Chapter 547: Northeast Soybean Paste Dips Everything

The afternoon was full of classes; it was already 5:30 PM by the time they finished.

Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan both handed their books to their roommates, asking them to help take them back, then hurried home to start preparing.

They took the ingredients they would need out of the refrigerator, washed what needed washing, and then marinated what needed to be marinated.

With the two of them working together, they actually got things done quite quickly.

Not long after, the doorbell rang.

Xia Nuannuan hurried over to open the door and discovered it was Su Yan and Tian Jing who had arrived together.

"Nuan Nuan, happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!"

The two of them hurriedly offered their well-wishes.

"Thank you, you two came so fast! Come in, come in quickly, no need to change your shoes, just come right in."

Xia Nuannuan invited the two of them inside with a bright smile.

"We didn't have a class for this last period, so we came straight over at 5:30. Is no one else here yet?"

Su Yan asked with a beaming smile.

"They should all be here soon. You came at the perfect time; hurry and help me set up those decorations. I said not to buy them, but he said that since young people are celebrating together, there needs to be an atmosphere."

As Xia Nuannuan spoke, she led the two of them to the living room.

Qin Tian, who was busy wearing an apron, turned his head to look at Su Yan and the other girl, and they exchanged greetings.

Afterwards, the three girls began to decorate the living room using the props they had bought.

After a while, Chen Zhuang and Zhuang Zhe arrived first.

Cao Mingliang had been assigned the Task by Qin Tian of driving to the cake shop to help pick up the cake, so he did not come with the other two.

Shen Siqi, Cheng Meng, and Lu Lei from the girls' dormitory also arrived together soon after.

After Xia Nuannuan handed the task of decorating the living room to them, she went to the kitchen with Su Yan to help Qin Tian.

Once the preparation work was mostly done, Qin Tian started cooking.

An enticing aroma soon began to permeate the room.

"It's been so long since I've had food cooked by Brother Tian; this smell is just too fragrant."

Chen Zhuang swallowed his saliva with no backbone, looking toward the kitchen with a greedy expression.

Shen Siqi rolled her eyes at him and said unpleasantly, "Why don't you learn from him? You don't need to reach his level, but being able to cook something edible would be fine too!"

"Edible is fine? I can do that!"

Chen Zhuang nodded righteously.

"You can?"

Shen Siqi expressed doubt.

"Yeah, isn't that just steaming some rice? Our Northeast soybean paste can be dipped with everything, alright? Just pull some fresh vegetables from the field, pair them with the soybean paste from our hometown, and isn't that a meal?"

Chen Zhuang said with a chuckle.

Shen Siqi was dumbfounded, and with a dark face, she gritted her teeth and said, "Chen Dazhuang, let's get this straight: I absolutely refuse to settle down in your Northeast region in the future. I'm afraid I'll starve to death there."

"Pfft!"

Cheng Meng was the first one who couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Haha..."

The others also couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Chen Zhuang scratched his head and said with a silly smile, "It's not that bad, it's not that bad. If there's a chance, I'll make it for you to eat; it's really quite good. Otherwise, look at how I grew this physique, right? As the saying goes, green onions dipped in paste, the more you eat, the fatter you get."

"Not eating, I refuse."

Shen Siqi kept a straight face to show her resistance.

Just as Chen Zhuang was about to say something more, Cao Mingliang's familiar shout came from outside the door.

"Someone come quick! Open the door for me!"

"I'll go!"

Zhuang Zhe stood up directly to go open the door.

"Old Zhuang, hurry and give me a hand!"

Cao Mingliang stood outside the door holding a two-tiered cake and said with a smile.

"This doesn't look heavy at all!"

Zhuang Zhe reached out and took the cake.

"You're not unaware that I've been dating a lot lately; my body is a bit weak."

Cao Mingliang touched his own lower back and said in a low voice.

Zhuang Zhe gave him a look of disdain and walked toward the living room while holding the cake.

"Wow, such a big cake! Nuan Nuan, the cake your dad ordered for you is here."

Cheng Meng shouted to Xia Nuannuan over in the kitchen.

"Alright, let's eat the cake later; it's almost time to eat dinner."

Xia Nuannuan turned her head and said.

"Okay!"

Cheng Meng responded loudly.

Soon, a table full of sumptuous dishes was served.

Xia Nuannuan took out the drinks and beverages she had bought and handed them to everyone to help open.

"Everyone sit down first, don't just stand there."

"Nuan Nuan, you sit down too!"

Shen Siqi greeted.

"You all sit and eat first, I'll go help serve the dishes, I'll be right back!"

Xia Nuannuan finished saying with a sweet smile and walked quickly to the kitchen.

Over in the kitchen, Qin Tian was just dishing out the last of the stewed lotus root and pork rib soup.

"It smells so good, Brother, let me carry it."

Xia Nuannuan leaned in with her eyes curved into crescents.

"Don't, this is hot, I'll do it!"

Qin Tian hurriedly refused and picked up the large bowl of soup himself.

Xia Nuannuan hurriedly stepped aside to make way, then followed behind him.

"Brother Tian, there are so many dishes already, don't keep busy!"

"That's right, if you two hosts don't come, we don't dare touch our chopsticks; this is too torturous."

"Stop working, sit down and eat first!"

Chen Zhuang and the others spoke up one after another.

"There are no more dishes anyway, everyone hurry and eat, don't be falsely polite!"

Qin Tian said with a joking smile while placing the soup bowl in the center of the dining table.

Xia Nuannuan came up behind him and reached out to help him untie his apron.

Afterwards, the two of them took their seats at the head of the table.

The drinks had already been poured and were placed in front of him, and a glass of fruit juice was also placed in front of Xia Nuannuan.

"Come on, everyone let's toast together first, wishing Nuan Nuan a happy birthday!"

Cheng Meng took the lead in raising a glass and calling out.

"Happy birthday..."

Everyone offered their blessings in unison.

"Thank you, thank you everyone!"

Xia Nuannuan thanked them with a radiant smile.

After everyone drank a glass together, they couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks and start eating.

"I can't wait anymore, I'm going to have a piece of this braised pork first, it's making me crave it to death."

Chen Zhuang's target was very precise; he directly picked up a large, glistening piece of braised pork.

Just as he got it into his bowl, he sensed a death glare from his side; he turned his head to glance at Shen Siqi, who was staring at him, and his chopsticks immediately changed direction, placing the braised pork into her bowl.

"Here, Siqi, you try it first!"

"Mm!"

Shen Siqi smiled with satisfaction.

Seeing this scene, everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

"Brother Zhuang, you're a dignified man from the Northeast, not a 'henpecked husband' like those from Sichuan Province where Shen Siqi is from; you have no backbone at all!"

Cao Mingliang ate a bite of food and teased with a playful smile.

"Get lost, you."

Chen Zhuang glared at him fiercely, picked up another piece of braised pork, and said sternly, "What 'henpecked husband'? Back in our Northeast, this is called loving your wife, you know? We men from the Northeast, no matter how tough we are outside, we all love our wives when we get home."

As soon as these words were out, the smile on Shen Siqi's face, sitting beside him, became noticeably brighter, and she picked up a piece of beef for him as a reward.

"Oh, give it a rest, you really know how to talk!"

Cao Mingliang curled his lips.

"You scumbag don't know a damn thing, eat your food and stop talking."

"Get lost, I've been single for a year, how am I a scumbag?"

"Tsk tsk..."