Hou Mingzhu glanced at the contents of the refrigerator, but she didn't want to make things too difficult for Ye Tiancheng. She wasn't sure how skilled Ye Tiancheng was now, and she didn't want him to be too tired.
After thinking for a moment, she said hesitantly, "How about we have hot pot? It's more convenient and not difficult to make. A hot pot meal can be considered a feast, a celebration of our family's reunion, and our first meal in the new house?"
Ye Tiancheng understood Hou Mingzhu's intention and replied, "Making hot pot is too lacking in technical skill. However, if that's what you prefer, I'll improvise. Then you can see my current level?"
"Is there anything you don't want to eat? You can tell me. If you don't want to eat it, I won't make it."
Hou Mingzhu shook her head, "Since that's the case, I'll watch you showcase your skills. My daughter and I are not picky eaters, so you can make anything."
Although it was meant to be a feast for the family in their new home, there were only four of them in total. Little Fox and Ye Qingcheng were both children and wouldn't eat much. Ye Tiancheng couldn't make too much food, otherwise, they would have leftovers for the next meal.
After all, it was different in the illusion than outside. Besides the fact that their house was larger and better, with complete facilities and good living conditions, other aspects were no different from an ordinary family. Everything had to be done by themselves, and leftovers had to be dealt with. It was not good to be too wasteful.
Ye Tiancheng thought for a moment and said to Hou Mingzhu, "If we make too much, we won't be able to finish it. Let's just make some home-style dishes. There are some impressive dishes among home-style cooking. For our family of four, three dishes and one soup will be more than enough."
Hou Mingzhu had no objections and said she would listen to Ye Tiancheng entirely, as he was the one cooking. Although Hou Mingzhu came to help Ye Tiancheng cook, she was merely accompanying him. She didn't know how to cook herself, as Hou Mingzhu came from a wealthy background, having lived a life of luxury since childhood, with her fingers never having touched the grime of daily chores. She certainly didn't know how to cook.
Ye Tiancheng hadn't planned for Hou Mingzhu to do much anyway. He picked out some ribs from the refrigerator, planning to cook ribs and make rib soup, prepare a fish, and stir-fry a plate of vegetables. This spread would be enough, with both meat and vegetables, making it quite a substantial meal.
There were two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and the soup also contained ribs. It wasn't exactly everyday fare. An ordinary family would have a meal like this occasionally when eating a slightly better meal.
Ye Tiancheng first selected the ribs and pork bones, which were to be used for making soup. Soup took a longer time to cook, so it was better to start simmering it. He also added some chopped carrots and sweet corn segments to the soup, making it a truly home-style soup.
There was no fish in the refrigerator. It was best to eat fresh fish. However, Ye Tiancheng didn't need to catch the fish they raised himself. He directly asked the Nuwa Stone to fetch one and bring it to the kitchen. Ye Tiancheng skillfully cleaned the fish and planned to steam it.
Hou Mingzhu watched Ye Tiancheng cook. She didn't have many opportunities to experience such a feeling and was quite interested. She wanted to help Ye Tiancheng with something.
Even if Hou Mingzhu wanted to, Ye Tiancheng didn't want her to handle knives. For someone who didn't cook often, especially a kitchen novice, handling knives was too dangerous. Ye Tiancheng was afraid Hou Mingzhu might hurt herself, so he didn't dare to assign any knife work to her.
However, seeing Hou Mingzhu's enthusiasm, Ye Tiancheng didn't want to dampen her spirits or disappoint her. He handed the task of preparing the vegetables to Hou Mingzhu, giving her a brief lesson on how to do it. Hou Mingzhu quickly got the hang of preparing the vegetables.
Although she hadn't cooked before, preparing vegetables wasn't difficult and was easy to learn.
Moreover, these vegetables were grown by Ye Tiancheng with the help of the Nuwa Stone, and they were grown in the illusion. These vegetables were very clean and had no insects. They were not like vegetables grown in the outside world. Ye Tiancheng didn't have to worry about Hou Mingzhu being unaccustomed to them, getting dirty, or being scared by pests like insects.
Therefore, after teaching Hou Mingzhu, Ye Tiancheng confidently entrusted her with the entire task of preparing vegetables. After all, preparing vegetables was a task that wouldn't go too wrong.
When cooking the ribs, Ye Tiancheng considered the children's tastes. Ye Qingcheng was a girl, so he made them sweet and sour, preparing a sweet and sour pork ribs dish.
It wasn't that Ye Tiancheng hadn't considered Little Fox. It was just that Little Fox wasn't picky at all; he could eat anything. In Little Fox's own words, he had lived a difficult life before, so he could adapt to any kind of life after following Ye Tiancheng. After all, for him, these days were not bad at all.
With his past experiences, Little Fox was not picky about food, unless the taste of the food was truly bizarre. As long as he wouldn't starve, Little Fox would not mistreat his taste buds.
After helping Ye Tiancheng prepare the vegetables, Hou Mingzhu mainly watched Ye Tiancheng cook. She was very impressed by his skilled movements, which were very professional. She recalled the time when Ye Tiancheng was cursed and she went to find him, and the life they lived then.
Ye Tiancheng's cooking skills had truly improved significantly, with a stark contrast. However, to be fair, Ye Tiancheng had very limited room for improvement at that time, as the conditions were extremely harsh.
