Aunt Cuihong said with a smile, "Agreed, agreed. She said she would definitely send it over tomorrow night."
Xia Jin said, "That's good. Auntie, let's talk about your wages. I'll give you one dollar."
"A lot more."
Xia Jin said, "Listen to me first. You're not only responsible for washing the vegetables, you also need to chop some meat into paste. There are some other tasks that are quite strenuous, so I'm only giving you one piece. It's not too much at all."
Aunt Cuihong said, "Okay, now is there anything I can help with?"
Xia Jin said, "I haven't bought groceries yet. Let's start tomorrow."
Aunt Cuihong said, "Okay, okay, thank you. I know you are doing this to take care of us."
"Auntie, it's okay. I'll do it to anyone I ask."
Xia Jin went to the store and bought a batch of bowls, knives, cutting boards, and various seasonings. While the Zhang family undoubtedly had all these items, business was about keeping things organized. Then, she spent the entire afternoon modifying the tricycle, hanging a sign on it and making a price list out of cardboard.
The next morning, Xia Jin went to the market and bought two 3-jin grass carps, 5-jin meat, and lotus roots, and took them home. When she reached the door of her house, Xia Jin looked around and saw that there was no one around, so she took out a lot of vegetables from her space. After returning home, she put the fish in a basin and dripped two drops of spiritual spring water into the basin to ensure that they would not die. Xia Jin put the vegetables and meat in the kitchen and said, "Auntie, I'm going to school first. When I come back, I will teach you how to make fish tofu and fish balls."
"Okay, got it."
Xia Jin went to school for two classes, then packed her bag and prepared to leave. Chen Xin handed Xia Jin yesterday's notes and said, "You're leaving again? Keep your notes from yesterday."
Xia Jin said, "I've been busy these past two days. Thank you for your notes."
Xia Jin first went to the department store to buy starch, pepper, salt and wine. To save time, Xia Jin bought a lot at once and hired a tricycle to take her home. As soon as she got home, Xia Jin called out, "Auntie, come out and help me move some things."
"Okay, I'm here." Aunt Cuihong came out jogging and moved the things to the house built by Xia Jin together with Xia Jin. Xia Jin said, "Thank you, Auntie. I will make some spicy hot pot for you to try at noon today."
"Auntie, please help me kill the fish."
"Okay, kill both of them?"
Xia Jin said, "Kill them all."
Xia Jin washed the chopping board and knife and placed them on the table. Then she began to wash the vegetables she had brought this morning: cabbage, potatoes, lotus root slices, lettuce, spinach, and rapeseed. Xia Jin washed them one by one, placed them in a basin, and brought them into the house.
Xia Jin divided the meat she had brought in the morning into two portions. She sliced one portion into slices and marinated it with her own seasoning. She also cut the other portion into small pieces to make meatballs later.
Aunt Cuihong brought in the killed fish and said, "Now that it's killed, let's cook it."
Xia Jin said, "Aunt, please pick out the fish meat and mince it. And please mince the meat over there as well. I'll go make the soup."
"Okay, leave it to me."
Xia Jin smiled and walked into the Zhang family's kitchen. She chopped onions, ginger, garlic, and a generous amount of chili peppers. Then, she heated oil in a wok and added the onions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers. She then added the fermented broad bean paste and stir-fried until the oil turned red. She then added water, soy sauce, salt, chicken essence, and spices, bringing the oil to a boil. She then removed the spices. Xia Jin added a drop of diluted spiritual spring water. After the broth boiled, she poured it into a large porcelain bowl.
Xia Jin also prepared a tomato soup base, fearing her children wouldn't tolerate spicy food. She peeled and diced the tomatoes, then boiled them into a sauce, repeating the previous steps. Xia Jin quickly finished the soup. After turning off the heat, Xia Jin went outside to check on the progress.
Xia Jin walked into the house and saw the minced fish meat and said, "Auntie, you've finished chopping it."
Xia Jin put the meat into a bowl, added starch, pepper, appropriate amount of oil and salt, and also added an egg and two drops of wine to remove the fishy smell. While Aunt Cuihong's attention was on the meat, Xia Jin quickly dropped a drop of Lingquan into the fish meat. In this way, even if the spicy hot pot was imitated, Xia Jin would not worry about losing a large number of customers.
Xia Jin stirred the fish in the basin, waiting until it was evenly mixed. She took a bowl, filled it with fish, and placed it in the pot to steam. She then brought a basin of warm water and squeezed the remaining fish into balls, placing them in the water. The balls floated on top. Once everything was squeezed, Xia Jin took them to the kitchen, boiled some water, and added the balls to cook.
After cooking, remove from the pot, keep half of the Xia Jin and fry the rest in a pan until golden brown.
Soon everything was ready. Xia Jin quickly heated up the soup base she had just made and put the vegetables and meatballs in. As soon as it heated up, the overbearing aroma of the spicy hot pot base filled the air above the Zhang family. Zhang Pingan ran over and hugged Xia Jin and said, "Sister, what are you cooking? It smells so good."
Xia Jin bent down and said, "I've prepared something delicious. It will be ready soon. Please go to the table and wait."
A bowl of spicy hot pot was ready after adding diluted sesame paste. Xia Jin also fried chili oil himself. The two of them brought the fruits of their morning's work to the table. Xia Jin said, "Okay, let's eat."
After taking the first bite, Aunt Cuihong said, "This thing tastes really good, spicy and fragrant. It's a good seller."
Xia Jin said, "Thank you for your kind words, Auntie. I hope the products will sell well."
Aunt Cuihong said, "It will definitely be a big hit."
Xia Jin said, "Yes, yes, Auntie, I want to ask if you know if there are any houses for sale around here. Of course, the house can't be too shabby. I don't want those houses with peeling walls over there. I want a bigger yard. It's not good for me to rent a house all the time. I want to find a house."
"Oh, then I really don't know. I'll ask Aunt Liu next door for you this afternoon. She has a lot of information."
Xia Jin said, "Thank you, auntie."
"Why bother thanking me? If we have to thank someone, it's us. You rented me an apartment and gave me such a good job."
Xia Jin smiled but said nothing. After everyone finished eating, Aunt Cuihong brought another bowl of spicy hot pot into the room. Xia Jin knew that it was for Ping'an's father.
When Xia Jin came out of his afternoon nap, he saw Aunt Liu, whom he had met before, chatting with Aunt Cuihong outside. Xia Jin greeted her, "Hello, Aunt Liu."
Aunt Liu said, "Xia Jin, you need to find a house."
Xia Jin said: "Yes, if you have any, please recommend one to me."
Aunt Liu slapped her thigh and said, "I actually know of three houses that are for sale. Xia Jin, do you have any requests?"
Xia Jin said, "I need to go look for a house in that area. It's best if it's close to my school, not too shabby, and has good security."
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