The cook is very busy

Chapter 37

Ziqing covered his mouth, couldn't help yawning a few times, shook his head, and added another piece of firewood to the stove.

After staying in the back kitchen for the past two days, Ziqing finally understood why Erya lost her energy, and she wasn't tired.

I never work from early to late, and there is no time to rest. Except for eating, my buttocks can touch the bench, and the rest are supported by my two legs.

There is also the place where I sleep, from the back kitchen to the other courtyard, it takes less than half an hour to go back and forth a day, and I have to sleep less than half an hour a day.

But Er Ya is not much better than her, even though they live close by, there are always one or two masters who come over to have a supper or something in the end, and they still have to work for a while before they can rest.

Ziqing was guarding the stove fire, watching the flames swaying and swaying, and his eyelids also became disturbed, getting heavier and heavier...

Suddenly someone bumped into her, and Ziqing woke up in fright. She rubbed her eyes and looked around angrily, and suddenly saw that the stove she was guarding was small.

She sat up straight in a jerk, hurriedly grabbed the dry straw and stuffed it in, and added two more sticks of firewood when the fire burned.

There was an earthen pot on the stove, and Mrs. Chen just said it at noon. It was soup for the various rooms in the front yard.

If the fire had just been extinguished and she saw it, it would inevitably be another meal of nagging.

No, the man came as soon as he spoke, and Mrs. Chen entered the yard with a basket, and immediately spoke.

She yelled to tell the little girls at the door to be quicker and quicker to wash out the dishes at noon and clean up the dishes that were going to be fried tonight.

It wasn't until yesterday that my son Qing knew what the four slots at the door were for. One was for washing vegetables, the other was for washing dishes, and the other two were for cleaning.

Finally, pull out the plug with the big mouth of the bowl at the bottom, and the water will flow out along the small grooves on both sides.

Ziqing looked back, and suddenly saw Dong Cui'er fell asleep with her head on her head. This woman was scolded and cried by Mrs. Chen yesterday, why did she fall asleep again today.

She stretched her leg and kicked her, Dong Cui slipped her hand, she was as excited as she was, stretched her head to look around in a daze, when she saw Mrs. Chen, she hurriedly rubbed her eyes and stared at the stove in front of her.

Mrs. Chen put the basket on the desk, came over and saw that the two were staring at the stove, everything was fine, there was no need to scold them.

She smacked her lips, and asked Ziqing to fetch a soup bowl with blue and white landscape patterns from the cabinet.

Mrs. Chen brought down an earthen pot from the stove, scooped out a small bowl first, then poured the chicken soup inside into the basin, and grabbed a pinch of salt into it.

Then he used his chopsticks to chop off the soft and rotten chicken stewed in the crock, picked up a pipa leg and put it into the soup basin, and then scooped up a large spoonful of auxiliary ingredients to finish the job.

Ziqing leaned forward and looked at it, "Wow, it smells so good. My mother used to make soup, but it didn't smell as good."

Mrs. Chen raised her smiling face, full of complacency, "That's right, those in your village just look for a pot, put the chicken in it, add water to boil, and then throw a few grains of salt, and you're done. .”

Ziqing also smiled, "Why don't you say that Aunt Chen is a good cooker, and you can make such a pot of good soup out of it."

Mrs. Chen was unhappy when she heard it, she stared, wiped her hand on the apron, and chanted to Ziqing.

"You girl, what do you mean by making it casually? Let me tell you, Nizi, there are many tricks in this soup. You have to soak these barley, brown rice, glutinous rice and so on in water for two hours, and then make a Wash the chicken, use the scissors to twist the oil skin, then stuff the soaked barley into the chicken belly, find a cotton thread to tie it up and put it in the earthen jar, then put some American ginseng, yam and Gorgon Goji berries, pour water, more will do, bring to a boil, simmer for an hour or two before it comes out of the pot."

Having said so much in one breath, Mrs. Chen felt her tongue dry. She picked up the bowl of soup she scooped out earlier, when someone shouted outside, "Sister-in-law Zhang!"

Before Mrs. Chen took a sip, she stuffed it into Ziqing's hand and shouted loudly.

"Girl Qing, pour out this bowl of oily soup, lest Grandma won't feel comfortable after drinking it!"

As he spoke, he blinked into the slop bucket beside him, telling her to quickly pour it away and put it away, while he greeted him, "Yo, Miss Songlan, Zhang Meng's family isn't here right now..."

Ziqing took the big bowl of soup and looked at the slop bucket, feeling that it was a pity.

She glanced back and saw that Mrs. Chen was still talking to Songlan there, so she turned her back and took a big sip.

Not to mention, the soup is rich but not greasy, and the fragrance is mellow, which is really good.

Smash it, smash it, Ziqing was terrified, she didn't even use a spoon, just mixed a bowl of chicken soup to drink, if her old mother saw it, she would be so happy that she couldn't find Bei.

She then took a look inside, and saw that Erya and Dongcui were cutting bacon, so she went over and put half a bowl of chicken soup in front of them, coughed twice, and went back to the stove to clean up.

It was only she who wiped off the soup stains on the stove, and then saw Mrs. Chen coming over with a sullen face.

"Girl Qing, put the soup bowl in it, and sprinkle a little to make it look good for you!"

Mrs. Chen came over angrily, and gave her the food box, staring at the pot of old chicken soup, not forgetting to lick her mouth.

Ziqing was both amused and angry, this Mrs. Chen just wanted to steal food, and she was almost caught, so she can only blame herself for her bad timing, so why should she be angry with her?

It is said that the rats under the lamp stand can steal oil, and the woman in the stove can steal food, just like her, there is still a little bit of morality, she will teach her!
Ziqing put one end of the basin down again, pretending to be anxious, "Ms. Chen, this soup is too full, it should be poured soon."

Mrs. Chen stared and was about to get angry, but suddenly thought of something, her face softened, she picked up the soup spoon at the side and scooped back the soup, smiling.

"Oh, what a stupid girl, the soup is full and I'm afraid it won't look good if I spill it all the way, so I use the spoon less."

Ziqing didn't say anything, but waited for Mrs. Chen to be satisfied before putting the soup bowl into the food box. Anyway, she wasn't the one drinking the soup, and one more bite was less than the other, and it couldn't get into her stomach.

It's nothing more than being a favor, so as not to look at other people's faces all afternoon.

Mrs. Chen looked at the pot, and said with a smile, "Girl Qing, don't worry about the work in the stove, follow Miss Songlan and help deliver this pot of old chicken soup to Grandma's house , the two of you carry one side, and you won’t be called out.”

A bowl of soup, in exchange for half a day's leisure, is also affordable.

Ziqing thought it was a good deal, agreed, and walked over with the food box. Fortunately, it was Songlan who came, and the two of them lived in another courtyard together, so we had time to talk together.

Songlan saw Ziqing smile sweetly, this girl is just so lovable, she took a few steps to meet her and carried the other end, and the two went out.

(End of this chapter)