Baozi Xishi's Struggle

"Yuzhi girl, are you here to ask about the restaurant's kitchen?"

"Well, I thought you would be back soon, so I came to ask you in the dark. You are covered in grass and mud. Did you go to the mountain to collect herbs? It's so late, have you eaten yet?"

"When I delivered the medicine this time, the pharmacy asked me to find a herb to use as a guide. I happened to have seen this herb in Beishan a month ago. At that time, the herb had not yet grown and the medicinal effect was not enough, so I did not pick it. I plan to pick it back in two months when it is fully grown."

"But now we can't wait to save lives, so we have to hurry and pick them. Although the medicinal effect is not as good as when they are fully grown, they still have 80% of the medicinal power, which is enough for making medicine."

"The herb grows deep in the northern mountains about ten miles away. It took me a whole day to go back and forth. I had no time to eat. I only brought two dry biscuits. You wouldn't have noticed it until I said it, but now that I know it, I'm really hungry."

Doctor Shen was so happy when he thought about the life-saving herbs that were already in his backpack. But when Shen Yu picked them up, he felt hungry.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yu hurriedly stood up and went to the small table at the side, poured a cup of herbal tea from the large teapot and brought it over.

"You must be exhausted after a busy day. Sit down and have a rest and drink some water. If you don't mind, let me cook a meal for you."

"That's great. I'm really tired and was just thinking about how to have a meal."

"The food is in the west kitchen. You can use whatever you like without asking me. Let me taste the food you cooked. I'll go and sort out the herbs I picked today. I'll tell you more about the restaurant later."

Doctor Sun was a straightforward person. After hearing what Shen Yu said, he didn't bother to be polite with her. He pointed out to her where the vegetables and grains were kept, drank the herbal tea in the cup, and then lit another oil lamp to fiddle with and organize his precious herbs.

Shen Yu carried an oil lamp into the kitchen on the west side of the yard.

Looking around in the light, I saw that the kitchen was extremely simple.

There was a large water tank at the entrance, and next to it was a long table with a chopping board and kitchen knives. In the corner was a large cupboard. When I opened it and looked around, I saw some bowls, chopsticks and porcelain basins on top, and a dozen eggs in a small basket on the bottom, and a few cloth bags for grain.

The pots and chopping boards were very clean, but there was no smell of cooking, as if they were rarely used. Fortunately, salt, oil, sauce, and vinegar were all available. I guess he often went up the mountain to collect herbs, and he might not come back for a few days, so he wouldn't cook every day.

Shen Yu looked at the food and vegetables in the kitchen, which included some fine white flour, dried mushrooms, fungus, and wild vegetables. There was a vegetable patch in the corner of the yard, where Chinese cabbage, leeks, and spring onions were planted. She thought about it and decided to make a fried egg and vegetable noodle dish for Doctor Sun.

This is her favorite noodle dish to make when she comes home late from overtime. It is refreshing and tasty, and most importantly, it is very simple. She always has a handful of thin noodles at home, and it can be eaten in three to five minutes.

Here, you have to make noodles from scratch, which is not difficult.

Shen Yu likes to knead dough to make pasta, and finds the process very relaxing. She has also mastered the skill of kneading dough without getting her hands wet and adding water without measuring.

Shen Yu scooped water from the water tank into the basin beside him, washed his hands, found a porcelain basin in the cupboard in the corner where dishes were kept, scooped half a bowl of fine white flour into it, added an appropriate amount of water with a ladle, and kneaded it into a slightly hard dough in the basin in a few strokes. He then kneaded it vigorously until the surface was smooth, covered it with a clean cloth and set it aside to rise. Then he went to the vegetable garden to pick green onions and cabbage, scooped water to wash them, put the cabbage in a basket to drain, and cut the green onions into chopped green onions.

The vegetables and chopped green onions are prepared, and the noodles are almost done.

Take it out of the basin, sprinkle some flour on the dough board, roll out the dough into a thin sheet, fold it several times, cut it into thin pieces, shake it open, and spread it on the dough board. The thin and chewy noodles are ready.

Although Doctor Sun seldom cooked, he always prepared a lot of firewood, both coarse and fine, which was very convenient to use.

Shen Yu has become very experienced in using the wood stove in recent days. In just a few seconds, the fire was burning and the pot was hot.

Pour in oil, beat in two eggs, fry until both sides are golden brown, and serve in a large bowl.

Pour water into the pot, wait for the water to boil, add the cut fresh noodles, the noodles are cut very thin, and they are fresh noodles, so they are cooked as soon as the water boils. Sprinkle some vegetables in and blanch them, and put the fried eggs in. When the water boils again and the soup becomes thick and white, add some salt, and then serve the soup and noodles in a large bowl with balsamic vinegar and sesame oil, and sprinkle a few chopped green onions. The hot soup is boiling with balsamic vinegar, and immediately, a sour and mellow smell wafts out.

There are a few drops of oil on the thick white soup, the noodles are thin, chewy and slightly yellow, the fried egg is golden, the bok choy is fresh, crisp and green, and dotted with a few green onions. A bowl of refreshing and mellow fried egg and vegetable noodles is ready.

The soup bowl was large and hot. Shen Yu was just about to find a tray to take it out when Doctor Sun came in with a smile: "What delicious food are you making? The aroma has spread to the yard."

