Yesterday at dinner, An Fusheng promised Bai Mangmang that he would make snacks for them to take to school. After a quick wash, he went to the kitchen to prepare.

"It needs to be easy to carry to school and won't get cold." An Fusheng weighed the half-cut old pumpkin in his hand and had an idea: "Let's make pumpkin milk sticks."

An Fusheng cut off a small ring of pumpkin, peeled it, sliced ​​it thinly, and steamed it in a pot.

The pumpkin needs to be steamed in the pot for about ten minutes. While waiting, An Fusheng took out the flour, milk, and eggs needed to make pumpkin milk sticks. "Why don't we use these ingredients for breakfast too?"

"What should I make?" An Fusheng continued rummaging through the refrigerator for inspiration, finally pulling out two Chinese yams. "Great, you're the one! Yam dumplings!"

As An Fusheng peeled the yam, he muttered to himself, "If I had thought of making yam balls earlier, I could have steamed the yam and pumpkin together. My mistake."

After peeling the yam and steaming the pumpkin until it was cooked, An Fusheng quickly sliced ​​the yam sticks and put the yam slices on top of the steamed pumpkin to continue steaming.

Mash the steamed pumpkin into a puree, add flour, milk, two eggs, and 2.5 grams of yeast, then knead into a dough.

An Fusheng kneaded the dough and couldn't help but gloat, "How clever I am! I thought of using old pumpkin to make milk sticks. This sweet old pumpkin even saves on sugar. Is there a healthier snack than this? No!"

After kneading the dough, roll it out into a large sheet about half a centimeter thick with a rolling pin. Then cut the sheet into strips about five centimeters long and the size of chopsticks. After cutting, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest.

Time management guru An Fusheng seamlessly transitioned to making yam balls, mashing steamed yams into a paste, adding flour, and kneading it into a smooth dough. "Who would have thought that this identical process was actually making two completely different foods?"

"Oh my, who would have thought that the hot water used to steam two things could be used to make soup with tomato skins?"

An Fusheng scooped out two large tomatoes that had been soaking in hot water. The skin at the bottom of the tomatoes, where a cross had been drawn, was already peeling off. He quickly peeled off the skin, and with a few quick taps, the tomatoes were broken into pieces on the cutting board.

Adhering to the principle of maximizing resource utilization, An Fusheng used the hot water in the pot to wash the pot again, and of course, he would rinse it again with clean water at the end.

The sound of children talking could be heard outside.

"I want to go see the vegetable seedlings."

"I'll go see it too."

An Shisi and Wen Xingmou ran to the vegetable garden without even washing their faces when they got up in the morning.

The shortest route to the vegetable garden was through the kitchen. An Fusheng watched as An Shisi and Wen Xingmou rubbed their eyes and hurriedly crossed the kitchen to check on the seedlings, without even glancing at him.

Wow, all the seedlings have stood up!

Wow! It's true!

The two of them made a big fuss in the vegetable garden.

Now that everyone is up, we can officially start cooking breakfast.

An Fusheng cracked two eggs into a bowl and beat them. Then he put the pan on the stove, turned on the heat, added peanut oil, poured the egg mixture into the pan, spread it into a thin pancake, lifted it out, and then put the tomatoes directly into the pan with the oil.

The two children in the vegetable garden smelled the aroma of food and immediately ran into the kitchen: "Big brother, what are we having for dinner today?"

An Fusheng kept stirring and pressing the tomatoes in his hands, deliberately teasing them: "You're not eating them, so what's the point of asking?"

After squeezing the tomatoes into juice, add water, cover the pot, and An Fusheng takes the yam dough and rolls it into small balls.

"Big brother, let me make one too!" Wen Xingmou excitedly grabbed An Fusheng's trouser leg.

An Shisi had already pushed the stool over, and while standing on it, he didn't forget to call out to Wen Xingmou, "Xingmou, you can see it if you come up like me."

"Hey! That's dangerous!" An Fusheng quickly stopped her, kicking over another stool for Wen Xingmou to climb on. "You can only help if you wash your hands."

“I know, brother.”

Wen Xingmou and An Shisi washed their hands thoroughly under the tap. "Big brother, we're done washing."

An Fusheng gave them a few small pieces of dough to play with.

The tomato soup was bubbling in the pot. An Fusheng lifted the lid, and the rich aroma of tomatoes rushed out with the rising steam.

