Chapter 55 Nothing is a coincidence

Qi Bin certainly didn't know that his meeting with Gu Wan had suddenly inspired him to go to the Red Flag Battalion to recuperate, which actually changed the plot of a book.

This in turn affected the fortune of the heroine of the book. The most crucial thing was that the Gu Wan he met turned out to be the vicious female supporting character in the book.

There are so many coincidences in this world. Now he and Gu Wan are living peacefully in the countryside and enjoying themselves. Otherwise, why is there a saying "Nothing happens without coincidence"?
Gu Wan finally got the exact news and started going to work at the commune the next day.

It just so happened that she had some pork belly, so she thought of making a delicious meal for her family today.

She will have to cook for others every day in the future, so she should at least cook for her family first, right?
What Gu Wan didn't know was that a certain special guest in her house no longer intended to consider himself as just a guest of the Gu family.

Anyway, his work has not been completed yet, and he needs to go to the commune frequently. Then, it wouldn't be considered as abusing his power for personal gain if he had lunch in the small kitchen at noon, right?

I stocked up a lot of pork belly last time, and it came in handy this time, but I’m not going to feed the whole family.

For their family of five, including Qi Bin and grandparents, two pounds of pork belly and potatoes, plus a few side dishes, should be enough.

In the kitchen of Gu Laosan's house, Qiao Yuemei is definitely the one in charge, so she lets her daughter cook while she helps out.

Qiao Yuemei peeled and cut the pork belly quickly and efficiently. After washing it clean, she blanched it in cold water for one minute, then took it out and soaked it in cold water for later use.

This is the method my daughter taught me. In the past, Qiao Yuemei usually didn't include this step when she made braised pork herself, but the meat does taste better after doing this.

Of course Qiao Yuemei had to learn with an open mind. Fortunately, she had basic spices such as star anise and Sichuan peppercorns at home.

After a few side dishes, Qiao Yuemei came to cook. The braised pork with potatoes was the dish that Gu Wan wanted to make.

After heating the pan, add cold oil, spices, onions, ginger, and garlic, and stir-fry over low heat.

After the aroma comes out, add the pork belly cubes, stir-fry until the surface changes color, then add rock sugar.

When frying sugar, the most important thing is the heat. The food cooked over this stove does taste better, but Gu Wan is not good at controlling the heat.

At this time, she was very glad that her mother was also a master in the kitchen, otherwise she really couldn't control it.

After the sugar color comes out, add soy sauce and stir-fry until the color is evenly applied to each piece of pork belly.

Then add water, bring to a boil over high heat, cover the pot, and simmer over medium heat.

When the aroma is almost released, add the chopped potatoes and continue to simmer.

Then Gu Wan planned to stir-fry some spicy and sour potato shreds and then make some dry-fried potatoes.

Qiao Yuemei laughed when she saw it, "How about I add a potato chip and we can eat whole potatoes?"

Gu Lin, who had just rushed in from outside, heard this and widened his eyes: "All potatoes? No, I want to eat meat!"

He could clearly smell the aroma of meat from a distance, so why did he still eat potatoes?

Speaking of which, in order to fill their stomachs, the people in the Gu family did eat a lot of potatoes.

It just so happened that the family situation was not good during that period, and Qiao Yuemei was in a bad mood and didn't want to perform, so she only ate boiled potatoes in water every time.

It’s oil-free and salt-free. Gu Lin almost vomited if he ate too much.

As a result, when they actually started eating, Gu Lin realized that he had said the wrong thing.

Potatoes are delicious. He can finish three bowls of rice soaked in potato juice.

Oh my god, the rice is mixed with the rich flavor of the soup, and the braised pork is so crispy, tender, fragrant and delicious that it makes people want to cry.

"Wanwan," Gu Lin was about to cry, "Can I go to the commune to work with you?" It's not impossible, but Gu Wan knew that nothing can be rushed and must be planned slowly.

The next day, Gu Wan got up early again and prepared to go to work at the commune. Unexpectedly, Qi Bin got up at about the same time as her.

They even walked out of the house together in perfect sync, with a very legitimate reason: "I also have to go to the commune to do some work, it's on the way."

Is it such a coincidence?

Gu Wan was suspicious, but Gu Zhiqiang didn't think too much about it. It happened that he had to go to work today and didn't send his daughter away.

It’s good that Comrade Qi is going with us now, and the family can feel more at ease.

After arriving at the commune, the two of them went their separate ways. There was no need to disturb Secretary Zhao for such a small matter as Gu Wan's employment, as one of his assistants directly helped to take care of it.

After that, Gu Wan officially became an employee of the commune canteen.

Secretary Zhao is very efficient and the small kitchen was ready in just a few days.

The main thing is that after the chef is decided, the odd jobs inside become simple. In addition, two general workers are transferred from the canteen to help with washing vegetables.

When they found out that the new chef was such a young girl, they all widened their eyes in disbelief and suspected that Chef Li was doing something malicious on purpose.

These two people will be assigned to a small kitchen where they may not know how long they will stay there. They are not from the same faction as Chef Li and their relationship is not good on a daily basis.

They themselves understood this, and even knew that Chef Li was not very happy about suddenly having to build an extra kitchenette.

Some even thought conspiracy theories: Could it be that Chef Li deliberately hired someone who was incompetent so that they would lose their jobs?

Gu Wan also saw the expressions of the two uncles. There was no point in saying more. Strength was the key.

Although the small kitchen was simple, another one was built next to the cafeteria.

Although small, it has everything. Secretary Zhao's assistant just said that she can use the vegetables and meat in the cafeteria after registering them.

Gu Wan first found out that there were six commune leaders who would be eating in the small kitchen at noon today, and with the outside guests there were only seven people in total.

Foreign guest?

Gu Wan couldn't help but think, could it be that Qi Bin came here to do business just to have this meal at noon?
The meal for seven people still needs to reflect the characteristics of the era, with less oil but good taste, and there should not be too many dishes but large portions to make you full.

After thinking about it, Gu Wan decided to make four dishes and one soup, boiled fish, stir-fried pork, garlic vegetables, celery and dried tofu, and vegetable and tofu soup.

While Gu Wan was cooking, Chef Li also came over to watch. Even though he had seen him last time, he still didn't believe how capable a little girl could be.

But seeing Gu Wan's quick preparations, his knife skills were also very neat and decisive, and his methods of marinating both the fish and the meat seemed better than his.

Chef Li was finally willing to admit that he was getting old and that the new generation was replacing the old generation.

After all, they will be working together in the future, so there is no need to make the relationship too awkward, and the head chef of the cafeteria is still Chef Li.

Gu Wan knew that she was just helping out in the small kitchen temporarily and didn't know what would happen in the future, but Chef Li had been here for more than 20 years.

He must have accumulated his own network of contacts, so there was no need to have a bad relationship with him. Gu Wan was very considerate and served a small bowl of each dish.

They were placed in front of Chef Li, and he said, "You are my senior, can you check it for me first?"

In fact, these dishes were specially thought out by Gu Wan. She had already drafted them countless times in her mind, and she would not make any mistakes even with her eyes closed.

(End of this chapter)