10

The little yellow cart can’t be added, and even if Lin You wanted to make egg cakes, she wouldn’t have the manpower for it. So, when Liu Yu privately asked if these egg cakes could be listed for sale, Lin You declined without hesitation.

“Thank you for your support, but the live stream won’t be offering these for sale at the moment. You can follow the live stream for future giveaways.”

Yao Jiu admired Lin You: “Youyou, I think you’re really amazing.”

She can cook, and she can do live streaming. Even farming—Yao Jiu felt that Lin You seemed more familiar with it than herself.

Yao Jiu: “So, should we take advantage of this and stream more hours each day?”

Strike while the iron is hot.

Lin You: “Let’s take two days off first.”

Yao Jiu: ??

Lin You explained: “I plan to go down the mountain to the county. There are too many things missing at home. Besides, it’s also a good time to take a break from streaming for a few days.”

She hadn’t fully capitalized on the buzz from her last stream yet, so a few days’ break would help the public opinion ferment a little more. Otherwise, a new stream would just cut off the momentum from the last one.

Yao Jiu didn’t understand, but she still thought Lin You was amazing.

“Let’s go tomorrow, then. What do you want to buy?”

Although most daily necessities could be bought in the town, some things were still hard to find. Their refrigerator was old and outdated, so Lin You planned to buy a bigger one. She also needed to get an air conditioner, as although the summer in the mountains was cool, the winter could be quite harsh. Having an air conditioner would make things more convenient. Apart from these, Lin You also wanted to buy an oven…

Yao Jiu: “I know where to go now. Get up early tomorrow, and we’ll catch the morning bus to Jingshui County.”

Lin You thought Yao Jiu was going to take her to a big electronics store, so she woke up early the next day and went with Yao Jiu to catch the bus down the mountain.

It took over two hours for the vehicle to travel down the winding mountain roads from Lianhua Town to Jingshui County.

Yao Jiu led Lin You through winding streets, and soon they arrived at a run-down appliance repair shop.

Lin You: ???

Yao Jiu chuckled, turned around, and shouted into the store: “Zhao Jinzi! Jinzi!”

A short, plump man wearing a plain T-shirt came out of the store, looking displeased: “Old Bai, can you stop calling me by my nickname? My name is Zhao Xin.”

Zhao Xin was not tall, but despite his short and chubby appearance, his small eyes gave off a sharp and shrewd vibe.

Yao Jiu was very familiar with him. Zhao Xin was her classmate and fellow townsman from college. After returning to his hometown, he opened an appliance repair shop. Of course, he also sold secondhand electronics.

Yao Jiu whispered to Lin You: “Some of the things here are as good as new, and they’re cheap too.”

Lin You didn’t mind, as long as the quality was good, whether it was new or secondhand didn’t matter.

Lin You picked out a double-door refrigerator that looked about 90% new, an air conditioner that supposedly came from a gym that went out of business just two months after opening, and bought a brand new oven. All together, it only cost three thousand yuan.

Zhao Xin patted his chest and assured her: “If there’s any problem, just find me. I’ll replace it within a year, and it’s under warranty for five years.”

Not only that, but Zhao Xin also handled delivery and installation services, so Lin You and Yao Jiu managed to hitch a ride back home.

Once everything was settled, Yao Jiu complained about being hungry, and Lin You wanted to test the new oven, so she took out some fish she had bought down the mountain and decided to make grilled fish.

The grass carp was split in half, and a few slashes were made on the fish body. After marinating it with scallions, ginger, cooking wine, salt, and soy sauce for a while, the oven was preheated. A layer of onions was placed at the bottom of the baking tray, and the fish was laid on top before being put in the oven to bake for half an hour.

Heat the pan, add oil, and throw in the ingredients. The pickled chili peppers are the soul of the dish. Stir-fry them with the hotpot base, then add a variety of seasonings and vegetables. Pour hot water over the vegetables.

Finally, pour the vegetables and soup onto the plate with the grilled fish, and sprinkle a layer of chopped green onions and cilantro on top.

When the grilled fish is taken out of the oven, the fish skin is already crispy and sizzling with oil. The golden, crispy fish skin soaks in the spicy, fragrant broth, and the small alcohol lamp beneath the plate only needs a slight heat, which infuses the fish meat with the rich flavors of the soup.

Using chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish, the fresh, tender meat and the fish skin soaked in the broth, paired with the fragrant spiciness, is incredibly delicious.

Yao Jiu buried her head in the bowl, taking a bite of fish and a bite of rice, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Lin You had two bites but still felt it wasn’t enough, so she decided to open the tofu she bought from down the mountain and added it into the grilled fish, making it tofu fish.

The fresh chili peppers, combined with the onion oil and seasoning, created a dipping sauce that might seem unremarkable at first glance. But once the soft white tofu from the outside, with its red and tender interior, is dipped in it, the flavor immediately becomes something different.

Yao Jiu first ate a large bowl of rice with the grilled fish, then another bowl with the tofu dipping sauce. She kept eating until food was nearly at her throat but still wouldn’t put her chopsticks down.

“Youyou, your cooking is really amazing.”

Lin You felt it wasn’t perfect yet: “This tofu isn’t the best. Let’s go up to the village another day to grind some.”

Mengmeng could help out, too. Since the little calves couldn’t go out to the fields, Lin You felt sorry for them, but occasionally using them as little donkeys to turn the mill wouldn’t be a problem.

