Chapter 42 Taotao's Braised Pork VS... (1)
Bai Taotao and Song Zhi went to the night market.
The weekly night market was so lively...it was completely beyond Taotao's expectations!
She excitedly pulled Song Zhi and quickly walked from the street to the end of the alley to get a preliminary understanding of the night market. It was roughly divided into four parts: selling various snacks, selling small daily necessities, bartering, and selling homemade handicrafts such as dried vegetables, pickled vegetables, chicken, duck, goose eggs, etc.
They sell just about anything!
Taotao also saw Cheng Zhujun who was setting up a stall.
However, there were a lot of people around Xiao Zhuzi's stall. Tao Tao stood outside for a while and wanted to say hello to her, but there were too many people, so Song Zhi pulled Tao Tao away and said, "Let's come back later when there are fewer people."
Taotao and Song Zhi continued to stroll slowly.
What she likes to watch most is the various food stalls. She would stand in front of someone else's stall for ten minutes or so, mainly to watch how others cook.
Taotao is born beautiful. No matter where she stands, she can quickly attract the attention of young men and women. The young man had never seen such a beautiful girl, and the young woman had never seen Taotao's clothes so well-cut and beautifully designed...
So much so that as soon as Taotao stood in front of a snack stand, she immediately brought business to the stall owner.
Some stall owners who are very good at doing business even gave Taotao their small stool to sit on. Taotao sat obediently in front of the stall, watching the boss make food attentively, completely unaware of how much business she brought to the boss!
Oh, so that’s how the potato flour that Xiao Zhuzi bought for her yesterday was made!
Mash the steamed potatoes, add potato starch and knead it into dough, then add flour and knead it into dough. When eating, cut it into thin strips with scissors, cook it in boiling water and season it!
There was also a glutinous rice cake stall, which firmly attracted Taotao's attention.
There are many ways to eat glutinous rice cakes.
To make brown sugar glutinous rice cake, steam the glutinous rice cake directly in a pan, poke it with a bamboo stick and fry it in a pan for two minutes until the surface turns golden and slightly burnt, then dip it in a little brown sugar water and it's done.
Ciba rolls, the ciba rolls are baked over charcoal fire, with pickled radish cubes, bean curd sheets, chili oil, and chopped green onions and coriander in the middle. It looks delicious!
There are also fried oil and salt glutinous rice cakes, salty red bean soup glutinous rice cakes, sesame and peanut glutinous rice cakes, etc.
Taotao was guarding the glutinous rice cake stall, drooling with greed.
Song Zhi went forward to buy——
Tao Tao stopped him and said righteously, "Don't buy this. Ciba is filling to begin with. And look at these methods. Each one is either heavy in oil, heavy in flavor, or heavy in sugar. You'll get sick of it after a few bites. It's not worth it! Let's buy a smaller portion and share it between the two of us. Then we can enjoy a lot of flavors! It won't take up space in our stomachs!"
Song Zhi: ...
——She is quite good at budgeting.
Taotao pulled Song Zhi again and continued to look at the snack stalls one by one.
After walking around for nearly an hour, she finally chose a wonton stall.
Because the bowls at this wonton stall look cleaner than those at other stalls - the stall owner is a woman in her thirties who is always neat and tidy. She got more than a hundred clean potato leaves that looked like lotus leaves. Whenever a customer ordered wontons, she would first wash the bowl with a small amount of water, then put a potato leaf in the bowl, carefully arrange it, and then put the cooked wontons into the bowl.
In this way, the potato leaves in the bowl become a beautifully shaped container that looks cleaner than those at other food stalls - most food stalls provide enamel bowls for diners to serve noodle soup, wontons, dumplings, etc., and diners return the enamel bowls to the stall owner after eating. But because there was not enough water to wash the dishes, the stall owner simply wiped the enamel bowl with a rag and passed it to the next diner.
Taotao ordered a bowl and looked carefully at the wontons in the bowl.
The green leaves of the potato are filled with clear soup, and plump little wontons are floating in the soup, along with shredded seaweed, fried shrimp, white sesame seeds, and green chives...
