Chapter 111 Chapter 111 Jinhua Cat’s Past Stewed Fish Rolls…

"Hey! You little demons, why don't you bow to me when you see me?"

The Jinhua cat was posing as if dancing with a sword on the osmanthus tree in the backyard, holding a dry branch in its paws, and spoke loudly to a few sparrows pecking at grains nearby.

The sparrow looked at it in confusion, then flapped its wings and flew away.

The Jinhua cat sighed, then jumped down from under the osmanthus tree and huddled aside to bask in the sun.

Duan Zhiwei peeked out of the kitchen window for a while until Ah Pan came in, sniffed and said, "Your pot is going to burn."

Duan Zhiwei hurriedly moved the pot away. The pot of rice dumplings cooked in fermented rice wine used to bid farewell to the Kitchen God was ruined, becoming burnt like the black and white coat of the panda A-Gun.

Ah Pan asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"

Duan Zhiwei pointed outside.

The Jinhua cat crossed its legs and closed its eyes in meditation under the sun, as if this would give it the aura of a great demon.

Duan Zhiwei sighed.

Recently, there was a play called "One Hundred Demons Parade at Night" in the Baixi Pavilion, which was very popular among the people of Chang'an. Pu Tao took Jinhua to watch it. After coming back, he stopped eating fish and sleeping in, and was determined to cultivate himself into a powerful demon.

But Dugu Luling said that it couldn't even transform, and Duan Zhiwei didn't want to disappoint it.

Ah Pan patted her shoulder and consoled her: "Let's cook some fish dishes today to distract it."

Duan Zhiwei took out the processed sea bass, skillfully removed the fish bones to get a few slices of crescent-shaped meat, wrapped the fish meat with chopped mushrooms and minced shrimp, made it into the shape of a fish roll and fixed it with hemp rope and toothpicks.

The flames from the stove licked the iron pot. The fish heads and tails that had been stewing for the whole morning had slowly turned the soup into a milky white color, bubbling. Duan Zhiwei put a few fish rolls in to cook, and scooped a spoonful of homemade fish sauce on top.

The fish flavor is made from shrimp roe, soy sauce, dried squid and dried kelp. It is extremely fresh and fragrant, and the aroma soon drifts out of the window.

Duan Zhiwei thought for a moment and poked his head out: "Jinhua!"

The Jinhua cat was just feeling the energy in its dantian, and when it heard Duan Zhiwei's call, it let out a "meow" and ran over.

"Why isn't the fire burning?" Duan Zhiwei pretended to be distressed: "Help me take a look."

"It's just a trivial matter." The Jinhua cat raised its head proudly. It jumped onto the bellows and pressed it. The flames shot out far away.

It was even shocked itself: "Did you see that? The flames shot up so high! It must be that my demonic power has increased greatly recently."

Duan Zhiwei hid the large bag of sawdust that he had quietly added earlier, and then applauded it: "Jinhua is really amazing."

It raised its furry paw and waved it casually: "That's all." The pride on its face could not be hidden.

After helping in the kitchen, the Jinhua cat ran away chasing the sparrow. Aunt Duan was fetching water in the backyard. She looked at its plump back as it ran away and shouted, "Don't forget to come back for dinner. I made your favorite fish rolls."

The Jinhua cat meowed and ran away without looking back.

It was really cold today, water froze into ice, and the sky was gloomy. It felt like it was going to snow soon. There were not many diners in the restaurant, most of them came to reserve dumplings for the Kitchen God Festival, and then left in a hurry.

After all, it is really inconvenient to travel on snowy days.

Sure enough, before noon, the sky seemed to be torn open, and snow and hail began to fall. The Jinhua cat lost the sparrow and had to turn around and go home.

Along the way, I saw that the top of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was covered with a layer of gauze, the snowflakes hit the bronze bell of the Da Ci'en Temple, making a crisp and pleasant sound, and the surface of the Qujiang River was frozen into colorful scales.

Chang'an is so beautiful, its winter scenery is no less beautiful than Lin'an.

But wait, why does it think of Lin'an? I don't have the impression that it has ever been there?

As it walked and thought, a gentle voice suddenly came from its mind: "Snowball~"

who? Who is speaking? It is a great monster of the Jinhua clan. How could anyone be so blind as to call it Snowball?

The Jinhua cat's mind was in a mess, and it accidentally stepped on thin ice. It slipped from the wall and fell to the ground, with its fur all dirty.

"it hurts."

When it limped back to the restaurant, it was already afternoon. There was no one in the restaurant, and Duan Zhiwei and the others were all gone.

