Seeing the table full of delicious dishes, Zhou Ming looked at Chen Ming with a smile, "Mingzi, are you using all your best skills?" After being with his wife for a long time, Zhou Ming's personality has become much more lively than before.
Chen Ming pushed his good brother and said, "Eat yours."
Then he invited everyone to sit down and start eating. "This pickled pork with preserved vegetables was always made for me by Manman before. This is my first time. Everyone, please help me taste it to see if it's salty enough."
Xu Manman stood up and helped everyone scoop up the soup. "This dish is best eaten in spring. Let's just enjoy the tail end of spring now."
Zhang Wenjun tasted the soup first and said, "It's delicious."
Zhang Wenhua also nodded, "This meat is delicious too."
Chen Ming said, "This is ham. It has a stronger flavor than ordinary bacon. I saved a piece and will take it back later."
Liu Li swallowed the bamboo shoots in her mouth and said, "I think the meat is good, but I don't know if there will be any for us."
Xu Manman picked up a piece of fish cake and put it in her bowl. "How could I have missed you? Try this fish cake. My eldest cousin bought fish at the market early this morning and made it at home. I also left a few pieces for you. Take them with you when you go back."
Liu Li took a bite of the fish cake and said, "Hmm... This is the taste. The last time I had it was when I was at the educated youth camp."
"If it tastes good, eat more. This is made of fish, and it's just right for you to eat it now." He turned around and continued to invite the three siblings of the Zhang family to eat.
"Everyone, try it. The braised pork is made in Hai City with fermented bean curd. I wonder if you are used to it."
Zhang Wenwu stuffed a mouthful of meat into his mouth and nodded, "It's delicious. Brother Ming's cooking is really good."
Chen Ming was very happy to be praised for his cooking skills. "If it's delicious, come often. Man Man and I don't have much to do at home on weekends anyway."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhang Wenjun picking up a piece of shredded chicken in red oil and asked with concern, "I added Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers to this. It's a bit spicy. I wonder if you can handle it."
Hearing this, Zhang Wenjun rubbed the red oil from the shredded chicken on the rice before putting it in her mouth. It wasn't as spicy as she had imagined. She turned around and whispered to Chen Ming, "It's delicious, not too spicy. Thank you for your hard work today."
Chen Ming's lips curled up, "It's not hard, as long as you enjoy the food."
Although everyone else at the table was eating, they all paid some attention to the two protagonists of today. Seeing the two people's self-proclaimed secret interaction, no matter what others thought, Xu Manman was almost overjoyed.
There were four men with big appetites at the table. They finished all 10 dishes, and the only thing left was the chicken soup.
According to the bet, the loser of mahjong had to wash the dishes, but Xu Wenwu intervened in the middle, so it would be unfair to count from the beginning. In the end, Chen Ming and Jin Zichu volunteered to take on the responsibility of washing the dishes.
Zhang Wenjun felt a little uneasy when she saw Chen Ming carrying an empty plate into the kitchen. Xu Manman poured a cup of tea and handed it to him, "Just sit down and relax, Sister Wenjun. In our family, washing dishes is a boy's job. Girls with such beautiful hands should use less water. You'll get used to it in the future."
Although she had heard about this yesterday, seeing Chen Ming cooking with such skill and clearing away the dishes with such swiftness still had a huge impact on Zhang Wenjun. She took a sip from her cup and peered through the kitchen door at Chen Ming's back (wearing an apron) washing dishes at the sink. The corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously, "Your family is truly unique."
She believes that her parents do not favor boys over girls. As the eldest daughter, she is more loved by her family. However, she has been helping her mother with housework since she was young. In her impression, both her father and younger brother rarely enter the kitchen and rarely do housework.
Xu Manman said, "Maybe it's because we are all young people in each family, and the elders all have to go to work, so they have to work whether they want to or not, but their father really set a good example." It is said that parents are the best teachers for their children.
Liu Li knew her family's situation. "You are the only girl in your family, so naturally they don't want you to work. But Chen Ming is indeed hardworking. He has been like this since he was a sent-down youth. He is always eager to work." After saying that, she glanced at her husband.
Zhang Wenhua leaned over and asked, "You are really the only girl in your family. How many brothers do you have?"
Although they knew Chen Ming's family situation, they still didn't know many things about the Xu family.
Xu Manman counted on her fingers, "Each family has two children. We are the second oldest. I have three older cousins and two younger brothers. My uncle also has two sons. My eldest cousin has a second cousin named Chen Feng. He and my third uncle's two brothers are all studying at a university in Hai City."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
