Chapter 5: Delicious seafood porridge at the market
Yu Zhile found the large wooden basin sent by Yu Haizong, poured all the seafood into the basin, and then scooped out the jellyfish and put them into another small basin.
There is a well in the ancestral house. Yu Zhile had already drawn water to fill a large clay jar in the morning. Now he simply scooped two spoonfuls of water, sprinkled some salt, and let the seafood slowly spit out the sand.
"Oil, salt, sauce and vinegar were exchanged by Second Aunt with the villagers." Yu Yue placed the seasonings on the stove, not much of each.
The land in Haiyu Village is not good, and the villagers' fishing skills are average. It is considered a poor village within a ten-mile radius.
People only earn a few dollars a year and don't have extra money to stock up on seasonings at home. Whenever they find seafood, they basically just boil it in water, sprinkle some salt and soy sauce on it, and eat it simply.
"I'm going to the supply and marketing cooperative in town tomorrow." Yu Zhile calculated what he would need and made a list in his mind.
She plans to add cooking segments to her subsequent live broadcasts, and seasonings are essential.
Yu Yue nodded, and took out cucumbers, coriander, ginger, and even a bunch of tender green lettuce from the bamboo basket.
"Who gave this to you?" Yu Zhile asked.
The village values interpersonal relationships. Today you give me a bunch of vegetables, and tomorrow I give you some needlework. The things are not valuable, but what matters is the process of give and take.
"Chen Zhao, Brother Chen gave it to me." Yu Yue thought it over and over again and told the truth.
"Chen Zhao." Yu Zhile answered casually, his mind recalling the matching face.
The Chen Zhao mentioned by Yu Yue was an educated youth from Beijing who had just been sent to the countryside last autumn. He had a bad temper and had a falling out with the people at the educated youth site within a month of arriving in the countryside. There was no place for him to live in the village, so he simply moved to the cowshed.
"Well, Brother Chen will teach me some chemistry knowledge when he has time." Yu Yue frowned and answered in a low voice.
He was a famous child prodigy in Nanfeng Commune, but he never went to school again after an accident at the age of twelve.
"Send some seafood porridge to Chen Zhao later." Yu Zhile changed the subject and silently added two things to the list.
As the sky gradually darkened, smoke rose from every house in the village, and Yu Zhile began to prepare dinner.
Seafood porridge takes a long time to cook, so she first scooped two bowls of rice to soak in water, and then started to process the seafood.
The tiger prawns were still active, but Yu Zhile grabbed one with each hand and removed the head neatly, while Yu Yue was responsible for peeling the shell and removing the shrimp thread.
The brother and sister worked in perfect harmony and quickly processed all the shrimps.
Then, Yu Zhile went to deal with the small octopus, and Yu Yue went to wash the vegetables.
Yu Zhile skillfully cut open the octopus's head, removed the octopus eggs, ink sacs, internal organs, etc., then turned over the octopus's legs and squeezed out the teeth in the middle. Finally, he grabbed some salt and rubbed off the mucus on the sucker.
"Xiaobao, what's wrong?" She looked up and saw Yu Chi staring at her and asked softly.
Yu Chi had a round face and big, bright black eyes, which stared at Yu Zhile so hard that her heart almost melted.
"Xiaobao, go help your sister wash rice." Yu Yue understood his thoughts.
Yu Zhile brought him a small stool, and moved the small wooden basin for soaking rice in front of him, then turned to deal with the jellyfish.
It is not difficult to process jellyfish. First, cut the large piece into several small pieces and slice it into appropriate thickness. Then change the knife and cut it into shreds.
After all the dishes were prepared, Yu Zhile poured a thin layer of oil into the ceramic pot, and when the oil was hot, poured in the shrimp heads and shredded ginger.
The aroma wafts out with a sizzling sound, the shrimp heads turn orange, and shrimp oil is boiled out.
Yu Zhile added water and brought it to a boil, removed the shrimp heads and shredded ginger, then poured the rice in and covered the pot with a lid.
The fire for cooking porridge cannot be too big, and it needs to be stirred in the middle to prevent it from sticking to the pot. Yu Yue became the person who controlled the fire.
Yu Zhile built another small stove with mud, filled half a clay pot with water, and started a fire.
