Editor: Atlas Studios
"Let’s go,"
After pushing the man up the carriage, Jiang Danhe turned to Xiaoguo and said gently.
After their exchange earlier on, their relationship had unknowingly gotten much closer.
"Yes, yes, okay."
Xiaoguo smiled and nodded.
Jiang Danhe carried the two children up into the carriage first before helping Xiaoguo up. Finally, he kicked Li Shouji, who was lying on the ground, and asked him to move aside.
Jiang Danhe waited for him to move, and when there was an empty space, Jiang Danhe hopped on.
The group rushed home with their shopping haul.
It was getting late. On the way back, Zhuang Zhuang leaned against Wen Xiaoyi and dozed off.
Xiaoguo hugged them both in case they bumped into each other.
When they arrived at the residence, Xiaoguo and Jiang Danhe each carried a child into the house.
Jiang Danhe left quickly and headed to Li Shouji’s house like clockwork.
He grabbed Li Shouji, who had just laid down.
"Time to settle the score."
When Li Shouji heard this, he instantly perked up. He was here to reimburse him. "Haha."
Just as he was getting up happily and taking out his wallet to count the money...
Jiang Danhe said sinisterly, "How did your men do their jobs..."
Li Shouji was dumbfounded. "What’s the matter? What’s the matter? Aren’t they settling the payment? What does it have to do with my subordinates?"
Jiang Danhe saw that he didn’t understand, so he told him that he did not have a daughter.
Li Shouji was stunned. "Those sons of b*tches!!!"
In the end, Li Shouji had to shoulder everything alone.
Jiang Danhe rambled on until midnight. When he was finally done, he let Li Shouji off and turned around to sleep.
Only the pitiful Li Shouji was left biting the corner of his blanket. He looked at the ceiling beam weakly with two big dark circles under his eyes...
The next morning.
Zhuang Zhuang scooped up the porridge in his bowl and sighed slightly.
Jiang Danhe heard him and glanced at him. Then he gave Xiaoguo a look to ask her why.
Xiaoguo shook her head, indicating that she didn’t know. The boy was still fine when he woke up.
Li Shouji was a straightforward person. When he heard Zhuang Zhuang sigh, he felt that it was very interesting. The child was sighing like an adult. "Zhuang Zhuang, why are you sighing?"
"It’s nothing. It’s just that I had gotten sick of porridge." Zhuang Zhuang took the last mouthful of porridge. Then, he said hopefully, "If only I could eat Mother’s potato noodles."
Zhuang Zhuang had not eaten that for some time and was missing the taste. He smacked his lips and savored the taste of the porridge in his mouth. He looked at Xiaoguo expectantly. "Mother..."
Xiaoyi put down the second bowl of porridge in his hand. He was still craving for more. Why did he feel that the food here was more delectable than the food in the palace?
Hearing Zhuang Zhuang mention potato noodles, Xiaoyi was immediately attracted to the conversation. Potato noodles sounded familiar. He racked his brains to recall where he had heard of the dish before. Suddenly, he thought of something!
"Potato noodles. I’ve eaten them before! I love fish balls and pork balls with gravy!"
When Zhuang Zhuang heard what Xiaoyi said, he grabbed him and said excitedly, "Yes, yes, yes! Me too! Xiaoyi and I really like the same things!"
The conversation between the two children was confusing for Jiang Danhe and Li Shouji. Why didn’t they know about such novel foods?
"Mother..."
Xiaoyi’s craving was aroused by Zhuang Zhuang. He immediately looked at Xiaoguo with stars in his eyes.
Xiaoguo couldn’t stand the look in his eyes, so she immediately agreed. "Okay, I’ll cook for you tonight!"
"Yay!"
Xiaoyi and Zhuang Zhuang clapped their hands. "That’s great!"
Although Jiang Danhe and Li Shouji didn’t understand what was going on, they laughed along. As they listened to the description, they were filled with anticipation for the potato noodles, fish balls and pork balls that would be ready in the evening.
After eating, Xiaoguo got to work immediately. There was a kitchen in the general’s residence, so Jiang Danhe brought Xiaoguo there. The kitchen was huge, but only two chefs were in charge of cooking. This was because there weren’t many people to cook for within the residence.
Jiang Danhe introduced Xiaoguo to the chefs and asked them to assist her.
Just as he was about to continue interacting with Xiaoguo, Li Shouji came over and called him away.
Xiaoguo waved at him and turned to see the chefs standing a short distance away. They had their arms in front of them and were nervously rubbing their aprons together. They were smiling obsequiously.
"Relax. I’m just going to prepare the ingredients for tonight. Just continue with your work."
Xiaoguo walked past the two of them, then went to the ingredients section and rummaged for the potatoes she needed.
The two chefs were at the back. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do. The general had just introduced her as his wife. How could the two of them neglect her?
"Madam, let us do it."
One of the female chefs, who was slightly fatter, gathered her courage and took the bucket from Xiaoguo. She looked at the large number of potatoes in the bucket and felt a little troubled. "Madam, what should we do with these potatoes?"
Xiaoguo looked at the female cook, who looked a little like Mrs. Yang, and couldn’t help but feel a slight affinity for her. "Peel and wash all of them, then mash them."
"Mash?" It was the first time she had heard of such a strange cooking method. How does one eat mashed potatoes?
"That’s right. After the potatoes are mashed, wrap everything in gauze and wash it a few times in clear water."
Xiaoguo could not explain in detail. She decided to let them see for themselves later.
Although the fat chef thought that it was a little strange, she didn’t say anything and went on to do as she was told.
When the older cook saw Xiaoguo pick up the pork, she immediately took it with a smile. According to her observations, the General’s wife was not that difficult to serve, so she mustered up her courage and approached her.
"Madam, let me do that."
Xiaoguo’s hands were left empty, she then told the chef how to handle the meat. "This has to be minced properly. Otherwise, it won’t be chewy."
The cook nodded confidently. "Don’t worry, Madam. Although I’m thin, my hands are very strong!"
Xiaoguo saw that the ingredients in the kitchen were quite comprehensive. There were all kinds of vegetables and meat. There were also a few large grass carp in the basin. They were very energetic and looked very fat. She could use them to make fish balls later!
Xiaoguo was now in a good mood. She picked up a basin of large bone sticks beside her and prepared to make soup.
"By the way, how many people are there in the residence?"
Xiaoguo was trying to decide how much water to use for cooking. It was impossible to make just a few bowls. Since she was going to cook, she should make enough for everyone. There were lots of ingredients anyway.
"Twenty-eight in total, Madam."
The cook was quick to answer Xiaoguo’s question. The two chefs were very confident in managing the food portions within the residence. They never wasted food or prepared insufficient portions.
Xiaoguo estimated the number of people and added the right proportion of water to the pot. She then went to the condiments area and selected a few spices. After tying a piece of gauze around the spices and making sure that it would not unravel, she threw the spice bag into the pot.
The handling of the potatoes was not difficult, and the quantity to prepare was not a lot. It was just that the meatballs would require more effort.
Xiaoguo watched as the fatter cook handled the potatoes with ease. She didn’t need her help, so she went to the other cook.
Seeing that she was making pork balls, Xiaoguo decided to make fish balls out of grass carp since she had nothing much to do.. It would help to save time.