Gourmet: Twins' Father and Chef of the Kindergarten

Ni Shujing still maintained a firm attitude and sincerely said, "Chef Huang, Miss Yang, Miss Xie, this really is just a little token of my appreciation. Ever since Tiantian came to Dorami Kindergarten, her appetite has improved, and she’s become much healthier..."

She was giving the red envelope not like other parents who wanted the teachers to take extra care of their children but purely to express her gratitude.

The last time Tiantian was hospitalized for an EB virus, she and her husband were worried, fearing any possible aftereffects.

However, throughout the semester, Tiantian not only regained her appetite but also became more robust, without catching even a cold throughout the winter.

In the past, every winter, Tiantian would catch a cold every few days, causing her and her husband a lot of worry.

Now, seeing Tiantian so healthy and lively, all this can’t be separated from the teachers’ selfless dedication and careful guidance, nor from Huang Jun’s diligently prepared delicious meals.

Those nutritionally balanced, visually, and tastefully pleasing meals not only satisfied Tiantian’s taste buds but also nourished her body, making her growth path even steadier...

"Tiantian’s mom, it’s really what we should do, you don’t need to be so formal!"

Xie Jianing and Yang Yuxi once again gently declined the red envelope offered by Ni Shujing.

Seeing this, Huang Jun became even more determined not to accept the red envelope.

When he saw Ni Shujing still persisting, he simply picked up Qingqing in one arm and Weiwei in the other, and found an excuse to hurriedly leave the scene.

"Daddy, don’t you love red envelopes the most? Why didn’t you accept the one from Tiantian’s mom?"

Qingqing remembered how his father always happily accepted red envelopes from Liang Yinqiu, so he couldn’t understand why his father was now refusing it so firmly.

Weiwei also blinked her curious big eyes and asked, "Yeah, daddy, why didn’t you accept the red envelope from Tiantian’s mom?"

Huang Jun was momentarily taken aback by the sudden questions from the little ones, but quickly returned to normal, patiently explaining, "Cooking at the kindergarten is part of my job, and if she’s thanking me and I take the red envelope, wouldn’t that make me greedy? Do you think that’s right?"

"Oh, is that so..."

Qingqing and Weiwei nodded, half-understanding.

Upon reaching the kitchen entrance, Huang Jun warmly said, "Qingqing, Weiwei, daddy has to get busy in the kitchen now, do you want to come in together?"

Weiwei blinked her lively eyes, responding with a slight pout, "Daddy, the kitchen doesn’t seem fun, can I go play on the playground?"

Qingqing quickly agreed, "Yeah, daddy, I want to play in the playground too."

Smiling, Huang Jun nodded and advised, "Alright then, you can play on the playground for a bit, but make sure to be safe and don’t run around too much..."

"Got it, daddy, don’t worry! We promise not to run around, la la..."

Weiwei and Qingqing cheerfully agreed and then, hand in hand, ran to the play area, excitedly playing on the slide.

As the two little ones were immersed in the joy of playing, Tiantian happily ran out from the classroom and headed straight towards them, "Qingqing, Weiwei, let’s play together!"

"Okay!"

Qingqing and Weiwei responded in unison.

Tiantian curiously asked, "Qingqing, Weiwei, have you noticed that today there are only adults in the kindergarten? It seems like there aren’t many other kids around?"

Qingqing blinked her big eyes and explained, "Because today is quilt delivery day, not a regular school day, so many kids didn’t come..."

Excitedly, Tiantian shared, "Qingqing, Weiwei, during the summer vacation, my mommy and daddy took me to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony. There were so many people!"

Not to be outdone, Weiwei said, "My daddy also took me to the amusement park, it was so fun!"

The children’s topics flickered like musical notes, one moment discussing things at the kindergarten, the next jumping to their respective summer experiences.

When Ni Shujing happily finished chatting with the two teachers and stepped out of the classroom, her gaze immediately caught her daughter, laughing and playing in the playground. She was even more delighted to discover that the two little friends were Qingqing and Weiwei.

Having made up her mind, a warm smile spread across her face as she walked toward Qingqing and Weiwei, offering them the red envelope, kindly saying, "Qingqing, Weiwei, look at what surprise Auntie has prepared for you."

