In the evening, Haopo cooks while Qiuhua and Meiying light the fire.
In the evening, Haopo cut a piece of pork belly into small pieces, washed it, put it in cold water, and took it out after the water boiled. She then boiled another pot of water and put the meat in. When it boiled, she added rice wine, soy sauce, yellow rock sugar, bay leaves and fennel. After putting all the ingredients in, Haopo used a spatula to scoop it all into another small pot, and put the two small ears of the pot on the coal stove. After a while, the coal stove made a gurgling sound, and bursts of meat aroma came out.
Qiuhua watched with fascination the complicated cooking process and the ingredients that her family did not have and had never used before.
The second dish is stir-fried pork with garlic. Haopo cut some pork into shreds, added a little salt and rice wine and stirred it, then cut the washed garlic into sections and smashed the white part of the garlic with the back of a knife. After the vegetable oil in the pot was hot, she poured the pork into the pot and stir-fried it, then served it, put the oil back in the pot, stir-fried the garlic for a few times, and finally added the pork and salt.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and the aroma of rice wafted from far away. Meiying's elder brother Zhao Zhenhua came back from outside, and Haopo fried a large pot of vegetables and started to invite people to eat.
"Wow, it smells so good! We have braised pork today." Zhao Zhenhua had been working all day, and his stomach started growling at the aroma. He saw Qiuhua coming out with food and hurriedly greeted her, "Qiuhua, you're here! Hahaha, no wonder there's braised pork!"
Qiuhua felt embarrassed. She had come here to learn a skill, and now she was eating.
"Brother, I'm sorry for coming to your house for dinner."
"Why are you embarrassed? You and Meiying are sisters. Our home is your home. You can come to eat every day!"
Zhao Zhenhua went to the well to fetch water to wash his face and hands. By this time, the dishes and food were all ready.
Qiuhua ate rice and picked up a piece of green vegetables with chopsticks. She was too embarrassed to eat the braised pork. Zhao Meiying came up and ate two pieces of braised pork. Her lips were greasy and she kept saying:
"Hao Po's braised pork is delicious, the best!"
The good mother-in-law had a big smile on her face. She was reluctant to eat and only ate vegetables and rice.
"You're just busy eating by yourself. Why don't you pick some meat for Qiuhua? She's embarrassed to eat it."
Zhao Zhenhua had already eaten half a bowl of rice and seemed to be concentrating on eating, but in fact he saw through Qiuhua's embarrassment.
Zhao Meiying then realized that her little sister didn't eat the braised pork, so she quickly picked up three pieces and put them in her bowl.
"That's enough, that's too much. Okay, okay, you eat it too, and my dear mother-in-law eats it too."
Qiuhua took a bite of the meat and it was so delicious. It was not the first time she had eaten meat cooked by Haopo. In fact, she had been drooling for a long time, but she was too embarrassed to do so because of her pride.
"Our home is not as lively as yours. There are usually only three of us. You should come and play more often in the future." Zhao Zhenhua ate very quickly and already had his second bowl in his hand. He was not being polite. He always felt that Meiying was too boring being alone all the time, and it was nice to have Qiuhua to play with.
Qiuhua knew roughly what was going on in Meiying's family. Meiying's father and mother were both railway workers. They only came home during the Chinese New Year and usually sent some money back. Meiying had only a younger brother who lived with her father and mother. Her eldest brother and she were raised by her grandmother-in-law since childhood. Their family conditions were better, but her eldest brother usually worked in the team, and her grandmother-in-law was old, so there was no one in the family who could get along with her.
Qiuhua's family is just the opposite. After his father was sent down to the countryside, the whole family returned to the countryside. Now they have Chunhua, a family of brothers and sisters, but they live a tight life and almost have no food to eat.
When Zhao Meiying was a child, she always envied other families’ parents living together, but now she has become indifferent to it.
"That's right, it's boring every day. What's the point of being alone? You and Zhou Hehua should come over more often. It would be so much fun. Isn't Haopo's cooking delicious?"
Qiuhua nodded repeatedly and said, "It's delicious, so delicious. My mother-in-law is amazing. She can embroider and cook delicious food!"
"If it's delicious, come to my house more often!"
Zhao Meiying's words came from the bottom of her heart. At night, as the two sisters lay in bed, she couldn't help but sigh, "Oh, I envy you so much."
Qiuhua felt that the bed at Meiying's house seemed softer. She asked in confusion, "What are you envious of? What's there to envy? My family is so poor."
"But your house is lively." Zhao Meiying was used to drinking water at night. She got up and poured water from the thermos. Suddenly she remembered something, opened the door and went out to grope around. Qiuhua could only hear the sound of ping-pong outside.
"Meiying, where are you going?"
"Wait a minute, I'll be right there."
Qiuhua stayed in bed obediently. After a while, Zhao Meiying came in with two enamel cups and a glass bottle.
She quickly got out of bed and took the two cups from Meiying's hands.
"What are you doing? Aren't you sleeping?"
"Go to sleep later, I'll give you something delicious to try." Zhao Meiying was mysterious, which made Qiuhua very excited.
She put the glass bottle on the table. The words "Malted Milk" were written on the bottle.
"Maltene? Is this malted milk?" Qiuhua was a little excited.
Meiying asked as she twisted the lid: "You know? Have you ever drunk it?"
Qiuhua shook her head and said, "How could I possibly have tasted something this good? I've only seen it in that shop down the street and heard it was delicious!"
"Haha, it's quite delicious. Otherwise, why would I say it's good? If it wasn't delicious, I wouldn't have specially brought it out for you to try!"
Zhao Meiying was very happy. She took a large spoon and scooped two large spoonfuls into each of the two enamel cups. She then poured boiling water into the two cups from a thermos. Qiuhua watched carefully. Meiying stirred the liquid in each of the enamel cups with a spoon for a while.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
