Chapter 9 009 Eggplant with Minced Meat
Mr. Wen exclaimed in surprise, "You want to send your business cards to the library?"
Mother Wen puffed out her chest and said, "There are so many kids over there, and parents might not feel comfortable letting their children eat takeout every day. I've already thought it through. We're not looking for a long-term business; we'll just do it for the summer."
Mrs. Wen took out a calculator and pressed a few keys: "We won't sell it expensively. One meal will be delivered in 12 packs. Tomorrow I'll go buy some good quality disposable lunch boxes, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. I'll create a group chat in advance, and post the meal details to the group the next day..."
Looking at Wen's mother, who was getting more and more carried away with her words, Wen's father stammered, "Will this... work?"
Mother Wen: "Why not!"
In the past, she might have been a little hesitant, but her daughter's cooking was so good that anyone who had tasted it would say it was bad.
The only difficulty is that parents may not trust her enough, but that's okay. As long as she gets the first customer, Wen's mother is confident that she can make a breakthrough.
"I'm going to the library to hand out business cards tomorrow morning!"
...
The next morning, Wen's mother changed into clean clothes and practiced her smile in front of the mirror several times beforehand. Despite her cheerful words, she was actually a little uncertain inside.
But Wen's mother had a gut feeling that this opportunity was given to her by her daughter. She even tossed and turned last night, thinking that her daughter's sudden mention of the library might be a subtle hint to her.
Wen's mother thought to herself that she should set a good example for her child.
A daughter is sensible and considerate. How can parents let their children lead them by the nose? Wouldn't that just be holding them back?
Mother Wen cheered herself up, thinking that no matter what, winning over the first customer today would be a victory!
Breakfast was a noodle soup made by Wen's father. Wen's mother ate a big bowlful before setting off with high spirits.
Wen Fan ate a small bowl, his mind still racing, trying to figure out what else he could add to the soup to improve the flavor.
After dinner, Wen's father rode his tricycle to take Wen Fan to the market.
Wen Fan had been to the morning market before, but when she arrived at the large vegetable market, she realized that the morning market she had visited before was simply too small.
The results of modern large-scale planting and industry supporting agriculture are unfolding before Wen Fan's eyes. He stares wide-eyed at the mountain of colorful vegetables in front of him.
Mr. Wen parked his tricycle by the roadside and laughed, "This place is big, isn't it? When your mother and I first came here, we almost got lost several times."
As the largest farmers' market in the city, it not only sells fruits and vegetables, but also has two buildings dedicated to selling frozen products.
Wen's father led Wen Fan past a group of vendors hawking their wares, pointing to a row of large blue trucks ahead.
"That's where the real bargains are."
The signs hanging on the trucks all said that the prices were extremely cheap.
"Baby bok choy is one cent per pound," "Green beans are five cents per pound," "Eggplant is three cents per pound"...
Wen Fan had previously made an exchange of values in this society, thinking that at the current exchange rate, one tael of silver would roughly equal the purchasing power of two thousand yuan. But seeing this mountain of vegetables and fruits, she felt that the conversion was incorrect.
That's so cheap!
Wen Fan's old occupational habit kicked in, and he pointed at all the eggplants on a car, almost saying, "Take them all."
Fortunately, Mr. Wen pulled the person aside and said, "We can't buy that many."
The vegetables that come in large trucks are cheap enough, but they are not sold individually. Most of the time, several vendors agree to share one truckload.
After winding their way through several streets, Wen's father finally found the gathering place of the vendors, where there were mostly small trucks.
Wen Fan picked through the quality and finally had his father buy a large bag of eggplants, several bunches of long green beans, and some mushrooms and vegetables.
After buying vegetables, they picked out meat. Unlike others, Mr. Wen did not choose frozen meat, but instead took his daughter to a stall that specialized in selling meat.
Wen Fan directed his father to buy about ten catties of pork belly and also picked out a pig's trotter.
"We'll eat lunch by ourselves."
There are two types of cooks. One type does their job well enough that you shouldn't ask them to do anything in the kitchen after work. The other type simply enjoys cooking and likes to treat themselves to a different meal, even if they're exhausted.
However, Wen Fan was the latter. After thinking about it, he realized that he had been making do with whatever he could find these past few days, so he decided to have his family cook something nice for lunch.
The tricycle was packed full, and Wen Fan sat on a small stool, surrounded by plastic bags of vegetables.
She didn't feel tired or ashamed. Fortunately, the morning air was cool, so she took out her vocabulary book from her pocket.
