Seeing her daughter-in-law relish the wowotou, Chen Meijuan said to Lin Hongqi, "When you have a moment, ask around to see who has sweet potatoes growing. Get some tender sweet potato leaves, and I will steam some sweet potato leaf wowotou for Yueyue. I'll also stir-fry some sweet potato stems and blanch some leaves..."

These were all ingredients quite coveted in the city.

While her daughter-in-law was at home, she wanted to cook these dishes a few more times for her to enjoy the novelty.

Right in the midst of eating, Shi Wenming returned from buying groceries.

"Wow, you steamed so many wowotou! Lucky I didn't eat Bianfen Cai in the street, or I would have missed this meal."

Today was Grandma Lin's birthday celebration, requiring many ingredients. Consequently, Shi Wenming hurried over in his car right after his grocery shopping.

Today, all the relatives attended, even more than the number from two days ago when they welcomed Shen Baobao.

There were many vegetables to prepare, so starting early was necessary.

After the meal, Chen Yuanyuan biked alone to the ticket office. Chen Meijuan stayed to help in the kitchen, while Dundun kept circling around the sink, trying to catch prey as a birthday gift for the family's elder.

Before long, the relatives started arriving one after another.

To not disrupt the restaurant's business, they used the second-floor dining room for the birthday celebration.

When the restaurant was first built, they felt one floor wouldn't be enough, so they added a second. However, the second-floor dining room hadn't been used until now.

Lin Xu, wearing an apron, was busy cooking in the kitchen.

Today, since it was a birthday celebration, there were many dishes to prepare: White Robed Shrimp, Almond Tofu, White Jade Lotus Root Strips, Steamed Rice Flour Silver Strips, Qingshui Furong, Milk Soup Tofu, Double Pepper Fish Head, Sweet and Sour Ribs, Pickled Pork, Oil Braised Large Shrimp, Crystal Sugar Pork Shank...

As a child, Lin Xu had eaten so many dishes made by his grandmother.

Today, on her 70th birthday, Lin Xu wished he could cook every Perfect Level dish he knew for Grandma to try.

All the hard work and busyness were for the comfort and peace of mind of the family, after all.

More and more relatives arrived. The gifts they brought varied widely. There were local specialties, nutritional supplements, and also gold and silver jewelry.

For a birthday celebration, what mattered most was the happiness of the elder.

While Lin Xu was busy, his maternal uncle Chen Meide came in carrying a box of Horse Hoof. "Xiao Xu, someone gave me a box of Horse Hoof yesterday. You figure out how to eat them when you're free. I really can't grasp how to deal with this southern ingredient."

Horse Hoof?

Lin Xu immediately remembered he still had the task of making Horse Hoof Cake for Shen Baobao that he hadn't completed yet.

He'd consider the recipe later. It would be good to make it while celebrating Grandma's birthday to add to the festivity.

Thinking this, he said to his uncle, "These can be minced and mixed into meat fillings, or made into a dessert. I'll handle it later; you don't need to worry about it, Uncle."

"Alright then, I'm heading out. The kitchen's really hot. Wenming didn't even think to install an air conditioner."

Shi Wenming: Go complain to your sister and brother-in-law; they're the bosses here.

「In the upstairs dining room.」

Shen Baobao handed a box to Grandma Lin, who was dressed in new clothes and holding Dundun. "Grandma, before coming over, my dad heard you were celebrating your birthday and asked me to bring you a gift. Please don't disdain it, okay?"

Grandma Lin was somewhat surprised. Having her granddaughter-in-law come to celebrate her birthday already made her very happy. She didn't expect that her in-laws had also prepared a gift. This was simply too delightful.

Eldest Aunt Lin Hongxin took it over with a smile and said, "Let me see what gift the in-laws have prepared… My dear niece-in-law, could this be… too valuable?"

She had originally thought it might be a bracelet or something similar, having heard that wealthy people would carve good wood directly into beads to give out to relatives and friends. But when she opened it, to her surprise, it was a Longevity Peach made of gold, and quite a large one at that.

Considering the current price of gold, this Longevity Peach must be worth a six-figure sum.

Grandma Lin found this Longevity Peach particularly to her liking. "This is so beautiful! Yueyue, say hello to your parents for me. We're all family now; there's no need to be so formal."

Shen Baobao nestled up to the old lady with a giggle. "It's because we are family that we have to give something even better! Grandma, I wish you fortune as vast as the East Sea and a lifespan longer than the southern mountains. We're still waiting for you to help us with the kids."

The old lady was even happier upon hearing this, even more so than when receiving the golden Longevity Peach. "Yes, yes, Grandma will definitely live a long and healthy life to help you and Lin Xu with the kids later on. But you'll need to have more, so your own grandma doesn't have to fight over them with me!"

The laughter and joy upstairs filled the relatives in the courtyard with envy. The wife that Little Xu found was really good at making the elderly happy; it would be wonderful if their own kids could find such a beautiful and sensible daughter-in-law.

「In the kitchen.」

After finishing all the preparations, Lin Xu said to his mother with a smile, "It's finally time to prepare that eel. Dundun got scared when I was butchering a rabbit yesterday, so I'll have to do it out of his sight today."

"No need to hide. As soon as the old lady arrived, she took him in her arms. They're probably upstairs now."

Chen Meijuan had just finished speaking when Shi Wenming, who had just finished cutting the meat, said, "I'll do it. Little Xu, you just wait."

His uncle-in-law, keen on butchering various creatures, went out with a kitchen knife. Before long, he returned to the kitchen with a cleanly butchered eel.

TSK TSK TSK… talk about efficiency.

Lin Xu put the eel into a basin, filled it with fresh water, and thoroughly washed the cavity. The water in the basin quickly turned bloody.

He changed the water again, took some salt, and meticulously scrubbed the eel, getting rid of a lot of mucus, until the eel's skin finally felt no longer slippery.

After changing the water once more, he took a handful of flour and scrubbed the surface of the eel again. He did his best to remove the blood and impurities from the eel's body, reducing any fishy smell.

Then he laid the eel on the chopping board and used his knife to score the backbone every three to four centimeters, but without completely severing it, as the belly flesh needed to stay attached. This way, when arranged on a plate, it would create the effect of a coiling dragon. Moreover, scoring it like this would prevent the eel from deforming due to nerve spasms during steaming.

He scored the spine from head to tail, then rinsed it again in fresh water. He thoroughly rinsed the blood from the backbone and flesh.

Finally, he rinsed it with cooking wine. Once cleaned, he placed it in a bowl, adding white pepper powder, minced garlic, ginger slices, scallion sections, and fermented black bean sauce. He made sure to coat the eel evenly, inside and out, before setting it aside to marinate.

After finishing this task, Lin Xu looked at the box of Horse Hoof his maternal uncle had sent and mumbled to himself, How was Horse Hoof Cake made again?

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