After An Ning waited for Gen Sheng's mother to cut the meat, she started to stew the braised pork. An Ning did not hide it from the two of them. After all, she had kept it a secret from Gao Shi last time because she didn't have those seasonings at home and was afraid that Gao Shi would ask about it. But when she went to town a few days ago, An Ning had already bought all these things at the pharmacy.
Aunt Liu and Gensheng's mother smelled the aroma coming from the pot and drooled. It was so delicious. When An Ning put hot water in the pot and covered it, they came back to their senses. Aunt Liu said to Gao with some envy, "Sister-in-law Dashan, you are so lucky. Dashan is so powerful, and Daya is so capable at such a young age."
Gensheng's mother also echoed: "Yes, yes!"
Gao was also very proud, but she couldn't show it. She tried her best to suppress the corners of her mouth that were curled up involuntarily, and said, "No way, it's just like that! Aren't the children of your two families very good?"
When An Ning's braised pork was almost done, the pig's head in the other pot was also done. Gao took out the pig's head, dipped her hands in cold water, and began to take it apart while it was still hot. This was a technical job because the pig's head had been stewed until it was soft and rotten, so she had to be careful to remove the meat from the pig's head intact.
After Gao removed the pork head, she set it aside to cool. After it cooled, she could cut it into slices and put it on a plate. An Ning cut two pieces and handed them to Aunt Liu and Gensheng's mother, saying, "Try it and see if it tastes good, aunts."
The two of them took the pork head and started eating. Aunt Liu took a bite, chewed it slowly, and said after swallowing it, "Daya's cooking skills are amazing. It tastes better than the ones made by the chefs who specialize in making banquets for others."
Gensheng's mother nodded beside him. She wanted to save the meat for her children at home, so she ate a bite and stopped eating. She wrapped it up with a handkerchief when no one was paying attention, intending to take it back for her children. An Ning saw all her actions, but in order to maintain her mother's self-esteem, she didn't say anything, and planned to take some back for her and Aunt Liu after dinner.
Gao poured the soup from the pot into a basin. This was a good thing. After cooling, it became jelly, which tasted even better than meat. After cleaning the pot, Gao put the steamed buns that the others had kneaded into the pot and started to steam them.
The few of them worked well together and quickly prepared four dishes, one soup and two pots of steamed buns. The soup was wild vegetable egg drop soup. An Ning originally planned to make bone soup, but there were only two pots at home, so she had no choice but to make a simple wild vegetable egg drop soup. However, it tasted refreshing and relieved greasiness.
Because there were more dishes today, they borrowed some tables, chairs, benches, and dishes from several nearby families. Seeing that it was getting late, Gao asked An Ning to call people back for dinner. Because she had to stay in the new house to look at things, and Gao didn't want her daughter to be hungry, she asked An Ning to eat her fill before calling people back for dinner.
When An Ning went to call for help, Chun Ya's father next door said, "Daya, we finally got you here. Did you make braised pork again? I smelled it a long time ago and I was so greedy that I didn't even have the heart to work."
An Ning smiled and said, "Yes, Uncle Liu, for lunch we not only have braised pork, but also pork head meat!"
When everyone heard this, they thought the food was really good! They all stopped what they were doing and looked at An Dashan. Seeing this, An Dashan said, "Everyone, hurry up and eat. You can continue working after you eat."
After hearing this, everyone put down their work and went to eat. An Dashan asked An Ning, "Daya, go eat. When you're done, come and take my place."
An Ning said, "My mother told me to finish eating a long time ago. You should hurry up and eat. I made all the dishes today. They are delicious." An Dashan nodded and went to eat. An Ning turned around and looked at the main rooms that had been completed, and once again marveled at the speed of infrastructure construction of the ancient people.
When the people who had been working returned to the An family for dinner, they looked at the food on the table with their eyes wide open. There were three tables in the yard, with four steaming dishes in the middle of the tables, a pot of braised pork, a large plate of pork head, a large plate of golden green leek scrambled eggs, and a pot of fried cabbage with a lot of meat slices in it. In the middle was a pot of steaming wild vegetable egg drop soup, and there were quite a few eggs. There was also a pot of steamed buns on each table.
After washing their hands, they sat at the table and started to work. Except for Master Mo who was a little more polite, everyone else ate quite heartily. A group of people only cared about eating, without saying a word. The whole yard was filled with the sounds of chewing and slurping soup. After finishing the meal, everyone stroked their stomachs, still savoring the taste of the food. After resting for about two quarters of an hour, people went back to work in high spirits. After having just eaten a full meal, they felt full of energy and worked even harder.
Gao, Gensheng's mother, and Aunt Liu were the last to eat. After the meal, Gao gave each of them a bowl of braised pork and a few steamed buns and asked them to take them home to eat. They could come back to help cook in the afternoon. As for why they only gave them braised pork, it was because the other dishes were eaten up, and only the braised pork was left because they cooked a lot.
Gensheng's mother was a little embarrassed to ask for the bowl of braised pork, but when she saw Aunt Liu happily accept it, she accepted it.
When Gensheng's mother returned home, her youngest son Suozi saw his mother coming back. He jumped up to her happily and asked, "Mom, what did you get? Why does it smell so good?"
Gensheng's mother pinched a small piece of meat from the bowl and put it into Suozi's mouth, saying, "Go play first. I'll heat this up for your grandfather and you."
Suozi had never eaten such delicious food in his life. He chewed the meat repeatedly in his mouth and was reluctant to swallow it. Gensheng's mother put the bowl of braised pork and steamed buns in the pot, then lit a fire. When the steamed buns and braised pork were hot, she turned off the fire and took the food to the main room.
In the main room, Grandpa Liu, supported by his grandson, was already sitting at the dining table. Looking at the food brought over by Gensheng's mother, his eyes reddened and he said, "The Dashan family is a good family!"
Gensheng's mother also nodded and said, "Yes, when Suozi grows up, you must repay your uncle Dashan. Do you hear me?"
Suozi nodded heavily and said, "I understand, mother."
Gensheng's mother was very pleased to see her sensible son and said, "Eat quickly, or it will get cold soon."
Perhaps because they were used to being poor, the grandfather and grandson tacitly ate only one steamed bun and a few pieces of meat and stopped eating. Seeing this, Gensheng's mother did not try to persuade them and put the remaining food in the cupboard for the next meal.
Before the afternoon sun, Gensheng's mother and Aunt Liu came to help. In the evening, Gao planned to roll some noodles, but she was reluctant to use white flour, and instead made two large basins of black flour.
Aunt Liu saw this and went home to get her own rolling board and rolling pin, and started rolling noodles with Gensheng's mother. Gao was in charge of dicing the meat for the stew. As usual, Chef An Ning made a pot of cabbage and meat stew, and another pot of leek and egg stew, both of which were quite generous.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
