Chapter 119 Cooking with Ginkgo Fruit is So Tiring
Seeing that Dongkui seemed to be under a lot of pressure from the expectations of his tribesmen, Ningjia quickly comforted him:
"It's okay. As long as the ingredients are fresh and delicious, it won't taste bad no matter how you cook it."
Dongkui looked like she wanted to say something but didn't, so she remained silent.
Ning Jia chuckled and continued:
"When it comes to cooking, the first thing you need to learn is not how to make delicious food, but how to make edible food."
"Simply put, you have to cook it thoroughly, but not burnt it."
Tonight, the lesson she taught Dongkui was how to tell if various ingredients are cooked.
The good news that Dongkui heard is that many ingredients can be eaten raw, even if they are not cooked.
The bad news is that the meat dishes his people crave most are the most difficult to judge as cooked, and he hasn't yet fully mastered that skill...
Seeing Dongkui's furrowed brow, stumped by the question of how to tell if the meat was cooked, Ningjia immediately offered him a suggestion:
"Don't rush. If you're not sure you can cook the meat thoroughly, cut it into smaller pieces, like... just mince it. Then just stir-fry it in a pan or boil it, and it'll definitely be cooked through."
Dongkui quickly picked up her notebook and wrote down this cooking tip.
Ning Jia thought for a moment and then said:
"Another issue is the seasoning. It's better to use less at the beginning than more. You can always add more later, but it's hard to fix if you use too much..."
"Wow, that makes a lot of sense."
Dongkui's pen moved incessantly. Since he didn't know many characters, he mostly drew small pictures, which at first glance looked like scribbles, and probably only he himself could understand them.
Ning Jia explained as she worked, and then took notes as she finished...
After all the dishes were cooked, Dong Kui was so tired that her whole body ached, and she was panting heavily as she leaned over the porcelain bowl.
Ning Jia smiled and handed him a small tissue to wipe his sweat:
"Are you tired? You can't rush your studies. If you exhaust yourself, you'll learn even slower."
"Now that the food is ready, I'll take care of plating it."
Before Dongkui could speak, Ning Jia took away all the dishes without saying a word.
She placed pieces of broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and other ingredients into small dishes one by one until each dish was piled high with colorful ingredients, before inviting everyone to come and eat.
Over there, all the small storage boxes had found their owners and were moved to their respective rooms by everyone's combined efforts, and then assembled.
Those who chose to DIY their own furniture are also making encouraging progress.
Some little figures assembled a multi-functional storage box with a small pen holder on top and a small drawer at the bottom; some little figures assembled a clothes rack that looked like a small tree; and some little figures assembled a multi-layered storage rack that could easily hold ten or more pieces of clothing.
There were also little figures that made a chest of drawers with a sliding door, but you can't open the door too forcefully, or the door will be pried off...
After a busy day, everyone was really hungry, so they all climbed onto the coffee table and glanced at tonight's dinner.
Although it looks a bit bland, the ingredients are plentiful and the colors are bright, making it quite tempting.
Upon hearing Ning Jia say, "Tonight's dinner was all prepared by Dong Kui on her own," everyone was overjoyed and applauded the low-fat meal on the plate.
"Winter Okra is awesome!" "Winter Okra, well done!" "Winter Okra is amazing!"
Looking into those warm eyes, Ning Jia couldn't help but sigh:
No wonder Dongkui works so hard; being encouraged by so many people must be very rewarding.
Looking at Dongkui, who had already taken off his floral apron, I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw that his little face had turned as red as a small tomato with green leaves.
Little Winter Okra, learning to accept praise from others is also one of the essential lessons for becoming a chef.
...
While each little character sat on a small plate, holding tiny chopsticks and enjoying various vegetables and meats, Ning Jia also sat at the table, holding a bowl of shredded chicken, broccoli, peanut, and scallion oil noodles (half the amount of noodles), and happily began to eat.
