Lin Jianguo was in the kitchen, pondering where to start. Usually, his wife cooked, and he really didn't know what to do.
Just then, Er Ya came over and looked at Lin Jianguo with amusement: "Dad, do you not know how to cook?"
"You silly child, is there anything your father can't do? Just watch and see." With that, he picked up a kitchen knife, ready to chop some scallions.
He carefully chopped the scallions, glanced at Er Ya, and said, "See? Your dad's still the best, isn't he? Don't underestimate your dad."
Then they started heating the pot. It took several tries to get the fire going. Before the pot was even hot, they started pouring oil into it. With a sizzle, the oil almost splashed onto Lin Jianguo's face, scaring him so much that he jumped back three meters away.
Er Ya laughed a few times and said, "Dad, it seems you really can't cook. Why don't I do it? I often watch Mom cook, so I know how to cook."
Lin Jianguo shook his head: "That won't do. What if you get burned? How about we call your grandma or your aunt over and have lunch together here today?"
Er Ya pleaded sweetly, "Dad, please let me try. I really can do it. If I don't do it well, then we can have them come over, okay?"
After saying that, he moved a small stool, stood on it, and when the oil was hot, he poured in the chopped green onions, stirred them a few times, added some Sichuan peppercorns, and waited for the aroma of the peppercorns to come out. Then he poured the chicken that Jiang's mother had chopped before leaving into the pot, stir-fried it back and forth, added a little salt, and continued to stir-fry.
Seeing that his daughter wasn't just bragging, but was actually doing a pretty good job, much better than him, Lin Jianguo felt reassured and started the fire.
After stir-frying the chicken until it's half-cooked, add two ladles of water and start stewing. Rinse some of the rice that Liu Jingyu brought that morning, put it on a steamer rack, cover the pot, and say to Lin Jianguo:
"Dad, we're out of eggs. I'll go borrow some from Aunt Peach Blossom next door. Could you wash the wild vegetables we just picked? I'll cook them when I get back."
She jogged to Aunt Peach Blossom's house. This was the same aunt who had ridden in the oxcart with them last time. Pushing open the door, she saw Aunt Peach Blossom feeding the pigs. She called out, "Hello, Auntie, we're out of eggs. Could you lend me a few? I'll pay you back when I buy some later."
Seeing Er Ya's polite manner and hearing that she wanted to borrow eggs, Li Taohua quickly went to get them and asked, "How many do you want? It just so happens that the eggs laid by the chickens haven't been sold yet, so I'll give you a few more."
Er Ya quickly waved her hand: "Auntie, six is fine. We have guests coming over, and I'm making scrambled eggs with toon leaves for them. I forgot to buy them at the market yesterday."
After receiving the eggs and thanking her, she hurried back to check on the chicken she was stewing. Li Taohua looked at Er Ya, who was only four years old and already so polite, and then looked at her own unfortunate son, who was six years old and still lying on the ground playing in the dirt. She went over and smacked him on the head with a slipper. In an instant, the yard was filled with the sound of children crying...
After getting the eggs, Er Ya went to the kitchen, lifted the pot lid to check if the chicken was cooked, then poured in some mushrooms and simmered it for another ten minutes.
Following Jiang's example, I washed and chopped the toon leaves, cracked in a few eggs, and stir-fried them into a plate of fragrant toon sprouts with eggs.
Pour the wild vegetables that Lin Jianguo had just washed into the small pot and stir-fry them. Soon, a fragrant aroma wafted from both pots.
Liu Jingyu, who was teasing the chicks in the yard, followed the aroma into the kitchen and saw a little girl standing on a small stool, not even as tall as the stove, cooking. It turned out that the delicious smell was from this little girl.
"Er Ya, how come you can do everything? What other talents do you have that I don't know about?" Liu Jingyu asked with a look of admiration.
Er Ya smiled, not bothering to say anything, and ladled out the stir-fried dishes. Then she washed the pan, poured in oil, and started stir-frying mushrooms and meat. In no time, the whole courtyard was filled with delicious aromas...
The food was ready, and Liu Jingyu couldn't wait to wash his hands and eat. The food in front of him was truly delicious and visually appealing: pheasant stew with mushrooms, scrambled eggs with toon sprouts, stir-fried shepherd's purse, and stir-fried mushrooms with meat.
I picked up a piece of pheasant stew with mushrooms. The meat was stewed so well that I could swallow it without chewing it much. There was also scrambled eggs with toon leaves. I had never eaten this before, but I fell in love with it as soon as I tasted it. It had a unique aroma. With the steamed rice, I ate until I was full in no time.
After eating the meal, Qian Lu sat in the yard complaining of a stomachache from being too full. That's when the sour vine came in handy. Er Ya washed another basin of sour vine, which was quickly devoured by the two of them. Er Ya was amazed, wondering just how much more could their stomachs hold?
After recovering, Qian Lu couldn't stay idle again. He started learning basket weaving from Lin Jianguo, claiming that he would weave a basket for himself and go up the mountain with Er Ya every day.
Liu Jingyu and Er Ya went to tease the little pig. Now it has completely adapted to the environment and is no longer as sickly as it was at the beginning. Instead, it is very fierce and even more powerful than the boar. The two pigs fight for food all day long. Every time, Jiang's mother would nag that they should quickly build a pigpen to separate them, otherwise, it would be unbearable for them to fight every day.
The sow looked no different from a normal pig, so Jiang's mother thought that she wouldn't slaughter it for the New Year, but would keep it to have piglets, which would be a source of income, since a good piglet could fetch more than ten yuan.
Liu Jingyu watched the pig scrambling for food and laughed heartily, calling out to Er Ya, "Er Ya, I haven't been this happy in so long! I really want to stay at your house forever. There are so many delicious and fun things to do at your house."
Er Ya said dismissively, "Little brother, that's just a passing fancy. If you had to eat wild vegetable dumplings, drink corn porridge, and eat cornbread here every day, you'd be crying and begging to leave in less than two days."
These young masters would never understand the suffering of ordinary people. They go up the mountain to play and look for wild fruits just to try them out, while I am looking for these things to survive. Without them, my family might starve to death.
Liu Jingyu said, "Maybe, I'm not sure if I would do that, but I really admire you. Even though you're younger than me, you know so much and have so many strange and wonderful ideas in your head. I wish I could be like you."
Er Ya thought to herself: That's because I'm not from this era, so my thinking is definitely different. Besides, I'm already over twenty years old. If an eight-year-old could catch up with me, that would be terrible.
He smiled faintly and said, "Little brother, I believe that when you grow up, you will definitely become a great and outstanding person. You are so filial, and you were able to run into the deep mountains to find ginseng for your grandfather without regard for the danger. You should believe in yourself. You are great."
To be continued!
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