Chapter 153: Dong Taohua prepared a particularly sumptuous lunch...
Dong Taohua prepared a particularly sumptuous lunch, but one of the dishes was made by Xu Hui himself.
It was the Eight Treasure Duck that Xu Heye had been trying to make for several days but had failed.
Twenty-two people could not fit at one table, so they had to split into two tables, with the adults sitting at the dining table and the children sitting at the coffee table. Dong Taohua brought the dishes over and specifically told Xu Heye about the plate of eight-treasure duck.
"Your father's cooking is something you should try."
"Okay." Xu Heye picked up a piece of duck breast and tasted it. The taste was indeed different from that in the restaurant.
After being marinated and sun-dried, the cured duck has a firm, springy texture. Even after being steamed for hours, it retains a firm, chewy texture. The accompanying ingredients in the duck's stomach, combined with the duck's unique cured flavor, are also incredibly delicious.
It was a very successful dish, completely different from what she had made before.
It's strange. She made it according to the recipe given by her second aunt, so why is the taste so different?
At the adults' table, Ji Weimin's first choice was the cured duck. He savored it and looked at Dong Taohua, "Sister-in-law, your cooking is amazing! It tastes exactly like Aunt Wang's." He Zhijun, on the other hand, could only replicate it about 70% or 80% of the time, no matter how many times he made it. It wasn't bad, it just didn't taste the same as before.
Dong Taohua smiled and shook her head: "Second brother, this dish is really not made by me."
"If it wasn't you who did it, then what was it?"
"Xu Hui made it," Dong Taohua said. "After returning from Hucheng last time, he has been studying the recipe. I tried making it myself, following the same steps, but I just can't get the same taste."
Ji Weimin said, "Perhaps it's because this dish was made by Aunt Wang, and the third child is her biological son, so he inherited her cooking skills."
"Maybe it's true." Dong Taohua also found it amazing. She was obviously a better cook than Xu Hui, but she just couldn't master this dish as well as him. Dong Taohua said, using the serving chopsticks to pick up a piece for He Zhijun, "Second sister-in-law, you should also try Xu Hui's cooking skills. Speaking of which, I have to thank my second sister-in-law. If it weren't for my second sister-in-law remembering the cooking process of my mother-in-law, I wouldn't have the chance to taste this dish now."
"Sister-in-law, you are too polite." The He family is well-off, and even during the period of supply shortage and limited distribution, they can still enjoy meat several times a month.
Unlike Wang Mei's family, which had been poor peasants for generations, it was especially difficult for them to eat low-quality meat. So when they could get a duck, they wouldn't eat it right away. Instead, they would pickle it and dry it in the sun, storing it for cooking during festivals or when guests came.
She also loved to research recipes. Unable to afford the eight-treasure duck at a state-owned restaurant, she made her own. Unable to buy shiitake mushrooms, she used wood ear mushrooms. When thickening the sauce, unable to afford large shrimp, she used small shrimp caught from a ditch.
He has developed his own style.
Lian's mother looked at the eight-treasure duck and laughed: "To be honest, when I was a child, the meat I ate the most was cured fish and cured duck."
After a pause, she changed her way of describing it: "I didn't eat much, actually. But it was hard to get some meat back then, and when we did manage to buy some, my family wouldn't be willing to spend it all. As long as the weather was right, we would definitely salt it, dry it, and save it for later."
“Whenever I feel like eating meat, I cut two or three slices and stir-fry them in the dish. It gives it a bit of a meaty flavor.”
"But life is much better now. Although I still can't eat meat every day, at least every ten days or half a month, I can get a pound or half a pound of meat to satisfy my craving."
Liu Yumei took over the conversation: "Yes, life was really hard in the past. But now it's better, at least we don't have to go hungry."
The women didn't drink alcohol. They finished their meal while chatting, and then left the table.
He Zhijun, Lian's mother, and Liu Yumei arrived late, and dinner was served right after they arrived, so they had no time to explore the house. Now that they had eaten their fill, they decided to take a walk around the house.
At that time, the mainland had not yet introduced the concept of common areas in Hong Kong and cities. A house of 120 square meters actually had an internal area of 120 square meters.
Three bedrooms, two living rooms, one kitchen and two bathrooms.
The master bedroom and bathroom are 30 square meters, Xu Heye's room is 20 square meters, the study and guest bedroom is also 20 square meters, the kitchen is 15 square meters, the living room and bathroom are 5 square meters, and the remaining 30 square meters are occupied by the living room and dining room. Outside the living room, there's a 10-square-meter balcony extending outward. The house as a whole feels very spacious and elegant.
Even He Zhijun, who lives in a small villa, thinks this house is nice.
"The house is square, with north-south ventilation and good lighting." She walked to the balcony, looked at the sunlight streaming in, and nodded. "It's a very nice house."
Lian's mother and Liu Yumei really like the kitchen. There is a cabinet under the stove, and the kitchen utensils are placed in the cabinet, which is very convenient for both access and storage. The stove is also built-in, and the entire countertop is very clean and tidy.
There is a sink next to the stove with a drain basket on it. You can put the washed vegetables in the drain basket without worrying about water dripping everywhere.
Men don't have much feeling about this kitchen. Only women who often cook and do housework know how much trouble a well-designed and planned kitchen can save.
After checking out the kitchen, we went to explore a few more rooms. The bedroom and second bedroom weren't much to say. Their style was consistent with the living room, focusing on intellectual simplicity.
