Chapter 38, Inn No. 38: Soft-shelled Eel
The weather has been great lately, with no rain, and Qian Si and his team are making good progress in building their base. They've now started ramming the earthen walls, which is the most time-consuming part. To build a sturdy and durable wall, it has to be rammed thoroughly, which is very labor-intensive.
Yunyin could only prepare more cooling herbal tea for them, so that they could avoid working during the midday hours and work while it was still cool.
Since Madam Xia bought fruit from her, other women have also been buying fruit from her. Zheng Dong hasn't even transported the fruit to the county town to sell yet, but she's helped sell quite a bit.
According to Zheng Guilan, the villagers were still unwilling to pay the money. Zheng Dong had no choice but to find a few willing people to share the cost, and then sell the produce in the county town.
“Those who are unwilling will definitely regret it later,” Zheng Guilan said while washing vegetables. “Once others make money, they will complain that Zheng Dong didn’t help them make money.”
Yunyin shrugged and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. When we're broke, we don't dare spend a single penny, for fear of wasting it all."
Zheng Guilan agreed, "That's true. If my wife hadn't hired me, I would have saved all the money. In case I get sick or something, I'd be left with nothing but waiting to die."
"Besides, I also need to support Ahe, so I can't afford not to save money. The villagers are the same; they don't dare to spend money casually. Who knows if they can sell the fruit? They've tried selling it before, but very few people in town would buy it. Since they haven't made any money, they certainly won't spend any."
Yunyin looked at Fang He, who was playing with Hei Dou, and said, "Madam Zheng, would you like to let Ahe learn something?"
Zheng Guilan asked in confusion, "What else do we need to learn? She can wash clothes and cook now, and she can manage the household after she gets married."
"It's better for girls to learn something." She looked at Fang He, whose face had become a little fuller in just a few days. She was no longer as reserved as when she first arrived, and had regained some of the innocence and liveliness of a child.
She said meaningfully, "I'd like to learn how to make sauces or any other cooking skills from you. As long as I have a skill, I won't be at a loss when I encounter anything in the future."
"I only bought your sauce because you know how to make it."
Zheng Guilan glanced back at her daughter, who was smiling brightly, and pondered for a moment before saying, "I understand what Yun Niangzi means. If you have skills, you won't have trouble making money. Then I'll teach her how to make sauce; it's not difficult."
Yunyin was discussing with her where to learn when Zheng Dong came over carrying two buckets of things. He nodded to Zheng Guilan and said to Yunyin, "Wife, I've brought you some food."
"What are you giving me? Don't spend so much money. I have everything I need."
Upon seeing the contents of the bucket, Yunyin paused, then quickly changed her words, saying, "Oh, thank you so much. It's kind of you to bring me shrimp and eels."
Zheng Dong scratched his head: "I heard from Brother Lin that you want to raise prawns and eels. You must really like eating them, so I specially caught some."
Yunyin looked at the lively shrimp in the bucket with a smile in her eyes. Thinking about her aquaculture plan, she asked, "Are shrimp and eels easy to find?"
Actually, Yunyin really wanted to eat crayfish, but crayfish are still overseas, so Dazhao can't eat them. They can only eat green shrimp, which tastes completely different from crayfish, but it's still delicious.
Zheng Dong helped put the shrimp and eels into a basin. When she asked, he replied, "They were easy to find. There are quite a few shrimp in the stream. You must not have noticed them for a long time. There are also quite a few in Pingxi."
Yunyin wasn't unaware of it, but fewer people were eating shrimp lately, and she wasn't catching fish in the stream anymore. She hadn't paid attention to the situation in the stream for a long time, and she didn't expect that the river shrimp from before had grown so big.
Not many people eat river shrimp, only she and Fu Wang like to eat them, so she doesn't need to raise too many. She can cook and eat them herself, and make shrimp balls from the leftovers.
She really wants to raise eels, but catching them in the wild doesn't guarantee a certain number. If she raises them herself, she can eat them whenever she wants. She can also ask Zheng Dong if they can catch crabs.
Zheng Dong: "Eels are not hard to catch. There are many on the ridges of fields and by the ponds. We usually catch them and take them home to make soup. The meat is very tender and tastes even better than fish. There are no big bones, only one bone, so we don't have to worry about children eating them."
Looking at the large basin full of eels, Yunyin smiled and said, "Alright, you can go back to the village and say that I need eels. See if anyone is selling them."
Zheng Dong nodded and said, "If Lady Yun wants to buy it, there will definitely be someone willing to sell it. I'll go back and tell them, and they'll be happy."
"As for crabs, I'll have to ask; they should be able to catch some too."
After seeing Zheng Dong off, Yunyin asked Zheng Guilan to chop some garlic while she cleaned the prawns. Since there were no chili peppers, she made garlic prawns, which were just as good as spicy ones. Of course, she also ordered salt and pepper prawns and braised prawns. Today, they would have a whole prawn feast.
A delicious aroma wafted over, and even those who hadn't planned to eat shrimp for lunch couldn't help but exclaim, "Miss Yun, your shrimp smells amazing! I want some too!"
Just as Yunyin agreed, a person at the next table said, "Shopkeeper, I'd like a serving of shrimp too."
Looking at the endless stream of orders, Yunyin couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. She had thought they didn't like shrimp, but it turned out they just didn't like small shrimp.
She finished preparing the shrimp she had previously processed, and seeing that no one wanted any more shrimp, she asked Zheng Guilan to process some more using the same method she had just used. As she was frying the shrimp, a dark shadow fell over her head, blocking the light from her.
Yunyin looked up and asked in surprise, "Has Young Master Fu finished delivering the goods?"
