Border Cook

Lu Qiyan's appetite was aroused, and he ate his meal as fast as a whirlwind, seemingly not caring about his table manners.

Such a gluttonous look made Wu Jin, who was originally accompanying Xia Mingyue in the main room, grit his teeth.

Xianlianbao seems to have a bigger appetite.

Fortunately, my master can make money and cook. Otherwise, I would really worry about whether the military pay of this conspicuous package is enough to eat, and whether it will make the family go bankrupt...

Lu Qiyan didn't notice Wu Jin's disgusted look at him. He was just immersed in the deliciousness of the sliced ​​noodles. He ate all the braised meat and cold dishes, and drank up all the noodles and soup in the bowl.

After enjoying all the delicious food with great satisfaction, Lu Qiyan took the initiative to clean up the dishes, took them to the kitchen to wash them, and cleaned up again. After washing up completely, he went into the house.

Xia Mingyue had already laid down and was flipping through the storybook as usual.

With the precedent of sleeping in the same bed last night, Lu Qiyan didn't look for any excuses today. He just took off his shoes and outer clothes.

Xia Mingyue paused when she saw this and said, "I'll sleep inside tonight."

She thought about it for a long time today and felt that she might have bad sleeping habits.

In order to prevent herself from falling off the bed when she was sleeping, she subconsciously squeezed inside, which led to her crawling into Lu Qiyan's bed. This time, she could probably avoid this embarrassment by sleeping inside directly.

That's right!

Xia Mingyue thought about this and quickly dragged her quilt inside. Lu Qiyan said "OK" and lay down directly on the outside.

As usual, the candle was still burning.

Xia Mingyue turned her back to Lu Qiyan, yawned several times in succession, and then closed her eyes.

Lu Qiyan was not very sleepy, but he was still thinking about Xia Mingyue kicking off the quilt to cover him, so he couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

But today Xia Mingyue was sleeping very soundly, with no intention of exposing her arms or legs at all, leaving Lu Qiyan with no chance to use his skills.

It also made Lu Qiyan feel a little regretful.

Helplessly closing his eyes, Lu Qiyan quickly fell asleep, but also woke up quickly.

The wind was blowing outside, and it was so strong that the branches in the yard rustled and even the tightly closed window frames made slight "banging" sounds.

Along with these sounds were Xia Mingyue's rustling movements.

It's not that he's kicking the quilt, but that he's constantly pulling the quilt over himself.

It was Lu Qiyan’s quilt that was pulled.

Lu Qiyan burst out laughing, looking at Xia Mingyue who was in a daze, frowning, and constantly pulling at her quilt, he had no choice but to offer his quilt to her.

So, when she woke up the next morning, Xia Mingyue found herself lying in Lu Qiyan's bed again, with her arm on Lu Qiyan's chest.

Xia Mingyue, "..."

It’s proven that she is lustful!
But it is her legitimate right.

What's more, this quilt is very warm, sleeping very comfortably, and Lu Qiyan's chest...

The feel is also excellent!
Xia Mingyue saw that Lu Qiyan didn't seem to have any intention of getting up early. It was still early outside and seemed a little chilly, so she simply shrank her neck and planned to sleep for a while.

The hand on Lu Qiyan's chest was not retracted at all. Xia Mingyue closed her eyes again and fell asleep again soon.

But Lu Qiyan opened his eyes at this time, looking at Xia Mingyue who was sleeping peacefully beside him, with her eyes closed, eyelashes trembling slightly, and she looked very cute curled up in the quilt.

Lu Qiyan's face was full of smiles, and he couldn't suppress his impulse. He turned his face slightly and pecked Xia Mingyue lightly on the forehead.

Xia Mingyue frowned slightly in her sleep.

Lu Qiyan was so frightened that he immediately calmed down and lay down obediently.

The rooster crowed three times, and the central kitchen began to get busy. The noise gradually grew louder, and Xia Mingyue and Lu Qiyan both woke up, got dressed, got out of bed, and began to wash.

Seeing Xia Mingyue touching her forehead from time to time, Jiang Zhuguo was surprised and a little worried, "Sister Xia, are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I just had a dream last night. I dreamed that I was fishing. When I was fishing with the net, a fish jumped out of the net and its tail hit my forehead..."

Xia Mingyue said, "It feels cool and real. It always makes me feel a little dazed."

Lu Qiyan, who was helping Xia Mingyue fetch water, said, "..."

Is he a fish?
That’s fine, it’s delicious and very nutritious.

Because she dreamed of being thrown by a fish's tail, Xia Mingyue decided that there must be fish in the lunch dish today.

Lou Shanzi, Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu discussed for a moment and decided to make the squirrel fish that Xia Mingyue had taught them earlier.

Kill and clean the fresh salmon, make a cut on both sides along the back of the gills, cut off the fish head, and slice the meat on both sides of the fish horizontally along the fish bones, keeping the fish tail continuous. Then flatten the fish body and slice out uninterrupted diamond-shaped meat, making sure the meat is not cut.

Add salt, egg white, starch, etc. to the fish meat, mix well, put it into the oil pan and fry it twice. The first time is to fix the shape, and the second time is to cook it. When the whole fish is fried, it will be evenly golden in color. Then you can put it on the plate, put the fish head and fish meat on it, and make a suitable shape.

Fry the rock sugar until it turns red, then add the aged vinegar, sugar, water, sweet potato starch, minced garlic, etc. and stir-fry in turn. Stir evenly and simmer until it becomes a reddish-brown, sticky and rich sweet and sour sauce. Pour it over the fried fish and the squirrel fish is ready to be served.

The squirrel fish is shaped like a squirrel, and the layers of fish meat are like blooming chrysanthemums, so it is called chrysanthemum fish in some places. It has bright color, tender and crispy taste, and sweet and sour flavor, which is suitable for all ages.

Lou Shanzi, Zhao Dahu and Zhao Erhu prepared three squirrel fish dishes respectively. Without telling anyone, they served them to the table and asked everyone to taste them. They also asked Xia Mingyue to give detailed comments.

Xia Mingyue tasted each dish carefully and pointed out the problems in all the dishes.

"When slicing the fish, I was hesitant and inconsistent, so the fish didn't have a good shape, and it didn't look good when fried. When I fried the sweet and sour sauce at the end, the heat was a little high, so it tasted sweet with a little bitterness. I need to pay attention to this next time."

"The second time it was fried, the heat was a little too high, the color was darker, the fish was a little tough, and the sweet and sour sauce was a little thick, making the whole dish too heavy and not refreshing, and a little choking when eaten."

"This dish..." Xia Mingyue paused in front of the third dish, "The knife skills are impeccable, the frying temperature is excellent, and the sweet and sour sauce is also very good. The overall taste is very good, but there is a gap on the plate that holds the fish, which slightly affects the appetite."

“Although tableware management is not the job of the chef, as a chef, you need to do your best in all aspects, and you need to pay special attention to tableware to avoid small things that affect the satisfaction of the entire dish.”

"Did you remember it?"

When Xia Mingyue asked this question, she looked at Lou Shanzi.

Lou Shanzi nodded hurriedly, "Master, don't worry, I'll take note of it."

"However, we didn't tell them about these three dishes in advance. How did Master know that this dish was mine?" (End of this chapter)