Back, back, back.
Wen Fan could already foresee that his grades wouldn't be good after the start of the semester. He knew that although his school was private, it still placed great importance on academic performance.
There are two types of students who can attend this kind of school: those who pay their way in and those who have good grades. The school will reduce tuition fees to a certain extent, but this reduction only applies to the first year of high school. If a student's grades drop in the second year, they will be placed in a regular class, and naturally, their tuition fees will be the same as those for regular classes.
Wen Fan was a little worried. She could learn humanities subjects on her own, but what about science subjects?
The thought of those incomprehensible letters in math textbooks gave Wen Fan a splitting headache.
As Wen's father listened to his daughter reciting her lessons from behind, he didn't even dare to pedal fast.
He kept his head down as he rode his bike, thinking to himself, "I still need to make money, at least..."
You need at least one car.
...
After handing out her business cards, Wen's mother rushed off to buy some lunchboxes and disposable chopsticks. Then she found a familiar shop and bought twenty of the same casserole dishes they had on display.
When they returned to the store, Wen's mother had already received two friend requests.
One contact was labeled "Zihan's Mom" and the other was labeled "Zhuangzhuang's Grandma".
Wen's mother quickly agreed, and after a brief discussion, she rushed into the kitchen.
"Let me take a picture!"
Parents who can choose to order meals are naturally most concerned about hygiene. Wen's mother took pictures of all the pots and pans in her house, and also sent her shop address and storefront.
Finally, Zihan's mother sent a twelve-yuan red envelope with a voice message.
"Okay, please deliver the lunch to the corner on the second floor of the library at noon. I will have my child go out to pick it up."
However, Zhuangzhuang's grandmother was not so lucky.
The old man paused for a while without speaking, and then sent a 60-second voice message.
Wen's mother clicked on it, and her brows gradually furrowed.
The old woman was full of nitpicking. She complained that the shop was too small, asked to see the dishes for the day, and finally demanded that she see the daily test reports of the vegetables in the shop.
"This is all food for the child. We only have one child. Who knows if what you've prepared is hygienic?"
Wen's mother sighed and replied, "We understand your concerns, but we really can't provide the test report."
The other party seemed unhappy and sent another long voice message. This time, Wen's mother understood. The other party said that he had discussed it with the child's parents and said that he wanted to investigate them.
"Today's meal will be delivered to the reading room on the first floor, so we can let the children try it."
They never mentioned the meal transfer fee.
Wen's mother was so angry she laughed, and simply ignored her.
"Anyway, I have one today."
As long as there's one serving, Wen's mother feels that her hard work today wasn't in vain.
Wen Fan didn't help with preparing the ingredients in the morning. Instead, she sat at the table by the door with her books, doing her homework first and then memorizing. When she couldn't do math, she went home to find her old junior high school textbooks.
This finally brought a glimmer of hope; she could still barely understand junior high school math.
Wen Fan read his book while listening to his parents bustling around.
After a brief period of adjustment at the beginning, Wen Fan felt that working in the store was not bad.
The landlord, Yang Hong, rushed to deliver the air conditioner this morning. There was already an air conditioner vent in the kitchen, and it was installed in just ten minutes.
Wen Fan would read for a while, then stretch his arms and legs when he got tired. If he wanted to clear his head, he would go to the kitchen. If he was thirsty, he could always grab a drink from the refrigerator...
"Xiao Fan! How many bottles of Coke have you drunk this morning?!"
After a lot of tidying up, Wen's mother suddenly discovered that only seven of the ten bottles of cola she had put in the refrigerator that morning remained.
Then I watched as my daughter walked to the refrigerator with perfect ease, opened the door, and headed straight for the cola.
Upon further reflection...
It seems that whenever this girl isn't busy, she's either drinking cola or orange juice.
Wen Fan, feeling a little guilty, hid the bottle behind her back: "No, I don't."
Wen's mother walked over and shook the schoolbag, thud.
Two empty bottles fell out.
Wen Fan:......
When Mr. Wen called his daughter to the kitchen to cook, he noticed that she looked listless.
"What's wrong?"
Wen Fan was listless and didn't want to say anything.
Wen's mother: "Ignore her. She's such a grown-up, yet she still loves drinking cola like a child."
She drank three bottles this morning. I didn't pay attention to her yesterday, so I don't know how much she drank!
If you keep drinking like this, you won't even want your teeth anymore!
Wen Fan glanced pitifully at his mother, but seeing her stern face, he could only silently continue cooking.
