Chapter 17

Si Cheng had an impression of her.

She graduated from junior high school and helped with housework at home for a year. After the autumn harvest this year, her parents sent her to the city to find a job.

I used to work in a breakfast shop, and I don’t know why I came to their house this time.

Maybe her mother was too tired, so her father hired someone else to do the work. When Jiang Li came to the city and met her parents, she came to their house.

The family that owns that breakfast shop aren’t very nice people, so it’s a good thing that Jiang Li doesn’t go there.

Si Cheng called her: “Sister Jiang Li, hello. My name is Si Cheng.”

Si An felt a little strange: “Sister, how do you know she works for our family?”

“Jiang Li seems to be a few years older than me. She can’t be the daughter my parents gave birth to before me. Okay, I’ll go upstairs to put my luggage away first.”

Since someone was hired to do the housework at home, Si Cheng didn’t have to come downstairs to help. He simply reviewed his lessons and did his homework upstairs.

At twelve o’clock, Si’s mother called me down to cook.

Mr. Si was a little unhappy.

“We’ve hired someone to help us, so you’re not so busy anymore. Can you come and make lunch? My daughter needs to study.”

Last week, Grandpa Si sent Si An back to the city and told him about Si Cheng’s performance in the countryside. He helped with a lot of housework. It seemed that he was really smart and sensible, and he understood the hard work of his family.

Mr. Si felt more and more that his daughter would definitely be admitted to a key high school, then to a university, and bring their family a good life.

The more you invest in Sicheng, the more willing you are to spend.

It made Si Cheng feel uncomfortable. In this family, she had to be very outstanding, with visibly good academic performance, be able to get into college, be filial to her parents, and lead a good life for the whole family, only then could she obtain more resources at home.

But it was different with Si An.

As long as he is willing to study and his grades are not too bad, Si’s father and mother are willing to spend more resources and time than Si Cheng.

For example, in preparation for Si An’s elementary school graduation exam, Si’s father has planned to bring Grandpa Si and Fourth Grandma Si to the city to take care of Si An.

Father Si also has to consider the feelings of his younger brother Wulue. This matter can only be implemented after Grandpa Si contacts Si Wulue to discuss the rules and get Si Wulue’s permission.

Si’s mother still insisted on letting Si Cheng cook.

The reason they did this was that they hoped she could realize the essence of new dishes and bring business to the family.

Ever since Si Cheng came up with five new dishes, they made a net profit of over ten thousand yuan this month.

They have already repaid half of the ten thousand yuan they borrowed from the third aunt of the Si family.

They returned one thousand yuan to Grandpa Si, and the couple also paid off the money they owed to the landlord for the depreciated furniture and appliances.

Mrs. Si has been feeling refreshed lately and feels comfortable everywhere.

Before long, she will be able to buy another commercial house, renovate it luxuriously worth one hundred thousand yuan, and experience the feeling of being rich.

When the time comes, when you invite your second and third aunts and their families to visit your home, you must require them to wear shoe covers, otherwise they will not be allowed in. It is best to use serving chopsticks when picking up food. She wanted to return the humiliation she suffered when she went to her third aunt’s house for the housewarming party.

As for my second aunt, of course I wanted to show off my water heater, color TV, floor, curtains, etc. to her.

Then tell her that this house cost more than 100,000 yuan in total, so my second aunt doesn’t even have one.

But her second aunt definitely couldn’t come up with the money to buy a house, and she could see her second aunt’s jealous and disappointed face.

It was because her second aunt bought a color TV a few years ago and specially invited her to watch it.

If the second aunt can show off, so can she.

Who asked her second aunt to buy a color TV at that time, knowing that she had just paid off her famine allowance and didn’t even have a hundred yuan to spare?

Si Cheng knew that her mother wanted to take advantage of her, but she was happy to do so, so she said she was going to the bookstore in the afternoon to read some books and look at recipes, and then asked her mother to give her money to buy books.

Thinking of being able to slap her second and third aunts in the face in the future, Si’s mother gritted her teeth and gave Si Cheng fifty yuan, asking her to make sure to try a new popular dish.

It’s not that Mrs. Si doesn’t want to go to the bookstore to look for books on cooking.

But she has always been a poor student, and other than easy-to-understand romance novels, any book or magazine is a mystery to her.

These specialties of the night snack stall were learned by her from others in the kitchen when she and Si’s father were working in Yangcheng.

Now that I’m older, I’m even less willing to learn.

Father Si was willing to look at the recipe, but his cooking talent was average and he couldn’t grasp the essence of the recipe, so it would be useless even if he tried to understand it.

Si Cheng already knew what dishes her mother wanted, so after going out, she went straight to the Internet cafe.

It took me three hours to write a short story. After revising it, I sent it to Fireworks magazine via email.

I then took a detour to the night market at the vegetable market and bought five pounds of pork ribs for twenty yuan.

At this time, no one likes to eat spare ribs as they think there is not enough meat and it is not cost-effective.

If you want to drink bone soup, it is better to buy cheaper bones with bone marrow.

Seeing Si Cheng bringing back so many thin and tough ribs, Si’s mother was about to lose her temper and raised her hand to hit her.

“You’re wasting money, are you really trying to piss me off?”

Si Cheng would not stand and take the beating, but after dodging it, he said, “I saw this in a cooking book in a bookstore. Let’s try it first. If it is accepted by customers, we will have a new dish. It is cheap, has low cost, and high profit. It can also be eaten with wine.”

Mrs. Si looked gloomy and said nothing.

Si Cheng went to the stall with his parents. After setting up the stall, Si Cheng took the ribs and asked his mother to hide as she requested.

Wash the chopped ribs with water and divide them into two parts.

After draining part of the water, add salt, pepper, a little sugar, onion, ginger and cooking wine to marinate.

Put part of it into an iron pot, pour water, add beer and scallion segments, bring to a boil, skim off the foam, then add soy sauce and dark soy sauce, and cook for a few minutes. Turn to low heat, and after about ten minutes, remove the ribs, add ginger, garlic, chili and light soy sauce and mix well.

After the first portion of ribs has been marinated for about an hour, pick out the onion and ginger from the ribs, add a small amount of starch and mix well.

Heat oil in a hot pan. When the oil temperature is not high, pour the marinated ribs in. Fry them for four or five minutes. Then turn on the hair dryer and increase the heat. Fry for one or two minutes until the ribs are golden. Remove from the pan and drain the oil.

At the same time, prepare the sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, water and chopped tomatoes in proportion.

Add oil to a hot pan, add onion, ginger, garlic and dried chilies and stir-fry until fragrant, pour in the seasoning sauce, add an appropriate amount of fried pork ribs after boiling, stir-fry, add a small amount of water, simmer for two minutes after boiling, then high heat to reduce the sauce, and finally serve.

“I want it.”

At this time, the young man who was tempted by the braised lotus fish made by Si Cheng last time, couldn’t wait to speak out after the dish came out of the pot.

He stood by and watched for a long time.

This kid has pretty good craftsmanship.

The ribs prepared by Si Cheng were just enough to make four servings. This dish was asked for by the guests before anyone had even tasted it.

Since the customer wanted it, Si’s father and mother would definitely give it to him, so they had to let Si Cheng continue to prepare the next dish.

However, the customer quickly became their substitute and tasted a piece while it was still hot. He gasped because of the heat, but he still gave Si Cheng a thumbs up.

“Little sister, it tastes good. It can also become a signature dish at your father’s stall.”