Chapter 25: Scrambled Eggs as an Extra Meal
In no time, tour guide Ning had led a group of small guests on a tour of the yard, living room, second bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Except for the master bedroom, they could see the whole house clearly, even more thoroughly than when she had visited the house before.
"There are no railings on this roof. It would be terrible if someone fell down. I won't take you up to see it. It's just a place to dry clothes."
Ning Jia pointed to the flat roof of the house and said, while Bai Su, who was standing next to her, was startled and reached out to pull He Meng down from the roof steps.
"Alright, the tour is over, and it's about time for lunch. Everyone, go inside and rest for a bit."
The little tourists, still in awe of how big the giant's house was, came to their senses, jumped up the steps in front of the door, obediently wiped their little feet on the damp towel placed at the door, and then noisily entered the living room.
The little figures stood in the spacious and bright living room, initially a little reserved. But after seeing He Meng jump onto the coffee table in a carefree manner, they all relaxed. Some rested on the floor, some lay on the coffee table, and others sat curiously on the leather sofa, squinting their eyes contentedly.
Guoguo, that little devil, had already discovered the sofa's special feature. She quietly tiptoed and jumped on the sofa a few times, discovering that she could jump very high without much effort. Her eyes lit up, and she and Xingxing held hands and started playing a trampoline game.
"Be careful not to break the sofa." Bai Su already knew that this long, big thing was called "Sofa," so she quickly reminded her.
Ning Jia laughed and said, "It's okay, let them play. This thing won't break even if it bounces all day."
She turned and went to the kitchen to get a large bottle of yogurt that had cooled down, then brought over a basin. From the basin, she took out several small white vinegar dishes and arranged them in rows on the coffee table, pouring some yogurt into each dish.
"Everyone can sit anywhere, and if you're thirsty, just have some yogurt."
Canglan looked at the glossy little plates on the coffee table in surprise. "These exquisite tableware must be very expensive. You've really gone to a lot of trouble."
Ning Jia smiled and shook her head, "No need to be polite, these were all left by the landlord, and they're brand new. I didn't spend a penny."
“Although this house was messy before, it also had a lot of good things hidden inside. For example, the bamboo basket that brought you here was left by the landlord. I saw that it was still very sturdy, so I didn’t throw it away.”
Thanks to the landlady, Ning Jia, despite the hardship and exhaustion of tidying up for many days, also "found" a lot of useful unused items.
He Meng, holding a small porcelain dish and happily drinking her yogurt, asked in confusion, "If you don't use it, why keep it at home?"
Ning Jia didn't explain anything about "hard work and frugality," "thrift and thrift," or "hoarding syndrome" to her. She simply said, "It's probably similar to a squirrel hoarding pine cones. Having more things at home makes you feel at ease."
He Meng thought for a moment, "But we found and ate most of the hard nuts that the squirrel hoarded, and we didn't get to eat many ourselves. How stupid of us!"
Ning Jia chuckled. He Meng, that guy, sometimes really does say the most hurtful things.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. You guys drink your yogurt first, and I'll go make you lunch."
Lunch? He Meng's eyes lit up immediately. "Is it the kind of lunch that you giants eat?"
"What are you thinking?" Bai Su glanced at her speechlessly. "I think you should also experience what it's like to have diarrhea for a whole day and night."
Not only He Meng, but the other little people also had similar thoughts and all looked at the clan leader Cang Lan without prior agreement.
When Canglan touched her chin and said, "Lunch is fruit," many of the little ones' faces fell, revealing expressions of disappointment.
"We finally made it to Ning Jia's house, and all we get to eat is fruit!"
Standing on the sofa, He Meng jumped up in anger and punched the seemingly soft sofa cushion. However, she was thrown back by the cushion and nearly fell off the sofa.
"..."
The living room froze for a second, then everyone stared at He Meng, who was sprawled awkwardly on the edge of the sofa, before bursting into a burst of unkind laughter:
Hahahahahahahaha~
Startled by the sofa's bouncy texture, He Meng struggled to get up from the soft surface. Seeing everyone laughing at her, her face turned bright red, and she quickly hid behind the cushions.
