Chapter 36: Food



Yi Qingqing mainly wanted to have her own little yard, and it would also be safer to have a yard and a door at home.

She also specifically told the old carpenter to make the courtyard gate and the back door of the house more sturdy.

At first, I just came for the money to see Yi Qingqing having fun stepping on it, and I wanted to try it too.

I don’t know when Yun Guyuan came over, he rolled up his trouser legs silently and joined in.

Then the number of people stepping on the mud increased. Li Mengxue, who was very careful about her image, joined in, and Zheng Xiaolong and Chen Zhihe were of course no exception.

"What do you think? Should I invite you to dinner tonight or not?" Yi Qingqing said to these uninvited people.

"Qingqing, look at my feet, they are all red from being pricked by the grass knots," Qian Lailai stretched out his feet.

Yi Qingqing: "..."

Who can tell whether her muddy feet have turned red?

"I heard that Comrade Yi is going to treat Uncle Yougen and the others to a good meal today," Chen Zhihe said meaningfully.

Li Mengxue sighed, "Let's go wash our feet. What should we eat tonight?"

"Wait for me, let's go together," Zheng Xiaolong also said.

Although Comrade Yun Guyuan was still working diligently in the mud with his head down, he had not moved for several minutes.

Yi Qingqing laughed and snorted, "Why are you washing? You haven't stepped on the mud yet!"

"Hey, what's delicious tonight? Do you know that I cry every day when I smell the smell coming from your room?" Qian Lai said. She knew that Yi Qingqing was being hard on the outside but soft on the inside.

"Wait for me, step carefully, I'm going to cook." With four more people to cook for, Yi Qingqing had to prepare in advance.

She never expected that even though she refused the help of her fellow villagers, she would still be dependent on these uninvited people in the end.

But although Yi Qingqing said this, she actually understood that if the bricks were to be made solid, the mud had to be stepped on thoroughly. With just her and Uncle Yougen, they could probably only finish a small part today.

It was also because she was not clear about the process of making earthen bricks before, otherwise she might have found a few skilled people in the village to help in advance.

So their help was timely.

She was joking when she brought up the topic of dinner, but in fact she had already thought about saving some for dinner.

After entering the house, she steamed the rice first, but not the sweet potato rice. It was not yet time to harvest the sweet potatoes, and she had not exchanged the stored sweet potatoes with her fellow villagers, so it was difficult to explain where they came from.

But with so many people, she didn't want to be so extravagant as to use only white rice, as that would be a bit too much.

I'm afraid there is no one else in the village who eats fine grains every day except the heroine Li Mengxue and her.

It would be too conspicuous to invite so many people to eat all-you-can-eat white rice.

It just so happened that I hadn’t eaten much of the cornmeal I borrowed from the team before, so I mixed some of it with the rice and cooked them together.

He also cut some pork belly from the backpack and took out several eggs.

Finally, we decided to make five dishes: braised pork with cabbage, fried eggs with wild vegetables, stir-fried cucumber with black fungus, braised eggplant with green beans, and loofah and egg soup. We tried to make the portions bigger, after all, there were eight people eating, and they all did physical work.

"It smells so good! It makes me hungry," Qian Lailai sniffed.

As soon as Zhao Yougen smelled it, he knew there must be meat. He licked his lips and thought about eating the meat soon, so his hands moved much faster.

After the mud is ready, it is quite quick to make bricks using molds.

We had dinner before it got dark.

With so many people, there was no room in the house, so Yi Qingqing moved the table outside the back door and served the food on the table. "It's time to eat. There are not enough bowls and chopsticks. You guys need to go back and get some. There are not enough chairs either. If you have any, bring two."

This is normal, as they all live together and the amount of tableware they prepare is not much.

"Just go through my house," she added, "so you don't have to go around the front."

They went in through the back door.

Qian Lailai, Li Mengxue and Zheng Xiaolong have all been to her house and seen what it looks like inside. There is not much difference between now and before.

Chen Zhihe had never seen it, but had heard Zheng Xiaolong talk about it.

Only Yun Guyuan was entering and touching the house where Yi Qingqing lived for the first time.

Although he looked across the room countless times, he also caught a glimpse of a corner of the room when Yi Qingqing came in and out.

But none of them were as clear as this time.

Her house is just like her, fresh and natural, making people feel comfortable and bright.

But there was still something missing, and he kept it in mind.

This time, the old carpenter not only installed the door for Yi Qingqing, but also made a door opening in the back alley for Li Mengxue and the others. The door panels had not been put on yet and they had to wait for two days.

Sitting outdoors and enjoying the cool evening breeze has a unique sense of wild fun.

"Dinner is ready. Don't worry, there's enough food and everyone can have their fill," said Yi Qingqing.

Having enough to eat is not an easy thing in this era.

Zhao Yougen and the old carpenter were shocked when they saw the dishes on the table and the full bowl of rice next to it.

It was true that they smelled meat, but one or two slices of meat were still meat, and no one would prepare several meat dishes at once when entertaining guests.

In their eyes, besides meat, eggs are also meat dishes.

Moreover, although the dry rice was mixed with some cornmeal, it was still dry. Generally, people could only eat dry rice occasionally during the busy farming season, and it was not as much as what Yi Qingqing prepared.

There is an old saying in the countryside: you can tell how others treat you by looking at the dishes served at dinner.

Zhao Yougen and the old carpenter decided that this table of delicious food for Xiao Yi Zhiqing was the highest courtesy, and their favorable impression of her increased significantly.

It felt a bit like looking after my own nephew.

The two looked at each other, and Zhao Yougen stepped forward and said, "This is rice, meat and eggs, it's too expensive. After this meal, I can't charge you for anything else, and I don't want any money. If you need any help in the future, you must call me uncle."

The old carpenter also said that the two doors were his gift and he thanked her for the meal.

Yi Qingqing saw that they were serious, thought for a moment and said, "I made a big portion today, I'm afraid you won't be full. There's still some in the pot, you may not be able to finish it, why don't you take it back, otherwise I'll feel guilty."

Only then did Zhao Yougen and the old carpenter agree.

"Since you call me uncle, if you need any help in the future, just come to me. I will definitely help if I can," said Zhao Yougen while eating the corn rice in his bowl.

The old carpenter meant the same thing.

"Hey, try the meat I cooked," Yi Qingqing scooped a spoonful of braised pork for each of them.

"This meat is amazing!" Zheng Xiaolong praised, "It tastes as good as the ones made by the state-owned restaurants in the county."

"Indeed," Chen Zhihe also said.

Yi Qingqing thought that this was not right. Her cooking skill level was only level 2 and the difference between her and others could be tasted in the food she cooked. How could she catch up?

She also picked up a piece.

It was indeed much more delicious than what she had made before.

This is not right!

She thought about her previous guess again and tasted the remaining dishes.

Sure enough, the wild vegetable fried eggs and loofah egg soup were beyond her normal cooking skills.

There is only one possibility, the taste is not enhanced by her cooking skills, but by the ingredients.


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