The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 119: The Fish is Burnt Again!!

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: The Fish is Burnt Again!!

Pei Ziheng thought he was being secretive, but he forgot that not far away there were two idle busybodies.

"Tss, this little rascal, he looks so pretty, but underneath, he’s just rotten."

Ning Yuan exclaimed with feeling, not hearing a response from Yan Yi, he couldn’t help turning his head, "Say, aren’t you going to do something about this? You’re the one who planned this game, if something really goes wrong, you won’t be able to shirk responsibility."

Yan Yi casually sipped his tea, "Knowing that I’m the person responsible, why are you worrying unnecessarily?"

Ning Yuan was choked by the comment and couldn’t help but remind him, "Old Yan, let everything else be, but this is no joke, if the little devil carelessly messes up and puts something poisonous in there, it won’t end well."

Yan Yi glanced at him sideways, "If you’re scared just keep your mouth shut, and if anything indeed happens, it won’t fall on your head."

"..."

"Tsk, you’re getting more and more vicious now."

After teasing him, Ning Yuan couldn’t help but laugh naughtily, "But I like it."

----

As the dishes from each group were successively completed, the air was filled with a rich and tempting aroma.

Ning Yuan was already hungry, and he dragged Yan Yi around to each group, openly "stealing a taste" under the guise of sampling.

Yan Yi was a self-disciplined person, no matter how Ning Yuan tempted him, he never started eating.

That is, until they reached Shen Mingzhu’s group.

The mixed radish shreds were placed in a white square porcelain plate, and in addition to the radishes, there were finely cut carrots, bamboo shoots, and onions, red, white, green, and purple mixed together, forming a colorful spectacle, with a small bud of a peach blossom placed at a corner of the plate for decoration.

A simple home-cooked dish of raw mixed radish shreds had been transformed into a high-class, star-rated cuisine.

"May I taste it?"

Hearing Yan Yi take the initiative to taste it, Ning Yuan had a look of disbelief, "Aren’t you..."

Under Yan Yi’s gaze, Ning Yuan forcibly swallowed the words "doesn’t eat radish" back down, "If you’re tasting, then I’ll also give it a try."

After plating the food, there was some leftover in the mixing bowl, and Shen Mingzhu directly handed the bowl to the two men.

Before the radish hit his mouth, Ning Yuan was unimpressed; once it did, he was absolutely astounded.

"Damn, so raw radish can actually be this delicious?"

"It is quite good," Yan Yi agreed.

Xiangying was in a group with Shen Mingzhu, so she had a part in the success of this raw mixed radish, hearing Yan Yi and Ning Yuan praise how tasty the radish was, she couldn’t help but take pride in it.

"Exactly, even my husband, who doesn’t like radishes, thinks it’s delicious. Mingzhu, I didn’t expect your cooking skills to be so good. You turned such a simple dish of raw mixed radish into something so fancy."

Shen Mingzhu humbly replied, "I’m just a housewife, I ponder these things when I have nothing else to do at home."

Xiangying thought she was bothered by Sun Feifei’s comment and comforted her, "Don’t mind Sun. She’s just a troublemaker. But if you’re thinking about looking for a job, let’s talk in detail another day."

"Sure, thanks, Sister Ying."

Xiangying was two years older than Shen Mingzhu.

Xiangying warmly linked arms with her, "Don’t be in a rush to thank me. Wait until I’ve really taken care of things for you, then it won’t be too late to thank me."

Hearing their conversation, Ning Yuan also joined in on the fun, "Shen Mingzhu, finding a job is easy for you, just ask Old Yan. He’ll sort it out for you right away."

Yan Yi swallowed the radish in his mouth, and didn’t object to Ning Yuan’s words, but instead asked Shen Mingzhu with interest what kind of work she wanted to do.

He used "want to do" instead of "looking for", implicitly promising to arrange a job for Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu casually said she hadn’t thought it through yet and steered the conversation away.

Meanwhile, Sun Feifei and Zhao Fang had finished their preliminary preparations and were ready to fry the fish.

Since the dishes from the other groups were all done, and only the two of them were just starting, plus they were cooking a complicated dish, everyone flocked over to watch the excitement.

Sun Feifei was responsible for coating the fish head and body with starch, while Zhao Fang was in charge of frying the fish.

The essence of sweet and sour squirrel fish lies in the blossoming of the fish body, which is crucial for arranging the plate into the shape of a squirrel, hence the frying of the fish is rather special.

When frying, one holds the fish meat and continuously ladles hot oil over it, waiting until the sliced design on the fish body sets into a beautiful shape before submerging it fully in the fryer.

Zhao Fang, either due to inexperience or fear of the hot oil splashing onto her hand, just tossed the entire piece of fish directly into the pot.

As if that wasn’t enough, she also threw in the fish head to fry together; both the fish head and body were coated with starch, so they immediately stuck together once they hit the oil.

Mingzhu, couldn’t help but run her mouth and reminded her, "You should fry the fish head and body separately."

"Mind your own business!"

After snapping at Mingzhu, Zhao Fang turned around to face Feifei’s criticism.

"Why did you fry the fish head and tail together? Look, they’ve stuck together. How are we going to plate them later?"

Zhao Fang defensively explained, "I thought doing them together would be faster."

"Oh no, the fish is burnt!"

Someone exclaimed suddenly.

Sun Feifei and Zhao Fang hurriedly looked to the frying pot, from which thick smoke was rising, and the fish at the bottom had turned to a charred black color.

By the time the two of them hastily scooped out the fish, the flesh and the head had already fused into an indistinguishable black lump.

Feifei was too upset to make a scene, especially with everyone watching, and she couldn’t bring herself to lose her temper at Zhao Fang, so she decided to take over the frying while Zhao Fang helped out on the side.

After changing to a pot of fresh oil, Feifei first dropped the fish head into the fryer.

She was utterly focused, not daring to take her eyes off the pot for even half a second. One fish had already been spoiled; she wouldn’t allow anything to happen to the remaining three.

However—

Though it had been just a minute since the fish head went in, black smoke was billowing out of the pot again, and the fish head was visibly starting to blacken.

Feifei, not caring whether the fish head was cooked or not, quickly scooped it out.

Despite her rapid actions, the fish head was nonetheless burnt, although not as completely blackened as the first one.

Seeing Feifei’s grim expression, Zhao Fang tentatively offered some consolation, "Is the fire too high?"

After much consideration, Feifei could only conclude that was the reason; she had made sweet and sour squirrel fish several times at home and had never encountered a problem like she did today.

It must be that the heat was too intense.

After all the fuss, Feifei began frying the third fish.

And, just like that, the third fish was burnt again.

Feifei was so mortified that she was on the verge of tears, while the onlookers snickered and whispered among themselves.

"With skills like these, she has the nerve to attempt making sweet and sour squirrel fish, wasting three pots of good oil."

"These fish aren’t cheap either, one must cost at least ten yuan, so four would be forty yuan."

"No household could endure such wastefulness."

Listening to everyone’s criticisms, Feifei could hold back no longer and her eyes reddened as she began to sob uncontrollably.

"I don’t know what went wrong. My dad loves sweet and sour squirrel fish. I’ve cooked it several times at home and have never had an issue like I did today."

Zhao Fang suddenly pointed at Shen Mingzhu, "It’s definitely because of you!"

Shen Mingzhu: I have an M.M.P., not sure if I should say it or not.