Chapter 99 (Spicy Pig's Trotters)
After entertaining Dongdong, it was time for Yan Qiushu to go back.
Before leaving, she told Madam Xiao that her son was injured last night and Madam Xiao herself did not sleep well. She was old and would not be in good condition if she worked hard. So after saying a few words, she asked Madam Huang and Xiao Huaiting to see her off.
Yan Qiushu refused. After blowing up the scorpion, Xiao Huaiting came out of the main room and passed by her. He went in to say hello. He had something to do and couldn't see her off, but he gave her a gift.
It was a jade hairpin with a green flower ornament, wrapped in a golden hairpin, but the style was simple and small, not eye-catching.
After telling Mrs. Xiao, Yan Qiushu turned and left.
But when she reached the outer door, Xiao Huaiya was standing there waiting for her, carrying a bag. When he saw her coming, his eyes lit up and he took two or three steps forward to greet her: "You're finally here. I've been waiting for you for a while."
"What are you doing?" Yan Qiushu looked at her strangely.
Xiao Huaiya's eyes curved, and she said embarrassedly, "I want to stay at your place for two days."
Yan Qiushu hadn't expected that after last night, she would actually be even more enthusiastic towards her. She had thought they would be good sisters in the future, but this time she was going to move back with her. "Are you sure?"
Xiao Huaiya nodded vigorously, the hairpins on her temples swaying with it, her beautiful eyebrows and eyes were very determined: "Are you sure? You... won't unwelcome my dad?"
As she spoke, she looked at Yan Qiushu with some worry, afraid that she didn't like her that much.
Yan Qiushu hurriedly shook her head: "No, no, then you go up and we'll leave now."
Xiao Huaiya was immediately delighted and quickly got into the car. She practiced martial arts and climbed into the car very quickly. When Yan Qiushu got in, she even reached out to help.
The two of them sat up, and Yan Qiushu asked Huang Ma to go back. Huang Ma looked at them with a smile and nodded, saying, "I understand, Miss. Xiangjun, please walk slowly. If you need anything, please send someone to tell me."
"I will." Yan Qiushu responded, and after Shui Yu got on, the driver started the car.
She looked at Xiao Huaiya curiously, still a little puzzled.
Xiao Huaiya has almond-shaped eyes, which curve when she smiles, and are open normally when she is not smiling. Her pupils are relatively large, with little white in her eyes, making her eyes look particularly dark and bright.
At this moment, she frowned and sighed, "I came here to hide. Last night, we offended Qin Rou. She was in the wrong at the time, but when she comes to her senses, she will definitely find fault with me. In the past, I would definitely whip her and make her cry and curse, but now I can't do that. I can only hide."
As Xiao Huaiya spoke, her eyes narrowed slightly, and her delicate eyebrows revealed a bit of hostility.
This was also the reason why she didn't want to come back before.
The daughter of the Xiao family lived a carefree life. Although her reputation was not so good, her family really loved her and treated her like their own son. Take her name for example. Generally, boys and girls are given different characters in their names, but only the daughter of the Xiao family was not treated differently.
Even when they got married, they recruited a son-in-law. The key was that they were lucky and all the sons-in-law they recruited were excellent. Especially her third sister Xiao Huaiyu's husband, who made countless noble ladies envious and tore their handkerchiefs into pieces. They also mocked Xiao Huaiyu excessively for being rejected in the previous engagement.
Xiao Huaiya was young and hot-tempered. When she heard others insulting her sister, she would hit them back. For a teenage girl, fighting was nothing. She had learned martial arts and could beat the other party so hard that they could only cry and look for their brother. However, when her brothers came over, they were beaten again, so they did not dare to confront her.
But five years ago, the two sides had a falling out, and Xiao Huaiya had difficulty getting married. Unfortunately, of the adult male members of the Xiao family, only Xiao Huaiting and Xiao Huaiqi were dead. Xiao Huaiqi was also weak and sickly at the time, and was blamed by the old emperor for the defeat. Only then did she begin to restrain herself and be patient.
Now that she was back, Qin Rou and Dai Zheng had already married and had children, so they naturally felt qualified to mock her.
