Chapter 366: Picnic (Page 1/2)
After dinner, Lin Man and Huo Qingci began to prepare for tomorrow's picnic. Lin Man asked Huo Qinghuan, who was standing nearby, "What did your class ask you to bring to the picnic tomorrow?"
"Sister-in-law, our class is divided into five groups. I'm the group leader, so I need to bring two more things than them. I need to bring a cooking pot, two kilograms of rice, and a serving of vegetables."
Huo Qingci used a rice barrel to measure two barrels of rice and poured them into a cloth bag, put it into a small aluminum pot, and then took four potatoes and stuffed them into the pot.
Huo Qinghuan said, "Brother, someone in our group brought potatoes and cabbage."
Lin Man said, "Take whatever you want."
Huo Qinghuan laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, I want to bring some pickled cabbage. We can just stir-fry it and eat it."
Why eat pickled cabbage? Lin Man took half a piece of bacon from the bag and handed it to him, "You should bring the bacon. It can be stir-fried with anything. Some people brought potatoes. You can also bring a few salted duck eggs. Wash them and cook them directly with the rice."
"Thank you, sister-in-law."
Huo Qingci brought a lot of things this time, including a rice cooker, a frying pan, and various vegetables.
This time, he mainly brought his children there to play, and he couldn't take advantage of those students.
The next morning, they took their picnic utensils and ingredients, rode their bicycles back to the school to gather, and set off on time at 8:30 to have a picnic in a small stream near the military farm.
Lin Man took the students on foot, while Huo Qingci rode a bicycle with Huo Yining there first.
When they reached the creek, the students in Class 1 quickly occupied a relatively flat terrain. Seeing this, Lin Man chose an open space near the creek as the campsite for Class 2.
Their class was also divided into five groups, and each group had a group leader responsible for organization and coordination.
The students had discussed in advance what items they would bring and made a detailed plan.
Even the division of labor after arriving at the destination, such as who is responsible for cooking, who is responsible for washing vegetables and cooking, and who is responsible for making the fire, have been arranged in advance.
Since Huo Qingci arrived early, he set up the stove by himself, while Lin Man led a group of male students to the nearby stream to carry large stones to build the stove.
After some effort, all five stoves in the class were finally built.
Afterwards, Lin Man led the female students to the stream and began to assign tasks: those who washed vegetables washed vegetables, and those who washed rice washed rice.
The stream was shallow, so Lin Man wasn't worried about them falling. After they finished washing the vegetables, she carefully checked the water levels in each rice cooker.
If you add too little water, the rice may not be cooked through; if you add too much, it will become porridge.
Although these students are already in their teens, some of them have never cooked at home and don't know how much water to use. Lin Man will remind them one by one.
Huo Qingci and his son were cooking. Lin Man did not go over, but was instructing the boys in Group 3 to cut potatoes into shreds.
If the student hadn't said it himself, Lin Man would have thought he was cutting potato strips. A student next to him cut his finger while cutting vegetables, and it got a little scratched. Lin Man quickly took out a Band-Aid from her pocket and put it on him.
Lin Man thought, fortunately she had made preparations in advance last night. She had guessed from the beginning that these children of soldiers would have all kinds of problems. After all, they lacked exercise. If they were in the countryside, teenagers could cook a table full of vegetarian dishes.
Lin Man was completely overwhelmed. She had to ask how much oil to use when cooking this group of dishes, and also whether to put the ingredients or the meat first.
That group also asked her how much salt to put in cooking, one spoon or half a spoon, whether fish is better fried or boiled, and whether to add onions, ginger, and garlic?
Lin Man ran from one group to another. When she looked up, she found that the students in Class 1 and Class 3 were similar to hers, busy and confused.
Cooking at a picnic was like going to a market, with screams coming from all directions. One side said they needed to add salt first, while the other side said their food was burnt.
(This chapter is not yet finished, please click on the next page to continue reading) Chapter 366 Picnic (Page 2/2)
Lin Man ran to Class 1 to take a look and saw that Huo Qinghuan was actually cooking the meal himself, stir-frying bacon with garlic sprouts. The dish looked pretty good.
Lin Man smiled and asked casually, "Qinghuan, did you boil the bacon first?"
"Oh no! I actually forgot about this! Oh well... I should add some MSG to adjust the flavor before serving!"
Lin Man walked away with a smile, and went to see Huo Qingci and his son cooking. Huo Yining was extremely happy to see Lin Man coming.
"Mom, I just helped Dad wash the vegetables and peeled the garlic."
"Well, Ningning is very good." Lin Man praised.
"Mom, next time we bring my brother to a picnic, I'm sure I can have an extra bowl of rice today."
Lin Man gave him a thumbs up and said, "Baby, you're really amazing. You can eat two bowls of rice while standing."
"Dad, bring us a tree stump so we can sit and eat later."
Huo Qingci said, "Manman, the food is almost ready. Do you want to come over and eat first?"
"I'm going to try some of the students' food and come back later. You and your son can eat first."
"Okay, if the students don't have enough food, you can ask them to come over and eat some. I made four dishes today."
"good."
Lin Man took a pair of chopsticks and tasted the dishes of each group. After tasting them, she found that the dishes were either extremely salty due to too much salt, or had no flavor at all. One group fried a fish, which was not only burnt on both sides, but also had red blood in the belly.
Lin Man didn't scold them, but tactfully pointed out what they needed to improve, and praised them for cooking for the first time, saying that it was already very good.
Of course, in the end she had to choose one group from the five groups to see which group cooked the most delicious food. In the end, she chose the fourth group.
Although the fourth group's dishes were not particularly delicious, at least they were not full of problems. After the selection, Lin Man rewarded each person in their group with a boiled salted duck egg.
It doesn’t matter whether the dishes are delicious or not. These are made by the students with great effort, and they are all as excited as if they were eating Tang Monk’s flesh.
Seeing a student squatting on the ground with a bowl in his hand and eating with big mouthfuls, Lin Man also went back to eat, and Huo Qinghuan also ran over with a bowl in his hand.
"Sister-in-law, the bacon I made today was too salty, and the chili scrambled eggs that my classmates made were all gone, and the vegetables that another classmate made were burnt, so I decided to come over and eat with you."
"Okay, your brother cooked four dishes anyway, let's eat slowly."
It’s no secret that the rice cooked in a small pot during a picnic is so fragrant, and there is a layer of golden rice crust at the bottom of the pot. Lin Man likes it very much.
Huo Qingci made a scallion omelet, a stir-fried potato shreds, a crucian carp soup, and a jar of dried meat and beans.
Huo Qinghuan asked as he ate his meal, "Sister-in-law, what are the school's plans for the autumn outing in October? Will we have another picnic? Then I'll know what to bring next time."
"Don't even think about it. You'll be in the eighth grade next semester, and only the first graders can go on the autumn outing."
Huo Qinghuan sighed in disappointment, “Oh, well, that’s such a pity.
I learned a lot from this picnic, and if I have the chance again, I will definitely be more prepared next time."
Huo Yining heard their conversation and asked curiously, "Mom, why are only the first-year students allowed to participate? Can I come with them next time? I also want to go on an autumn picnic."
Lin Man explained with a smile, "Because the second-year students have a heavy workload, the school only arranged for the first-year students to participate."
After hearing this, Huo Yining said with envy, "Mom, I want to study too, so I can play with everyone."
Lin Man said gently, "You are still young now. When you are old enough, you will be able to go to school. There will always be opportunities for you to participate in school picnics in the future."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
