So, was he being lectured by a little girl?
No, that's not the point. The real issue is that the village actually lent them, the educated youth, something he never expected. If he had known this earlier, why would he have...?
Alas, one wrong step leads to another. Now, not only is he tormented by his conscience and unable to face Qin Zhiqing, but he is also injured and in debt. He has truly lost both his wife and his army!
Ma Jiahua was filled with regret, but what's done is done, and there's no use in being upset now. He might as well think about how to make it up to Qin Xiaoxiao.
Qin Xiaoxiao ignored Ma Jiahua's thoughts and went back to her room. She first poured some hot water from her space to wipe the table, the kang (a heated brick bed), and swept the floor. She took the bedding out to air it while the weather was nice. Then she lit a fire to heat the kang. The pot was also busy; she filled it with water, and after it boiled, she put it into her space and placed it in the bathtub for bathing that night.
After cleaning, the little house was finally clean. Qin Xiaoxiao lay comfortably on the kang (a heated brick bed) and took a nap. When she woke up at noon, she started thinking about what to cook for dinner.
Braised pork belly and braised spare ribs are indispensable, and chicken soup is even more essential. However, after drinking chicken soup for several days in a row, I'm really getting tired of it. But there's no way around it; chicken soup is good for the body, and it's better for the two elderly people in my family to drink more chicken soup.
I haven't eaten the carp I caught from falling into the ice hole last time. I'll go to the old house to get it later and make sauerkraut fish.
Dried green beans stewed in autumn make another dish, and stewed cabbage, pork belly, and glass noodles are also indispensable dishes on the Northeast winter table.
The meat dishes are almost done, but the vegetables are a bit harder to prepare. There are no greenhouses in the village, so how is she going to explain if she manages to grow cucumbers, celery, or chives?
After thinking for a while, Qin Xiaoxiao decided to make a cold dish of cabbage and vermicelli, and then fry four or five eggs, making about eight dishes.
Having decided what to make, Qin Xiaoxiao began preparing the dishes.
In the autumn, Qin Xiaoxiao also pickled a jar of sauerkraut, which she used to eat. She only had two cabbages, which were specially left for her by Grandma Qin so that she could use them as a side dish when making noodles. This time, she used them to make cabbage stew with vermicelli.
Leave out the core of the cabbage, slice the rest, and blanch it in water to remove excess moisture. This will make the cabbage more flavorful and less watery.
Shred the cabbage heart, blanch the glass noodles and then put them in cold water. Mix them when you need to use them.
I picked a handful of dried chilies from under the eaves, washed them, dried them with a clean cloth, and then cut them into strips with scissors. I heated oil in a pan, and once the oil was hot, I poured it into the dried chili strips. The chili oil for the cold dish was now ready.
There was a whole chicken in the woodshed. I took it back to the house to thaw it, and then took out a piece of frozen meat from my storage space to thaw as well. Once it was semi-frozen, I cut it into chunks and slices for later use.
Clean the chicken and put it in a pot. Add scallions, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, and a little salt. Once a small amount of grayish impurities and oil float to the surface of the chicken soup, skim them off with a spoon. Simmer over low heat for about an hour.
The chicken soup isn't flavorful enough yet, so add a little salt and goji berries just before serving. Also, discard the scallions, ginger, garlic, peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon when serving.
With the dishes almost ready, Qin Xiaoxiao packed them one by one into the basket. When the basket wasn't big enough, she put the rest into her backpack and took them all to Old Qin's house.
Grandma Qin looked curiously at Qin Xiaoxiao's basket. "What's she carrying? Qin Ye, come help your sister take this basket down. She's been carrying it all the way here, it must be heavy."
Qin Xiaoxiao shook her head, "It's alright, not too heavy. Grandma, I'm going to treat them to dinner. My place is small, so I've already told them to come over to our house for dinner."
When Grandma Qin heard that her eldest granddaughter was going to treat everyone to a meal, she immediately started calling out, "Dahua, come quick! Xiaoxiao is going to treat everyone. Can you come and help me see what dishes to prepare?"
