“I started selling food in town a few days ago. I had no choice. If I didn’t pull myself together, this family would never be able to make a living. I was confused before. After Xiuyuan passed away, I was like a dead man. But now I’ve come to terms with it. I still have you and the children. I have to pull myself together.”
As her emotions intensified, looking at her father with eyes full of heartache and love, Pei Yuezhi couldn't help but shed tears.
"Good child, I know you're not doing well. It's all because of my weak body. I'm incompetent. I can't even take good care of my two children." Father Pei looked at his crying daughter with heartache.
"Dad, you've had it tough. I came back to see you this time so you can know that I'm doing alright now, and you can put your mind at ease."
They helped Pei's father into the house to rest and chat; it had been a long time since the three of them had gotten together to talk like this.
Pei Yuezhi recounted what had happened during this period, talking about how popular her stall was, how she had made a good friend, Liu Yuanyuan, and how nice Liu was.
As they chatted, it was almost lunchtime, and Pei Yuezhi insisted on cooking, saying that she had brought some food.
Pei's father kept refusing, insisting that he take the food back for the child to eat, as the child was still growing.
However, this was impossible to agree to. Pei Yuezhi pulled Pei Yunzhi in, then closed the kitchen door, ignoring what Pei's father said; a delicious meal was definitely going to be prepared today.
Knowing that Pei's father was weak and needed to replenish his nutrition, but could not eat anything too greasy, I decided to stew a chicken soup to help him recover.
I bought a chicken from the system shop for 20 coins, and a ginseng chicken soup packet for 10 coins. I also bought ginseng and astragalus, and the shop calculated the prices according to ancient times.
However, if you buy material kits, the prices are more modern and cost-effective. Plus, you don't have to search for each material individually. Although you might not need some of the materials, they won't spoil if you just leave them.
Pei Yuezhi knows how to exploit bugs.
Of course, these items were all taken out of the basket. They were products from the system store, and the dry ingredients were wrapped in oil paper instead of plastic packaging to avoid giving away the truth.
First, prepare the chicken, then put three red dates, a few slices of astragalus, a few slices of ginseng (about seven or eight grams), three cloves of garlic, and two pieces of ginger inside the chicken's cavity. If you have glutinous rice, it would be best to add some that has been soaked overnight. Unfortunately, I had glutinous rice at home, but I didn't have time to soak it.
The chicken's belly was sealed with thread to prevent the feed from spilling out.
Put the chicken in the pot, along with two slices of astragalus root, one or two slices of ginseng, three red dates, and a scallion.
Add cold water to the pot, and when it boils, skim off the foam. Then, have Pei Yunzhi remove some firewood and turn the fire down.
This fire-watching skill is quite good; Fan Chao probably inherited it from his uncle.
This chicken soup needs to simmer for an hour, during which time you can prepare other dishes.
Pei Yuezhi planned to fry some eggs and vegetables, but when she opened the oil jar, she found that it was almost empty.
"Yunzhi, is this all the oil we have at home?"
Pei Yunzhi replied somewhat embarrassedly, "All the oil in the house is here."
Looking at the meager amount of oil in the jar, Pei Yuezhi thought for a moment, then pretended to take it from her basket, but actually went to the mall and bought three catties of lard for eighteen coins. This would be enough to render a lot of oil, enough for the Pei family father and son to eat for a while.
We can't make too little, otherwise they won't want to eat it.
"Yunzhi, your sister just bought some pork fat. Could you clean this pot so I can render the lard?"
"Sister, you're out of oil too. Why don't you take it back with you?" Pei Yunzhi refused.
Pei Yuezhi said with a serious expression, "How can that be? Father's health is not good. It's fine if you eat less, but you can't let him suffer from malnutrition all the time."
Then, without saying a word, he took out the pork fat.
Hearing this, Pei Yunzhi stopped refusing and got up to wash the pot.
Three catties of lard yielded a lot of oil. After rendering the lard, there were cracklings, which were perfect for making scallion pancakes with cracklings.
First, make the dough. The dough for this pancake should ideally be soft; you can use a semi-scalded dough.
After kneading the dough, let it rest for a while, and then prepare the filling.
Chop the pork cracklings into smaller pieces, then chop more scallions. For seasoning, simply add some salt, thirteen-spice powder, and a little MSG. Scallion pancakes are already very fragrant, and with the pork cracklings inside, they don't need much seasoning to be delicious.
Knead the rested dough repeatedly, roll it into a large flatbread, sprinkle the filling on it and spread it evenly, then roll it up along the edge of the flatbread.
Then tear the dough into small pieces, seal the ends, press them into circles, and then roll them out thinly.
When pan-frying, use low heat and no oil is needed. Fry them one by one until they are golden brown and cooked through.
After cutting the pancakes into four pieces, Pei Yuezhi asked Pei Yunzhi to set the table and prepare for dinner.
There were quite a few of these fried pork crackling and scallion pancakes; enough for the father and son to eat for two more meals.
While Pei Yunzhi was out, Pei Yuezhi took out thirty catties of rice from her spatial storage and poured it into a rice bag.
I noticed this while I was cooking; there was still some rice at home, but not much.
There's still quite a bit of sugar left in the seasoning gift pack. I usually just use it to enhance the flavor of dishes, so I'll pour some out and leave it for Father Pei.
Pei Yuezhi calculated the time and realized it had been more than an hour, so she opened the pot lid.
The chicken soup is ready too. Just sprinkle some salt and a tiny bit of MSG on it before taking it off the heat, and it's done.
The three of them sat down to eat. Pei Yuezhi and her siblings were waiting for their father to start eating. Knowing that the children were hungry, their father picked up his bowl and took a sip of soup.
Seeing their father start eating, the siblings also began to eat. Pei's father took a chicken leg off his plate, put one in Pei Yuezhi's bowl, and looked at her lovingly.
“It’s been a long time since we last sat down to eat together like this. Back then, Yuezhi could only cook simple stir-fries, but now she can make such delicious chicken soup.”
“You’re even making food to sell in town. You’re getting better and better, which is a good thing. But I can’t bear to think about what hardships you’ve endured to become so outstanding. Sigh, if I had worked harder when I was young, would you two have had a better life?”
Perhaps it was the blood ties brought by this body that caused Pei Yuezhi to shed tears again after hearing her father's words, and Pei Yunzhi also shed tears.
When everyone saw Pei Yuezhi improve and cheer up, they were all happy for her. However, Pei's father's first reaction was to ask how much suffering she had endured to grow up so quickly.
Pei Yuezhi comforted her, "Don't worry, the children at home are all obedient and willing to help with chores. I also have new friends who are honest and kind. I'm fine. The only thing I'm worried about is your health."
As she spoke, she picked up the chicken leg from the bowl and gave it back to Pei's father: "You eat the chicken leg. It's you who really makes me feel bad that you don't take good care of yourself."
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