"Zhuangzhuang, are you going to light a fire with your mother?"

Xiaoguo came to the study and found Zhuangzhuang practicing calligraphy.

“Here we come!”

Zhuangzhuang immediately put down his pen and was about to leave, but he stopped halfway and turned around to remind Xiaoyi, who was about to leave with him, "You haven't finished a chapter yet."

After hearing this, Xiao Yi quickly sat back down. It was obviously impossible for him to leave with them secretly.

Zhuangzhuang nodded with satisfaction, then took Xiaoguo's hand and left.

Xiao Yi looked at the two people leaving with envy, pouting, Zhuang Zhuang was more severe than the master in the palace...

Oh, forget it, let’s just write it quickly. Zhuangzhuang is right, we should have a beginning and an end. I will go to them as soon as I finish writing.

After Xiao Yi made his decision, he immediately started writing.

"Wow, why does mom have so many dishes?"

Zhuangzhuang was very surprised to see so many delicious dishes on the table.

Zhuangzhuang looked around and ran around the table.

Xiao Guo held his head and said, "Okay, don't run away. Help me light the fire later."

“Hahahaha~” Zhuangzhuang leaned on Xiaoguo’s legs, heard what Xiaoguo said, and then nodded, “Okay!”

Xiaoguo decided to prepare the cold dishes first, including a mixed platter, mouth-watering chicken, and spicy and sour potato shreds. These are not afraid of getting cold, so it would be better to make them first and put them on the table.

Zhuangzhuang was lighting a fire when two cooks came over.

"Madam, we have nothing to do right now, so we came to help you and secretly teach you~"

The two cooks came over with smiles on their faces, looking a little embarrassed.

Aunt Xu was also a little shy, and felt that it was not a good idea to come here so blatantly to learn from others. The dishes she cooked for the officers and soldiers last time, although they looked good, were not quite tasty enough. She thought about it again in private, but it was still not right.

This time, Xiaoguo was preparing meals, and originally it had nothing to do with them, but the two of them were really curious, so they came over with licking faces.

"That's great. I feel more relaxed with your help."

Xiao Guo thought it was nothing, and she didn't intend to hide it. She wasn't too excited, and she didn't intend to use this to open a restaurant or anything. What's more, she was just making ordinary meals with only a few seasonings. The important thing was the heat.

After hearing Xiaoguo say this, the two of them finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had been a little nervous just now.

"So what do we do first?"

Xiaoguo looked around and actually there was nothing to do because she and Jiang Danhe had already washed and cut the ingredients, and now all that was left was to stir-fry them.

"Well, there's nothing else to do. Why don't you help me deliver the food?"

Aunt Xu was older than the fat cook and had seen more things. When she heard Xiaoguo say that, she looked around and realized that everything was actually prepared. All the dishes were neatly placed next to the stove and they could just pick them up when they were cooking. There was no need for anyone to pass them to them. This was just an excuse to make it convenient for the two to stay.

Aunt Xu laughed from the bottom of her heart, "Oh, good!"

The fat cook was still young and didn't have as good a vision as Aunt Xu, so she really helped Xiaoguo.

Xiaoguo tried her best to explain each step clearly, focusing on the issue of heat. Xiaoguo thought the fat cook might just be a fool, but Aunt Xu really wanted to learn, so Xiaoguo emphasized the heat and the order of adding seasonings to her.

Aunt Xu was very serious and remembered the entire sequence of Xiaoguo's cooking from beginning to end, even remembering how hot the oil had to be before cooking.

In order to let her see clearly, Xiaoguo slowed down his movements, leaving her with just enough time.

When the two cooks came over, Zhuangzhuang was squeezed out because the fat cook found that she didn't need to deliver food, so she took over Zhuangzhuang's job and started a fire.

Zhuangzhuang saw that there was nothing for him to do, so he got Xiaoguo's consent and returned to the study.

Xiao Yi had just finished writing a chapter and ran out happily. Before he could even step out of the door, he saw Zhuangzhuang's figure coming over.

