Chapter 142

By the time they returned to the carriage, it was almost dawn.

"Sister! You're back!"

Just as Madam Fan was about to fill the water bag with heated and cooled water, she saw Fan Xiaoxiao and the other two returning from afar, chatting and laughing.

"Sister, look what we brought back!"

"What is that?" Madam Fan smiled gently and peeked into the basket on the back of the Ghost Doctor.

"Wow! There's so much honey! Did you really go honey gathering? Are you all stung anywhere?" Upon seeing the honey, her first thought was to check if Fan Xiaoxiao and the others were injured.

"We're fine. Oh, sister, you're filling a container with water. You can put some honey in there."

"Hey! Kid! It's a deal that all the honey except for the roasted pigeon is yours! You guys can drink it yourselves! Don't give any to those brats! You can sell the rest for money!"

The Ghost Doctor frowned, trying to stop Fan Xiaoxiao's actions, but she refused him outright.

"There's so much, how much can we possibly drink! Besides, you two were so sure of yourselves on the way that you'd collect honey for me later. We've been rushing around like this, and haven't had much to eat. This honey water will be good for our lungs!"

After saying that, Fan Xiaoxiao scooped out several large spoonfuls of honey and used a clean burlap sack to squeeze the honey from the honeycomb into the water.

"Alright! Sister, you fill the water container! We'll continue on the way and squeeze the rest into the jar."

"good!"

"Miss Fan, the thing you asked me to do yesterday is finished!"

Old Lu walked over at some point, carrying something that looked like a basket.

A hint of joy appeared on Fan Xiaoxiao's face; this was something she had asked him to do last night.

"Thank you, Master Lu!"

"You're too kind, but what exactly is your purpose in making this?"

Somewhat puzzled, Master Lu handed the basket to Fan Xiaoxiao, who immediately turned around and hung it under the window of the carriage.

"These are mainly for raising rabbits! Those two are too small. Let's raise them; who knows, we might even fatten them up!"

She had seen the two rabbits yesterday; one was male and the other female, so she could keep them for now.

They traveled northwards. By the time they reached the Tianshan Mountains, winter had fully arrived.

They were storing food until next summer, and taking whatever livestock they could with them now. That way, they could save some money to build houses when they got there.

"Moreover, rabbits only need to eat hay and are very easy to raise. As for the pigeons, we can eat them tonight and leave the cage empty in case we catch any other live animals in the future."

"Auntie wants to raise a baby rabbit! Then Xiaobao will gather grass for the baby rabbit!"

When Xiao Bao heard that he could raise such a small animal, he was overjoyed and clapped his hands, saying that he could help raise it together.

Fan Xiaoxiao smiled and rubbed his little head, then asked Aunt Wang, "Godmother, has the pigeon been dealt with?"

She specifically reminded me of this before going to bed last night. Slaughter the pigeon in the morning, marinate it for a whole day, and then roast it in the evening to make it even more fragrant, sweet, and tender.

"Alright! Everything's been washed and put in the basin. The wild scallions are washed and ready too!"

The wild scallions were freshly dug up by Aunt Wang and her family that morning, and they were perfect for making roasted pigeons for dinner.

A moment later, everyone was finally ready to set off.

Before getting into the carriage, Fan Xiaoxiao ran to the stream and washed her hands clean before boarding the carriage.

"Sister, give me the jar that was just scalded. Godfather, please drive carefully later, I need to squeeze the honey."

"Okay!" Uncle Wang outside responded, and the carriage started moving.

Fan Xiaoxiao found a clean linen cloth and squeezed out the honey little by little, while Aunt Wang and Fan's wife helped her stabilize the jar. Working together, the three of them spent the whole morning finally squeezing out all the honey from the basket.

Finally, Fan Xiaoxiao counted them and found there were as many as two jars.

After sealing it properly, the honey was placed in a cool, shady spot inside the carriage. Fan Xiaoxiao, her hands covered in honey, waited for Granny Wang to bring the pigeons to her.

"Sister, please pour in the extra honey I just scooped out. Godmother, take out the seasonings from the corner, add some salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and soy sauce. We bought quite a lot of them in Yongzhou."

Aunt Wang responded and rummaged through the corner to find the things Fan Xiaoxiao needed.

"Okay, godmother, add it in here. Just listen when I tell you to stop."

Madam Fan had already poured the small bowl of honey into the basin full of pigeons, and Fan Xiaoxiao then directed Aunt Wang to add seasonings. When it looked almost done, she started kneading the pigeons with her hands. Once the honey on her hands was all kneaded onto the pigeons, she grabbed some wild onions from the side and continued to massage the pigeons.

"Auntie, this smells so good!"

Xiao Bao, who was standing to the side, had already secretly swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva. Today, this little dumpling heard that Fan Xiaoxiao was going to get pigeons, and surprisingly, he didn't go to the carriage in front to pester Xiao Yu and Bai Hua to play.

Looking at his greedy expression, Fan Xiaoxiao found it somewhat amusing.

"It smells so good, but we can't eat it now. We'll wait until Auntie makes it this evening!"

"Mmm!" Xiao Bao nodded emphatically and sat obediently to the side, very happy.

Fan Xiaoxiao took a damp cloth from the side, wiped her hands clean, and then put the lid on to let the pigeon marinate for a day.

"Sister, have some water."

Seeing that she was covered in sweat from exhaustion, Madam Fan felt sorry for her and took the water bag, handing it to Fan Xiaoxiao.

"Mmm, so sweet!" Fan Xiaoxiao took a sip of water, the sweet taste spreading across her taste buds. She wondered what kind of flower the bees had collected from; this honey water was truly the sweetest she had ever tasted!

Fan Xiaoxiao swallowed a few more mouthfuls of honey water, her mind already anticipating tonight's dinner. It seemed tonight's barbecue was definitely something to look forward to! Since arriving in Zhou Dynasty, her three meals a day had become two, and seasonings were already scarce. Although everyone said her cooking was delicious, she always found something missing when she ate it.

If there's anything she still can't let go of in this world, it's that bite of food.

As she thought about it, Fan Xiaoxiao sighed.

"I hope this one will be about the same as the ones I've had before!"

"Girl, what are you muttering about?"

Wang, who was sewing nearby, didn't hear her mutterings clearly and asked a question out of curiosity.

Fan Xiaoxiao shook her head: "No, it's nothing! Godmother, I'll help you!"

The carriage was filled with laughter and conversation, but Xiao Hei, who was driving the carriage outside, had long since smelled the aroma and heard the sounds coming from inside.

The aroma was so enticing that his stomach had been rumbling for a while, which made Uncle Wang glance at him several times and even ask if he wanted to eat some pancakes.

Xiao Hei silently refused Uncle Wang's suggestion; he didn't want to eat pancakes right now! He wanted to eat roasted pigeon!

The sun was still high in the sky. Xiao Hei sighed and drove on, hoping the sun would set quickly! Quickly!

(End of this chapter)