Chapter 48: Soy Sauce Chili Rings
Yu Zhile came out of the dim interrogation room, feeling better than last time.
Seeing that Zhou Yuesheng had bruises on the corners of his mouth and his clothes were covered in dust, she quickly stepped forward and raised her hand to poke his face.
"Did you fight with Ning Tan?" she asked curiously.
Zhou Yuesheng let her fingers poke at him randomly and hummed.
"He's still easy to talk to." Yu Zhile thought, if it were anyone else, he might be in jail.
After a long while, she remembered Zhou Yuesheng's wound and asked, "Is your leg okay?"
"It's not a big problem." Zhou Yuesheng replied, but his eyes quickly swept across the faces of the group of people behind her.
Yu Erye was waiting for the two of them at the old place. He was relieved to see that Yu Zhile was fine, but he knew that the other people in the Yu family were worried, so he hurried in the car.
What the two didn't know was that just as they left Haidong Town, Ge Tai and a gray-haired female comrade stepped into the gate of the Armed Forces Department.
The first people to see the two were two young clerks.
"Secretary Liu, what brings you here?" The older clerk stepped forward to greet him, his voice sounding a little nervous.
The other person ran into the interrogation room to find Lin Zhong.
"If you have anything to say, go talk to your Minister Ning." Liu Ying smiled at him.
Liu Ying was the commune secretary who took office at the same time as Ning Tan. She was a native of Haidong and many legends about her were circulated in the town.
The most famous of her deeds is her glorious feat of fighting ten enemies alone on the battlefield with a big sword and escaping unscathed. Everyone respectfully calls her the Iron Lady.
Her warm smile alleviates the stereotype brought about by the Iron Lady's reputation.
The young clerk calmly replied: "Minister Ning is not here, and Deputy Minister Lin is in the interrogation room."
At that time, Lin Zhongxin walked over with a faint smell of blood on his body.
Liu Ying frowned immediately.
"Secretary Liu, what can I do for you?" Lin Zhong asked indifferently.
He was a soldier under Liu Ying's ex-husband, and could be said to be the person who knew Liu Ying's life and deeds best in the entire Haidong Town.
Liu Ying divorced after losing her son in middle age, and basically withdrew from the Beijing circle. She worked in an insignificant position for more than ten years and went to the grassroots level in her sixties.
Liu Ying obviously recognized Lin Zhong and restrained her expression: "I heard that Minister Ning led a team to Haiyu Village today to invite a girl back to cooperate with the investigation of the murder of the director of the supply and marketing cooperative. I came to ask about the investigation."
"We have no obligation to provide you with any information about the case." Lin Zhong retorted.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and the two young clerks beside him swallowed nervously.
"Okay, thank you, Vice Minister Lin." Liu Ying remained calm.
After leaving the Armed Forces Department, Ge Tai thanked him: "Please come with me in person."
"I can't help you with this, but please apologize to my elder sister on my behalf." Liu Ying sighed.
Ge Tai sent her back to the commune and was about to leave when the young clerk who had just spoken to Liu Ying ran up to them.
"Secretary Liu, the evidence is not conclusive. The minister let Yu Zhile go just ten minutes before you arrived." The young clerk said breathlessly.
"Thank you, little brother." Liu Ying bowed to thank him.
The young clerk waved his hands quickly: "It's just a small matter, don't be polite."
Ge Tai said goodbye to Liu Ying and rode back to the village, but his mind was in a mess.
Finally, he just sighed heavily.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the Yu family courtyard continued to be gloomy.
Chen Zhao came back and paced, mumbling something.
Zhang Wenxin rubbed his hands nervously, looking at the path frequently, thinking about what happened half an hour ago.
Half an hour ago, she stared nervously outside the yard and saw two unexpected figures at the end of the path.
Ge Tai supported the little old lady and walked slowly towards Yu's house.
"Why are you here?" Zhang Wenxin ran to the two of them, and an idea immediately popped into his mind.
Ge Tai answered her question: "Grandma Zhang just heard that Yu Zhile went to cooperate with the investigation. She was afraid that you would be too worried, so she came to see you."
"It's okay. I've said I'm just cooperating with the investigation." Zhang Wenxin pretended nothing happened, his eyes darting around while he spoke.
The old lady noticed her little action and agreed, "It's good that she's fine. Don't worry too much. She didn't do this. She will definitely come back safely."
"Well, it must be okay, you can go home." Zhang Wenxin smiled, his facial muscles a little stiff.
She signaled with her eyes to Ge Tai to help the old lady go home.
Ge Tai looked at the old lady, who nodded, and they both turned and left.
The moment they turned around, Zhang Wenxin's expression instantly fell.
Chen Zhao's words about Ning Tan's attitude towards Zhile kept echoing in her mind, and she stared at the backs of the two men intently.
She had found goat milk powder in the old lady’s room before, and she guessed that the old lady had some connections, so she put on a show for the old lady, hoping that her connections could come in handy.
"Sister, I'm hungry."
"Brother, cook, cook."
Yu Chi suddenly let go of the small conch and ran to Yu Yue.
His voice interrupted Zhang Wenxin's memories, and Zhang Wenxin realized that his palms were wet.
Yu Yue touched his hair and said, "Okay, let's make porridge for my sister together. How about vegetable porridge?"
"Yes, it tastes good." Yu Chi nodded obediently.
After a while, he said again: "Porridge, side dishes."
"Okay, make two side dishes for sister." Yu Yue said softly.
Then, he stopped Chen Zhao from walking back and forth and said, "Go pick some greens and some other vegetables to make two side dishes."
Chen Zhao opened his mouth, said nothing, and went straight out to the vegetable garden.