Very pleasing to the eyes.
Eat another small wonton.
Well, the skin is thin and tender, and melts in your mouth; there is not much stuffing, only a small piece of pork as big as a fingernail, mixed with the rich salty flavor of ham, and the soup is unusually light and delicious...
Taotao originally said that she and Song Zhi would share a bowl of rice so as to save stomach space for eating something else, but before she knew it, she had finished the whole bowl by herself?
I had no choice but to order another bowl for Song Zhi.
While Song Zhi was eating, Tao Tao looked at him eagerly again...
He couldn't help but laugh and fed her a few pills.
Taotao looked very satisfied.
Song Zhi looked at Taotao thoughtfully: So, she doesn’t actually mind sharing a bowl of food with him?
Like a couple getting along?
He was slightly excited and blushed.
However, Taotao had no idea what he was thinking. After happily finishing her wontons, she and Song Zhi shared a bowl of sweet potato noodles, mixed bean rice cake, and spicy konjac tofu.
Taotao ate too much.
Song Zhi realized something.
——She only eats staple foods. So, she wanted to steal my skills? Learn from others how to make whole grains taste good, and when she returns home, she can also follow their example and make use of whole grains. Just like in the past three months, her family has used potato jelly as a staple food, which has greatly improved their living conditions?
Song Zhi's expression became softer.
She is not only cute and hardworking, but also loves life. She is always enthusiastic when facing difficulties and tries every means to improve her living conditions.
The gloomy mood brought by Du Pangguai that had been lingering in Song Zhi's heart was finally swept away.
He asked, "Why did you think of getting in touch with Uncle Qin and the others?"
Taotao did not hide it from him and told him her plan directly.
Song Zhi thought for a moment and asked, "One hundred kilograms of ginger, onion, and garlic, plus one kilogram of your dried spices?"
Taotao nodded seriously.
Song Zhi laughed and rubbed her head. "Little fool, you should sell pigs. Every season, you should sell 20 pigs to the state-owned restaurant, and add 400 kilograms of ginger, onion, garlic and one kilogram of dried spices."
Taotao opened her mouth wide.
Of course, it was because Song Zhi’s proposal was too bold and completely beyond her plan; more importantly - she obviously hated being called a little fool, but it seemed that Song Zhi was not included?
Song Zhi said: "There are more than 600 people in the village, with a total of 182 households... If you sell 100 kilograms of ginger, onion and garlic at a time, the per capita income may only be a few cents. But if you sell 20 live pigs to the state-owned restaurant in a season, that's 80 pigs a year, and thousands of kilograms of ginger, onion and garlic... Only then can the villagers benefit from you."
Taotao came back to her senses, bit her lip in shock, and said nervously, "Is it okay?"
There are more than 180 households in Ruyi Village. If 80 pigs can be sold a year, that means there is one pig for every two households? Add to that ginger, onions, garlic and other things... the extra income in a year would be considerable!
Song Zhi smiled and said, "Let's give it a try. Even if we fail... it's just a deal that didn't go through. We didn't have any costs in the first place, so there's no loss at all."
Taotao’s fighting spirit was rekindled!
Yes, if she fails, there is no loss for her, but if she succeeds? This is a...definitely a good way to make the villagers miss her!
Tao Tao suddenly felt very proud. "Okay! I brought spices this time. Let's buy some pork and go to Uncle Qin's house tomorrow. I want to make a stew for him on the spot!"
Song Zhi looked at her lovingly, "Then let me do it?"
Hearing this, Taotao blushed a little.
——In fact, she was not very good at housework, nor was she very good at cooking. Apart from being very good at cleaning the house, her family members did not like the clothes she washed or the meals she cooked...
So when Taotao was at home, what she did most was cleaning the house and doing needlework, and then she would go to the back mountain to cut grass for the pigs, pick mushrooms and so on.
After thinking for a while, Tao Tao said, "Let me make the braised pork tomorrow. Uncle Qin will definitely watch me make it... It doesn't matter if I'm clumsy. If someone with poor cooking skills makes a delicious braised pork in front of him, he will believe that it's because of the spices."
