Chapter 59 Limited-Time Mission 3
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The She family courtyard.
Chen Yuzhen stood under the peach tree, leaning on her cane. The peach tree, which was almost dying two years ago, was now lush with green leaves, and small green peaches could be vaguely seen among the leaves. It looked like this year would be a bumper harvest.
Reaching out to touch the rough trunk of the peach tree, she unconsciously thought of her husband who had supported her for most of her life. If he were still here, how happy he would be to see the She family's prosperous life now.
"Grandma, it's windy, let's go back inside." As soon as she entered the room, She Ning noticed her grandmother's slightly red eyes. She knew that Zhu Xiujin's visit and the peach tree in front of her had touched her heart. She quickly went up to help her walk towards the main room.
"You silly girl, you usually seem so clever, how come you just stand there like an idiot and don't know how to run around?" The old lady said with a hint of exasperation, gently poking She Ning's forehead with her fingertip.
"Okay, Grandma, next time I'll cover my ears and ignore them, I'll just run away." She Ning said, raising her hand to promise as she helped the old lady up. Seeing that the old lady wanted to say something more, she quickly changed the subject.
"Grandma, let's eat something first, I'm so hungry."
"You, you..." The old lady shook her head indulgently, seeing through her little scheme.
The steamed buns in the kitchen are fluffy and soft, made with lard and milk, and they are white, plump, and have a milky aroma.
For the pure meat filling, use a ratio of 3 parts fat to 7 parts lean meat. Mince the meat, season it, and add ginger, scallion, and water in small amounts several times while stirring until the meat filling has fully absorbed the flavor. Add oil to lock in the moisture, then divide the filling into two equal portions. Sauté one portion in oil until cooked, then mix the raw filling with the sautéed filling until well combined. Finally, let it cool before use.
The filling prepared this way is incredibly tender and juicy, making it delicious whether used to make steamed buns or dumplings.
She Ning bought a lot of local mountain products at the market. She added soaked and shredded wood ear mushrooms and carrots to the dumpling filling to add some chewiness to the pure meat filling.
After bringing the steamed dumplings and buns to the main room, She Ning glanced at the position of the sun outside and called out to Chen Yuzhen, who was tidying up in the room, "Grandma, you eat first, I'll go out and get Xiao Ni."
She picked up two steamed buns, wrapped them in oil paper, and started walking outside. Before she even reached the school gate, a small firecracker came flying at her.
"Sister, you've come to pick me up!" Seeing She Ning from afar, She Ni only had time to say goodbye to her friend before rushing out.
Holding She Ning in her arms, she said happily.
Since She Ning started taking math Olympiad classes and She Hongmei's restaurant opened, She Ni has been going to and from school with her friends from the same village. They haven't come to pick her up from school for a long time.
"Are you hungry? Let's eat on our way home." She handed her a plump, still-warm steamed bun and reached out to help her tie her slightly loose hair.
"Sister, you should eat too." She Ni said, reaching out to break the bun in half, but She Ning quickly stopped her, took out another one, and said, "You eat, I have some."
Knowing she would do this, She Ning specially brought two of them with her when she went out.
"Sister, this water is so fresh! You should try it!" Hearing her sister's words, afraid of burning herself, she took a small bite out of the bun and carefully sucked the meat juice inside. She looked up at She Ning with bright eyes and said.
She Ning nodded and, under her expectant gaze, took a bite.
The buns have thin skins and generous fillings, and the skins are fluffy and soft. With one bite, the meat filling bursts with juice, and the subtle milky aroma combined with the rich meaty flavor makes you want to keep eating.
“It’s delicious,” she said.
"Sister, you're amazing! You can do everything." Seeing that She Ning agreed with her and smiled, She Ni started praising her.
Along the way, she shared her experiences at school like a little lark.
After returning home, She Ni didn't even put down her handbag; she went straight to the pigpen to see the puppies.
This morning, She Ning specially made minced meat porridge for it, and the little puppy ate it all without leaving a drop. Now its belly is round, and it is sleeping soundly in the makeshift doghouse made of straw and tattered clothes.
Upon hearing the sound, it only twitched its ears slightly, without opening its eyes.
"Go wash your hands and eat first," She Ning said, patting her arm.
"Mmm." Reluctantly looking at the little puppy, She Ni turned back every few steps, but the little puppy didn't understand her heart and continued to sleep soundly, even making a little snoring sound.
After dinner, She Ning took She Ni for a walk in the yard, and also tested her on her studies.
"Ah Ning, come out quickly, look what I brought you!" The voice arrived before the person was even seen.
Guan Xiuli stepped in through the door, carrying an old hen in one hand and a large soft-shelled turtle in the other. In mid-air, the old hen tried to peck at the soft-shelled turtle, which frightened the turtle so much that it quickly shrank its head.
"Wow, a soft-shelled turtle!" She ran up and held out her palm to compare it with the turtle, which was more than three times the size of her hand.
"Aunt Guan, this soft-shelled turtle is huge!" she exclaimed excitedly.
She Ning, standing to the side, couldn't help but nod. It was indeed very fat and big, weighing at least 5 or 6 pounds.
Judging from its appearance, it is still wild. Wild soft-shelled turtles grow slowly and are smaller in size, generally only about 1-3 pounds.
Such a fat soft-shelled fish is a rare find.
Guan Xiuli got it by chance.
Her cousin had the pond in the village dug up, and they harvested a lot of fish, loaches, eels, and quite a few soft-shelled turtles. Knowing her love for food, he specially bought two and brought them to her so she could share them with her sister.
Sure enough, she took one to her sister, and on her way back, she also stole one of her sister's old hens. As soon as she put down her bicycle, she, the turtle, and the chicken appeared at the She family's house.
