Chapter 28: Found a Treasure

Qiao Mulan’s appearance drew Yu Jinli’s attention. Seeing that her eyes are on the dishes, he knew she was hungry and said hurriedly: “Mom, just a moment. After this dish is done, we can have dinner.” “All right, I can wait. Take your time, Li-er. Don’t burn yourself.” Though she wanted to try the dishes desperately, seeing that Yu Jinli quicken his moves, she put his safety first and suppressed her desire to taste them. As he sped up, Yu Jinli asked Zheng Peiqi and the other two to take all the finished dishes to the dinner table and fill the rice bowls. After that, the last dish was ready. Shredded potato, scrambled eggs with tomato, minced meat with eggplant, sautéed greens, yam and ribs soup. Four dishes and a soup should have been below the standard for a large family like Jiang’s since first-tier families usually enjoyed a table full of dishes. However, Jiang Family encouraged frugality instead of extravagance. Therefore, enough food was alright. Besides, these four dishes and a soup was completely different than what they usually had, with each dish in large quantity which was enough for Jiang Zhentao, Qiao Mulan, and Yu Jinli. Though all the food on the table was homely dishes, for people who only ate boiled food, it must have been a wonder. Therefore, the moment the food was served, even the usually calm Jiang Zhentao couldn’t help swallowing hard secretly, let alone all the servants who were busy in the dining room whose eyes were fixed on the dinner table. Pity that they weren’t lucky enough to enjoy the Young Lady’s cooking. It looked so delicious though. “Li-er, have you... made all these?” Looking at all the dishes, Jiang Zhentao said in surprise. “Of course, our Xiao Lizi is incredible.” (Xiao Lizi, AKA little chestnut, another nickname for Yu Jinli, I’m gonna use Little Chestnut in later chapters.) Qiao Mulan was generous with compliments which gave Yu Jinli a blush. “It’s my first time cooking. I’m afraid it’s not very good. Please have a try, dad, mom.” He looked at Jiang Zhentao and Qiao Mulan expectantly. True, this was his first time cooking in this world. Though the three cooks found it delicious, it would be bad if dad and mom didn’t like it. “Little Chestnut, I’m sure your cooking is good. I want to eat it simply looking at it.” Qiao Mulan gave him another compliment smilingly. Then, she picked up some shredded potato, and fell for its salty and burning taste at once. Usually, she ate tasteless boiled food which would only give her the original taste of the ingredients. Now, these dishes with condiments not only gave her the taste of the ingredients but also stimulated that taste which was way better than simply boiled food. Besides, sautéed food had a different texture than boiled food which added another layer of taste. With good rice, she could eat another seven bowls! “It tastes great! I didn’t expect you to be a genius cook, Little Chestnut.” This wasn’t her first time eating something like this but she enjoyed it the most, more than she did at the state banquet. Qiao Mulan couldn’t help thanking god for their good fortune. Now, they had a lovely son-in-law who was a treasure that always surprised them. Jiang Family really found a treasure.