Yan Qiushu patted her shoulder and said seriously, "It's okay if we don't get married. Life is only a few decades long. You have to live for yourself. Try to ignore what others say if you can. Don't be affected by it. If they say something too much, just fight back. You can't hit them, but you can scold them. They claim to be aristocrats and a family of etiquette, so they definitely can't scold us."
"Hahaha..." Xiao Huaiya was really happy. He moved to her side affectionately, hugged her, and said softly as if he was acting coquettishly:
"Ah Shu, thank you. My mother thinks it's time for me to get married. I like what you said! I was afraid of getting along with you before, but now I'm not afraid anymore. When you marry Lao Liu, if he bullies you, just tell me. Although I haven't used violence in all these years, my hands and feet are still intact. I'll tie him up and bring him to you to make him admit his mistake!"
Yan Qiushu also smiled: "Okay, I will definitely look for you!"
Yan Qiushu went away for a while and brought a guest with her when she returned.
Zhao Shuhong thought it was someone like Fu Mingwan, and was about to greet her when she saw the girl affectionately holding Yan Qiushu's arm. She was disappointed for a moment.
Yan Qiushu introduced the two to each other, settled Xiao Huaiya down first, had lunch, and then ran to the vegetable garden to see her precious peppers.
Many more peppers were ripe, so she picked them up.
Seeing her busy, Xiao Huaiya followed curiously.
There are few people on the farm. No matter how powerful the Xiao family was before, there were still many maids and old women coming and going. When there are too many people, there will be too much gossip. She was afraid of being gossiped about.
But there are not many maids on the farm, only servants. However, generally everyone is busy working in the fields. They will only help deliver some things when guests come. They are not needed for other purposes, as guests will bring their own servants.
That's why Xiao Huaiya dared to come out like this now. When he walked out, the vast fields were more comfortable to look at than when he was in the Taoist temple before. In the middle of summer, the plants were all green, which was comfortable for the eyes. When he looked up, he saw the endless blue sky again.
"That's great!" Xiao Huaiya sighed and followed Yan Qiushu's example to help pick peppers.
Yan Qiushu looked at her land and was overjoyed: "Yes, that's great! If it weren't for my aunt and General Xiao, I wouldn't be like this now..."
Xiao Huaiya looked at the busy people in front of her. When she was in the mansion, she was served and didn't have to do anything. She usually played with Dongdong and the others and was as lively as a young lady. But now she was particularly adaptable in the fields, with a calm face. She still felt a little admiration in her heart. There are always people who are ashamed to talk about the help of others, but she is so frank.
No wonder everyone in the family likes her.
Xiao Huaiya felt deeply that she had missed a lot, but she didn't say it out loud. She pretended to be shy and said, "You still call me General Xiao? That's for outsiders."
Yan Qiushu looked back at her helplessly.
Xiao Huaiya chuckled and said, "You really like the Sixth Brother? Actually, I think that of my brothers and sisters, the Sixth Brother is the most boring. The eldest brother looks like a playboy and a gifted scholar. My second brother is very interesting and quirky. Dongdong is like my second brother. Although the Sixth Brother looks like a man of both civil and military talents, he is actually not interesting at all. There was a little girl who liked him very much before, but he disliked her always following him around and getting in the way, and he directly said that to her and made her cry..."
As Yan Qiushu listened to her, she couldn't help but think of a teenager who was still at his most unruly. He would frown and disdain the little girl who followed him, and he would also run off to fight with others at the slightest disagreement...
"Isn't this good?" Yan Qiushu thought and laughed: "This way he won't attract any attention. It's safe!"
"So that's how it is~" Xiao Huaiya suddenly realized: "I'm going to tell Lao Liu that you like him because he doesn't attract bees and butterflies..."
"No!" Yan Qiushu said quickly.
"I will!"
The two laughed and joked for a while. Xiao Huaiya wiped the sweat from his face and suddenly said in a panic, "Ah Shu! It hurts so much! Is something wrong?!"
Yan Qiushu was startled and quickly turned around, only to see that the uncovered part of the girl's cheeks was red. Her skin was delicate to begin with, and when it turned red, it looked very scary.
She immediately led the group back and asked, "Did you see any bugs? Or were you scratched anywhere?"
