On the other side, Uncle Yan Bugui saw MCA and immediately ran out of the house, shouting loudly, "MCA, MCA!"
"What's wrong, Uncle San?" Ma Hua was a little surprised. After such a big scene, how could Old Man Yan still dare to greet him? Wasn't he afraid of being retaliated against by Yi Zhonghai and his men?
"Ma Hua, I heard you're the head chef at the steel mill? Your cooking skills must be pretty good, right?" Yan Bugui rubbed his hands together excitedly.
"Yes, Third Uncle, you're only just finding out?" Ma Hua looked at Yan Bugui with a half-smile.
"Hey, you've only heard about this before, right? Let me confirm it with you. I have some really great news waiting for you!" Yan Bugui looked at Ma Hua eagerly, but his hands were rubbing together excitedly.
Yan Bugui wasn't angry when he saw that Ma Hua didn't respond. He just continued with a smile, "Ma Hua, I only said that because we're from the same institute!"
"Oh, no need," Ma Hua replied casually. What the hell, we're from the same compound, why am I so skeptical? You, Yan Laoxi, clearly don't have any good intentions.
"Hey, hey, Ma Hua, don't go! I'll be frank with you, there's a wedding banquet, are you going to accept it or not!" Yan Bugui got anxious as soon as he saw Ma Hua leave, thinking, "This isn't Sha Zhu."
"No time, no need, you can keep it yourself, Uncle!" Ma Hua turned around, pushed the cart straight to the street, stepped onto the cart, pushed off with his right foot, and the cart and he sped away.
Yan Bugui stared in astonishment at Ma Hua's departing figure. This kid was so different from Sha Zhu! Yan Bugui slapped his forehead in disbelief. Oh no! Sha Zhu had been arrested, and Ma Hua wasn't going. Oh dear!
How am I going to explain this to them? I already accepted a bribe! Oh no, oh no!
MCA has no time to bother with Yan Bugui's mess. Unlike Sha Zhu, they have no burdens, so why should they go out of their way to cook for others? Besides, these days are far from peaceful.
Those who can afford to hire someone to cook at their home are either rich or powerful. If things go wrong, you might end up being arrested along with them, and that would be a real shock!
As soon as Ma Hua put down his bicycle, he saw his mother busy at home, not knowing what she was doing: "Mom, I'm home!"
"Yes, Xiaohua is back. Sit down. There's water on the table, help yourself," the mother said, ignoring Ma Hua and quietly busying herself with her work.
"Mom, what are you doing!" Ma Hua stepped forward curiously to take a look. Cabbage, white radish, and diced cabbage.
"Why are you talking to me like that? You heartless wretch! Do you think the pickled vegetables you eat every morning just fell from the sky?" The mother glared at Ma Hua, annoyed.
"Hehe, why did you make so many?" Ma Hua scratched his head sheepishly.
“Not much, this is nothing at all. Don’t you think about how many mouths we have to feed?” Although the mother was talking to Ma Hua, she didn’t stop working at all.
“Okay, Mom, I’ll help you,” Ma Hua rolled up her sleeves and joined in the work.
Pickling vegetables is actually quite simple. Just trim the tops and bottoms of the pickled radishes, clean off the roots, and put them in a pickling jar, layering the radishes with coarse salt. Once the radishes have filled the jar, pour in cooled peppercorn water.
Find a clean, large stone, wash it, and place it on top of the water clumps. Marinate for half a month. More particular families might stir-fry it with meat or mix it with sesame oil. But ordinary people don't have such formalities; they just slice it into strips and eat it.
As for the taste, I can only tell you it's extremely salty, but it goes well with rice.
After the pickled cabbage was ready, Ma Hua pointed to the white radishes and cabbages on the ground and said, "Mom? Let's pickle some sauerkraut today!"
Looking at the large cabbages on the ground, Ma Hua suddenly thought of the big fat pig in his system's courtyard. It's going to snow soon, so if he doesn't make some sauerkraut, how can he make stewed goose in an iron pot, sauerkraut and pork ribs, or pig-killing feast?
"Oh, what's wrong? You want to eat Northeastern sauerkraut this year?" The mother looked at Ma Hua in surprise. She had to confirm this matter quickly. Goodness, he hadn't even mastered Sichuan cuisine yet, and he was already thinking about making Northeastern dishes. One shouldn't be so ambitious.
“Yes,” Ma Hua nodded. In winter, it always feels like something is missing if there’s no pickled cabbage. We’ll be able to produce a lot of meat soon, so we definitely need to get some pickled cabbage to cut through the greasiness!
"Fine, you keep giving me things to do all day long!" The mother glared at Ma Hua helplessly before going to boil water.
Northeastern sauerkraut is a bit different from the pickled cabbage we usually make; the cabbage used for pickling sauerkraut has to be left to sit for a few days.
After slightly dehydrating and removing the outermost rotten cabbage leaves, blanch the cabbage in warm water for a while, then put it directly into the pre-washed jar.
When putting cabbages into the jar, you need to press them down one by one with your hands. The more tightly packed the cabbages are, the less likely they are to spoil. After filling about half a jar...
Sprinkle a layer of coarse salt on top. Weigh it down with a clean stone, cover it with a lid, and it will be ready to enjoy after a month.
Ma Hua stared at the vat overflowing with pickled cabbage, his mouth watering. He thought, "I'll have to make some for myself in the system's courtyard once the cabbages are ripe." After all, he had a large family, and they'd be eating meat more often in the future.
"Oh right, Mom, look what this is." Ma Hua then remembered what she had brought and pulled a piece of oil paper out of her yellow satchel.
Like a precious treasure, she handed it to her mother. Her mother took it, put it to her nose, and smelled it. A rich milky fragrance wafted up.
"Xiao Hua, this is good stuff!" The mother looked at Ma Hua eagerly. She was worried that her two children weren't getting enough nutrition, and Xiao Hua had brought this. She immediately put the "milk cake" away.
"Yes, this is the payment I get for cooking for someone, I didn't steal it! Please eat!" Ma Hua saw that her mother hadn't eaten and thought her mother had misunderstood and thought she had stolen it, so she quickly explained.
"Oh, Xiaohua, that's not what we meant," the mother sighed after hearing Ma Hua's words. She thought for a moment; her child was now successful and grown up, it was time to tell Ma Hua the truth.
“Ma Hua, that’s not what I meant. It seems it’s time to tell you the truth,” the mother sighed and wiped away the tears in her eyes.
"Xiaohua, do you remember that guy named Wang Defa you met when you went to take the exam last time? Actually, your dad and I both know him. Your grandfather used to be a cook, but your dad just hated that line of work."
He didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and preferred tinkering with other things. I remember when your dad was little, he often went against your grandfather. He really made your grandfather angry!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