Song Zhi also thought this was true, so he said, "Then I will cook two dishes for you tomorrow."
Taotao's eyes were sparkling and full of anticipation.
The two continued shopping.
Taotao kept her promise and helped Song Zhi buy things.
She first picked out a very thick cloth apron with sleeves - when he was working as a blacksmith in the village, he used a leather apron, but it was too old and torn, and was said to be twenty or thirty years old. When Song Zhi first put it on, a layer of small red bumps appeared on his body.
For a blacksmith, a cloth apron is indeed not as good as a leather apron, but Taotao's idea is that the weather is about to turn cold, so Song Zhi can put the old leather apron over the cloth apron, which can keep warm and prevent sparks from splashing on his body.
In addition, Taotao also bought Song Zhi a few men's handkerchiefs, a few bars of soap, a tube of shampoo, four or five towels, a dozen socks, a sweatshirt and shorts...
When Taotao was buying him a pair of shorts, Song Zhi blushed and ran aside without saying a word.
But I didn't dare not look away from her.
——What if by mistake, another Zhang Pangguai or Wang Pangguai comes and takes her away by force?
But when he turned his head to look over, he saw her taking the snow-white new pair of panties from the vendor and stroking the crotch of the panties with her slender and beautiful fingers?
Song Zhi's face turned red again.
Taotao bargained with the vendor for a long time and finally bought the things she wanted to buy for Song Zhi at a price that satisfied her.
Next, she found a vendor selling needles and thread and bought a lot of it. The vendor then persuaded Taotao to buy knitting needles and wool and knit a sweater. She even took out a half-knitted scarf and knitted it for Taotao to see.
Taotao was very interested. After learning for a while, she immediately bought two pairs of knitting needles. The vendor continued to persuade her to buy wool, saying that one and a half kilograms of wool could be used to knit a sweater... Taotao was unmoved and only bought several different colors of wool, which together weighed about one kilogram.
——Last time, Tang Liren brought back a lot of discarded work gloves. Taotao can wash the gloves and then tear them into balls to weave; now the wool yarns of different colors she bought can be used as embellishments.
After eating and drinking her fill, and buying what she wanted, Taotao bought some gifts for Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin. She also bought four skewers of barbecue and four skewers of candied haws, and planned to go find Cheng Zhujun first, and then deliver the gifts to Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin's doorstep.
Also because it was getting late, people had all gone home and there were fewer people in front of Cheng Zhujun's stall.
Cheng Zhujun saw Taotao at a glance and called out to her happily.
Tao Tao handed the things to Song Zhi. She took two skewers of barbecue and two skewers of candied haws and handed them to Cheng Zhujun, "Here! For you and your brother!"
Cheng Zhujun quickly declined, "No, no!"
"Take it! A lot of things happened today, let me give you some peace of mind!" Taotao said with a smile.
Cheng Zhujun hadn't had a proper dinner today. Taotao gave her a roasted sweet potato, and the police officer gave her a glass of sugar water when she was at the police station. She was so hungry now.
After hesitating for a while, Cheng Zhujun said shyly, "Taotao, thank you!" Then she took the barbecue and candied haws and called out to the side, "Pingping, this is your sister Taotao. She brought us some food. Say thank you to her!"
"Thank you, Sister Taotao!" The little boy's childish voice immediately rang out.
Taotao looked to the side——
A thin boy was squatting alone not far away, with a triangular handkerchief tied around his mouth and nose.
Cheng Zhujun explained in a low voice: "He doesn't usually come, but today he heard that I met Du Pangguai and was so scared... He cried and made a fuss at home and didn't want me to come to the stall. But I thought, today is the big market, how can I not come? I talked to him for a long time before he agreed, and he was afraid that something would happen to me, so he insisted on coming with me..."
Taotao smiled and walked towards the little boy.
The little boy stood up and looked like he was about to come over...
But he stopped again, waved at Taotao, and ran away.