Mr. Wen said with concern, "If she likes to drink, let her have a little. It's so hot outside..."
Wen's mother glared at him back.
Wen Fan: ...What a useless father.
Looking up again, she saw her fierce mother and gave her a sweet, ingratiating smile.
...
Since there was probably only one meal available at noon, Wen Fan didn't bother making a fuss. He simply took a portion of whatever he was eating and gave it to the child at the library.
Slice fresh pork belly into thin slices, leaving a layer of oil at the bottom of the pan. Fry the pork belly until the oil is rendered. Cut green beans into finger-length pieces and fry them in lard until the skin wrinkles. Then add eggplant cut into strips, stir-fry all the seasonings evenly, and add a spoonful of hot oil just before serving. It's fragrant and has a bright color.
Chop the pig's trotters into small pieces, remove the fishy smell, and then caramelize the sugar. Stir-fry a handful of spices until the pig's trotters no longer have that fishy smell. Then put hot water in the pot, turn the heat from high to low, and simmer for an hour. Open the lid of the casserole and add some peanuts and soybeans. Simmer over low heat to bring out the aroma of the pig's trotters. This domineering aroma of pure meat is different from yesterday's clay pot rice. It is hard for anyone to resist such a rich aroma.
But today they only bought one pig's trotter, so Wen's mother had to work hard to explain to everyone.
"It's not for sale, it's for our own consumption."
"It's not about the money."
Once the pig's trotters were stewed until the skin was tender and the meat was soft, Wen Fan quickly stir-fried two vegetarian dishes and put them in the lunchbox.
"alright!"
Wen's mother hurriedly rode her electric bike to deliver the meal to the library.
Disappointed that Mrs. Wen had left, the guests started choosing claypot rice again.
"One serving of pork rib rice."
Wen Fan pointed to the wall, seemingly embarrassed.
The customers who ate there twice yesterday were confused, but when they saw the newly posted menu on the wall, they fell silent.
On the wall, there was a sign that read: "Claypot Rice - 25 yuan a serving".
Prices have gone up.
Whether to eat or not seems like a very difficult decision.
Wen Fan explained in a low voice, "My dad works very hard."
Claypot rice is a dish that requires several pots to be made at once. Wen's father doesn't have that skill yet, so he makes one pot per person, which takes a lot of time. Therefore, Wen Fan doesn't mind that it's a bit more expensive.
The customer gritted his teeth and said, "One serving, please!"
After this guest, more guests came in one after another.
However, the difference is that Wen Fan sits behind the counter, and she no longer recommends claypot rice to customers.
"We can't handle it all."
If Wen's father makes four servings per hour at most, then that's eight servings by noon.
Having finally mustered the courage to go out for dinner, Wu Na wailed, "No!"
She is a loyal customer of the pickled vegetables at Wen's Restaurant. Yesterday, when she saw that the restaurant had put claypot rice on the menu, she quickly placed an order.
After eating it, she gave it a long and splendid review on the food delivery platform.
The only downside was that the rice crust at the bottom of the claypot rice had become soggy in the takeout box, so she was mentally prepared before coming to the restaurant to eat under the blazing sun.
But the shop owner said they couldn't do it!
Wu Na was completely devastated.
Wen Fan still remembered her; it was this girl who came in and asked if they had liangpi (cold skin noodles) when he first started working at the shop.
She smiled and said, "Today we have eggplant with minced meat, and stir-fried pork with chili peppers."
These dishes are quick and easy to make. Wen Fan only spent half an hour preparing the toppings. The restaurant continues the previous practice of offering either rice or noodles as a choice.
Wu Na said dejectedly, "Then let's have minced meat and eggplant rice."
After losing her claypot rice, Wu Na felt she hadn't checked the almanac before going out today.
Wen Fan responded and quickly placed a plate of rice with toppings in front of Wu Na.
Enjoy.
The eggplant, a deep brown color, is evenly covered with finely minced meat. The glossy and tempting toppings are placed on top of the rice, which is stained with the eggplant's brown color. The thick sauce not only coats the eggplant but also gradually expands its territory. A touch of bright green scallion is added as a garnish. In terms of both color and aroma, it's practically a dish that's perfect for eating with rice.
Wu Na put her chopsticks aside, pressed down with her large spoon, and filled a spoonful with rice mixed with eggplant and minced meat. The aroma was so enticing that she almost cried.
Mom, I've finally eaten my life's special meal.
A note from the author:
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