Chapter 203

Just now, Ninth Sister-in-Law said that much of the food they brought back today was bought from the foreigners, and they were all things the sisters-in-law had never seen before.

Seeing so many delicious ingredients, the gluttonous Eighth Sister-in-Law was the most enthusiastic.

"Ninth Sister-in-Law, tell us what we should make for dinner tonight. Let's get started right away."

Old Lady Mo also agreed with Eighth Sister-in-Law's words: "Yes, let [He Zhiran] and Ninth Sister-in-Law decide the menu. You all can help them prepare."

She had already seen that this ninth daughter-in-law was skilled at whatever she did.

If the task was left to the other sisters-in-law, such good ingredients would likely end up wasted.

According to [He Zhiran]'s understanding, hot pot had not yet become popular during this period. Of course she would not leave the preparation of this novel dish that no one had tried before to anyone else.

[He Zhiran] first went into the storage room, and picked out some suitable beef, mutton, pork, chicken and some offal.

The offal had already been cleaned in her personal space. Currently they only needed to cut the ingredients into pieces.

[He Zhiran] did not need to do this herself. She could leave this task to her sisters-in-law.

Although there were many ingredients to prepare, there were also many sisters-in-law. With everyone pitching in, it did not take long to get the ingredients ready.

The only green vegetable suitable for hot pot right now was cabbage, which happened to be [He Zhiran]'s favorite.

Especially when the cooked cabbage had absorbed the red oil - dipping it into the tasty sauces was simply a delightful experience.

The potatoes and sweet potatoes they brought back today could also be used as ingredients. This would let the family try these two kinds of produce.

After handing over the tasks to her sisters-in-law, [He Zhiran] took out the seafood she had bought from the fishermen's village earlier.

Lobsters were not suitable for hot pot, but shrimp were perfectly fine and tasted great too.

Therefore, [He Zhiran] divided the shrimp into two portions. One was for the hot pot, the other for cooking Sichuan style sautéed shrimp.

As for the lobsters, she kept a few for tonight’s meal, and put the rest into her personal space to preserve freshness.

As a side dish to go with the hot pot, [He Zhiran] felt there was no need to make things too complicated. Hence, she decided to steam garlic lobster.

After getting all the ingredients ready, she deliberately walked into the carriage compartment in full view of everyone.

Pretending to rummage through the storage cabinet inside, her consciousness had already entered her personal space. She opened Taobao Treasure Trove and purchased a large jar of sesame paste, scallion flower sauce and fermented tofu.

Then she quickly changed the packaging of these seasonings to match this ancient time period.

In truth, there were many options for hot pot dipping sauces, like the seafood sauce, fragrant oil and oyster sauce she often had in her past life.

The reason why [He Zhiran] chose sesame dipping sauce was mainly because she considered that these could all be produced locally.

For instance, as long as there were sesame seeds and a small grinding stone, sesame paste would be easy for her to make.

Scallion flower sauce was also easy to explain. Scallions were already available in this period, and farming families were familiar with scallion flowers too.

The only reason they didn’t make scallion flower sauce was likely because salt was too expensive then to waste in this manner. As for fermented tofu, it would be more troublesome, but once they could make tofu, fermented tofu would not be far off.

Additionally, [He Zhiran] had another motive.

She wanted to test the palatability of these seasonings to the people of this time.

If they were well-received, it could become a money-making business for the family in the future.

Of course, that was something for the days to come. She was just making some preparations in advance.

[Mo Jiuye] was carrying firewood from the backyard with Eighth Brother when he saw [He Zhiran] emerge from the carriage holding several bottles and jars of differing sizes.

[Mo Jiuye] quickly put down the firewood and strode over.

He knew these were just his wife's tricks to hide her abilities.

In front of Eighth Brother, he deliberately exclaimed, "Oh how forgetful I am, I actually forgot there were still things inside the storage cabinet."

As he spoke, he had already taken the items from [He Zhiran]'s arms.

[He Zhiran] secretly laughed to herself: This man's reactions are really quick.

She played along and said, "I didn't see these things in the storage room just now, so I guessed you must have forgotten them in the carriage."

They had to admit, this brief exchange between husband and wife completely eliminated [Mo Chuhan]'s suspicions.

When he first saw Ninth Sister-in-Law emerge from the carriage holding those items, [Mo Chuhan] had wondered how there could still be things inside when the carriage had already been emptied.

So those were the things kept in the storage cabinet.

They were probably more strange goods bought from the foreigners.

The other sisters-in-law witnessed their conversation as well, and had the same thoughts as [Mo Chuhan]. Everyone still believed these were odd items Ninth Brother and Sister-in-Law had purchased from the foreigners.

[Mo Jiuye] directly brought those seasonings to the kitchen, while [He Zhiran] found a container to mix the sesame dipping sauce.

The ingredients prepared by the sisters-in-law were also ready. Eldest Sister-in-Law came to ask what the next step was. Naturally, the next step was to lay the food on the table and start cooking in the hot pot.

But this question left [He Zhiran] momentarily stunned.

She had only considered what to eat, and did not think about the current situation of the household.

They had only just moved into this rented courtyard last night. Other than some cookware purchased en route and their luggage, they did not even have chairs for people to sit on, let alone dining tables.

Thinking of all this, [He Zhiran] was instantly furious with herself.

The ingredients were prepared but they had neither dining tables nor charcoal stove.

[He Zhiran]'s troubled expression did not escape [Mo Jiuye]'s notice.

In his perspective, Ranran was a clever girl who never seemed troubled over anything before.

Something major must have happened.

[Mo Jiuye] walked over anxiously with a tense look on his face, grasped [He Zhiran]'s hand and pulled her out of the kitchen.

Only when they reached a corner did he ask, "Ranran, what's the matter?"

[He Zhiran] was led away by [Mo Jiuye] with an urgent demeanor, and thought something had gone awry.

She assumed he would say something after bringing her to this corner.

But instead, he was the one asking what had happened to her...

What could possibly have happened? It was just a slip-up on her part!

But on second thoughts, this was no small matter either.

Everyone had been busy for so long preparing the ingredients, but now she had to inform them about a change in tonight's dinner plans.

[He Zhiran] felt she truly could not bring herself to say those words.

Seeing that she still gave no reply, the anxiety and tension [Mo Jiuye] felt grew stronger.

"Ranran, tell me quickly, what exactly is the matter?"

Faced with that impatient expression, [He Zhiran] shrugged and said,

"It's about tonight's dinner."

[Mo Jiuye] looked puzzled. "Dinner? Wasn't preparation going smoothly?"

"Oh dear, you don't know - hot pot requires at least a charcoal stove, plus tables and chairs. And we have none of those."

She really had been negligent in forgetting to purchase some furniture when they went out this morning.

Although [Mo Jiuye] did not quite understand why the meal Ranran spoke of absolutely needed tables, chairs and a stove, these were not difficult issues for him to resolve.