Chapter 6 — I Locked the Kitchen Door, Locked That Marriage

I turned around and looked towards the window. He said he would speak up for me tomorrow. But whether I believe it or not... it doesn't really matter anymore. Because whether he opens his mouth or not, tomorrow will be the last day. The alarm rang at five o'clock in the morning. It was still dark outside. I woke up without turning on the light, fumbling to change clothes in the dark. Then go to the mysterious entrance and pull out the second drawer of the shoe cabinet. Two keys rest inside. One main door key. A kitchen glass door key. I picked up the kitchen key. Hold it tightly in the palm of your hand and walk into the kitchen. Tie the apron. Cinnamon fish is cleaned, cut a few lines on the body and then rubbed with salt to marinate. Cut the ribs into pieces, blanch in boiling water, then take them out and drain. Cut the stewed beef into square pieces, put it in a pot of cold water to boil for the first time. Boneless chicken thighs, use cooking wine and soy sauce to marinate. Shell the scallops and soak the vermicelli before softening. Shrimp cut the whiskers and remove the back threads. Broken string beans. Cut eggplant into pieces with a knife. Sliced pumpkin. Cut tofu into cubes and soak in salt water. At five thirty in the morning, all the ingredients were prepared. At six o'clock, I started to get angry. Three stoves operating at the same time. One side is steamed, one is stir-fried, and the other is stewed. Steamed cinnamon fish. High heat for eight minutes, turn off the stove and braise for another two minutes then drizzle hot oil on top. Stir-fried sweet and sour ribs. Fry the dough until golden brown, add colored water and then simmer until the sauce thickens, each piece shines with an iridescent brown color. Beef stew with red sauce. Simmer on low heat for an hour and a half, the sauce thickens, and the meat is so tender that it almost melts in the mouth. Shrimp braised in oil. High heat makes the shell red and shiny, and the sauce sticks tightly to each shrimp. Stir-fried chicken Cung Bao. The peanuts are crunchy, the chicken is soft and smooth. Steamed scallops with garlic vermicelli. The garlic is sauteed until golden brown, and the vermicelli soaks up the rich sauce. Pumpkin covered with salted egg. A layer of golden salted eggs covers each pumpkin stick. Dry roasted string beans. Stir-fry until the layer is charred, then add the minced meat and stir-fry until fragrant. Ma Ba Tofu. Young bean pieces float in a layer of spicy red oil, sprinkled with fragrant Sichuan pepper. Soft and full of spices. Stir-fried pork with fish flavor. Sour, sweet, salty, spicy fully blended. Three-color mixed vegetables. Shredded cucumber, vermicelli and carrots are mixed with ready-made sauce. Oyster sauce salad. Cool and delicious. Salt and pepper shrimp. Fried so crispy, one bite and it will melt in your mouth. Stewed beef soup with tomatoes. Dense, sweet and sour, fragrant to the whole kitchen. Bat says the rice is steamed early. When it came out of the mold, it was still beautifully intact, not a single corner was broken. Lion head with red sauce uses minced meat by hand to make. Each pill is almost as large as an adult's fist. The meat of pickled fish is so soft that you only need to gently pick it up to separate it. Eighteen dishes, from five o'clock in the morning until eleven o'clock at noon. For six hours, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of food. The fragrance flew into the living room, crept into the bedroom and spread to every corner of the house. At nine thirty in the morning, Tien Que Lan woke up. She stood outside the kitchen door looking for a long time.

“Oh my, did you do that much today?”

"My aunt's family is coming to eat today."

Her face immediately blossomed.

“That's okay, Sister Ha, these dishes are presented enough to make people look good.”

“I told you, your skills are so good, you have to use them diligently.”

After speaking, she turned her head and called out loudly towards the bedroom:

“Co Vien, wake up quickly!”

“The third aunt came here today and came out to clean up Clean up the living room.”

“Co Dinh, quickly clean up your room so you can fit in.”

“Don't let people see and laugh.”

At ten o'clock in the morning, Co Vien stepped out. He stood at the kitchen door looking at a series of plates of food lined up on the kitchen table.

“Sister Ha… do you do this much?”

I didn't turn back.

“Eighteen dishes.”

“There are many people today.”

He was silent for a few seconds then spoke:

“Ah yes… about what I promised her yesterday…”

“What?”

“It's… about telling my mother so I can eat at the table with everyone.”

“I will find the right time to speak.”

I brought the last dish to the plate. He stood there for a while longer and then left. At eleven o'clock in the afternoon, all eighteen dishes were completed. I brought each dish to the table in turn. Fish, shrimp, ribs, stewed beef, stir-fried chicken, scallops, pumpkin, string beans, eggplant, tofu, stir-fried meat, green vegetables, soup, rice bowl, lion's head, pickled fish... Eighteen plates filled the entire dining table. Red, yellow, white, blue all colors. Scent, color, and taste are all complete. The whole house smelled sweet with the smell of hot food. Tien Que Lan came from the living room and looked at the dining table. His eyes lit up.