Gourmet: Twins' Father and Chef of the Kindergarten-Chapter 43 - 40: How Can You Take It Back After Bringing It Over?
"Aunt Lin, Aunt Li, help me scoop out the soaked lotus seeds and silver ear, and rinse them."
Huang Jun called out to the two aunts with a smile: "After washing, bring the silver ear to me first."
"Okay, got it!"
Following the command, Aunt Lin and Aunt Li swiftly began to work together.
As the saying goes, "When women team up, work becomes effortless."
After a short while.
Aunt Lin finished first, carrying the silver ear that Huang Jun needed into the kitchen.
Huang Jun, not idle himself, immediately got to work.
He removed the hard stems from the soaked and cleaned silver ear, cutting them into small pieces.
Otherwise, it’s not easy for them to become gelatinous!
Next, he added enough water to the pot, put in the soaked silver ear, brought it to a boil, and then simmered it over low heat until the silver ear became gelatinous.
The bitter cores of the lotus seeds had already been removed by Aunt Li, but she didn’t discard the cores, instead placing them on the kitchen windowsill to dry so they could be used to brew tea later.
One must say.
Aunt Li is truly resourceful and economical!
With her around, Director Liang no longer had to worry about food waste in the kitchen.
However, it’s impossible to waste even if you wanted to!
Every day, the ingredients are barely enough, so how can there even be talk of waste?
An hour later...
He added the lotus seeds to the pot, along with enough rock sugar.
After boiling for about fifteen minutes, the lotus seeds became soft and glutinous, and the silver ear even more sticky; he then added a few spoons of osmanthus honey and some goji berries, letting it simmer briefly before taking it off the heat.
The silver ear was cooked to a very sticky consistency; when scooped and poured, it didn’t form a stream but rather dropped in clumps, indicating that the delicious silver ear lotus seed soup was ready.
The entire kitchen was filled with a fragrant sweetness.
The previously idle Aunt Li and Aunt Lin, who were dozing at the dining table, lost all drowsiness once they caught the scent, their noses sniffing the air: "Wow, there’s a hint of osmanthus honey fragrance."
"Chef Huang, is the silver ear lotus seed soup ready?"
Speaking of which, Aunt Li and Aunt Lin began walking toward Huang Jun in unison.
Their eager looks were akin to children anticipating candy!
Huang Jun smiled as he served them each a bowl: "Here, Aunt Li, Aunt Lin, try this bowl of silver ear lotus seed soup."
"Ah, okay, let’s try it. It must be delicious!"
Aunt Li and Aunt Lin received the bowls with smiles.
The silver ear in the bowl appeared soft and glutinous; each lotus seed was plump, pure white, and the red goji berries added a touch of color to the soup.
They couldn’t wait to pick up their spoons, gently scoop, blow, and taste it.
The thick soup, sweet but not overly so, with its smooth, soft, and fragrant texture, made Aunt Lin and Aunt Li squint with delight.
"Delicious..." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
They drank with faces full of satisfaction.
Watching them enjoy, Huang Jun smiled contentedly. Then he continued to ladle the silver ear lotus seed soup into various class soup buckets, setting them aside to cool slightly. By the time the nursery teachers came to fetch them, the soup would be warm and ready for the children.
Having had two bowls of silver ear lotus seed soup, Aunt Li felt content and remembered belatedly that there was another mouth waiting for her to feed at the gate!
Indeed.
That mouth belonged to Uncle Li!
Uncle Li had been very attentive to her these past few days, always giving her peaches, pears, and other seasonal fruits when she delivered meals.
But why was Uncle Li doing this?
Even with just a little thought, she knew that it was to make her appreciate him, so if there were ever any good food in the kitchen, she wouldn’t forget him.
This is all about craving Chef Huang’s cooking!
She’s just benefiting from Chef Huang’s skills!
"Old Li, open the door."
"Ah, Aunt Li, you’re here!"
Uncle Li opened the door with a broad smile, his gaze immediately fixing on the bowl of silver ear lotus seed soup in Aunt Li’s hands, causing his smile to freeze in mid-air.
Ah?
What’s with that expression?
Doesn’t like sweet soup?
Aunt Li noticed his slight hesitation and became a little displeased, her tone turning slightly sharp: "Want it or not? If not, I’ll take it back and share it with Aunt Lin. We didn’t have enough!"
"Oh no! Since you’ve brought it, how can you take it back?"
Upon hearing this, he became anxious again.
Although he wasn’t particularly interested in such sweet soup, hearing that Aunt Li and Aunt Lin hadn’t had enough clearly meant it must taste great. Furthermore, knowing that this soup was made by Huang Jun and seeing the crystal-clear silver ear in the bowl, the thickened soup indicating it had gelatinized well, he couldn’t bear to let Aunt Li take it away.
