Daddy! Come Home for Dinner!

The temperature was so high that they even had to crack open a window to maintain a comfortable level.

The two elderly people were wearing thin T-shirts inside the house.

The moment the little one was enveloped by this warmth, his tiny face instantly turned a rosy red.

Old Madam touched his face again; it was warm.

Only then did she let him take off his coat.

It was the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and Cindy figured that since she was here, she might as well prepare dinner and cook some good dishes.

But the Old Madam protested: “That won’t do. Even though you’re an excellent cook and you even have the approval of a Michelin three-star chef, Michael Greene, it’s a waste not to let you show off your skills when you’re at home.”

“But it’s enough to just make one or two dishes; you shouldn’t have to cook a whole feast.”

“You didn’t marry into the Zhekova Family to do chores or to be a cook for our family.” the Old Madam said, “Cooking is your profession. You cook enough outside, and when you come home, you should be able to relax.”

“You shouldn’t have to cook for the whole family when you come back.” the Old Madam said again.

Hadn’t they found Aunt Evans’ cooking satisfactory before they had Cindy?

They couldn’t possibly make Cindy do it all by herself.

“Grandmother, I think it’s odd that I have the ability but choose not to do anything. Besides, I love my job. Even if I have to do it at home, I don’t find it tiring.”

“Grandmother, I don’t feel like you’re making me do any hard work by letting me take care of dinner.”

After much coaxing, the Old Madam finally gave in. However, she still didn’t agree to let Cindy cook a whole feast, only one or two special dishes, and that was enough.

“How about I make dumplings?” Cindy thought for a moment and then suggested.

It is a tradition to eat dumplings on the eve of Lunar New Year in Northern China.

“We still have some at home. I made them in advance and stored them in the freezer so we can cook them tonight.” Aunt Evans hurriedly said.

“Mom, Dad, are you discussing what to eat tonight?” Maverick Zhekova and Victoria Wheeler joined the conversation.

Butler Howard and Aunt Evans came over, each taking coats and scarves from Maverick and Victoria.

“Yes, Cindy insists on cooking a couple of dishes.” the Old Madam said with a smile, “We’re thinking about what to make.”

“How about a hotpot?” Victoria suggested immediately.

“Today is particularly cold, can you hear how loud the wind is outside?” Victoria pointed out.

As if on cue, the wind outside slapped against the windows.

When it passed through the cracks in the windows, it made a whistling sound. Perfectly setting the scene.

“Huddled together enjoying a steaming hotpot, it’s lively and warm!” Thinking of hotpot, Victoria was salivating now, “Just the thought of it makes me feel warm all over.”

“Also, I’ve been craving hotpot for the past few days.” Victoria mentioned, “But Maverick has been busy and hasn’t found the time to take me. I desperately crave it.”

“Alright then, let’s have hotpot tonight.” the Old Madam decided.

Hotpot didn’t require Cindy to lift a finger.

Adrian Zhekova directly called Bertrand York’s hotpot restaurant to deliver the broth and ingredients.

The Sichuan-style hotpot at Bertrand’s restaurant, with its authentic mala hotpot, was exceedingly good.

The chefs were all authentic Sichuan chefs, and all the ingredients were shipped in from Sichuan.

With hotpot sorted for dinner, Cindy simply waited to prepare a simple dessert after dinner.

Especially after a heated and spicy hotpot meal, a refreshing dessert would be perfect.

By six o’clock, the hotpot from Bertrand York’s restaurant had arrived. There were four styles: a spicy mala hotpot, tomato hotpot, bone soup hotpot, and mushroom hotpot.

Even the dipping sauces were prepared exactly as in the restaurant, each with a large portion so that they could mix and match according to their preferences.

As for the hot pot ingredients, they included fatty beef, fatty lamb, spicy beef, tofu pudding, fresh duck blood, tripe, fat intestine, duck intestines, yellow throat, fried sausage, wide noodles, fish tofu, frozen tofu, and oil gluten.

The vegetables were readily available at home. Aunt Evans washed some pea sprouts, spinach, chrysanthemum, baby bok choy, yau mak choy, and choy sum.

Cindy then prepared a few refreshing cold dishes.

When you get tired of eating hot pot, you can have some cold dishes to alleviate the greasiness.

Especially when the spicy hot pot is fried with beef fat, the oil can feel heavy.

Afterwards, Cindy prepared a small dessert for post-dinner.

The dessert was simple, Italian milk pudding.

It was somewhat like pudding, similar to jelly, and cool and slippery to taste.

Cindy first soaked gelatin sheets in water, then added light cream to an empty pot, heating it while adding sugar.

Considering the elderly, Cindy didn’t add too much sugar.

There was no xylitol readily available in the family mansion, so sugar was the only option.

While heating and stirring evenly, she warmed the cream until it was slightly thick, and then added a little liqueur.

She then added the soaked gelatin sheets into the cream, letting them dissolve in the cream.

The cream that had been heated to a thick consistency was still slightly thinner than a paste, still in liquid form.

She then poured it into bowl-shaped molds.

There was still some cream left in the pot.

Cindy then added some sesame paste to it and stirred it evenly, before putting it into new molds.

She then placed these in the refrigerator to freeze.

Cindy saw some cherries in the refrigerator.

She took them out, removed the pits, added sugar and water, and after bringing them to a boil in a pot, she reduced the heat to simmer it down into a thick cherry sauce.

During the simmering process, she also crushed the cherries with a spoon to make the cherry sauce more delicate.

After the sauce thickened, she put it in the refrigerator for later use.

“Cindy, come and have hot pot!” The Old Madam called from outside.

Cindy hurriedly went out.

She found that everything was already set.

“I’ve prepared your dipping sauce.” Adrian Zhekova said.

He now knew exactly what Cindy liked.

He didn’t need to ask Cindy, nor did she have to do it herself.

Adrian Zhekova assured that he could prepare it well for Cindy.

He didn’t even have such knowledge about Morgan Zhekova’s preferences.

As Cindy sat down, she saw that Adrian Zhekova had already prepared her sauce.

A small spoonful of sesame sauce, fermented bean curd, leek flower sauce was added, along with some chives, cilantro, garlic paste, oyster sauce, and aged vinegar.

This was exactly how Cindy liked to eat.

It was like a fusion of North and South dipping sauces.

Sichuan hotpot usually uses an oil-based dipping sauce, adding chives, cilantro, and garlic paste. Some people like to add a bit of oyster sauce and aged vinegar.

But Cindy still liked the taste of sesame sauce.

So, she replaced the oil in the oil dish with sesame sauce, and also added fermented bean curd and leek flower sauce, which are essential in northern copper pot hot pot dipping sauces.

“How do you know my preferences so well?” Cindy looked at Adrian Zhekova in surprise.

When they usually had meals, Cindy would always prepare it herself if she had the time.

“I’ve seen you prepare it many times, so I remember your preferences,” said Adrian Zhekova nonchalantly.