"...It seems not?" Xiao Huaiya shook her head blankly, holding her hand tightly. She was so scared that her face turned pale, which made the fiery red on her face even more terrifying. "I just touched it, and then my face was burning with pain. Wuwuwu... I'm so miserable..."
Yan Qiushu suddenly stopped, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "You got capsaicin on your face!"
"Ah?" Xiao Huaiya was stunned.
Yan Qiushu explained to her, then looked through her basket. Sure enough, two of the peppers were broken. It looked like they were pecked by a bird, probably because it touched this one.
Xiao Huaiya was relieved, but still felt aggrieved. Soon, her hand, which had a slightly thicker skin, began to feel hot and painful.
Yan Qiushu quickly took her to shower with cold water, and then soaked her in ice water for a while, which made the spiciness on her face and hands disappear.
Xiao Huaiya's eyes were filled with tears, and she looked at the pepper with lingering fear: "It tastes so delicious, but I didn't expect it to be so scary!"
Yan Qiushu suppressed her laughter and applied ointment to her: "Spicy is a pain sensation, not a taste sensation, but we just happen to like chili peppers. Is it uncomfortable? Seeing how miserable you are, I can make you whatever you want to eat."
Xiao Huaiya's eyes lit up and she no longer felt uncomfortable: "It's okay, I want to eat pig's trotters! I heard that pig's trotters are delicious. I asked the chef to make them, but they are definitely not as delicious as yours!"
Yan Qiushu naturally agreed, as she was also thinking about what to eat.
In addition to pig's trotters, you can also make something else, such as stinky tofu, which we haven't eaten for a long time. This thing is very lethal. Although Dongdong and his friends like it very much, there are substitutes, so no one asked for it.
Yan Qiushu always ate alone, which was a bit boring, so she cooked less.
But now she has two new partners, and she wants to see if they like them?
If they are willing to eat pig's trotters, then there is a high possibility that they like it, Yan Qiushu thought, and ran to the kitchen to show off her cooking skills.
Xiao Huaiya felt embarrassed to eat for free, and it was definitely not possible for her to pay money given their relationship, so she followed him to the kitchen and wanted to help, but she knew nothing. Zhao Shuhong and Yan Qiushu could handle most of the things, so she couldn't find any work for her to do.
So she looked at it for a long time and said, "Then I'll go chop wood."
Zhao Shuhong: “???”
Yan Qiushu, who had never seen Xiao Huaiya do heavy work, was also surprised. Seeing that she really went to chop wood, the two of them secretly watched her while she was busy. They saw that she was wearing a beautiful dress and wielding the hoe with great vigor.
Those slender arms didn't look very strong, but with one hoe strike, they could chop a thick piece of wood into two halves, one at a time, very quickly, as if they didn't feel tired at all.
"Oh my god..." Zhao Shuhong murmured.
Yan Qiushu said "fuck" countless times in her heart and then worked silently. This was the foundation of other people's martial arts training since childhood. She was a loser, lazy, and didn't like to exercise. She could only rely on dieting to lose weight, so she didn't envy them.
It is not difficult to cook pig's trotters. They started cooking quite early. Yan Qiushu put the last bit of seasoning in, added water, covered the pot, asked Shui Yu to help simmer it over low heat, and then started to do other things.
There are three people, plus Shui Yan, making four people in total, so we have to cook more food.
Cooking is sometimes a kind of enjoyment, especially when you are chatting with people around you. You can chat while working without feeling tired and the work can be done in a short time.
After the pig's trotters are stewed until they are well-seasoned, the spicy aroma wafts out from the gaps in the pot lid, carrying with it a strong meaty aroma that is so strong that it makes people unable to walk.
Manager Gu came over and told Yan Qiushu that someone had made a reservation to stay here today. When she smelled the aroma, she couldn't help but drool.
He had eaten a lot of delicious food, but the food made by his own master was always especially delicious.
Yan Qiushu had cooked a lot today, including a lot of pig's trotters, which can be greasy if eaten too much. Seeing that Steward Gu kept looking towards the kitchen, she smiled and said, "Wait a moment, I'll serve you a bowl."
"No, no, this won't do..." Manager Gu waved his hands repeatedly, trying to refuse.