Cheng Zhujun quickly called Taotao, "Taotao, don't go over there. My brother's illness hasn't recovered yet. The doctor said he might still be contagious. Don't get too close to him, or he might infect you."
Taotao stopped and waved at the little boy, "Pingping, come on and get well! When you're well... go back to school!"
The little boy was stunned for a long time.
He was standing in the dark with a handkerchief tied around his mouth and nose. Taotao couldn't see his appearance or expression clearly, but she felt that his eyes were bright and sharp.
"Okay!" The little boy responded in a muffled voice and waved at Taotao.
Taotao talked to Cheng Zhujun again and said that she wanted five pounds of the best pork belly and two pork ribs early tomorrow morning, and wanted Cheng Zhujun to help her make a reservation. She would go to Cheng Zhujun to get it at eight o'clock tomorrow morning.
Song Zhi also asked for some things he needed for tomorrow, such as beef, flour, milk powder, tomatoes, etc.
Cheng Zhujun agreed immediately.
Taotao then returned to Song Zhi, and the two of them went to Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin's house first.
It was already late, but light was still coming through from under Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin's door, so they probably hadn't gone to bed yet.
Taotao and Song Zhi tiptoed up to the tube-shaped building and placed the two bottles of malted milk, a bundle of thirty eggs tied with straw, and four handkerchiefs for spring, summer, autumn and winter at the door of the Qin family's house.
Taotao knocked on the door and shouted, "Uncle Qin! Aunt Qin? I'm Taotao, please open the door!"
Soon, Aunt Qin's voice was heard in the room, "Master, it seems that Taotao is knocking on the door? Maybe she left something behind and forgot to take it away. Go open the door for her."
Uncle Qin seemed to respond, and then there was the sound of slippers tapping...
Taotao and Song Zhi held hands and ran down half a floor quickly.
The Qin family's door creaked open.
There were no street lights in the corridor and it was pitch black. Uncle Qin stood at the door with his back to the light and could not see anything.
"Taotao? Xiaosong?" Uncle Qin called out.
Tao Tao followed Song Zhi downstairs and said, "Uncle Qin, we disturbed your dinner with Auntie. We felt bad, so we bought some things and left them at the door. Please take them back quickly. We will come over tomorrow morning!"
Uncle Qin turned his head and saw malted milk, eggs and other things on the ground.
"Oh, that won't do! We are destined to eat at the same table! Besides, Xiao Song helped me carry the bicycle all the way, why doesn't he deserve a home-cooked meal? Don't give me that, uncle doesn't like it! Come back quickly and take the things away!" Uncle Qin said.
Tao Tao said playfully, "Humph, I won't come back to get it! If you have the guts, come chase us!"
As a result, Uncle Qin actually picked up the things and shouted into the house, "Guier, Taotao and the others have brought the things, I'm going downstairs to return them!" Then he chased downstairs.
Taotao was dumbfounded.
Song Zhi: ...
"Run!" Taotao shouted, grabbing Song Zhi and running downstairs.
The tube-shaped building where Uncle Qin lives has four floors, with twelve households on each floor. In other words, there is a long corridor behind the stairs on each floor.
When Taotao and Song Zhi ran to the second floor, Song Zhi suddenly took off his shoes, threw them downstairs, then pulled Taotao and ran into the corridor on the second floor, fled to the door of a house, and squatted behind the coal stove.
Uncle Qin was extremely agile and had already chased down from upstairs in a flash...
Because Song Zhi's shoes were rolling down the stairs from the second floor with a loud bang, making quite a noise, Uncle Qin subconsciously continued to chase him down.
After a while, Uncle Qin chased to the first floor and chased him out.
Tao Tao smacked her lips, "Uncle Qin's skills are amazing!"
Song Zhi was both angry and annoyed, "Who told you to call him to chase us!"
Tao Tao said innocently, "Then how do I know he will really come after me?" After a pause, she praised him sweetly, "Song Zhi, you are really smart! Isn't this a trick called repairing the plank road in the open and crossing Chencang in secret?"
Song Zhi felt that hiding with her in the dark corridor was both tense and exciting. Now that he had received her praise, he felt an indescribable sweetness in his heart...
