When Xu Lai saw a stall selling chicks and ducklings, she remembered that her grandmother had mentioned wanting to hatch some chicken and duck eggs someday. Since she saw them at the market, she decided to buy some to raise at home, saving herself the trouble of hatching them.
Xu Lai squatted down, looked at the small creatures in the cage, and said to the shopkeeper, "Give me ten chicks and ten ducks."
The shopkeeper selected some lively animals and put them in a small cage for her. Xu Lai pleaded, "Shopkeeper, can I leave them here for now and take them with me after I finish shopping?"
The shop owner readily nodded, Xu Lai said thank you, and then walked towards the supermarket.
While she was picking out the chicks, Zhao Qingyun went to the supermarket first, because he couldn't stand the smell.
Xu Lai bought some fruit and a bag of flour. She walked around and found Zhao Qingyun in the condiment section. He was standing with his arms crossed, looking like he was struggling to decide which condiments to buy.
Xu Lai stepped forward and asked, "What do you want to buy?"
Zhao Qingyun pointed to the row of light soy sauce and said, "I don't know which one is the best. I'm thinking about it."
Xu Lai was both amused and exasperated. She grabbed a bottle of her own household product, threw it into the shopping cart, and said, "Take this if you trust me."
Zhao Qingyun nodded, pushed her shopping cart away, and when it came time to pay, he simply showed his payment code to the cashier for her to scan. Before Xu Lai could even finish speaking, he had already picked up the bags and left.
"I'll transfer the money to you later; I can't let you pay for it all by yourself," Xu Lai said, chasing after him.
Zhao Qingyun turned her head to look at her, chuckled, and said, "Of course we'll each pay our own way, what else would we do?"
Xu Lai felt embarrassed. She felt her face getting hot and went straight to the stall to get something before walking towards his car.
She specifically asked the boss to wrap it in several layers of bags, just to prevent it from leaking onto his car.
Zhao Qingyun didn't say whether she could put it or not, so Xu Lai just threw it into the trunk and pleaded, "Thank you for your help. Don't worry, this definitely won't leak out."
He nodded, gesturing for her to fold the umbrella and get in the car. The two drove all the way home. Xu Lai originally wanted him to leave the things at his doorstep so she could carry them a couple of times, but instead, he got out of the car and carried the things to the kitchen for her.
Xu Lai used wooden planks to make a circle against the wall, put the chicks inside, and threw the ducks into the woodpile in the kitchen.
Grandma was happy to see the chickens and ducks she had bought, but she said, "I told you we would start hatching the eggs when the weather got warmer, why did you buy them without saying a word?"
Xu Lai sprinkled some feed on the chicks and said, "Isn't this saving you trouble? Besides, the success rate of hatching them at home is relatively low."
As noon approached, Xu Lai began cooking. The family had a wood-fired stove, and when she wasn't busy, she would usually cook in a large pot.
She put the rice and water into the pot, brought it to a boil over high heat, and waited until the rice was half-cooked. Then she scooped out the excess rice water and simmered the rice until it was fully cooked.
Xu Lai checked the time and waited until the rice was almost cooked. Then she used a rice scoop to scoop the rice into the rice cooker, leaving a thin layer of crispy rice crust. She then used a spatula to break up the crust, poured in the rice water she had scooped out earlier, and stirred it continuously. The crispy rice porridge was ready.
At noon, she made green beans and eggplant, along with stir-fried pork with chili peppers. She scooped a spoonful of the broth from the green beans, added plenty of chili peppers, mixed it with rice, and Xu Lai took a bite, feeling satisfied.
When you get thirsty after a meal, a bowl of rice crust porridge is incredibly comforting. My grandma used to do this all the time, saying that this is how you get the wok hei (wok aroma) from cooking rice.
After eating and drinking her fill, Xu Lai went upstairs for a nap. When she woke up, it was already past three in the afternoon. She rubbed her face and prepared to get up and knead the dough.
"Today we're going to make pulled noodles. This is my first time trying it too. Just put in as much flour as you want, depending on how much you have for your family. There are three of us, so I put in about 300 grams. Add water and knead it well, then let it ferment."
Xu Lai took half a duck out of the refrigerator and said, "This is the duck I bought from the market today. I'm going to use it to make beer duck. Just rinse it briefly and chop it into pieces."
She blanched the duck meat, added the four blanching tools, and then took it out. Xu Lai no longer recited lines for every step; she filmed some steps and added subtitles.
"After stir-frying the duck meat, add fermented bean paste, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce, and continue to stir-fry evenly. Then pour in beer to cover the duck meat, and simmer for half an hour to make the duck meat more tender."
She divided the fermented dough into small portions, rolled them into oval shapes with a rolling pin, and then tore them apart. Next to her was a pot of boiling water; she tore off a piece and threw it in.
Xu Lai was quite fast; she quickly pulled all the noodles together. She stirred them a couple of times to prevent them from sticking to the pot, then added a handful of lettuce, and it was ready to serve.
The beer-braised duck was also well-seasoned, and the whole house smelled delicious. Xu Lai brought out the dishes and asked her grandparents to wash their hands and eat.
Grandma Jiang next door smelled the aroma and felt that Zhao Qingyun's cooking skills needed improvement; the food in front of her didn't seem appetizing anymore.
As Zhao Qingyun ate her meal, she noticed the old lady's expression and said helplessly, "Grandma, how about I invite Xu Lai over and have her cook you a meal?"
The old lady said with a sigh, "That's fine, but it only satisfies my craving for a short time."
Zhao Qingyun remained silent. He continued eating, ignoring the old lady. He thought to himself that he should ask Xu Lai for cooking advice sometime.
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