Chapter 6 When you're truly starving, you might even eat dirt...

"Grandma Ao, what are we making for dinner tonight?" An Fusheng asked, looking at the ingredients on the counter.

"Here we have pork belly, winter melon, and green vegetables. Tell me how we should cook it?" Grandma Ao asked with a smile.

She really liked this child; he was hardworking, polite, and a great cook.

When An Fusheng was thinking about cooking, he habitually flipped through the ingredients. Unexpectedly, when he casually flipped over the piece of pork belly, he found that it was actually a piece of "half-fat and half-lean" pork belly. It wasn't divided into top and bottom layers, but rather half on each side.

An Fusheng: "..."

Grandma Ao immediately got angry and scolded, "This scoundrel! How can he cheat people when he's selling things!"

"It's alright." An Fusheng used a cleaver to remove the part of the pork belly that had been smeared with water from the back. Fortunately, half of it was still usable.

“The pork belly can be used to make braised pork, and the scraps can be made into meatballs. Meatballs that are half fat and half lean are refreshing and chewy, and they taste good too. How about we make a soup with the meatballs and winter melon?” An Fusheng asked.

Grandma Ao nodded repeatedly: "That's good, that's good."

This combination sounds great, this kid is really smart!

"You can also make braised pork?" Grandma Ao asked, because braised pork is not easy to make.

"Yes, it will." An Fusheng said calmly.

Grandma Ao did not hesitate to hand over the cooking position to An Fusheng and took over the food preparation herself.

After An Fusheng cut the pork belly, he set up a pot and turned on the heat.

Put rock sugar in a pot, pour in a little water, add a spoonful of peanut oil, and stir over high heat.

Once the rock sugar has completely dissolved, turn the heat to low and continue stirring.

As the melted rock sugar gradually turned a deep reddish-brown, An Fusheng saw that the color was about right and added a bowl of water to the pot, diluting the deep reddish-brown sugar coloring into a glossy red.

Grandma Ao watched from the side and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, the caramel color is so beautiful!"

An Fusheng explained, "You need to add a little water when you start melting the sugar. This will prevent the sugar from burning, make the color look nice, and prevent it from turning bitter."

Grandma Ao nodded repeatedly, indicating that she had learned something new again!

Once the caramel coloring is ready, set it aside.

An Fusheng washed the pot clean, dried it, and then poured the chopped pork belly into the pot to stir-fry.

As the pork belly is stir-fried over high heat, it gradually releases its own oil.

"Is that enough? If you render too much oil, won't the fatty meat become dry?" Grandma Ao asked.

“No.” An Fusheng explained, waving the spatula in his hand: “Frying out the excess oil will make it less greasy to eat.”

As the meat is stir-fried, its surface gradually turns into a glossy golden yellow.

An Fusheng scooped out the excess oil, then added scallions, ginger, dried chili peppers, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and other seasonings.

Stir-fry a few more times to release the aroma of the seasonings in the oil, then pour in the prepared caramel coloring and continue to stir-fry evenly to coat the ingredients.

Finally, add water, cover the pot, and simmer over low heat.

During this process, An Fusheng took out ten quail eggs from the refrigerator, boiled them, and quickly peeled them.

Once the meat is almost cooked, put the skinned quail into the pot, cover it, and continue to simmer.

Ten minutes later…

An Fusheng lifted the pot lid; most of the broth in the meat had already been absorbed.

Turn up the heat to reduce the sauce, add salt to taste, stir-fry evenly, and then sprinkle with chopped green onions.

It's done!

Grandma Ao handed a large bowl to An Fusheng.

An Fusheng put the meat into a bowl. The bowl full of brightly colored and juicy braised pork trembled slightly in the porcelain white bowl, emitting a rich aroma.

"It's even better than what you get in fancy restaurants," Grandma An couldn't help but praise.

Next, I'll make meatball and winter melon soup.

Grandma Ao had already cut the winter melon and chopped the meat.

An Fusheng poured water into a pot, turned on the heat, and added the winter melon after the water boiled.

The winter melon should be cooked until just tender. While the winter melon is cooking, An Fusheng puts the minced meat that Grandma Ao has chopped into a stainless steel bowl, adds scallion and ginger water, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, and an egg white, and then stirs it quickly in one direction with chopsticks.

