Chapter 76 Soup Dumplings, Suzhou-style Fried Dumplings, and Fried Dough Sticks
Feeling Su Xiaonuan's unconditional care and support, An Ran's voice was visibly moved, tinged with emotion: "Nuan Nuan... thank you. It's so good to have you here."
The two exchanged a few more private words and gave each other some advice before hanging up the phone.
Su Xiaonuan put down her phone, let out a long sigh of relief, and subconsciously raised her hand to pat her chest to calm her heart, which had been terrified just now.
This morning was like a rollercoaster ride.
"Pfft—"
A clear, soft laugh came from behind.
Su Xiaonuan was startled and turned around abruptly. She saw that Zhao Liyue had gotten up at some point and was leaning against the door frame of her bedroom with her arms crossed. She had obviously been watching the show for quite a while.
She was wearing simple loungewear today, looking less aloof and more relaxed, but her eyes still held an all-knowing understanding.
Su Xiaonuan was immediately embarrassed, her cheeks flushed slightly, her fingers unconsciously twirling the ends of her naturally curly hair that had sticked up from sleep, her eyes darting around, and she muttered softly, "Yue... Sister Yue... when did you get up?"
"Ever since you started staring at your phone screen like it was a major crisis," Zhao Liyue said, a rare hint of teasing in her voice. "Looks like you and your best friend are pretty close?"
Although she hadn't heard everything, Su Xiaonuan's tone shifted dramatically from tense to relaxed, then to indignant, and finally to gentle comfort.
Su Xiaonuan scratched her head sheepishly and chuckled awkwardly, "Well... we grew up together, so we have a really good relationship."
She didn't want to talk about Qin Haochu's unpleasant affairs, so she quickly changed the subject, "Sister Yue, what would you like for breakfast? I'll make it right away."
She shook her head, her tone returning to its usual conciseness: "I'm not picky, just do what you think is best."
"Okay!" Upon receiving the instruction, Su Xiaonuan immediately rushed into the kitchen, putting the little incident from her mind.
Although the system is still upgrading and cannot provide top-quality ingredients, the inventory in her refrigerator and her maxed-out cooking skills are enough to prepare a delicious breakfast.
She decided to make some simple and comforting Chinese breakfast.
First, she made soup dumplings. The dough, which had been kneaded and proofed properly in advance, became exceptionally obedient in her hands, and she rolled it into round wrappers that were thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges.
The filling is made of minced pork with a ratio of three parts fat to seven parts lean, mixed with carefully simmered and cooled aspic, and various seasonings.
Her fingers flew, quickly pinching out more than eighteen pleats, the opening resembling a small flower. Each steamed bun looked like a plump, white ingot, neatly arranged in the steamer.
Next up are Suzhou-style pan-fried dumplings.
They used the same filling and wrapped the dumplings in a crescent shape.
Brush oil on a frying pan, arrange the dumplings neatly, and fry until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy. Then, pour in a small amount of water, cover the pan, and use the steam to cook the top half.
Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and chopped green onions before serving. The bottom has an enticing golden-brown crispy crust, while the top is soft and the filling is plentiful.
I also fried a few youtiao (Chinese fried dough sticks).
The dough expands rapidly in the hot oil, becoming fluffy and crispy, golden in color, and emitting a simple aroma of oil and dough.
When breakfast is served, the small dining room is filled with the mouthwatering aroma of noodles and oil.
The xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) have thin skins and generous fillings, with swirls of soup visible inside; the pan-fried dumplings have a tender white surface but a crispy, caramelized bottom; and the youtiao (fried dough sticks) are golden, soft, and steaming hot, fluffy and tempting.
Zhao Liyue looked at the table full of delicious-looking food, and although she didn't say anything, her eyes clearly lit up.
The two enjoyed their breakfast quietly, in a warm and peaceful atmosphere.
After finishing breakfast and clearing away the dishes, Su Xiaonuan tried to call upon the system in her mind, but the interface was still grayed out and unusable for upgrading.
She had no choice but to manually open the rudimentary task app on her phone to check today's schedule.
[Daily Task: Successfully sell 30 servings of 'French Steamed Eggs' at the entrance of Zhongxiu Nursing Home. Reward: 450 Merit Points.]
This dessert has simple ingredients, mainly eggs, milk, cream, and sugar. The preparation process is also straightforward, requiring only precise control of heat and time, which is no challenge for her.
She planned to go in the afternoon, just in time for the elderly to have their afternoon tea.
Moreover, the system said yesterday that it would give her a specially trained black cat companion today!
Su Xiaonuan couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and curiosity. How would it come to her? Would it fall from the sky? Be delivered to her door? Or would it, like in martial arts novels, come to her on a dark and stormy night?
With this expectation, Su Xiaonuan prepared the necessary ingredients and spent a peaceful morning with Zhao Liyue.
The sun was shining brightly in the afternoon.
Su Xiaonuan drove her silver-white RV, carrying Zhao Liyue, to the entrance of Zhongxiu Nursing Home, a quiet and peaceful place located in the suburbs.
She had just parked the car and gotten out with Zhao Liyue, and was about to take things out of the trunk—
Sudden!
"Go away! Go away! Get out of here! You're bad luck!"
"Get out of here! Don't stay here!"
An impatient shooing sound came from not far away.
Su Xiaonuan subconsciously looked up and saw an uncle in a security guard uniform waving a broom at the entrance of the nursing home, chasing something away.
The next second, a dark figure, like lightning, suddenly darted out of the flower bed in an extremely disheveled manner, rushing straight towards her without thinking, and crashing headfirst into Su Xiaonuan's calf!
"Meow--!"
A startled and aggrieved meow rang out.
Su Xiaonuan looked down and saw that what had bumped into her leg was a completely black cat, except for its four paws and the tip of its tail which had a little bit of white on them...
The kitten seemed a little dazed from the impact. It shook its head, raised its clear, bright cat eyes, which were like molten gold, and looked at Su Xiaonuan with a startled expression. Then, as if it had found a lifeline, it quickly and nimbly circled behind her, pressing its furry body tightly against her ankles, only peeking out its little head, looking at the security guard who was still cursing with a wary and aggrieved expression.
Su Xiaonuan: "..."
Zhao Liyue: "..."
The two looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
Su Xiaonuan hesitated.
This... is the Black Cat Partner that the system was talking about, the one who can discover details and clues in cases and has undergone professional training?
Their entrance... was truly unique.
Su Xiaonuan looked at the little black cat clinging tightly to her feet, its fur standing on end, yet it secretly observed the situation with its clear golden eyes, and a sudden thought struck her.
Almost instinctively, without any hesitation, she immediately squatted down, carefully reached out, and tried to pick up the frightened little creature.
The little black cat seemed to sense her kindness. Although its body was still a little stiff, it did not resist. It just stared at Su Xiaonuan with its golden eyes that seemed to see through people's hearts.
Upon closer inspection, the little guy was indeed in a sorry state.
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