"Simmering soft-shelled turtle with an old hen is the most nourishing dish. You can stew it for dinner tonight." Guan Xiuli said, wiping the sweat from her forehead, after tying up the old hen, placing it upside down in a bamboo basket, and putting the soft-shelled turtle in a wooden bucket.
"Aunt Guan, how much is this? I'll have my mom come back and pay you." They're good friends, but chickens and turtles aren't cheap. Nobody's money comes easily; they should still pay.
"Our two families are only this close, let's not talk about money. Just take it and eat it," Guan Xiuli said, waving her hand dismissively.
Putting aside the relationship between the two families over the years, just recently, when Hongmei facilitated a cooperation between the cannery and her sister's farm, she would have been willing to give up even ten or eight turtles and chickens, let alone just one.
“Auntie, this…” She Ning said with some difficulty.
"How about this? I've been craving your cooking for a long time. You make the soup, share some with me, and the rest can be considered your reward for your hard work," Guan Xiuli suggested sincerely, seeing her troubled expression.
She was incredibly clever, killing two birds with one stone. She wasn't joking; she had really been craving She Ning's cooking for a long time. Every day, the aroma of her dishes would make her want to move away, but she couldn't bear to part with the delicious smell. If it weren't for the need for adult manners and saving face, she would definitely go over for a free meal every mealtime.
How pitiful, now she can only eat some braised food every day to satisfy her cravings.
"This idea seems feasible," She Ning thought, looking at Guan Xiuli who was looking at her expectantly. Before she could say anything, her grandmother came out of the room.
"Why divide it? Aning just bought a lot of groceries, so let's have a meal together today." Standing at the door, Chen Yuzhen, who had listened to the whole thing, made the decision. "Aning, when you get to town, tell your mother to come back early today."
"That's an even better idea," She Ning nodded. Aunt Guan had helped her family so much, so they really should be invited to a meal to express their gratitude.
"Yay! Auntie is having dinner with us today." Squatting by the wooden tub, teasing the turtle with a bamboo stick, She Ni stood up upon hearing this, threw down the bamboo stick, and took Guan Xiuli's hand, enthusiastically recommending She Ning's cooking skills, "Sister's stir-fries are super, super, incredibly delicious, and the rice she cooks is super, super, incredibly fragrant. You'll definitely like it."
"Auntie knows!" Auntie knows all too well. Guan Xiuli was inwardly moved to tears. She often found herself eating more when she smelled the aroma of the dishes.
Smelling the lingering aroma of steamed buns in the air, her stomach couldn't help but rumble, the rumbling sound echoing in the courtyard. Guan Xiuli blushed slightly, secretly cursing her uncooperative stomach.
"Auntie, have you eaten yet? Would you like some lunch with me?" Pretending not to hear her stomach growling, She Ning asked considerately.
Guan Xiuli's eyes lit up when she heard this. She really hadn't eaten. She had been traveling back and forth between her home and Ludong Mountain, and she was so tired that her stomach was rumbling. But she had come to bring food, and she had already had a meal that night. How could she possibly ask for another meal from someone else?
"No need, there's food at home, I'll just go back and eat." Guan Xiuli swallowed hard, but remained outwardly composed and politely declined.
She Ning glanced at She Ni beside her, receiving the signal from her sister. She Ni looked confident and made a gesture to She Ning to put her arm around her. She took Guan Xiuli's hand and half-pushed and half-coaxed her into the main room.
When Guan Xiuli came to her senses, she was already holding a steamed bun in her hand, and there was a large plate of steaming dumplings in front of her.
One bite, and it was indeed as delicious as I had imagined. The juicy meat filling and the soft, milky bun skin were a different flavor altogether. The steamed dumplings added a different texture, and the crunchy wood ear mushrooms added to the taste. The sweet, sour, and spicy sauce paired with the dumplings was appetizing and made me want to eat more rice. I ate one dumpling after another, and before I knew it, the whole plate was gone.
When Guan Xiuli left the She family's house, she had to lean against the wall to get out.
With four more people joining Aunt Guan's family for dinner, the originally planned dishes weren't enough. She Ning soaked the ingredients that needed to be soaked in water beforehand and went next door to borrow a bicycle.
After telling Chen Yuzhen and She Ni, she rode her bike to town. She first went to a restaurant to tell She Hongmei that she was having dinner with Aunt Guan's family that evening and asked her to come back early. Then she went to the market.
"Beep, timed task: prepare a dinner that satisfies everyone, with at least eight dishes. Completing the task will reward you with double the chance to open blind boxes."
After She Ning finished shopping and returned home, the system suddenly went online and issued a task.
"Please finish this quickly, host. Have fun, host." The system's voice was as mechanical as ever.
As She Ning listened to its words, she had a strange feeling. The system seemed to have become a little more human after the disconnection and crash. In the past, it would never have said the last sentence.
The system, now deep within She Ning's mind, silently observed the antivirus program's log. Having finally cleared away all the strange and unusual things within the system, it peacefully returned to sleep.
Zhu Xiujin drove back to town and went to the police station first.
"Did you just come back from Xiahe Village?" Chen Shengnan asked, recognizing the knot in the bag of lunchboxes in his hand.
Zhu Xiujin nodded. "Sister Shengnan, there's something I'd like to ask you for help with."
The police station was busy with people coming and going, so it wasn't convenient to talk. He was gestured to go outside to talk, and Chen Shengnan walked out of the police station first, got into the car, and got out a little while later.
"Don't worry, I understand," she said.
Inside the car, Zhu Xiujin nodded, and the car quickly drove away from where it was.
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