After stirring until the mixture became elastic, An Fusheng turned the heat to the lowest setting, squeezed the minced meat into meatballs of the same size, and put them into the winter melon soup.

After squeezing all the filling, cover the pot with the lid and continue cooking over high heat.

Once all the meatballs have floated to the surface, An Fusheng carefully skims off the foam with a spatula, then adds salt, sprinkles on chopped green onions, and the winter melon meatball soup is ready.

Finally, I used the lard rendered from the pork belly to quickly stir-fry some greens, and tonight's dishes were all ready.

"I'm all washed." Ao Daiya carried the wet cat into the kitchen. She herself looked like she had been drenched in water. Both of them were dripping wet, and in no time, a large area of ​​the floor where they stood was wet.

The kitchen smelled wonderful, and the person and the cat sniffed in perfect unison.

Ao Daiya's eyes lit up, "What are we having for dinner tonight? It smells so good!"

The kitten also meowed and licked its lips.

"After you give it a bath, could you dry it off?" Grandma Ao was setting the table when she saw Ao Daiya holding the wet cat and felt an urge to spank the child.

“It doesn’t want to be dried; it wants to come to the kitchen first,” Ao Daiya said.

"I bet it was your dog nose that smelled the aroma and came to the kitchen."

Grandma Ao helplessly found a handkerchief for Ao Daiya: "Wipe it clean, and go change your wet clothes too."

Ao Daiya took the handkerchief and pressed the kitten down on the small stool to wipe it dry.

Grandma Ao took out a few dried fish from the refrigerator and placed them in front of the kitten.

The kitten meowed at Grandma Ao to express its gratitude, then lowered its head to eat dried fish, letting Ao Daiya wipe it all over.

An Fusheng served the dishes.

After Ao Daiya changed her clothes, the family started eating dinner.

"Wow~ This meat is so delicious!"

"This little egg is delicious too!"

These are quail eggs!

"Mmm, quail eggs are delicious, meatballs are delicious too, waaaah~ everything my brother makes is delicious."

Ao Daiya hadn't eaten anything since lunch and was starving. His brother's cooking was so delicious that he wanted to swallow his tongue with every bite.

Aww, it would be so great if my brother cooked for me every day!

Ao Daiya looked like he hadn't eaten for three days and three nights. Before the food in his mouth was even chewed properly, he frantically stuffed it into his mouth again. Grandma Ao couldn't help but scold him: "Eat slowly, no one is going to take it from you."

He couldn't help but laugh and said, "This braised pork is fatty but not greasy, it melts in your mouth, the winter melon meatball soup is also very delicious, even the vegetables are better than usual, no wonder you are like this, haha."

Grandma Ao's house has all sorts of stools, which she says is because everyone in the family has a different style they like.

The stool that An Fusheng was sitting on was long and narrow.

Before anyone knew it, the kitten had climbed onto An Fusheng's stool.

Its white fur, wet and clinging to its body, made it look particularly thin and small. It tilted its head back and quietly looked at An Fusheng.

An Fusheng couldn't bear to see its pitiful state, so he secretly took a meatball from his own bowl and placed it in front of it. The kitten immediately wagged its wet tail happily to show how happy it was.

...

Xingchen Children's Welfare Home.

After Lou Lan took the children back to the welfare home, she hurriedly left again.

Today, someone found an abandoned baby near their welfare home and brought it to the welfare home.

Although it was already autumn, the late summer heat was relentless. The child was too young and had been exposed to the sun for too long, so when he was brought in, he was on the verge of death. The hospital director immediately took the child to the hospital.

The dean went there in the afternoon and hasn't returned yet.

She just called the dean but no one answered, and she doesn't know what's going on. She has to go see if she can help.

The staffing of children's welfare homes is based on the number of children. Xingchen Children's Welfare Home only has seven children, so there are only three staff members: the director, Lou Lan, and a temporary worker, Uncle Du.

Uncle Du is from the countryside and suffered a lot growing up. He always felt that children nowadays live too well and are spoiled.

"Wen Xinglin, come help with the cooking. You're so old, all you do when you get back is play!"

Uncle Du couldn't stand the sight of the little kids playing on the slide in the yard.

Wen Xinglin got up from the ground, went into the kitchen, and waited for Uncle Du to tell him what to do.

