After making the braised pork, Li Qingzhi used dried loofah to wash the pot and boiled lard in the pot.
He scooped up some of the lard and used the rest to fry a few eggs.
After frying the eggs, he stir-fried a plate of vegetables with lard and made a kelp and tofu soup.
It's quite cold now, and they use lard to cook, which solidifies easily. After cooking, Li Qingzhi did not serve the soup, but put a steaming rack on it, put the previously cooked dishes on it, and covered the pot to keep it warm.
There were too many dishes to fit on the steaming rack, so he put some on the steaming rack of another iron pot that was used to cook rice.
"A Qing, what day is today? Why do you make so many delicious foods?" Li Laogen asked after swallowing.
Li Qingzhi said: "Xiao Ye has made a deal, let's celebrate."
"So that's how it is!" Li Laogen nodded, not quite understanding, and then said, "Ah Qing, do you know? I listened to all those stories about Magistrate Gou in the teahouse. Those stories are very interesting. Have you heard them?"
Li Qingzhi smiled and said, "I wrote that."
Li Laogen didn't believe it at all: "Ah Qing, even if you want to brag, you can't brag like this."
Li Qingzhi: “…” He really wasn’t bragging!
While Li Qingzhi was cooking, Li Laogen had been helping to light the fire. Now he was still huddled behind the stove, warming himself by the fire.
Li Qingzhi walked over and said, "Dad, please move a little closer."
There are two pots on the stove in their house, and there are two fire chambers at the back, which can accommodate two people.
Li Laogen made room for Li Qingzhi and began to tell Li Qingzhi about what happened when he was drinking tea. He was very excited: "Ah Qing, they all envy me for having a capable daughter-in-law..."
Li Qingzhi really likes to hear Li Laogen praising Jin Xiaoye. Jin Xiaoye is really capable.
When Jin Xiaoye and Jin Xiaoshu came back, Li Qingzhi immediately brought out the warm food.
"Brother-in-law, why did you cook so many dishes?" Jin Xiaoshu was stunned.
"Celebrate your sister for making a big deal." Li Qingzhi said.
"Yeah, my sister made a lot of money this time." Jin Xiaoshu nodded.
Li Laogen only then remembered to ask: "Did Xiaoye make a lot of money this time? How much?"
"I made seven or eight taels, but I told people I made ten taels." Jin Xiaoye said.
Li Laogen looked at Jin Xiaoye in shock. After a while, he immediately looked at Li Qingzhi: "Ah Qing, Xiaoye has made so much money, we should celebrate for a few more days! You should cook tomorrow!"
Li Qingzhi: “…”
Everyone enjoyed the meal very much.
Li Laogen even said, "Ah Qing, the dishes you cook are even better than those made by the Zhu family chef. They are really delicious!"
Li Qingzhi knew that his cooking skills were definitely not as good as Chef Zhou's, but the poor people at that time had eaten everything since childhood, and their taste buds were often not so developed, so they could not taste the subtle differences.
Li Qingzhi picked up a piece of meat for Jin Xiaoye and said, "Xiaoye, eat more."
Jin Xiaoye glared at Li Qingzhi again.
After dinner, Li Qingzhi went to boil water again. He used both pots and boiled two full pots of water.
Since the weather turned cold, he took fewer baths, but he was sure to take one today.