Chapter 29 : Pork Dumpling Potato Mash with Wood Ear Mushrooms and White Flour Dumpling Soup

Of course, Zheng Lanhua heard Fang Xiaoluo’s voice.

Seeing her peering into the pot with her feet up, Zheng Lanhua coldly said, “What are you looking at? There’s nothing for you in there!”

Fang Xiaoluo was surprised. “Mom, what did you say? Is this food for people?”

Zheng Lanhua gave her a glance. “What else would it be? With so many good ingredients, are they supposed to be fed to the pigs? Young people nowadays don’t know the hardships of the past, so arrogant!”

Fang Xiaoluo raised her hands in a mock gesture of surrender. “Alright, I’ll admit it, I’ve never seen anything like this before. This food is so good, I really can’t bear to eat it. You all go ahead and eat more.”

With that, Fang Xiaoluo walked into the kitchen, preparing to see what dishes were being made.

Even if Zheng Lanhua gave her this food, she wouldn’t eat it, she was afraid of food poisoning.

Fang Xiaoluo seemed to understand something now. No wonder the three kids, even after being brought back for nearly a month, were still pale and thin with little improvement. It seemed that Zheng Lanhua was a kitchen killer.

With this kind of “dark cooking,” it could easily destroy any kitchen.

The real problem was, Shen Zheng had grown up eating this stuff. No wonder he was a bit lenient with her.

Fang Xiaoluo walked around and found some cabbage, carrots, and a large radish on the shelf. In another basket, there were eggs, and in a bag, dried wood ear mushrooms.

Next to the water barrel, there were two pieces of meat.

There was no doubt, there was plenty of food.

After a quick thought, she began to work on it herself.

First, she soaked a handful of wood ear mushrooms, then washed the cabbage, carrots, and radish.

Next, she cut everything into thin strips and set them aside.

Meanwhile, Zheng Lanhua’s “dark cooking” was done, and the house was filled with an indescribable strange smell, very fishy.

She held a basin of unidentifiable food and glanced at Fang Xiaoluo, who was busy. After hesitating for a while, she turned and left.

Fang Xiaoluo could hear the conversation outside between the children and their grandmother.

Shen Haifeng: “Grandma, actually… you don’t need to cook the meat. Just steam some potatoes, wash the cabbage, and we can dip it in sauce to eat, that’s fine.”

Zheng Lanhua: “You’re too young, only eating those things doesn’t have any nutrition.”

Shen Haifeng: “Grandma, actually I can cook it myself.”

Zheng Lanhua: “Cook what? If you get burned, I’ll do it for you. Quickly, tell Haiping to come eat.”

Shen Jinxia: “Grandma, is there any food left from lunch?”

Zheng Lanhua: “No, it’s all gone. I made something new. Although it’s not as good as the food from the canteen at lunch, it’s very nutritious and good for you to grow.”

Using the heat from the stove, Fang Xiaoluo scooped some rice and steamed it.

While the rice was steaming, she salted the cabbage strips and set them aside to pickle.

Then, she began slicing the meat thinly, adding a bit of soy sauce, salt, and egg white, mixing it all together. Finally, she found some starch, which would make the meat tender and smooth when stir-fried.

After marinating the meat, the cabbage was ready, and she washed it clean, adding the carrot strips, rehydrated wood ear mushrooms, and a bit of water to blanch the mushrooms. She also added the sliced vegetables.

The rice steamed quickly. The scent of the rice, a mix of both white and millet, was incredibly fragrant. The kitchen was completely filled with the aroma of freshly cooked rice.

In the next room, the children, who had been forcing themselves to eat, were now distracted by the smell of rice wafting from the kitchen. The food in their hands suddenly didn’t seem appetizing anymore.

Zheng Lanhua tapped the table. “What are you looking at? Can you eat what that woman cooked? She’s steaming rice, and I still have white flour dumplings in my soup.”

“Besides, steaming rice? Who can’t do that? Tomorrow, I’ll steam rice for you too.”

Shen Haifeng thought for a moment. “Grandma, then we’ll steam rice tomorrow too.”

However, as they were speaking, the other smells from the kitchen began to waft over.

The group couldn’t help but swallow at the same time.

Shen Jinxia, being the youngest, spoke up. “Big Brother, what is that smell? It smells so good!”

Shen Haifeng also swallowed but stubbornly said, “It smells good, but you can’t eat it. That’s chili powder. It smells good, but it’ll burn you. It’s not for us to eat.”

“Oh.” Shen Jinxia obediently nodded, then lowered her head to continue eating the dough balls.

Shen Haiping, who had been lost in his own world, finally looked up when he caught a whiff of the chili oil.

But he just glanced for a moment, then lowered his head again to immerse himself in his own thoughts.

Fang Xiaoluo poured hot oil over the chili powder, and the fragrance of the chili oil spread everywhere.

She then added some seasoning, soy sauce, vinegar, a bit of sugar, and salt, stirred it all together, and poured it directly over the cabbage strips.

She used chopsticks to mix the refreshing cold dish.

The white, red, and black colors came together, and though it lacked a bit of green, it still looked appetizing.

Once the cabbage dish was done, the rice was ready.

Fang Xiaoluo moved quickly, heating oil in the pan. With a sizzling sound, the marinated meat was dropped into the pan. She then added ginger and scallions, quickly stir-frying everything.

The meat changed color quickly, and Fang Xiaoluo scooped it out, plating it.

Stir-fried pork was one of her specialties. It would’ve been even better with some chili or chives for flavor.

Time was tight, and she was getting hungry, so she only made these two simple dishes, one with meat and the other with vegetables. She was very satisfied with the result, and they paired well with rice.

Fang Xiaoluo made a large amount of food, then thought for a moment and set aside some portions of each dish. If Shen Zheng came back and hadn’t eaten, he’d still have something to eat.

In the kitchen, the aroma of chili oil, rice, stir-fried meat, and more mixed together. On the other side of the room, the group was looking at the pork-filled potato mash, wood ear mushrooms, and white flour dumpling soup with difficulty, unable to bring themselves to eat it.

Zheng Lanhua never expected that such a beautiful, city-bred young woman would know how to cook.

And what’s more, her cooking was better than hers, despite having been in the kitchen for decades.

Even Shen Haiping, who usually didn’t care about anything and was completely detached, couldn’t help but stare at Fang Xiaoluo.

She brought two large plates of food to the table, then turned around and returned with a big bowl of rice.

Fang Xiaoluo grabbed an empty bowl, sat down without saying a word, served herself some rice, and began eating.

The others watched as she picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks, the meat tender and smooth.

She placed it on the yellow-and-white rice, pouring some of the sauce over it, and ate it.

At that moment, everyone’s saliva began to spread in their mouths.

Zheng Lanhua snorted lightly. The scent of the dish filled the air, but the taste of the dough ball soup in her mouth was far inferior, almost making her feel nauseous.

Fang Xiaoluo was very satisfied with the stir-fried pork she made. She picked up some of the refreshing cabbage with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. The crisp sound of chewing was loud enough for everyone to hear.

When she looked up, she found six-year-old Shen Haiping staring at her.

She thought to herself that this Shen Haiping seemed a bit like he had some form of autism, always lost in his own world.

It was surprising to see him look at her like this now.

Fang Xiaoluo switched to a different pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat, offering it to Shen Haiping’s mouth.

Without saying anything, Shen Haiping opened his mouth and ate it.

“Don’t eat that!” Shen Haifeng shouted from the side, but it was too late.

Shen Haiping chewed the piece of meat slowly, and after a while, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. “It’s delicious.”