Divorced woman with child travels through time

Chapter 288 Be My Cook

Qian'er got anxious and immediately said, "There's no need for that. It's just a big bag of pastries, nothing valuable."

Chen Wenfang explained, "But I left in such a hurry that I forgot to take the money. Otherwise, what will I eat? I can't let the two young ladies support me forever, can I?"

Qian'er smiled and said, "Since you've all come with us, you won't go hungry. Just eat whatever you want, and let's not talk about the snacks anymore."

Chen Wenfang probably guessed that she had taken it, so she said, "But this stuff is really awful, I can't eat it."

Qian'er said sarcastically, "What, you really think you're the lady of the house, and you're still complaining about this situation?"

Looking at the messy pile of steamed buns and mantou, Chen Wenfang couldn't help but ask, "Hey girl, how does this taste compared to my pastries?"

“This…” Qian’er recalled the sneaky snack last night and couldn’t help but honestly admit, “This is naturally incomparable. Compared to your snacks, this is practically pig feed.”

Chen Wenfang smiled gently and said, "That's settled then. I've had a poor appetite since I was a child and I'm used to being a picky eater. How about you give me some money and I'll use some ingredients to cook something for the three of us, if you're comfortable with that?"

Qian'er stared longingly at Ru'er, her meaning clear. Ru'er sighed, remembering her junior sister who had stolen someone else's pastries last night, and forced a bite into her mouth. The sweet and soft texture made her eat two pieces herself.

Ru'er glanced at Chen Wenfang again, gave her a warning look, and said, "Go ahead, I'll pay for it."

"Okay, sure..." Chen Wenfang happily put down the package and went straight into the kitchen. Actually, she did it on purpose. This Ru'er was too vigilant. Even when Chen Wenfang went to the outhouse, Ru'er would say ominously from behind, "Don't even think about running away. You can't escape...!"

She's been scared several times already. It seems that Ru'er is extremely vigilant and also highly skilled in martial arts, able to detect her at any time.

This made Chen Wenfang hesitant to run away without a plan. Since that was the case, she had to find another way to gain their trust, which naturally meant using her strengths. Cooking delicious food was the only way to bribe them and make her kidnapping experience easier.

The kitchen didn't have many ingredients, just some ordinary cabbage, tofu and eggs. After all, it was a small rural shop, so what good stuff could it possibly have? But at least there was some old hen soup simmering in the pot.

Seeing Chen Wenfang enter, the middle-aged owner and several employees of the shop followed her in. He had clearly heard the woman complaining about the food he made. Although the shop was small with only three tables of customers, there were four tables in the main hall. With three tables occupied, it meant everyone knew. He was furious, but the older woman with a cold face had a long sword on the table, clearly not someone to mess with. He could only swallow his anger and go into the kitchen to see what delicious food this woman could make.

As soon as Chen Wenfang entered, she rummaged around and found some flour and eggs. She immediately started working, sifting the flour twice and kneading it. After kneading, she covered it with a damp cloth and let it rest next to the pot. She then cut a piece of pork, rendered the lard, fried it, beat a few eggs, and used the lard to stir-fry the remaining meat.

The shop owner was somewhat stunned when Chen Wenfang started rendering the lard. Pork could be cooked like this? It wasn't until Chen Wenfang added garlic and ginger to the pan and stir-fried the pork that the shop owner realized that this woman's cooking was bound to be delicious. Why? It smelled so good! Why hadn't he thought of cooking pork this way? Fun fact: in the Song Dynasty, meat was mostly stewed. Several employees and the shop owner watched from the side.

Sigh, I miss my husband. Wang Erniu loves my stir-fried pork with chili peppers the most, but unfortunately there are no chili peppers. Chen Wenfang sighed, lost in thought. When the pork was cooked and she turned around to get the basin, she found a bunch of people craning their necks to look at her from the kitchen doorway.

"Uh... what's going on?" Chen Wenfang asked, somewhat embarrassed.

The shop owner said rather embarrassedly, "None of you have ever seen cooking like this before. Madam, may I cook using your method from now on?" As a bystander who had witnessed the whole process, he could naturally learn such a simple and straightforward cooking technique at a glance. However, as someone with the integrity expected of an ancient person, he couldn't openly steal someone else's skills.

"Of course! If you can cook delicious food, we'll be in for a treat," Chen Wenfang replied with a smile, her hands busy kneading dough and boiling water at the same time.

"Oh, my wife is such a kind person. I'll help you with the fire." With that, she went to help start the fire.

"Okay, thank you, shopkeeper." Chen Wenfang was quite happy to help, since it was a bit of a hassle to wash her hands and knead the dough every time she added firewood.

One of the waiters, who had squeezed through the crowd, seized the opportunity to say, "Madam, what made you think of cooking this? It smells so good! It must be delicious."

Chen Wenfang laughed heartily, "This is how they cook in Linxia, ​​didn't you know?"

"I really don't know," another waiter chimed in. "But I've heard there's a Chen's pastry shop over there that's really delicious. Does your wife know it?"

Before Chen Wenfang could say anything, Ru'er appeared with a cold face, and everyone immediately scattered like birds and beasts. The shop owner also obediently remained silent.

Chen Wenfang quietly rolled out the dough, cooked it, rinsed it in cold water, put it in a bowl, poured on some old hen soup, added a little salt, added an egg and meat, sprinkled on some chopped green onions and a few pieces of cooked cabbage, and a bowl of delicious chicken soup noodles was ready.

Before Chen Wenfang could take it out, Qian'er rushed in, "I'll take it, I'll take it, this bowl is mine, right..." Before Chen Wenfang could answer, she took it and left. Oh well.

Chen Wenfang carried two large bowls of noodles on a tray and followed Miss Ru'er into the main hall. Like a mother hen, she served the noodles to her and said with a smile, "Miss Ru'er, please have a taste."

Ru'er picked up a noodle with a blank expression, tasted it, nodded slightly, and said nothing more.

Qian'er, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but start eating heartily. She even took the opportunity to say, "Hey, you made these noodles really well. It seems you're a great cook."

"How about this, if you agree to come with us and be our cook, and if anything happens later, I won't kill you, okay?" Qian'er had already been won over by the delicious food that this Madam Chen had brought. Perhaps she had never experienced the joyful carbohydrate rush brought by so much sugar and oil mixture, she even hid the snacks in her senior sister's bag.

Chen Wenfang was still hesitating whether being a cook or preserving her life was more important when Ru'er spoke up, "Don't talk nonsense!" Then she turned to Chen Wenfang and said, "From now on, you'll be in charge of cooking. Also, what's your name, Miss? Just call me Ru'er from now on."

"Okay..." It was rare for her to have the patience to say so much, but she seemed completely impatient, so Chen Wenfang immediately answered obediently.