After returning home and putting down the dishes, Mother Gu continued to wash the unwashed soybeans. Song Zhi looked at the peanuts in front of him and continued to peel them helplessly. Fortunately, the two of them were fast and soon gathered the ingredients needed to make fermented soybeans.

Song's mother soaked the soybeans in advance and prepared to cook them tomorrow. The soybeans need to be soaked overnight in advance.

After soaking them in the basin, they began to prepare the ingredients for the hot pot. Panpan watched her grandmother and mother washing and cutting the vegetables, making the scene very colorful. Then they opened the seal of the coal stove and started to boil water.

Song's mother began to fry the prepared green onions, ginger, garlic, and onions in a frying pan, then took them out and added chili peppers and various spices and simmered them for an hour and a half. The smell from the kitchen was strong and drifted outside. Several households nearby could smell the fragrant and spicy aroma, which was really nice and pleasant.

Even though Song Zhi was sneezing, he still wanted to stay in the kitchen to learn from her. Panpan had already run out. An hour and a half passed quickly. Song's mother added rock sugar and many other spices that Song Zhi didn't recognize. After simmering for half an hour, the dish was done.

At this time, the hot pot ingredients are already very thick, and may become lumpy after a while. It can be eaten for a long time after making it once, especially in winter, and there is no problem eating it seven or eight times.

"Don't think about eating it yourself, send two pieces to the neighbors later." Song's mother knew her daughter very well and saw what she was thinking at a glance. Although this thing consumes a lot of oil and ingredients and tastes good, it is also bad for the stomach and cannot be eaten often.

"Oh!" Although Song Zhi was very reluctant, he still agreed.

Next, cut the hot pot ingredients into small pieces and put them into boiling water. After the hot pot ingredients have spread, put the various vegetables you have just prepared into it, putting those that are easy to cook first and then those that are not easy to cook.

As long as the water boils, these dishes will be cooked quickly. Song Zhi couldn't wait to pick up a lotus root. It had been a long time since he had eaten this.

Panpan stood by and watched her mother eat eagerly. Song's mother couldn't bear to watch. She found a clean bowl and poured some warm water into it, "Put some in for the child to rinse."

Panpan couldn't eat anything too spicy, so he could only make do with hotpot. Even so, Panpan closed his eyes because the food was too spicy. Song Zhi looked at him like this and didn't understand why it was so spicy?

It would be nice to have some sesame paste at this time, but unfortunately there was none at home. Song Zhi shook his head with regret and could only dip it in chili oil.

Gu Huaijin could smell the fragrance wafting from the house from a distance. Now Captain Qin was numb with jealousy. It was already enviable to have a wife who could cook, but after the mother-in-law came over, not only did she make different meals every day, but she also made a variety of dishes. I wonder what delicious food she made today. The smell was really exciting.

"Another delicious meal." There was no doubt that it was Gu Huaijin's family. No one in this area could cook better than his family.

Gu Huaijin smiled and invited: "How about going to my house together?"

"No, no, my husband is waiting for me to go back for dinner." The main reason was not this, but it was not good to go out for dinner suddenly. Besides, the other party might not have enough ingredients. In fact, he really wanted to go.

Gu Huaijin walked quickly into the house and saw that they were already eating around the stove. Instead of getting angry, he washed his hands and went over.

Seeing the mess, Gu Huaijin fell silent.

Seeing his reaction, Song Zhi chuckled softly, "You can't handle spicy food. Why don't you rinse it with water like Panpan did?"

It was originally well-intentioned, but Gu Huaijin felt so uncomfortable hearing this, so he didn't argue with her. Instead, he asked, "Are the results out?"

Otherwise, why would you be in the mood to joke here?

"I passed the exam." Song Zhi said happily, and his expression was exactly the same as Panpan's when he usually ate something delicious.

"Did you tell me when school starts?"

"March."

Gu Huaijin calculated in his mind that there was still about a month left, and he probably wouldn't be able to leave so early, so Song Zhi would have to go to school alone.

"I've discussed it with my mom, and we'll go back together. I'll come back during the winter and summer holidays."

"..." Gu Huaijin's silence at this moment was deafening, meaning that he was the only one at home.

Although, he had no choice but to accept this arrangement silently. This arrangement was the best arrangement.

"Hurry up and move a stool over to eat. It will be cooked through and not tasty anymore." Song Zhi didn't care about his reaction. At this moment, eating was the most important thing in the world.

Song's mother urged: "Let's talk about this after dinner."

Although Panpan has grown a few teeth, he cannot eat hard food. Song Zhi found some soft and digestible food for him. You can tell whether it tastes good or not by looking at the color, but Panpan still eats it with relish. Song Zhi shook his head and thought that he was really easy to feed.

After dinner, Song Zhi went to boil water for a bath, and Gu Huaijin washed the dishes. They finished all the work and let Song's mother go to rest early.

"I'm going to take a shower first, you take care of Panpan." Song Zhi instructed him.

"good."

Panpan watched his mother go to the bathroom, knowing that was where he went to take a bath. He liked playing in the water, so he followed his mother happily.

Song Zhi didn't notice it until he was closing the door. He smiled and pretended to be well-behaved. "Go find Daddy. Mommy will wash you after she finishes washing."

Panpan watched his mother close the door and went up to knock on it.

"Go with dad to boil some water. I'll let you take a shower later." Gu Huaijin didn't see anyone else coming out to look for him. He saw him standing outside the bathroom. He was so small and looked a little pitiful. He reached out and picked him up and took him to the kitchen.

Panpan stood next to the stove. Although he didn't cry or make a fuss, his expression at the moment was particularly aggrieved.

It was hard for Gu Huaijin to ignore it, "Want to take a shower?"

Panpan glanced at her father, then lowered her head and fiddled with the small buttons on her clothes.

He didn't like talking to his father, and Gu Huaijin rarely heard him call him. It might be because he worked during the day and went to bed shortly after dinner when he came back at night, so the time he spent with him was indeed very short.

But now Panpan still sleeps in a separate bed from them and still sleeps with them at night. It cannot be said that they don’t spend a long time together. It just means that the child doesn’t like him.

In fact, Gu Huaijin doesn’t know how to coax children. He is a man of few words. He will show his emotions a little in front of Song Zhi, but he is very quiet in front of other people.

Gu Huaijin looked at the child in front of him who was throwing a tantrum, stood up, took a sweet potato from the side, and threw it into the stove.

Panpan saw it out of the corner of his eye and thought he was using sweet potatoes to make fire. He had never seen this way of burning things before, and his eyes were full of confusion. Gu Huaijin asked him to pick up firewood and put it in. Panpan squatted down, picked up a match and handed it to him, but refused to put it in the fire.