Li Hehua prepared the meal as quickly, accurately and fiercely as always. Of course, the aroma also quickly rushed into people's noses, making people drool.
Although the Gu family had believed their neighbor's words and trusted Li Hehua's cooking skills, they had never seen it with their own eyes or eaten it in person, so they had no idea how good it was. Seeing Li Hehua's cooking skills in person, everyone was completely convinced. The kitchen helpers were all full of praise and admiration for Li Hehua, secretly sighing that they had found the right person this time.
The Gu family's eldest daughter-in-law and second daughter-in-law, as well as the youngest daughter, were helping in the kitchen today. The three women watched Li Hehua's every move in the kitchen, especially when they saw Li Hehua's handsome action of frying two pots at the same time, their mouths could hardly close.
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Gu family is a talkative person. She immediately expressed her admiration, "Hey, Chef Li, you are so amazing. I see that your left hand and right hand are just as flexible. Both hands move together so smoothly without delaying either side. You cook so fast. I have never seen anyone with this ability before."
Li Hehua smiled faintly, focusing on the movements of his hands while recalling the words of his eldest daughter-in-law, "I am a person whose left hand is as flexible as my right hand. I usually cook with both hands at the same time. This way, the banquet will be quick, the guests don't have to wait for the food to be served, and the food won't get cold."
The three women of the Gu family nodded in agreement. "This is indeed faster. We were right to invite you this time. Not to mention the speed, the fragrance alone is enough to make people hungry to death."
The youngest daughter of the Gu family looks only eleven or twelve years old. She still looks like a little child. Children are inevitably greedy, and it is even more rare for children from farm families to eat good food. Now, smelling such delicious food, her mouth is already watering. The kitchen helper is also absent-minded. The look in her eyes when she stares at the dishes seems to be glowing. The look is so passionate that Li Hehua cannot ignore it even if he wants to. Seeing her like that, he feels quite amused.
Li Hehua always liked children and was especially kind to them. Seeing the little girl like this, he couldn't bear it, so when he served the chicken, he deliberately left a little bit of it. He put it in a small bowl and placed it on the stove. He said to the women of the Gu family, "We cooked too much chicken. There are still a few pieces left. You can eat them."
The three women were surprised and looked at the chicken in the bowl, a little hesitant. Of course, they wanted to eat it very much, but they had never eaten the food in the kitchen before. Usually, the guests came first, and the kitchen helpers would eat the food last. They used to eat like this when they were helping in the kitchen. If the mother-in-law knew that they were eating in the kitchen in advance, they would be scolded to death.
Seeing a few people hesitating, Li Hehua advised: "It's okay, each person can try one piece. The plate is full, and others won't know if you finish it."
Several people had been craving to eat it for a long time, and after hearing what Li Hehua said, they did not hesitate. Each of them reached out and took a piece and started eating quickly.
The little daughter of the Gu family swallowed the chicken in her mouth and licked her lips. She was still not satisfied, but it was good enough to have a taste first. She squinted her eyes with satisfaction and said to Li Hehua: "Chef, your dishes are delicious. I wish I could make such delicious dishes."
Li Hehua smiled and said, "If you are interested, study hard. As long as you put your heart into it, you will be able to make delicious food. Learn more when you have the chance."
The little girl nodded seriously, and then watched Li Hehua cook attentively. She looked like a good student.
The fourteen dishes were quickly prepared. Everyone was eating in the front room. Aunt Gu walked in happily, took Li Hehua's hand and thanked him: "Chef Li, this is the banquet you made." She raised her thumb and said, "The guests all praised the food. I have to thank you."
Li Hehua waved his hand, "No need to thank me, this is what I should do."
Seeing that she had nothing to do, Li Hehua took the opportunity to say goodbye. Aunt Gu thanked her again and again, took out 160 coins and gave them to her, and then packed a large bag of wedding candies, wedding cakes, peanuts and other things to give to her as a token of her gratitude today. Li Hehua did not refuse, and hurried back to Lianhua Village with these things while it was still early.
It was almost dark when she returned to the He family. The He family had already prepared dinner and was waiting for her to come back and eat.
Li Hehua was tired and hungry. He had not eaten much at Gu's house at noon. Now he sat down to eat dinner directly and drank two bowls of porridge before he felt better.
After eating, Li Hehua gave the candies and peanuts he brought back to the three children, "Here, this is what the family gave me, take it and eat it."
