Then he turned to An Hao and said, "It’s still such a long time away, isn’t university another four years? We, Qin Jian, will become so anxious waiting for a wife by then!"
An Hao felt somewhat embarrassed by the section chief’s remarks.
Alas, she really shouldn’t have agreed to Qin Jian’s request. Had she known his marriage would attract such attention, she would’ve rather played coy than agree to help him.
"I’m not in a hurry." Qin Jian said in a deep voice, laughing softly as he looked towards An Hao, "You just focus on your studies!"
"Mmm." An Hao nodded slightly, softly consenting.
Zhang, the section chief, looking at the flickering spark of youth in their eyes, was very pleased. His "difficult case" had finally been resolved, and the rest was up to the two of them.
"By the way, Qin Jian, the rural work assignment has been finalized. You should choose your team members soon and take a trip down there. Short-term might be a month or two, long-term could be three to five months. Get mentally prepared! After returning, you’ll also need to accelerate the planning and establishment of the power system, evaluate investments, and so on," Commander Zhang raised the topic of work.
"Don’t worry, Boss, I’ve got everything under control when it comes to work!" Qin Jian was full of confidence.
Zhang, the section chief, nodded and delved deeper into work matters. An Hao didn’t quite understand, so she excused herself to the kitchen to help Zhang Lanxiang cook.
Zhang Lanxiang had injured her hand recently, making it inconvenient to chop vegetables and cook. These days it was her husband Zhang Jianguo who cooked, but with guests at home today, she was too embarrassed to let her husband busy himself in the kitchen again.
So, she was trying to cook slowly on her own.
Upon entering, An Hao immediately saw Zhang Lanxiang’s clumsy movements and stepped forward to offer, "Sister-in-law, does your hand feel uncomfortable? Let me help you cook?"
Zhang Lanxiang turned around, smiling at An Hao, "You have sharp eyes, able to tell right away that my hand is not quite right."
"Sister-in-law’s stance for chopping vegetables looked like that of someone used to cooking, but her movements seemed slow, so I thought maybe your hand was hurting." As An Hao spoke, she took the basin off its stand in the kitchen, scooped some water from the tank into it, and washed her hands, "Sister-in-law, let me do it."
"This... this is so embarrassing! You are a guest, how can I let you..." Zhang Lanxiang felt a bit embarrassed at the thought of letting a young girl help her cook; she felt somewhat uneasy.
With a gentle smile, An Hao took the kitchen knife from her hand, "There’s no need to feel embarrassed. Sister-in-law, you go rest. I’ll take care of it."
Turning around, she took the kitchen knife and started slicing skillfully.
She was cutting potatoes, which are the real test of knife skills. In her past life, An Hao had suffered a lot for An Ping’s debts—what work hadn’t she done?
Chopping vegetables and cooking were really no big deal for her.
Zhang Lanxiang was stunned by the young girl’s knife skills. The coordination of her hands was excellent, and the potato quickly turned into thin slices. Soon, those thin slices turned into fine shreds.
She scattered the potato shreds into cold water, then filtered out the starch and set them aside.
"Sister-in-law, what else needs to be prepared?" she asked, turning to Zhang Lanxiang.
"Tofu, and also fish and meat!" Zhang Lanxiang said, grabbing them one by one and placing them on the table for An Hao, "Let’s make a clear stew with the fish, and then a tofu soup."