This place is fun

Chapter 154 Playing House

Xianggong?

Su Daoshan's pupils slightly dilated as he looked at Yue Zhen, who was dressed so elegantly in front of him. He was a little dazed for a moment as he saw her smiling face that looked as if she was waiting for her husband to return.

"What is this woman playing...playing house?" In his mind, the scene of playing house with Yue Zhen when he was a child flashed through his mind. Su Daoshan looked at Yue Zhen with a half-smile and said, "You really know how to play..."

Seeing Su Daoshan was stunned for a moment, she understood. Yue Zhen's eyes sparkled with a hint of joy. She pursed her lips and smiled, but she only complained: "What are you talking about, my husband? I have been waiting for you for a long time."

As she said this, she pulled Su Daoshan to the courtyard and wiped the dust off his body with a towel, saying, "My husband has been working hard outside all day, so come in and have a rest. I'll help him wash his face and then go to cook. The rice has been steamed a long time ago, and we just need to cook two dishes. I bought a piece of fresh meat at the market today, and I've already chopped it up and it's ready to be put into the pot."

"Hmm." Su Daoshan found it interesting, nodded, and followed Yue Zhen into the house.

The courtyard is not big, just like an ordinary farmhouse. There are three mud houses in the front, and on the left and right are straw sheds for storing sundries, chicken coops and a small vegetable field. Firewood, straw raincoats and farm tools are piled everywhere. There are chickens in the chicken coop.

However, unlike ordinary farmhouses, this place is extremely clean. Everything is in order, and there is no unpleasant smell. As soon as you enter, you will feel relaxed and happy.

The night was cool. Next to the main house was the kitchen. Through the door, one could see a fire was humming in the earthen stove in the kitchen. The main house was obviously connected to the fire bed and smoke duct. A thick curtain was hung on the door, and a layer of mist had formed on the windows.

With a creak, the gate behind him closed.

Su Daoshan looked back and saw that although Yue Zhen was trying her best to remain calm, her ears were already red.

"Husband, please come in. It's cold outside." When Yue Zhen lowered her head and walked to Su Daoshan to speak, Su Daoshan heard her shy voice and trembled unconsciously.

"My lady, you are at home today, did you miss me?" Su Daoshan deliberately teased. Since you want to play, I will play with you.

Especially the girl in front of him, she was the pearl of Yishan City and the dream lover of countless young men. Putting aside the children of the noble families, just talking about the various districts and the market city, there were countless admirers of Yue Zhen.

Suddenly, Su Daoshan saw that Yue Zhen's ears and neck turned red.

"Hmm." Yue Zhen nodded vaguely, quickly went up the stairs, lifted the curtain, and slipped in.

"He's both a slut and a playful guy." Su Daoshan smiled and followed him into the house.

The furnishings in the room were also simple. There was a brick bed against the wall, which took up almost half of the room. On the other side of the wall, there was a wardrobe and a small dressing table. They were all ordinary farmhouse styles, without any exquisite carvings or gilding, and even the paint was very ordinary.

But you can see that everything in the house is new.

Yue Zhen entered the kitchen from the side door, brought hot water, poured it into the basin, wrung out a towel, and pressed Su Daoshan to sit on the kang while wiping his face. The girl's fragrance, the heat of the kang, and the water vapor in the basin made Su Daoshan feel a little dazed for a moment.

It was as if I was really a farm boy who had returned home after a busy day outside.

The towel was rubbing against her face. Because of the action of wiping her face, the two of them were so close that they could almost hear each other's breathing. In the silence, the atmosphere became ambiguous. Yue Zhen's breathing and movements also became a little flustered.

"Why did you think of building such a yard?" Su Daoshan asked.

To be honest, after being in this world for such a long time, Yue Zhen was the first girl whose thoughts he could not quite understand. She was also the first girl who made him feel like he was in his original world.

He still remembered Yue Zhen's determination to go with him in front of Zhou Qinghe during the dust storm. He also remembered her expression when she said, "I just despise the poor and love the rich, I am fickle, is that okay? I just want to choose according to my own feelings. I just want to see him get angry and call me a bitch."

It was not until then that Su Daoshan realized that beneath her appearance as a rich lady, she was actually a rebellious soul. Her personality was totally unlike that of a woman from this world.

No wonder she and Su Yu became besties. However, compared to the moth-like Su Yu, she was more subtle and more secretive.

"Do you like it?" Yue Zhen turned around and rubbed the towel in the basin, glanced at Su Daoshan shyly and asked.