"You are done, the noodles are ready, just wash your hands and you can eat."

"The tray is in the cupboard. You can put the noodles on the stone table in the yard. It's hot, so I'll eat in the yard."

Doctor Sun smiled as he scooped up some water to wash his hands, and directed Shen Yu to bring the noodles to the stone table in the courtyard. He smiled again and said, "Yuzhi girl, your noodles are well made. They smell delicious."

Shen Yu smiled shyly, but thought in her heart: I don’t know if it tastes really good, and I don’t know if it suits the taste of this era.

Doctor Sun sat down at the table, and without hesitation, he picked up a bowl of noodles with chopsticks, took a bite, and showed approval on his face. Without saying anything, he lowered his head and started eating. In just a few moments, he had eaten up the whole bowl of noodles, picked up the bowl, and drank up the soup. A satisfied expression appeared on his face.

Shen Yu hurriedly handed over a cloth soaked in cold water. Doctor Sun wiped the sweat off his forehead and then said, "Yuzhi girl, your noodles are well made. They taste good. The soup is thick and the noodles are clear. Especially the noodles, which are fine, tough and smooth. They are comparable to the chicken noodle soup I had in Yuelai Restaurant.

After Shen Yu listened to this, his worries were put to rest. It was not bad. It seemed that the tastes that modern people like were also popular here.

Shen Yu washed the dishes, and Doctor Sun brought a large cup of herbal tea to the table, inviting Shen Yu to sit down and drink the tea.

Seeing her sitting down, he said, "Yuzhi girl, I only knew that you were good at embroidery, but I never saw you cooking. I was a little hesitant about you helping in the kitchen at the restaurant, worried that you wouldn't be able to do the delicate work in the kitchen, and you could only be a fireman, suffering from hardships and earning few cents. Now, I'm not worried anymore, you can make this bowl of noodles so delicious, at least you can do the job of the noodle counter well."

"This time when I went to the restaurant, I happened to see Shopkeeper Fan complaining to the chef that the people in the dental shop were unreliable and couldn't even send a suitable person. I hurriedly asked him what kind of person he was looking for, and then I found out the whole story."

"It turns out that although Yuelai Restaurant sells food and drinks, its signature dish is the noodle soup with various toppings. Not to mention the meat and vegetable toppings in the soup, the noodles are especially well made, thin and chewy, smooth and springy, and can be cooked for a long time without becoming mushy. With the various toppings, the taste is delicious. We can always sell about a hundred bowls a day, and some people even order them to take home to eat."

"The toppings can be prepared in advance, but the noodles have to be cooked fresh. For this reason, the restaurant has a chef named Yang who is good at making noodles. He doesn't have to worry about anything else, but is responsible for the daily supply of noodles."

"In recent days, Chef Yang's mother's long-standing cough has worsened, and Chef Yang has been anxious to find a good prescription. He heard that there is a doctor in the neighboring province who specializes in treating coughs and can cure them with a few doses of medicine. However, the journey is long, and he wants the patient to go to the doctor for a face-to-face consultation before he is willing to prescribe a prescription. Chef Yang quit his job and took his mother to the neighboring province."

"Since Chef Yang left, this noodle can only be made by other chefs temporarily, but they are never as good as Chef Yang. The old customers who usually order this noodle ask if the noodle chef has been changed after eating it, saying that he is not as good as Chef Yang. Shopkeeper Fan is worried that he can't find a suitable noodle chef to take over."

"I didn't know you had this skill, so I just said that I had an old friend's daughter whose family was in a difficult situation and wanted to work in the kitchen, so I asked Shopkeeper Fan if he could take her in. When Shopkeeper Fan heard that she was my old friend's daughter, he agreed and said that he could bring her in to try out the job. As long as she was diligent and willing to work, she could come to help in the kitchen. But I have to make it clear in advance that if she can only help to light the fire and pick vegetables, the salary will not be much, only 50 cents a day."

"I think you are doing a good job here. You can try your hand at making noodles. You can earn a lot more money there. I wonder if you can do it?"

"I can make various kinds of wide and thin noodles, but I don't know if I can compare with Chef Yang. I'll give it a try. Doctor Sun, I'm worried about something else. I wonder if Mr. Fan is willing to let a woman cook noodles?"

Shen Yu was not afraid of anything else except that women in this era would be excluded and could not be chefs and could only do odd jobs.

"That's not a problem. Although there are few women working outside here, there are still some. There are several women helping to select vegetables in the kitchen of the restaurant. The noodles you made are fine, chewy and smooth. Show off your skills during the trial. Manager Fan is in need of a noodle chef. Seeing how good you are, how could he not hire you?"

"That's great. When will you come to town again? I'll go with you for a job trial."

"After we collect these herbs, we need to prepare them before we can use them. I will deliver them to you the day after tomorrow morning. Come to my yard and go to town with me. I wonder if your mother has agreed to let you work in town?"

"I'll tell mother when I get home, and she'll agree. It's getting late, and you've been tired all day, so you should take a rest. I'll be back now, and I'll come to you the day after tomorrow morning."

Seeing that Doctor Sun looked tired, Shen Yu stood up and said goodbye.

Doctor Sun had walked the mountain road for a whole day and was indeed tired. Seeing that she had not lit a torch when she came, he took a torch and lit it to light the way for her. He stood at the door and watched Shen Yu walk away before closing the door and going back to rest.