But I couldn't bear to move.
Yan Qiushu ran to get a bowl. It was almost ready to eat, but the other dishes were not ready yet, so she let it stew for a while longer. The longer the pig's trotters were stewed, the more delicious they would be!
After the last dish of green vegetables was prepared, Shuijue started to serve the pig's trotters.
Yan Qiushu started to make her stinky tofu. She put pieces of stinky tofu into the hot oil. After a while, the stinky tofu that had sunk to the bottom would float up, and then the belly of the tofu block would become bigger and bigger, and finally swell up.
At this point, you can fish it out.
The stinky tofu sauce tastes different with the addition of chili peppers, even better! Yan Qiushu skillfully arranged the tofu in a row, puncturing their bulging bellies one by one, pouring the sauce in, and then placing them on a plate, arranging them like a tower, and pouring the remaining sauce from top to bottom.
The dark brown sauce flowed all the way onto the plate, staining the white plate dark brown. A few red chili rings lost their balance and rolled down from the top, landing on the plate like a small red flower.
Finally, sprinkle with chopped green onions and you’re done.
Yan Qiushu carried the tray over with great anticipation. The two people who were already seated suddenly sniffed. Zhao Shuhong hesitated and said, "Girl, do you smell it? Where does it stink?"
Xiao Huaiya nodded and frowned.
Shui Yu tilted her head and smiled secretly, then put down her bowl and chopsticks without saying a word and quietly retreated.
She was not needed at this time, so she could go and eat the food Yan Qiushu had left for her.
Yan Qiushu coughed lightly and put down the source of the stench: "This is stinky tofu, do you like it? It's delicious!"
To prove her words, she took the lead in picking up a piece. The taste was even spicier than before, with a rich salty and fragrant juice coming out of the crispy tofu shell. The stinky tofu was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and tasted really delicious.
Xiao Huaiya and Zhao Shuhong looked at each other. The latter was a bit bolder and ate it directly, but she still held her breath before eating. When she put it in her mouth, her eyes lit up: "This tastes good!"
Xiao Huaiya hesitated for a moment, not because of anything else, but because she had not taken off her veil. However, since they had already decided to have dinner together, she slowly took off her veil and then picked up a piece of stinky tofu with chopsticks.
She ate delicately, taking small bites, and the stinky tofu was bitten in half, and the juice fell into the bowl, but what she got was enough, the sauce was thick and the stinky tofu was crispy.
Xiao Huaiya nodded while eating: "Delicious, delicious!"
Yan Qiushu smiled with satisfaction and started eating. There wasn't much stinky tofu, and each person only ate two or three pieces. After the stinky tofu was gone, the three of them focused their attention on the highlight of the day.
After a long period of stewing, the spicy pig's trotters have been thoroughly flavored. The pig's trotters dyed brown are cut into small pieces, each piece has soft and tender pork skin and meat.
There is less fat in this place. When Yan Qiushu picked up the meat, she dipped it in the soup. As soon as she ate the hot pig's trotter, the taste, which was even spicier than stinky tofu, began to spread on her tongue. After eating two more bites of the meat, she felt it was even more delicious, especially the meat was tender and not greasy.
However, the pig's trotters were cut into pieces that were a bit large, making it inconvenient to hold them with chopsticks. After a brief thought, Yan Qiushu decisively took action and held them with both hands, which was more convenient!
Xiao Huaiya also thought the food was delicious, but it was a little difficult. If there was no one else around, she would have just used her hands, but wasn't this outside?
But when he saw Yan Qiushu doing the same thing, he felt relieved to follow her example.
Pinch the pig's trotter bones with two fingers and take a bite, steady and without worrying about the trotter falling off.
When Xiao Huaiya took a bite, she found that the pig's trotter was really soft and tender. Her teeth had clearly bitten through the flesh, but there was a thread that was not separated, and it was torn apart by her teeth.
When the two sides were finally separated, the meat on the pig's trotter bounced back, and was visibly soft and delicious.
She ate the meat happily and smiled at Yan Qiushu: "As expected! Ah Shu, your cooking is the best!"
It was right to follow Yan Qiushu out this time!
It’s much happier than staying in a Taoist temple and eating vegetarian food!
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