Uncle Qin came back in the darkness, and as he went upstairs, he muttered to himself, "Are these two little guys also martial artists? How could they run faster than me? Are they hiding in this corridor?"
Taotao trembled as she squeezed into Song Zhi's arms.
Song Zhi hugged her, feeling full of satisfaction.
At this time, Aunt Qin upstairs leaned over the stair railing, looked down, and called out, "Old Qin? What's wrong?"
Uncle Qin was disappointed that he failed to catch up with them. "Oh, I didn't catch up with them. They ran away!"
——Is he old? !
Aunt Qin cursed, "...They ate our meal and gave us gifts as compensation. This is the courtesy of young people and their upbringing. You should just politely decline. They will come again tomorrow morning... We can prepare a return gift for them later. But you chased them away like a chicken! Are you sick?"
Taotao and Song Zhi, who were hiding in the corridor, tried hard to hold back their laughter.
Uncle Qin was a bit unwilling to give up. "No, I don't think they can run that far with their skills. Maybe they are trying to make a feint to the east and attack in the west, and are hiding in our corridor right now..."
Taotao and Song Zhi hugged each other even tighter——
"Come back right now!" Aunt Qin roared.
Uncle Qin suddenly became timid, "Hey, I'll be right there! Right away!" Then he went upstairs again with bags of things in his hands.
Taotao and Song Zhi stayed in the darkness for a while before they tiptoed out of the corridor and groped in the dark on the first floor to find Song Zhi's shoes. Then the two of them came out together.
When they returned to the guesthouse, they discovered that there was a lot of coal dust on Song Zhi’s white shirt, and Taotao’s face had turned into a little cat?
Both of them laughed out loud.
"Song Zhi, I've never been chased like this before. Hahahahaha, it's too thrilling, too exciting, and too fun..."
Song Zhi also laughed happily.
He had never experienced anything so thrilling and exciting before. It gave him the illusion that he was still in his childhood and was being chased around by his elders because he had done something bad.
Taotao's laughter suddenly stopped.
"Song Zhi, Uncle Qin is so good at martial arts, what do you think... can Xiao Zhuzi and I ask him for some advice on how to keep fit?" Tao Tao asked, "If our martial arts can be as good as Uncle Qin's, then we won't have to worry about Du Pangguai or Li Pangguai anymore!"
Song Zhi nodded, thought for a moment, and then said, "Uncle Qin and his wife have no children, and Cheng Zhujun and her brother are orphans without elders. Perhaps we can introduce them to each other and help each other."
Taotao's eyes widened in shock.
"Song Zhi, why didn't I think of this?" She said sincerely, "You are really amazing. You always think more and more deeply than me!"
Song Zhi thought for a moment before answering, "Because these are all things related to you."
Taotao was a little confused.
However, it was almost dawn and she was very sleepy. She yawned and didn't want to think about it.
Had a good sleep——
The next morning, Taotao was woken up by Song Zhi. She rubbed her eyes and washed up. Then the two went to find Cheng Zhujun.
Cheng Zhujun had already gone to the butcher and brought back the five pounds of top-quality pork belly and two shanks that Taotao had requested yesterday, as well as the beef that Song Zhi had requested. In addition, the flour, milk powder, black pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes and other things that Song Zhi had requested had already been prepared yesterday and were all brought out now.
Tao Tao handed the money to Cheng Zhujun, and stared at the pork belly from left to right, "Xiao Zhuzi, can you lend me your kitchen knife? This piece of meat is so big, it's hard to hold."
Cheng Zhujun really took the kitchen knife.
Taotao cut off the best piece, which weighed about three or four pounds, and then said to Cheng Zhujun, "I want this piece, and the rest is all yours."
Cheng Zhujun was shocked and quickly declined, "No, no, no! This won't do!"
Tao Tao, "Just take it! It's not much! How about this...you can use the bones to make a pot of soup, and then send two bowls to the guesthouse for me and Song Zhi to have as dinner!"
