Chapter 716 - 735: A Joyful Barbecue with Friends
Chapter 716: Chapter 735: A Joyful Barbecue with Friends
Alright, let’s divvy up the tasks.
Michelle and Mei Lin were complete kitchen disasters, so they were assigned to wash the vegetables. That was simple enough.
Once they were washed, Meng Chun and Jiang Jiang would chop them, Jiang Qiuqiu and Liu Tingting would be in charge of skewering, and Qiuqiu herself would handle marinating the meat.
The tasks were roughly divided, but at the very beginning, the people chopping and skewering had nothing to do. As a result, the neat division of labor quickly fell into chaos.
First, Jiang Jiang went to help Mei Lin wash the vegetables, then Meng Chun and Liu Tingting joined them at the washing basin.
With five people washing together, it was bound to go quickly. Everyone took a look and decided—why not just wash everything together, then chop everything together, and then skewer everything together!
They weren’t thinking about efficiency or anything; they just thought it was fun to have everyone crowded together!
Mei Lin was a bit flustered, and Jiang Jiang took her by the wrist, moving closer. "Miss, why don’t you go sort the vegetables on the side? More and more are getting washed, so we need someone to separate them."
Indeed, someone was needed to sort the vegetables, and she happily took the out she was given.
Half an hour later, all the vegetables were pretty much washed, and the meat Jiang Qiuqiu was working on was marinated as well.
The chopping and skewering could happen at the same time. From the kitchen, she only brought out four knives.
The skilled hands would do the chopping, while the rest would skewer.
Unfortunately, the only steady hands belonged to the two with the surname Jiang. The pieces they cut were basically uniform in size. Her "true love fan," Liu Tingting, on the other hand, was a klutz with a knife. She produced chunks of all different sizes, some quite uneven.
But what did that matter!
"Hey!"
"Miss Meilin! Don’t skewer different-sized pieces together!" Liu Tingting called out, having just tossed the irregular potatoes she’d cut into the vegetable bowl. "They won’t cook evenly like that!"
Mei Lin’s hand paused.
’Very few people ever spoke to her in that tone. Usually, she was the one giving orders.’
’This com... This person is acting quite naturally.’
’But her natural attitude is pretty nice, too.’
"Also," Mei Lin asked, "if you know different-sized pieces cook unevenly, why didn’t you cut them more evenly? Then we could just skewer them however we want, couldn’t we?"
"It’s because I don’t have the skill!" Liu Tingting said, grief-stricken. "If I’d known, I never would have picked up this kitchen knife."
Her performance was top-notch. It really livened up the atmosphere and brought a smile to everyone’s face.
Jiang Jiang was also chopping vegetables quickly. After seeing the smile on Mei Lin’s face, the corners of his own mouth turned up.
’I haven’t even eaten, and my stomach is empty, but for some reason, I’m already feeling a little happy.’
Jiang Qiuqiu finished cutting a potato and was about to start on the lotus root when she glanced down—several people were gathered around a bowl of unevenly sized potatoes, chatting and smiling beautifully as they skewered them.
A few scenes suddenly flashed before her eyes.
Sister Chengyu.
...
"Juju?"
"Why did you suddenly zone out?"
Jiang Qiuqiu snapped back to reality and quickly brought her knife down, slicing a section of lotus root into many pieces. Grilled lotus root slices couldn’t be cut too thin. They had to be uniformly thick like this to better maintain their crisp texture.
"I wasn’t zoning out. I was just suddenly thinking..."
"It’s already been a year."
"Time passes a little too quickly."
As for the passage of time, the others didn’t have any particular feelings about it yet.
When you’re still young, you never feel like time flies like an arrow.
You only feel that every day at school is long and boring.
With everyone working together, the skewers were prepared in no time. Today was a friends’ BBQ. Jiang Qiuqiu took a stack of skewers, piled them on the table in the yard, and started an on-the-spot grilling lesson.
The seasonings and oil were all ready. The grill was huge, big enough for all six of them to gather around.
"What should we grill first to get things started?" Liu Tingting asked, holding a handful of skewers.
Jiang Qiuqiu thought for a moment. "Let’s start with the pork belly."
Grilling something rich in fat first would also help grease the grill grate.