Chen Yuping’s cooking is fragrant, delicious, and flavorful! However, it does take time and firewood.

In the afternoon, with not much to do and everyone busy in the fields, he wasn’t idle either. He went into the mountains to collect firewood and gathered edible mushrooms, fungi, and wild vegetables, filling his basket.

Every afternoon, he would make a trip to the mountains. Perhaps due to the increase in exercise and a better diet, his once frail body was visibly stronger, and he felt more energetic and capable.

Liu Guixiang knew that her younger brother usually wasn’t home in the afternoon. As evening approached, she estimated he would be back and took her daughter Qiaoniu and a chicken to the old house.

“Second sister-in-law,” Ping Ger said as he put down the firewood, still holding the basket.

“My family sent a chicken over through someone. Ping Ger’s skills are better than mine, so I’d just waste it by cooking it myself.”

The chicken was freshly killed, clean, and plump.

Ping Ger weighed it in his hands: “This old hen looks like it weighs five or six pounds. We’ll stew it first thing in the morning and have chicken soup for lunch.”

“What should we add? If we don’t have it at home, let the kids’ father go to town to buy some.”

“Just use what we have at home, no need to run to town.”

For dinner, Ping Ger wanted to keep it simple as he felt a bit tired that day.

Fortunately, there were still plenty of fresh small fish at home. He planned to make some fish potstickers, which wouldn’t require cooking rice. One dish would complete the meal.

“Third brother, these fish potstickers are really fresh, with a fragrant fish flavor and tender meat. The soup is so rich!” Chen Yuanqiu said, dipping his pancake into the soup and taking a bite. “Delicious! I feel like I could eat ten of these pancakes.”

Dad Chen laughed, saying, “They taste much better than what I make.”

“Ping Ger’s cooking is always good,” Father Chen praised.

“Good thing I’m not married, otherwise, I wouldn’t get to eat such good meals every day,” Chen Yuanqiu thought, feeling a twinge of regret.

Not getting married means his third brother isn’t married either, so he won’t be either.

Father Chen scolded him, “Is that all you aspire to?”

“If you love food so much, when you find a partner, choose someone who cooks well.” Ping Ger thought it was a bit early to marry at seventeen.

However, in this world, one could be considered an adult at sixteen, able to marry and have children.

“I’ve never met anyone with better skills than Third brother. I feel like I won’t ever meet anyone like that again. Third brother, you don’t know how fragrant your dishes are.”

Listening to the brothers chat, Father Chen and Old Chen smiled but thought to themselves. With Ping Ger’s skills, he might just find someone who loves food. Looking at their youngest son, it seemed he could really commit a lifetime just for good food.

He’s a complete simpleton, but a simpleton is good, honest and kind, and with the third son having good skills, they won’t have to worry about food.

Third Uncle killed a pig each day and sent half to the Shen family. His ger married into the Shen’s branch family so he was selling a bit of pork to help with family affairs.

If he went late, he might not find good meat, just leftovers.

Not just from the village, but neighbors from nearby villages also came to buy.

Ping Ger knew he woke up late, so when he brought some braised pig trotters and pork belly to Third Uncle, he specifically asked for twenty pounds of good pork belly and four trotters, paying the full amount immediately.

The next day, when he went over, only scraps were left at the stall.

Seeing him, Third Uncle went inside and brought out the pork belly and trotters, along with two bones.

“How much for the pig skin at your place?” Ping Ger had not noticed it before, but now thought of making soup dumplings. He loved them and was willing to put in the effort for a rare treat.

“This is all that’s left. If you want it, take it. It won’t cost much.”

Ping Ger replied, “Alright, I’ll make something delicious and bring you some to try.”

“That’s great, I feel like I’m getting the better deal.”

Mornings were busy, but lately, he had been going to the mountains daily. With enough firewood at home, Ping Ger planned to make soup dumplings in the afternoon for dinner.

He set aside one pound of the twenty pounds of pork belly, using the rest for braised pork, and marinated the four trotters with leftover marinade from the previous day, as old marinade was much tastier than new.

For lunch, they had chicken soup from the plump old hen, along with stir-fried loofah, stewed pumpkin, shrimp paste tofu, and some stir-fried greens, enough for six people.

Recently, he only went to the mountains every two to three days, and the catch wasn’t as good as before, though it was better than keeping them in the river.

Today’s catch of shrimp wouldn’t be made into sauce since they had enough at home, so he planned to use them in the soup dumplings.

“Ping Ger, did you braise the trotters today?”

Even before the person arrived, the voice floated over.

Ping Ger came out from the kitchen: “Yes.”

“How many do you have? Can you give me a discount if I take all? I’ll take them to my father-in-law, he loves them with a drink.”

“There are four trotters. Do you want them all?”

“Yes, my older brother-in-law and younger brother-in-law like them too.”

“That’ll be forty-five coins.”

The person paid quickly and left happily with a big bowl of braised trotters. His father-in-law’s birthday was coming up, and he was certain his father-in-law would love them.

By noon, the braised pork was sold out. Recently, the villagers had learned the timing and came a bit early to ensure they wouldn’t miss out.

Ping Ger noticed that not only people from his village bought, but also those from neighboring villages.

Twenty pounds wasn’t too much, and he didn’t plan to increase the amount for a while to create some hunger marketing.

They had saved up some shrimp paste, and he thought of selling shrimp paste buns, so Dad Chen and his brothers could also share in the profits.

During lunch, Ping Ger shared this idea.

Dad Chen had no objections: “I’ll make some buns in the morning, that’s easy.”

“Don’t make too many,” Father Chen pondered. “How about fifty first? If we can’t sell them, we can eat them ourselves.”

“Listen to Father.”

Chen Yuanqiu said, “I think making a hundred would be fine, shrimp paste buns are delicious.”

“This is breakfast, everyone can make buns. It’s just the shrimp paste. If we make too many, we might not sell them, it’s not like meat,” Chen Ruodong thought fifty was a good amount.

So, it was decided to start with fifty and see how the market responded.

Chen Yuanqiu felt shrimp paste buns were delicious, even better than the meat buns made by Dad Chen.

When he finally tasted the soup dumplings made by his third brother for dinner, he was completely stunned!

“What kind of heavenly dumplings are these?!”

They were incredibly delicious!

Previously, when Ping Ger made delicious dishes, the family found them tasty enough to describe, but these soup dumplings left them speechless, overwhelmed by their rich flavor. They were so hot that one had to be careful not to burn their tongue.

The whole family focused intently on eating the soup dumplings. Ping Ger glanced over, smiling broadly, filled with deep satisfaction.