She was still a child

After Zhang Wei nodded and greeted Wang Yao, he walked towards Li Jin.

Seeing his expression, Li Jin knew he was up to no good and immediately wanted to leave.

Zhang Wei sensed Li Jin's intention and immediately stepped in front of him, saying, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered with you."

Li Jin immediately realized that this bastard was imitating how he spoke to Wang Yao, and gritted his teeth to utter the word "Get lost".

Zhang Wei continued, "I have no right to help you, I'm sorry... Sigh, is this how you ask for help? If you dare to lay a hand on me, I absolutely won't help you, ahhh, it hurts, it hurts, I was wrong, I was wrong..."

Hearing Zhang Wei beg for mercy, Li Jin finally released him. "If anything happens to one of the four people inside, I will hold you responsible."

Zhang Wei stopped rubbing his shoulders, raised his hand in a salute, and said, "I guarantee I will complete the mission. Please rest assured, squad leader."

He then joked, "The crackdown has been over for years, what's there to worry about!"

Zhang Wei didn't understand Li Jin because he didn't know the fear Li Jin felt when he returned home after completing his mission and saw his house shattered by falling rocks. If Wang Yao hadn't gone to his house by chance, that night...

Zhang Wei nudged Li Jin's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Hey, seriously, do you have ulterior motives? Do you want me to keep an eye on your sister-in-law... Hey, hey, hey, why are you hitting me again? Ahhh, help! Murder!"

Not wanting to attract attention, Li Jin had no choice but to let go of him, warning him coldly, "Don't talk nonsense, and keep your dirty thoughts to yourself. She's still a child."

Watching Li Jin's departing figure, Zhang Wei pouted and mimicked "She's still a child" in a strange tone, thinking to himself: When he blocked a girl on the street and then held her in his arms, why didn't he say she was a child? Hypocritical, hypocritical beast...

When the event ended, Zhang Wei had to go on duty, so he went back to the police station. Li Jin took Liu Xiangmei and her daughter home first, and also let Liu Xiangmei and her daughter get acquainted with the place.

Liu Xiangmei invited the three members of the Li family to her home for dinner the day after tomorrow, only to learn that Li Jin would be returning to his unit the day after tomorrow.

"Are you all free tomorrow? I had arranged with my older sister to come to my house tomorrow at noon to get acquainted with the place. If it's convenient, we can all come to my house around 2 pm tomorrow. It'll be more lively if everyone gets together!"

Old Li nodded, "Alright, let's go check out the place and maybe get a free meal while we're at it. I'd love to try your cooking!"

Liu Xiangmei laughed heartily, "Then Uncle Li, you'd better prepare your stomach! My cooking skills have improved recently under Yao Yao's guidance!"

Li Jin glanced discreetly in Wang Yao's direction. The girl stood under the streetlight, looking very well-behaved. He hadn't expected her to have such a skill.

Old Li was surprised, "Like mother, like daughter! Then I'll come to your door tomorrow on an empty stomach!"

Liu Xiangmei: Okay, make sure you come on an empty stomach.

On the way home, Li Jin walked at the very back, watching Wang Yao skip and hop around, occasionally kicking a pebble on the roadside, which prompted Liu Xiangmei to scold, "Your shoes are ruined, so you'll just walk barefoot..."

But Wang Yao remained the same. With each jump, the bun on the back of her head became even more disheveled, bouncing along with her movements like her little tail.

"Mom, I'll cook lunch tomorrow!"

Liu Xiangmei: "Can you manage on your own?"

"What about Second Aunt and Xiaomin? Never mind, there's no room for so many people in the kitchen. Let Second Aunt help you, and Xiaomin help me."

Liu Xiangmei: "Are you two children okay?"

"Just remove the last '吗' (ma), I'm sure I can do it, just you wait and see! I'm going to do it tomorrow..."

Listening to the mother and daughter's conversation, discussing who would cook and what dishes to prepare, Li Jin suddenly felt that this moment was truly precious, and he almost didn't want to leave.

But such a thought only lasted for a moment, and was quickly pushed away by conviction.

The next morning, Liu Xiangmei woke Wang Yao up early, "Hurry up, the sun is already high in the sky, and you're still sleeping. Look at Xiaomin."

Wang Yao sat up groggily, rubbed her eyes, and saw Sun Min sitting at her desk, looking down at a book.

Good heavens, does it have to be this curly?!

"Xiaomin, what time did you get up?"

Sun Min turned around and gave Wang Yao a smile different from usual, "Six o'clock."

Wang Yao: ...

"Isn't it too early? Young people won't grow tall if they don't sleep well!"

Sun Min: "No, that's how I used to get up and study when I was in school."

