Zhu Yanyi did not plan to refuse, but she decided to cook herself. She saw her mother’s large, pregnant belly and felt worried. If her mother cooked, Zhu Yanyi would be scared. The kitchen equipment now was not like the modern kitchens of the future.
The stove was a big traditional one. Every family had one big stove that burned firewood. It was not like the future, where people used rice cookers, gas stoves, or induction cookers. Now, all cooking happened on this one big stove. Zhu Yanyi’s family even had an electric kettle to boil water, which was already very advanced.
Since the day she was reborn, Zhu Yanyi had wanted to try using the big stove. She knew food cooked on a big stove smelled especially good, and she loved it. But she had no chance to operate it herself. In her past life, she only started cooking for her parents when she was eight. Her parents worked, her older sister was in middle school, and she was the only primary school student. She had the most free time and finished school earliest, so cooking became her task. Now, if she cooked, it was just two years earlier. Besides, her soul was over fifty years old.
“Mom, I will cook today,” Zhu Yanyi suggested excitedly.
“Can you cook?” Xie Xinlian looked at Zhu Yanyi with doubt. Her eyes showed she did not believe it.
Zhu Yanyi put on a wronged expression. “Mom, you underestimate me too much. It is just food. Can I not cook it until it is done? Your daughter is so smart. I will definitely make a table full of delicious food for you.”
“Hehe.” Xie Xinlian remained skeptical. “Can you even reach the stove?” she asked. Although Zhu Yanyi was not short for a six-year-old, being over one meter two tall, operating the stove freely seemed difficult.
“That is easy to solve. We have a small stool at home. I will just stand on it,” Zhu Yanyi said. She had already noticed this problem. She was actually quite persistent about her height. Although she was taller in this life than in her past life, it would still take time to reach the height she wanted.
“If you stand on a stool, how will you tend the fire?” Xie Xinlian asked again.
Zhu Yanyi smiled and pointed at Yan Aohan. “Brother Yan will tend the fire.”
Yan Aohan was stunned for a moment, then laughed. There were probably few people in the world who could so naturally order her to do work. She smiled and said, “Auntie, I will tend the fire. I know how to do that.”
Xie Xinlian was still not very reassured about the two of them. But Zhu Yanyi said, “Mom, you must trust your daughter. When I treat them, I also have to decoct medicine. Decocting medicine requires controlling the heat and the time. Cooking is surely simpler than decocting medicine. If I do not cook well, it will just be a matter of saltiness or blandness. At least it will be cooked.”
Hearing this, Xie Xinlian said nothing more. After all, she was her daughter. Daughters would eventually marry, and they would have to learn housework sooner or later. It was good to learn now. She would just sit nearby and watch. If it did not go well, she could fix it later. So, she listened to Zhu Yanyi and sat aside.
Zhu Yanyi smiled and began to scan the food ingredients in the house. There were not as many seasonings as in the future. The current seasonings were just oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili, star anise, cinnamon bark, and bay leaves. Xie Xinlian also liked good food. Although the seasonings were not complete, they had the best ones available at the moment.