Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 110 Jiang's Home-cooked Dishes

Jiang restrained her emotions, smiled shyly, and said, "I'm sorry to make Miss Yuzhi laugh. I saw that Miss Li's back injury had not healed yet and she still didn't dare to use any strength, so I just cooked a few dishes. I heard that Miss Li can cook any dish and they are all delicious. I am making a fool of myself."

Shen Yu thought to himself, "Wow, it's only noon and Sister Li is here. It seems that Mother and Jiang are getting along well."

She smiled gently and said, "Look at me, stop talking about this, wash your hands and eat, I think everyone is hungry."

Although all the dishes Jiang made were home-cooked dishes, Shen Yu fell in love with them as soon as he tasted them.

The cabbage heart mixed with sauce is tender and crispy, the fried tofu is cooked to perfection, the skin is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, poured with sweet soy sauce, it is fresh and delicious after a bite.

Sweet and sour shredded radish is sour and sweet, yet light and refreshing and not greasy.

The lotus root in the pork ribs and lotus root has been stewed until it is soft and rotten. It tastes better than the pork ribs when you take a bite. The soup is even more fresh and light.

The yellow rice flour pancakes are also soft and fluffy, with a crispy crust on the bottom.

Shen Yu took a bite of the pancake, picked up a handful of the vegetable heart mixed with sauce, and took a sip of the thin but bean-flavored bean porridge. He ate with a big appetite and looked at the others, who were also busy eating.

Mrs. Li’s cooking is okay, but the flavors of her dishes are quite strong, either very salty or very sweet.

After delivering meals from the stall every day, after coming back, the meals were sometimes cooked by Li and sometimes by Shen Yu, with Yutao and Yucheng helping out and cleaning up the dishes.

Out of the ten meals Li cooked, eight of them had heavy flavors. When she was told about this, she nodded in agreement, but when she cooked again, she involuntarily added more.

Li herself wondered if it was because she had lived through too many hard times in the past. When she was poor, the dishes were always cooked very salty, and a little bit of the dish could be paired with a large piece of pancake or mixed noodle porridge, and often mixed with a small dish, which could feed the whole family for a day.

Although they are not very particular about food now, they can still eat their fill. Li also thinks that the food cooked by Shen Yu is more delicious. However, when she sees that Shen Yu looks very tired when he comes home sometimes, she volunteers to cook. As a result, the meal is most likely to be too salty.

While eating, Shen Yu thought, it would be great if Jiang could cook for us every day.

I might as well discuss it with her later and ask her if she is willing to work in our house. She cooks so well, so she must be a good eater and cook.

I don’t know what her and Dun Dun’s family were like before. They don’t look like a poor family, but something happened in the family that made them so poor now.

After dinner, Yucheng went to wash the dishes as usual.

Shen Yu let Dun Dun have two full meals at home and took him to buy clothes, but he didn't really assign him any work. He just asked him to push the cart twice.

Dun Dun was extremely wary at first, but after half a day's experience he quickly understood that Miss Shen felt sorry for him and his mother, so she brought them home under the pretext of needing help and gave them two full meals.

After thinking this through, Dun Dun no longer had the forced arrogance and disdain he had before, and instead took the initiative to look for work.

When he saw Yucheng was about to clear the table and wash the dishes, he immediately came up to help.

Yu Cheng smiled innocently: "Brother Dun Dun, there is not much water left in the water tank. Let's go and fetch some water together."

Dun Dun and Yu Cheng went to fetch water with wooden buckets. Jiang looked around and saw that there was no other work for her to do. She felt uneasy again and wondered if she should leave after Dun Dun finished fetching water.

Shen Yu pondered for a while, then looked up and asked with a smile, "Aunt Jiang, where are you and Dun Dun staying tonight?"

Jiang replied hurriedly, "To answer the young lady's question, we stayed at the land temple outside the city at night. There were seven or eight people living there, and we all squeezed together to spend the night."

When Li heard this, she exclaimed, looked at Shen Yu, and said, "Sister Jiang, if my family hires you two, would you be willing?"

Shen Yu looked at Li with some surprise. Li said, "It's just that my family has only been setting up the stall for a short time. The wages are really not much, but it's enough to have three meals a day, and you can stay at my house at night."

Shen Yu didn't expect that Li and she had the same idea, so she said, "Mother and I have the same idea. Aunt Jiang, I'll give you 1,000 yuan a month. Can you and Dun Dun help my family?"

Jiang was overjoyed when she heard this. She hurriedly said, "If you can really take us in, just provide us with food and lodging. We don't want any wages."

After thinking for a while, he hesitated and said, "The girl and Sister Li are pitying us. I see your family is not short of manpower, and there is not much work to do. If that's the case, how can I bear it because we are adding burden to the girl's family."

Shen Yu smiled and shook her head, "Aunt Jiang, you're overthinking it. I really need help, so I wanted you and Dun Dun to stay."

Mrs. Li also nodded and said, "Apart from anything else, Sister Jiang's cooking skills are much better than mine."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "It's like this. Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. I plan to make some small reunion cakes to sell. If I add this, my family will be busy from morning to night. If I don't hire someone, it will be too much. I eat the food that Aunt Jiang makes and I know that Aunt Jiang is a good cook. It would be great if you could stay and help me."

Seeing Shen Yu's frankness, Jiang said gratefully, "Thank you very much, young lady and sister Li. Dun Dun and I will definitely help you."

"Think about this morning, Dun Dun and I were begging for a meal everywhere, our clothes were ragged and dirty, and at night we had to go to the dilapidated temple to fight with others for a place to sleep. Who would have thought that now we would be sitting here talking with clean clothes and full stomachs." When Jiang said this, her eyes couldn't help but get wet.

She wiped her eyes and smiled with tears in her eyes, "Dundun and I have accumulated blessings for several lifetimes to meet such kind people as Miss and Sister Li. If we continue to ask for your wages, what kind of people would we be?"

At this moment, Dun Dun, who had been standing at the door of the house listening for an unknown period of time, interrupted loudly, "My mother is right. We don't want your family to pay us, but we will do our best to help you. I am a real man, and I will repay a favor. Miss Shen is good to me and my mother, so we will also be good to your family."

Shen Yu burst out laughing when he heard this. Dun Dun thought Shen Yu was making fun of him and blushed with anxiety. He shouted, "I'm telling the truth. From now on, from now on..."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang said, "Dun Dun, Miss Yuzhi knows your feelings. Look at how anxious she is, her face is red and her neck is thick."

Dun Dun seemed to have thought of something, closed his mouth, and whispered, "I know, mother."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Dundun, you will work in my house from now on. Don't call me Miss Shen all the time. Why don't you just call me Sister Yuzhi? Yutao and Yucheng are younger than you, so you have to protect them in the future."

Dun Dun nodded vigorously after hearing this. Yu Cheng, who was listening nearby, clapped his hands happily and said, "That's great, Brother Dun Dun. From now on, we can play together. I'll have a companion too."