After explaining what the heluo noodle bed looked like, Chen An called Chen Lin to bring over all the pieces of wood of varying thicknesses from the yard, ready to start making it right away.
Seeing how excited Chen An was, Cheng Yue didn't stop him. After all, it's rare for a person to have something they enjoy doing.
Especially since Chen An can't do anything right now, it's inevitable that he'll feel depressed. Having something to do will improve his mood, and perhaps his leg will heal faster.
When there's no man in the house, she doesn't expect anything, but if there is a man and she doesn't use him, that's not Cheng Yue's style. She might as well use him.
There are only so many chores at home. If someone does more, she can do less. Why not?
Chen An has difficulty walking, so Chen Lin sits beside him and helps him out.
Da Ni and Er Ni are girls and not interested in woodworking, but they've already fed the chickens and pigs, and their mother won't let them wash their clothes, so they have no choice but to pick up brooms and sweep the floor.
"Da Ni and Er Ni, put on the new shoes I bought for you first and see if they fit." Cheng Yue quickly stopped her two restless daughters.
Da Ni and Er Ni were reluctant to wear the shoes after receiving them; the two sisters even secretly discussed saving them for the New Year.
However, unable to resist Cheng Yue's repeated urging, he had no choice but to scoop water and wash his feet thoroughly before daring to wear the new shoes.
Da Ni and Er Ni changed into cloth shoes and exclaimed, "Mom, cloth shoes are so soft and warm!" They didn't want to take them off once they put them on.
Cheng Yue said gently, "Silly children, you'll all be able to wear cloth shoes from now on. I'll make you another pair, so everyone in the family will have two pairs of cloth shoes."
Hearing this, the two children put on their new shoes with a contented smile.
Cheng Yue glanced at the sun, thinking that she would have to make lunch soon, and began to tidy up the things in the basket.
Da Ni and Er Ni also helped move.
Cheng Yue carried the cloth to the bedroom, but she couldn't bring the clothes and shoes herself, so she had to ask the villagers for help.
Then they took out a bunch of bowls and jars, and Da Ni and Er Ni took them to wash and dry them.
Cheng Yue went into the kitchen, took out a few sachima, steamed cakes and a handful of cookies from her spatial storage, tore off the plastic packaging, put them in a small basket, and took them out for them to try.
Da Ni and Er Ni were squatting on the ground washing a ceramic basin when Cheng Yue broke off two small pieces of sachima and put one in each of their mouths.
"Mmm...so sweet and fragrant!"
"Mom, what is this? It's so sweet!"
A sweet aroma filled their mouths, and Da Ni and Er Ni's eyes widened in surprise; they had never tasted anything so delicious before.
Cheng Yue showed them the basket of pastries and said with a smile, "These are pastries that Mom bought in town. Look, there are other ones here. I'll put them on the table. You can eat them after you've washed up."
Da Ni and Er Ni's eyes widened even more. There were actually several kinds of pastries, and they all looked different.
Cheng Yue placed the basket on the table and told Chen An and Chen Lin to take some to eat. Chen Lin asked in confusion, "Mom, when did you buy these snacks?"
Why didn't he see his mother buy any snacks? Could it be that his memory is playing tricks on him?
Cheng Yue said frankly, "You silly child, you were so overwhelmed by the sights in town, how could you remember when I bought it? Eat up."
Chen Lin was completely baffled, so he simply stopped thinking about it, picked up a piece of steamed cake and stuffed it into his mouth. His eyes lit up: "Delicious! Dad, you should eat some too!"
Chen An smiled, picked up a biscuit and put it in his mouth. It was crisp and fragrant. "I didn't expect there to be such delicious snacks in town. Which family makes them?"
"I bought it on the street. I guess someone made it themselves and is selling it. I'm going to make lunch now. You guys continue making the helu noodle press."
This cunning person, why did she have to pry so deeply? Luckily, she reacted quickly.
Cheng Yue remained calm and composed, and went to the kitchen after finishing her sentence.