Fourth sister Cao was embarrassed and said, "Big sister, every time you come back from a banquet, you give the food to them and keep it for yourself."
Li Hehua shook his head, "I won't eat this. Eating this stuff will make you fat. I'm trying to lose weight, so it's just right for the children to eat. Take it. Why are you being so polite to me about this little thing?"
After hearing what Li Hehua said, the three children happily accepted it.
At this time, Cao Simei took the initiative to mention the cakes she was selling today. "The children sold very well today. Both baskets of cakes were sold out. They sold faster than I did." Then, she took out all the money in her pocket and handed it to Li Hehua. "Sister, this is what I sold with the children today. The total is 412 coins. Then I bought you red beans, eggs, hawthorns and other things. I spent 62 coins, and there are 350 coins left. You count it."
Li Hehua didn't count and thanked the three children directly: "Thank you for helping Aunt Hehua sell cakes today." Then, he took out twenty-six coins from the pile of money and pushed them in front of the children, "Here, this is your reward for today. It's up to you whether you want to give it to your mother~"
The children covered their mouths and laughed, which made Cao Simei laugh too.
Li Hehua took out another twenty-six coins and handed them to Cao Simei, "Big sister, this is your reward for today. Thank you for your hard work."
After receiving the money, Cao Simei asked, "Big sister, it's so late today, are we still going to make cakes? If so, we can just light an oil lamp and do it."
Li Hehua had originally planned not to make pastries today and take tomorrow as a day off, but then he saw Cao Simei's expectant eyes and realized that Sister Cao was reluctant to take a day off and not make any money tomorrow.
Li Hehua changed her words and said, "Okay, sister, if you don't mind being tired, let's start now and do as much as we can."
Cao Simei was happy and said, "I don't mind being tired, I don't mind being tired." How could she be tired? She could earn more than twenty cents a day and she was happy.
Cao Simei lit three candles in the kitchen and then lit a fire for Li Hehua under the stove. Li Hehua began to knead dough and make pastries, as well as the very popular candied haws.
After being busy for nearly two hours, everything outside was already quiet and the whole village was plunged into tranquility. It was obvious that the villagers had fallen asleep.
Li Hehua rubbed his shoulders, put the cooled cakes into the basket one by one, and said to Cao Simei: "Okay, sister, it's done. Let's go to bed quickly. We have to get up early tomorrow morning to sell cakes in town."
Fourth Sister Cao was also a little sleepy. Seeing that the cakes were ready, she felt relieved and stood up to take off her apron. "Okay, let's go to bed. It's getting late."
Cao Simei fell asleep. Li Hehua walked to the small table and sat down. He stretched out his legs and gently pounded his legs with his fists. He had walked for several hours today and his legs were very sore.
Although it was already late, for some reason he did not feel sleepy at all. Li Hehua sat under the oil lamp and was in a daze, thinking about selling cakes tomorrow, and naturally thought of the little guy.
It has been almost ten days since I last visited the little guy. I wonder if the little guy still remembers her and thinks about her. Last time, the little guy was willing to eat what she fed him. Just thinking about it makes me happy.
The corners of Li Hehua's mouth slowly curled up, and she decided to go again tomorrow. She wanted to bring some delicious food to the little guy.
Why not make Dorayaki for the little one? The raw materials needed for this thing are not complicated, and she happens to have them all. It tastes fragrant and sweet, and is very popular with children. The little one will definitely like it too, and may be happy after eating it.
Li Hehua did what he said. He immediately took out the raw materials needed to make Dorayaki and started making it under the still bright candlelight in the dead of night.
First add granulated sugar and salt to the eggs, beat evenly, then add honey, milk, oil, etc. and stir evenly again.
After that, mix the flour and baking powder, add it into the mixture just made and stir. After it is stirred evenly into a batter, it needs to stand for a quarter of an hour.
While the batter was resting, Li Hehua quickly boiled some hot water and washed up, so that he could go to bed directly after making Dorayaki.
After washing up, the batter is ready. Li Hehua adds a small fire under the stove, then scoops a spoonful of batter into the pot and spreads it into a round shape. When the small bubbles on the batter begin to grow larger and gradually burst, flip it over and fry it for a while. In this way, the Dorayaki pancake is ready.
Finally, sandwich the red bean paste used to make red bean cake between two pancakes, and your fresh Dorayaki is ready.