How could he not try a taste?
Quickly, he took the bowl, thanked Aunt Li: "Thanks, Aunt Li."
Aunt Li responded with a light "Hm" and returned to the kitchen.
Uncle Li eagerly drank from the bowl.
The silver ear lotus seed soup has a soft and slippery texture that isn’t overly sweet, carrying a hint of lotus seed and goji berry fragrance. The thicker part is slightly crunchy, and the sweet aroma fills your mouth. The lotus seed is powdery and gives a clearer type of sweetness, while the goji berries enrich the flavor.
"Hmm, not bad!"
Uncle Li’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but continue to gulp it down.
...
Time quietly slipped away, and it was already close to half-past two.
The childcare teachers from each class gradually arrived at the kitchen.
"Aunt Lin, Aunt Li, we’re here to pick up the lunchtime snacks. You’ve finished preparing, right?"
"We’ve been ready for a while, just waiting for you to come and collect them. Chef Huang even specially ladled it into the soup bucket for you, let it cool down a bit, so that you can serve it to the children immediately."
"That’s great, thank you, Chef Huang."
"You’re welcome."
Shortly after the teachers picked up the snacks, the kindergarten was filled with the sound of cheerful wake-up music.
The children from each class gradually woke up.
Urged by the teachers, they woke up and got out of bed.
...
Class (4).
"Teacher Wang, what tasty treat are you holding?"
Seeing Wang Wenxia carrying the soup bucket into the classroom, a few children who didn’t nap at noon rushed up to her and surrounded her, asking.
Wang Wenxia looked at these little ones who "refuse to sleep but enthusiastically rush forward when they see something delicious" with amused helplessness.
"It’s silver ear lotus seed soup, our lunchtime snack."
Speaking of this, she placed the soup bucket on the table and took off the lid.
Immediately.
A sweet fragrance filled the air, directly sneaking into the little noses of the children.
"Mm-hmm, it smells so good..."
The little noses of the children twitched, and they couldn’t help but praise Wang Wenxia: "Teacher Wang, you’re amazing!"
Wang Wenxia was amused by their words!
"This silver ear lotus seed soup wasn’t made by Teacher Wang, what’s so amazing about that? The truly amazing one is Chef Huang, right! All these silver ear lotus seed soup were made by him."
The children were quite familiar with Uncle Huang.
He’s the big chef at the kindergarten!
He’s also the father of Qingqing and Weiwei!
Thinking about how Uncle Huang makes delicious sugar figures, cooks tasty dishes, and now even makes fragrant silver ear lotus seed soup, their eyes couldn’t help but show a hint of admiration: "Wow, Uncle Huang is amazing!"
"I want to be a big chef like Uncle Huang when I grow up, and make lots and lots of delicious food!"
"I also want to be a big chef when I grow up!"
"..."
The children all expressed their desires.
Wang Wenxia seized the opportunity to encourage them: "Then you have to eat your meals obediently and sleep well, so you can grow up quickly and become strong."
"Why do we need to be strong?"
"Because you need strength to handle big pots!"
"But... Uncle Huang is only tall, not strong..."
Uh~
Huang Jun is indeed tall and slim, with a very proportional figure.
Wang Wenxia was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Anyway, if you want to be big chefs, you should eat well and sleep well to grow up quickly. Starting tomorrow, you all need to nap well, okay?"
"Got it, Teacher Wang!"
While she was talking to the children, Yang Yuxi and Xie Jianing were helping the other children get up.
It wasn’t clear if they hadn’t slept enough yet, but some children started crying as soon as they woke up.
"Boo hoo hoo... Mommy, I want Mommy..."
"Be a good child, don’t cry, after the snack, your mommy will come to pick you up. Come, let’s wash hands together with the teacher, and then eat the silver ear lotus seed soup. Let me tell you, this silver ear lotus seed soup is made by Uncle Huang and it’s very sweet and tasty..."
Yang Yuxi and her colleague comforted them while enticing them with food, and finally guided all the children out of the bedroom amidst the commotion, leading them to line up for the bathroom and to wash hands. They then orderly sat in the classroom.
When the silver ear lotus seed soup was placed on the table, the children were attracted by the aroma and eagerly picked up their spoons to start eating.
Seeing this, Yang Yuxi had to remind them: "Don’t rush, drink slowly, make sure to chew the lotus seeds and the silver ear before swallowing, alright?"
Unfortunately!
The only response she received was "Mm-hmm" comments, or nodding.
...
Although Dorami Kindergarten’s dismissal time is 4:30 PM.
However.
Even before four o’clock!
There were parents arriving one after the other, waiting at the kindergarten gate.