Chen An took a deep look at Cheng Yue's back, lowered his eyelids, and then curved the corners of his mouth into a smile.
Cheng Yue went into the kitchen, took out two bags of rice and flour, and poured the rice and flour from her spatial storage into them, filling the bags to the brim.
With refined rice and flour available, she naturally didn't want to eat coarse grains anymore; she wanted to eat rice, dry rice.
However, there's only one iron pot and one earthenware pot here. For cooking rice, it's better to just put it in the electric rice cooker in the space.
After cooking rice, Cheng Yue broke two large bones and threw them into a ceramic pot, adding water, salt, and seasonings to make a pot of bone broth.
Then came the large piece of fatty meat and pork belly in my hand. I cut the fatty meat into chunks and threw it into the pot to render into pork cracklings. I poured the pork fat into an earthenware jar, leaving some pork fat at the bottom of the pot.
Cheng Yue cut the pork belly into even pieces, pan-fried them until fragrant and browned, then added rock sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, scallions, ginger, star anise, and bay leaves, and simmered them with water to make a rich and flavorful braised pork.
She didn't caramelize the sugar to save time, but the taste was about the same.
Da Ni and Er Ni had already been lured into the kitchen by the aroma. Their mouths watered as they looked at the bubbling meat in the pot and the big bones simmering in the earthenware pot.
Chen Lin also smelled the meat and kept sniffing it, ignoring Chen An's call to get something.
Not to mention Chen Lin, even the usually composed Chen An was distracted by the fragrance.
Cheng Yue stuffed a piece of pork crackling into the two little gluttons standing by the stove and continued cooking.
We had meat dishes, but we were still missing a vegetable dish, so we ended up making a plate of stir-fried eggs with chives and stir-fried bok choy with pork cracklings.
Cheng Yue asked Da Ni and Er Ni to take out the two vegetarian dishes first. While they were at it, she poured the rice from the rice cooker into a ceramic pot, and then served out the braised pork and bone broth that had become tender.
As soon as all the dishes were served, everyone except Cheng Yue took a deep breath – this was incredibly juicy!
"Mom, we haven't eaten this well even during the New Year!"
"Yes, Mother, I've never seen so much meat before."
Da Ni and Er Ni, the two cheerleaders, always sing along with their older sister.
"Mom, did you... cook all the meat?" Chen Lin started to worry again. His mother used to be too stingy, but now she was so willing to spend money, which was even more frightening...
Cheng Yue lightly flicked Chen Lin's forehead and said, "A new home, a new look, of course we should celebrate properly. We didn't have time yesterday, so let's celebrate today. Of course we should eat something good!"
"Go wash your hands quickly and get ready to eat. If you keep talking like this, the food will get cold!"
After all, they are just kids, how can they resist a table full of meat?
Since Cheng Yue had spoken, the three children didn't hesitate. Chen Lin quickly brought over a basin of water, letting Chen An wash first before washing himself.
Da Ni and Er Ni had just been washing the dishes, so they didn't need to wash their hands. Chen Lin and Chen An had touched the wood, and their hands were covered in dust.
After washing his hands, Chen Lin poured the dirty water into the vegetable garden and hurriedly sat down at the dining table.
"Alright, everyone's here, let's eat!" Cheng Yue gave the order, and the three children all picked up their chopsticks and started eating braised pork.
During the Lunar New Year, when my grandmother's family made meat, it was always white and glossy. They had never seen such red and oily meat before.
But the color looks delicious, so of course I have to try it first.
Chen An paused, holding his chopsticks, and waited until the children had finished picking up their food before reaching out. As a father, he couldn't possibly take meat from his children.
"It's so delicious!"
"Mom, how did you cook this meat? It smells so good!"
"I can eat five bowls of rice!"
Cheng Yue chuckled. Although the vocabulary was limited, it was the best way to express how delicious it was.
"Eat more if you like it. Don't just eat meat, drink some bone broth too, and there are vegetables too!"
Chen An chewed the braised pork carefully, but his eyes were glued to Cheng Yue's face, and his smile gradually deepened.
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