Qin Xiaoxiao quickly stopped Grandma Qin, "Grandma, no need, I've prepared everything I need. We can just borrow our kitchen for a bit."
If it weren't for the hassle of cooking it all before bringing it over, she would have just prepared it at the educated youth compound. Half-cooked food is better than fully cooked food, and besides, the weather is cold, so the food will get cold quickly. She can't very well let people eat cold food, can she? It's not good to serve food hot either; how can you treat guests like that?
Grandma Qin was stunned for a moment, "Everything's ready? What's prepared?"
Qin Xiaoxiao smiled and took the cloth off the basket and carrying frame for Grandma Qin to see.
Grandma Qin glanced at it dismissively, not thinking that her eldest granddaughter could produce anything, but the result surprised her greatly.
"Why are there so many vegetables? And meat too? What's this? Chicken soup? Is everything ready?"
Qin Xiaoxiao nodded, "Ah, it's done. Just reheat it in a bit."
The longer the chicken soup simmers, the better; this doesn't count as reheating.
Seeing that her eldest granddaughter had prepared such a decent meal, Grandma Qin couldn't help but smile and nod. "I really didn't expect you could make so many dishes. Alright, put them here, Grandma will cook them for you in a bit."
Qin Xiaoxiao quickly shook her head, "No need, I'm going to cook myself today, so that Grandpa and Grandma can taste my cooking."
"You're going to cook? Can you even cook? Don't waste the meat."
Qin Xiaoxiao proudly raised her chin, "Of course I can, and I'm actually quite good at cooking. If you don't believe me, Grandma will know once she tries it."
Grandma Qin looked at Qin Xiaoxiao suspiciously, but seeing that Qin Xiaoxiao was very confident, she believed her a little. However, she still asked Ma Dahua to stay by her side and help out.
"No need, I can handle it myself. This is such a small thing, my aunt doesn't need to help."
Qin Xiaoxiao insisted that she didn't need any help, and Qin's grandmother and Ma Dahua had no choice but to agree.
Seeing that it was almost time, Qin Xiaoxiao put on an apron and went into the kitchen, strictly forbidding anyone else from entering.
The cooking produced a lot of smoke, and Qin Xiaoxiao didn't close the kitchen door. Qin's grandmother moved a stool and sat at the kitchen doorway, watching helplessly as half a bottle of her own rapeseed oil was poured in. She clutched her heart and groaned, but dared not say a word, for fear that her eldest granddaughter would be unhappy and make her cook it again next time.
Ma Dahua's lips twitched, unable to bear to look, but seeing that her mother-in-law was so distressed that she was about to have a heart attack, she strangely calmed down.
It's nothing, it's just oil. We have plenty at home. I'll just have my second son get some more lard from the meat processing plant.
Qin Xiaoxiao first put the chicken soup on the stove, and used another stove to stir-fry vegetables.
The fire for stir-frying had to be very strong, so Qin Xiaoxiao instructed Qin Ye to bring an extra bundle of firewood into the kitchen for later use. Once the preliminary work was done, Qin Xiaoxiao began to stir-fry the dishes.
Make the braised fish and braised pork first, then put them on the rice steamer to keep them warm, and bring them out when guests arrive.
Potato and dried green bean stew is perfect for making with the broth from braised pork belly. Add plenty of soy sauce and seasonings to create a rich, fragrant sauce that's just what northerners prefer, especially with their heavy use of oil and salt.
Braised cabbage with pork belly and glass noodles can be cooked using the oil from stewed potatoes and green beans, which saves some oil and makes it taste better.
Once these two dishes are finished, you can start making the stir-fry.
She added chopped green onions and salt to the egg mixture, but no other seasonings, because she was afraid her grandmother would have a heart attack and faint again.
The PC author backend is temporarily unavailable, and typing on a mobile phone is too slow, so the second chapter will probably have to be released around noon or afternoon.
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