"dad!"
The first thing Zhao Xiaoxiu did after getting up was rush downstairs to the kitchen to find her father.
Zhao Gang was indeed inside. He took a moment to turn around and point to the food on the table, saying, "Eat it while it's hot."
"Good morning, Dad," Zhao Xiaoxiu said happily.
Zhao Gang smiled and replied, "Good morning."
It rained all night and hasn't stopped yet, but the rain has lessened. People are staying at home, and only the father, daughter, and Sister Monkey are in the house.
The kitchen was quiet, and the crackling sound of the flames burning in the stove was close at hand, bringing warmth and peace to one's heart.
Zhao Xiaoxiu climbed onto the stool and sat down at the dining table. On the table was half a bowl of steaming mashed potatoes with fresh tomato sauce.
There was also a bottle of warm yogurt, poured into a red mushroom-shaped ceramic cup. Zhao Xiaoxiu picked it up with both hands, first inhaling the aroma, then bringing her mouth to the rim of the cup and sipping it slowly.
Perhaps it was because the sound of the rain outside was so gentle that her movements were also languid and slow. Even though she had just gotten up, her eyes were squinted, as if she was about to fall asleep again.
"This feels so good..." the little guy exclaimed contentedly after finishing half a cup of yogurt.
Two short legs under the table, carrying white cotton slippers, wiggled back and forth.
After drinking the yogurt, my appetite was whetted, and I picked up a spoon and ate the mashed potatoes in big bites.
After steaming or boiling the potatoes, use a small, round wooden mallet to patiently mash and crush them little by little, mixing all the powdery potato pieces together. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on top, mix thoroughly, and put the mixture into a bowl. Then, swirl it out like an ice cream cone to create a torch-shaped top.
A spoonful of bright orange tomato sauce drizzled on top truly transforms it into a blazing torch.
Zhao Xiaoxiu stirred the 'torch' into a lump, and the tomato sauce was evenly mixed into the mashed potatoes. With one bite, the rich mashed potatoes and tomato sauce fully blended and melted in her mouth, smooth and fragrant.
Zhao Xiaoxiu ate the whole bowl of mashed potatoes clean, not even letting go of the mashed potatoes stuck to the back of the spoon.
She finished the remaining half cup of yogurt in one gulp and handed Zhao Gang a clean bowl and spoon that looked as if they had never been used.
Sister Monkey smelled the aroma and ran downstairs. She was shocked when she saw the shiny tableware.
Little cub, have you never had a full meal?
Zhao Xiaoxiu grinned lazily at it, leaned back in her chair, and fell into a slightly tipsy state of being full and satisfied. She didn't want to move or think; she just wanted to space out and daydream.
Staying home on a rainy day is so nice!
Zhao Gang was busy in front of the stove. All the sunflower seeds that had been dried earlier fell off the flowerpot, and he got a full basket of sunflower seeds, a total of sixty catties.
The rain keeps falling, and there's nothing to do today, so I'll just roast all these sunflower seeds. They can be given to the cubs as snacks.
If you get tired of eating them, you can sell them; those gossipy lords would probably love them.
The seeds produced by the evolved sunflower don't have a strange taste; they taste almost exactly the same as the seeds before the cataclysm.
If there's no strange taste, there's no need to use heavy seasonings to mask it, so Zhao Gang plans to stir-fry half of it with salt and the other half directly to keep its original flavor.
Heat a cast iron pot over low heat. Once the pot is hot, pour in the sunflower seeds and stir-fry them repeatedly and quickly with a large wooden spatula to ensure even heating.
The rustling sound of stir-frying finally brought Zhao Xiaoxiu back from her slightly tipsy state.
He ran excitedly to the stove and asked, "Dad, what are you cooking?"
Monkey Sister had been standing eagerly in front of the stove, watching intently. She grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds that hadn't been cooked yet and handed them to Zhao Xiaoxiu: "Your dad is roasting sunflower seeds, they smell amazing!"
