Lin Yi looked at the fish flapping in the hands of several people, raised his lips and smiled, his somewhat gloomy expression brightened briefly, and his eyes were cheerful.
"What's wrong?" Ning Xia turned her head to look at him, "What did you think of?"
Lin Yi looked at Sangsang who was staying beside Xiaojie, then turned to look at Ningxia, "I think of the time when we were fishing in the pond in the valley."
Speaking of this, his smile widened. "There were so many fish, I was so happy that I was crazy. After leaving the Dawn Base, I was so tired that I fell asleep every day. I was scared and happy at the same time."
"What are you happy about? What are you afraid of?"
"I'm glad to have meat to eat! But I'm also afraid you'll dislike me for eating too much and abandon Sangsang and me on the way."
Ningxia smiled when she heard this and said, "You do eat a lot."
Lin Yi curled his lips indifferently, showing a rare childish look. "I'm still growing, so I'll eat more in the future."
Ningxia pinched his thin arm and said in a heroic tone, "Eat as much as you want. I've been roaming the forest for so many years, I don't believe I can't afford to support you!"
The brother and sister both laughed.
"Come on, let's pick some basil and put it in the fish to remove the fishy smell."
"Um."
Li Gang, Lei Lao Hu and his team caught more than 30 fish in a row before stopping. Ningxia thought about the musk deer meat and lamb chops, so he asked a few people to release the smaller ones back into the lake. In the end, only five or six big fish weighing three or four kilograms were left.
Everyone returned with a full load.
As soon as she arrived at the yard, Ningxia was busy preparing the ingredients. Pingzi and Lao Liao helped her wash and prepare the vegetables.
"Come on, boy, let me see how good your aim is." Lei Lao Hu took the crossbow from Xiao Jie and handed it to Lin Yi.
Lin Yi was not afraid at all. He raised his hand and aimed at the tree trunk that Lei Lao Hu pointed at.
"Swish!"
"You're good, kid. You're pretty good at it! When you grow up and come to the military camp, you'll be a good shooter again." Lei Lao Hu's tone was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Lin Yi, who was so thin and small, had such good aim. He was full of momentum when he raised his hand to shoot the arrow.
Lin Yi touched his head and said, "Brother Jie and Uncle Gang have taught me a lot. Sister Xia Xia also teaches me sometimes."
Talking about this old Liao, he got excited. "Don't tell me! Le Zheng told me last time that Ningxia was pretty good at shooting, but I didn't believe him at all! But this time when we went to the mountains to hunt sheep, Ningxia's shooting skills were almost as good as mine!"
Lei Lao Hu laughed and scolded: "Compared to you? Are you that awesome?"
Although they teased him, everyone knew that if an old soldier like Lao Liao said that Ningxia's shooting skills were good, then he must be very good.
"Does anyone have any advice for me, Ningxia?"
Ningxia smiled and said, "Someone taught me before in Liefengzhou."
"Allied forces?"
"Hmm..." Ningxia didn't want to say more and quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, how is Le Zheng? Any news? How long will it take for him to come back?"
They were all quite old and experienced people, so how could they not see that Ningxia still had someone in her heart? I'm afraid there's no hope for Le Zheng!
"His injury isn't serious, he just needs to rest. The camp has good food and drink! He'll be back in ten days at most."
Ningxia nodded with relief, and the topic was dropped and no one mentioned it again.
Several people in the yard were busy finding things to do.
Lao Liao and Hepingzi cleaned several fat fishes with great skill and handed them over to Ningxia for pickling.
Ningxia follows the traditional method, stuffing a handful of perilla, ginger, and garlic into the fish's belly. The fish is then scored and coated with a mixture of salt, five-spice powder, and Sichuan peppercorns before being threaded onto a wooden stick. Chili peppers are sprinkled on the fish when it's almost cooked to prevent it from becoming mushy.
"Squad leader, grill the fish on the rack. Use charcoal, not open flames."
Li Gang took it and nodded. In the middle of the narrow courtyard, several men had built a small bonfire with stones.
The few people followed the instructions and slowly removed the firewood, leaving only a pile of brightly burning charcoal in the pit.
The fish takes a while to roast, so Ningxia took out the musk deer meat from the kitchen, cut it into palm-sized slices, and sprinkled ground pepper, chili salt into it to marinate.
She had marinated the lamb chops in the bag in advance and brought them with her, so there was no need to put in any extra effort, just put them on the fire.
While Li Gang and his companions were turning over the fish, Lei Lao Hu got up and went outside. After a while, he brought back a thin stone slab, rinsed it clean, and threw it directly onto the charcoal fire.
The undrained water sizzled when it entered the fire, and in a short while the stone slabs became scorching hot.
The stone slab barbecue saves a lot of manpower. Everyone sat in a circle around the charcoal fire, watching Ningxia's operation and silently swallowing their saliva.
It was already getting dark, the moonlight was abnormally bright, and it was surrounded by the charcoal fire, so it was clear enough to see even without a light.
In Ningxia, large chunks of lamb chops are placed on stone slabs without adding oil. After a while, the fat on the lamb chops will sizzle and the air will be filled with fragrance.
Pingzi didn't know what he remembered. He got up and went to the kitchen. After a while, he brought back a small pot. "Can you add this? Bake it for the two little kids."
Ningxia took it and looked at it. It was a palm-sized can with the words "Military Factory" printed on it, and golden semi-solidified liquid flowing inside.
"Is this...honey?!"
Pingzi nodded and said, "It's the subsidy from Lieyangyue, but we guys don't crave sweet things, so we just left it there."
"Then I'll bake a few honey-flavored ones later."
"Just deal with it as you see fit."
Sangsang half leaned on Xiaojie, looked up and asked, "Brother Xiaojie, is honey the sweet and slippery thing that Xiongxiong likes?" She had read this from a book at home.
Xiaojie scratched her nose and nodded.
The air was filled with the aroma of fish and lamb chops, and no one could smell it all.
"Don't we have a piece of lettuce planted next to us?" Lei Lao Hu suddenly said.
Pingzi glanced at him and said, "It's not ripe yet!"
Old Liao hurriedly pushed, "What are you afraid of! That thing grows so fast! Why don't you just plant another crop later? Hurry up and pick some and wrap it with barbecue!"
Pingzi raised his foot and gave a big kick.
"Just imagine, fresh lettuce wrapped with sizzling mutton, with a clove of garlic in the middle. Take a bite, wow~" Old Liao described it vividly, his face full of intoxication.
Everyone swallowed their saliva in a vain manner, and Pingzi, cursing, stood up and went to pick his fresh lettuce. With so many people, half of his small patch of lettuce would be gone.
The entire stone slab was covered with sizzling lamb chops. Ningxia took out a small pile and put it aside to be brushed with honey later.
The rest was sprinkled with chili powder and Sichuan pepper powder slowly and leisurely. She didn't bring much cumin, but she was not stingy at all and sprinkled it on without hesitation.
"Come, try it." Ningxia put the roasted lamb chops on a plate and handed them over. The men were not polite and took a piece and started to bite into it.
The skin has a charred texture, and the mutton's own strong smell is harmoniously mixed with the spicy seasoning. The inside is so tender and juicy that you can feel satisfied both physically and mentally after taking a bite.
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