Chapter 136 Beef Bone Soup with Lettuce
"Why hasn't Gan Cao returned yet?"
"Why hasn't Gan Cao returned yet?"
"Why hasn't Gan Cao returned yet?"
Just as the heat-sensitive rice sprout was wiping the sweat from its little face and asking the question for the hundred and first time, there was finally movement at the courtyard wall!
A small, gray ball of fluff, as if falling from the sky, landed on the courtyard wall with a "thud," startling everyone.
"Oh my god, did the licorice root fall down?!"
The little bread rolls swarmed forward, rushing to rescue the person. Once everyone had gathered around, they took a closer look:
Oh, it's not licorice root, it's a big, bulging cloth bag!
"Wow, what's in this bag? It's huge!" "It looks quite soft, it can't be fruit, right?"
As everyone pointed and whispered in surprise at the gray cloth bag that was bigger than an orange, the owner of the bag, the one everyone had been waiting for, Gan Cao, slowly jumped down along the vines on the courtyard wall.
The sharp-eyed He Meng looked up and her face lit up with surprise. She wobbled over and ran over, shouting:
"Licorice, why are you so slow!"
Her shout brought the appearance of licorice to everyone's attention, causing them both surprise and delight:
"Licorice, you're back!" "Licorice, long time no see!" "Licorice, are you alright?"
Daoya waddled over like a little penguin, bent down, and squeezed past Hemeng at the front to stand in front of Gancao, her little face full of eagerness:
"Licorice, look! Look! This is a new outfit I made for myself!"
After saying that, she stretched out her little arms and slowly twirled in front of Gan Cao, "Look at my new cotton-padded jacket! My new scarf! My new hat! My new gloves! I made them all!!"
After turning around, without caring whether Gan Cao had seen clearly, she quickly took off her little cotton-padded jacket, showed Gan Cao the cashmere sweater she was wearing underneath, and then ran away with her little cotton-padded jacket in her arms, feeling relieved.
Haha, finally she can go back and change her clothes, she was almost fainting from the heat!
After shedding its thick coat, Daoya felt instantly relaxed and happily ran home, only to be greeted by a strong smell of herbs as soon as she entered the door.
She wrinkled her nose. Hmm, this smells like...
Oh no! It's the herbal soup the clan chief brewed!
Daoya turned and tried to run to her room, but after only a few steps, Baizhi stopped her:
"Come over later and drink some herbal medicine to prevent catching a cold and getting a fever."
"……oh."
Daoya changed her clothes with a look of utter despair, obediently climbed onto the coffee table, and pinched her nose with her little hand in disgust amidst the indescribable smell of herbs.
Canglan was standing next to the round little induction cooker, holding a large spoon and stirring the herbal soup simmering in the small pot. The dark soup looked extremely scary in Daoya's eyes!
"Don't just stand there, drink it quickly."
Zhelan smiled and brought Daoya a bowl of black herbal soup. "The herbs inside have all been picked out with a strainer, so it's not that bitter."
Really?
Daoya looked at the soup in the bowl, hesitated for a moment, and then picked it up and drank it all in one gulp.
Wow, it's so bitter, it's bitter to the core...
Her little face was almost scrunched up, she stuck out her tongue and looked incredibly aggrieved: It's still so bitter TT
Suddenly, Zhelan slipped her a small golden pastry, saying, "Eat something sweet to make your mouth feel better later."
Daoya immediately ate the snack, finding it soft, sweet, and chewy, and her eyes lit up:
Has Ning Jia made more gummy candies?
“It’s dried persimmon,” Zelan said with a smile.
Huh?
Daoya looked at the other pastry that Zelan handed her, and while the bitterness in her mouth had subsided, she carefully savored the taste:
It seems that's really true!
I never expected that persimmon cakes would taste so different from persimmons on their own! They're so delicious!
...
Over there, the other little people, like little penguins, circled around in front of Gan Cao, showing off their new clothes before rushing back to their rooms to change. They then reluctantly drank the bitter medicine in the living room with grimaces, but were quickly cured by the sweet and delicious persimmon cakes.
At this moment, Gan Cao was sitting on the coffee table, eating the breakfast that Ning Jia had specially prepared for him—a bowl of steaming braised beef noodles.
"Hehe, the beef with a little spice tastes even better."
Wearing only a fleece dress, Gan Cao happily ate noodles, and the tempting aroma made the other little people's stomachs rumble.
The others gathered around Gan Cao, chatting amongst themselves:
"Licorice is so clever, it didn't even wear a cotton-padded coat!"
"So that big bag contained Gan Cao's cotton-padded jacket and sweater!"
Ning Jia said, "The weather will get warmer soon, so we definitely won't need to wear our cotton-padded coats anymore."
