Chapter 350 - 350 Chef Jiang
350 Chef Jiang
Due to the two of them fooling around, they had another mission—to clean up the wet room.
After the play session, Xiaoyi was no longer sleepy. He was full of energy and helped Zhuang Zhuang with the chores. He did not look sleepy like he did earlier.
Although they tried very hard to wash the bedsheets, there were still a few stain marks that could not be removed completely..
Just as the sun was about to set, the two little ones finally finished all the work. Xiaoyi placed his hands on his hips and looked at the bedsheets on the rope in satisfaction. “Zhuang Zhuang, we’re so awesome!”
Zhuang Zhuang smiled and nodded. “Xiaoyi is amazing!”
He knew that this was Xiaoyi’s first time doing housework, so he had really done well. He didn’t complain about the work being hard. He just liked to take occasional breaks in between doing the chores. However, this wasn’t a big problem.
“Hehe…” Xiaoyi laughed in embarrassment. Suddenly, his stomach rumbled. He was so frightened that he immediately covered it and said pitifully, “Zhuang Zhuang, I’m hungry again…”
Zhuang Zhuang sighed softly and started walking forward.
“Zhuang Zhuang, where are you going?” Xiaoyi thought that Zhuang Zhuang was despising him. He chased after him nervously and grabbed his hand.
“Sigh…” Zhuang Zhuang grabbed him and said helplessly, “Aren’t you hungry? Let’s go find food.”
“Alright! Let’s go!”
Xiaoyi’s sadness was immediately replaced with a happy expression on his face. He anxiously dragged Zhuang Zhuang out of the house with him.
“Mother, Mother!”
If they were looking for food, they had to look for Xiaoguo.
Zhuang Zhuang looked around but could not find anyone. Not only did he not find his mother, there was also no sign of his father as well. He had no choice but to bring Xiaoyi to look for Li Shouji. After asking him, they found out that Jiang Danhe and Xiaoguo were cooking dinner in the kitchen. The two kids were overjoyed by the news and headed for the kitchen in a rush.
Seeing that he had nothing to do, Li Shouji followed them. In any case, they were waiting for dinner. He might as well tag along. Even if he couldn’t help, he could at least satisfy his cravings first.
The three of them had just reached the kitchen when they saw Xiaoguo. However, she was not cooking. Instead, she was lighting a fire. The figure bustling around the kitchen counter was Jiang Danhe.
The three of them rubbed their eyes in unison. They must be seeing things.
However, no matter how hard they rubbed, the scene in front of them remained the same. Xiaoguo was indeed lighting the fire and Jiang Danhe was cutting the vegetables.
“Mother…”
Xiaoguo and Jiang Danhe turned around.
“Have you finished washing the bed sheets?”
“Yes. Xiaoyi and I have finished the washing.”
“That’s right. It’s all done!”
Xiaoguo nodded in satisfaction and pointed at Jiang Danhe with a smile. “Then just wait for dinner. Our Chef Jiang is in charge today!”
“Huh?!”
The three of them exclaimed in unison. Chef Jiang? Why did it sound so unbelievable?
“Mother, why?”
Xiaoguo didn’t say anything. She just held up her hands for them to see.
“Mother, are you injured?”
“What’s going on?”
“Are you okay?”
The three of them asked at the same time. Xiaoguo smiled and shook her head to show that she was fine. She also gave them a quick explanation.
When Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoyi were washing the bedsheets, she and Jiang Danhe saw that it was almost mealtime, so they came to the kitchen to start cooking. However, the knife in the kitchen had just been sharpened and was extremely sharp. Xiaoguo accidentally cut herself in the process. After that, Jiang Danhe refused to let her continue with the chores. After cleaning the wounds, he let her sit at the side while he cooked.
When the trio heard this, they felt sorry for Xiaoguo and also for themselves. It looked like they might have to miss dinner tonight. Chef Jiang being the head chef sounded pretty horrifying…
Jiang Danhe naturally saw through their thoughts. He could tell that they didn’t trust him. Therefore he felt even more determined to prove to them otherwise—he would not allow them to underestimate his cooking skills.