After she finished dinner and returned to the living room, her gaze suddenly paused, and she asked curiously:
"Hey, where are everyone's new clothes? Why are they all still wearing grass skirts?"
At a glance, all the colorful little dresses from before had disappeared, replaced by a uniform pale yellow and pale green.
Even the younger ones, like Guoguo and Xingxing, have changed back into their old grass skirts.
Seeing Ning Jia's puzzled expression, He Meng said matter-of-factly:
"That's because I'm afraid of getting my new clothes dirty."
Only licorice and sappanwood were still wearing their dark blue dresses, a single blue dot amidst the green, and they said with a helpless expression:
"Actually, we had already planned to make a few more clothes for everyone, but we still couldn't convince everyone to eat in their new clothes."
Xuecao, who had already washed the clothes once, said with lingering fear:
"Eating makes it too easy to get your clothes dirty. It would be so tiring to wash your clothes every time you eat a meal."
Others chimed in:
"Exactly, that's too much trouble!" "Too much trouble!" "So troublesome!"
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Lolo's big eyes instantly filled with tears, and she sadly lowered her head.
It must be because she accidentally spilled soup on her clothes during afternoon tea yesterday, so no one dares to wear their new clothes anymore.
Waaah, it's all her fault for not paying attention while drinking the soup, otherwise everyone wouldn't be like this...
Seeing that Luo Luo looked like she was about to cry, Xingxing quickly went over, touched her little face, and comforted her:
"Don't cry, it's not your fault."
Canglan and the others also noticed Luo Luo's self-blame, but they were also wearing grass skirts at the moment, and they were all a little embarrassed.
Zelan glanced at the grass skirts on her people, including her own, then suddenly put down her chopsticks, stood up, and went to her room to change back into her new purple dress.
Against a backdrop of pale grass skirts, Zelan's purple dress stood out.
She stood on the coffee table and addressed the tribespeople:
“I misunderstood before. Clothes are meant to be worn, not treasured and kept. Licorice and sappanwood went to great lengths to make these clothes, and they must have hoped that we would wear them all the time, rather than keeping them hidden away.”
As she spoke, she hugged the tearful little Luo Luo and gently comforted her.
Ning Jia nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Ze Lan's point of view.
"That's right. Clothes are made to be worn, so it's normal for them to get dirty. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater."
As for washing clothes...
It was only then that Ning Jia realized she had underestimated the Lilliputians' aversion to the chore of washing clothes, and she quickly began to calculate the costs in her mind:
I seem to have bought too many things for the house lately, and I've already exceeded my budget.
However, Ms. Ning's fourth treatment was postponed by half a month, and now that the sachets are selling so well, there should still be time...
Thinking of this, she decisively said:
"Don't worry about laundry, everyone. I'm planning to buy a small washing machine for the house. This kind of washing machine is specially designed for washing smaller clothes, so that I won't have to hand wash any more clothes from now on."
The little people were all amazed:
"So it's possible to buy a small washing machine? Then let's buy one ourselves!"
"Yes, we'll buy it ourselves!"
The little people all started shouting.
Ning Jia has already bought so many nice things for the family these days, how can we let her spend more money?
Ning Jia couldn't resist the sycophants, so she had no choice but to nod:
"Okay, let's all pick out some styles together later. Oh, and how about... we buy a phone while we're at it?"
...
The sun rises and sets several times a day, shining on this small courtyard.
The morning Bai Su returned was also a beautiful day.
In the dim sunlight, carrying a small bundle, she had just climbed down from the vines in the yard when she bumped into He Meng, who was practicing martial arts in the yard.
He Meng: !!!
She blinked, and after confirming it wasn't a hallucination, she immediately put away her spear, lunged forward, and hugged Bai Su tightly.
"Bai Su, you're finally back~~~"
After He Meng let out a howl, the other little people also noticed Bai Su's return and immediately swarmed around the peach-faced little person, asking her all sorts of questions:
"Bai Su, are you alright outside?" "Are you hungry?" "Are you scared being alone in the park?"
