Cannon Fodder Becomes a God of Cooking

Mei Congqing helped Qin Xin carry her suitcase out of the station. Mei's husband, Hu Xingguo, was waiting outside the station. Seeing Mei Congqing came out, he hurried forward to pick up the luggage.

        Mei introduced Qin Xin to her husband.

        Qin Xin said, "Hello, Brother Hu."

        Hu Xingguo was a little embarrassed, "Hello"

        Mei Qing briefly told her about Qin Xin, and Brother Hu immediately said, "If you want to save any money, you can live in our house" He quickly helped to put the two women's luggage in his pickup truck.

        Mei Congqing said, "That's what I said, but Xiao Qin didn't agree."

        Qin Xin said, "Let me pay some money, so that I can feel better in my heart."

        They two didn't say anything in the end.

    When they arrived at Mei Congqing's house, Hu Xingguo went to buy breakfast first. After breakfast, Mei Congqing helped Qin Xin clean up the attic.

        Although the attic was not large, Qin Xin liked it. The triangular area of the attic could be used for a floor shop, and a table was placed next to the window as a writing desk. 

     Although the attic is not large, Qin Xin likes it. The triangular area of the attic can be used as a floor,  and a table next to the window can be used as a writing desk. There is also a small room in the attic as a bathroom. For the current Qin Xin, these two small rooms are completely enough.

       Mei Congqing took up the many quilts at home and laid them out for Qin Xin. When everything was cleaned up, it was already afternoon. Hu Xingguo made lunch for the two of them and called them down to eat.

        After Qin Xin finished eating, she took the money out.

        Mei Congqing, "This child, why are you giving money now?"

        Qin Xin, "Usually you have to pay a deposit of one to three months, but Sister Mei was kind enough not to charge me for three months' rent." Therefore, Qin Xin couldn't justify not giving out this 500 yuan.

        Mei smiled, and her affection towards Qin Xin increased, "If you need anything else, you can get it downstairs later." The ground floor is used for a small supermarket. The first floor is where Mei and her family live, and the third floor is a small attic with a large balcony next to it.

        Qin Xin said, "I'll come down after I've finished collecting." After putting away the luggage she had brought, Qin Xin went to the  shop on the ground floor to buy some daily necessities.

        The first floor market was the first place to buy some daily necessities, but Mei still didn't want to take the money, and Qin Xin still said that if she didn't take the money, she would go to another supermarket.

        In the end, Mei gave a 10% discount, but in fact Mei wanted a 20% discount, but Qin Xin refused.

        The shampoo, shower gel, laundry soap, basin and other daily necessities also cost Qin Xin 116 yuan.

        With the cost of these two days, Qin Xin now has 1,400 yuan left in her hand.

        "Come for dinner later. Your Brother Hu has bought everything for the evening." Mei Congqing said.

        Qin Xin, "I'll do it tonight." Anyway, everything had already been put away, and the rest will be dealt with tomorrow.

        Mei originally thought that Qin Xin didn't know how to cook and was only saying this to help, but it turned out that she seemed to be wrong.

        Qin Xin put the things away and then ran to the kitchen on the first floor. Qin Xin first looked at the ingredients in the kitchen and saw that there was pork, tofu, mushrooms, eggs, and all the spices: spring onions, ginger, garlic and chillies. Sister Mei has already cooked the rice.

     After looking at the ingredients, Qin Xin had a plan.

      Before cooking, Qin Xin used to wash her hands before preparing the ingredients, picking out the five-flower part of the pork (1) and cutting it into slices.

        Mei was a little surprised to see Qin Xin's skillful knife skills. She originally planned to help cut vegetables, but now it seemed that she didn't need it anymore. Mei Congqing silently took out the lettuce and washed it.

        After slicing the meat, Qin Xin took out the chillies and washed them, sliced them diagonally and put them on a plate.

        Mei Qing pondered that even after all her years of cooking, her knife skills were not as good as Qin Xin's. The thickness of the slices looked exactly the same to the naked eye.

        Qin Xin didn't pay attention to Mei's facial expressions. Once she started cooking, Qin Xin attention would focus on the ingredients. Qin Xin patted the garlic cloves and put them in the tray with the chillies, then poured a small spoonful of oil into the pot, put the sliced pork in, stir-fried it twice and then poured in the cooking wine and put it on plate when the meat turns golden brown, leaving some of the oil in the pan.

    Heat the pan with the remaining oil and add the garlic and chilli to the pan.

  The aroma of the garlic and chillies immediately emerges, and when Mei smells it, she feels the urge to turn off the hood.

   After stir-frying twice, Qin Xin adds the sliced meat to the pan, add salt and soy sauce, stir-fry well and serve.

Stir-fried Pork Belly with Chili Peppers

Source: the wok of life

    The second dish is a stir-fry of lettuce. Mei had already washed the lettuce, so Qin Xin washed the pan and placed it on the stovetop.  When it was almost hot, she added the oil and when it boiled, she added the lettuce directly. The key to stir-frying lettuce is to add it when the pan is very hot. 

        After stir-frying for a couple of minutes, Qin Xin then removed the lettuce and placed it on a plate.

        Mei Qingqing looked at the green lettuce and felt her appetite burst. She had never found lettuce to be so appetising before.

Stir-fried lettuce

Source: keeprecipes.com

(1) Pork belly is a very popular ingredient in Chinese cooking where is is known as 五花肉 or 五花腩, lit. “five flower meat” or “five flower belly.” The “five flower” refers to the alternating layers of fat and meat. A layer of skin, also known as the rind, is usually attached to the cut and is considered very desirable.

T/N: Here I am translating the novel at 1:20 a.m (╥╯﹏╰╥)ง