Fu Wang smelled the fragrant shrimp aroma, pursed his lips, and said, "Yes, it's time to take a good rest. That's why I came here for a meal."
“Our boss has been craving Yun Niangzi’s cooking.” Wang Shitou, standing behind Fu Wang, said with a grin. “He didn’t rest much on the way back, but I also really miss Yun Niangzi’s cooking. Even if our boss hadn’t said he would come over, I would have come over to eat.”
Fu Wang glared at Wang Shitou and said, "Who finished the mushroom sauce shortly after we set off? And who ate the mushroom sauce I brought later as well?"
Wang Shitou touched his nose and said, "I'm right again. You used to really enjoy eating in the city. Every time you finished delivering goods, you would stay there for a few days. This time, after delivering the goods, you urged us to set off. Wasn't it because you came back for Yun Niangzi's meal?"
"Don't be shy, boss. I also love Yun Niangzi's cooking. It's not a bad thing."
Fu Wang ignored Wang Shitou and smiled at Yun Yin, saying, "Bring us a few dishes. Yun Niangzi can make anything; you can arrange it as you see fit."
Yunyin looked at the eels in the basin and asked, "Does Young Master Fu eat eels? If so, I'll make you some."
Fu Wang looked at the eels swimming in the basin and nodded: "I can eat them, you don't need to worry about them."
Wang Shitou snorted and said, "It's like you're saying that nobody eats. Back in the army, we ate all sorts of things." He turned to Yunyin and said, "Yunniangzi, don't listen to him. We'll eat whatever you make. I've been thinking about it for a long time. I only ate your noodles before, and I'm still craving them."
"By the way, Lady Yun, do you still make noodles? If you do, give me a bowl first."
Yunyin raised her chin and said to Zhang Lin, "Zhang Lin, make them a bowl of noodles."
Looking at Zhang Lin, who had grown a bit taller, Fu Wang said to Yun Yin, "It seems he can already help you a lot."
Yunyin hummed in agreement and said, "He can indeed be of great help. It's all thanks to him. He can not only help me make noodles, but also help me farm."
Fu Wang remained silent for a long time before saying, "That's good."
Yunyin told them to find a place to sit down and stopped chatting with him, focusing on processing the eels.
Yunyin hadn't originally planned to make complicated dishes. If Fu Wang hadn't come today, she wouldn't have intended to sell this dish called Soft-shelled Eel for the time being. It's a very famous dish that has been served at state banquets, and it's a bit troublesome to make.
If she sells this dish too cheaply, she'll lose money; if she sells it too expensively, even merchants won't accept it. It's only worthwhile to sell this dish to people who like to eat it or people who have money.
This dish is quite troublesome to prepare, but the taste is absolutely amazing.
Yunyin boils a pot of water and adds scallions, ginger, and peppercorns to remove the fishy smell. Then, she pours in vinegar and salt. These are essential for removing the slime from the eel. If you don't add them, the cooked eel will have a lot of slime.
Pour the cooked hot soup through a strainer into a bucket. Once the eels are still, pour the soup back into the pot and cook for a while until the eels open their mouths.
Pour out the cooked eel and rinse it with cold water. Then, take a bamboo knife and remove the meat from the back and belly of the eel. You must be steady and quick in this step. Place the removed eel meat in a safe place.
Yunyin loves to eat eels. She put in a lot of effort to learn how to quickly extract the eel meat. The extracted meat was intact and undamaged. She then separated the eel blood and bones, which could be used to make other dishes later.
Fu Wang watched as Yun Yin skillfully removed the eel meat. He didn't know how many times she had done it before; her movements were fluid and graceful. In no time, she filled a large basin with eel meat.
At this moment, Zhang Lin's noodles were ready. Fu Wang looked at the emerald green noodles and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Wife, you're making locust leaf cold pottery here too."
Upon hearing his words, Yunyin replied while picking eel meat, "Isn't this the perfect time to eat locust leaves? There's a big locust tree behind us, and I picked some to make cold pottery."
"It's too hot outside, so eating cold rice noodles is more refreshing. You should try it and see how it tastes."
Fu Wang took a bite; it was cool and refreshing, with the aroma of minced garlic and vinegar that whetted his appetite.
The cold noodles were refreshingly different, and he finished them all in no time. Seeing how quickly they ate, Yunyin said, "My dishes haven't been served yet. Don't eat noodles and get full."
Fu Wang put down his chopsticks, took a sip of water, and said, "I can eat. Zhang Lin's cooking is quite good. I wonder what it tastes like when Lady Yun makes it. I wonder if I will have the honor of trying it."
Yunyin shrugged and said, "If you come over in the morning and try it, you'll find that there's not much difference. I've been making noodles every morning lately, so there's no need for you to make a special trip. You're finally getting a break, so just stay home."
Fu Wang: "Then I'll come over tomorrow morning to try the cold pottery made by Lady Yun and see what it tastes like. Lady Yun, you don't need to worry, coming to eat is also a form of rest for me."
Seeing that he was determined, Yunyin didn't say anything more. She said, "Try steamed locust flowers. It's the last season to eat locust flowers. If you come back any later, you won't be able to eat this year's locust flowers."
The freshly cooked locust flowers have a wonderful aroma. Dipped in minced garlic, sesame oil, and vinegar, they are fragrant and soft to the taste, leaving one with a lingering sense of melancholy after eating them.
"I almost missed such delicious food." Fu Wang's wandering soul seemed to be cleansed by a sprig of locust blossoms. Watching Yun Yin busy at work, he suddenly felt that this kind of simple yet down-to-earth life was not bad.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