With this thought in mind, Jiang Danhe slowly brandished his gleaming chopper. Under the sunlight, it flickered with a dazzling shine. Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoyi were still young and easy to fool. When they saw his pose, their eyes were filled with stars. They couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
“Wow, wow, wow…”
Li Shouji raised his eyebrows when he saw Chef Jiang’s posture. From the beginning to the end, he had always felt that Chef Jiang was unreliable. If he remembered correctly, Chef Jiang’s best dishes were boiled eggs, boiled noodles, boiled vegetables and blanched meat…
Blanching was a cooking technique that required absolutely no skills. Whether it was vegetables or meat, Jiang Danhe would boil them in plain water with a little salt before serving. This was his signature dish.
Jiang Danhe did not care about anything else. The heavens had placed such a great responsibility on him. They will frustrate his spirit and exhaust his body, then expose him to starvation and poverty. They will also present setbacks so as to stimulate his spirit, and bring out the best of his abilities.
Put simply, although he had no cooking skills, at least he had watched others cook before. He had assisted Xiaoguo countless times while she cooked. Even if he couldn’t replicate her dishes to a tee, whatever he whipped up should at least be edible!
He exhaled gently and took out his big knife. He aimed it at the carrots on the table and narrowed his eyes. The hand holding the knife began to move, increasing speed gradually until it became faster and faster…
The sound of the chopping knife rang out continuously. The four of them watched the tall figure standing against the light. Coupled with his miraculous actions, they could not help but exclaim. Li Shouji was beginning to wonder about his understanding of Jiang Danhe. Perhaps he was indeed a cooking genius.
Everything returned to normal. Jiang Danhe exhaled gently and calmly put down the knife. It seemed that the cutting was done. The others could not wait to see the results, so they rushed forward expectantly.
… .
After a while, Xiaoguo placed all the cut vegetables on a plate and sorted them neatly. The ingredients for each dish were placed together so that Jiang Danhe wouldn’t fumble when he started cooking.
Jiang Danhe lowered his head. No one knew what he was thinking, but he was too ashamed to look up at them.
Li Shouji said quietly, “I thought a miracle had really happened. So it was all an act.”
“I was looking forward to it for nothing…” Xiaoyi said with a pout.
Zhuang Zhuang nodded and said softly, “I was shouting until my voice became hoarse.”
The more comments they made, the darker Jiang Danhe’s face became. Xiaoguo’s heart ached for him and at the same time, she found it funny. If he didn’t know how to cut, so be it. Why did he have to act like he was so good at it? Now, he had to suffer the ridicule from everyone.
“Are you sure you’re going to cook?”
Xiaoguo asked again with uncertainty. After all, the man was feeling discouraged a moment ago. Why did he look re-energized so quickly?
Hearing the disbelief in Xiaoguo’s voice, Jiang Danhe pursed his lips and closed his eyes. He instantly felt sorry for himself.
Seeing this, Xiaoguo quickly comforted him to appease him.
“I’ll cook!”
Jiang Danhe mustered his confidence and put on his apron again. He looked at the cut vegetables on the table and felt extremely guilty. Although he could still remember what Xiaoguo had taught him about cutting vegetables, his hands were quite rusty when he attempted it. He had slipped up earlier on, but now he must redeem himself.
In his mind, he kept repeating to himself the steps that Xiaoguo always mentioned to him when she was cooking. “Heat up the oil, then add the meat, stir-fry until color changes, then add the vegetables.”
It had to be said that Jiang Danhe was quick at picking things up. Although he was bad at cutting vegetables, he was quite good when it came to cooking. With Xiaoguo’s help, the fragrance of cooked food started wafting out from the kitchen. Xiaoyi was the first to react. He sniffed at the stove vigorously, hoping to jump in and roll with the vegetables.
“I can smell it now. Not bad, not bad!”
Li Shouji agreed. Having tasted his sister-in-law’s cooking for so long, he could tell that Jiang Danhe’s dishes were looking quite good. It was something worth celebrating!
Zhuang Zhuang also looked at Jiang Danhe in admiration.
Jiang Danhe’s confidence was restored. He knew that he wasn’t that lousy. He had just proved that he could do it. If he just practiced a couple more times, he would be able to cook for Xiaoguo every day after he retires.
As he thought about it, he winked at Xiaoguo, who was watching him cook at the side. She threw him a glance in amusement.