As they were talking, Daoya suddenly asked Gancao:
"Licorice, why did it take you so long to come back? We waited and waited and waited, and we were almost dying of heat."
Licorice slurped her noodles, a hint of embarrassment on her face, and mumbled:
"A few days ago... it was so cold, so I... um, I hid in a tree hollow... and slept the whole time... If it weren't for the birds outside... chirping so loudly... I wouldn't be awake yet..."
"What? I thought you were lost! Turns out you were sleeping in!"
Rice sprouts angrily turned their little heads to the side, refusing to pay any more attention to licorice.
The other friends also had speechless expressions. It turned out that Gan Cao was having such a comfortable time outside, making them worry for nothing.
Licorice, still slurping her noodles, asked, bewildered, "Why...aren't you all saying anything?"
Friends: This guy is so slow!
Ning Jia came over and saw that the children didn't look too happy. Although she didn't know what had happened, she immediately said something to ease the atmosphere:
"Go wipe your hands, the noodles will be here soon."
Wow, we get noodles too?
Ning Jia nodded, "Of course. Today's brunch is beef noodles!"
"That's great!"
The little people all smiled happily and immediately forgot what had just happened.
This time, there are two kinds of beef noodles. Half of the little people eat braised beef noodles, while the other half can only eat non-spicy clear broth beef noodles.
However, because Ning Jia fried eggs before serving to enhance the flavor, the clear broth beef noodles, although not spicy, still tasted delicious.
Soon, the sound of slurping noodles filled the living room.
Xingxing sat in front of a small bowl of red oil, her little mouth glistening with oil as she ate. Guoguo next to her thought it was spicy, but Xingxing thought it was especially delicious and satisfying, and she was very happy eating!
Just then, Shi Ying suddenly remembered something, and without even swallowing the noodles in his mouth, he asked impatiently:
"Ningjia, the lettuce at home is almost ready. When are we going to have barbecue?"
Daoya and Juye also looked up from the bowl of noodles. "Oh right, Ningjia, we can eat barbecue now."
Ning Jia had completely forgotten about this and asked in surprise, "Are you really willing to pick and eat all that lettuce?"
The lettuce in the flowerbed is indeed growing well, lush and green, and looks fresh and delicious.
Having learned from the previous experience, Ning Jia never mentioned eating lettuce again, treating it only as a potted plant for appreciation. Unexpectedly, the little people brought it up themselves.
"If you're really willing to eat all that lettuce, then that's easy. We'll have a barbecue tonight."
...
Just then, Dongkui, who had been engrossed in eating her noodles, suddenly raised her hand, "Um—"
"What's wrong, Dong Kui?"
Dongkui hesitated for a moment before mustering her courage to speak:
"Um, tonight... could we have hot pot first?"
Hot pot? Everyone looked at Dongkui strangely. Why did they suddenly want to eat hot pot?
Ning Jia explained with a smile, "Originally, I wasn't planning to eat barbecue, but hot pot tonight. I even bought beef bones to make soup."
As a regular kitchen staff member, Dongkui naturally knew this.
"By then, the beef bone broth will be simmered until it's snow-white, which will definitely make a delicious soup base. Then we can add fresh vegetables and meat and stir-fry them. Oh, and mushrooms too! Beef bone broth with mushrooms is double the flavor. Drinking some of the soup will make it so delicious it'll make your eyebrows fall off..."
Ning Jia talked on and on, while the little figures on the coffee table listened in astonishment, their mouths watering uncontrollably.
Ning Jia realized she might have said too much and quickly stopped talking:
"But barbecue is delicious too, freshly picked tender lettuce leaves wrapped around sizzling, oily beef..."
Before she could finish speaking, a little voice cried out, "Stop talking! You're making me so hungry!"
Ning Jia then realized that she wasn't filming a food video, gave an embarrassed smile, and regained her seriousness:
"Then you can decide for yourselves which one you want to eat."
"I want hot pot!" "I want barbecue!" "Hot pot! Hot pot!" "Barbecue! Barbecue! Barbecue!"
In an instant, everyone forgot about eating their noodles and started arguing.
Xuecao rolled her eyes and suddenly said, "Can't we eat both?"
"I read online that only children make choices, adults want it all, and I want it all too!"
The other little people agreed, "That's right, we want both! We want them both!"
Ning Jia was both amused and exasperated. That's the downside of taking classes on your phone—you can see all sorts of random content.
Lately, these little people have been spouting strange and odd things all the time, which is really jarring.
However, eating hot pot and barbecue together is like adding fuel to the fire; can the little people handle it?
Just as she was about to dissuade her, Canglan touched her chin and shook her head, saying:
"Both hot pot and barbecue are foods that can cause internal heat, so you can only choose one."
Upon hearing the word "internal heat," the little people immediately fell silent, since most of them had personally experienced the pain of internal heat during the autumn and winter seasons.
