Miguo showed surprising culinary talent.
He was short, so Gu Qingcheng had to place a small stool under his feet so he could reach over the stove, but he handled the spatula with practiced ease, pouring oil and adding ingredients with all the right movements.
Gu Qingcheng couldn't help but ask, "Miguo, have you cooked before?"
"I have, but only porridge. I always cooked porridge, and at home, we didn't have many ingredients for me to cook other dishes," Miguo replied honestly.
"Seeing how skilled you are now, I thought you'd been a head chef for years."
Gu Qingcheng's words were a slight exaggeration, and Miguo's small face turned red with shyness.
Gu Qingcheng found the child incredibly cute, always blushing. She really wanted to tease him.
If she had a social media account then, she would have posted: "My adorable little brother, are you envious? Envy is useless, he's mine."
She imagined her close friends and buddies commenting with drooling emojis.
Who wouldn't want a sweet, obedient little brother who loved to cook and was good at it?
When the soup base in the pot began to boil, Miguo scooped a spoonful for Gu Qingcheng to taste and asked,
"Sister, is the flavor okay like this?"
Qingcheng took a sip, her expression turning very serious.
Miguo was a little startled and asked cautiously,
"Sister, did I mess it up?"
Miguo instinctively felt worried. If he had wasted so many ingredients, his aunt would have already whipped him with a reed at his uncle's house.
Seeing his nervousness, Gu Qingcheng stopped teasing him. She suddenly chuckled and said with an appreciative look,
"You did wonderfully! It's fragrant, numbing, spicy, and satisfying. If you opened a hot pot restaurant, your mala hot pot would surely sweep the nation."
"Is it really that good?"
Miguo hadn't tasted other flavors, so he didn't know his true skill level.
He had relied on his intuition and his judgment from eating hot pot yesterday to adjust the ingredients for the spicy soup base.
For example, if he felt an ingredient would enhance the flavor, he added more; if an ingredient would stimulate the appetite, he added more of that too; if an ingredient had a pungent aroma that was unpleasant, he used less of it.
Unexpectedly, the soup base he created based on his intuition earned Gu Qingcheng's admiration.
This was talent.
"Truly, I'm not lying. Boss Zhang will surely praise it profusely later. Just wait and see."
Seeing Miguo's uncertain expression, Qingcheng was secretly surprised. She never expected Miguo to be a hidden little culinary genius!
From Miguo's past living environment, Qingcheng could imagine he never had the chance to get his hands on such high-quality seasonings and ingredients. So, he achieved this on his first try?
A culinary prodigy!
Experience was sometimes insignificant in the face of talent.
With the ingredients prepared, it was almost lunchtime. Qingcheng carried the soup base into the inner room and brought out the prepared ingredients:
Thinly sliced beef, lamb rolls, enoki mushrooms, button mushrooms, fish balls, meatballs, black fungus, fresh shrimp, squid tentacles, jelly noodles... filling the table.
She then took out a bottle of Maotai, a wine her own father had been reluctant to drink.
The ex-factory price of a bottle of Maotai was 2588 yuan, and it cost over 4000 to 5000 yuan to buy outside. However, Shanmao Supermarket was fair and didn't overcharge, selling it at the original factory price.
Boss Zhang was her savior, and Qingcheng felt she had to treat him well.
"Wow, is this hot pot? A new way of eating."
As the "gurgling" sound of the boiling mala broth wafted up, Boss Zhang, before even eating, began to salivate at the fragrant aroma.
"It's cold today. We can cook and eat as we go, and the food won't get cold. This has just started to become popular where we're from. Perhaps you haven't been back to your hometown in a long time and aren't used to it!"
Gu Chaobei fabricated an excuse.
He wasn't afraid that Boss Zhang would be exposed when he returned, because it was unlikely Boss Zhang would ever be able to go back.
With the severe cold, temperatures were dropping close to minus 20 degrees Celsius. Without proper insulation and ways to ward off the cold, no one would venture out easily.
"This way of eating is great. I must bring my family to try it when I get back. But I don't think this kind of hot pot is sold in our market. Mr. Gu, do you have any extra? Could you part with one for me?"
Boss Zhang thought of his wife and children at home and shamelessly made his request.
"Yes, I'll give you one."
Gu Qingcheng said generously.
Boss Zhang was her savior, after all. It wasn't difficult for him to get a hot pot. Shanmao Supermarket had an endless supply, as long as she had "satisfaction points" to spend.
And now, with the ample gold and silver sent by Prince Xia, Gu Qingcheng no longer needed to exchange satisfaction points for silver. She could use her points to buy supplies from the supermarket, greatly easing the pressure of accumulating them.
Upon hearing this, Boss Zhang repeatedly expressed his thanks.
After they started eating, the mala soup base earned continuous praise from Boss Zhang, who found it more and more satisfying with every bite.
As the steam rose, a slight sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead. He sneezed a few times and said with a contented expression,
"It's wonderfully spicy. It's driving out the chill I felt climbing the mountain."
Boss Zhang had caught a cold, and his head had been a bit fuzzy earlier. Now, he slowly felt more alert.
Gu Chaobei chuckled. Knowing that Boss Zhang had eaten his fill, he opened the bottle of Maotai, and the room was instantly filled with the aroma of wine.
Boss Zhang was taken aback and asked in surprise,
"What kind of superior wine is this? It's so fragrant."
"This wine has a high alcohol content, 56 percent. Besides being fragrant, it's also smooth to drink. Despite the high proof, it doesn't make you easily drunk, and even if you do get drunk, it doesn't give you a hangover."
Boss Zhang didn't believe him.
Gu Chaobei poured two cups of wine, and they drank together.
After three cups, Boss Zhang believed Gu Chaobei's words about it not being easy to get drunk.
The wine was indeed high in proof. As it went down his throat, it felt like a fiery dragon coursing into his stomach. All his pores opened up, and warmth spread from his stomach to his extremities. Sweat began to trickle down, and the alcohol's effect was simultaneously flushed out. Yet, he felt a sense of comfort all over. It truly was good wine!
On a cold day like this, drinking Maotai and eating hot pot was indeed a great pleasure in life.
Boss Zhang, indulging in this enjoyment, made an even more audacious request:
"Brother Gu, could you tell me the recipe for the hot pot soup base? I'd like to make it for my wife and children when I go back."
In those times, information was scarce. If a family had even one unique secret recipe, it could sustain them.
For example, a secret recipe for treating burns, for stomach pain, or for making vinegar. A hot pot soup base that was numbing, spicy, fragrant, and refreshing would, by Boss Zhang's discerning palate, be considered a valuable secret recipe.
If he hadn't had a bit too much to drink and felt a little tipsy, he wouldn't have blurted out such a request.
To his surprise, Gu Chaobei readily agreed and even instructed his daughter to write it down for Boss Zhang immediately.
Gu Qingcheng wasn't worried about Boss Zhang spreading the soup base recipe everywhere. Such recipes could be adjusted at any time, with variations in flavors. Besides, they weren't planning to open a hot pot restaurant, so why should she worry?
Not long after, Gu Qingcheng indeed wrote down a soup base recipe for Boss Zhang.