Chapter 30 030 Eggplant and Meat Rolls, Corn, Water Chestnut, and White Fungus Soup [Part Two...]
This action by Wen's mother effectively put Zhuangzhuang's maternal grandmother out of her wits.
She stared intently at the notification on her phone, still unable to believe that her mother-in-law was really not going to do her business anymore.
Just then, Zhang Zhuangzhuang had just been beaten by his own mother. He ate a few bites of food while sobbing, and at that moment, he was asking her if she had ordered food for tomorrow.
Zhuangzhuang's grandmother's face flushed red and then turned pale.
Actually, she was just venting her anger.
Zhuangzhuang is a bit spoiled. If he doesn't order food for lunch, he will refuse to eat. However, he still eats some snacks when he gets home in the evening.
But when Zhuangzhuang's mother got off work, she saw that her son was not only picky about food, but also restless while sitting on the stool during meals, sometimes throwing the food in his bowl on the ground and sometimes spitting the rice back in. So she grabbed Zhuangzhuang by the collar and dragged him into the house.
Soon after, a series of crackling sounds rang out.
Zhuangzhuang's maternal grandmother couldn't stand seeing her daughter beat her grandson, but she couldn't coax the child who was clamoring for delicious food, so she sought out Wen's mother in the group chat.
At first, she thought of spending some money to get Wen's mother to work overtime, but after only a few words, she took out her anger on innocent people.
She never got a good deal with Wen's mother; from the very beginning, this restaurant seemed to be her nemesis. Her grandson insisted the restaurant was delicious, though she didn't know why. Zhuangzhuang's grandmother, still seething with anger, couldn't help but express it in her words.
Who would have thought that Wen's mother, who is usually good-tempered, would kick her out of the group chat?
What will happen then?
Zhuangzhuang's grandmother suddenly felt dizzy.
Zhuangzhuang had no idea he wouldn't be getting a set meal tomorrow. Tears streamed down his face as he thought only about how he could eat his fill of delicious food tomorrow.
...
After moving the person out, Wen's mother felt refreshed.
I asked my daughter if she could make something special as a gift for tomorrow.
Let's give those students taking exams a little something extra.
Wen Fan tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Then let's make soup tomorrow."
Wen Fan recalled his own recent bout of fever and, putting himself in their shoes, realized that these students preparing for exams were just like the suffering scholars of ancient times.
Those who study all night until dawn are rarely physically strong.
Wen Fan decided to cook a pot of corn, water chestnut, and white fungus soup.
Remove the kernels from fresh sweet corn, and boil the remaining corn cobs and silks in water for half an hour. The remaining broth will have a clear yellow color. Use the back of a knife to gently tap the corn kernels, and put the partially crushed kernels into a pot. Peel and chop the water chestnuts into small pieces, then add the white fungus, as well as the yellow yolk and rock sugar, and simmer.
Cooking white fungus soup takes time. During the stewing process, you should cover the pot and simmer it from time to time so that the white fungus can release its gelatinous substance.
Simmer until the broth becomes thick, then sprinkle some osmanthus flowers on top of the sweet soup.
Wen's mother packed the soup into a small takeout box.
The sweet aroma pairs perfectly with today's dishes.
Today, Wen Fan made eggplant and meat rolls and cumin chicken legs.
Wash the eggplant thoroughly and slice it thinly lengthwise. Mince the pork and add cooking wine, scallions, ginger, and white pepper to the minced pork for simple seasoning. Place a spoonful of minced pork on an eggplant slice and spread it evenly with the spoon. Then roll up the eggplant slice. Coat the rolled eggplant slice with batter and deep-fry until golden brown and crispy.
Prepare another fish-fragrant sauce, then stir-fry the fried eggplant and meat rolls in the pan until evenly mixed, and they're ready to serve.
This dish combines the cooking methods of fish-fragrant eggplant and minced meat eggplant, resulting in a crispy and delicious flavor.
Another dish was cumin chicken drumsticks. Wen Fan also used the method of frying first, cutting the chicken drumsticks into small pieces and frying them in oil, then stir-frying them with cumin. Originally a stir-fry dish, it could be faintly tasted like barbecue.
One dish is salty and spicy, the other is sweet and savory with a sauce; both are exceptionally good with rice.
Mother Wen prepared the meal and asked Yang Tao and the others to deliver it, explaining that there would be one less dish today.
Yang Tao confirmed the list, then hopped on his electric scooter and set off.
When the food was delivered, Wu Na and Lin Miaomiao were the first to come out.
Yang Tao was used to Wu Na's enthusiasm for meals. He handed her the food and then took out two bowls of soup from the box behind her.
"It was a gift from the boss."
Wu Na exclaimed with delight, "Wow, there's soup today too!"
The two quickly got their food and went to find a seat. As they walked through the lobby, they heard a child's piercing cry.
"The noise is so loud it could blow the roof off."
The group quickly joined up with Da Huang and the others, lifted the lid, and moved in unison.
Take a deep breath first.
"No wonder people say that sometimes you only know what you've got when you lose it. I didn't get to eat it all yesterday, and I was dreaming about it all day."
Lin Miaomiao felt that her sleep had recently taken a strange turn. Originally, she couldn't sleep because of stress, but now, when she couldn't sleep, she would think about eating.
Every night I have to think repeatedly about what I ate for lunch today, and then guess what I'll eat tomorrow.
Day by day, life became monotonous but settled.
Da Huang also exclaimed, "Who says otherwise? Last night I almost rushed to the store to see if it was open."
The girl next to me scoffed, "Can I say I went to all of them?"
She lived nearby, and she was really unwilling to give up in the evening, so she kept thinking of trying her luck at the store, only to find that the store was also closed when she got there.
