CHAPTER 182: CHAPTER 182: THE TEMPTATION OF GOURMET FOOD

"That’s great! I’ll go back and ask grandma for money later, and wait for you this afternoon!" Chen Qiyue was extremely happy, "Grandma would definitely be muttering about it, the community hasn’t had any fine grains or meat for many days, everything tastes bland, she’ll be really happy now!"

"Alright, I’ll be off then, Sister Qiyue!" Lin Xue waved her hand because she needed to find a place to grab some meat and head back. She was hungry too.

"Alright! Hurry up, Xiao Xue!" Chen Qiyue happily waved, turning to walk towards her own home.

After the two separated, Lin Xue walked forward for a while and arrived at the dead-end opposite the health center.

It gave her a particularly familiar feeling; when she first came over, she also hid in this alley to enter the supermarket space.

She walked into the alley, looked left and right, and saw no one, quickly entering the supermarket and taking pork, beef rolls, chicken, and a large fish weighing over five pounds, plus shrimp.

She was really craving; today there were no adults around, so the few little ones wouldn’t go out and say anything, she’d indulge a bit, just a small treat for herself.

She also took some condiments and golden needle mushrooms before leaving the space.

She planned to make braised beef with golden needle mushrooms, boiled fish, garlic shrimp, and spicy chicken along with red-braised pork.

These were dishes she especially loved in her past life, she had to eat them two or three times a week, otherwise she’d really miss them.

Since coming here, she often ate red-braised pork, but she hadn’t made spicy chicken to accommodate family tastes, let alone boiled fish, braised beef with golden needle mushrooms, or garlic shrimp.

Today, she’d have her fill at once.

When people are hungry, they think of their favorite food.

When she returned home with the stuff, Zhang Yuan was already back, and seeing her, he quickly stepped forward to take the backpack down.

"Tired?" He asked, feeling sorry for carrying such a heavy backpack.

"Not tired, how about the firewood? I’m starving, I want to make delicious food!" Lin Xue wiped her sweat and asked.

"It’ll be delivered soon, Li Qiang has contacted some people; the firewood will be brought over these days one after another!" Zhang Yuan said.

Although the town now wasn’t much different from the countryside, picking firewood by themselves was too time-consuming, and the little ones were also quite exhausted; Lin Xue couldn’t bear to let them go out picking firewood.

Fortunately, the yard was big enough; buying enough firewood for a year at once and stacking it up was reassuring.

"Great! Let’s go in! You’ll have a feast soon!" Lin Xue said as she let Zhang Yuan carry the backpack to the main kitchen.

When she arrived, the kitchen was spotlessly clean, the two iron pots and the small iron pots on the two stoves shone brightly, and the kids had already washed the rice.

They were just about to take some potatoes out of the cabinet to peel.

"Put the potatoes back! We’re not eating potatoes today; I’m making delicious food for you! Who can handle fish?" Lin Xue took the fish out of Zhang Yuan’s hands.

The over-five-pound big fish stunned the kids for a moment, Zhang Yuan also showed a craving expression, but he stepped back and shook his head, unable to handle such a task.

Lin Xue was even less capable; although she could cook well in later years, the fish she bought were all prepped, so she didn’t have to do it herself.

"Big sister, I can!"

Unexpectedly, little Lin Shuang stepped forward, raising her hand with a confident look in her eyes.

"You? Have you killed a fish before?" Lin Xue asked skeptically.

She didn’t seem like someone who could handle fish.

"I’ve never killed one, but I’ve seen my mom do it, so it should be no problem!"

The little one spoke confidently.

"Alright, take it to the yard to kill it, Xiao Shan and Little Chuan, you two help Xiao Shuang!" Lin Xue had no choice; as she didn’t know, she could only put the big fish in a basin for Lin Shuang to handle.

It’s like treating a dead horse as a living one; otherwise, there’d be no boiled fish.

With two younger sisters, she started preparing the ingredients, and soon, the firewood was delivered, a lot, enough for four or five days, all nicely chopped wood, perfect for burning.

The group began cooking, and soon, fragrant spicy smells wafted from the kitchen, forcing Zhang Yuan to step outside.

Otherwise, he’d be watching the little girl making delicious food all the time; he hadn’t eaten the delightful dishes made by the little girl for a long time, which made his mouth water thinking about the food they used to cook and eat daily in Chenxi County.

Today’s boiled fish was definitely on the menu; he wondered what else there was.

When Lin Xue finished all the other dishes, the fish weighing over five pounds was also handled by the three of them together and brought in. Seeing their clothes showed killing the fish was quite difficult.

Finally, when the meals were on the table, the colorful, fragrant, and tasty dishes were tempting, making the kids sweat while eating, enjoying the spice and not knowing when full.

Lin Xue didn’t return to the village; she stayed for the night because she had to take Lin Shuang to report to second grade the next day.

But Zhang Yuan went back, the villagers saw them leaving together, fearing others might gossip and further harm Lin Xue’s reputation.

On his way back, Zhang Yuan kept thinking of ways to marry the little girl early so they wouldn’t have to separate like this, and he could stay at home.

However, soon, he wouldn’t be able to come out so freely due to the spring planting needing him to work in the fields.

Early the next morning, the four kids were going to school, Lin Xue got up early to make breakfast for her siblings.

Nothing special, just the big steamed buns from the space, lean meat porridge, mixed cold dishes, and boiled eggs for them to eat.

After breakfast, Lin Shuang put on the bag her mom Wang Cuihua bought her and went to school for the report with her siblings, all neatly dressed.

Lin Xue followed, handling Lin Shuang’s registration, and paid, then withdrew their dormitory, setting up for commuting.

When everything was done and she came out, Zhang Yuan was already waiting for her at the school gate.

"Why are you here so early?" Lin Xue asked, puzzled.

"Didn’t you say once things here are settled, we’d start building the house? Spring planting is starting soon; I’ll accompany you to the Xiangyang Commune brick factory to sort out the bricks, or we won’t be able to come out!" Zhang Yuan said.

"Did you have breakfast?" Lin Xue asked with concern.

"I did, Li Jianshe and I went home early for breakfast before coming out!" Zhang Yuan said.

"Li Jianshe?" Lin Xue was puzzled; was Li Jianshe also coming along?

"He came to oversee moving the firewood! Can’t let him have a free meal!" Zhang Yuan was indifferent.

"He already gave money and food, hardly free!" Lin Xue laughed; this person was quite amusing.

"Eating your cooking for that meager stuff isn’t enough!"

"Alright, alright, stop kidding, how are we getting there?" Lin Xue shook her head, smiling.

"Taking the bus! Xiangyang Commune is quite far; biking would be tiring! Hurry up! The bus is about to leave!"

So, the two went home to leave the bicycle and went to the bus stop to wait.

Arriving at Xiangyang Commune took over an hour by bus.

Lin Xue thought, this wasn’t so far; biking might be more comfortable than the bus, which nearly jostled all her organs.

The two had little time for rest and hurriedly went towards the brick factory.