Chapter 10 Lord Simulator (3)
Joanna's condition was obviously much better than when she first arrived last night. Aunt Wolf nodded with satisfaction and took her downstairs, introducing the various areas of the house along the way.
"This mansion was originally a property owned by the Countess of Canberra in this city. It has now been awarded by His Majesty the King to Count Jiangyou. The house is too large for Ayou to use, so we converted it into a shelter and nursery.
"The second floor and above are all residential buildings. Some are empty, some are already occupied... Most of them are homeless girls like you, some with children, some alone. The first floor entrance is the reception room, and inside are the nursery, cafeteria, and medical room."
She led Joana through the reception room with the fireplace at the main entrance once again and walked to the right. "This was originally the Countess of Canberra's ballroom and living room, but now it's been converted into a nursery and playroom. The dining room and kitchen over there have been connected to form a cafeteria. You went to the infirmary last night."
Joana nodded and followed Aunt Wolf into the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was large, with many simple but functional long tables flanked by wooden chairs. Many people had already grabbed their meals and were seated at their seats on either side of the long tables, engrossed in their meals. Each expression was filled with a look of deep devotion, reverence, and enjoyment.
Thinking of the delicious meal last night, Joana couldn't help licking her lips.
At one end of the cafeteria was a row of windows, through which one could see the simple, bright kitchen. Joana peeked in and saw that the first window was filled with a variety of breads, cakes, and sweet-smelling pastries she couldn't name. The second window was filled with neatly stacked metal boxes. The third window held several huge soup pots. The fourth window was dedicated to cow's and goat's milk.
"The food here is free. You can help yourself. Just don't waste anything." Auntie Wolf took a wooden tray and began to select food at the window. "Take whatever you like. Don't hesitate."
Joana followed her example and picked up an empty tray, put a fork and spoon on it, and then, with a slightly blushing face, took the toast they had eaten last night.
"Try this." Aunt Wolf put a tin box on her tray. "This is today's special."
She pulled Jonah straight to the fourth counter and got a bottle of goat's milk for the baby.
Joana glanced at the soup pot in the third window with some reluctance, then looked down at the toast and the inexplicable iron box on her plate, and obediently followed Aunt Wolf to the empty seat on the long table.
She still picked up the goat milk to feed her son first, and then she saw Aunt Wolf lift the lid of the iron box, revealing the grids of dishes inside.
Joana: “??!!”
She hadn't expected that such a secret could be hidden in that ordinary iron box. She widened her eyes in disbelief and almost poked the pacifier into her son's nostrils. Fortunately, the baby accurately held the pacifier and sucked it hard.
Aunt Wolf was still teaching her the trick to opening the lid: "There's a little groove here. Use the handle of a fork to push it open and it will open easily!"
Joana quickly fed her son, burped him skillfully, and opened the lid of the box like Aunt Wolf. Sure enough, she saw four compartments full of dishes.
The iron box is rectangular and a little hot. It is divided into four compartments of varying sizes, filled with steaming dishes.
The largest grid contained emerald green spinach. All green vegetables were rare delicacies in winter. In a world of ice and snow, even a simple wild vegetable could fetch a hefty price.
In the middle compartment are the fragrant spare ribs, with a few things that look like fermented soybeans in the middle.
In the other medium-sized grid, there is a small ball of white, round, soft thing. It will bounce back when pressed. It is sprinkled with dried osmanthus flowers and has a sweet fragrance.
The slightly smaller grid was filled with golden, soft, unknown objects, mixed with celery and topped with a little brown sauce that smelled of a pleasant bean aroma.
"Spinach, pork ribs with fermented black beans, osmanthus rice cakes, and celery with dried bean curd sheets." Aunt Wolf listed the dishes one by one. "Xiaoyou said that cooking in a large pot is difficult and not tasty. There are too many people, so you have to fry a lot of vegetables. Then you throw them all into the pot, and when you poke it with a spatula, the bottom part gets mushy, and the top part is still undercooked, and the seasoning can't be mixed evenly. So she came up with this idea and asked the dwarf to make a lot of these iron boxes.
The kitchen staff only need to place the washed and cut vegetables, meat, and frozen pastries into designated compartments, add seasonings, close the lid, and steam them in the steamer. The iron box conducts heat quickly, preventing steam from escaping, thus retaining warmth and moisture. The capacity of each compartment and the steaming time are fixed, and the recipes are carefully adjusted to ensure health and nutrition, without the risk of undercooking or overcooking.
"The prepared iron boxes will be placed in the refrigerator. When there are many people, they will steam a batch. When there are fewer people, they can steam as they come. It is very convenient. Generally, they only prepare a day's supply and consume it on the same day. They will not keep it overnight."
While Aunt Wolf was happily explaining things, Joanna was already clutching osmanthus cake in one hand and stabbing pork ribs with a fork in the other, stuffing them into her mouth. She didn't think there was anything wrong with taking a sweet bite and a salty bite; all she could think about was "delicious, delicious, delicious."
"The dishes change every day, but the recipes are all developed by Xiaoyou, and they are all equally delicious. Even though they are only steamed, the taste is never monotonous."
It wasn't just monotonous... Joanna couldn't help but mutter to herself: She had never eaten anything so delicious in her life! There was meat, sweet pastries, and green vegetables, and it was winter!
She had never eaten yuba before, but she fell in love with it the moment she tried it! The yuba was soft yet slightly resilient, sliding across her tongue like silk. The perfect saltiness and the refreshing aroma of celery, mixed with the rich, fragrant aroma of beans, blossomed in her mouth. It was so delicious that she almost wanted to swallow her tongue.
She can eat this kind of steamed dish for the rest of her life, even if the dishes are the same every day!
After the meal, Joanna was incredibly satisfied. She burped slowly, and suddenly felt that last night's soup was nothing compared to today's dishes... Hey? Wait! Where did this extravagant idea come from? Yesterday at noon, she couldn't even afford a piece of dry, hard black bread!
Joana reflected deeply on herself and said to Aunt Wolf a little embarrassedly, "Well, I can't live and eat here for free..."
"Oh, I was just about to tell you about this." Aunt Wolf raised her paw and waved to the woman who had just entered the restaurant: "Lonanna! This way!"
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