Making meat sauce is both time-consuming and laborious.
Yu Tingwan watched from the side. Once Hui Niang had everything prepared, she picked up the wooden stool and sat by the stove, starting a fire.
When the oil was hot, there was a sizzling sound. Hui Niang first fried shrimp oil, then put the shrimp meat in to fry until crispy.
She scooped it out and cut it into evenly sized pieces, then started handling the black fungus.
The meat hadn't even been processed yet, and already the air was filled with a tantalizing aroma.
Yu Tingwan worked diligently. When Hui Niang said to add firewood, she did. When told to lower the flame, she used the long iron tongs beside her to remove a few sticks of firewood.
The firelight reflected off the teardrop-shaped mole at the corner of her eye, making the young girl's delicate features even more luminous.
Hui Niang spoke as she stirred with the spatula.
"Wan Niang, how old are you now?"
"I'll be eighteen after the new year."