Su Daoshan nodded and leaned against the pillow at the head of the kang. To be honest, in this simple farmhouse, there was a sense of relaxation and comfort. It was as if I had hidden in an independent world, and the wind, rain and turmoil outside had nothing to do with me.

Moreover, the rebellious nature of the girl in front of him, as well as her wonderful ideas, made him feel as if he had returned to the original world.

"I know you'll like it," Yue Zhen smiled when she saw Su Daoshan nod, and she looked more energetic. She turned around and continued to rub the towel, saying, "When I got home that day, I kept thinking, why have you always been willing to let others treat you as a nerd all these years. In front of us, and at home..."

Behind him, Su Daoshan touched his nose awkwardly. This was not something he wanted to pretend, but it was just the way he was.

"Then I figured it out..." Yue Zhen twisted the towel, turned around, glared at Su Daoshan and said, "You are just arrogant. You treat others as fools. You don't bother to argue with others, and you are even too lazy to socialize, right?"

Huh? Su Daoshan blinked his eyes, and before he could say anything, a steaming hot towel was already covering his face. In front of him, the girl's soft and warm body was so close, the heat was overwhelming, and his calves resting on the edge of the kang would occasionally touch the girl's round and slender legs.

"Hmph, is it so great that you have unfathomable literary spiritual roots? Is it so great that you were taught personally by Han Gu? Is it so great that you secretly practiced martial arts to a higher level than everyone else?" Yue Zhen gritted her teeth, said this, and then rubbed Su Daoshan's face hard.

As Yue Zhen exerted more force, Su Daoshan's body was swayed by her, and when he almost lost his balance, he subconsciously reached out and hugged her waist. The girl's voice stopped abruptly, and her body stiffened.

"Do you want to suffocate me?" Su Daoshan asked with a towel covering his face.

With a "puff", the towel was put down, revealing Yue Zhen's pretty face with rosy cheeks. Su Daoshan did not loosen his hand around her waist, and she did not say anything, so the two of them stared at each other for a while.

Su Daoshan could clearly feel that Yue Zhen's body slowly relaxed after being tense, and her eyes turned gentle as she looked at him. "It would be fine if there hadn't been that day in the dust storm. But now that I know your true appearance," Yue Zhen said with a smile, "I can't help but think that I usually pretend to be so tired at home. So, over the years, would you also like to have a place like that where you don't have to wear a mask and feel more relaxed?"

"So, you prepared this place?" Su Daoshan looked around and had a different understanding of the girl in front of him. "You are not the eldest daughter of the Yue family, and I am not the Su family's Su Dazi..."

Yue Zhen smiled brightly, her eyes rolled lightly, and she didn't answer. She just slapped Su Daoshan's hand away coquettishly: "Okay, husband. It's so late, and I still have to cook."

When Su Daoshan heard about cooking, his eyes lit up and he stood up and said, "I'll go take a look too."

Playing house always involves cooking. When she was a child, Yue Zhen often brought grass roots and tree barks in small plates and bowls, pretending to be big fish and meat. While pretending to feed Su Daoshan, she would ask if it tasted good. Su Daoshan, on the other hand, looked like a big boss, chewing with nothing in his mouth and nodding repeatedly.

But to be honest, Su Daoshan really didn't have much hope for the cooking skills of this world.

Firstly, because of the shortage of food, it was good enough to have a flatbread, so how could they care about the taste. And the better the taste, the more people would eat, right? Secondly, there was little meat and not many seasonings. Since the catastrophe of the end of the world, many recipes have been lost. Even the chefs specially hired by the noble families only know a few specialties. It is generally not available unless it is a festival.

That is why, during the New Year holidays, once the ingredients are ready at home and the chefs cook their specialties, everyone looks forward to it. They work harder than usual. No matter what happens outside, they rush home at the appointed time just to have a bite.

In this case, any dish that tastes even slightly better will be praised to the sky - after all, if you eat it once, you can savor it for a whole year, how can it not be delicious?

But for Su Daoshan, who had no idea what to eat when it was time for dinner more than ten days ago, and was tired of eating this way and had no appetite that way, the taste of the food in this world is hard to describe.

The worst thing is that Su Daoshan, who has been independent since childhood and has mastered cooking skills, is still unable to cook for himself.

As the saying goes, a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. Not to mention that he, a young master of a noble family, would never go to the kitchen, even with his obedient and nerdy personality, it is impossible for him to roll up his sleeves and cook for a bite of food.