"Wow!" the two children exclaimed.

An Fusheng turned down the heat and put the rolled meatballs into the pot.

"I made that."

"I made the one next to it, and I also made the one over there, hehe."

The two children craned their necks, excitedly identifying the dumplings they had made. Lou Lan came over and asked, "Xingmou and Shisi, have you brushed your teeth and washed your faces yet?"

"Aunt Lou asked if you've brushed your teeth and washed your face." An Fusheng replied, "If you haven't, hurry up and wash them. You can't eat breakfast if you haven't brushed your teeth and washed your face."

The two children looked at each other, then hurriedly climbed off the stool and ran to wash their faces and brush their teeth.

One by one, the meatballs floated to the surface in the pot. An Fusheng chopped the fried egg pancake and put it into the pot, then added chopped green vegetable leaves. He stirred the pancake a few times with a spatula and added matsutake mushrooms for extra flavor.

"Big brother, I smell something delicious!" Bai Mangmang ran into the kitchen. "What are we having today?"

"Yam balls." An Fusheng turned off the stove. "Everyone's up, right? Breakfast is ready."

"Everyone's up, except for Fourteen and Xingmou who are still washing their faces, but they don't need to eat breakfast," Bai Mangmang said.

"Here you go, take the bowl to the dining room."

"Okay."

Bai Mangmang carried a few bowls and chopsticks to the dining room, shouting as she left the kitchen, "Xinglin! Come and have breakfast!"

"I'm here." Wen Xinglin ran downstairs carrying his schoolbag.

An Fusheng took the pot directly to the restaurant.

Bai Mangmang's call not only summoned Wen Xinglin, but Lou Lan also came downstairs carrying Wen Xingrui and leading Wen Xinghe. "It's still early today. Since you're all up, let's have a leisurely breakfast together."

An Fusheng took Wen Xingrui and settled him into the dining chair.

"Is this some kind of glutinous rice ball?" Lou Lan asked.

“They’re yam balls,” An Fusheng said. “I saw some nice iron yam when I was buying groceries yesterday, so I bought two.”

"The yams are really good this season, and they're great for children's spleen and stomach."

Originally, Wen Xingrui was fed by adults, but after An Fusheng came and fed him two meals, he no longer wanted to be fed by others.

Lou Lan simply let him do as he pleased and started letting him eat by himself.

An Fusheng had to go to the kitchen to make milk sticks first.

Lou Lan first scooped a few meatballs for Wen Xingrui, let them cool down before giving them to him, and then scooped half a bowl of meatballs and soup for each of the other children. "Eat up, but be careful not to burn yourself."

An Shisi and Wen Xingmou arrived late after washing up. "I want to eat too."

"Don't you eat at the kindergarten?" Bai Mangmang asked while munching on a meatball.

“But we made these meatballs. We love meatballs that we make ourselves,” Wen Xingmou said.

“Yes, my brother said we can eat it after brushing our teeth and washing our face,” An Shisi said.

Wen Xingmou: "That's right!"

Since we couldn't all eat together and leave the two children naked to watch, Lou Lan took a bowl and put three meatballs in each of An Shisi and Wen Xingmou's bowls. "Come and eat."

Wen Xingmou and An Shisi sat down. Wen Xingmou scooped out a round little dumpling with a spoon. "This seems a little different from the one I made."

An Shisi: "Hmm, this one is round."

“This is it,” Lou Lan said. “It will become round after it’s cooked.”

"Really?" Wen Xingmou asked, half believing and half doubting.

An Shisi couldn't resist taking a bite because of the aroma. The meatball was sour and delicious!

"We made it ourselves." An Shisi was so captivated by the delicious food that he started talking nonsense.

An Fusheng lifted the plastic wrap, revealing that the milk sticks had transformed from thin strips into plump ones. He then took a non-stick pan from the kitchen utensil rack. "You didn't expect this, did you? I know you."

When I watched TV before, the people on the show loved to cook with non-stick pans. They would hold a wooden spatula and be clumsy when flipping the food. They would put in more than ten kinds of seasonings to cook one dish, adding one spoonful of this and two spoonfuls of that. It was terrifying to watch. They clearly didn't know how to cook, yet they were teaching others how to cook.

An Fusheng scoffed at this, saying that everyone in his village could cook all the dishes with a big iron pot, but today he actually used a non-stick pan and found it very useful.

