When Lin He and the other two arrived at the edge of the field, Er Niu and the others were still desperately harvesting the wheat. At a glance, Lin He saw that the situation was the same in the other fields; nearly half the people had not gone back for their midday meal. Family members had brought food to them, so they ate quickly to save the time spent commuting back and forth.

Fortunately, even though the weather was relatively hot at this time, it was nothing compared to the same period in her previous life. The temperature wasn't as high; it hovered around thirty degrees Celsius. Because there were many trees and a slight, cool breeze swept across their faces, sitting under the shade of a tree was far more comfortable than being in an air-conditioned room from her past life.

Er Niu saw Huang Shi and the group arrive with the food, so he called Da Bao and Old Man Qin over to eat and rest for a bit. Da Bao was young, and after working all morning, his body naturally couldn't take it. Seeing Lin He and the others arrive, he immediately went over. As for Old Man Qin, he told them to eat first while he finished up the section right next to him before coming up.

Er Niu let them do as they wished. He sat by the field for a while, waiting for Old Man Qin to join them for the meal. Not long after, Old Man Qin finished the area around him and came up to drink a bowl of water. The few of them watched as Huang Shi and Lin He laid out the dishes on a flat rock beneath a tree. People nearby were also resting and eating. Seeing the abundance of Lin He’s family’s food, someone chuckled and said, “Er Niu, your family’s dishes smell truly delicious. What did you make? I’ve never smelled anything this fragrant.”

Er Niu smiled and replied, “My He Yatou made it. Why don’t you all come and have some?”

Those people waved their hands. Although the food smelled good, they felt too embarrassed to eat another family’s meal. Instead, they laughed, “Er Niu, your family has certainly given birth to a wonderful daughter. She is beautiful, and her cooking surpasses everyone else’s. In a few years, people will be trampling your doorstep!”

Er Niu offered a few humble retorts with a smile, though inside, he was overjoyed beyond measure. What parent doesn't feel happy when others praise their children, regardless of whether the compliment is genuine or polite?

They chatted and laughed with those nearby while eating, finishing the meal quickly. Old Man Qin said with a smile, “He’er’s culinary skills are comparable to many professional chefs, and every dish she makes is different from the others. I fear we won’t be able to get used to eating other people’s cooking from now on.”

Da Bao added, “Yeah, Sister’s cooking is much better than the aunties’ cooking at our shop. The aunties at our shop always make the same things, just like Mother used to make. Sister, will you be making these dishes tonight?”

Huang Shi playfully tapped Da Bao’s head and laughed, “Then I won’t cook anymore! You say my food isn’t good, yet you’ve eaten it for so many years. Now that your sister’s food is delicious, you look down on me.”

The whole group broke into laughter. Huang Shi looked at her daughter, feeling immense joy. This daughter was capable of anything, especially over the past year; she managed to excel at everything she attempted. The family’s prosperity, both inside and outside the home, was thanks to her efforts. She was also filial, obedient, and kind to her younger siblings. When it came time to find her a husband, the match would have to be the very best; otherwise, she wouldn’t be willing to marry off such a wonderful daughter casually.

Having eaten their fill, the group hurried back to work in the fields. Er Niu mentioned that since everyone was quite quick today, they should finish harvesting all the wheat tomorrow. The sun was strong today, which was excellent for drying the grain. They could start threshing the day after tomorrow.

As soon as they returned to the fields, Lin He took Chen’er and hurried back. There were still quite a few things to do in the afternoon; the Steamed Fatty Meat with Rice Powder (Fen Zheng Rou) and the Pig’s Trotter Soup required time to prepare. Upon returning home, Lin He measured out about two catties of brown rice from the household jar, then carefully picked out all the sand and impurities with Chen’er. After cleaning it, Lin He had Chen’er start the fire, instructing him not to let it burn too fiercely. She began stir-frying the rice in the pot. Once the rice turned slightly yellowish, she would scoop it out to be ground.

After the rice was stir-fried, Lin He told Chen’er they were going to Granny Xu’s house to grind the rice flour. Seeing Xiao Bao was often home alone and bored, she brought him along too. Er Gouzi was certainly home alone as well. When they arrived at Granny Xu’s, Er Gouzi was indeed by himself in the courtyard, sitting around looking very bored.

Seeing Lin He’s group approach, he happily jumped up from his stool and eagerly asked Xiao Bao what they had come for. Lin He explained they needed to borrow their small grinding stone. This grinder was quite small, only about ten centimeters in diameter, likely made by Uncle Li himself. It was usually used for grinding small amounts of things at home.

However, Lin He found this small grinder ideal; any larger, and the few children wouldn't have the strength to move it. She placed a wooden basin underneath to catch the ground flour. She pushed the stone herself while having Lin Chen slowly feed the fried rice into the hole on top, just a little at a time. The two of them ground for about an hour and finished the two catties of fried rice.

Lin He looked at the powder ground from the brown rice. It did have a slight rice aroma, certainly not as good as what she remembered from her previous life, but it was usable. The key would be for the meat’s fragrance to blend well with it later.

Noticing Da Bao and Er Gouzi playing together, Lin He worried the two children might wander off and get into trouble if left unsupervised. She asked Er Gouzi to lock the main gate so the boys could play in her yard instead, where she could keep an eye on them more easily.

Er Gouzi was delighted to go play at Lin He’s house and immediately took out the lock to secure the main gate, leaving the courtyard door simply closed, not locked. Back home, Lin He told Er Gouzi and Xiao Bao to play in the yard while she and Chen’er prepared the meat. First, she cut the meat into square pieces—neither too large nor too small—then stir-fried them in the pot. Once the meat began to render a fair amount of fat, she scooped the pieces out and sprinkled the ground rice flour over the residual fat. Since there was a lot of meat and the basin was small, and Lin He didn't have the strength to stir it with chopsticks, she poured everything directly into the pot and used a spatula to mix the meat and rice flour thoroughly.

After mixing, she transferred the mixture into a basin for storage. In the future, whenever they wanted to eat it, they would just take out a few pieces and steam them. Because the meat pieces were large when fried, they weren't fully cooked through, so they absolutely needed to be steamed before eating. This would cook the meat through and enhance the aroma.

The aroma of the stir-fried Fen Zheng Rou filled the air, even attracting Xiao Bao and Er Gouzi playing in the courtyard. They asked Lin He what it was, and Xiao Bao clamored to eat some.

Lin He told them they couldn't eat it yet; it needed to be steamed in the pot before dinner that evening. Er Gouzi was drooling with desire. Lin He smiled and promised to give Er Gouzi a few pieces to take home that evening, telling him to instruct his mother to steam them properly before eating. Er Gouzi happily agreed.