He Meng: Currently in a state of self-isolation, please do not disturb.
Ning Jia felt a pang of pity for He Meng, who had embarrassed herself in public, and couldn't help but look at the clan leader, Cang Lan, "Clan leader..."
“No,” Canglan said quickly, as if she knew what she was going to say. “I just ate a new food a few days ago. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
Canglan was referring to boiled eggs. The little people had always eaten bird eggs. Chicken eggs and bird eggs are the same type of food, only larger. Ningjia used them as the first food to try, and the little people ate them without any adverse reactions.
"All right."
Ning Jia, unable to help, quickly cut a fruit platter in the kitchen and brought it over. Seeing that He Meng still looked sullen, she rolled her eyes:
"He Meng, it will taste even better if you mix the fruit into the yogurt and eat it together."
Huh, really?
He Meng perked up immediately, quickly jumped back onto the coffee table, dragged her used small plate to the fruit bowl, and gently poked at the fruit with a toothpick, placing slices of apple, pear, and orange into the plate. She dipped them in yogurt, tasted them, and her expression quickly brightened: "Wow, so delicious!"
"See? I told you it would be delicious!"
Ning Jia laughed too. Although He Meng was greedy, he was actually quite easy to coax.
While the other little ones followed He Meng's example and enjoyed fruit with yogurt at the coffee table, Ning Jia turned around and went to the kitchen to make herself lunch.
Her lunch menu consisted of pea rice, stir-fried edamame with green peppers and shredded pork, and tomato and egg soup.
The pea rice is cooked on a timer, and it's almost done. The old-fashioned rice cooker is steaming hot, and the aroma of rice is wafting out.
Ning Jia took out a piece of cardboard to use as a cutting board, cut shredded meat on it, put it in a bowl and marinated it with soy sauce and starch. Then she took out another piece of cardboard and cut two green peppers.
This cardboard is the outer shell of the yogurt the little people just finished drinking. Sometimes she's too lazy to wash the cutting board, so she uses the milk shell to cut vegetables.
After everything was prepared, Ning Jia took out two large, round tomatoes, boiled them in a pot to remove the skin, then cut them into small pieces. After sautéing the scallions until fragrant, she put them in the oil and stir-fried them continuously until the tomatoes in the pot released their juices and slowly turned into a thick tomato sauce-like consistency. Then she added water and brought it to a boil.
Before the tomato soup boiled, Ning Jia started stir-frying the shredded pork. Once the pork changed color, she set it aside on a plate. She then sautéed scallions and ginger until fragrant, then stir-fried green peppers and edamame. When she estimated it was almost done, she added the shredded pork and stir-fried it over high heat until it was ready to serve.
The stir-fried green peppers, edamame, and shredded pork are done here, and the tomato soup is boiling over there.
Ning Jia took an egg from the refrigerator, beat it, and poured it evenly into the pot. Golden egg flowers quickly floated in the red soup. Once the egg flowers were formed, she turned off the heat, and the sweet and sour tomato and egg soup was ready.
Since the living room and kitchen are connected and separated only by a glass door, the little people can see Ning Jia cooking.
Her smooth movements, coupled with the wisps of fragrance wafting from the crack in the door, left the little creatures mesmerized, their mouths watering inexplicably.
"...It smells so good." Someone said, swallowing hard.
When Ning Jia placed the steaming hot pea rice, the vibrant green stir-fried shredded pork with green peppers and edamame, and the bright red and golden tomato and egg soup on the table, the children swallowed even louder.
"Stop looking, you won't get to eat it anyway."
At this moment, the most rational one was He Meng. She was sitting happily in front of the small plate, eating the banana mixed with yogurt that Zhe Lan had prepared for her. While eating, she said, "Mom, can you make me some strawberry mixed with yogurt too?"
"Tsk, acting all cutesy again, as if she's still a child."