Watching Ye Tiancheng concentrating on cooking, Hou Mingzhu said, "I believe your cooking skills have improved greatly. It smells very fragrant and looks very good. I'm sure it's a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate."
Ye Tiancheng replied proudly, "Right? I've really honed my skills these past few months. I've learned many new dishes. I've been studying very seriously when I have nothing to do."
It was midday, and everyone was accustomed to eating meals on time. No matter how much Little Fox and Ye Qingcheng explored, they had pretty much seen the old house.
After Ye Qingcheng returned to the first floor with Little Fox, she couldn't see her parents anywhere. Suddenly, she smelled the aroma of cooking food and sniffed the air, "Wow! It smells so good! Are they cooking? I'm so hungry!"
Little Fox walked beside Ye Qingcheng and said to her, "Big Brother must have gone to cook. It's noon now, almost time for a meal. Big Sister-in-law should also be with Big Brother. They should both be in the kitchen now."
Ye Qingcheng quickly said, "Then I want to go to the kitchen to see what Dad is cooking. It smells so good! Dad's cooking must be delicious too."
Little Fox smiled and looked at Ye Qingcheng, "It's indeed delicious. Big Brother wasn't this skilled at cooking before; he's only trained himself recently. His previous cooking wasn't as good. Qingcheng gets to taste it as soon as she arrives."
Ye Qingcheng chuckled shyly and then pulled Little Fox along. She didn't really need Little Fox to lead the way anymore. Following the direction of the aroma, Ye Qingcheng could find her way.
"Let's hurry. I'm really hungry. I didn't feel hungry at all before, but as soon as I smelled this, I felt ravenous."
Little Fox accompanied Ye Qingcheng to the kitchen. Ye Tiancheng had just finished most of the cooking and was about to bring the dishes out, intending to call Little Fox and Ye Qingcheng for dinner. He didn't expect them to find their way there themselves.
Ye Tiancheng greeted them, "Go to the dining room and sit down. It's almost time to eat."
Little Fox proactively offered to help, understanding Ye Tiancheng's busyness. "I'll help Big Brother bring the dishes out."
Seeing Little Fox say that, Ye Qingcheng quickly wanted to follow, "I'll help too! I want to help too! I want to help Dad bring the dishes out!"
However, Ye Tiancheng did not agree. Instead, he asked Hou Mingzhu to take Ye Qingcheng to the dining room first. "Qingcheng, it's good that you want to help. But you are too young now, and this kind of work is not suitable for you. It's fine if the dishes are dropped, but it would be bad if Qingcheng herself fell and got hurt."
"Dad, thank you for wanting to help. But Qingcheng is still a child. When Qingcheng is older, she can help Dad with things."
Ye Qingcheng pondered for a moment. Although she didn't insist, she still asked, "How old do I have to be? How old do I have to be before I can help Dad? Like Uncle Little Fox?"
Ye Tiancheng laughed heartily and said, "You'll have to be at least as old as Uncle Little Fox to enter the kitchen. Children are indeed not suitable for the kitchen. If Qingcheng really wants to help Dad, if there's an opportunity later for something Qingcheng can do, Dad will ask Qingcheng, okay?"
Ye Qingcheng nodded earnestly, "Then Dad, you must remember. If there's anything I can help with, Dad must remember to ask me."
Then, Ye Qingcheng followed Hou Mingzhu to the dining room to wait. Little Fox helped in the kitchen by carrying out dishes and fetching bowls, chopsticks, and spoons. The heavier soup and rice were carried by Ye Tiancheng himself.
Even though Little Fox often helped, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't give the heavier tasks to a child like Little Fox; that would be too exploitative.
Ye Tiancheng was the last to sit at the table. However, Hou Mingzhu, Ye Qingcheng, and Little Fox, although they had arrived at the dining table and sat down beforehand, did not start eating. They waited until everyone was seated and Ye Tiancheng took the first bite before they started picking up their chopsticks. The person who cooked had to eat the first bite.
After tasting Ye Tiancheng's cooking, Hou Mingzhu felt that although it couldn't compare to a master chef's cooking, it was still very good. It wasn't much worse than what they usually ate inside. Ye Tiancheng's cooking skills had indeed improved immensely.
Moreover, she had also participated by preparing vegetables. Although she only prepared one dish, it was still her labor, and the dishes were made by Ye Tiancheng. To Hou Mingzhu, the food tasted even more fragrant.
The same was true for Ye Qingcheng. Ye Tiancheng's cooking was already delicious, and Ye Tiancheng was Ye Qingcheng's father. The food made by her own father would certainly be the most delicious food in a daughter's eyes, surpassing all other delicious foods in the world.
Ye Tiancheng worked hard, and seeing everyone eating so happily, it was a rare occasion for the family to gather together. They would be able to live together happily for a while in the future. He felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction and kept serving them food, mainly to Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng, as they hadn't seen each other for a long time. However, Ye Tiancheng didn't show favoritism and didn't serve Little Fox less.
In return, Hou Mingzhu and Little Fox also served Ye Tiancheng food. Even the young Ye Qingcheng tried her best to serve Ye Tiancheng several times, putting in considerable effort.
This was truly the happiest and most heartwarming meal they had eaten in a long time, even if it wasn't the most lavish.