An Fusheng brushed a thin layer of peanut oil into the non-stick pan, turned on low heat, and put the milk sticks into the pan one by one. The milk sticks puffed up little by little in the pan. An Fusheng slowly flipped them over. "It really only takes a little bit of oil to prevent them from sticking to the pan. It's so easy to use."

“Indeed, every pot has its purpose.” An Fusheng glanced at the row of pots and pans on the shelf and became even more eager to try them out.

After the children finished breakfast, Anfusheng's milk sticks were ready.

An Fusheng filled half a paper bag for Bai Mangmang and Wen Xinglin, saying, "Here, take these to school to eat."

"Big brother, what is that?" Wen Xingmou asked.

An Fusheng said, "It's a milk stick, made with milk, eggs, and flour, but I also added pumpkin. Would you like to try it?"

"I want it, I want it." Wen Xingmou stretched out her hands wide open towards An Fusheng.

An Fusheng placed one in Wen Xingmou's hand.

“Me too,” An Shisi said.

How could An Fusheng forget An Shisi? He also put one in An Shisi's hand, saying, "Eat it while it's hot, it's very sweet."

"Wow, this is delicious! I love it!" Wen Xing squinted her eyes, enjoying the treat.

After settling Wen Xinghe and Wen Xingrui in, Lou Lan went downstairs to take the children to school. "Let's go, time for school."

"Sister Mangmang and Brother Xinglin have a big bag, and I want a big bag to take to school to eat too." An Shisi finished off a milk stick in three bites and stared longingly at the ones in other people's hands.

“You can’t bring snacks to your kindergarten, but you have some at home. You can eat them after school, okay?” Lou Lan said.

An Shisi stood still to refuse, looking pitifully at An Fusheng. When Wen Xingmou saw that Lou Lan hesitated, she also joined in the act of playing the victim.

Bai Mangmang is in fourth grade and has to be at school by 7:30. She doesn't need to be taken to school, so when she sensed something was wrong, she grabbed her milk stick and slipped away.

The two children then focused their attention on Wen Xinglin alone.

Wen Xinglin was at a loss. He didn't like being watched all the time. Although he also felt that it wasn't good to eat alone, he didn't dare to share with Shisi and the others unless Aunt Lou asked.

Lou Lan finally gave in and said to An Fusheng, "Let's pack some for each of them."

An Fusheng went back to the kitchen and got two paper bags. He put three milk sticks in each bag and deliberately spread them out to make the bags look half full.

Two preschoolers were easily fooled and went to school contentedly with their bulging bags in their arms.

"You can only eat the milk sticks after school, okay? Before school ends, they can only be kept in your schoolbag," Lou Lan emphasized. "Don't share the milk sticks with other children, understand?"

The two children nodded. "We understand."

Lou Lan sent the children to kindergarten and specifically told the teachers that the children had already eaten breakfast at home, so they should give them a small breakfast to avoid them getting an upset stomach.

But life is full of unexpected events.

Beilei Kindergarten, Middle Class 2.

"An Shisi, your porridge isn't as plentiful as mine." An Shisi's deskmate placed his bowl next to An Shisi's for comparison. He had won the porridge contest against An Shisi yesterday, and he wanted to win again today.

An Shisi had some super delicious milk sticks today and was looking for no opportunity to show off, "Fang Wangxi, I have milk sticks."

"What?" Fang Wangxi stopped holding the bowl.

“It’s pumpkin flavored,” An Shisi continued.

"What kind of pumpkin flavor?"

Milk sticks.

"Children, don't talk while you eat, okay?" The teacher walked over to the two children. "It's good to finish your food in big bites."

Fang Wangxi moved her own bowl back, and the two of them each held their bowls and drank porridge, but their minds were on the milk sticks.

Fang Wangxi: An Shisi just said he had something? Milk sticks? Or pumpkin flavored ones? What do pumpkin flavored milk sticks taste like?

An Shisi: Fang Wangxi must know I have pumpkin-flavored milk sticks now. He must be so envious. I'm not going to share them with him.

With each of them preoccupied with their own thoughts, they slowed down their porridge-drinking.

"Good job, Xiaoyi! You deserve a red flower for being the best eater today."

What? The little red flower belongs to someone else?

The two of them suddenly realized what was happening.

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Author's note: I corrected a typo, hehe~~