She is in the fog

Fangcao Garden is very close to Mingmei's home. In less than ten minutes, He Xi had parked downstairs of Mingmei's community.

The snow had stopped. He Xi put away his umbrella, folded it and stuffed it into the umbrella cover, then put it into his backpack. Then he called Mingmei: "Mingming, I'm downstairs at your house. How are you preparing?"

"Have you eaten breakfast?"

"not yet."

"That's great! I haven't eaten either. I'll be down right away and we'll go eat together."

Soon, Mingmei came downstairs.

She was wearing a red woolen coat, a white scarf, and a white woolen hat with a furry little ball on top. She was so cute.

She stretched out her hands and waved them in front of He Xi, revealing the half-gloves He Xi had given her. She raised her chin proudly and said, "How about it? Doesn't it look good?"

"It looks good." He Xi agreed repeatedly.

Mingmei then put her left hand in her coat pocket, turned around and pointed to the southeast with her right hand and said, "There's a breakfast shop over there, their yanmian is delicious! I'll treat you later, you can eat as much as you want!"

He Xi looked in the direction she pointed. Wasn't that the breakfast shop she had stopped at before?

The two walked quickly and arrived at the breakfast shop.

Mingmei seemed to be very familiar with the store owner. When she saw her, she greeted her sweetly: "Aunt Li, your uncle didn't come to the store today?"

Aunt Li raised her head and smiled when she saw Mingmei: "He went back to his hometown to do some work. He won't be here these days. Little Mingmei, what do you want to eat? I'll make it for you myself."

"Two bowls of chicken noodles." Mingmei took He Xi's arm and introduced, "This is my classmate. I brought her here specially to taste your cooking."

"Oh, so I have to show off my cooking skills." Aunt Li said, and then pointed inside the store, "You two go in and find a seat. I'll cook for you right away."

"Thank you, Auntie." Mingmei pulled He Xi into the store and sat down at two empty seats.

After a while, Aunt Li came over with two plates of burning noodles and two bowls of steaming bone soup. "Come on, eat while it's hot."

"Thank you for your hard work, Aunt Li!"
Mingmei took out a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick basket and handed them to He Xi: "Here, a mouthful of noodles and a mouthful of soup."

He Xi took the chopsticks and looked at the burning noodles on the table. Each strand of noodles was covered with various seasonings and mixed very evenly. On the top was a handful of chili peppers, crushed peanuts, spicy chicken cubes and green onions. The red and green colors were bright and mouth-watering.

Then I looked at the steaming bone soup. The soup was clear and thick, with floating oil and a handful of chopped green onions on the surface, which made me very appetizing.

He Xi picked up the bone soup and blew it gently, then took a big sip. The salty and fresh taste instantly jumped on his taste buds. The fresh bones were boiled for several hours to boil out the medulla and bone oil inside. I don't know what seasoning was added, but it didn't feel greasy at all. With the fragrance of green onions, it was extremely delicious. He Xi swallowed the bone soup in one gulp, and the heat flowed down his esophagus into his stomach, and he felt his whole body warm up.

Mingmei on the opposite side was already eating the yanmian seriously. He Xi, not wanting to be left behind, also picked up the chopsticks and mixed the crushed peanuts, chili peppers, spicy chicken cubes, etc. into the noodles, then picked up a handful and put it into his mouth.

Wow, no wonder it’s called burning noodles, it’s like fire, spicy and refreshing!

Soon, the two of them had finished all the food in front of them, and they had executed the "Clean Plate" campaign very well, without even a mouthful of soup left.

Mingmei wiped her mouth and introduced them to He Xi, "Aunt Li and Uncle Zhang, one is my grandfather's student, and the other is my grandmother's student. By chance, my grandparents became their matchmakers. After they got married, they opened this breakfast shop together. Over the past ten years, the taste has become better and better, but the price has remained the same for ten years and has never increased. He Xi, sit here for a while, I'll go pay."

Mingmei said this and took out a twenty-yuan note from her coat pocket. She jumped to Aunt Li like a little rabbit. The two of them pushed each other, both wanting to hand the twenty yuan to each other. Finally, after Mingmei said something, Aunt Li took the banknote, took out a handful of change from her apron pocket and gave it to her.

Mingmei put the change into her pocket and ran back, "Okay, let's go to the market."

While waiting for the bus, He Xi couldn't help but ask, "Mingming, why are we going to the vegetable market?"

"Of course, we're going to buy groceries." Mingmei said while looking at the passing cars, "You forgot, you treated us to crabs before, and I promised to invite you to my house for dinner. Today is the time to fulfill my promise."

He Xi suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

Mingmei then took out her cell phone, opened a group chat named "No. 4 Middle School F", and sent a group message.

[Student Xiao Ming: Come to my house at 12 o'clock on time. I will treat everyone to a meal. I will cook for you today. What would you like to eat? ]

After a while, some group friends responded and the group chat suddenly became lively.

[90s Xing Jie: Spicy shrimp! Spicy shrimp! I want to eat spicy shrimp! ]

[Wen Wen Wan Wan: Although everything Mei Mei cooks is delicious, I still want to eat sweet and sour spare ribs! ]

[90s Xing Jie: I also want to eat Bang Bang Chicken and drink Coke. It would be best if I could cook a vegetarian soup and make some pickled cabbage and watercress to relieve the greasiness. ]

[Wen Wen Wan Wan: Li Xingyu, you ask for so much, do you eat shit? Do you eat ginseng rooster? ]

[90s Xing Jie: Wen Wan, you are so rude. Ginseng rooster is too much. ]

[Student Xiao Ming: I have both, but I can’t guarantee the taste.]