"Where have they all gone? Doesn't anyone care that the cat is injured?" It muttered to itself for a while and wanted to go to the kitchen to get something to eat. It jumped onto the table, but the stove and the pot were cold and the big pot was empty.

"Alas." It sighed.

Li Bo was putting paperweights on the counter. When he saw it come back, he turned into a goldfish and floated over: "Why did you come back just now? I thought you were missing and everyone ran out to look for you."

Jinhua Cat was originally very disappointed, but when he heard this, he looked up in surprise: "Really?"

Li Bo floated out: "You actually let my honorable Princess Long Nu look for you in the heavy snow... Wait, I'll go call them back."

It was snowing heavily. When everyone came back, their hair and eyebrows were covered with snow, and they all looked like snowmen. A Pan rushed in first and quietly added a few pieces of charcoal to the stove.

Duan Zhiwei was busy brushing off the snow on his body, and he was relieved when he saw it: "I thought you were really depressed and went to Mount Huashan to become a disciple and practice."

Huashan is the "Fourth Heaven" of Taoism. According to legend, it is Laozi's retreat. Many monsters hide in Huashan to practice. Jinhua Cat has been clamoring for several days to go there for further study.

Pu Tao picked it up and wiped the cat's fur that was tangled with black water: "You made us worry to death."

"I'm sorry." Jinhua Cat shook the water off his ears.

Aunt Duan took out a clay pot from a torn quilt beside the stove. When she opened the pot, the delicious aroma of the fish roll soup filled the whole room. "I left this for you. Have you eaten yet?"

The stewed fish roll trembles slightly in the thick soup. The fish has a fishy aroma and a mellow flavor of seafood. When you take a bite, the fish roll automatically falls apart on the tip of your tongue. The fish meat is juicy and delicious, and it goes very well with the minced shrimp and diced mushrooms wrapped inside.

Jinhua had tears in her big eyes as she ate.

"What's wrong? Did you add too much pepper and it's too strong?" Everyone asked with concern while sitting around the fireplace.

"Can you give me another bowl of chestnut rice?" it sobbed.

Everyone laughed.

The snow had turned into goose-feather flakes, covering the roofs of the houses with a blanket of white. The heavy snow weighed down the osmanthus trees, and the branches broke with a snap under the weight.

The snow continued to fall until the evening. There were not many diners at night, so everyone was free, so they ran to the backyard to make snow lions.

Snow lions are one of the important scenic spots in Chang'an in winter. Craftsmen will carefully stack lifelike stone lions and decorate them with various colored threads and golden bells for people to enjoy.

But the people in the restaurant didn't have the skills to do so. A few amateurs rolled two round and solid snowballs and piled them together to form a snowman.

Pu Tao went to get Aunt Duan's rouge box and put rouge on the snowman's cheeks. She also took the bucket from the well water wheel and used it as a hat for the snowman.

A Pan is very skillful. He put more snow on the snowman's belly, making the snowman round and fat. The finished snowman looks very cute and a little funny.

"Should we move this snowman to the entrance of the restaurant and use it as a stone lion?" asked Pu Tao.

"No need. In two days, when the weather clears up and the sun comes out, the snowman will melt." Duan Zhiwei patted the snow on his hands and said, "Let's go back to the room and have dinner."

Everyone responded and opened the curtain to go to the front hall. Only the Jinhua cat was still wagging its tail and sitting in front of the snowman and running back.

Aunt Duan poked her head in: "Jinhua, you're back. We have your favorite grilled squid for dinner."

It turned around and ran back: "Here I come."

Only the snowman was left standing alone in the snow.

Duan Zhiwei found a can of dried squid at a dry goods store a few days ago. After soaking it for a few days, it was finally ready to eat today. He put the squid that had been marinated for half a day on the iron plate and grilled it. Soon the squid curled up quickly and became golden and shiny.

Duan Zhiwei used a brush to brush a layer of sauce on the squid, and instantly a rich aroma spread out. Soy sauce was added to the sauce, and the burnt aroma was particularly strong after heating. Finally, she sprinkled some pepper and cumin powder on the squid.

This dish quickly attracted everyone's attention. After taking a bite, the squid meat was very firm and elastic, and you could feel the squid jumping on the tip of your tongue. The salty and fragrant sauce and the slightly spicy pepper were very suitable.

Everyone enjoyed the meal very much, Jinhua was particularly happy, and he finished all the squids in no time.

"It's so delicious, much better than rat." Jinhua said excitedly.

