Chapter 6: The First Meal After Transmigrating into the Book

Huh, is it really that cheap?

Wen Nuan Nuan clicked her tongue in amazement. Thinking of the four hundred taels of silver she still had left, she suddenly realized she was quite wealthy.

Plus, with the ingredients in the refrigerator, she wouldn’t need to spend money on food in the future. A sense of security washed over her.

Immediately, she waved her hand with the air of someone booking out an entire jewelry store: “Then check which shops still have eggs, old hens, and other food for sale. Use this broken silver to buy everything. I want to eat well!”

There was no other way—if she didn’t buy eggs and old hens, how could she secretly take out the goods stored in the refrigerator to supplement them?

At the very least, she had to show the three children first.

Naturally, the more, the better.

Since she could bring the refrigerator along when transmigrating and had a fairly substantial sum of money, she didn’t want to deprive herself.

Whether in modern times or ancient times, she would do her utmost to live a life free from worries about food and clothing, with delicious food always by her side!

People should always look forward. Who knows, after diligently completing the plot here, she might be able to return to the modern world.

So, since she had transmigrated, she might as well live well. After all, isn’t life the same wherever you go?

~

Wen Nuan Nuan looked at the Stove Platform in the kitchen, which required firewood, and the two large iron pots, feeling like she wanted to cry.

She decided to take back her earlier words about “life being the same wherever you go.”

People are different, and life is different in different places.

Ah, who could help her? What should she do now?

Although she had lived with her grandmother in the countryside as a child, and her grandmother’s home also had a Stove Platform and iron pots, and she often cooked meals and knew how to use the Stove Platform for stir-frying and cooking…

But that was many years ago. Later, in the city, she had always used gas stoves and electric rice cookers and had long grown accustomed to them.

Putting aside everything else, starting a fire now was a challenge!

Not to mention being used to gas stoves, even in the countryside, there were lighters and matches. But in ancient times, where could she find matches?

The thin, tall boy behind her, Leng Tian, seeing Wen Nuan Nuan standing still for so long, thought she despised cooking and quickly said, “Sister-in-law, should I cook instead?”

Wen Nuan Nuan’s face lit up. She turned around, her eyes sparkling with delight as she looked at Leng Tian and asked eagerly, “You know how to cook?”

Leng Tian felt a bit timid under Wen Nuan Nuan’s expectant gaze. After hesitating and weighing his words, he stammered, “I-I can cook it… until it’s done.”

The sparkle in Wen Nuan Nuan’s eyes faded. As someone who loved delicious food and considered eating the most important thing in life, her standards for food were certainly not limited to merely “cooking it until it’s done.”

If it were just about cooking until done, it would be a terrible waste of the carefully selected ingredients she had painstakingly stored in the refrigerator.

She didn’t care about wasting other things, but she couldn’t stand wasting ingredients. She was determined to turn the ingredients in her hands into a variety of delicious dishes and feed everyone until they were tall and strong.

These children would all become incredibly sturdy golden thighs in the future. Moreover, in the third year, when Leng Xiao achieved the top honors in the imperial examinations and went to Jingcheng to serve as an official, they would naturally follow him to the capital, each showcasing their own abilities. By then, with wealth, honor, and luxurious lives, it would be difficult for someone like her, who only knew a bit about food, to cling to their coattails.

She had made up her mind: in these short two or three years, she would do everything possible to make her presence felt and win their favor!

With these powerful backers, wouldn’t she be able to strut around freely when going out in Jingcheng in the future?

“Leng Tian, you’re in charge of tending the fire. I’ll handle the cooking,” Wen Nuan Nuan said, already envisioning a future of carefree ease. With her mind made up, she began assigning tasks.

She had to delegate—she didn’t know how to tend a fire herself.

Besides doing her best to provide good food for them, she had no intention of spoiling them in other ways.

There was no helping it. First, they were boys and naturally needed to learn to work and endure hardships.

Second, she was lazy.

Yes, apart from enjoying cooking and making her own life comfortable, she had no desire to do anything else.