Bai Su, who was sitting not far from her eating apple with yogurt, muttered something under her breath. She was more than a meter away from her parents, looking as if she was afraid of being fed by them.
Guoguo and Xingxing huddled together, holding pieces of fruit in their little hands, sharing yogurt from the same plate, and occasionally whispering among themselves, "What is Ningjia eating?" and "I really want to try a sip of that bright red soup..."
The other little people were also munching on fruit while watching the commotion in the kitchen intently, as if they were watching a live mukbang channel featuring giants.
Ning Jia, focused on cooking, was completely unaware of all this. When she took off her apron and sat down to eat, her gaze shifted and she saw the little figures on the coffee table staring at her expectantly.
Oh, I almost forgot about the guests.
Ning Jia put down her chopsticks, got up and put on her apron again. With her back to the little people, she quickly worked on the stove for a while, and then walked out of the kitchen carrying a large white porcelain plate.
"Wow, it smells so good! What is this?" a little person asked curiously.
Ning Jia didn't explain. Instead, she walked up to Cang Lan, squatted down to show her the food on the plate, and whispered, "..."
"Chief, this is scrambled eggs with only a little oil and salt. How about we make it a snack for everyone?"
Scrambled eggs? Cang Lan looked at the golden, translucent eggs with a thoughtful expression.
Seeing this, Ning Jia said again:
"A while ago, everyone tried boiled eggs and there were no adverse reactions, so I thought that as long as the food is made with eggs, it should be fine, right?"
Canglan stroked her chin and thought for a moment, seemingly convinced. "Alright, since you've gone to so much trouble, let everyone have a taste."
"Okay."
Ning Jia immediately placed the large plate of golden-yellow scrambled eggs on the other side of the coffee table and said, "These are freshly made scrambled eggs, everyone eat them while they're hot."
"Wow, this is a new food I've never tried before!" "It looks delicious!" "Ah, I want to eat it! I want to eat it!"
The little ones got excited and quickly ate the fruit on their plates in a few bites, then licked the remaining yogurt clean, and eagerly grabbed their little plates to eat the scrambled eggs.
"Don't rush, there are plenty of eggs, everyone can have some."
Canglan, like a kindergarten teacher, patiently maintained order, while Bai Su helped out from the side.
By now, the little ones had mastered how to use toothpicks. In addition, Ning Jia had specially divided the scrambled eggs into many small pieces with a spatula. In just a few minutes, each little one had a plate filled with fragrant scrambled eggs, which they ate with satisfaction, poking them with toothpicks.
"So delicious~" "So fresh and flavorful~" "Wow, it's so soft and fluffy!" "Not sweet but very tasty!" "I think it's an absolute delicacy!"
The children's praises were endless, making Chef Ning Jia a little hungry. He quickly sat back down at the table and started eating lunch.
She picked up her rice bowl and, while eating, couldn't help but watch the little people in the living room engrossed in eating scrambled eggs. It felt like watching a little people's mukbang, and her appetite suddenly whetted. She then finished a bowl of rice with the stir-fried vegetables.
The freshly harvested edamame are so tender and delicious!
Ning Jia ladled out another half bowl of tomato and egg soup, took a sip, and found it to be sweet and sour, making her feel like she could eat some more rice.
"Never mind, let's not eat too much. We'll eat the rest tonight." Ning Jia put down her chopsticks and carefully covered the dishes and soup with a rice cover.
Seeing that the little people were still happily enjoying their scrambled eggs, she couldn't help but smile. She picked up a notepad from the kitchen and wrote on it:
Lilliputian Recipes
Boiled eggs
Scrambled eggs (light version without scallions)
...
She thought for a moment, then picked up her pen and wrote another line:
Steamed egg custard (to be eaten)
After finishing writing, she tore off the "Little People's Recipe" and used a magnet to stick it next to the "Personal Recipe" on the refrigerator. Looking at the two menus side by side, she gently raised the corners of her mouth.
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