"Phew… so you needed toilet paper! You scared me to death. Hold on, I'll go get it for you right now!" I was so exhausted last night that I hadn't noticed the bathroom had run out of tissues. With Hah'Er's obsession with cleanliness, there was no way it would use the toilet without wiping its butt. No wonder it had been sitting there this whole time.
He dashed downstairs, grabbed some tissues, and handed them to Hah'Er. But the little guy didn't use them right away. Instead, it just stared motionlessly at Shen Yibin with its small eyes.
'Damn, you're shy? Alright, I'm leaving. Take your time!' Shen Yibin went out and closed the door. A moment later, the sounds of a chair moving and water running from the sink came from the bathroom. Then, Hah'Er came out, its paws slightly damp.
Only then did Shen Yibin have a moment to look around the bedroom. The room was still spotless and tidy, without a hint of mess. The fruit peels, nutshells, and snack wrappers from Hah'Er's meal had all been thrown into the trash can.
"You ate everything? Your appetite is really something! Are you hungry now? I'll go make you some food right away!" Remembering how he had been feasting outside at noon while poor Hah'Er was cooped up in the bedroom munching on dry food, Shen Yibin felt a wave of shame and hurried to the kitchen to get busy.
As before, he chopped the green onions and ginger slices under Hah'Er's guidance, then put them in the pot to simmer slowly. While the meat was stewing, Shen Yibin took Hah'Er downstairs for some exercise. It had been shut in the bedroom for most of the day and really needed to move around.
But after exercising, Hah'Er didn't just lie down and rest. Instead, it waddled over to the storage room on its short little legs, dragged out a broom, and prepared to help Shen Yibin with his chores.
"Put that down! I'll do it!" Shen Yibin broke out in a cold sweat. He had kept the poor thing cooped up for so long, and the moment it was free, it started doing chores. He felt he was even more ruthless than Zhou Bapi! If netizens found out he was treating a panda this way, he'd probably be drowned by their spit alone!
But when Shen Yibin took the broom, Hah'Er went to get the mop. This little guy seemed determined not to stay idle, which left Shen Yibin with no choice but to grab a big pile of pet food. "Why don't you do this instead? I think they enjoy their food more when you're the one feeding them!"
After finally managing to distract Hah'Er, Shen Yibin quickly cleaned the first floor at three times his usual speed, leaving him drenched in sweat. He really didn't dare to slow down. If he waited until Hah'Er finished feeding the pets, it would come over to help again! Shen Yibin had no desire to be flamed to death by netizens.
'Holy crap, what's going on here?' When Shen Yibin came back from taking out the trash, the scene in the shop left him completely dumbfounded. He saw the Siamese Cat, Golden Retriever, Chihuahua... each one was sitting obediently in its cage, holding its food bowl with both paws, tongue lolling out, waiting for Hah'Er to feed them. They looked just like military dogs in a barracks lining up for chow time!
"Mhm!" Hah'Er opened the Siamese Cat's cage, took its cat food from the basket behind it, and poured it into the bowl. It even helped smooth down the Siamese Cat's fur.
"Meow~" The Siamese Cat narrowed its eyes in enjoyment. After Hah'Er closed the cage again, the cat nodded at it and meowed twice more, as if thanking Hah'Er for the food and adding, 'I'm going to eat now!'
"Mhm!" Hah'Er nodded slightly, as if to say it understood. Then it dragged the basket over to the Chihuahua's cage. After opening the cage, the Chihuahua showed no intention of coming out for a stroll. Instead, just like the Siamese Cat, it obediently pushed its food bowl forward, making it easier for Hah'Er to feed it.
'Who knew that besides cooking, you've also put skill points into the Commander ability! With this kind of presence, you're at least a squad leader!' Shen Yibin subconsciously pulled out his phone and carefully recorded the feeding process. 'If I post this online, the donations alone would probably make more money than my pet store!'
"Hah'Er, after dinner, how about we come down and let them all out to play with you?" To be honest, it wasn't good to keep the pets locked in their cages all the time. They needed to come out for some fresh air and exercise. 'With Hah'Er around, they probably won't run wild and make a mess of the shop, right?'
"Mhm! Mhm!" Hah'Er seemed especially excited. Clearly, it had been feeling cooped up in the bedroom all day.
"Then it's settled. The meat's almost done stewing. Let's go upstairs to finish cooking, and we'll come back down to play with your little friends later!" After he finished speaking, Hah'Er once again attached itself to his leg like an accessory, and Shen Yibin dragged it back to the kitchen.
He took the meat out of the pot and put it in the refrigerator to cool. This gave him just enough time to chop the green garlic and then slice the meat. He poured oil into the wok, heated it over a high flame, and added the meat slices to stir-fry.
Shen Yibin's stir-frying technique was constantly being adjusted under Hah'Er's guidance. Soon, the meat slices in the pot began to curl up at the edges. This effect, known as "lamp nests," is the simplest way to judge the authenticity of twice-cooked pork. To get the slices to curl, one must use very thinly sliced pork from the second cut of the hind leg and have perfect control over the heat. The fact that Shen Yibin could achieve this showed that his cooking skills had improved greatly since yesterday.
The fatty parts turned translucent, a sign that the oil had been rendered out. This made the pork rich but not greasy, and incredibly fragrant and smooth. This meant the meat was ready. Shen Yibin used the spatula to push the meat to one side of the wok. He then added the prepared Sichuan peppercorns and broad bean paste to the empty space and stir-fried them until the oil turned red, before mixing the meat back in with everything.
Finally, he poured in the green garlic, cooking wine, salt, sugar, and light soy sauce and stir-fried for another moment. The twice-cooked pork was done. The fragrant aroma wafting from the wok made both Hah'Er and Shen Yibin sniff the air repeatedly.
"I think this is much better than yesterday's! Hah'Er, you're a great teacher!" He patted Hah'Er's big head a couple of times. First, he filled Hah'Er's bowl to the brim, then served himself a plate. Next, he opened the rice cooker, scooped out two bowls of rice, and they were ready to eat.
"Try it. Is it better than yesterday?" Even though he was practically drooling, Shen Yibin resisted the urge to dig in first, looking at Hah'Er with hopeful eyes instead.
Hah'Er was also dying to eat. Upon hearing the question, it immediately speared a piece of meat with a fork and popped it into its mouth. Its paws couldn't handle chopsticks, but it could manage a fork, just barely.
"Mhm! Mhm!" With the "lamp nest" shaped twice-cooked pork in its mouth, Hah'Er's eyes narrowed in bliss. It nodded its head again and again, seeming very satisfied with Shen Yibin's progress.
'Guess I'll try some too.' Shen Yibin quickly picked up a piece with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. It was savory, fragrant, and so tender it melted on his tongue. It was almost as good as the takeout he'd ordered yesterday.
'If this keeps up, it shouldn't take long for my cooking skills to reach a passing grade, right?' Shen Yibin began to daydream...