Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

Zhou Weiqiang's juniors not only needed his Level 2 Construction Engineer certificate to help them register their companies, but also wanted to rely on his experience so that he could check on the project progress from time to time.

So, although it's called working on a construction site, the workload is actually very light. Most of the time, I just stay in the office drinking tea.

I only need to go to the site occasionally to check on the progress of the project.

Therefore, Zhou Weiqiang would usually come back for lunch.

As soon as he entered, he smelled the spicy aroma.

"What is this? It smells so good! Mei-ying just arrived? Doesn't she have to go to work today?" Zhou Weiqiang asked as he took off his shoes.

Just by smelling it, you can tell it couldn't have been made by Cao Xuezhen.

In the whole family, only the Zhou sisters, Zhou Meiying and Zhou Weiqiang, love to eat all kinds of strong-flavored, spicy snacks and braised dishes.

So Zhou Weiqiang's first thought was that Zhou Meiying had come over.

It seems to be in retaliation for Cao Xuezhen's childhood prohibition against eating spicy food and snacks.

After getting married, Zhou Meiying always liked to bring back some strongly flavored snacks whenever she went back to her parents' home.

When Zhou Weiqiang's daughter comes back to her parents' home, the happiest thing for him is playing with his two grandsons and eating the snacks his daughter buys.

He himself found it strange that as he got older, he developed a greater liking for strongly flavored foods.

"It was your son who made the food. He insisted that it was too bland and wanted something spicy to whet his appetite."

Zhou Weiqiang walked happily to the dining table and was about to pick up his chopsticks when he heard that Zhou Yu had cooked the dishes. He subconsciously wanted to put down his chopsticks.

However, he immediately remembered the recent changes in Zhou Yu's cooking skills. Well, it's not that he couldn't give it another try.

Moreover, these two dishes look really tempting!

With its bright red and oily color, and the pungent aroma of numbing spiciness, Zhou Weiqiang couldn't help but swallow.

Before Cao Xuezhen could even serve him his meal, he eagerly picked up a piece of tofu.

The soft, tender tofu was picked up whole and put into my mouth.

It still has a hot but not harsh taste, and then the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns travels from the tip of the tongue to the back, and the saliva that comes out is immediately enveloped by the salty and savory flavor of the fermented soybean paste.

"Oh ho ho! Delicious!" Zhou Weiqiang kept gasping for breath as he was burned.

But he immediately picked up another piece, and then picked up some beef.

Unlike the soft and tender texture of tofu, boiled beef is another kind of tender and refreshing dish.

Zhou Yu sliced ​​the beef extremely thinly, only blanched it briefly to remove the blood, and then poured oil over it, resulting in very tender beef with abundant juices.

Zhou Weiqiang picked up a piece of tofu and a piece of beef with his chopsticks, occasionally tilting his head back to exhale.

They enjoyed the meal very much.

Cao Xuezhen handed him the rice she had prepared: "Eat more rice, or your stomach won't be able to handle it."

Seeing how happily he was eating, she couldn't help but nag, "Honestly, don't you know you're getting old? You still like spicy food so much. Aren't you worried about your stomach not being able to handle it? Remember to buy a cup of herbal tea before you go to work."

"And you, it's so hot now, porridge is so comforting, why do you have to make so much stuff and cook spicy dishes? You have to buy a cup later too."

Unlike other parts of Lingnan, people in G City like to drink porridge for breakfast and lunch. In the morning, they usually have some local pickled vegetables, and at lunch, they have regular stir-fried dishes or steamed fish.

But Zhou Yu said he was going to make boiled beef and Mapo tofu today, so he cooked rice for lunch, which is quite unusual.

Having eaten white porridge for lunch for decades, Cao Xuezhen was naturally a little unaccustomed to it, especially since she didn't like spicy food.

However, after she frowned and took a bite of beef, her eyes lit up.

Wow, this beef is so tender! The crispy and slightly numbing texture is so delicious!

She also picked up some tofu, and like Zhou Weiqiang, it was so hot that tears welled up in her eyes, but she couldn't bear to spit it out.

When Zhou Yu saw that Cao Xuezhen had stopped nagging and was only picking up food with her chopsticks more frequently, he knew that although his mother didn't say anything, she had been persuaded by the delicious food.

Soon, all the food was finished.

Zhou Weiqiang was still reluctant to leave and wanted to pour some Mapo Tofu broth over his rice, but Cao Xuezhen, who had regained her senses, clapped her hands and stopped him.

He had no choice but to put away his chopsticks and said to Zhou Yu, "Do you remember your Uncle Luo's son, Yunqian?"

Zhou Yu nodded.

Uncle Luo, Luo Qiming, is his father's old classmate and good friend.

However, when they were in high school, Zhou Weiqiang felt that his grades were pretty good, so he chose to continue his studies.

As a result, he didn't do very well on the exam, and eventually, with his grandfather's arrangement, he went on to learn the craft of carpentry.

Zhou Weiqiang and a few of his classmates who weren't doing well in school had no choice but to join the army. Some even passed the military academy entrance exam and later returned to civilian life, becoming minor leaders in their local areas.

So sometimes Zhou Weiqiang regrets that he should have joined the army.

When they were young, the Zhou and Luo families had frequent contact, and Zhou Yu grew up with Luo Qiming's son, Luo Yunqian. However, later Zhou Yu worked and studied in other places, so they had less contact.

However, Zhou Weiqiang and Luo Qiming have always maintained contact and their relationship remains very good.

Zhou Weiqiang continued, "Your Uncle Luo called me today and said he's planning to go back to his hometown in a few days for a get-together. You'll come with me then."

"Dad, why did you invite me to your gathering?" Zhou Yu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"You and Yunqian haven't seen each other for a long time either. Now that you're back, you should visit each other more often. Besides, your Uncle Luo said he hasn't seen you in a long time either."

Seeing that Zhou Yu was still hesitating, Zhou Weiqiang continued, "Besides, your cooking skills are so good now, wouldn't it be nice if you helped us cook and made your dad look impressive?"

"Okay, when? You know I'm setting up a stall now, so I might not be available."

"It's not decided yet, don't worry, it won't be during your busy time."

Hmm? That sounds so strange. What do you mean by "not during my busy time"?

No, your gathering doesn't even consider whether I'm busy or not.

Zhou Yu looked at Zhou Weiqiang with a puzzled expression.

"Oh dear, we're all retired now, so of course we'll take care of you young people's schedules."

Feeling that things were getting increasingly explicit, Zhou Weiqiang tried to deflect the question by saying, "Anyway, you'll be coming with me. If I don't consider your schedule, who's going to cook?"

Seeing that Zhou Weiqiang was unwilling to say anything more, Zhou Yu had no choice but to suppress his many questions.

However, when he returned to his room for a midday nap and habitually opened the system panel to check, he discovered:

Wishlist:

Cao Xuezhen: I want to drink the new daughter-in-law tea (Task reward: Complete postpartum meal recipes)

[Zhou Weiqiang: Luo Qiming said he would introduce Zhou Yu to a blind date, the daughter of his colleague, who is also unmarried and works as a doctor. A doctor is great! Now that Zhou Yu has stabilized again, we must trick him into meeting him first, no matter what, so that we can have the opportunity to drink the "new daughter-in-law tea" this year (Task Reward: Complete Postpartum Meal Recipes)]

[Wishlist tasks claimed/Completed: 1/0]

Well, so that's what they were waiting for me.

Zhou Yu looked helpless.