Chapter 177: Scallion-Braised Whitebait

Exactly twelve o'clock noon.

Until Wu Lan and Wang Lifen, who had been obsessively picking gold on the mountain, returned home right on time. They had to finish lunch quickly and take a short nap (this was something Song Tan had insisted upon; otherwise, they really would have been picking gold from dawn till dusk).

Today was Qiaoqiao's first day of class, and he only finished at eleven o'clock, just as Seventh Cousin was preparing to cook. Xin Jun had roughly assessed his level and decided it was best to treat him like a kindergarten child who was simply smarter and possessed better logical thinking.

Therefore, the morning's lessons were very relaxed and interesting; he even set aside time to seriously chat with Qiaoqiao about Peppa Pig, George, and Tiga.

As a result, the silly child not only had no resistance to learning but was actually looking forward to the afternoon even more.

Just because of this, Xin Jun would not receive the slightest cold shoulder at the dining table.

Of course, there was no time to give anyone the cold shoulder anyway—the food this noon was simply too delicious! It was far better than usual!

Today's lunch featured scallion-braised whitebait, stir-fried eggs with tomatoes, braised cured meat with swamp eel, and twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts.

The brilliance of Seventh Cousin's culinary skills lay in the fact that no matter how many people were eating, the flavor of the food he made was always consistently excellent.

Plus a bowl of white fungus, lily bulb, and lotus seed soup...

It could be said that from the moment the oil hit the wok, the fragrance in the courtyard never ceased.

Other ingredients aside, the main stars were the garlic sprouts and the small scallions.

Aunt Lianhua had gone to the vegetable patch at the entrance with scissors and cut a whole basketful!

With the weather being just right, the garlic sprouts and scallions had grown lush and green in less than half a month. However, Aunt Lianhua knew that the vegetables in this field were likely meant to be sold, so she didn't pull them out entirely, opting instead for a sustainable approach.

Look at how they were grown—the scallion stalks were a vibrant green, looking incredibly spirited! The garlic sprout leaves were thick and fleshy, and even just the fresh scent had a unique quality.

Once ignited by the hot oil, it was impossible to tell whether the scallion-braised whitebait or the twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts was better!

Aunt Lianhua had been a bit reserved when she first started eating, thinking that even if it was delicious, she shouldn't act like she hadn't eaten in days.

But after hesitating for only a moment, everyone else at the table was burying their heads in their bowls...

Her reserved demeanor only made her seem out of place.

Aunt Lianhua steeled herself, grabbed two large helpings of meat and vegetables with her chopsticks, and ate to her heart's content!

If the family members who were used to these ingredients were this greedy, there was no need to even mention the few anglers by the pond.

Zhang Yanping had learned to be clever early on.

He filled half a disposable lunch box with three of the dishes—excluding the braised cured meat with swamp eel—gave them a full bowl of rice, and added an extra large bowl of white fungus soup.

Just ask, was this free lunch generous or not?

Even he couldn't find a single fault with it.

Not to mention how good the ingredients were, just take this seemingly plain white fungus and lotus seed soup—the white fungus had been picked from the mountain just two days ago!

After simple preparation, this was the first time it had been used for soup today. While the aroma wasn't as aggressive as the scallions and garlic sprouts, the moment it touched the tongue, that refreshing sweetness and silky, indescribable richness instantly conquered everyone!

Zhang Yanping was clearly stuffed to the brim, yet he forced down two more bowls. While trying to find room for more, he instructed Song Tan:

"This white fungus must be sold by the gram! Selling it cheap would be an insult to its value!"

Song Tan just smiled without a word.

With her little mind set on getting rich, would she let this white fungus be wronged?

That was impossible!

She would just have to let the customers' wallets be wronged instead.

However, since it hadn't matured on a large scale yet, the money-making plan had to be shelved for now.

That said, regarding the free lunch provided today, for a normal man's appetite, this was definitely enough.

But Zhang Yanping remembered the large steamed buns from the morning; normally, two large buns would definitely be enough.

He chuckled, determined to see the service through to the end—they were, after all, clients he had brought in himself!

He placed the food into the basket one by one and carried it, along with his own portion, to the pond. From far away, as the wind blew, everyone smelled that unique scallion fragrance.

"This aroma is too aggressive!"

The crowd, having sat for a long time with no harvest, instantly threw down their fishing rods and hurried around the pond.

Although the disposable lunch boxes were a bit crude, the food delivered not only looked appetizing but smelled incredibly attractive too!

This wave of promotion had truly hit home.

The man closest to him was the first to lift his bowl, setting aside the fish for a moment to grab a chopstick full of green scallions.

These newly grown scallions had already absorbed the freshness of the fish; now, entering the mouth, they were tender, smooth, rich, and carried the unique texture of scallions...

The taste was beyond words!

"Holy crap!" A slightly younger man in the group buried his head in his food: "Brother, just for this skill, I will definitely support your farmhouse stay. I wish I could just take root here!"

Another person was also mumbling with a mouth full of food:

"What's going on with this twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts? How is it this delicious! Brother, tell me the truth, where did you dig up your chef?"

Goodness, with skills like this, wasn't running a farmhouse stay a bit of a waste of talent?

"Right, right, right!" Someone nearby echoed, though this one was clearly pickier: "It's all delicious! But compared to the other two, this scallion-braised whitebait and twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts are simply a dimensionality reduction strike—the ingredients aren't ordinary, are they?"

Zhang Yanping felt proud inside, but on the surface, he maintained a reserved appearance:

"As for our family's ingredients, if you've ever bought vegetables at the market, you'd know—twenty yuan a jin, no bargaining."

But since there were no vegetables to sell now, the focus of the promotion had to shift—

"Everyone, you must chew slowly! This first portion is free, but the second portion will be forty yuan; it's expensive."

"But you know, if it's cheap," he said with the look of a sincere old farmer: "we'd be losing money."

Good heavens!

He had targeted the rebellious streak in everyone—the more you tell them not to do something, the more they want to do it!

Now, the more he talked about chewing slowly, the more they saw their companions' chopsticks reaching into their own bowls to steal food—how could they chew slowly?

They had to gulp it down in large mouthfuls!

Besides, wasn't it just forty yuan a portion?

If they hadn't tasted food like this, they would definitely have thought it was expensive; everyone still had dry rations in their bags.

Things like self-heating hot pots, self-heating rice, or cold buns and cold pancakes.

But now that they had tasted this flavor, who would still care for fast food!

"Once you've seen the vast ocean, the other waters are not worth mentioning; once you've seen the clouds of Mount Wu, the other clouds are not worth looking at"—that was exactly the logic here!

Thus, all ten people ordered another portion, and the tallest one, who also looked younger and likely had a better appetite, ordered two portions in one go!

Ten people, four hundred and forty yuan—it was a great start for the day!

Zhang Yanping thought about how he could spend money on gacha pulls again tonight, and he felt filled with passion.

This was much more interesting than selling fruit at home! ===== CHAPTER 178 =====