Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

Chapter 19 Looking for fun

"Shaojie, you can't leave. Uncle and aunt said they want to keep you here for lunch. Dapeng will be here soon. Let's play for a while. It will be noon soon."

Qi Yan opened her arms to stop Du Shaojie, not giving him a chance to refuse.

Du Shaojie was helpless: "Okay then"

Less than a quarter of an hour later, Su Dapeng walked in hurriedly.

Then he took off his schoolbag and pulled out two slingshots and a large bag of gravel.

"Let's not play cards today. How about going to the back hill to play mahjong?"

The lack of entertainment activities in those days is hard to imagine for people in later generations.

But you have to find fun on your own. Xiaomei, Xiaoya and the others can have fun while sledding and playing with spinning tops. It's also possible for Su Dapeng to play mahjong.

Qi Yan and Liang Meiqin had no objection, and Du Shaojie thought it was a good idea.

We can’t be so wasteful in the future. Who knows if the birds shot down by a slingshot will be protected?

"Shaojie, please call Xiaomei and Xiaoya to come over to our house for lunch."

As she walked out of the house, Liang Meiqin suddenly spoke.

Du Shaojie nodded. He usually didn't have time to take Xiaomei, Xiaoya and the others out to play, so today he took this opportunity to get out and get some fresh air.

A few people went around to his house first. Xiaomei and Xiaoya heard that they were going to the back mountain to hunt sparrows, so they ran out with their sleds.

"Mom, we won't be back for lunch, so get yourself something to eat."

Du Shaojie said hello to Wang Yuxiu and went to the back mountain with everyone.

The area around Chunfeng Lane is actually a small ridge, and all the buildings are built around the ridge.

On the west side of the ridge, the mountain rises steeply. In summer, it is covered with wild wolfberries, growing in clumps, forming a large red patch.

The back mountain is not too high overall, but the road is difficult to walk on. However, this is not a problem for the few people who were born and raised there.

You can sled in the gentle hills, which Du Shaojie and others often did when they were young. There are many sparrows near the grove, and whether you can hit them depends on your ability.

Liang Meiqin was obviously not very good at using a slingshot. She shot a few times and then ran over to sled with Xiaomei and Xiaoya.

Du Shaojie and Qi Yan's skills were not very good either, only Su Dapeng looked like a veteran and shot a sparrow in no time.

Gradually, Du Shaojie and Qi Yan also found their feeling and gained something from it.

"It's almost noon, let's go back."

A total of seven sparrows were killed. Sparrows can of course be eaten, but they are small and have little meat, so the few people gave all their catch to Su Dapeng.

Liang Meiqin came over with Xiaomei and Xiaoya and called them to go back for dinner.

Everyone went down the mountain and returned to the house. Liang Meiqin's mother had already started busying herself in the kitchen.

"Xiao Du, my Miqin said that your cooking is very delicious. How about letting Auntie taste your cooking today?"

Liang Meiqin's mother is a teacher and knows how to deal with young people.

Just this one sentence invisibly brought him and Du Shaojie closer.

"Okay, but don't blame me if it doesn't taste good."

Du Shaojie took the lead and he was unwilling to miss such a good opportunity.

Xiaomei and Xiaoya were a little reserved, so Liang Meiqin found a stack of comic books and the two girls were immediately fascinated by them.

Du Shaojie looked around the kitchen. There was meat, chicken and fish, quite a rich meal.

Chicken is used to make soup, hairtail is braised, and pork can be paired with some vegetarian dishes to make a few dishes. There are not many varieties of dishes, but the portions are large, which is definitely enough for so many people. When Du Shaojie started cooking, he quickly got into the mood.

They are all home-cooked dishes, and it is not easy to make them outstanding. But for him, every opportunity to cook is rare, and experience needs to be accumulated. Only in practice can one constantly discover his own shortcomings.

Six dishes and a soup were soon served on the table. Liang Meiqin's parents chatted and laughed, which soon dispelled Xiaomei and Xiaoya's sense of restraint.

"Xiao Du, your cooking skills are really good. It's a pity to stay in the company cafeteria. You might as well go to the army to train. The kitchen team has always produced many talented people. It is the stage for young people like you."

Liang Meiqin's father, Liang Gang, is a retired soldier who speaks very directly.

However, his speaking style is not preachy, but rather like casual chat between friends, which will not cause disgust in others.

Liang Meiqin's mother rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "You, you wish everyone could roll around in the melting pot of the army. Xiao Du, don't listen to him, your current job is good enough."

Liang Gang laughed and said no more.

In fact, Du Shaojie had already thought through the pros and cons of this.

Working in the canteen of the Heavy Industry Bureau, I am not too busy at ordinary times, which allows me to calm down and learn more. The disadvantage is that there are few opportunities for practice. After all, there are only so many dishes in the canteen, which is not conducive to growth.

But he is a man with luck after all. After he gets through these years, he will naturally have more choices in the future.

"Uncle and aunt, thank you for your hospitality. I'm done eating."

Du Shaojie didn't say much. While eating, he was summarizing the pros and cons of today's dishes.

In general, today's performance was mediocre, and naturally there was no work that was of high quality. Of course, there were gains, at least I gained experience and got some exercise.

After dinner, Du Shaojie sent his two sisters home first and then went for a walk around his workplace.

After all, he is still an apprentice, so he has to perform better than others.

After get off work, Du Shaojie had dinner in the cafeteria and then rode his bike to Liang Meiqin's house.

At this time, the beef has been marinated. He first rinses the beef with clean water and sets it aside.

Then put appropriate amounts of star anise, fennel, angelica, white cardamom, balsam leaves and Sichuan pepper into a bowl and soak them in cold water for a while to remove the dust on the surface of the spices and some bitter taste.

The spices in Liang Meiqin's house were indeed incomplete, and the angelica dahurica and white cardamom were contributed by him.

Du Shaojie cut the washed green onions into segments with a rolling knife and cut the ginger into large slices.

Then start to heat the pan, pour in more cooking oil, and slowly stir-fry the scallions and ginger over low heat. After the aroma of scallions and ginger comes out, add the yellow paste and continue to stir-fry, and then add the prepared spices.

Soon, the aroma of onion, ginger, yellow sauce and various spices filled the entire kitchen.

While frying the onion, ginger, yellow paste and spices, blanch the beef in another pot and skim off the foam.

Next, add hot stock to the spice pot and start making the marinade.

This process takes about twenty minutes, and after the marinade is ready, all the residue will be removed.

The residue can be stored and used two or three times later.

Next, put the beef in the pot, bring to a boil over high heat, pour in soy sauce and add some rock sugar.

If you don’t have rock sugar, you can use white sugar instead. However, Liang Meiqin has rock sugar at home, so you don’t need much.

Cook over high heat for about ten minutes, then turn to low heat and simmer.

"Mikoto, the beef will be ready after stewing for about an hour and a half. You can poke it with a chopstick and taste a small piece. As long as it is just the right amount of softness and not too hard or too dry, you can remove it from the heat. Then, just leave the beef in the pot and take it out tomorrow morning."

Braised beef in soy sauce is a cold dish, and it’s not very tasty right out of the pot.

After soaking, the braised beef will be more flavorful, and when it cools down, it will be even more delicious.

(End of this chapter)