"Hey, Jinhua, have you ever eaten mice?" asked Pu Tao.

It eats the squid in a meal.

"No..."

The Jinhua clan is an ancient, mysterious and wealthy demon clan.

Since it was born, its home has been a magnificent mansion with a high tower for climbing, twenty celestial dogs for traveling, and a swing made of shark silk.

The servants were all well-trained foxes, and their daily meals consisted of seafood shipped from Mingzhou, as well as various kinds of fine liquors.

How could it have eaten a mouse?

"I must be overthinking it," thought Jinhua Cat.

At night, everyone packed up and prepared to go back to their rooms to sleep. Duan Zhiwei put on a cloak and went to the shed in the backyard to check on the dried fish and meat. After all, the New Year was coming soon.

Maybe it snowed, for the moonlight tonight was as bright as frost, illuminating the yard brightly.

A black cat crouched on the eaves, its body as black as ink, sitting elegantly in front of the moon, its pair of golden eyes staring at Duan Zhiwei.

Duan Zhiwei had become accustomed to the night scene in Chang'an filled with monsters; she cautiously took a step back.

A gust of night wind passed by, and the black cat's ears twitched, and its body was covered by a black silk-like smoke. After a while, the smoke dispersed, and the cat turned into a man in a black robe.

Still with golden pupils and a short face, he looked a little childish. Duan Zhiwei quickly picked up the broken broom by the yard and said, "You bold cat demon! My restaurant is guarded by the Dragon Girl and the Jinwu Guards. How dare you invade?"

The lanterns on the eaves swayed, and he chuckled softly. It was actually a girl's voice, crisp and clear:

"Ms. Duan, don't you remember me?"

Duan Zhiwei shook his head defensively.

He slowly said, "We have met before. I am Shi Gou's sister, Dugu Jiuyuan."

Duan Zhiwei was puzzled: "Aren't you a woman?"

"We in the Jinhua clan are good at changing our shapes. When we meet a woman, we turn into a beautiful man, and when we meet a man, we turn into a beautiful woman." Gu Du said.

"I see." Duan Zhiwei threw the broom and said, "Come to see Shi Gou. He's warming himself by the fire in the room. I'll go call him."

"No need." Dugu hesitated: "I have just checked it, and now I have something to do and need to leave."

"We have extra rooms here. You can stay here when you have time. Shi Gou will be happy." Duan Zhiwei invited warmly.

Dugu Jiuyuan smiled slightly: "We are cursed cat ghosts. If humans get close to us, they will be infected with strange diseases over time and their hair will fall out."

"Well, well, well..." Duan Zhiwei stumbled and suddenly stuttered. Jinhua cats eat and drink in restaurants every day and sleep everywhere at night. This...

"Don't worry." She said it with her mouth, but her expression was full of worry: "It'll be fine to get along with it. It's different from us."

"I hope Madam Duan will keep the fact that I came to the restaurant a secret for me." Dugu Jiuyuan looked at her meaningfully, then turned back into a black cat and ran away from the eaves.

Duan Zhiwei stood in the yard, staring at the direction where it went away for a while, then turned around and went back to the room.

Today, Yuan Shenji was on duty at Zhuque Street and did not go home. The Jinhua cat went to Duan Zhiwei's room to sleep. It rolled on the bed for a while, and then lay on its back and fell asleep.

Its snow-white belly was exposed, rising and falling slightly with its breathing, as if it was having a sweet dream, and its two claws scratched the air a few times.

"Really." Duan Zhiwei covered its belly with a blanket, changed the water in the hot water bottle, and then curled up in the warm quilt and fell asleep.

Jinhua was dreaming again.

Someone squatted down, gently touched its head and called out, "Snowball."

There was a heavy snow in Lin'an, and the bluestone slabs were soaked with water. The dog squatted in front of the woodshed, holding the mouse in its mouth.

The woodshed was dilapidated, with snow covering the eaves. After melting, the snow turned into streams and flowed down through the cracks in the eaves.

It's so cold, why is it so cold...

Duan Zhiwei dreamed that she was cooking for a group of polar bears in the Arctic. If she didn’t cook well, she would be the polar bears’ dinner. While chopping fish, she said, “It’s so cold. Why is the Arctic so cold…”

The man and the cat were woken up by the cold at the same time. A huge snowman stood beside the bed and stared at them. It was quite polite. Seeing that the two of them were awake, it bowed and said:

"Good evening, both of you."

Duan Zhiwei immediately hugged the Jinhua cat: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”