Because of this, at this moment in this quiet and independent courtyard, when Su Daoshan heard Yue Zhen wanted to cook, he also became interested. He followed Yue Zhen, lifted the curtain of the side door, and entered the kitchen.

It must be said that Yue Zhen is willing to spend money on this little green tea house. I don't know how many years these mud houses in the yard have been there, but the utensils in the kitchen are the same as the furnishings in the main house, all brand new.

The kitchen was not big. There was a rectangular earthen stove against the wall, with one large and one small stove pit. The large one was an iron pot, and next to the small one were a steamer and a clay pot, which were obviously used for steaming. Five or six golden smoked meats were hung on the beam above the earthen stove, and in a cabinet next to it were dishes and seasonings. A few meters away, firewood was neatly stacked against the wall.

On a wooden table nearby, there was a chopping board, and the earthen bowl next to it was already filled with prepared ingredients.

Su Daoshan took a closer look and saw that one of the large bowls contained chopped pork. The others contained washed cabbage, potatoes, corn and mushrooms. In the basket on the ground, there were also some radishes, winter melons and other vegetables, all of which were rare.

With a splash, a big black fish appeared in the water tank nearby.

"Hey," Su Daoshan went to the seasoning area again, smelled all the seasonings one by one, and said in surprise, "So complete?"

As a gourmet, Su Daoshan not only knows how to cook many dishes, but he can also basically tell what condiments are put into any dish by tasting it. After being in this world for such a long time, he can only eat and distinguish a few common condiments, namely soybean paste, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, sugar, etc.

There are other things like chili peppers, but they are rarely used. And there is no cooking method for chili peppers, such as chili oil or chili powder. They are just dried under the eaves and picked and thrown into the dishes when needed.

As for Sichuan pepper and pepper, I have never seen them before.

Unexpectedly, at Yue Zhen's place, he saw spices such as Sichuan pepper, pepper, and star anise, all of which were packed in a uniform white-bottomed green porcelain jar with the word "Gu" printed on it. There was also a small bottle of sesame oil and a can of vegetable oil next to it.

"You also know that my family has a stake in Jinfenglou and Jinyuan in the north of the city. We also have a restaurant in Chongguang City, which is doing this business. A few days ago, my family bought some goods in Chongguang City, all from the south," Yue Zhen rolled her eyes at him charmingly and said, "When I went back to my parents' home, I secretly brought some here."

For some reason, upon hearing this, Su Daoshan immediately felt that these ingredients had become more fragrant even before they were put into the pot. He nodded in approval, but felt regretful: "It's a pity that there is no sweet noodle sauce, no thirteen spices, no cumin, no bean paste, no fermented black beans, no oyster sauce, no MSG... However, bean paste and other ingredients can be made by yourself..."

Over there, Yue Zhen was busy talking, opening the pot of boiling water and preparing to pour the meat and vegetables in. Su Daoshan immediately felt something was wrong, and quickly stopped her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Cooking." Yue Zhen opened her eyes wide.

"Just pour them together and cook them like this?" Su Daoshan asked.

In this world, there are many cooking methods, such as steaming, boiling, stewing, roasting, frying, and roasting. But stewing is the most common method. The main reason is to avoid wasting ingredients. After all, if you cook in one pot, you can eat the food and drink the soup. If it tastes good, you can eat it with noodles or rice. Stir-frying, on the other hand, wastes oil and is too little. Two chopsticks per person is enough. Because of this, the taste of the dishes is also monotonous.

However, even if it was a pot of stew, no one would do it like Yue Zhen did. The meat hadn't even been blanched yet.

"What else?" Su Daoshan's question made Yue Zhen look confused.

As soon as he saw her look, Su Daoshan knew that this little green tea girl was cooking for the first time.

But think about it. As the daughter of the Yue family, Yue Zhen is the apple of Yue Zhongnan's eye. He usually holds her in his hands for fear of dropping her, and holds her in his mouth for fear of melting her. Even needlework is not necessarily so strict, let alone letting her cook.

The fact that Yue Zhen was able to prepare all these might have been the result of secretly asking someone.

"Forget it, let me do it." Su Daoshan was already itching to try his hand, so he took over the position of chef without hesitation and pushed Yue Zhen aside.

Since you are making it yourself, you naturally won’t cook it all at once.

If you feel hungry, make some braised pork first, take cabbage, corn and radish, boil a pot of soup directly with water, and then have some boiling fish fillet!
(End of this chapter)