She Only Cares About Cultivation-Chapter 865 - 799: Famine Era 40 (4000 Words)

"Yes, yes, you’re right, sister-in-law."

...

After some small talk, Ye Huan returned home and immediately noticed that Tong Zhan had kept the house very clean. As expected of a soldier, the bed was always made like a tofu block.

She took off her military uniform, hung it on the coat rack after brushing off the dust with a towel, changed into comfortable home clothes, wrapped her hair in a towel, and went to make dinner. Today, they needed to eat early so she could still make it to the military bathhouse for a bath. Since there weren’t many women, the women’s section was relatively small, but the men’s section was much larger.

Bathing cost money, five cents per time for civilians, but a bit cheaper for soldiers, two cents. As they were family members, and women took longer baths, it was five cents for adults and two cents for children.

Since their family hadn’t tasted her cooking for a long time, today she planned to make a satisfying bowl of hot and sour noodles for him.

First, she started the fire, a skill she had become very familiar with by now.

Once the fire was going, she cleaned the big iron pot, added two or three ladles of water, then covered it and went to the vegetable garden to pick fresh vegetables.

Knowing she loved green vegetables, Tong Zhan had planted a lot of bok choy, spinach, coriander, garlic sprouts, scallions, ginger, and so on.

Of course, he planted the most cabbage and radish, both growing very lushly and starting to form heads.

In previous years, they had nowhere to plant, but this year, seizing the opportunity, they planted seventy to eighty cabbages and about thirty radishes.

They also bought about a dozen jars for pickling vegetables, planning to make more pickles this year, whether Korean-style or Northeastern-style, so everyone in the military could have a taste.

Ye Huan picked a handful of green vegetables, some coriander, and a few small garlic sprouts, leaving the big ones to continue growing garlic shoots.

She scooped a basin of water from the large water tank in the yard, washed the vegetables clean, and then prepared the vegetables in the hall, cutting them as needed.

Because of the dust in the kitchen, she left the bowl outside. Meanwhile, the water in the iron pot was boiling, so she took the glass noodles from the hall and put them into the pot.

Since they were a bit hard at first, she had to hold them with her hands, puffing away the smoke, twisting her body to evade it, until the noodles softened from the heat and sank into the pot. Then she released them, stirred them with chopsticks, and replaced the lid.

At this point, she started to prepare the condiments.

She peeled two cloves of garlic, chopped them, and placed them in two bowls, one large and one small.

Then she added sesame seeds, chili powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, chopped scallions, and chopped garlic sprouts.

Once the glass noodles were cooked, she removed them and set them aside in an adjacent basin.

Then she added the green vegetables, briefly blanched them, and set them aside.

Afterwards, she set up a small pot for stir-frying, poured in some oil, added a handful of peanuts, and cooked them until golden, then set them aside on a plate.

She added more oil, heated it, and then poured it over the prepared condiments, which sizzled loudly and immediately released a divine aroma.

At this moment, Tong Zhan pushed the door open, inhaling the spicy aroma. Excitedly rubbing his hands, he asked, "Wife, what delicious food are you making this time?"

"Wipe the table; it’s time to eat."

Tong Zhan stared in amazement, "That fast?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Ye Huan smiled slightly, "I’m treating you to something new today."

Although he had certainly eaten this in Chongqing all those years, it was the first time she had made it since coming to Beijing.

Ye Huan scooped the noodles into Tong Zhan’s large bowl, added some green vegetables and coriander, then light soy sauce, vinegar, and two spoons of noodle broth.

She stirred it with chopsticks, added a pinch of salt, then let Tong Zhan take the seasoned hot and sour noodles away.

"Stir it well with your chopsticks; all the flavor’s at the bottom!"

After seasoning her own, she brought it to her small bowl, added some peanuts salt-sprinkled, and headed inside.

Salivating, Tong Zhan couldn’t help but exclaim, "I can’t believe you can make hot and sour noodles!"

"Why not? It could taste even better with more seasoning. Eat up; one bowl probably won’t be enough for you. I’ll make you another shortly."

The cooled peanuts were crunchy and flavorful, and Tong Zhan devoured them in no time.

Luckily, she had prepared a second bowl of seasoning, so she could simply add noodles, broth, and seasoning for another bowl.

After finishing two big bowls, Tong Zhan let out a loud burp, to which Ye Huan glared at him, "What a lack of composure."

"My wife is amazing; she can cook anything. So talented! Is there anything you can’t make?"

Ye Huan nodded, "Of course, China’s cuisine is vast. How could I know how to make everything? But I can handle everyday dishes. When life gets better, I’ll let you explore more. Now, you tidy up; I’m off to take a bath."