In the 1970s, it started with contracting out communal dining.

Li Yannian's home is the dormitory he was assigned when he worked at the Provincial Materials Bureau. It's not a large house; it's a two-bedroom bungalow.

The room on the east side was specially set aside for the old man to live in, while the room on the west side was occupied by Li Yannian's family.

Li Yannian is an exemplary official; although he has been promoted, his old house remains untouched.

Anyone who sees this will give it a thumbs up and say it's a testament to integrity.

Chen Wei carried the ingredients he bought at the supply and marketing cooperative into the house and put all the things in his hands on the small cabinet by the entrance.

A round-faced woman with her hair neatly tied up immediately came out to greet him, looking at Chen Wei with a smile and a surprised expression.

"This is?"

"This Comrade Chen is a friend of mine. He's here to visit our father today!" Li Yannian didn't specifically mention Chen Wei's identity, only introducing him as a friend.

Seeing the middle-aged woman opposite him, who was about the same age as Li Yannian, and the two seemed to be talking quite intimately, Chen Wei guessed that she must be Li Yannian's wife, so he quickly greeted her.

"Hello, sister-in-law! I'm Chen Wei. I apologize for the intrusion and for disturbing you today!"

"No disturbance, no disturbance! Xiao Chen, please come in!"

Li Yannian's wife, Shen Weiping, smiled warmly and quickly led Chen Wei in, letting him sit at the eight-immortal table in the center of the room before turning to make tea.

Chen Wei didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly.

Li Yannian had already turned around the house and called out to the inner room.

"Dad, a colleague from my workplace wanted to visit you, so I brought him home!"

"Hmph!" Unexpectedly, the old man inside the house only snorted coldly and then fell silent.

Li Yannian stood at the door for a long time, and when he heard no response from inside, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

He sighed, turned around, lowered his voice, and smiled apologetically at Chen Wei.

"The old man is in a bad mood and hasn't been talking much these past few days, please don't take it to heart."

"No! It's been hot lately, and the old man isn't feeling well. He doesn't have much of an appetite, so naturally he doesn't want to move around. As a junior visiting your home, it wouldn't be right for him to come out to see me. I'm just here to cook, and I also hope to have a meal at your house!"

Chen Wei said this without any hesitation, and stood up to ask.

"Director Li, where is our kitchen?"

"Over here, over here! Oh, Xiao Chen, let me help you out, this way please!"

Li Yannian was naturally embarrassed. Although he had bought all the ingredients that Chen Wei had brought, they were just strangers who had only met once. He didn't want Chen Wei to go to all the trouble of making a special trip to his home to cook for him.

Chen Wei didn't care about any of that and followed Li Yannian straight into the kitchen.

The Li family's kitchen wasn't indoors; it was a small corner set up in the yard. The space wasn't large, and a series of plastic curtains separated it from the yard, covered with some asbestos tiles, barely enough to keep out the wind and rain.

Chen Wei ducked inside and found that the place was neatly organized.

There was a small stove in the corner, with a gas cylinder attached that only reached knee height.

To be honest, Li Yannian, a bureau chief, lives in incredibly poor conditions.

"Xiao Chen, how do you cook this winter melon? Do you peel it first?"

As he offered to help, Li Yannian squeezed in as well, clearly feeling quite embarrassed.

Roll up your sleeves and start peeling and removing the seeds from the winter melon.

Chen Wei, on the other hand, turned around and pushed the person out.

"Director Li, I won't ask you to learn this little trick! Just leave everything to me, I'm a professional, so don't worry about it."

After making a casual joke, Chen Wei then pushed the person out of the kitchen.

If you're too eager to cook for your boss, it might make you seem like you have ulterior motives, and you'll be hesitant to bring up other matters at the dinner table.

If you're too formal, the sentiment won't be there, and things won't go smoothly.

Chen Wei can be said to have mastered the art of controlling the heat perfectly.

Seeing that he said that, Li Yannian naturally couldn't insist anymore. After saying a few more polite words, he left.

Li Yannian's wife, Shen Weiping, was about to come in to help, but Li Yannian stopped her.

Finally, Chen Wei was the only one left in the kitchen, so he rolled up his sleeves and quickly got to work.

First, peel and remove the seeds from the winter melon, then cut it into thick slices about two fingers wide.

Tofu needs to be cut into cubes and soaked in warm water first to remove the beany smell. Then it will be pan-fried until golden brown on both sides before you can start stewing the dish.

Chen Wei also specially bought a piece of pork belly, planning to slice it thinly and put it into the dish.

In fact, Chen Wei did not use the system to analyze the recipe for this dish, but decided to make it on the spot when he was communicating with Li Yannian.

It's because in his previous life, he also loved eating winter melon stewed with tofu, especially in the summer when it was so hot and he couldn't eat. A bowl of this refreshing stew, paired with a big flatbread, would be very comforting.

Moreover, Chen Wei thought that this dish was tender and flavorful, and was indeed suitable for the elderly, so he decided to bring it out on the spur of the moment.

However, without the system's assistance, this dish probably won't taste amazing.

Fortunately, Chen Weilai wasn't trying to impress everyone with his dishes today; after all, this wasn't a competition, but simply a way to win the favor of the elderly.

The cleaver danced merrily on the cutting board, cutting the ingredients into the required sizes one by one.

Once the tofu was taken out and drained, Chen Wei then heated oil in a wok. He first slid lard into the wok, spreading a thin layer, and then carefully slid the tofu along the edge of the wok to the bottom, frying it slowly over low heat.

Pan-frying tofu is a slow process; you can't rush it. If you rush, the tofu will fall apart.

The most unique feature of this dish is that the pan-fried tofu cubes are stewed with winter melon, absorbing all the broth. When you finally take a bite, the rich broth overflows, and the taste is simply amazing!

With a gentle shake of the pot in his hand, the tofu obediently slid along the bottom of the pot, following the force of Chen Wei's wrist. Once the tofu sizzled and could be easily sliced ​​from the bottom of the pot, Chen Wei picked up the spatula and flipped the tofu over one side at a time.

Once the tofu was golden brown on all sides, he took it out and set it aside.

Turn around, pick up the sliced ​​meat, turn up the heat, and stir-fry it in the pot.

The pork slices are made from fatty pork belly, which needs to be stir-fried over high heat to render the fat. Once the fat has rendered, minced scallions, ginger, and garlic are added and stir-fried until fragrant. Only then can winter melon and various seasonings be added and the mixture be slowly simmered.

"Sizzle..."

The aroma of the sliced ​​meat gradually wafted from the pot, mixed with the caramelized fragrance of scallions, ginger, and garlic, and slowly drifted from the small kitchen in the yard into the house.

The old man, who had been sitting on the bed sulking and throwing a tantrum at his son, suddenly sat up straight, his nostrils flared, and turned toward the window to take a deep sniff.

"Did you cook? This doesn't taste like your cooking. What did you make? It smells so good!"