Seeing that he wasn't taking the initiative, Uncle Du yelled, "Wash the rice and cook it! Why are you like a block of wood? Can't you see anything to do?"

Wen Xinglin clumsily went to get the basin, scooped out rice, and rinsed it.

"Are your eyes on the back of your head? Didn't you see the rice being poured out?"

Wen Xinglin quickly used one hand to block the rice flowing out with the water, but the basin was too heavy and he didn't have enough strength with his other hand. He lost his grip and the basin slipped and fell to the ground with a "clang", spilling half of the rice out.

"Look at you, look at you! You're completely useless! Get out of the way, let me do it!"

Wen Xinglin quickly stepped aside and stood to the side, his face flushed, watching Uncle Du tidy up.

"What are you standing there for? Go peel the winter melon!" Uncle Du grumbled again, "You kids these days are really spoiled. When I was your age, I was already herding cattle on the mountain, and I could even chop a bundle of firewood to take home."

The kitchen faced the yard, and the door was open. The children in the yard heard Uncle Du cursing and dared not play anymore, afraid that if they made any noise, Uncle Du would hear them and take his anger out on them.

As it was getting dark, a girl of about ten years old came back with her schoolbag on her back.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw the two children sitting blankly on the cement floor and guessed what had happened.

"Did Uncle Du swear again?" she asked quietly as she walked over.

The two children blinked innocently and nodded silently.

The girl sighed, got up, and walked towards the kitchen.

"Uncle Du, I'm back!" The voice was light and cheerful.

The man who had been staring at Wen Xingmou cutting winter melon peel with a long face softened his expression: "Mangmang is back?"

She immediately switched back to a cold expression and said to Wen Xingmou, "Be careful not to cut your hand."

He spoke words of concern, but his tone was full of disdain.

"It's only because times are good now that you don't need your parents anymore, but the country still supports you. If it were in the past, someone like you would have starved to death long ago. Why are you being so delicate?"

"Let me do it."

Bai Mangmang took off her schoolbag and placed it on the stool. She walked over and took the winter melon and kitchen knife from Wen Xinglin's hand. "Go play with your younger brother and sister."

"Mangmang is still sensible." Uncle Du felt a little gratified.

Wen Xinglin walked out of the kitchen with his head down.

There was a street lamp at the kitchen door, its soft light bathing Wen Xinglin's head. Wen Xinglin slowly stretched out his left hand, his red palm covered with dense winter melon thorns.

Ouch!

Wen Xinglin couldn't stop his tears from falling onto the cement floor...

By the time the meal was ready, it was completely dark.

There are two children with mobility issues in the welfare home who are kept in a room on the third floor. One needs to be fed by hand, and the other needs to be fed.

"Honestly, I've never been this attentive to my parents," Uncle Du said impatiently as he filled his bowl with rice.

"Come and eat!" Uncle Du finished packing the food, yelled at the children in the yard, and then grumbled as he delivered the food to the two kids.

The children obediently went into the restaurant to eat.

"I don't like this taste, it's so weird." Shen Xingmou held her rice bowl and refused to accept the winter melon that Bai Mangmang had put on her plate.

"I just added perilla leaves," Bai Mangmang said. "Mother Wen said we can't be picky eaters."

Shen Xingmou shook her head, insisting on refusing.

Bai Mangmang then turned the bowl towards An Shisi, who clutched it tightly to his chest: "I don't like this taste either."

"Alright then, let's eat the steamed eggs first," Bai Mangmang said helplessly.

Tonight's dishes are perilla and winter melon, and steamed eggs. She was worried that if everyone only ate the steamed eggs, Uncle Du would get angry when he came back, so she made everyone eat the winter melon first. But no one wanted to, and she couldn't do anything about it.

The steamed egg was overcooked, it had a honeycomb texture and was a bit hard, but compared to winter melon, everyone thought the steamed egg custard was still tastier.

When Uncle Du returned, he saw that the plate of winter melon was still full and looked untouched, but the plate of steamed egg custard was empty. Sure enough, he started cursing again.

Even Bai Mangmang got scolded this time.

"They've never been hungry. When they were truly starving, they'd probably eat dirt and still complain about winter melon."

Uncle Du cursed as he filled a large bowl with rice and began eating his dinner with winter melon.