Ares considered himself not a picky eater, so he nodded, "Anything's fine with me."
Paul, slowly waking up, said in a hoarse voice, "Me too."
They should quickly give him a nutritional paste, damn it, he's starving!
Sheng Jiu and Ares ignored him.
Paul: ...
Damn it, just wait until he manages to escape!
Sheng Jiu had previously bought a decent piece of fresh meat, but compared to the system-delivered tenderloin in the restaurant, that piece seemed average.
However, in the system's rating, it was still considered excellent pork.
Thinking of all this, Sheng Jiu took it out of the refrigerator and asked Ares to chop the filling while she went to knead the dough.
Although millet porridge is good, but they can't drink it everyday, right?
So, Sheng Jiu decided to make wontons for breakfast.
Although kneading the dough is a bit of a hassle, but compared to the delicious food in the end, all the hard work beforehand is worth it!
Chopping the filling...
Practice makes perfect.
For someone like Ares with a strong learning ability, he'd learn it in a few tries.
Then he could skillfully chop it up.
Because of his identity and his injuries, Paul was left on the second floor balcony doorway.
He couldn't see, only hear the trembling sounds coming from below.
He pondered…
What is this?
Freshly made nutritional paste?
At 7:30 in the morning, the system's delivery truck arrived.
There were quite a lot of ingredients today: Interstellar Mushrooms, octopus feets, thorny peppers, and wild scallions.
Sheng Jiu would have to make several trips to carry everything back, but Ares finished it in one trip.
Besides these, there were only the basic rice, flour, oil, and seasonings.
Ares finished everything in two trips, washed his hands, and then continued chopping the filling.
Sheng Jiu's dough was already kneaded and cut out.
After the wild scallions arrived, Sheng Jiu processed them a bit more.
Tender pork tenderloin, paired with a touch of refreshing wild scallions, required only simple seasoning to make the wonton filling incredibly fragrant and delicious.
Ares chopped the filling, Sheng Jiu seasoned it, and finally added the wild scallions.
Wild scallions must be added last to minimize their contact time with other ingredients, ensuring their individual aromas are preserved and their natural flavors are not overpowered.
Sheng Jiu made ingot-shaped wontons, each one plump and adorable. Just looking at them raw filled one with imagination and longing.
Ares tried several times, but couldn't wrap them well.
Either he couldn't wrap them properly, or one end would be sealed while the other leaked…
After several failed attempts, the Commander didn't give up and persisted in making the wontons.
By the time he finally managed to shape them, Sheng Jiu was nearing the end.
The wonton soup base doesn't need to be particularly complicated.
The dried shrimp can be added at the end when serving the soup, it will still be flavorful and delicious.
Just a little salt, a little pepper, and some seaweed for flavor are enough.
The umami of the wonton broth is a subtle, lingering flavor.
It's like a lazy, slow-burning person, waking up early and leisurely preparing for everything.
Slowly getting out of bed, slowly getting dressed, slowly washing up, slowly…
Everything is slow.
Yet, it's everywhere, fragrant everywhere.
As the plump wontons rise and fall in the water, the aroma intensifies.
It's as if the freshness and fragrance from before were only faintly detectable through a thin veil, yet something was missing.
But once the wontons are added to the pot and begin to rise and fall, the aroma wafts out, and that thin veil is slowly lifted, revealing the delicious flavor within.
Not overpowering, yet lingering.
Next door, Li Cheng Xiang got up early to prepare the goods, and the familiar and tempting aroma made him feel numb.
When Sheng Jiu's wontons were ready, she poured them over the prepared dried shrimp.
The aroma of the ocean and the savory scent of pork transformed into wisps of white steam, rising quickly and drifting far away.
The freshness of dried shrimp isn't like that of crab or large prawns, it's a subtle, understated freshness, yet equally undeniable.
Just like now, it drifted out slowly, carried by the white mist of the delicious food, embracing everyone who smelled its fresh aroma.
Its embrace was shallow and light, a mere touch before immediately parting.
It's like a gentle wave lapping at every grain of sand, only to return to the ocean, leaving those touched grains to cherish that tender touch and slowly savor the memories.
Ares was closest to the wontons, and this was his first time trying them.
The delicate aroma rose and fell in front of his nose, wafting in and out of his nostrils. He took a deep breath.
In the kitchen, the steam from the cooking process increased, raising the temperature higher and higher.
Ares stared at the fan working frantically, lost in thought.
This fan…
It's not working well.
He couldn't feel any coolness at all.
When the wontons were ready, Ares was about to devour two bowls despite the scalding heat when Sheng Jiu stopped him: "It's not good to always eat scalding hot food. Your esophagus and your stomach will protest."
Water at over 50 degrees Celsius can scald meat until it turns white.
Swallowing the scalding hot wontons…
This journey, from esophagus to stomach, will cost a whole layer of skin!
Ares hadn't noticed this.
Before, nutrient solutions and pastes were always cold.
Of course, it can be heated, but there's no way to do that during wartime, and in peacetime...
There's no time.
Having gotten used to cold food, they were a little unaccustomed to the sudden switch to hot food.
They always felt the first bite was the freshest.
Now, after being lectured by Sheng Jiu, Ares wasn't angry.
He sat there, resisting the temptation of the food, gently stirring the wontons in his bowl with a spoon, trying to cool them down faster.
Sheng Jiu served herself a bowl too. She sat opposite Ares, thought for a moment, and asked softly, "Are you all going back?"
Hearing this, Ares paused slightly in stirring the wontons. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I contacted the operations department last night. They'll send a warship to pick us up, it might take about a week."
Their planet is a desolate place with no predetermined flight path, so they can't hitch a ride on a starship back.
The operations department is preparing to send a warship, but the nearest one is quite far away. Although they don't need interstellar travel or space folding, but the feasibility of the flight path still needs to be considered.
Therefore, the time could be long or short, it's hard to say.
Sheng Jiu had already guessed that once they had a way to contact the operations department, they would probably be able to return.
Hearing it now, a sense of loss inevitably lingers.
But it's alright.
Right now, she's thinking more about…
Ares is gone. What will happen to the odd jobs in her restaurant?
Although Ares is going back, but he's worried about Sheng Jiu.
The young girl has some unreasonable relatives who frequently cause trouble.
If he was here, it would be manageable, he could easily take several of them away.
But if he's gone, what will the Little Boss do if those people come looking for trouble again?