novelhk Chapter 16 Celebration
Chapter 16 Celebration
"Grandpa and Grandma, we're back!" Xiao Siyue's voice rang out before she even entered the door, filled with barely suppressed joy.
"Oh my, my precious granddaughter is back." Old Mrs. Xiao, who doted on her granddaughter, would never let her granddaughter finish her sentence. Hearing the sound, she got up and came out of the door to hug Xiao Siyue. "My sweetie, are you tired? Did you miss Grandma?" Anyone who didn't know better would think it had been years since they last saw each other.
After the grandmother and grandson finished their affectionate greeting, they noticed the items Xiao Qinian had placed on the ground. Their faces darkened. "Why did you buy so much? Don't you want to live a good life anymore?" Grandma Xiao was genuinely distressed; how much money must that have cost?
"Don't you know how to be frugal? Don't you know our family's situation?" Old Mrs. Xiao was furious. They usually ate coarse rice and coarse flour, only occasionally buying refined rice and flour for the children. Now, she saw that all they had bought was refined rice and flour.
"Grandma, it's what I wanted to buy. We made some money today, so I thought I'd buy something nice to celebrate." Xiao Siyue saw her grandmother getting angry and quickly took the blame herself. There was nothing she could do; her father was cowering to the side like a quail, not daring to say a word.
"It turns out that Yue'er bought it. Yue'er is such a filial and good child. She just started earning money and she already knows how to buy things for the family."
"Come on, Grandma steamed an egg for you. Our Yue'er must be hungry," Old Mrs. Xiao said, pulling Xiao Siyue into the house without even glancing at Xiao Qinian.
Old Mrs. Xiao's ability to change her expression so quickly is truly astounding. Just a moment ago she was furious, and now she's all smiles and kindness.
Xiao Siyue was pulled along by her grandmother. She turned back and looked at her father with some sympathy before turning away and happily eating her steamed egg.
There's some father-daughter affection, but not much.
in the afternoon
The Xiao family began preparing for dinner. The whole family was busy, but their faces were full of joy and happiness. They hadn't had a proper meal in a long time.
Xiao Siyue planned to use half of the pork belly to make celery dumplings and the other half to make cabbage dumplings. They had bought a lot of flour today, and they couldn't leave it all for the younger children. Shouldn't we share the good fortune? They decided to make dumplings and eat them together.
As for the pork ribs, I'll just stew them into soup. Luckily, I have some radishes at home.
My eldest and second aunts boiled water and washed the meat, while my grandmother and Xiao's mother kneaded dough and chopped vegetables. The kitchen was very well organized.
"Ugh, why did you buy pig intestines? Not only are they hard to clean, but they also have a foul smell," Zhao Yindi said, holding the intestines in one hand and covering her nose with the other, clearly disgusted.
Although Liu Cui didn't speak, her shifting body to the side said it all.
Xiao Siyue stood at the door, overjoyed. Sure enough, no one is immune to the urge to eat pig intestines. She used to hate them too, thinking they were too dirty, but after eating them once, she fell in love with them.
"Auntie, you can clean the large intestine with wood ash; it's not only clean but also removes the fishy smell." Actually, if you want it even cleaner, you can use flour, but that's impractical—flour is too precious.
Under Xiao Siyue's direction, Zhao Yindi first cut open the large intestine with scissors, rinsed it with clean water, then sprinkled it with wood ash, rubbed it repeatedly, peeled off the excess fat, and finally rinsed it several times with clean water before she was finished.
"It really doesn't smell as bad anymore," Zhao Yindi said, taking another sniff after washing, somewhat incredulous, as if she had opened the door to a new world.
Cut the cleaned pork intestines into sections, put them in a pot, add water, and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam, then remove the intestines and rinse them twice. Next, take a small porcelain jar, put the intestines in, add ginger and scallions, and Xiao Siyue also went to the main room to get some white wine she bought that day and poured it in. She then added some salt and other seasonings. Nowadays, people don't use many seasonings, but she knew they were available at the pharmacy, so she bought some.
Xiao Siyue chuckled to herself, recalling the pained look on her grandfather's face when she fetched the wine. She vowed to brew some fine wine for her grandfather when she had the chance, so he could drink his fill.
Shortly after the pork intestines were stewed, Xiao Qiren returned.
"Here you go. I ran into a fishmonger on my way back today, so I bought one," Xiao Qiren said, handing a fish that weighed about four or five pounds to Zhao Yindi.
Xiao Siyue was thinking that there might not be enough food today, so adding an extra fish should be enough.
That evening, the entire Xiao family gathered.
Looking at the steamed fish, a large pot of stewed pork intestines, a stir-fried cabbage, several plates of tender white dumplings, and a pot of pork rib and radish soup on the table, it was quite a feast.
Seeing Grandpa Xiao start eating, everyone couldn't wait to start stuffing the food into their mouths, especially the grandchildren of the Xiao family. Ever since they returned, the aroma from the kitchen had been wafting out, and they all wished they could run into the kitchen and sneak a bite. In the end, they managed to resist. Even Grandpa Xiao and the Xiao brothers were drooling from the delicious smell.
The food on the table disappeared in no time, like leeches passing through.
Everyone in the Xiao family ate with great satisfaction. At this moment, everyone was rubbing their bellies, still savoring the sumptuous meal they had just enjoyed.
Xiao Qiren was alright; as the restaurant owner, he could eat well every day. However, he felt that the restaurant's food was somewhat lacking compared to today's meal.
"Mother, how come I didn't know you had this skill before!" Xiao Qiren said with some emotion.
"It's not that we're good at cooking; Yue'er guided us in making all the dishes today." Old Mrs. Xiao was very proud at this moment. Look at her good granddaughter, she's so young, yet she can come up with such good ideas.
"Huh? Mother, are you serious?" Xiao Qiren sat up abruptly, somewhat disbelieving.
"Of course, would I lie to you?" Old Mrs. Xiao glared at Xiao Qiren with annoyance.
Next, Xiao Siyue blushed under the endless flattery of the Xiao family members. She felt ashamed, as this was not what she wanted to do, something that almost everyone knew in her previous life.
Moreover, she didn't think it tasted very good. After all, there aren't many seasonings available now, so it's not up to standard. It's probably because most dishes are boiled now with too little oil, so the taste isn't very good. Today, their dishes had a lot of oil in them.
Especially now that there's no soy sauce, which is an essential seasoning for cooking, she can't believe they don't have it anymore. She remembers reading in books that soy sauce existed in ancient times. She wants to make it herself, but she doesn't know how. She only remembers that it's made from soybeans, and nothing else.
"Yue'er, I think these dishes of yours are very good. Your uncle is thinking if you could sell the recipes to Jixiang Restaurant." Although Jixiang Restaurant is doing well, as the restaurant owner, he really couldn't miss such good dishes.
“Sure, Uncle, I’ll tell you the recipe in a bit,” Xiao Siyue said without hesitation. This was her uncle who doted on her, and she certainly wouldn’t be stingy with such a small request. Besides, it was just a few more recipes; she didn’t care at all.
"Don't worry, I won't let Yue'er suffer any losses. When our boss comes back in a while, I'll tell him that the price will definitely not be low." Xiao Qiren felt very pleased to see that Xiao Siyue was not hiding anything. He naturally wouldn't let his people suffer any losses.