Chapter 189 It feels good to have someone thinking about you.
Yao Shuxin added two eggs to the dough when making the noodles, and she put a lot of effort into kneading it. You can tell the noodles will be chewy without even looking at them. She also made a red soup base.
Add a little soy sauce, chopped green onions, MSG, and then a tiny bit of lard to each bowl.
The hot broth is poured over the noodles, releasing the aroma of soy sauce and lard. Then, the cooked, chewy hand-pulled noodles are added...
Four bowls of hand-pulled noodles, glistening with oil, were served. Yao Shula's bowl contained two poached eggs, while the others each had a poached egg.
In addition, Yao Shuxin also chopped four green peppers, minced garlic, added a little soy sauce, salt, and sesame oil, and mixed them together. This kind of chopped pepper is very delicious when mixed with noodles.
Xiao Tiantian can't eat spicy food for the time being, so Yao Shuxin scooped a spoonful of the fried meat sauce that Yao Shula had made earlier for him.
Four bowls of fragrant noodles were placed in front of the four people.
The three younger ones looked at each other, and then all shouted, "Happy birthday, big sister!"
Yao Shula felt comforted and gestured for everyone to eat together.
...
After breakfast, the three children still didn't let Yao Shula do anything. Yao Shuxin cleaned up the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash.
Yao Shuli immediately busied herself with washing clothes.
Summer clothes are easy to wash, and since I change them every day, they don't get that dirty. Using a washing machine... isn't really worth it.
Anyway, Yao Shula always hand-washes her summer clothes, but if her washing machine were fully automatic, that would be a different story...
Xiao Tiantian wasn't idle either. After pouring Yao Shula a glass of water, he told her to sit in the main room and not move.
He picked up a broom and began sweeping the floor.
He carefully swept through Yao Shula and Yao Shuxin's room, their room, the main room, and the west room where miscellaneous items were stored.
As for the yard and kitchen... Xiao Tiantian didn't sweep them.
Because Yao Shuli was washing clothes in the yard and Yao Shuxin was tidying up in the kitchen, he had to wait until they were both finished before he could sweep the floor.
Yao Shula sat quietly in the main room, drinking water and watching her younger siblings busy themselves.
The three younger ones all felt the same way after finishing their work: they were so tired even though they were doing just one thing, while the eldest sister did almost everything by herself.
Wouldn't the older sister be even more tired?
My older sister works so hard, she has to work so hard every day for them. I must treat her better in the future.
You can't be an ingrate, and you can't forget your mother after you get married!
...
At eleven o'clock sharp, Yao Shula changed into clean clothes and took the three children to the Yao family's old house.
They didn't come empty-handed; a bamboo basket contained sponge cakes, brown sugar candies, peach crisps, and two packets of candy.
As soon as you arrive at the entrance of the old house, you can smell the aroma of fish and pork ribs stewing in the kitchen...
"It smells so good!" Yao Shuli and Xiao Tiantian both took a deep breath.
Yao Shula was starting to have doubts. She often cooked meat at home, so why were these two...?
Yes, it's always the food cooked in the next pot that smells better. As long as it's not your own food, everything cooked by someone else tastes better.
As soon as Yao Shula entered the house, her sister-in-law, who was washing vegetables in the yard, immediately greeted her.
"Grandma, Mom, Shura's here!"
Soon, everyone came out to greet them, except for Grandma Yao.
"Shura's here! I was just talking to your grandma about how you guys should go out, and it actually brought you here."
Have you eaten breakfast yet? It's okay if you haven't; we can have two more stir-fried dishes and then we can start eating.
It seems like Tian Tian has grown taller again!
Oh dear, you guys are welcome to come, but why did you bring gifts on your birthday?
"Come sit in the main room, it must be hot! Funian, turn on the fan and let Shula and the others cool off!" Aunt Yao called out to the main room as she took the bamboo basket from Yao Shula's hands.
Several of her cousins and other wives also smiled and talked with Yao Shula.
"Shura is the boss today, we'll do whatever Shura says today."
"Yes, Shura has grown a tail today, and she's a year older."
"No matter how old she is, she's still our cousin, Shura. Bring your younger siblings inside, it's hot outside!"
"Shura, do you want some malted milk powder? I'll make you all a cup!"
Whether it was her sister-in-law, her cousins, or even her uncle, who was usually like an invisible person, they all smiled and wished Yao Shula a happy birthday.
Yao Shula felt at ease and greeted everyone with a smile.
Yao Shula told the three children to go into the main room to use the electric fan, and then went to the kitchen.
"Shura, it's your birthday today, you don't need to go help!" the sister-in-law quickly said.
"I'm going to check on Grandma!" Yao Shula said, already walking to the kitchen door.
In front of the stove, Grandma Yao was tasting the saltiness of the braised fish in the pot.
Grandma Yao's fish is better than anyone else's; it's not only flavorful but also has no fishy smell at all.
Whenever the Yao family cooks fish, Grandma Yao always cooks it herself.
At this moment, two large silver carp are stewing in the big pot, and the soup is bubbling away.
"Okay, the flavor is right, just reduce the sauce a little!" Grandma Yao said, putting down the spatula in her hand.
"Grandma!" Yao Shula greeted her with a smile.
"It's here! Look, Grandma cooked this fish herself. We ordered it yesterday, and it was still alive when it was delivered this morning!"
Eat more today! Come on, let's go outside and talk, it's hot in the kitchen!" Grandma Yao took off her apron and handed it to Aunt Yao, then pulled Yao Shula out of the kitchen.
Yao Shula had no choice but to follow Grandma Yao out of the kitchen.
...
The Yao family's lunch was set up in the courtyard. The kitchen was hot and there were many people, so setting up two tables would have been too crowded.
Grandma Yao sat at a table with Yao Shula's four children, her grandchildren, and Qiangqiang from Miao Yamin and Yao Chunnian's family.
The others sat at one table.
Looking at the food on the table, Yao Shula knew that Grandma Yao had prepared this as a proper feast.
There were six cold dishes in total: coriander and dried tofu, salted duck eggs, peanuts, and some store-bought braised pork hock, pig's head meat, and beef offal.
There are also six hot dishes.
Braised chicken cake with black sesame seeds, braised beef with greens, a braised fish, a plate of braised pork ribs, and a dish of shredded pork with green peppers and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar.
There were twelve dishes in total, laid out to the brim.
"Grandma..." Yao Shula didn't know what to say.
"Eat up! Let's treat it as an excuse to have a big meal on your birthday."
We'll celebrate your birthday every year, we all remember!
"Eat up, everyone! Help yourselves, and the older ones should help the younger ones." Grandma Yao said as she put food into Yao Shula's bowl, gesturing for everyone to start eating.
Yao Shula nodded and said nothing more. It would be really pretentious to say anything at this moment.
Little Tiantian sat between Yao Shula and Grandma Yao, and he was already gnawing on a piece of pork rib that Grandma Yao had put on his plate.
"It's Big Sister's birthday, and we can all eat delicious food. Big Sister, so many people like you!" Little Tiantian said while munching on her food.
Grandma Yao smiled and picked up another piece of boneless fish meat from Xiaotian's belly.
"Really? Did you wish your older sister a happy birthday today?"
"I said it! I'm not only saying happy birthday, I also have a gift for my older sister tonight!" Xiao Tiantian said proudly.
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