Her greatest pleasure was to eat well and laze about all day.

Back in the modern era, she had worked diligently and saved money, all for the sake of achieving financial freedom early and retiring as soon as possible—to bask in the sun and sleep in.

Little did she expect to find herself in this ancient era, where everything was unclear. Yet, perhaps her dream of early retirement could be realized two or three years ahead of schedule.

Then she could lie on a rocking chair under the trees in the courtyard, basking in the sun and sleeping in.

While Leng Xiao dominated the imperial court, she would live a leisurely life in the fields and courtyard. She had no intention of disturbing his life of unparalleled wealth and luxury.

With her skills and a refrigerator that supplied her with endless ingredients, she could be self-sufficient and live in utter contentment.

The Leng Family had fallen into poverty and debt to pay for medical treatment because the father had died, the mother was ill, and the four brothers were too young to earn money, forcing them to rely on dwindling savings.

They had once been better off, as evidenced by the three-room brick-and-tile house and the large stove with two iron pots.

So practical.

Wen Nuan Nuan first took out a large earthenware basin, added flour and cornmeal, cracked in three eggs, and mixed in yeast powder she had taken out earlier from the refrigerator. She added an appropriate amount of water and stirred until it formed a thick, smooth batter, then placed it by the stove platform, covered it with a pot lid, and let it rest.

She chopped the already cleaned free-range chicken into pieces, rinsed them, and soaked them in clean water to draw out the blood. This way, there was no need to blanch them, and the stewed flavor would be rich and fragrant. Of course, this method only worked with genuine free-range chickens; factory-farmed ones wouldn’t do, as they would have a strong, unpleasant odor.

She prepared the ingredients: potatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, scallions, ginger, and garlic, all chopped and ready to use.

Once Leng Tian had the stove fire burning brightly, she heated oil in the cold pot, added ginger slices and garlic cloves to release their aroma, then poured in the chicken pieces that had been soaked to remove the blood. She quickly stir-fried until fragrant, added the chopped potatoes, green peppers, and mushrooms, then seasoned with salt and soy sauce for color. Finally, she scooped four ladlefuls of water using a gourd ladle, covered the pot, and let it stew to absorb the flavors.

Wen Nuan Nuan absolutely adored this gourd ladle. She had no resistance to everyday items made from pure, natural plants like this.

Using it brought her immense comfort and satisfaction.

While the chicken was stewing, Wen Nuan Nuan instructed Leng Tian to stoke the fire in the other stove hole. She quickly reheated the Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs she had taken out earlier from the refrigerator’s fresh-keeping compartment and made a simple, refreshing loofah egg soup.

Then, she lifted the lid of the stewing chicken pot, dampened her hands to prevent sticking, took out the cornmeal batter, shaped it into rounds, and neatly pressed them onto the upper part of the iron pot above the stewing chicken. She covered the pot again and let it continue to stew.

“Eldest Brother, that’s enough. You can put out the fire now,” Wen Nuan Nuan estimated the time and hurriedly instructed, her mouth watering from the aroma.

Two little heads were already peeking through the kitchen doorway, waiting eagerly.

“You three, go wash your hands quickly! It’s time to eat!” Not just these three children, but even she, an adult at heart, couldn’t help but salivate at the delicious smell.

Just as she finished plating the dishes, the three little ones filed in, standing in a neat row. “Sister-in-law, we’ll carry the dishes. You go sit in the main room first,” said the youngest, Leng Yun, his still-childish face beaming with a bright smile as he spoke earnestly to Wen Nuan Nuan.

Wen Nuan Nuan couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—no wonder he would become the wealthiest man in the Ling Kingdom, with riches rivaling the nation itself. His expression and tone were so heartwarming.

Though he and the third child, Leng Chen, were twins carved from the same mold, their auras were entirely different.

Lost in thought, Wen Nuan Nuan made her way toward the main room, followed closely by the three little ones, who carried the soup bowls while swallowing their drool.