Wang Yao: ...

"Wang Yao, why are you still in bed? Hurry up!"

Wang Yao replied weakly, "Coming!"

There wasn't enough food at home, and since Wang Yao had boasted yesterday that she would show off her skills today, as the head chef, she had to go to the market to buy more.

They went to the vegetable market on Dingyuan Road today. Early in the morning, the market was packed with people buying, selling, and strolling around.

Wang Yao started shopping at the entrance of the market based on the menu she had drafted the day before, and walked all the way to the back of the market, where she also bought two pairs of arm sleeves.

They bought all the meat, eggs, and vegetables they needed, and then bought several kinds of spices that they didn't have at home from the spice stall before heading home.

When Wang Yao got home, she heard a greeting: "You're finally back! I bought fried dough sticks and tofu pudding, hurry up and eat."

Wang Yao could already smell the aroma of tofu pudding. Sitting at the table, she scooped up a large spoonful and put it in her mouth. "Mmm, this is the taste."

It's the taste she remembers.

In her past life, she always took the train back to Zhou County, and that train always stopped at Zhou County Railway Station around 7 a.m.

Her second aunt would take her out for breakfast, and every time they would have fried dough sticks and tofu pudding. Her second aunt liked the tofu pudding made at this place, thinking it had a strong bean flavor, and she liked it too.

My second aunt was tidying up the vegetables they had bought and said, "Right? This is my favorite tofu pudding shop. Their beans are good and have a strong bean flavor. Every morning around six o'clock, the owner would set off from the back of the city with the tofu pudding and sell it all the way to the train station. I buy it almost every day."

Wang Yao nodded: "It's really good, with a rich flavor and very tender."

For the entire morning, sisters Liu Xiangmei and Liu Xiangqiu were washing and preparing vegetables. In the middle of the day, Liu Xiangmei even went downstairs to pick up Liu Xiangchun's family.

Liu Xiangchun wanted to help with something, but Liu Xiangmei told him that "the kitchen is too small and there's not enough room for anyone to stand in." She then sent him to the living room to drink tea.

During their conversation, Liu Xiangchun learned that his younger sister had bought a tricycle. They had seen the tricycle when they went upstairs. Although his younger sister said it was second-hand, it didn't look old. Hearing that it only cost a little over 300 yuan, Liu Xiangchun and Chen Hai became interested.

Liu Xiangmei and Liu Xiangqiu explained in detail which shop they bought from and how they negotiated the price.

After hearing this, Liu Xiangchun and Chen Hai, having nothing else to do, took their youngest son, Chen Bing, to the secondhand market.

As for Chen Xiu, she heard that her cousin Yao Yao was going to cook, so she asked to stay. She was very curious to see what it was like to cook, seeing how mature her cousin was.

All the vegetables and meat were prepared according to Wang Yao's instructions. At eleven o'clock, the rice in the pot was cooked, and it was Wang Yao's turn to take the lead.

Wang Yao wore long sleeves to prevent hot oil from splattering on her.

Today, she prepared the same boxed lunches, one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, but the number of servings increased from twenty yesterday to fifty.

The dishes were Kung Pao Chicken, Stir-fried Shredded Potatoes with Vinegar, and Stir-fried Shredded Tofu.

Boil a pot of water, add half a spoonful of baking soda, then add the tofu strips and cook for half a minute. Remove them, rinse them several times with clean water, and drain. Then add minced garlic and chili strips. Heat oil in a pan, add a handful of Sichuan peppercorns and fry until fragrant. Remove the peppercorns after they change color, and pour the hot oil over the minced garlic and dried chili.

The most crucial step is to immediately seal the dish after pouring hot oil over the tofu strips for a few minutes to allow the pungent aroma to infuse the tofu strips. Once cooked, add seasonings such as salt, sugar, light soy sauce, and sesame oil, and then stir and squeeze the mixture by hand until the broth is fully absorbed into the tofu strips. Finally, add shredded green onions and cilantro, and your stir-fried tofu strips are ready.

Next, we made stir-fried shredded potatoes with vinegar. Liu Xiangmei's knife skills were indeed excellent; the shredded potatoes were all the same thickness. Wang Yao first greased the pan with hot oil to prevent sticking, then added minced garlic to sauté, followed by the shredded potatoes and shredded green and red peppers. After stirring constantly over high heat, she added salt, sugar, vinegar, and other seasonings, stir-fried again, and then it was ready to serve.

If the first dish amazed Chen Xiu, then the second dish won him over.

It's not that these two dishes are rare; on the contrary, they are quite common, so common that almost every household knows how to make them. Making such common dishes stand out is the most difficult thing.