However, she did receive some other news.
"I made some inquiries and found out that the owner was closed yesterday because he took a booking for a college entrance celebration banquet."
Big Yellow's eyes widened: "Huh? How did you know?"
Girl: "Of course I asked."
The people on the street explained it clearly; they not only said they had accepted a banquet, but also described the dishes served at the banquet.
The girl exclaimed longingly, "Just hearing them talk about it makes my mouth water!"
Everyone couldn't help but imagine how delicious the set meals and home-style dishes were now, and how much better the banquet food would be...
The sound of someone swallowing hard was particularly clear.
Big Yellow narrowed his eyes: "You should have said earlier that they also accept banquet orders..."
My mind raced, from my own birthday to my family's birthdays, birth, aging, illness, death, studies, weddings, and funerals.
Lin Miaomiao was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "When I pass the exam, I want to set up a table here."
After she said that, everyone looked at her with strange eyes, making her feel embarrassed.
"...That's right."
"We've been eating here for so long, we could say that if we get into university, we'll hold a banquet here again...tsk tsk, that would be very meaningful."
"I think you've gone crazy from doing so many problems. I don't care about any of this meaning or anything, I just want to eat something delicious!"
"That's right, just thinking about all the dishes at the banquet... there might be a lot of them that we've never eaten before."
A group of people suddenly became passionate.
"It's a deal! Whoever gets the award will treat everyone to a meal at Wenji Restaurant!"
"It's a deal!"
...
While a group of young people were passionately inspiring each other, Zhang Zhuangzhuang was already crying his eyes out in the library lobby.
He never expected that he wouldn't get lunch today!
He waited for the deliveryman to call his name, but he waited and waited and never heard from him. He broke down in tears, called his grandmother, and then collapsed in tears in the library.
"Waaah, I want to eat!"
"Waaaaah, why isn't there any food for me?!"
"Grandma is mean!"
Zhuangzhuang's maternal grandmother rushed over upon hearing the news, heartbroken. She picked up her grandson, trying to comfort him, but the boy just kept crying with his eyes closed. No matter what she said, he kept asking the same question: Why did Grandma make his food disappear?
Zhuangzhuang's maternal grandmother was so worried that she had no choice but to call her own daughter.
Now he stopped hiding it and told the whole story.
When Zhuangzhuang's mother returned home, she crossed her arms and listened to her mother and son each add their own points.
"Mom, haven't I told you not to always try to take advantage of others?"
Grandma Zhuangzhuang lowered her head, mumbling, "Well, she didn't get anything, did she? This person is so petty. Just one casual remark, and she's already refusing to do business with me."
Zhuangzhuang's mother rubbed her temples: "If you were running a small business, would you want to listen to people's complaints? Their products are good and their business is good, why are you looking for trouble?"
With tears in his eyes, Zhuangzhuang asked, "Then, Mom, does that mean I can't eat set meals anymore?"
He was still thinking about it; all the other kids had something today, but he didn't.
Grandma tried to brush it off by ordering him fried chicken and cola, but he didn't want fried chicken and cola at all!
He saw it all; there was soup in Zihan's meal today! That corn and white fungus soup looked delicious; he could smell its sweet aroma from far away.
"Mom, I want to eat more."
Zhuangzhuang's grandmother frowned: "Is there really something wrong with that family? Look at the child, he doesn't even mention eating junk food anymore, he just wants to eat that family's food."
Zhuangzhuang's mother said irritably, "Can't it just be that other people's cooking is better?"
"But……"
"No buts, I'll order some takeout and try it tomorrow. Also, Mom, if there's anything like this to communicate in the future, please send the group chat to me."
"Who am I doing this for? It's all for you! Look at you, busy at the company all day long! The company is practically your home!"
Zhuangzhuang's mother said nonchalantly, "You know how our travel agency is, holidays are peak season. I'm not going to say anything more, I'm busy tomorrow, I won't be back for a whole day."
Zhuangzhuang asked hopefully, "Mom...can I eat a set meal tomorrow?"
"cannot."
Zhuangzhuang's mother tapped her son's nose: "Who told your grandma to make a mistake? We're family. If your grandma offends someone, you, as her grandson, should share the joys and sorrows. I'll have your grandma order you takeout tomorrow."
Zhuangzhuang couldn't stop the tears from falling.
He looked at his grandmother with a wronged expression, thinking to himself why his grandmother's mistakes had affected him, but he knew that if he said that, his mother would probably beat him again, so he could only hold it in.
Grandma Zhuangzhuang gritted her teeth and said, "So what if I said something wrong? Can't I apologize?"
What does she have to fear if her grandson has enough to eat?
Zhuangzhuang's mother: "Forget it, whether they forgive you or not, it'll be like swallowing a fly."
According to her mother, that family was good-natured and tolerated it several times before kicking her out of the group chat. When she went to apologize, they ended up putting her in a difficult position.
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Zhuangzhuang's mother took out her phone: "You should order takeout from this restaurant."
"There's too little food!"
"Whose fault is that?"
...
After cleaning up the mess at home, Zhuangzhuang's mother went to work the next day. When she was about to order takeout at noon, she suddenly remembered this matter. So she declined her colleagues' invitation to order takeout together, searched on her phone, and finally found Wen's store with great difficulty.
"The rating is quite good."
Since the counterfeit Wu Ji went out of business, Wen's takeout business has been getting better and better. Although it still can't compare to stores that sell thousands of orders a month, it still gets forty or fifty orders a day.
Without exception, all of these orders received very positive reviews.
Zhuangzhuang's mother looked at the menu and ordered a beef brisket rice bowl for herself, which cost 36 yuan.
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