"No..."

As soon as Qingqing and Weiwei saw the bright red envelope, they immediately remembered their father’s earlier instructions, their little heads shaking like rattles, their small hands instinctively withdrew. The next moment, hand in hand, they ran off like the wind.

Ni Shujing watched their lively, adorable backs with a slight helpless smile on her lips.

Ah!

It seems the carefully prepared red envelopes today are destined not to be given out...

Qingqing and Weiwei jogged through the corridor and arrived at the kitchen hall.

They looked around and realized their father was no longer outside, and they knew he must be working in the processing room.

So, the two little ones obediently sat at the dining table in the dining area, patiently waiting for their father’s return.

Unaware that his two darling daughters had already arrived, Huang Jun was currently busy in the processing room, preparing to make tangyuan first!

Lantern Festival, you know!

You always need to eat a bowl of steaming tangyuan to truly celebrate this festival.

Seeing that all the ingredients needed to make tangyuan were ready, he took out a clean big bowl and poured glutinous rice flour into it.

He picked up the kettle and slowly added water to the bowl, stirring gently with chopsticks until the glutinous rice flour turned into small cotton-like pieces.

Once stirred adequately, he began kneading the dough by hand.

Knead and knead...

Until the dough became smooth and elastic, and then he set it aside for later use.

Next, he started preparing the filling for the tangyuan.

The first step was handling the black sesame.

He placed the pan on the stove, turned on the heat, and poured the prepared black sesame into the pan.

He reduced the heat and picked up the spatula to slowly stir the black sesame in the pan.

This step looks simple, but it is pretty intricate.

During the stir-frying, one must be careful not to let the black sesame stick to the bottom of the pan and ensure each seed is evenly heated.

His eyes were fixed on the black sesame in the pan, stirring while paying attention to changes, and the sesame became drier, releasing wisps of blue smoke.

Once a particularly strong aroma of black sesame wafted out...

He quickly turned off the heat and poured the sesame into a plate, spreading them out to cool naturally.

The stir-fry heat of the black sesame is very crucial.

As soon as you smell the fragrance, you need to turn off the heat immediately, or else the sesame can be over-fried, becoming bitter and astringent.

Once the sesame is not too hot anymore, he poured them into the resealable bags, spread them out on the workbench, and gently pressed them with a rolling pin to break them.

But be cautious, sesame should not be crushed into a fine powder to avoid losing its unique texture.

Just moderate pressing is sufficient to fully release the fragrance of sesame.

He poured the crushed black sesame into a bowl, then added in the suet cubes cut by Qian Guoxiang earlier, along with icing (sugar) that was about the same amount as the lard cubes, and began mixing the filling.

His hands kept rubbing, the sesame pieces were still a bit warm, and the icing quickly melted in the filling, acting like an adhesive, bonding the sesame pieces and lard chunks together, finally forming a glossy filling dough.

He placed it on the big chopping board, and with Qian Guoxiang, formed these fillings into small balls slightly larger than marbles, which are the fillings for the tangyuan.

Once all the fillings were shaped, he had Meng Hongze temporarily place them in the refrigerator to cool, then he proceeded with Qian Guoxiang to make the tangyuan outer skin.

They took out the glutinous rice dough, divided it evenly, each rolled the dough into long strips, then individually cut them into small portions, and rounded and flattened each, forming round, thick little dough discs.

They picked up the small discs, placed them in their palms, gently pressed and rotated them with their thumbs to create a depression in the center, shaped like a wine cup.

This way, the tangyuan skin was ready.

Once Meng Hongze brought over the cooled fillings from the fridge, they each took one, placed it into the tangyuan skin, then slowly sealed the skin around the filling, making sure the edges were tightly closed.

After sealing, they rolled them on the chopping board, using their palm to press gently, making the tangyuan rounder and more appealing.

In this way, one by one, the beautiful Ningbo tangyuan were completed.

"Eh? Chef Huang!"

Ye Guilan, mesmerized by watching, suddenly had a thought and couldn’t help but curiously ask, "Did we forget to add the sweet osmanthus into these?"