Chapter 886: Invincible Cooking Skills

Hearing this, Wang An appeared humble on the surface, but spoke with an underlying sense of smugness

"Mm-hmm, my hunting is only okay, I guess. Anyway, I've hunted most of the animals in the mountains; I've pretty much covered them all."

On this point, Wang An wasn't bragging, because he truly had hunted a great many mountain beasts, and the variety was indeed extensive.

Although there were some species, like red deer and moose, that he had only caught once, such animals were rare in the mountains to begin with; encountering one or two was already quite a feat.

Moreover, the fact that he had successfully taken them down once he encountered them was enough to prove that Wang An's hunting skills were truly beyond doubt.

While the three of them were talking and Wang An and Wu Dong were helping Yu Xiangnan out of the car, Mu Xueqing and Wang Yi heard the noise and walked out of the house.

As for Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli, they weren't home at the moment, having run off to play somewhere.

However, in the countryside, there was no need to worry about such things; everyone grew up that way, and when it was time for dinner, all the children playing outside would return home on their own.

Upon seeing Mu Xueqing, Yu Xiangnan was momentarily stunned, and then a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

Mainly, with Mu Xueqing's exquisite beauty, she was bound to be the center of attention wherever she went; anyone who had seen her could not easily forget her.

Furthermore, during student days, the classmates remembered by non-subject teachers were always the "special" ones.

For example, those with top-tier grades, those whose mischief was known to everyone, or those with very distinctive looks.

Mu Xueqing fell exactly into the third category—her looks were so distinctive that she was beautiful to the extreme.

Therefore, during Mu Xueqing's school days, almost every student and staff member at the County First Middle School likely remembered her name.

Thus, it was no rarity for Yu Xiangnan to recognize her.

Of course, Mu Xueqing naturally recognized the principal as well. Upon seeing Yu Xiangnan, she had a momentary flash of panic, like a student caught doing something sneaky in class, and hurriedly greeted him in a stumbling manner

"He... Hello, Principal."

It had to be said that anyone, upon seeing their former teacher or principal, would feel more or less unnatural.

Yu Xiangnan said with a chuckle

"Not bad, truly not bad. To go from classmates to husband and wife, you two are like a match made in heaven, hahaha... Good, truly good! My blessings to you both!"

Hearing this, Mu Xueqing was too shy to respond, but Wang An spoke up from the side

"To receive the blessings of an elder like you, Principal, is a great fortune for Xueqing and me, hehehehe..."

Yu Xiangnan pointed a finger at Wang An and said with a face full of smiles

"You brat, hahahaha..."

After laughing along, Wang An pulled Wang Yi over and introduced him to Yu Xiangnan

"Principal, this is my younger brother, Wang Yi. His grades are quite excellent; he got into the County First Middle School this time as the top student of Yongan Township. He'll be your student once school starts."

After saying this, without waiting for Yu Xiangnan to react, Wang An immediately said to Wang Yi

"Xiao Yi, hurry up and greet the Principal."

Hearing this, Wang Yi immediately gave a standard Young Pioneers salute and said

"Hello, Principal."

Yu Xiangnan nodded, smiling as he spoke

"Good, good, hehehe... so you're the top scholar of Yongan Township. Not bad, very not bad!"

Yu Xiangnan spoke a few more words of encouragement to Wang Yi, and only then did Wang An invite everyone to enter the house.

It had to be said that regardless of whether they were good students or not, almost all students felt nervous when meeting a teacher or principal.

Wang Yi was currently in that state.

Once inside, because Yu Xiangnan was present, Wang Yi sat on the chair perfectly straight, a vivid demonstration of what it meant to "sit with formal dignity."

After entering, Wang An and Mu Xueqing busied themselves brewing tea and pouring water, while sugar cubes, melon seeds, and cigarettes were placed on the coffee table one after another.

It had to be said that entertaining guests in this large living room designed by Wang An was indeed much more convenient than doing so on a kang.

Everyone sat on the sofa chairs handcrafted by Wang An and the carpenters; they weren't crowded, and it was convenient to chat, emphasizing a sense of relaxed comfort.

After a while, Wang An said to Wu Dong

"Brother Wu, please look after the Principal for me. I'm going to personally handle the cooking this noon to let the Principal taste my invincible culinary skills."

Hearing this, Yu Xiangnan said with a look of surprise

"Xiao An, you know how to cook?"

The reason Yu Xiangnan said this was largely due to the era; it had to be admitted that because of the prevailing ideology of favoring boys over girls, men who could cook were truly rare at this time.

For instance, Wang Dazhu, an all-around talent who was both a mason and a carpenter, was clueless in the kitchen; aside from boiling porridge or simple tasks like reheating leftovers, he didn't understand how to stew meat, steam buns, or make flatbreads.

Hearing Yu Xiangnan's question, Wang An immediately said smugly

"Of course I do! Not only can I cook, but I'm actually quite good at it. I guarantee that after this meal, you'll be craving the next one, hehehehe..."

As for the cooking, it wasn't that Wang An intended to show off; it was mainly that Wang Dazhu and his wife had gone to work in the fields. Even if Yu Xiangnan and Wu Dong hadn't come, Wang An would have had to prepare the meals while at home.

Wang Dazhu and his wife had worked in the fields all morning; they couldn't come home to find no hot food and dishes waiting for them.

As he spoke, Wang An and Mu Xueqing walked toward the back room—the kitchen.

There was still mutton left over from the day they moved into the new house, the fish in the vat were fresh, and there was no shortage of cured and smoked meats. Moreover, in this season, various vegetables from the garden had all been harvested, so cooking was a simple matter for Wang An.

Thus, with Mu Xueqing assisting him, Wang An began to get busy.

Poached mutton, stewed mutton offal, braised "ga ya zi" fish in soy sauce, sweet and sour carp, smoked meat stir-fried with peppers, and stewed pork belly with green beans—six hot dishes in total.

In addition to these six hot dishes, there were smashed cucumbers, fried peanuts, garlic eggplant, and the indispensable dipping sauce platter.

As for the dipping sauce platter, it contained a wide variety of vegetables: scallions, garlic sprouts, napa cabbage, cilantro, water radish, curly cress, green peppers, and so on.

Mainly because he didn't know what Yu Xiangnan liked, Wang An prepared a bit of everything—basically a whole steamer basket of various vegetables.

Six hot dishes and four cold dishes, totaling ten dishes. With this standard, it could be said that even hosting a top official from Heilongjiang like Zhang Siyuan would be absolutely sufficient.

(End of Chapter)