Chapter 200: Need an Older Sister?
Chapter 200: Chapter 200: Need an Older Sister?
The children, trays in hand, gradually found their seats.
The braised pork with potatoes looked distinctly different from the usual, and while they were curious, they didn’t get their hopes up.
After all, Teacher Zhang’s version had already left quite an impression on them.
Their lack of expectation only made the shock to their taste buds more visceral when the pork belly first touched their tongues!
The pork belly had been seared to render out the fat, making it fragrant but not greasy. It was then stewed until incredibly tender. While retaining a hint of a smoky char on the outside, the inside simply melted in your mouth the moment you bit into it.
The potatoes were even softer and creamier, practically falling apart at the touch of their chopsticks. Piled on top of the rice, the joy of carbs on carbs was pure bliss!
The sauce was the absolute essence of the dish. Mixed with the potatoes and spooned over the rice, the flavor was beyond anything they could have imagined!
So, the children went from picking at their food to furiously shoveling it down.
The sight of all their little heads buried in their bowls was the most vivid testament to just how delicious the braised pork with potatoes was!
Of course, they hadn’t forgotten the stir-fried napa cabbage and the radish and bone soup.
Frankly, the presentation of these two dishes couldn’t compare to the braised pork.
They looked plain and watery, and since they were dishes the children ate at home all the time, they weren’t nearly as appealing as the braised pork.
But they did catch a faint aroma, one different from what they remembered. Tentatively, they took a bite.
Instantly, eyes widened across the room. It was as if their very souls had been shaken!
With Nan Zhi’s masterful control over the heat, the stir-fried napa cabbage was fresh, sweet, crisp, and incredibly flavorful.
A pure, organic vegetable grown in the mountains like this was already a superior ingredient. But when Nan Zhi cooked it, she didn’t just preserve its natural taste; like a master artisan polishing a rough jade, she amplified that flavor tenfold, even a hundredfold!
The children didn’t have a large vocabulary; their minds were filled with just two words: ’So good!’
They couldn’t resist taking a sip of the radish soup.
Radishes are best paired with richly flavored ingredients. While bland on their own, they excel at absorbing and elevating the flavors of whatever they’re cooked with.
But the radish soup at the village school cafeteria had always been a disappointment. Even when it was made with bones, there were so few that you couldn’t taste any meatiness at all. In fact, it had a slightly unpleasant, gamey taste.
As a result, the children were prejudiced against the radish soup, believing no version of it could ever taste good.
Until the bowl in front of them completely shattered that perception!
Words like ’fresh,’ ’sweet,’ and ’juicy’ felt inadequate.
For the first time in their lives, the children discovered that radishes could be this delicious, this rich in flavor!
The seemingly light broth delivered a punch of pure umami that contrasted sharply with the rich braised pork, yet was distinct from the crisp sweetness of the napa cabbage.
"This is so delicious!"
"Did Teacher Zhang make this dish too?"
"No, I think the new Teacher Nan made it!"
"Can I go get another bowl?"
"I’ve never had such delicious radish soup! It’s ten times better than my grandpa’s!"
"I want to eat at the cafeteria every day! I don’t want to eat at home!"
"..."
But the most pleasantly surprised of all was Qi Pei’er, sitting in the corner.
She had been fully prepared to endure a bland, unremarkable meal.
After the first bite, her expression softened and then lit up. Every fiber of her being, down to the last strand of hair, radiated pure delight!
’This familiar, delicious taste! It has to be Nan Zhi’s cooking! I knew it!’
Qi Pei’er’s appetite returned with a vengeance. GULP, GULP. She downed the entire bowl of radish soup in one go. A feeling of profound satisfaction spread from her mouth all the way to her stomach, filling the void left by two weeks of near-starvation!
"*BURP*! So good!"
Qi Pei’er closed her eyes in contentment, wishing she could march right back up there and get ten more bowls of soup!
She was just about to get up, but then she saw the blissfully happy children all around her and forced herself to sit back down.
’How could I possibly compete with these kids for food? My conscience wouldn’t be able to take it!’
But...
"Xiao Zhang! Zhangzhang!"
Seeing Qi Zhang just arriving, Qi Pei’er waved frantically, as if he were her savior.
She didn’t forget Nan Yi, who was with him, and waved with a wide smile.
"Yiyi, hurry and come sit!"
The two boys obediently walked over to her.
Nan Yi had probably just seen his mom. He was clearly in a wonderful mood, the corners of his eyes crinkling with a smile. He looked every bit the part of a sweet, well-behaved little boy.
He first called out "Aunt Qi," and then climbed onto the chair to sit down.
Qi Pei’er couldn’t wait to share the news.
"Your mom cooked today’s meal, you know! It’s absolutely delicious!"
Nan Yi nodded calmly.
"Yes, I smelled it."
Qi Pei’er felt a little taken aback.
’To be able to recognize Nan Zhi’s cooking just by the smell...’
’Just how many of her home-cooked meals do you have to eat to develop that kind of skill!’
’I want to have such a wonderful, happy experience too!’
After a moment of thought, Qi Pei’er said with great solemnity:
"Yiyi, do you need an older sister? Or a younger one, that would work too."
She might as well have written ’What about me?’ across her forehead!
Somehow, Nan Yi saw right through her.
He stared at Qi Pei’er, his little mouth pursed in displeasure.
"No."
His rejection was absolute!
Qi Pei’er silently shed cartoonishly large tears. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten that Nan Yi was a classic ’mommy’s little protector’.
’Trying to compete with him for his mom’s affection... wasn’t that like poking a sleeping dragon?’
Silently retracting her ’improper’ thoughts, Qi Pei’er turned to her goofy, cheerful little nephew.
She drew out her words,
"Zhangzhang, my dear... didn’t your auntie hear that you don’t like radishes?"
Qi Zhang looked up with his sweet, innocent face, chewing on his chopsticks.
"Do I?"
And with that, he happily chomped down on a large piece of radish.
Qi Pei’er: ...
’Then who was that little monster who cried and threw a tantrum at home about not wanting to eat radishes?!’
’Why is he a completely different person here?’
’Oh, wait.’
’It was the same at Nan Family’s Small Restaurant. Whether it was something he liked at home or not, he suddenly loved it. All his picky habits vanished!’
’So, kids aren’t picky for no reason... they’re just picky when the food doesn’t taste good?’
Not one to give up, Qi Pei’er tried again:
"Let your auntie have a sip of your soup. I drank mine so fast I didn’t even get to savor the flavor."
She put on her most pitiful expression.
Qi Zhang clutched his soup bowl defensively.
"No way!"
Qi Pei’er’s expression grew even more pathetic.
"But I’m your auntie! The one who toiled and suffered to raise you!"
Qi Zhang wavered for a moment.
After an internal struggle, he carefully plucked a tiny, thumbnail-sized piece of radish from his bowl.
"Here, Auntie."
Qi Pei’er was speechless.
She finally ate the piece of radish, tears welling in her eyes.
"...Thank you, Xiao Zhang."
[LMAO HAHAHA!]
[Qi Pei’er, can you please get a grip! If you keep this up, we’ll be too embarrassed to admit we’re your fans!]
[I’d be the same way if I were her. I’ve been to Nan Family’s Small Restaurant, so I can totally imagine how good that tastes!]
[Who said there’s no future in opening a little restaurant in the mountains? If Nan Zhi opens one today, I’ll be on the next flight over to live there!]
...