The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 495 - 494: A Bowl of Noodles

Chapter 495: Chapter 494: A Bowl of Noodles

Shen Xiangnan, guided by Shen Mingzhu, held a large pair of scissors and dismantled the Alaskan King Crab into pieces while curiously chatting with Shen Mingzhu.

"Little sis, we had never even seen this stuff before, how do you know how to prepare it?"

"Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean I haven’t."

"Where did you see it?"

"Focus on your work. This single king crab costs over three hundred. If you ruin it, it’ll come out of your salary."

At her words, Shen Xiangnan stopped chatting and focused on disassembling the king crab.

Shen Mingzhu watched from the side, occasionally offering an explanation or two.

She had prepared a ’one crab, four dishes’ cooking method for this king crab: the big crab legs could be steamed with garlic paste, charcoal grilled, simply steamed, or baked with cheese, all left for the customers to choose; the crab body would be chopped up and stir-fried, could be made into spicy crab, typhoon shelter, or golden sand among other flavors; the shell and crab roe would be steamed with local farm eggs into an egg custard; and the smaller crab legs, joints, and other trimmings would be used to make crab porridge.

"Oh, we are in for a treat today."

Just as they were busy at work, Pei Yang entered the kitchen, his tongue smacking at the sight of various seafood spread across the workbench.

Shen Mingzhu looked at her watch, instructed her man to set the table, and to brew the tea.

Today besides teaching Shen Xiangnan how to cook, she had also invited people over for a taste test.

Aside from Pei Yang, there were Yan Su, Li Bing, Liu Yuehua, Zhao Dafa, and several major clients from the food factory.

Pei Yang arrived shortly before Yan Su, who was accompanied by Zhong Qing.

Thinking that seafood is cold in nature and pregnant women should eat less of it, she hadn’t invited Zhong Qing, but unexpectedly, she showed up anyway.

Seeing Zhong Qing’s visibly pregnant belly, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but express her concern. Learning that everything was fine, she felt relieved.

Due to the seafood, the kitchen had a strong fishy smell, which caused Zhong Qing, after exchanging a few words, to be led out by Yan Su.

Being pregnant with twins, Zhong Qing’s belly was a bit larger than that of an average woman more than five-months along, making her movements somewhat cumbersome.

While waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive, Shen Mingzhu, in between instructing Shen Xiangnan, found a spare moment to prepare two or three home-style dishes especially for Zhong Qing.

At seven o’clock, once all the guests had arrived, Shen Mingzhu served the first dish, the crab roe egg custard.

"Thank you all for taking the time to attend the new dish tasting at Shenji. I hope you can all provide valuable feedback."

"Today’s first dish involves the Alaskan King Crab, sourced from the Bailing Sea area, which, thanks to its superior natural environment, is of very high quality."

"The king crab we selected today has a total net weight of 5.7 kilograms, and we’ve prepared it in four different ways."

"This is the first method: egg-flower crab roe soup, using the crab shell as a bowl. Crab roe and rural farm chicken eggs are mixed with spring water and steamed, with just a small amount of salt and seafood soy sauce added to enhance the flavor, preserving the crab roe’s natural sweetness to the greatest extent."

As she introduced the dish, Shen Mingzhu served a portion of the crab roe custard to each diner’s bowl.

Each guest got a full spoonful, but when it came to Zhong Qing, it was only a small half a spoonful.

This made her quite dissatisfied, glaring reproachfully at Shen Mingzhu.

The tender yellow custard melted in the mouth, fresh, tender, fragrant, and silky, these four sensations distinct yet wonderfully blended together, offering an endless delight on the palate.

The second dish was steamed crab legs, offered in both garlic and plain varieties, to account for personal preferences against garlic.

This was closely followed by the third and fourth dishes.

With porridge and soup included, a total of seventeen dishes were served, from seven in the evening until nine-thirty.

After finishing, everyone was still longing for more.

"President Shen, I’d like to make a suggestion, increase the portion size next time, I didn’t get enough."

This comment drew laughter from everyone, and they all agreed that the portions were too small and simply not satisfying.