Cheng Zhujun hesitated for a while and agreed, "Taotao, thank you!"
Tao Tao asked her again, "Do you want to learn Kung Fu?"
Cheng Zhujun nodded without thinking, "Of course I did! If I were strong and knew Kung Fu, I wouldn't have to be afraid of people like Du Pangguai in the future! Why, you can do it?"
Taotao shook her head.
Cheng Zhujun sighed.
Taotao looked at the small daily necessities in Cheng Zhujun's stock, asked for two boxes of vanishing cream and a set of sofa covers, paid Cheng Zhujun according to the market price, and then left with Song Zhi.
On the way, Taotao saw a vendor selling grapes, so she bought two large bunches of grapes, and then went to Qin's house with Song Zhi.
Aunt Qin is not at home.
Uncle Qin must have been severely reprimanded by Aunt Qin last night. When he met Taotao and Song Zhi, he did not mention a word about what happened last night. He received them with a smile. As for the new gifts of vanishing cream, sofa cover and grapes brought by Taotao, he did not even have the courage to refuse. He just said thank you repeatedly...
Then he took Taotao and Song Zhi to his kitchen.
Taotao asked Uncle Qin how to stew meat fastest.
Uncle Qin, "Use a pressure cooker! Just press it and it'll be done!"
——In this era, not every household can afford a pressure cooker. But Uncle Qin is the chef of a state-owned restaurant. A few years ago, when the unit was checking the inventory, it found a pressure cooker that had been broken for many years. Uncle Qin later took it back, had it repaired, and replaced the rubber ring and continued to use it, which worked quite well.
Taotao nodded in confusion.
She doesn’t know how to use a pressure cooker, but it doesn’t matter, just do the preliminary preparations first!
So Uncle Qin watched Taotao clumsily cut the pork belly and added some ginger, onion, garlic, etc...
"Is it okay now?" Uncle Qin asked in disbelief.
Is it that simple?
Taotao nodded.
Uncle Qin had no choice but to wash his own pressure cooker and gave it to Taotao, "Put everything you want to stew in this pot. I'll put the lid on it and put it on the fire. It will be ready in fifteen minutes. Let it steam out and you can eat it in half an hour! You don't need to put too much water!"
Taotao understood, so she threw the chopped pork belly, washed ginger, onion and garlic into the pressure cooker, and added some soy sauce, salt and so on.
Finally, she pulled out a small cloth bag from her pocket and took out a few pieces of dried things that looked like small tree trunks.
Take out a small piece, wash it, and throw it into the pressure cooker.
"What's wrong with you?" Uncle Qin's occupational disease came back.
Tao Tao generously handed the cloth bag to Uncle Qin, "This is our village's secret weapon, stewed meat with herbs!"
"Isn't this a tree branch?" Uncle Qin took the thing and looked at it over and over again.
Taotao smiled and said, "Uncle, can you help me add water? I'm not sure how much water to add."
"Come, let me do it!" Uncle Qin returned the cloth bag to Taotao, then added a little water to the pressure cooker, covered it with a lid, and placed the pot on the coal stove.
At this time, Song Zhi was already adding flour and water, cracking a few eggs into the mixture, and starting to knead the dough.
Song Zhi's movements are now more realistic...
Uncle Qin commented on him, "Xiao Song looks like he doesn't usually cook, but his skills in mixing and kneading dough are pretty good, he's quite talented!"
Tao Tao asked from the side, "Uncle Qin, are you good at fighting?"
Uncle Qin: ...
"Well, I and we are all civilized people. How can we hit others casually?" Uncle Qin said sternly.
Tao Tao, "Uncle Qin, can you teach me how to beat someone up?"
Uncle Qin: ...
A light bulb went off in his head, and he remembered what happened yesterday and understood. But after looking at Song Zhi, Uncle Qin said, "If Xiao Song is with you, you don't have to worry about this, right?"
Tao Tao, "I ran into Du Pangguai yesterday! Besides, Song Zhi can't always be by my side, right? When I went to the ladies' room, did he follow me?"
Uncle Qin, "Then..."