It wasn't until Ning Jia gently pushed through the crowd with her large hand, took Bai Su into her arms, and said, "I'll take her to have breakfast first," that everyone dispersed.
Right, Bai Su has been away for so many days, she must not have eaten properly, she should eat something quickly!
In the kitchen, Dongkui had already received the news that "Bai Su is back." She immediately turned on the stove to heat the pan, poured the prepared egg mixture into a small frying pan, and began to make shrimp and egg stir-fry.
The clan chief said that irregular eating habits outside will definitely affect the stomach and intestines, so it is best to eat some nutritious and easily digestible food.
Therefore, he wants to fry the eggs until they are very tender, and the shrimp are also diced into small pieces, so they will definitely not be undercooked.
After Bai Susi finished her breakfast politely, she began to tell everyone about her experiences outside.
What everyone is most concerned about is how Bai Su lives alone in the park, such as how she eats and sleeps.
Bai Su answered casually.
As soon as she arrived at the park, she avoided the tree hollow that her clan had previously passed through and walked deeper into the woods.
After the sun came out completely and the weather got hot, she took off her outermost denim skirt, tied it into a small bag, and carried it on her back.
She walked along the way, looking for a suitable place to stay, and soon picked up a few soapberries to use for bathing.
Soon, she discovered that although there were many fruit trees in the forest with fruit on their branches, most of the fruit was inedible (such as pomegranate trees, which are ornamental fruit trees). Ning Jia had told her this before, so she wasn't too disappointed.
Fortunately, according to the information provided by Ning Jia, the fruits in the woods of this park were specially left as food for the birds in the vicinity, and no pesticides were actually sprayed on them, so at least there was no safety issue.
So she quickly found another ginkgo tree, and after observing that birds were eating ginkgo nuts, she climbed the tree with peace of mind and picked a lot of ginkgo nuts, which quickly filled her stomach.
After that, she picked a lot of edible fruits, such as wild mulberries and wild strawberries, and even ate apricots, though they were a bit too sour.
The small fish by the river were also a natural food source. Bai Su picked up a twig, speared some fish, and grilled them, but the taste... wasn't ideal. So she continued eating fruit instead.
Ning Jia listened with great interest, but seeing Bai Su sharing her experiences like a senior, she suddenly said with regret:
"It's a pity that Quartz left early this morning. If he had heard this, he certainly wouldn't have been worried about not having enough to eat."
Bai Su listened, winked at her, and suddenly said:
"Actually, I left clues for Shi Ying in the woods. As long as you can read the words, you can follow the clues to find the tree hole I just built."
“I haven’t had much to do these days, so besides renovating the new tree hollow, I’ve been storing food in it. Now there’s a bed, a table, and several baskets of fruit in the tree hollow. I even made a clothes rack out of branches…”
Bai Su spoke with great enthusiasm, appearing to be thoroughly enjoying herself, as if she were treating this training trip as a camping activity.
When Ning Jia heard that she had even made a carpet of fallen leaves in the tree hollow and was even thinking of building a staircase, she was full of admiration.
With such effortless survival skills in the wild, their previous worries were completely unnecessary!
She strongly suspected that if Bai Su had stayed outside any longer, that tree hole would have been decorated into a luxurious villa-style tree hole.
However, after listening for a while, Xuecao, who was standing next to Bai Su, suddenly asked a sharp question:
"Bai Su, are the marks you left for us our tribe's script?"
Bai Su nodded. "Yes, if we write about giants, it's easy to be exposed."
Xuecao sighed, resting her chin on her hand, "That's it, Shiying can't even read a few characters, except for carving seals..."
Ning Jia and Cang Lan looked at each other in bewilderment.
Oh no, I've been so busy with family lately that I completely forgot about the literacy class.
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