In the afternoon, Ruan Ruan started stewing chicken with mushrooms. Then she fried meatballs, stewed braised pork, steamed fish, cut rice cakes, soaked some dried vegetables made in the summer, and finally chopped the cabbage.
After finishing all that, Ms. Shen tidied up her home and came over with Gu Jingming.
"Sister, I'm here to help you!" Gu Jingming called out to the house as soon as he entered the courtyard.
Ruan Ruan, who came out upon hearing the sound, was frying crispy pork. She hadn't had it in a long time. After preparing all the dishes, she saw that there was still some meat left. After thinking for a moment, she took out some flour and started cooking.
"Auntie, Xiaoming, you're here! Come in quickly, I'm frying crispy pork, it's still hot, come and try it, how does it taste?"
Seeing her holding chopsticks, the mother and son quickly entered the kitchen, where they saw the prepared semi-finished products and chicken soup simmering on a small stove.
"Ruan Ruan, you're really quick! You've got everything ready in such a short time. Now we can just sit back and enjoy the meal!"
Teacher Shen was thinking of coming over to help her as soon as possible, so after finishing cleaning up the dishes and chatting with her daughter-in-law for a bit, she came over. She didn't expect that in just a short while, her niece had prepared all the dishes.
"Auntie, please don't flatter me. All this meat and chicken was chopped up by your good nephew-in-law this morning. I just needed to cook it as soon as I got back."
The thought of Huo Haocheng getting up at six o'clock this morning to start working made Ruan Ruan feel as sweet as if she had eaten honey. You know, in today's families, it's already a good thing if you don't have to get up early to cook for him. If he wants to sleep a little longer, then he's already getting up to cook for you.
Upon hearing Ruan Ruan say this, Teacher Shen was not surprised. Huo Haocheng was a well-known good man in the compound. Seeing her niece's happy expression, she was also happy for her. She sighed again, "These lucky people, no matter what they encounter, are still lucky."
"Sis, did you just fry these? Can I try some?" As soon as he entered the room, Gu Jingming stared at the meatballs and crispy pork in the bowl. It wasn't that he really wanted to eat them, but the colors looked too tempting and they smelled delicious.
"Here you go, have some chopsticks. Be careful, they're hot. They're freshly fried. Auntie, you should try some too, and see if there's anything that needs improvement." Seeing him practically drooling, Ruan Ruan immediately gave him a pair of chopsticks, and didn't forget to give Teacher Shen a pair as well. She also reminded her that they were really hot. When they first came out of the pan, she wanted to try a bite first, but she wasn't careful and burned herself.
After getting his sister's approval, Gu Jingming couldn't wait to pick up a meatball, blow on it a few times, and then took a bite. "Hot, hot!" Gu Jingming kept panting with his mouth open, his hands covering his mouth, looking like he wanted to spit it out but didn't. This made Ruan Ruan and Teacher Shen very anxious.
"You should spit it out!"
"You silly child, you know it's hot, why don't you spit it out right now?"
After a moment of anxiety, the two of them chewed the meatballs and swallowed them.
After finally swallowing it, he exhaled heavily, as if that would expel the heat from the burn he had just experienced.
Seeing him like this, Ruan Ruan was still a little worried, so she went to the cabinet and grabbed a flashlight. "Sit down, ah, open your mouth, let me see if you're burned."
I checked it, and only my tongue was slightly red from the burn; everything else was fine.
Knowing that everything was alright, Teacher Shen breathed a huge sigh of relief. "You child, if it's hot, just spit it out. Your sister has told you repeatedly to be careful, to be careful, to be careful. Why couldn't you wait? Huh! Let it cool down a little longer, or is it trying to run away or something?"
As she spoke, Teacher Shen really wanted to slap him twice. Honestly, he's such a grown man, yet he still makes his family worry about him. He's so immature.
"Mom, Mom, don't be angry. I just thought it tasted so good, and it would be such a waste to throw it up."
"If you think it's wasteful, you can just spit it out, wait for it to cool down, and then eat it again, right?"
Based on the principle of not wasting anything, what Teacher Shen blurted out really shocked me!
"Auntie, it's not that bad, it's not that bad. As long as you're not hurt, it's okay if you vomit..." She couldn't bring herself to say the rest, and she didn't even want to think about the scene.
After this incident, when Ruan Ruan had Gu Jingming taste the dishes later, she would use a small bowl, put the food in it, let it cool for a while before letting him eat it.
"Sister, I really can't eat anymore. Otherwise, I'll be full before it's even time to eat and I'll just have to watch you guys eat."
That afternoon, Gu Jingming initially agreed readily when his sister tried to feed him, but later he couldn't eat a single bite.
After the training was over, the group carried tables and chairs into Commander Gu's house, and then they heard Gu Jingming say that he was full.
"What do you mean you're full? You haven't been secretly eating all this time, have you?" Ruan Shaolin put down the stool and went into the room, where he saw Gu Jingming holding a bowl, looking at Ruan Ruan with a resentful expression.
"Little cousin, you're here! Come and try the braised pork your sister made, how does it taste?" Seeing Ruan Shaolin come in, she was like seeing a savior, and immediately put the bowl in his hand into his hand, and did not forget to pick up the braised pork in the bowl and feed it to his mouth, indicating that he should eat quickly.
I was afraid that if I was even a little late, the piece of meat would be right in my mouth.
Ruan Shaolin didn't understand what he meant. He saw a piece of meat being put into his mouth, so he opened his mouth and ate it. "Hmm, it's soft and tender, and tastes very good. Little sister's cooking skills have improved again." As he spoke, he didn't forget to give her a thumbs up.
Hearing the affirmative answer, Ruan Ruan put the braised pork into a bowl. Now that they were back, she started to cook other dishes.
The New Year's Eve dinner officially started at six o'clock. When Gu Jinghe arrived with Dr. Jiang, the dishes had just been placed on the table.
Braised pork belly, steamed fish, stewed chicken, fried meatballs, pickled cabbage and crispy pork soup, stir-fried rice cakes, stir-fried dried cowpeas, stir-fried cabbage, cold shredded radish salad, and hot and sour shredded potatoes—ten dishes in total, symbolizing a perfect new year.
After the meal was served, Ruan Ruan first served Dr. Jiang a bowl of soup. The three women and Xiao Ming ate their own food, while the rest of the men helped themselves to their own food and drinks.
"Ruan Ruan, your shredded potatoes are so delicious!" Because of some morning sickness, Dr. Jiang didn't eat much for lunch, and only drank a cup of malted milk in the afternoon. Now she was very hungry. Looking at the dishes on the table, she would have started eating long ago if it were any other day. But now she only tasted a little of each dish, and only ate when she felt nauseous. But once she tasted the shredded potatoes, she couldn't stop eating them.
"Sister-in-law, this is hot and sour shredded potatoes. I added a little vinegar while I was cooking it. If you like it, you can make it like this when you get home. Also, this is pickled cabbage and crispy pork. You should try it too. It's all sour, so you should be able to eat it."
After listening to Ruan Ruan's introduction, Dr. Jiang picked up a piece of pickled cabbage and took a bite. "Mmm, it tastes really good!"
Seeing that she enjoyed both dishes, Ruan Ruan changed the positions of the dishes and went to the kitchen to get her a new bowl so she could have some soup.
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