Once you get a sore throat, it's really uncomfortable! You'll have a sore throat, a sore mouth, sore eyes, and you won't be able to poop for a long time. It's as terrible as it gets!
In the end, everyone decided on one of the most important questions in life—"what to eat for dinner"—through a vote.
Hot pot won by a significant margin.
Clearly, for the little people, hot pot, which they had never tried before, was more appealing than barbecue, which they had eaten several times before.
Ning Jia actually preferred hot pot and immediately made the decision:
"Okay, then let's stick to the original plan and have hot pot tonight!"
...
Glug glug... Glug glug...
The soup in the pot was slowly boiling, and wisps of white steam were rising from the large, round pot into the air above the living room.
The little children gathered around the large round pot, eagerly inhaling the aroma of the beef bone soup, their mouths practically watering.
Ning Jia came over with a large colander and couldn't help but chuckle at the scene on the coffee table.
An excessively large pot, extremely small figures... If it weren't for the fact that each little figure was holding chopsticks and a spoon, at first glance, one might think they were gathered around a large bathtub preparing to take a bath.
And you know what? This huge hot pot is really big enough for little people; even if most of them jumped in for a bath, there would be plenty of room.
Upon seeing Ning Jia arrive, the children asked eagerly:
"Ning Jia, when can we start eating?"
"It'll be ready now."
"For the sake of health, let's cook some vegetables first to prepare our stomachs."
Ning Jia stood next to the steaming hot pot and poured a large plate of mixed vegetables into it.
Small pieces of leafy greens such as bok choy, spinach, cabbage, and garland chrysanthemum, along with small pieces of root vegetables such as potatoes, lotus root, and yam, quickly transform the otherwise empty milky white broth into a rich and substantial soup.
Daoya also specifically reminded, "Ningjia, don't forget to add our lettuce!"
Ning Jia smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't forget."
She looked at the expectant little experts in growing vegetables like rice sprouts, quartz, and orange leaves, and suddenly suggested:
"Since you grew the lettuce yourself, why don't you put it out yourselves?"
The little figures all widened their eyes, very interested in Ning Jia's suggestion.
Soon, Daoya was the first to step forward, holding a few lettuce leaves. She carefully stepped on the phone stand that served as a small stool and cautiously approached the steaming pot. With Ning Jia's warning, "Don't touch the pot," she very neatly threw the lettuce leaves into the pot.
"Yes! I did it!"
Daoya jumped happily off the little stool, her face full of pride and joy.
After the little ones took turns putting the whole head of lettuce into the pot, the green leaves that had been swimming in the pot were almost cooked.
Ning Jia quickly grabbed a large slotted spoon and scooped the contents into the pot—
Amidst the little ones' exclamations of "Ooh ooh~~", they scooped up a lot of cooked vegetables!
Ning Jia countered with a question, "Is there anyone who doesn't eat vegetables?"
Seeing that the little ones were shaking their heads, he quickly divided the vegetables from the strainer into their small bowls, spoonful after spoonful. Soon, the vegetables in the pot were almost gone.
"This dish smells so good!" "It's so delicious!" "Ningjia, I want more!"
As Daoya and the others ate, they secretly glanced at the others and saw that several tribesmen were enjoying the lettuce they had grown. Suddenly, the vegetables in their mouths tasted even sweeter and more delicious!
He Meng also got to eat the lettuce that her friends had grown. She quickly swallowed a small piece of lettuce and shouted to Dao Ya and Shi Ying:
"The lettuce today is especially, especially delicious!"
The little vegetable-growing experts were stunned for a moment, then buried their flushed faces in their bowls and secretly laughed.
...
After the potatoes, lotus roots, and yams were served into the children's bowls, Ning Jia quickly added a second batch of ingredients: bean products and mushrooms.
The tofu, fried tofu puffs, oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and other ingredients, soaked up the rich beef bone broth, were smooth, tender, and incredibly delicious. When serving the food, Ning Jia specially ladled out plenty of soup for everyone, making it both warm and tasty. The little ones ate with such happiness that their eyes narrowed into squints.
No wonder giants eat hot pot when it's cold; it feels so comforting.
Seeing that the little ones' bellies were somewhat full and they were less anxious, Ning Jia smiled slightly and announced:
"Attention everyone, we're about to eat meat!"
"Wow—" "Let's eat meat! Let's eat meat!" "Meat is the best!"
The little ones, whose bellies had just been soothed, suddenly erupted in another burst of expectant cheers.
Ning Jia used serving chopsticks to pick up the prepared homemade beef rolls and generously put them one by one into the bubbling pot. Then, after precisely counting the seconds and checking the state of the beef rolls, she immediately scooped them out and distributed them to the children.
"This meat doesn't even seem as thick as the beef in the noodles this morning."