After the meal, Yao Jiu went to wash the dishes. Since the two of them teamed up, Lin You took charge of the cooking, and Yao Jiu naturally handled the post-meal dishes.

Lin You was a bit puzzled: “You eat here every day. Does your dad eat alone at home?”

She hadn’t seen Yao Jiu bring food back home.

Yao Jiu sighed: “I can tell you don’t know my dad.”

“My dad wakes up around noon every day, eats something casually, then goes to work in the fields. In the evening, he starts making snacks with liquor, and then drinks alone with his food until midnight.”

Lin You: “?? Is your dad okay?”

That’s a terrible lifestyle.

Yao Jiu waved her hand indifferently: “He’s fine, actually. It’s strange, though—whenever he’s down the mountain, no matter how healthy he tries to live, his body still has issues. But when he’s up in the mountains, even if he drinks all night, there’s no problem.”

If that weren’t the case, Yao Jiu wouldn’t have chosen to return to the mountains to live for her father’s health.

“Don’t let him fool you, even though he’s a bit messy, he treats me well. Back when we were in school, he would carry sandbags on construction sites to earn money. He had a lot of health problems, and drinking helped him bear the pain. Later, when my mom passed away and I finished college, he had fewer burdens, and drinking was really his only hobby.”

Although Yao Jiu often secretly hid her dad’s alcohol, she spoke with an unusually open attitude: “So if he loves drinking, let him drink.”

But even though she said this, Yao Jiu still took a plate of the new dipping sauce Lin You had made: “I’m taking this back to tempt that greedy old drunk.”

Lin You smiled as she saw Yao Jiu off, adding some grass to the cow shed and then putting two milk buns in for Mengmeng. The little cow mooed before quietly lowering its head to eat.

In the yard, the vegetable and chili seedlings were growing well, and Mengmeng didn’t stomp on them while wandering around.

Before bed, Lin You checked her phone to see the online discussions about her live streaming.

Since the user “Xiao Yu is not a fish” posted a rave review about the egg cakes, starting yesterday, those who had received the cakes began leaving their feedback one by one.

【The King Asked Me to Eat: Who understands, family? It was just a random giveaway, and I ended up winning these delicious egg cakes. They’re even better than those cakes I bought from a cake shop that claimed to use imported milk!】

【Do You Like Rice Noodles?: Boohoo, I live in a dorm, and when I first opened the package, my roommates laughed at me, saying I brought some weird cake. But after tasting it, they went crazy. I ate three pieces of the whole basket! I’m begging Lin You to put it on sale, I’ll buy a whole basket with one firework.】

【Clear Wind and Moonlight: I originally planned to give these to my mom, but when the kids came back and tasted them, they couldn’t stop. It was so hard to get them to stop. I hope the blogger puts them on sale soon, or I’ll be forced to deal with the kids every day. (Threat.jpg)】

【Loving Mother Protects the Center Line: I admit I was a bit harsh about Lin You’s voice before… Sister, with your skills, you should’ve told me earlier. I’ll support you in any public opinion field. (Please sell it to me soon, or I’ll turn into a hater.) (Just kidding, the first part was a joke)】

【I’m Benboerba: I can’t describe how delicious this is. The milk flavor is strong, but it’s not like those artificial milk-flavored products—it’s the pure milk taste like the kind from a glass jar we drank as kids. It’s not too sweet, so the milk and egg flavor is very authentic. You can tell the ingredients are good. The cake is soft and fluffy, extremely tasty. It’s not that overwhelming sweet fragrance, but rather a rich childhood flavor.】

—

Unlike these elaborate confessions, there were also some more restrained compliments.

【Waterproof Company looks for Yunyang: Thank you, blogger, it’s very delicious, definitely worth recommending.】

【Leisurely Person by West Lake: My child really likes it, thanks to the blogger for picking me.】

【Little Fish’s Mom: Very delicious, wish the blogger a happy life.】

—

Whether they were obviously older or used to surfing the internet, no one who received the egg cakes left a bad review.

At first, people were joking around and watching the fun, but once they saw that it seemed to be really delicious, the netizens couldn’t stay calm.

【Let’s Go Catch Jellyfish: Wait, what’s this about? Who said Lin You’s live streaming was just a publicity stunt? I went to watch and didn’t win the lottery?】

【Little Deer Jumps Three Times: Foodie here, I have to ask, is it really that delicious?】

【Mountains of Flowers: This must be fake, right? If Lin You had these skills, why didn’t she show them when she was on variety shows before?】

【How Impudent: … It’s not fake, my roommate won it. After struggling to grab two, I can say it’s really delicious.】

【Qiuming Mountain’s Car Demon: Ahhhh, you bad people, all you’re doing is talking about how delicious it is, but I can’t even get a taste! Calling Lin You, hurry up and put it on sale so I can judge it myself!】

—

Seeing there were no negative comments about her online, Lin You finally relaxed.

The next day, Lin You got up early, went to check on the vegetable seedlings she had planted in the field, and then went with Yao Jiu to the town to buy some beef to bring home.

She planned to cook herself some braised beef for lunch.

Just as she reached the village entrance, she saw Aunt Chunling happily following a young woman carrying a child into the village.

Yao Jiu’s lips instantly drooped. She whispered in Lin You’s ear, “That’s Aunt Chunling’s daughter, named Yao Yun.”