He Zhijun pressed the switch for the ceiling light at the door. Dong Taohua walked to the head of the bed and pointed to another switch. She said proudly, "This light is very interesting. It uses a double-control switch. Whether it's the switch at the door or the switch at the head of the bed, it can be controlled."
"Really?" Dong Xinghua walked over, and with a click, the headlights on the roof went out instantly.
"This lamp is really interesting." He Zhijun looked at it thoughtfully. She could replace all the lights in her room with this kind of double-control switch, and she could also hire someone to modify the lights in her parents' house.
Not long ago, her mother twisted her ankle after falling down while trying to get up in the dark. Luckily, the fall wasn't serious, and her brother and sister-in-law were home, rushing her to the hospital. Otherwise, in this weather, if the elderly woman had fallen and been unable to get up, with no one noticing, who knows how terribly cold she would have been.
After installing this double-control switch, you can turn on the light when you enter the door, and turn off the light when you reach the bed. You don’t have to get up, go to the door to turn off the light, and then go to bed in the dark.
He Zhijun looked at Dong Taohua and took her hand: "Third sister-in-law, can you tell me about this switch?"
"I want to modify all the switches in my house."
Dong Taohua certainly wouldn't refuse: "Of course no problem, but sister-in-law, I don't really understand it either. But I have the phone number of the renovation team responsible for my house renovation, I can give it to you. You can contact them in person and ask them to do the modification for you."
It would be great if you could get the phone number of the decoration team.
He Zhijun hurriedly said, "Okay, third sister-in-law, give me the number and I can contact them myself." Upon hearing this, Dong Xinghua, Lian's mother and Liu Yumei hurriedly said, "If you still want me, we want one too." Although they had no intention of decorating the house now, it did not prevent them from asking for a number.
The fact that my eldest sister (Dong Taohua)'s house is so well decorated shows that this renovation team is very reliable and capable. If they want to renovate their house in the future or buy a new house, they can ask this renovation team to do it for them.
Lian's mother had another idea. Her brother worked on a construction site, and work had been hard to come by lately, so he'd been idle for a while. This renovation team was capable and shouldn't have trouble finding work. Maybe she could help her brother find a job.
Work with a decoration team for a few years and learn some skills. Even if you don't work there in the future, you can form your own small team and take on some work.
Dong Taohua naturally didn't know what Lian's mother was thinking. She took out the phone book, found the phone number of the decoration team, and then copied it four times with pen and paper and handed it to several people.
When I came out of the room, several men had already left the table.
After all, they still had to go to work in the afternoon, so everyone was very restrained and only drank the low-alcohol rice wine that Xu Hui brought from Gan Province. So everyone was very sober at this time.
After the guests left, the house suddenly became much quieter.
In the end, only Xu Heye's family and Pang Qiao and Pang Wei stayed. Pang Qiao liked Xu Heye's room very much and she had already made up her mind to live with Xu Heye at her aunt's house during the winter vacation.
Pang Qiao wanted to stay, so Pang Wei naturally didn't want to leave either.
Xu Heye looked at the little boy, who was only seven years old after the New Year, and asked him, "Is it okay to stay at my aunt's house and sleep alone at night?"
Pang Wei patted his chest vigorously, pretending to be an adult, "No problem."
"I've been wanting to sleep alone for a long time."
"In that case, why don't you sleep in the study?" There are only three rooms in the house. Xu Hui and Dong Taohua live in the master bedroom, and Xu Heye and Pang Qiao live in the second bedroom. Pang Wei is left with no choice but to sleep in the study.
Fortunately, when buying furniture, Xu Heye specially bought a folding single bed for the study. It can be folded up at ordinary times and unfolded when needed, and be put on the bedding to sleep on.
But children are just like that. They agree to something now, but change their mind at night.
It was late at night and Xu Heye was sleeping when she heard a sobbing sound coming from the house. The sound came from far away and it seemed like a ghost was sobbing in her ear.
Xu Heye was so frightened that she dared not move. She felt as if something was crawling slowly onto the bed.
Xu Heye shuddered and subconsciously reached out to turn on the light in the room. She saw Pang Wei with his eyes wide open, wearing only autumn clothes, sobbing as he climbed onto the bed.
Xu Heye: “…”
She covered her chest, which was pounding with fear, and asked in a low voice, "Pang Wei, what are you doing?"
Pang Wei: "Woo woo~ Cousin, I'm scared!"
"Afraid, what are you afraid of?"
"I'm scared to sleep alone." Pang Wei said with tears in his eyes.
It was fine during the day, but at night he felt a little uncomfortable. This was his first time sleeping outside.
Sleeping alone in the empty study made him feel uneasy, and he wanted to move to the second bedroom to live with his sister. But thinking of the promise he made that afternoon that he could sleep alone, Pang Wei had to endure the uneasiness and fall asleep.
I finally fell asleep, but was soon woken up by the north wind outside the window.
The north wind was howling, making crackling sounds when it hit the windows. Pang Wei subconsciously thought of the picture book "Journey to the West" that he had been reading recently. He couldn't help but wonder if there were many monsters outside the house, such as the White Bone Demon or the King of the Golden Horn or the King of the Silver Horn, waiting to break in through the window and catch him and cook him for food.
"Okay, come on to bed. I agree that you can sleep with us." After hearing what he said, Xu Heye felt helpless and could only agree to his request to sleep with his two sisters.
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