Ju Ye carefully examined the beef roll in the bowl and said with some disappointment.
Ning Jia chuckled, "These kinds of meat rolls taste best when they're thin. Don't believe me? Try one!"
Ju Ye used her chopsticks to pick up the long beef roll, blew on it to cool it down, and then carefully took a bite.
"How is it? It tastes good, right?"
Ju Ye's eyes brightened. She chewed carefully, swallowed the beef, and then nodded, blinking her big eyes at Ning Jia:
"Can you make more of this kind of meat in the future? It's so soft and tender, it's so delicious!"
Ning Jia smiled and said, "That's easy. Anyway, I shaved off a lot of beef rolls today, so I can make beef rice bowls tomorrow. I guarantee you'll have your fill."
"Wow, Ning Jia, you're so kind!"
Ju Ye smiled sweetly at Ning Jia, then contentedly lowered her head to continue enjoying the delicious beef roll.
The beef rolls unsurprisingly received unanimous praise.
Just as the little ones were praising how delicious the beef rolls were and how good they were, Ning Jia was already holding a large strainer and starting to scoop out the second batch of beef rolls.
Wow, more beef rolls!
The little figures happily held their bowls, waiting for Chef Ning to distribute the beef rolls into their bowls one by one.
"Hot pot is awesome!" "I think hot pot is even better than barbecue!" "I love hot pot, I love it!"
The children were extremely satisfied with their first experience eating hot pot; this novel way of eating completely exceeded their expectations!
After Ning Jia finished the beef roll in her bowl, seeing how much everyone enjoyed the hot pot, she couldn't help but smile and say:
"Today's soup base is already very fragrant, and considering it's your first time eating here, we're serving the original broth. In the future, you can also try tomato soup base, spicy soup base, mushroom soup base, and so on. You can also make your own sauces for different flavors."
The little people were amazed when they heard that there were so many different ways to make hot pot:
"How clever the person who invented hot pot must have been!"
Xingxing cupped her face in her hands, gazing at the still-bubbling broth in the hot pot, her eyes filled with longing.
I wish I could be that good at it too, making dishes that no one would think of.
However, Ningjia has already said that she will teach me to cook when I grow up, hehe, hehe.
He Meng wondered, since there are beef rolls, could there also be chicken rolls, pork rolls... all sorts of meat rolls?
Wow, it sounds delicious!
After each of the little ones had eaten two beef rolls, the little ones started burping, and the adult little ones were also holding their round little bellies, looking quite full.
Seeing this, Ning Jia stopped adding meat and instead put the last staple food—noodles—into the pot.
At this moment, the little people, completely captivated by the beef bone broth hot pot, no longer asked, "Why noodles again?" because they subconsciously felt that noodles cooked in a beef bone broth that gathered the essence of many vegetables and meats must taste exceptionally delicious!
The noodles they ate proved this point.
For a moment, everyone quietly slurped their noodles, savoring the last bit of deliciousness.
Just as the little ones were finishing off the last few noodles in their bowls, Ning Jia suddenly said:
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you—"
"This Saturday, which is the day after tomorrow afternoon, Zhou Chi said he would come to our house to make snacks for everyone."
Oh, the little ones all nodded calmly. Ever since they got a big oven at home, Ningjia's desserts have become more and more interesting. Making desserts is quite nice.
Huh? Zhou Chi?
The little people suddenly realized something was wrong and asked in surprise, "Doesn't Zhou Chi have to work anymore?"
Ning Jia shook her head, "No need, the person he replaced has already returned."
"...That's wonderful!"
The little people were all happy for Zhou Chi, "Does that mean he can finally rest from now on?"
Ning Jia wasn't sure either, "Probably? I haven't heard anything else about him lately?"
Since it was still early Saturday, the little ones grunted in agreement and continued eating their noodles.
Only Yunzhu muttered in confusion, "Zhou Chi is coming, why didn't he just tell us?"
Ning Jia happened to overhear this.
"The little people are really hard to fool," she thought to herself.
Forget it, let's not tell them that Zhou Chi not only plans to make desserts, but also to test the results of his special culinary training, which means he's going to cook dinner.
Looking at the carefree expressions of the little people, Ning Jia felt a little guilty.
She swore to the tree god that she originally did not want to agree to Zhou Chi's request.
But this guy sounded so pitiful and promised her that he would never let her and the little people down, so she... inexplicably agreed.
If all else fails, then we'll just go with Plan A and Plan B.
Plan A was that Zhou Chi cooked a delicious dinner and everything went smoothly.
This plan seems to have a slightly... tiny bit of a slim chance.
As for Plan B, she would prepare a few quick and easy dishes in advance, so that if Zhou Chi accidentally blew up the kitchen, she could still cook dinner again in time...
With that thought, Ning Jia finally felt at ease.
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