Tao Tao continued, "What if the next kidnapper is a woman, and she specifically waits in the women's restroom to snatch people?"
With a loud bang, Song Zhi, who was kneading dough, almost overturned the enamel basin.
Uncle Qin agreed without hesitation, "I'll teach you some grappling techniques right now! I learned them in the army before, you should practice more... Wait a minute, I'll move the table in this room."
As he spoke, Uncle Qin moved the tables and chairs in the living room to make room, then slowed down his movements and taught Taotao one move at a time.
He didn't teach much, just three moves, then explained the movements in detail and demonstrated them non-stop...
Aunt Qin went out to buy things. When she came back with bags of things, she saw Old Qin teaching Taotao boxing?
"Taotao and Xiaosong are here!" Aunt Qin said enthusiastically.
Taotao quickly greeted Aunt Qin, and Song Zhi also stuck his head out from the kitchen to greet Aunt Qin.
Uncle Qin continued to teach Taotao how to box.
Aunt Qin asked curiously, "What happened?"
Tao Tao, "Aunt, my sister and I met a kidnapper yesterday. We were scared to death. I was thinking about whether I could learn some martial arts from my uncle. If I encounter a kidnapper who robs people on the street again in the future, I can teach him a lesson!"
Aunt Qin nodded, "That's something you need to learn! Come on, you two practice first, I'll put the things away... and then I'll fight Taotao!"
Tao Tao, "Can Auntie do it too?"
"meeting!"
Aunt Qin put the things away and went to the kitchen to see Song Zhi's results. Then she returned to the living room and taught Taotao how to fight with Lao Qin.
Tao Tao was an immortal princess in her previous life. She knew how to fly with a sword and cast simple spells. However, when people in the immortal world fought each other, unless they were physical cultivators, they mostly used magic weapons and spells to fight the enemy, and rarely engaged in physical combat.
But the one Uncle Qin taught her was a close combat tactic, and it required a lot of skills.
Taotao doesn’t know how to do that at all.
Uncle Qin is an adult male, so he had to be cautious when instructing Taotao, so the progress was very slow.
Now that Aunt Qin has joined, since they are both women, there are not so many rules to follow. The two of them simulate fighting, and Uncle Qin gives instructions...
Taotao's learning progress is much faster.
Half an hour later, the braised pork in the pressure cooker was ready and exuded a charming aroma.
Aunt Qin sniffed it and praised, "What a nice smell!"
Uncle Qin was also a little surprised - he knew Taotao's level of stewing meat. In the eyes of a professional chef like him, the pork belly was not even blanched in water to make braised pork, nor was it fried in oil or with fine rice wine beforehand. Moreover, Taotao almost cut her finger when cutting the pork belly. Her cooking skills were simply horrible!
But why does it smell so good? Could it really be the effect of the stewed meat vanilla that Taotao mentioned?
He went to the kitchen and deflated the pressure cooker.
Aunt Qin saw Taotao's blushing face and asked with a smile, "Are you tired, Taotao?"
Taotao nodded.
"Then let's take a break! Come, Taotao, eat this!" After saying that, Aunt Qin took out an insulated lunch bucket she had just brought back from outside.
Unscrewing the lid, Aunt Qin took out a few cream popsicles!
Taotao's eyes lit up, "Cream popsicle!"
Aunt Qin smiled and asked, "Have you eaten it before?"
Taotao nodded, "I ate it once with Xiaozhuzi, it's delicious!"
"Then let's eat! We all have some! I bought four, one for each of us!" Aunt Qin went out to distribute popsicles and came back, then sat on the sofa with Taotao, watching her eat the popsicles.
Taotao licked the popsicle and found it so sweet. She said, "… This is the second time I've eaten cream popsicles! Xiaozhuzi said there are also glutinous rice and red date popsicles, and red bean and mung bean popsicles… But I thought we have glutinous rice and red date popsicles, and red bean and mung bean popsicles in our village, but not cream popsicles… So last time we had cream popsicles. Oh, this cream popsicle is so delicious!"
Aunt Qin asked casually, "Who is Xiao Zhuzi?"
