Chapter 152 Lu Liangchen's Embarrassment
"Aunt Wang helps us out on weekdays, but on New Year's Eve, she has to go home to celebrate the New Year. Therefore, we cook the New Year's Eve dinner ourselves every year."
"Since it's New Year's Eve dinner, everyone should definitely work together. There's no reason for men to be idle while only women are busy."
He Wanyi explained the family rules to Jiang Haitang in a gentle tone.
Shi Shulan handed her the washed cabbage and said, "How about Haitang, you help cut the vegetables? You're good with a knife. Cut the cabbage into strips and then chop it into small pieces to mix with the stuffing."
Just as the three of them were talking, Yuan Yinnan also arrived and joined the busy army.
Jiang Haitang weighed the ingredients and felt that the dumplings she had prepared were a bit too many.
"Auntie, there are so many dumplings, can we finish them?"
"These dumplings are not for our family to eat. We wrap them up and send them to the army. They are a little token of our family's love." Yuan Yinan explained to Jiang Haitang with a smile.
"Your grandfather was a leader in the army, and this rule was established many years ago. Later, your second uncle also joined the army, and your eldest brother also served in the army, so this rule has been passed down."
Jiang Haitang finally understood.
So that's how it is. I didn't expect the Lu family to be so considerate of the soldiers. Although not everyone can get one with so many dumplings, it's a thoughtful gesture.
"In recent years, many leaders' families have sent dumplings to the troops. The kitchen staff said that their pressure has been reduced a lot." Shi Shulan said with a smile, covering her mouth.
Everyone laughed when they heard it.
Jiang Haitang worked even harder. Several women were busy in the kitchen. Amidst the steam, whispered conversations and laughter could be heard from time to time.
Soon, the men arrived. Some of them chopped the meat, and some of them kneaded the dough.
Lu Liangchen took the kitchen knife from Jiang Haitang and started to help cut the vegetables, but his knife skills were not very good.
He Wanyi laughed and said, "Haitang, don't spoil this brat. Look at his poor cooking skills. He can starve himself to death."
Lu Liangchen shouted unwillingly: "Mom, I am your biological son."
"If you weren't my biological son, I wouldn't bother to tell you this. Haitang, this kid joined the army early and has never cooked before. But you don't know that one year when he came back from visiting his family, he suddenly had the urge to cook for me."
Lu Liangchen hurriedly stopped her: "Mom, there's no need to talk about my dark history, right?"
"Haitang is not a stranger. I have to remind her first, lest you become upset and cook for her someday."
Jiang Haitang looked at the mother and son, and wanted to know more, so she leaned over and asked, "Auntie, what is his cooking like?"
"How can I put it? It's hard to describe. Everything else is fine, but that meat is the worst I've ever eaten in my life. Even if it's just boiled in water, it's still a thousand times more delicious than the meat he cooked."
Jiang Haitang looked at Lu Liangchen in disbelief. He had said before that he didn't know how to cook meat, but he didn't expect it to be so brutal.
Jiang Haitang took the kitchen knife from Lu Liangchen's hand again and started cutting the cabbage. The knife made a rhythmic "tapping" sound as it fell on the chopping board.
Lu Liangchen looked at his wife and thought that even the way she cut vegetables was beautiful.
"Stop watching and come and help me chop the meat." Lu Liangjin, the eldest brother of the Lu family, felt that it was really unbearable to watch his silly brother like this, so he called him over to help.
"Haitang," He Wanyi suddenly said, "After we make the dumplings and send them to the barracks at noon, we'll prepare our New Year's Eve dinner. How about you make us some braised pork tonight?"
Jiang Haitang paused, feeling a little embarrassed: "I'm afraid my cooking won't taste good."
"Liangchen has praised it several times, and he praised it to us too." Shi Shulan chuckled and said, "We've already agreed that we must try the braised pork you make when we have time."
Jiang Haitang glared at Lu Liangchen, but Lu Liangchen raised his eyebrows and smiled: "My wife's cooking is delicious, not just the braised pork."
"Then I'll leave the braised pork to Haitang today." He Wanyi said with a smile, "Liangchen loves braised pork, but he always complains that my cooking is not tasty enough."
Jiang Haitang felt warm in her heart, knowing that this was He Wanyi's way of giving her a chance to perform and accepting her.
She nodded solemnly: "Okay, Auntie, I will do it well."
At around ten o'clock in the morning, a car horn suddenly sounded in the yard.
Jiang Haitang peeked out from the kitchen and saw a green jeep parked outside the courtyard gate. A young man was unloading things from the car.
"Oh, Xiao Zhang is here!" He Wanyi walked over quickly and took the basket from the other's hand.
"Sister-in-law, this is the New Year gift the research institute sent to Chief Engineer Lu. The leader asked me to bring it home."
The young man said respectfully, and took out a net bag from the car, which contained several cans of food. "This is the braised pork canned in our institute's cafeteria."
"Thank you, come inside and have some water."
"No, sister-in-law, I have to go to someone else's house."
He Wanyi hurriedly called out, "Liangchen, come over and help me move the things."