"Let's study one more chapter."

After Zhuangzhuang finished speaking, Xiaoyi was also petrified, "Help~"

–

Xiaoguo served a plate of food, and the fat cook brought it to the living room and placed it on the table.

Xiaoguo left a little bit of each dish for the two of them to taste.

Aunt Xu couldn't wait to pick up some with chopsticks and put it in her mouth. It was delicious, with a special aroma that was hard to describe. Each seasoning was added just right, and each ingredient released its own unique aroma. It was not like other people's dishes, where the flavor of one ingredient overbearingly covered up the other flavors.

Xiaoguo continued to fry the dishes. Now the cold dishes had been brought over. She heard from the fat cook that Li Shouji was already sitting in the living room waiting. Xiaoguo guessed that he would be here soon.

"Auntie, turn up the heat."

Hot dishes still need to be stir-fried to be fragrant.

Aunt Xu responded, then added another stick, and a big fire started instantly.

Add oil to the small fruit and stir-fry the vegetables.

After a while the fragrance wafted out.

The two cooks were intoxicated for a moment by the overbearing aroma.

"What is this dish? It smells so good~"

The fat cook couldn't help it at first. The fragrance was very unfamiliar, both fragrant and spicy.

Aunt Xu couldn't help but stand up and take a closer look. "Bean sprouts, duck blood, fish balls, pork meatballs."

Aunt Xu read out all the ingredients in the pot and then sniffed carefully, "It smells really good. What is this dish?"

"This is Maoxuewang." Xiaoguo took the ingredients out of the pot after they were almost cooked, and said, "First, stir-fry the chili sauce until it is fragrant, then add all the ingredients and add a little water to cook until done, then add some salt to season it. Originally, I should have put tripe and pig intestines in it, but because tripe is hard to buy and pig intestines need to be cleaned and cooked after purchase, it takes too long, so I didn't put them in."

Xiaoguo found that the chili sauce they made in the kitchen smelled very fragrant, so she scooped a large spoonful of it and used it for cooking.

While Xiaoguo was talking, she was busy with her hands. She added oil to the pot and heated it until it started to smoke. She then put dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns on top of the cooked Maoxuewang and poured the hot oil over it.

Pour the hot oil onto the ingredients, and instantly there is a crackling sound and the aroma fills the air.

The two chefs gathered around the Maoxuewang with curiosity, studying it. They had never seen this dish before.

Xiao Guo didn't stay for too long. She quickly cleaned the wok and started cooking the next dish.

Before it got dark, all the hot dishes and the chicken and radish soup were brought over, leaving only the fish.

Aunt Xu knew how to make brown sugar rice cake, so Xiaoguo gave it to her while she carefully processed the fish.

First up is the chopped pepper fish head. There is chopped pepper made by Aunt Xu in the kitchen. Xiao Guo is used to frying it and then steaming it on the fish head, which makes the taste more fragrant.

Steam the big fish head, then cook the crispy fish with sauce, and save the West Lake vinegar fish for last.

Cut the lower half of the fish into thick slices, coat them with flour and fry them in a pan until golden brown. Then, put all the fish slices back into the heated oil and fry them again.

Take it out after thirty seconds, then prepare a sauce with a fragrant taste and put the fish fillets in it to soak.

During the soaking time, Xiaoguo started preparing to make West Lake Vinegar Fish.

Split the fish meat on both sides and make a few cuts to make it look nice and easier to fry.

Coat the fish in flour, lift it up to shake off any excess flour, and place it back into the pan where you fried the fish fillets.

During this period, prepare a vinegar sauce. Compared with sweet and sour fish, West Lake vinegar fish is more sour and contains less sugar, but there is no other difference.

Add a little more vinegar to the small fruit according to the proportion, then add shredded green onion and start stir-frying until thick.

Place the fried fish on a plate and pour the vinegar sauce over it.

Finally, garnish with some chopped green onions and you’re done.