Looking at the cute Dorayaki and thinking of the little ones eating happily, Li Hehua's mouth curled up. While smiling, he wrapped the Dorayaki in oil paper and put them in the basket, then went to bed.
Because she slept too late last night, Li Hehua couldn't get up, and it was Daya who woke her up.
Li Hehua rubbed his eyes and forced himself to wake up, and kept telling himself in his heart "I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleepy", and then he felt much better.
Today's business was the same as usual. As the market was about to close, the cakes in Li Hehua's basket were almost sold out. Just as she was about to pack up and go back, a voice sounded in front of her, "Do you have any cakes left?"
It was a man's voice.
Li Hehua looked up and saw a young man wearing a sky-blue Confucian robe, with a tall figure and a handsome face. Unlike the ordinary people who came to her to buy cakes before, this man had an indescribable noble temperament, which was out of place in this bustling market.
It was the first time that Li Hehua saw such an elegant and noble person in such a small town. Out of his instinct of being obsessed with looks, he couldn't help but look at him curiously. However, he immediately remembered that this was a feudal ancient society and people should not be looked at randomly. He quickly put away his nature of being obsessed with looks and treated the man as an ordinary customer. He said, "There is still a piece of lotus seed paste and a piece of red bean cake. The rest are sold out."
The man was obviously a little disappointed, "No more?" Two pieces were too few.
Li Hehua shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, the others are all sold out, and only these two pieces are left. But I'll come again tomorrow, so if you want to eat, you can come earlier."
The man thought of the little ancestor at home and sighed, "Then pack these two pieces for me."
Li Hehua nodded, lowered his head, wrapped the last two pieces of cake in a piece of oil paper and handed them to the man.
The man took the cake, took out four cents and paid it to Li Hehua, but he did not leave immediately and remained standing.
Li Hehua looked at the man curiously and saw that he was staring at her basket. She couldn't help but ask, "My dear, do you have anything else to do for me?"
The man pursed his lips, looked at the basket and asked hesitantly: "Boss, do you have anything else in the basket? That oil paper bag..."
Li Hehua was stunned for a second, then realized that he must have seen the package of Dorayaki that she made specifically for Shulin, and thought that there were some more pastries, but she didn't sell them to him.
Li Hehua quickly explained, "This is not for sale. It is reserved for the children at home. Sorry."
Hearing this, the man's face turned slightly red, and he was obviously more embarrassed than Li Hehua. His voice was much lower, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood. It's because my child is very picky about food and doesn't like to eat anything except the cakes you make. So I came here specially to buy them, but I was late and only bought two pieces. I'm afraid these two pieces are not enough for the child. It would be better if there were extra ones, so I asked this question. I'm sorry to make you laugh."
The little ancestor at home was spoiled, and suddenly changed to the current life, and still can't get used to it. He won't eat ordinary simple meals, and he gets angry every day, which makes him exhausted. Yesterday, a student brought cakes from home and gave a piece to the little ancestor. As a result, he unexpectedly ate it very happily, and even asked for more after eating. He had no choice but to ask the student, and then he knew that it was bought from here, so he came here today after school, but he didn't expect that there were only two pieces left. Two pieces would definitely not be enough for the little ancestor to eat, hey......
After listening to the man's words, Li Hehua understood the mentality of this parent very well and shook his head and said it was okay. In fact, he thought the man was a good person. At least he was gentle to children. There were not many men like him in this era.
Considering that there was also a child at home who didn't like to eat, Li Hehua bent down to open the oil paper package in the basket, took out two pieces of Dorayaki from it and handed them to the man, "This is for my child. I can't give you more, so I'll give you two pieces. Go back and give them to your child."
The man was stunned for a moment, then felt a little embarrassed after he reacted. He hesitated for a while, and finally reached out to take it and said thank you: "Thank you, boss, I'll give you the money." As he said that, he was about to take out the money.
Li Hehua waved his hand quickly, "No, this is for your child. If you like it, you can come earlier tomorrow and buy egg cakes and hawthorn cakes. Oh, and there are also candied haws, which are all loved by children."
When the man heard Li Hehua say this, he put down his hand that was about to pay, thought about it, and did not insist on paying. He just smiled and thanked him again, "Thank you, boss. I will come earlier tomorrow." After saying that, he said goodbye and left.
Li Hehua watched the man turn and leave with a smile, then put away the basket and went to West Street. After saying hello to Cao Simei, he hurried to Shangshui Village to find the little guy.
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