She added the iron pot to the list. It was too troublesome to cook with a clay pot, and if Yu Haizong hadn't sent a batch of things over this morning, there would only be one clay pot at home.
Jellyfish cannot be blanched in boiling water. Yu Zhile estimated that the temperature was about 80 degrees Celsius, so he poured it into the pot decisively, blanched it for more than ten seconds, and then scooped it out with a bamboo colander.
After blanching all the jellyfish, rinse them with cold boiled water, add cucumber shreds, soy sauce and vinegar, and sprinkle some coriander, which makes it crisp and refreshing.
The porridge on the other side was almost cooked. Yu Zhile poured shrimp and octopus pieces into the porridge and stirred it.
When the shrimps change color, sprinkle some salt, add a few drops of sesame oil, and finally add the shredded lettuce and cook for thirty seconds.
The salty and sweet aroma of seafood porridge filled the entire yard.
Yu Zhile smiled with satisfaction. No matter what time, delicious food can best soothe people's hearts.
She scooped a full bowl of seafood porridge and a small bowl of cold jellyfish, and handed it to Yu Yue: "Go, Xiaobao and I will wait for you to come home for dinner."
The road conditions around the house were good, and Yu Yue encountered no obstacles on his way to the cowshed.
Chen Zhao's voice came from the cowshed: "Pah, pah, pah, why is it bitter? Jiang Shangqing, can this thing be eaten?"
"This is spicy snail." Jiang Shangqing replied coldly.
Seeing that Chen Zhao was about to quarrel with Jiang Shangqing unilaterally, Yu Yue immediately called out to Chen Zhao.
Chen Zhao was attracted by the aroma coming from the basket on his knees, and his eyes lit up: "Yu Yue, did you also know that Jiang Shangqing was cooking spicy snails that he couldn't eat, so you came to rescue me?"
After the sea water warmed up, the spicy snails were easy to pick, but they didn’t taste very good after being boiled. They were a bit spicy and a bit bitter. Even the people in Haiyu Village were too lazy to pick them.
Yu Yue didn't answer his question, but handed over the basket and said, "Thank you for the vegetables."
"It's just a few vegetables. How can I have the nerve to take so many things from you?" Chen Zhao declined with his eyes glued to the porridge and the cold jellyfish.
Yu Yue smiled and pushed his wheelchair away. After walking a few meters, he could still hear Chen Zhao's nagging to Jiang Shangqing.
When he got home, the porridge was just the right temperature to eat.
The three of them scooped a spoonful of porridge at the same time, their movements were as consistent as if they were copying each other, and they all showed intoxicated expressions at the same time.
The rice is very fragrant and delicious, and paired with firm and fresh shrimp meat, it is very satisfying. The crispy shredded lettuce adds to the taste and makes the flavor even better.
The cold jellyfish shreds are sour and delicious, and the fresh and delicious cucumber shreds contribute to awakening the taste buds.
At the same time, Chen Zhao half-closed his eyes and enjoyed the food. It was a rare moment of peace at the dining table in the cowshed.
The next morning, at daybreak, Yu Zhile went out and rushed to the village entrance where he could sit on the ox cart.
The spring ploughing had just ended and there was a big market in the town. The ox carts were already packed with people going to the market.
Yu Zhile had just found a place to sit down when an old lady came over to ask about what happened on the day of the separation of the family.
"Leni, I heard that your family got this much?" The old lady opened her hands and gestured, "Your third aunt is howling at home every day!"
The discussion in the car became quieter, and everyone secretly paid attention to the conversation here.
Yu Zhile glanced at the old lady with a half-smile, and said, "It's better to eat salty radishes than to worry about them."
"You! You don't know what's good for you. I really wasted my kindness." The old lady was choked by her and was so angry that she recited the lines from a play she had watched before.
Yu Zhile recognized her. She was one of the three most gossipy people in Haiyu Village—Auntie Huang. She loved gossiping and would even say something to any dog that passed by.
She was too lazy to pay attention and just closed her eyes to rest, not noticing that a girl in the crowd had a flickering look in her eyes.
"Let's go!" Uncle Yu, the driver, waved his whip and the ox cart swayed forward.
When we arrived at the market, it was already completely light.
Uncle Yu set the time for the return trip, gave all the instructions, and drove to the locust tree to rest.
