Lin Xu: ?????? My mother-in-law's punishment methods are quite unique. But then again, I can't play the dance machine either.

He quickly said, "I think couples need to communicate more; physical punishment is wrong. Don't learn that from your mom, okay? It's very detrimental to nurturing marital harmony."

Yeah, it's fine to be entertained by others' troubles, but it's not so funny when it's your own.

"What greens are you planning to cook for my dad?"

Lin Xu looked at his father-in-law's listless appearance, then at the fresh vegetables bought that day, and said, "I'll make Boiled Chinese Broccoli..."

This was the first Perfect Level vegetable technique he had acquired. He hoped it would give his father-in-law a good appetite.

After speaking, he took a bunch of Chinese broccoli, removed the older leaves at the bottom, washed it twice in clean water, and then trimmed off the tough root ends.

Next, he boiled a pot of water.

He started making this Cantonese dish that Lingnan people love to eat.

Once the water in the pot boiled, he drizzled in a little peanut oil and a small spoonful of salt.

Adding oil to the water would make the blanched vegetables more vibrant. And adding salt would give the Chinese broccoli a subtle base flavor.

After adding the oil and salt, he stirred the pot with a spoon, allowing the salt to dissolve and the oil to disperse.

Then Lin Xu aligned the washed Chinese broccoli at the base, grasped the leafy tops with his hand, and placed the root ends vertically into the boiling pot.

The stems of the Chinese broccoli were thick and not easy to cook through, whereas the leaves were very tender, so he had to use the "blanch the roots first, then the leaves" method.

When the root ends had been blanched in the water for about thirty seconds, he laid the Chinese broccoli down in the pot.

He also used a spoon to gently separate any clumped Chinese broccoli, ensuring even heating.

Blanch for about twenty seconds more.

He used a large slotted spoon to remove the Chinese broccoli from the pot.

He rinsed them with cold water to lower their temperature and prevent the residual heat from overcooking them.

Then he drained the water and arranged the Chinese broccoli stalks vertically on a rectangular plate before starting to make the sauce.

Whether the Chinese broccoli tasted good depended critically on the sauce.

A delicious sauce could enhance the freshness of the Chinese broccoli.

A bad sauce, on the other hand, would make it bland and tasteless.

Lin Xu added some seafood sauce to a bowl, then poured in a spoonful of oyster sauce, half a spoonful of white sugar, and a little cornstarch. He mixed in some of the hot water used to blanch the Chinese broccoli until everything was well combined.

Next, he set up a wok.

He poured a little lard into the wok.

Normally, peanut oil or other vegetable oils would be used, but considering that his father-in-law would probably prefer lard, Lin Xu made the substitution.

Once the oil was hot, he added minced garlic and sautéed it until fragrant.

Then he poured the prepared sauce into the wok.

SIZZLE!

The aroma of the sauce was instantly released by the hot oil.

He turned off the heat.

He carefully spooned the sauce from the wok over the Chinese broccoli. The father-in-law's special edition Boiled Chinese Broccoli was ready.

Actually, if he wanted to save trouble, he could have just used the Steamed Sea Bass method: pour Steamed Fish Sauce over the blanched Chinese broccoli, top with shredded Scallion and Ginger, and then scald it with hot oil.

However, Chinese broccoli made this way wouldn't be as fragrant as when using sautéed garlic.

After serving the Chinese broccoli, Shen Guofu, who had been looking quite grim, suddenly widened his eyes.

This aroma… It's the fragrance of lard!

Just as he was about to start eating, Shen Jiayue, who was gnawing on a meat pie, suddenly said, "Wow! That smells so good! Mom, letting Dad eat such delicious food—are you punishing him or rewarding him?"

Shen Guofu: "..."

Daughter, even when I'm in this state, you still don't forget to fan the flames, huh?

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Thanks to the friends who voted with Monthly Tickets, we finally broke three hundred today, so I'm adding an extra chapter!

I had actually finished writing this chapter in the afternoon, but I wasn't very satisfied with it, so I deleted a bit here and there. In a fit of anger, I ended up scrapping over five thousand words and rewriting it completely... This chapter is 4,300 words, so it's a bit short. Please bear with it for now. I'll continue striving for ten thousand words a day tomorrow!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.