Chapter 64: First Encounter with Ning Ning
Before we knew it, it was June and the weather was slowly getting hotter.
The cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and eggplants that Qin Zhizhi planted in the vegetable garden are all ready to eat.
Tomatoes mixed with sugar have become children's favorite.
Today, Qin Zhizhi went to the vegetable garden again and picked a basket of ripe tomatoes. She washed them with clean water and put them in the basket and hung it in the well water.
In the past, Qin Zhizhi loved to eat the cold tomatoes in the refrigerator. There was no refrigerator here, so Qin Zhizhi could only use well water instead.
After the tomatoes have cooled down a bit in the well water, cut them into thin slices, put them on a plate, and then sprinkle sugar on them layer by layer to make them easier to absorb the flavor.
Wait until the sugar dissolves and then you can eat it. It tastes sour, sweet and refreshing.
The weather is hot, and the children are looking forward to having a bite of this delicious food after school every day.
It was another holiday, and this time not only Ning Xuan came, but also her sister Ning Ning.
Ning Ning liked Qin Zhizhi the first time she saw her. She stepped forward to greet her and said, "Sister Zhizhi, I heard from you that you have delicious food here, so I asked you to bring me here. Sorry to bother you."
The little girl is a little chubby, has a round face, and looks very cute when she smiles.
"Welcome to the Gu family. Tell me what you want to eat and I will make it for you." Qin Zhizhi held the little girl's hand and smiled sincerely.
"Thank you, Sister Zhizhi."
Seeing that Qin Zhizhi sincerely welcomed her, Ning Ning finally felt relieved. She stopped following her brother and went directly with Qin Zhizhi.
"Sister Zhizhi, let me help you."
Ning Ning followed Qin Zhizhi happily. Qin Zhizhi knew at a glance that the little girl had never done this before, but she was very enthusiastic. Qin Zhizhi first taught her how to pick vegetables.
Seeing that Qin Zhizhi really assigned work to herself, the little girl studied very hard.
Ning Xuan and Qin Qingyun secretly observed for a while, and only felt relieved when they saw that the two got along well.
"I said she would be happy if I brought my sister here."
Ning Xuan had wanted to bring his sister Ning Ning here for a long time, but was delayed for various reasons.
The reason why this time everything went so smoothly was that something happened to his younger sister two days ago. Ning Xuan brought his younger sister to Gu's house on the pretext of taking her out to relax.
"The countryside is different from the county town. I'm worried your sister won't be able to get used to it!"
It’s not that Qin Qingyun didn’t want to bring Ning Ning here, he was afraid of causing trouble for his sister. Ning Ning was the youngest daughter of the Ning family and was very favored.
"Humph, my sister is not such a delicate person. You will know it when you get to know her better."
In Ning Xuan's heart, his sister is the cutest. Qin Qingyun thinks his sister is spoiled because he doesn't understand her.
Qin Qingyun felt that his good brother's way of thinking was a bit strange. How could a foreigner like him be so familiar with the daughter of the county magistrate?
Qin Qingyun was too lazy to argue with Ning Xuan, so he turned around and went to find Gu Jinghuai and his elder brother.
"Why are you leaving so quickly? Aren't we talking about Ning'er? Ever since you saved her, she treats you like a brother..."
Before Ning Xuan could finish his words, Qin Qingyun covered his mouth.
"Shut up, don't mention this matter again, especially in front of my sister, big brother and Jing Huai."
"Woo... Woo... Woo" Ning Xuan struggled to say something, but Qin Qingyun covered his mouth and he could only make humming sounds.
"You have to promise me first, otherwise I won't let you go."
Qin Qingyun threatened Ning Xuan, saying that one has to bow his head under someone's roof, so Ning Xuan could only nod.
Seeing Ning Xuan nod, Qin Qingyun released his hand that was covering him, then took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands with disgust.
"Qin Qingyun, don't go too far. You were the one who covered my mouth and you still despise me."
Ning Xuan was furious and wanted to pounce on Qin Qingyun to fight. A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated.
"Watch your mouth, or I won't let my sister cook delicious food for you."
Ning Xuan pointed at Qin Qingyun and said several times, "You...you...you..."
Who let Qin Qingyun hold his lifeblood? He said reluctantly, "I understand."
"Fix your expression and let's go to the study."
Qin Qingyun was afraid that his elder brother and brother-in-law would notice, so he supervised Ning Xuan to control his expression before the two of them went to the study.
Ning Xuan wrote down everything Qin Qingyun did in a small notebook and kept it for him.
Ning Xuan waved his folding fan and regained his gentlemanly demeanor. Qin Qingyun was extremely satisfied.
Qin Zhizhi prepared an iron pot stew for lunch. The chicken was raised at home, and the spare ribs were just bought by her father today.
We have potatoes at home, the mushrooms were just picked yesterday, and there are beans in the vegetable garden.
Qin Zhizhi is not good at catching and killing chickens, so she can only ask her mother-in-law for help.
"Mom, can you help Zhizhi catch a chicken and kill it at the same time?"
"Wait a moment, mom will be there soon." When Mother Gu heard Qin Zhizhi calling her for help, she finished the last stitch in her embroidery and went straight to the chicken coop to catch chickens.
After the chicken was killed, Qin Zhizhi also boiled water.
Qin Zhizhi put the chicken in a basin, poured boiling water into the basin, and used something to turn the chicken over so that the chicken was completely immersed in water.
"Zhizhi, let Mommy take care of the chickens, you go do something else."
Qin Zhizhi helped Gu's mother carry the basin to the yard. Gu's mother found a stool to sit down, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to start plucking the chicken feathers.
Gu's mother took care of the chicken, and Qin Zhizhi went to prepare other ingredients. First, wash the ribs, peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces, wash and cut the mushrooms, and wash the beans and cut them in half.
After cleaning the chicken, Qin Zhizhi blanched the chicken and ribs, then kneaded some dough to let them wake up first.
Then pour oil into the pot and add rock sugar and boil until bubbles appear. Put the blanched pork ribs and chicken pieces into the pot and stir-fry the sugar color on the ribs and chicken pieces.
Then add the ingredients you prepared in advance, stir-fry for a while, add boiling water to cover the ribs and chicken, cover with a lid and simmer over low heat.
When it is almost cooked, add potatoes, beans and mushrooms and continue to simmer.
Finally, place the pancake around the pot. Half of the pancake can be on the dish and half on the pot. This way, the pancake will be most flavorful after it is cooked.
Qin Zhizhi personally prefers pancakes with soup. The noodles absorb the soup and it is absolutely delicious after one bite.
But I was afraid that some people would not like this way of eating, so I only made half of the pancake with soup.
The iron pot stew was quite large, and Qin Zhizhi was afraid that everyone would feel sick of it, so she also ordered some refreshing cold cucumber salad, a plate of pickled spring bamboo shoots, and a candied tomato and fried peanuts.
Worried that the pancakes wouldn’t be enough, I also cooked some rice. The soup stewed in the iron pot was also very popular with the rice.
At the Gu family's dinner table, Ning Ning's eyes lit up after tasting the iron pot stew. She and her brother both loved delicious food. The little girl was a little fat, so she didn't dare to eat too much.
"Try this!" Qin Zhizhi pointed to the cold cucumber salad.
Ning Ning doesn't like eating green vegetables, so she felt a little reluctant when she saw the green ones. However, since Qin Zhizhi recommended them, she decided to try them anyway. They were crisp and very appetizing.
Ning Ning couldn't help but take another piece and was very satisfied. Then she tried the sugar-mixed tomatoes and was pleasantly surprised.
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