Chapter 15] Make Fish Soup

Chen Wu glanced at the man and scolded him with disdain, "Look at your lack of talent! A young woman caught two, gave one to us as a filial gift, and left one for her mother-in-law and her children at home, and you're still thinking about it? Is this what you need? Shame on you!"

The officer was scolded so much that he lowered his head in shame.

Chen Wu took one of them and said to Shen Fenghe, "You're so thoughtful. We'll keep one for you to try. If you need a pot for making soup, salt, or a fire starter, we have them all ready here and we'll lend them to you."

After hearing what Chen Wu said, Chen Fenghe couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems that Chen Wu is sensible and knows when to advance and retreat. It will be much easier to deal with him along the way.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen!"

Immediately, Chen Fenghe took the pot and salt and returned to Qin Mengyue.

When the three little guys saw such a big fish, they almost jumped up with joy and surrounded Chen Fenghe excitedly.

"What a big fish! Sister, you are so awesome! I want to learn how to fish from you!" Shen Yichuan boldly reached out and touched the fish. The crucian carp, struggling to survive, shook its tail weakly.

After hearing this, Xiao Yunhao said, "Sister-in-law, I want to learn too!"

Chen Fenghe felt helpless when being called by his sister-in-law.

She was wronged as a sister-in-law. How could she agree to her sister-in-law's request without even seeing her husband?

"Let's talk about learning how to catch fish later. Go collect some firewood first and make the fish soup." Chen Fenghe said with a smile.

Qin Mengyue also struggled to get up and collect firewood. At this time, an official came over holding some dry branches.

Chen Fenghe looked up and saw that it was the official who had given her the steamed buns before.

The officer said, "Our chief sent it to me to thank you for the fish, young lady."

This was beyond Shen Fenghe's expectations.

She had originally only hoped to meet some people with non-greedy character who would turn a blind eye to her problems. She had so many supplies in her space, so she could give them some and maintain peace with them.

I didn’t expect that the leader was actually a righteous man who gave them firewood as a thank you gift!

Chen Fenghe still looked flattered, but she pushed him aside a few times and said, "How can this be so embarrassing? Let's go pick it up ourselves."

The officer laughed and said, "It's not easy for you two women to take care of three little kids. Take it. We all have knives, so we can chop wood faster!"

After hearing this, Chen Fenghe stopped refusing and accepted it.

At that moment, Chen Fenghe used three stones to form a triangle to build a simple stove, put the clay pot on it, poured the water in the cowhide water bag into the pot, and started a fire with a fire starter.

Qin Mengyue watched in surprise and anxiety.

Surprisingly, she never expected that Shen Fenghe could do so many things. Catching fish, building a stove, making a fire, and she seemed very skilled at it!

What was worrying was that she just watched from the side, wanting to help but not knowing how!

Although Qin Mengyue is the queen, the Qin family has a good family tradition. As the queen, she is the mother of the country. She is usually kind and modest even to the palace maids and eunuchs.

Although she was exiled now, she never acted like a queen and couldn't let go of her airs. That's why she wanted to take the initiative to help instead of being a hands-off elder and letting her daughter-in-law Chen Fenghe serve her.

Qin Mengyue said hesitantly, "Feng He, is there anything I can do to help you?"

Chen Fenghe was stunned when she heard Qin Mengyue ask this. Although she had been deposed, this was the first time she had seen a queen who was so humble.

Of course... apart from the TV series, this was also the first time she saw the real queen.

"Then... please help scrape the fish scales." Chen Fenghe did not refuse and directly assigned the task.

There are still many days to go in exile, and she is not an ancient young wife who has to work hard, put herself in a difficult position, and be filial to her parents-in-law.

The only way is for everyone to work together.

"Yeah!" Qin Mengyue agreed, but she was at a loss as she looked at the fish lying on the grass, weakly jumping a few times from time to time.

She had been pampered in the Duke's Mansion since she was a child, and later she was crowned Queen as soon as she entered the palace. How would she know how to scrape fish scales?

Chen Fenghe was adding firewood to the simple stove. When she heard no movement next to her, she turned her head and saw her looking at the fish with a look of helplessness on her face. She couldn't help but laugh at herself for being stupid.

Could she still expect a queen to kill fish?

Chen Fenghe picked up a sharp stone and cleaned it with the water in the water bag. Then, holding the fish's tail with one hand, she used the stone to scrape the scales against the direction of the fish's scales. She smiled and said, "Mom, this is probably your first time doing this. The scales should be scraped against the direction of the fish's scales."

Qin Mengyue watched Shen Fenghe's demonstration and hummed a half-understood sound. She couldn't help but ask, "The fish we used to eat in the palace were all scaled like this. Are the scales... inedible?"

Chen Fenghe was also helpless. It seemed that the nobles of ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad, were all the same, all idiots in life.

She patiently explained, "It's not that it can't be eaten, it's just that the way it's prepared is different. It's best when coated in flour and fried until crispy. However, we don't have the conditions to fry it right now. If we just make fish soup with it, it won't be cooked through quickly. It scratches our throats and is difficult to swallow, so we'll just have to throw it away."

Qin Mengyue listened, nodded, and said, "Hmm...I see."

Chen Fenghe scraped off the scales of the fish, then used a stone to cut open the fish's belly and took out the internal organs.

Qin Mengyue didn't feel comfortable asking this time.

Seeing that Chen Fenghe took out the internal organs and discarded them aside, it should not be edible.

She secretly memorized all these knowledge points in her mind.

After cleaning up the internal organs, Chen Fenghe rinsed the fish with water and then threw it into the boiling pot.

The key to making a milky white fish soup is to put the fish in boiling water.

It’s a pity that there is no way to take out the oil in the space now. I can fry the fish first and then add hot water. That way the fish soup will be more delicious.

However, now that I am in exile, I cannot ask for such luxuries for the time being.

Even so, after a while, the pot was filled with the mouth-watering aroma of fish soup!

The Qin family members over there were already drooling with envy.

Old Lady Zhang gave the order, "Jinzhong, go and bring the fish soup over here for me to try!"