……

Mingmei turned off her phone, put it in her pocket, and turned to look at He Xi: "What about you, He Xi, what do you want to eat?" "I'm not picky about food, I can eat anything."

"No, you have to tell me what you like and what you want to eat the most."

"Then do what you are best at."

Mingmei put her hands together, spread her index and middle fingers apart, tapped her chin lightly, her eyes moving as she thought, "If that's the case, then it should be winter bamboo shoots and bacon? I just learned it the other day."

Two hours later, the two came out of the vegetable market carrying large and small bags of things. Mingmei tilted her head to look at He Xi and muttered, "Why do I feel that the vegetable prices are more expensive than when grandma came to buy them before? Tsk, I still suffer the loss of not being able to bargain."

"It's already great!" He Xi encouraged, "The dishes you picked look very fresh, and the shrimps are so lively."

Hearing He Xi mention shrimp, Ming Mei couldn't help but look embarrassed: "He Xi, can you handle shrimp?"

"Should I cut off the shrimp heads and legs, and then process the shrimp thread? It's okay, I can learn. I'll search for the method online and help you."

"That's great! These shrimps are so lively that I don't even dare to touch them with my hands. I'll trouble you to take care of them later."

He Xi nodded and said, "Okay, I have no choice but to do it."

After returning home and saying hello to Lin Ruxue and Shen Qingsong, the two began to busy themselves in the kitchen.

As soon as He Xi took out the prawns, Ming Mei took down two pairs of sleeves and two aprons from the wall hanging. She put on one of the sets, and personally put the other set on He Xi, and tied a beautiful bow behind her.

So, He Xi was busy processing the prawns in the sink, while Ming Mei was looking at the recipe to prepare the ingredients and mix the sauce.

The first dish is going to be chicken bang bang.

During the preparation stage, put salt, MSG, soy sauce, sugar, sesame paste, pepper, pepper powder, pepper oil, chili, sesame oil, red oil and chopped green onion into a bowl, mix into a sauce and set aside.

Wash the chicken and blanch it in water, then take it out and put it into a pot of boiling water containing ginger slices, scallions, salt and peppercorns. Cook it and take it out. After it cools down, tap it with a stick to loosen the chicken, which will make it more flavorful.

Finally, tear the chicken into shreds with your hands, pour the sauce on it, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Everything was ready, but what if there was no stick? Mingmei suddenly had an idea: use a rolling pin! She rolled up her sleeves, took out the rolling pin that had not been used for a long time, washed it in the sink, picked it up, and gently beat the dough.

Soon, a plate of delicious and fragrant Bang Bang Chicken was created.

He Xi held it in front of him, and from the color of the shredded chicken, he could smell the delicious sweetness of it, and he couldn't help but swallow his saliva quietly.

Next, Mingmei followed Li Xingyu's instructions and prepared a plate of pickled cabbage and watercress.

Finally, it was time to prepare the hot dishes. In order to save time and prevent them from getting cold, Mingmei prepared all the necessary ingredients and seasonings before turning on the fire.

Winter bamboo shoots and cured pork is a relatively simple dish. The ingredients required are not as many as those for chicken bang bang. The main test is the chef's control over the heat.

Mingmei had made it a few days ago according to the recipe and it tasted pretty good, so she was naturally confident about it.

Then came the spicy shrimps and sweet and sour pork ribs, and finally I planned to cook a dish of plain cabbage. The cabbage cooked in pure water without any seasoning was the most suitable way to relieve greasiness.

The water in the pot was boiling, and just as the cabbage was put into the pot, Wen Wan, Li Xingyu and others arrived.

He Xi hurried to open the door. Both of them were holding a large supermarket shopping bag filled with various snacks and drinks.

Wen Wan looked at the bag in Li Xingyu's hand and couldn't help but mutter, "If I had known you bought it, I wouldn't have bothered to buy it."

He Xi took Li Xingyu's shopping bag, took out the 2-liter bottle of Coke, and complained, "Why did you buy Coke too? You said you wanted to drink Coke, and I bought you a bottle, but you bought another one. How are you going to finish it?"

"It's okay!" Li Xingyu took the Coke back from He Xi's arms and said with a smile, "Drink it slowly, you can finish it eventually!"

At this time, Mingmei also poked her head out of the kitchen and shouted to them, "Hurry up, hurry up, you've come just in time, all the dishes are ready, you can serve them on the table, and let's eat!"

"Coming, coming!" Wen Wan quickly put the shopping bag in her hand on the sofa and ran to the kitchen to help.

There is strength in numbers. After just two rounds, the table was filled with steaming hot food.

The four of them sat at a round table. Mingmei raised her goblet, shook the Coke inside, and said proudly, "Grandpa and grandma are not at home, today's time is exclusively for our F4 of No. Middle School! Everyone must eat well, drink well and have fun! Don't be polite."

He Xi also raised his goblet and joined in the joke: "Today we are all gathered here, and I sincerely wish that from now on, our lives will begin to shine!"

"Cheers!" Mingmei gently tapped He Xi's cup, making a clear sound.

Wen Wan and Li Xingyu saw this and hurriedly raised their glasses: "Cheers!"

The lunch on the seventh day of the first lunar month ended successfully with the sound of glasses clinking for four people, the laughter of teenagers, and the occasional sound of firecrackers downstairs.

However, the youth of young people will never end.

(End of this chapter)