Chapter 1551: Chapter 1552: Zisu’s Cooking Skills
"Master, this afternoon, Zisu and I are going home for lunch. Do you want to come?"
The nursing home isn’t far from your home, and your grandfather occasionally goes over for meals, although most of the time, he prefers to stay in the nursing home to accompany those old friends.
"Oh? You’ve reached the stage of introducing the parents already?" Your grandfather looked up at you.
"It’s not as dramatic as you think. We’re just having a simple lunch. Besides, Mom is the head of the department, so Zisu knows her quite well."
Your grandfather raised an eyebrow at you without saying much, but the smile on his face became much more ambiguous.
You rolled your eyes.
"Hey, Little Yun, aren’t you going to hurry up and introduce your girlfriend to your big sister?" Li Qiyi walked out from behind your grandfather, standing in front of you.
"She’s working inside. If you want to see her, just go in."
You shrugged, implicitly acknowledging the term "girlfriend," although it felt a bit strange coming from Li Qiyi’s mouth.
"Oh, feeling shy, are we? How rare." Li Qiyi chuckled as she walked into the main hall.
After Li Qiyi went in, you suddenly felt your heart racing a bit, but you still didn’t want to go inside. After all, you had some things on your mind, and you couldn’t open up completely to face the two of them.
About twenty minutes later, Li Qiyi brought Yan Zisu, who was partially bowing her head, out from the main hall.
"It’s getting late, let’s go home."
You shrugged and called out to the delightedly eating Little Hei, "Little Hei, we’re leaving."
"Woof." Little Hei grabbed a piece of rather large beef from your grandfather’s hand, then trotted happily over to you, and you picked him up.
"Such a smart little dog, Little Yun, how did you train him?"
Li Qiyi exclaimed in amazement.
You credited Yan Zisu: "Little Hei is Zisu’s pet; I’m just a bit familiar with him."
Hearing this, Li Qiyi turned and asked Yan Zisu, "Little Zi, share some pet-raising secrets with me."
When facing strangers, Yan Zisu usually keeps her head slightly lowered, and it was no different this time: "Little Hei is a bit special; he can understand the meaning of what we say."
"Oh?" Li Qiyi was even more amazed, quickly stepped forward, mimicked your posture, placed her hand on Little Hei’s forehead, then said to you, "Little Yun, let me hold Little Hei."
Any girl, faced with an adorably cute animal, usually can’t resist, and Li Qiyi, known as the President’s Secret Art with the nickname Iceberg Beauty, was no exception.
"Hey, you’ve taken Little Hei away, so what am I supposed to do this afternoon?"
"How should I know?"
You and Li Qiyi replied with a laugh in unison.
"Tch!" your grandfather clicked his tongue, slowly got up, "Fine, fine, I might as well tag along with you three kids since I’m just sitting around anyway."
The group of four people and a dog, chatting and laughing, returned to the community.
By the time you opened the door, your mother was already preparing the meal, and your father, who rarely cooked, was crouching in the hallway with a kitchen knife, gutting a fish.
"Dad, how long has it been since I’ve seen you personally gut fish? Are you really going to cook today?"
Hearing Li Qiyi’s words, your father finally looked up and was just about to respond when he saw your grandfather and quickly stood up, bowing to him, "Dad, you’re here."
"Hmm, just here to hang out with these three kids. Go ahead with what you’re doing."
"Alright!"
Despite this, your father still watched as your grandfather entered the house before crouching down again to continue scraping fish scales.
You and Li Qiyi exchanged a knowing smile.
Actually, there’s a little story here.
Back then, when your mother brought your father home, your grandfather didn’t agree at first. After all, he came from a military background, and your mother, who inherited his stubbornness, wasn’t someone any ordinary man could control.
Your grandfather thought your father was too skinny and frail, like he could be blown over by the wind, and questioned how he could protect his daughter.
But ultimately, your grandfather couldn’t stand against your mother, who was determined and claimed she wouldn’t marry anyone but your father. More dramatically, they had already obtained their marriage certificate on their way here, declaring the deed done.
Your grandfather, no matter how upset, couldn’t do anything about it. Over the years, he never really showed your father much kindness, considering he had initially planned to introduce your mother to a promising young officer, who is now a Major General!
Your grandfather went into the house first, you followed, and Li Qiyi, taking off her high heels, stood at the entrance, noticing that Yan Zisu, holding Little Hei, stood hesitating at the doorway.
"Why aren’t you coming in?"
Yan Zisu stroked Little Hei’s head and said softly, "Little Hei is a bit dirty."
Li Qiyi was about to say something when your mother’s loud voice rang out from the kitchen: "Mu Yun, take Little Hei to Zongzi’s house for a bath, then bring him back."
"Okay, got it."
Just after stepping into the house, you turned around and walked out, taking Little Hei from Yan Zisu’s arms and cheerfully saying to her, "Relax, make yourself at home, it’s just a meal after all."
"Mm."
Yan Zisu usually never disagrees with you, so she nodded lightly.
When you returned home with Little Hei, you didn’t see Yan Zisu in the small living room and gave Li Qiyi a questioning look, to which she just smiled without saying a word.
"What are you standing there for? Get in here quick!" your mother called out, and you quickly walked in. Hearing the sounds of cooking from the kitchen, you peeked inside and surprisingly found Yan Zisu wearing not a bib, but an apron while cooking.
This left you puzzled. After all, Yan Zisu was a guest, so how could you possibly let a first-time guest do work?
Sitting at your place at the table, you asked your mother, "Mom, what’s going on here?"
"Ask your grandfather," your mother replied with a knowing smile filled more with teasing.
Your grandfather, sitting next to you, gave your shoulder a hearty slap and chuckled, "You really found yourself a treasure, didn’t you?"
Just then, Yan Zisu, wearing black-rimmed glasses, brought over a steaming dish, placing it in front of your grandfather. Looking down, you were taken aback because the entire dish was a blackish-purple color.
"Could this be the legendary dark cuisine?"
You didn’t dare speak these thoughts aloud, although they crossed your mind. In truth, you couldn’t believe Yan Zisu made this dish. In your eyes, Yan Zisu was the epitome of a virtuous wife and capable mother, and someone with her intelligence couldn’t possibly cook up a dish like this.
This brings up the need to critique the nonsensical scenarios seen in some TV dramas: a high-IQ beauty who usually excels in everything like racing, martial arts, hiking, seems able to do anything, but as soon as she’s in the kitchen, she’s at a total loss. The food is burnt, the soup is overly salty, the vegetables have no flavor, and the meat is tough as stone.
Nonsensical logic!
Cooking requires logic and practice.
What do I mean by logic?
For example, if you’re going to fry some egg fried rice — what? Egg fried rice too simple? How about pan-fried braised pomfret?
Fine, pan-fried braised pomfret it is!
Logical people mentally walk through the whole process before cooking: first, take pomfret from the fridge, wash, cut into sections, and prepare ginger, garlic, or other aromatics; second, heat oil in a pan, sauté ginger, and garlic, then add the fish; third, pan-fry the fish, adjusting heat and technique as needed — this varies for everyone, affecting the flavor; finally, add seasonings, simmer a bit, and serve!
Sounds simple, right?
With clear steps, it’s naturally simple. So those TV scenes don’t hold water, although they don’t exclude some empty-headed vase types.
"Try it," your mother said, prompting everyone at the table to simultaneously turn their gaze toward you.