Taotao told her about the situation of Cheng Zhujun and her brother.
Aunt Qin suddenly felt very distressed, "You said... that little Zhuzi, she is only sixteen this year?"
"She's only fifteen! She won't be sixteen until next year!" Taotao said.
Aunt Qin said, "This child is so pitiful and admirable! Oh Taotao, please introduce her to us. If she has any difficulties in the future, just let her come to us! We don't have many relatives or friends here, so please help us if you can!"
This is what Taotao wants!
So she smiled and said, "Okay, she often sets up a stall in the black market... She was the one who accompanied me to the state-owned restaurant for dinner that day. When uncle and aunt go out to work later, let's leave half an hour earlier and I'll take you to see her?"
"It's settled!" Aunt Qin made the decision!
At this time, the aroma of braised pork wafting from the kitchen became stronger and stronger.
Taotao swallowed her saliva and felt that the cream popsicle in her mouth became a little tasteless. She stopped licking it and started taking small bites of it. She finished the popsicle in just a few bites.
Aunt Qin was also a little uneasy. She kept glancing at the kitchen and asked, "What do you think your uncle is doing in the kitchen?"
Uncle Qin poked his head out of the kitchen and said with a smile, "The meat that Taotao stewed doesn't have enough salt... There's not enough salt. Wait for me to put it back in the pot and add some salt!"
Taotao let out an "ah" and felt a little regretful.
Aunt Qin really loved the pretty and lovely Taotao, so she rubbed her head and asked, "You don't cook much at home, do you?"
Tao Tao whispered, "I'm not very good at cooking," and then turned out the corner of her clothes to show Aunt Qin, and said proudly, "But I'm very good at sewing clothes. No matter whose clothes are torn in our family, my sister-in-law and I are the ones who sew them!"
Aunt Qin had noticed from the beginning that Taotao was not only pretty, but also kept herself clean and tidy. Although her clothes were old, they were quite delicate. When she saw the fine stitches on the corners of her clothes, she smiled and said, "What a lovely little girl!"
In the kitchen, Uncle Qin and Song Zhi also started chatting. I don’t know what they talked about, but they were chatting and laughing, and it sounded like they were getting along very happily.
After about an hour of hard work, it was time for dinner at ten o'clock in the morning.
This breakfast doesn’t feel like breakfast, and lunch doesn’t feel like lunch...it seems so strange.
The main course was braised pork with peaches, the portion was quite generous and came on a large plate. Because it was processed by Uncle Qin, it looks very good, fat, elastic, shiny and plump.
Secondly, there was a large plate of beef noodles made by Song Zhi, and a bowl of soup that looked like both noodle paste and porridge.
Song Zhi explained, "This is a Western meal, black pepper fried steak, plus noodles with tomato sauce, and the soup is milk mushroom soup... Because there are still some ingredients missing, the taste may be a little strange, so don't force it if you are not used to it."
Taotao stared closely at the large plate in front of her.
There were two kinds of food on the big plate - beef cubes cut into small cubes, and white and plump hand-rolled noodles mixed with red tomato puree but without any soup. The two kinds of food were served on the same plate, but clearly separated on each side, just like a couple who were the most affectionate and loving in front of others but ignored each other behind closed doors.
For a moment, even Taotao herself couldn't understand why she suddenly had such a feeling.
Song Zhi's eyes were always fixed on her.
Taotao picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of beef cubes, and put it into her mouth.
——This beef is relatively lean, but lean beef can easily become tough. I don't know what method he used to make the 90% lean beef so tender and smooth. The beef is filled with rich gravy. When you take a bite, the meat is soft and elastic, melting without any residue, and the juice splashes everywhere. The surface of the beef cubes is fried fragrantly and sprinkled with slightly spicy and rich black pepper. It is very delicious!
Seeing Taotao's expression of enjoyment, Song Zhi felt relieved.
Taotao rolled up a small handful of noodles with chopsticks and ate it.
——The noodles are very chewy and the sauce has the flavor of beef and the sourness of tomatoes.
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