65 Coldness
Shao Taotao and Shao Xiaoqi were waiting for Qiao Xuan and they cheered as they caught sight of her.
“Fifth Sister-in-law, we have already dealt with the chicken, rabbits and yams. We are all waiting for you!”
Even Ms. Fang and Ms. Xu were wearing a look of expectation.
They all liked the dishes Qiao Xuan made.
In the past, they only knew how to stew and braise wild roosters and rabbits, but she was able to create different ways of eating, which they never got tired of.
Gradually, the whole family became slightly biased about Qiao Xuan’s food.
As for her splurging of oil, salt and seasoning… well, they could just ignore that.
Qiao Xuan nodded with a smile and went into the kitchen, with her sleeves rolled up.
They had three wild roosters and two wild rabbits. Two of the rabbits were hidden, unknown to the other sections of the family. When the aunts from the other two sections came to get a wild rooster for each of them, Ms. Fang ignored them.
They only had one wild rooster and one rabbit for her own family, and the other wild rabbit could be left for tomorrow night.
The yams were stewed with chicken and porcinis, whilst rabbits were fried with chili and garlic.
Then, she soaked a handful of fungus that had dried two days ago, cut water celery into sections, sliced yams with an oblique knife, and stir-fried them together. Not only was the dish fresh and delicious, but the color looked really bright as well.
After that, she fried a dish of lettuce.
The yams were diced and served on the table after being well-placed. Soon, she made one more dish of sugar-coated yams.
As they were about to eat the food, Qiao Xuan told everyone to eat the sugar-coated yams first. “It would not taste good when it gets cold.”
The whole yams had been cooled with a layer of amber-colored syrup, looking crystal clear and beautiful. Even the air felt sweet, delicious and attractive.
Everyone started to pick up the chopsticks.
“Oh it is so delicious!”
“It is very sweet and nice!”
“How did you come up with this idea of making yams?”
“Let me eat some more!”
Ms. Xu was surprised too. She, on one hand, gave some to her children whilst stuffing a lot into her own mouth. She believed that the dish would taste equally good even after it turned cold.
Ms. Fang was also a little worried about the sugar, thinking that Ms. Qiao had used too much of it. She was going to tell her to save some sugar even though it was bought with her own money.
Seeing her grandchildren enjoying themselves, Ms. Fang said with a smile, “You have eaten so much, Third Son! Don’t eat any more, spare some for Junyan and Qing!”
Eldest Uncle was eating as he started to speak. “All children like it. We can spare some, so Taotao can share some with Xianwen and Juan later.”
Shao Xianwen and Shao Juan were the grandchildren of the Second Uncle.
Cold air spread across the table the moment the words were spoken.
Qiao Xuan pursed her lips. It was enough!
Ms. Fang sneered. “We have very little ourselves, and we will get troubled by the second and the third sections of the family. I don’t think they will get enough of our food.”
Shao Sanlang nodded. “True!”
Then, he stuffed a slice into his own mouth again.
Shao Junyan had just finished what he was given in the bowl and he wanted to have some more. But Ms. Xu did not dare to take any more slices after hearing what her father-in-law said. She consoled him by patting his back and offered him wild roosters instead.
Ms. Fang did not care. She gave Shao Junyan some more and said, “Lovely grandson, we barely have a chance to eat such a thing, take as much as you want!”
She did not want to share anything with any other sections of the family, when she had her grandchildren to take care of.