The big fair of Nanfeng Commune is held once a month and it is very lively.
The vendors were all sideline business groups from each village. The items were sold at low prices, leaving Yu Zhile dazzled by the sights.
After one round, her backpack was filled to the brim, and she only spent less than five dollars.
During this time, she ran into many villagers, and they all shook their heads when they saw the things she bought, lamenting that she was not good at managing the household.
Yu Zhile ignored them and headed straight for the last stop. On the way, he met a stall selling carambolas and cherries and bought a bag of each.
Dazhu Village and Datao Village are adjacent to each other, and the stalls are also set up together. They chose a corner and put all the things on the ground.
She walked around the two stalls for a few minutes and began to feel troubled. There were too many things she wanted to buy, and getting back to the village would also be a problem.
The people in the sideline business group of Datao Village were very discerning and thought that Yu Zhile would be a big customer, so they took the initiative to ask: "Ni'er, which village are you from? If it's on the way, we can bring it to your door."
"I'm from Haiyu Village." Yu Zhile's eyes lit up.
The eldest brother smiled cheerfully: "Haiyu Village is not far from where we are, you can choose any one you like."
With his guarantee, Yu Zhile ordered more than a dozen kimchi jars of various sizes, and also picked out a few tableware sets and several clay pots with acceptable patterns.
After choosing the pottery, she went to choose bamboo products.
She had everything, including a winnowing basket, a fruit and vegetable basket, a bamboo chair, and a bamboo sieve.
Finally, she also bought the "treasure of the stall" - a bamboo rocking chair, which had not been sold in several large markets in Dazhu Village.
Yu Zhile paid the deposit very readily. The people from Dazhu Village and Datou Village were so happy that they smiled from ear to ear and promised to deliver the goods to her door as soon as the gathering was over.
The agreed time was almost up and she had to go to the supply and marketing cooperative, so she had to quickly walk to the locust tree, hand two pieces of maltose to Uncle Yu, and ask him to help look after the backpack.
"No need, just go and I'll show you." Master Yu waved his hand.
Actually, he and Grandpa Yu have the same ancestor, so Yu Zhile can be considered his great-niece.
Yu Zhile directly stuffed the candy into his hand and said, "Second Grandpa, you have a sweet mouth."
She turned around and ran to the supply and marketing cooperative, and directly bought two months' supply of oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, which made the sales clerk at the counter look at her sideways.
Then she went to another counter and weighed a pound of peach cakes and a pound of fruit candy.
When she passed by the fabric counter, an older woman greeted her: "Le Ni, why don't you come to the supply and marketing cooperative when Tao Hong is here?"
Yu Zhile stopped. The Yu Taohong mentioned by the eldest sister was the old lady’s most beloved youngest daughter.
"Sister, we have separated." With just one sentence, she stopped her sister from talking nonsense.
The eldest sister smiled awkwardly: "I haven't heard Taohong say this either."
Yu Zhile curled her lips and left. After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, she always felt that someone was following her.
Turning back suddenly, she saw a thin figure flash into the alley.
After a few seconds, the man walked up to Yu Zhile in small steps and said weakly, "I, I just saw you buying a lot of things at the market, and I wanted to ask if you want to buy some flowers to plant?"
As she spoke, she lifted the grass from the top layer of the bamboo basket she was carrying.
"You are engaging in speculation." Yu Zhile looked at her warily.
The girl was very thin, her chin seemed to be deliberately sharpened, her clothes were tattered, but her nails were neat.
After hearing what Yu Zhile said, she turned pale and shook her head quickly: "No, I, I, I don't have any."
"Wait, I want them all." Yu Zhile stopped her before running to pay and handed her fifty cents.
The girl thanked him quietly and ran away.
By the time Zhile returned to the locust tree, half of the people had already arrived and were gathering in groups of three or four to gossip about Yu Zhile.
In just a few hours, Yu Zhile became the representative of spendthrifts in the eyes of everyone.
Faced with repeated lectures, she simply replied calmly: "Excuse me, did you use your family's money?"
It was already noon when he returned to the village. Yu Zhile took great effort to move the things he bought to the front door of his house, but he saw a large bamboo basket.
A faint whimpering sound came from the bamboo basket.
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