"Here I come!" Lu Liangchen walked out and picked up both baskets.
He Wanyi politely saw the young man off and then went back to the house to continue making dumplings.
Lu Liangchen opened a can of braised pork, and a scent of meat mixed with the fragrance of peppercorns and star anise wafted out.
"It's not as delicious as what my wife cooks." Lu Liangchen shook his head.
He Wanyi patted him and said, "You are so good. You talk as if you can do it yourself."
After scolding her son, she asked, "What are the New Year's goods this year?"
Lu Liangchen lifted the lid of the basket. "There's pork, mutton, beef, and two more. It's quite a lot."
Shi Shulan took a moment to glance over while making dumplings and said, "The country is clearly getting better off. This year's New Year's goods are better than in previous years. The fish are really big! I was just worried about not being able to buy a big fish yesterday. Now I have a fish for the New Year's Eve dinner."
The dumplings were taken outside to freeze. As one plate of dumplings after another was wrapped, it was already noon.
After wrapping the last dumpling, the Lu family felt a little tired.
"Take a break and have a simple meal. Brother Liangchen will be in charge of delivering the dumplings while we prepare the New Year's Eve dinner."
He Wanyi simply divided the work among everyone.
The naughty kids from the Lu family asked, "Grandma, what are we doing with my sister?"
"You guys play, and if you want to help, help clean the yard."
"Grandma, I want to put up the word 'Fu'."
"Okay!" He Wanyi answered her grandson while picking noodles for Xiao Taozi.
Jiang Haitang felt warm in her heart when she saw that the Lu brothers not only did not reject Xiao Taozi, the sudden appearance of their younger sister, but also took good care of her.
After dinner, the whole family started to get busy without taking a rest.
Mr. Lu is not here today. He went to visit relatives early in the morning. Second Uncle Lu has not come back yet. I heard that he will not come back until the visit is over.
In the kitchen, four women divided the work and cooperated with each other. Sisters-in-law He Wanyi and Yuan Yinan were responsible for steaming buns and frying pancakes, while Shi Shulan processed the ingredients, helping Jiang Haitang, who was the head chef for tonight's New Year's Eve.
Jiang Haitang first stewed the more time-consuming clear-boiled chicken in a casserole before starting to prepare the braised pork.
She cut the pork belly into even cubes and blanched it in cold water to remove the blood foam.
Heat oil in another pan, add rock sugar and fry until the sugar turns brown, then add the drained meat and stir-fry.
When the meat was evenly coated with the amber syrup, she added onions, ginger, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, and homemade rice wine, then poured in hot water and simmered it. Soon, the rich aroma of meat filled the kitchen.
"It smells so good!" He Wanyi came over to take a look at the meat tumbling in the pot and nodded in appreciation. "You've got a great control of the heat. It's much better than mine."
"No wonder people say that a couple should complement each other, it turns out to be true. Haitang's cooking skills are so good, Liangchen is in for a treat!" Shi Shulan also smiled and joined in the fun.
Jiang Haitang smiled sheepishly: "Add a little dried tangerine peel to remove the greasiness and enhance the flavor. The taste will be much better. The heat is actually easy to control. That's it..."
Yuan Yinan also smiled and praised several times.
"Can Liangyu and Liangshen come back for the New Year this year?"
"He called us a while ago and said he couldn't come back, but he sent us some things." Yuan Yinan felt a little sad that his son and daughter-in-law were not coming back for the New Year, but fortunately, he was not lonely because the whole family was celebrating the New Year together.
"Young people are busy with their careers. After a few years, they will settle down and stay with Second Aunt." Shi Shulan sensed Yuan Yinnan's loss and said hurriedly.
"It's a good thing that you two are here with us. Otherwise, we old people would have no one to take care of us."
Jiang Haitang just listened and didn't interrupt. However, she could probably understand why Lu Liangjin was the only one in the younger generation of the Lu family who was in the capital. They probably wanted to avoid attracting attention, so they sent the other children out.
In this day and age, this method is a good way to protect your family.
Outside the house, there were the cheerful laughter of several children.
They are always the most carefree.
"Mom, I'm helping my brother put up the word 'Fu'!" Little Taozi ran into the kitchen excitedly, her little face red from the cold.
Jiang Haitang squatted down and helped her daughter tie her crooked hairband back in place: "Little Taozi is awesome!"
"Little Taozi, come into the house and warm up." He Wanyi said hurriedly when she saw her granddaughter's face turned red from the cold.
"Grandma, I want to go find my brother! I want to help him." Little Taozi said and ran out again.
"These brats have always been clamoring for a younger sister, and now they've finally got what they wanted. Now, the pressure on you sisters-in-law is relieved." Yuan Yinan teased Shi Shulan with a smile.
Shi Shulan said, "That's right. My two younger siblings never come back, so they keep asking me for a little sister. I'm almost afraid of them. It's not up to us to decide whether to have a son or a daughter. If my wish could come true, I'd also like to have a daughter."
In the evening, the preparations for the New Year's Eve dinner entered the final stage, and Mr. Lu and Uncle Lu also completed their condolences and returned home.
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