"I'll help too." Zhang Wenxin decided to find something to do and moved out the clay jars to wash them.
The rice bags were placed on the middle layer of the rack, within Yu Yue's reach. He scooped out two bowls of rice for Yu Chi to wash, while he moved the stove to the yard.
Chen Zhao came back soon with the vegetables, and he also put seven or eight tender cucumbers and some green peppers in his clothes.
At that time, the porridge had been cooked and several people were gathered around the stove.
After washing the vegetables, Chen Zhao took out the chopping board and started chopping them loudly, muttering curses at Ning Tan.
The porridge was bubbling as chopped vegetables were put into the pot. The aroma of rice was mixed with a bit of fresh vegetable smell.
"Xiaobao, do you want to stir-fry the tender cucumbers or serve them cold?" Seeing that Yu Chi was gradually becoming listless, Chen Zhao forced himself to smile and tease him.
Yu Chi buried his face in his knees and poked a small mud puddle with a wooden stick.
"Xiaobao." Yu Yue said in a serious tone.
Yu Chi looked up at Chen Zhao and said, "Cold salad, sister, I love it."
"Where are the peppers?" Chen Zhao continued to ask.
Yu Chi had never eaten green peppers and shook his head.
"Then make a dish of soy sauce chili rings for Xiaobao." Chen Zhao forced a smile.
When he was returning to the cowshed, he ran into Jiang He and asked him what else could be made into side dishes in the vegetable garden besides cucumbers.
Jiang He picked a handful of chili peppers for him and taught him a side dish that people in Guangdong Province love to eat - soy sauce chili rings.
Turning around and carrying the chopping board back to the kitchen, he sighed, and when he smacked the cucumber, he used all his strength, causing the juice to fly everywhere.
Then, he added a small spoonful of salt and stirred it evenly, and then went to prepare the side dishes.
Chop the garlic into fine pieces, cut the chili into rings, pour hot oil on them to stimulate the aroma, and stir.
"Adding sugar can enhance the flavor." Chen Zhao recalled the little trick Yu Zhile taught him.
He then poured in soy sauce and aged vinegar and set the sauce aside.
Next, he cut the pepper into rings, cut the garlic into slices, and added an appropriate amount of soy sauce and a little sugar to the pot.
After boiling the soy sauce over low heat, he added chili peppers and garlic slices into the pot, boiled it again and served it out.
At this time, the cucumber has been marinated for ten minutes. Pour out the water, add the sauce and mix well, then serve.
The porridge and side dishes were placed on the table. The sour and spicy taste of the vinegar cucumber and the sauce flavor of the soy sauce chili rings were intertwined, which was enough to whet everyone's appetite.
Everyone was in a bad mood and had no appetite. They sat there for a long time without picking up their chopsticks.
"Go to the kitchen and get the pickled mud snails." Yu Yue patted Chen Zhao's arm to break the silence.
Chen Zhao placed the empty bowl on the table, opened the jar and scooped out half a bowl with a clean spoon.
The pickled mud snails are transparent all over, with shells as thin as cicada wings, and a special pickled aroma lingers in the air.
Although the aroma of the mud snails was enough to whet everyone's appetite and Yu Chi's stomach was growling, no one started eating.
"Sister!" Yu Chi pointed to the path in surprise.
Yu Yue and the other two looked outside the yard and saw an ox cart slowly approaching.
"Le Le!" Zhang Wenxin rushed forward and hugged Yu Zhile.
"Sister, you must be hungry. Sit down and have some porridge." Chen Zhao quickly ran into the kitchen to get the bowls and chopsticks.
Yu Zhile knew at a glance that they were worried a lot, and comforted them: "In the future, if there is any--"
"Sister, don't say that." Chen Zhao interrupted anxiously, pushing the porridge and side dishes in front of her, "Drink the porridge, eat the vegetables, and there are three side dishes!"
Yu Zhile nodded repeatedly and picked up the bowl.
Seeing this, others also took their bowls to drink porridge.
The porridge was thick and fragrant with rice oil. After half a bowl, my fatigue was relieved a little.
What Yu Zhile likes most is the chili rings. The chili rings soaked in soy sauce are salty and appetizing.
Zhang Wenxin loves mud snails and never stops eating.
She picked up the mud snails skillfully, broke the shells, and sucked the meat into her mouth. The mud snail meat was crispy, tender and delicious, which made her praise it endlessly.
"Mud snails with porridge are like scrambled eggs with meat." She remembered an old saying here.
Chen Zhao chuckled: "Then I prefer scrambled eggs with meat."
To him, pickled mud snails smell good, but he can’t get used to eating them.
Zhang Wenxin glared at him.
"The cucumber and soy sauce chili rings I made are still the best." Chen Zhao looked naughty.
Zhang Wenxin continued to eat mud snails, chewing them loudly on purpose.
"Like kids quarreling." Yu Zhile was amused by their actions.
Everyone's nerves were on edge the whole morning. After relaxing and eating and drinking, they felt tired and went back to their rooms to rest.
A few minutes later, Zhou Yuesheng heard footsteps. He opened his eyes and found Yu Chi leading Papa out of the door.
He chased after him and saw him sitting in front of Yu Zhile's door. He was so sleepy that he could hardly open his eyelids, and his little hands were still clinging to the door frame.
"Xiaobao, sister will not be taken away again." Zhou Yuesheng picked him up.
Yu Chi struggled to get off the ground, but couldn't resist the sleepiness despite his comfort.
Yu Yue in the room was awakened by the pain. Seeing that Xiaobao was not there, he propped himself up.
When Zhou Yuesheng entered the room, he saw him holding his knees, as if he had been fished out of the water.
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