Shen Mingzhu apologized with a smile, "It was my lack of preparation, next time I’ll make sure everyone has enough to eat and then some."

"Mingzhu, when are you opening? I’ll be the first to patronize," Zhao Dafa asked with a smile.

"We are planning on the tenth of next month. I’ll call everyone before the opening."

"Okay, we’ll be waiting for your good news."

After seeing off the last guest, Shen Mingzhu looked up at the starlit night sky, feeling a sense of lightness in her heart.

Although she had a natural advantage in the culinary arts, she was inexperienced in business, feeling her way across the river by groping the stones.

Fortunately, despite the stumbling along the way, she was finally getting into the swing of things and achieving decent results.

"What’s on your mind, exhausted yourself silly?"

Turning around, she met the man’s gaze, as deep as the stars above, and a profound fatigue welled up inside Shen Mingzhu.

She took a step forward, leaning her body against the man’s embrace.

"So tired."

She rarely showed such vulnerability, soft and delicate, like a fluffy little animal.

Pei Yang felt a tingling sensation in his chest and hugged her tightly, feeling a genuine sense of possession.

The sky was twinkling with countless stars, and he so wished he could pluck one down to present it in front of her, just to see her smile.

To love someone is to want to give her the very best and most beautiful things in the world.

Gurgle.

The sound of hunger from her stomach was especially loud in the quiet night, breaking the warm and sweet atmosphere.

"Hungry?"

As she met the man’s teasing, smiling gaze, Shen Mingzhu couldn’t help but blush, "What’s so funny? You’re the one who’s eaten."

Pei Yang bent down to look at her, his voice gentle, "What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you."

"Anything."

"Let’s go inside."

Pei Yang took her hand and walked towards the dining room.

In the dining room, Shen Xiangnan was enjoying a big bowl of noodles.

Seeing the couple come in, Shen Xiangnan pointed at a smaller bowl on another spot, "Mingzhu, have some noodles."

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the bowl and casually replied, "You eat," then followed Pei Yang into the kitchen.

Pei Yang rummaged through the kitchen and finally held up half a handful of noodles, "This is all we’ve got left, want to eat out?"

"No, I want to eat what you make for me."

Shen Mingzhu was rarely stubborn, which surprised Pei Yang and found it incredibly adorable.

"Alright, I’ll make it for you."

Five minutes later.

Pei Yang brought the freshly cooked noodles to the table.

The noodles were hot, and Shen Mingzhu slowly blew on a strand picked up with her chopsticks.

Shen Xiangnan looked at his own big bowl, then at the bowl in front of Shen Mingzhu, "Mingzhu, don’t you already have some? Why cook another bowl?"

Pei Yang laughed, "It’s not the same."

Shen Xiangnan was puzzled, "What’s the difference? Aren’t they both just noodles?"

Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, "Brother, finish eating and go to sleep early."

"Okay."

Shen Xiangnan slurped down the soup, wiped his mouth, stood up, and was ready to leave.

The dishes and kitchen hygiene would be taken care of by someone else tomorrow.

"Brother, I’ll walk you out." Pei Yang stood up and followed him outside.

Shen Xiangnan was pleasantly surprised, "Well, that’s nice."

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the two men’s retreating figures and felt an inexplicable irritation flare up.

Damn man, leaving her alone like this late at night.

The more she thought about it, the less she wanted the noodles, but seeing the two untouched bowls, she felt it would be too wasteful, so she went to the kitchen to find a bag, intending to take them home for the stray dogs.

There were a few stray dogs near her home, and she often put leftovers in broken tile pots outside the courtyard wall for them to eat.

The reason she used broken tile pots was that the enamel basin and antimony basin she had used before were always taken by people.

Outside the dining room.

As Shen Xiangnan was heading towards Pei Yang’s car, he heard Pei Yang say, "Brother, I’ll only walk you this far. Be careful on your way back on your bike."

Shen Xiangnan: "..."

Good lord, you’re just seeing me out?

Before Shen Xiangnan could react, Pei Yang had already turned and walked the other way.

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