Monkey Sister eats whatever Zhao Xiaoxiu eats, as she is an omnivore and there is almost nothing she cannot eat.
However, it only moderately likes things like French fries, yogurt, and grilled fish.
Sunflower seeds and fruit are its favorite foods.
Monkey Sister busied herself with helping Zhao Gang chop wood and start the fire, all so that Zhao Gang would give her an extra half pound of roasted sunflower seeds later.
Seeing how hard it worked, Zhao Gang poured a special dish of sunflower seeds for it when the first batch of roasted sunflower seeds was ready.
Monkeys are mostly similar creatures; once they get something, they don't care about the consequences.
Having received a plate of roasted melon seeds, Sister Monkey felt instantly satisfied. She took the plate and went into her room, ignoring the fire and the firewood, and started cracking melon seeds in the room.
Still feeling the atmosphere was missing, he turned on Zhao Xiaoxiu's TV and started watching TV while eating sunflower seeds.
Zhao Xiaoxiu witnessed the whole thing and was dumbfounded by Monkey Sister's actions.
Zhao Gang shrugged at the cub. Now you know why your dad has always disliked this monkey, right?
"Squeak! Little one, come and eat some sunflower seeds with me!"
Monkey Sister's call came from the stairwell, and Zhao Xiaoxiu couldn't help but laugh. Monkey Sister is still very loyal, she didn't eat alone.
Seeing his cub's smile, Zhao Gang shook his head helplessly and let them be.
"I'm not eating, you eat by yourself, I have something to do," Zhao Xiaoxiu said upstairs.
Monkey Sister: "Squeak!" Okay, don't blame me for not calling you.
Zhao Xiaoxiu put the bowls, spoons, and cups on the dining table into the sink, dried her hands on a towel, and then wandered around the first floor with her hands behind her back.
She first went to the storage room to check the supplies the family had stockpiled. There were instant noodles, candy, and plenty of oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, guns, and ammunition.
Then I went to the kitchen and looked at the refrigerator and freezer. Inside, there was yogurt, enough nutritional liquid to last a year, and freshly picked tomatoes.
On the beam in front of the kitchen stove, there were seven or eight strips of smoked, mutated animal meat hanging.
There's absolutely no need to worry about food and drink.
Strolling to the woodshed, I found two walls lined with firewood, all neatly cut and of uniform length. We could use it every day for cooking and heating, and even into winter, we wouldn't run out.
I opened the back door of the woodshed and peeked out, only to be drenched in the rain by the oncoming wind. I quickly closed the door again.
"Rainy days are not suitable for going out," Zhao Xiaoxiu said firmly.
I turned around and ran to the rooftop energy storage room to check the batteries, which were full of power.
I checked the working status of the photovoltaic panels again, and everything was normal. Although it was a cloudy and rainy day, the energy absorbed was enough for daily use if we were careful with it.
The only problem is that a filter cartridge was forgotten in the water tower.
Zhao Xiaoxiu and Zhao Gang can drink any kind of water without any problem, but since there will be other people at home now, it's better to add a filter cartridge.
So Zhao Xiaoxiu ran downstairs again, took the filter cartridge she had forgotten in the corner of the storage room, and threw it into the water tower.
Zhao Xiaoxiu spent the entire morning running up and down the stairs of her house.
By noon, the foggy sky brightened a bit and turned into a light drizzle.
Zhao Xiaoxiu sat at her doorstep, observing the mutated plants in her yard.
The turquoise flowers, dwarf pines, and green fairy plants, after being rained on for 12 hours, looked refreshed and seemed to have been nourished.
But there was no sign of it descending into madness; it remained as docile as an ordinary plant from the old forest.
Meanwhile, the mutated scallions, ginger, chili peppers, and cabbages that Granny Meng planted under the courtyard wall grew taller overnight. When Zhao Xiaoxiu threw a pebble at them, they immediately adopted an aggressive posture.
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