The next day, Yu Ge'er started classes. He waited for Lin Yan and the others to go to town, fed the chickens and pigs at home, and washed clothes. More than half an hour had passed. Now he could go to town and help in the shop for half an hour.
Widow Liu and Brother Yue were both good workers. The next day, without Lin Yan's advice, they immediately did their work in an orderly manner. When Brother Yu arrived, there was nothing in the front hall that needed help, so he went to the backyard to wash vegetables with Lin Yan.
"Didn't I tell you not to come?" Lin Yan said angrily.
"Oh, I got up too early and have nothing to do, so I might as well come and help." Yu Ge'er washed the lettuce in the basin and put it aside.
Many vegetables are ripe now. The previous wood ear mushrooms and winter melon have been replaced by lettuce. Since the shop opened, not many people have ordered vegetarian dishes, so Lin Yan simply prepared one.
Other side dishes do not need to be washed, such as tofu, kimchi, and bean curd sheets. Only lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, garlic, and ginger need to be washed, and it is quick to wash.
After washing, Yu Ge'er helped move to the kitchen and started cutting side dishes.
"Brother Yu, let me do it. It's almost time for your class." Lin Yan took the kitchen knife from his hand.
"Okay." Yu Ge'er wiped his hands on the jacket, then took it off and put it aside, ready to go out. Li Yuemei had made several pairs of this jacket and kept them in the store. Widow Liu and Yue Ge'er also put them on.
Lin Yan hadn't cut much yet when Widow Liu took over again. She was experienced and had noticed yesterday that Lin Yan was pregnant, but she didn't ask directly and just let Lin Yan do some light work.
"Boss, you make the soy milk and tofu pudding, and I'll chop the vegetables." She had seen all the dishes made yesterday, and she knew what was needed.
Lin Yan nodded. Since there were fewer people eating breakfast now, he simply beat eggs on the side and then beat them when someone came to drink soy milk.
Lin Yan had left the cooking of lunch to Widow Liu. Zhou Chunlan finished her work at the door and came in to help prepare the side dishes. With a reasonable division of labor, they quickly prepared everything.
Lin Yan was finally not sleepy today. He perked up and watched from the side. It would be bad to let someone cook by himself on the second day after arriving. Fortunately, Widow Liu's cooking skills were there and she cooked quite well.
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"Mom, after you're done, let's go buy some ingredients for making rice dumplings." Lin Yan originally planned to cook them in the shop, but there was not enough firewood in the shop, and it would take a long time to cook rice dumplings, so it was better to go home and cook them.
We're running low on glutinous rice, so we need to buy more. We also have pork belly, and we have all the other things we need, like red beans, cotton thread, and zong leaves. This morning, before I left, I asked Zhao Shiyun to go to the mountains and pick some shuye leaves. Shuye is used for making zongzi here, so when people say zong leaves, they usually mean shuye leaves.
For long, large zongzi, three large zongzi leaves are usually used, while for small leaves, four are used. For triangular zongzi, two medium-sized jujube leaves are sufficient. Lin Yan had already instructed Zhao Shiyun not to cut the pieces too large or too small.
After all the ingredients for today were sold out, Lin Yan and Li Yuemei went to the butcher shop to buy a few pounds of pork belly, and then went to the grain shop to buy glutinous rice.
"Mom, when we get back, let's soak the red beans and marinate the pork belly. I'll stay at home and make rice dumplings tomorrow. How about you and Brother Shi Yun come to the town together?" Lin Yan asked.
"Can Widow Liu cook by herself?" Li Yuemei was a little worried.
"She cooked all the dishes today, so there should be no problem."
"Or I can stay home and tell me what kind of dumplings to make."
Lin Yan thought about it and agreed: "That's fine, but you can wait until I get back tomorrow and then we can wrap it together."
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Yu Ge'er finished school a little later than the shop closed, so they waited for about half an hour before he finally showed up. He hurried in and apologized, "Sorry to have kept you waiting. From now on, you can go back after you finish and don't have to wait for me."
Li Yuemei wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "That won't do. We have to clean up the shop anyway, so it's just a side job."
Letting a young man go back alone would be unsafe when it gets dark later, and it wouldn't be a big deal to wait a while. Lin Yan specifically asked Widow Liu and Brother Yue, and they agreed to wait.
Yu Ge'er looked at them with gratitude.
Back home, Lin Yan dug out the mushrooms and red beans. He planned to soak the red beans before bed and the mushrooms for the braised rice later. Li Yuemei took out the pork belly and put it in a basket hanging in the well, and then cut it up and marinated it tomorrow.
"Brother Yan, what do you want to eat tonight?" Li Yuemei looked at the dishes at home and didn't know what to cook.
"Ah, let me do it. You go and rest. You've been tired all day. I'm going to make some braised rice."
Li Yuemei had never made braised rice before, so she had no choice but to agree. She helped Lin Yan take out a piece of bacon and then went to do other things.
Lin Yan sat in front of the stove preparing to light a fire. Zhao Shiyun had just gone to cut holly leaves this afternoon and had just come in to help after washing his hands.
"Let me do it. Just tell me what you want to do."
"I need to cook the bacon, otherwise it will be too tough to cut."
Zhao Shiyun scooped a spoonful of water into the pot, put the bacon in, and started to light the fire. The flames reflected Lin Yan's face, and he quickly stepped back. The weather in May was starting to get a little hot, and there was no need to warm the fire in front of the stove anymore.
After about a quarter of an hour of cooking, it was ready to be taken out. Lin Yan didn't touch it, but instructed Zhao Shiyun to rinse the grease off with water, cut it into thin slices, and then arrange it on top of the washed rice. He also added chopped mushrooms. It was a pity that the peas were not yet ripe, otherwise it would have been more delicious. Lin Yan cut some pumpkin and put it in, which was also delicious. He was craving the pumpkin rice from last night.
The braised rice was rather dry, so Lin Yan planned to make some tomato and egg soup.
Lin Yan took out two tomatoes, washed them and cut them into small pieces; cut the green onions into chopped green onions; beat the eggs into a bowl, added a little salt, stirred well and set aside.
The other pot was empty. Zhao Shiyun scooped a spoonful of lard into the pot. After the oil was hot, poured in the egg liquid, stir-fried it, and set aside.
Add a little oil to the pot, add tomato pieces and stir-fry, add appropriate amount of salt to season, after the tomato juice comes out, add appropriate amount of water to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
After the water boils, add the scrambled eggs, bring to a boil again, add a spoonful of soy sauce to enhance the flavor. Finally, sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve.
Lin Yan looked at the bowl of tomato and egg soup with satisfaction. It was not bad. Brother Yun was also good at cooking.
"Why haven't I seen you do this before?"
"That's because my mom is here. She thinks I'm in the way." Zhao Shiyun touched his head and smiled embarrassedly.
There is another way to make tomato and egg soup. Instead of frying the eggs, fry the tomatoes, add water, and then pour in the egg liquid. It is also delicious.
"Brother Shi Yun, when the weather gets a little warmer, let's go to the river to catch some shrimps and make loofah, shrimp and egg soup. It's delicious." When Lin Yan was at home, he often went to the river to catch shrimps in the summer. If he caught too much, he would take them to the town to sell.
Braised prawns in oil, loofah shrimp and egg soup, scrambled eggs with shrimp, boiled shrimp, just thinking about it makes me drool.
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