Chapter 22
"Why did she suddenly stop moving?"
Shaoxing Yang circled around Lu Shiyu several times, but Lu Shiyu still stood there, seemingly making some difficult decision.
"Could it be that Lu Shiyu is not very good at cooking pumpkin?" Yan Hong looked at the pumpkin covered with round spots and began to wonder whether it could be eaten raw. She didn't know whether this kind of pumpkin would be poisonous if eaten raw.
"It's decided! Let's do that!"
Lu Shiyu's sudden voice startled Shaoxing Yang.
Shao Xingyang came close to Yan Hong and whispered, "What are you trying to do? You're so excited."
Lu Shiyu turned around and asked a few people: "Who of you can help me find some other ingredients?"
"Are you still looking for more?" Yan Hong glanced at the spoils from the battle in the vegetable garden: "This much is enough to eat."
"But pumpkin and squash alone without other ingredients won't taste good," Lu Shiyu said. "Why don't we go see if the ducks are edible?"
"Are you still going to provoke those ducks?" Shao Xingyang touched the wound that Chen Yunliang had just healed and said, "I don't want to be chased again."
"Go and see if you can eat the one on the ground. If not, forget it."
Shaoxing Yang received the order and returned to the village. He avoided houses along the way and tried to walk in the middle to prevent a black thorn ball from suddenly flying down at any time.
The duck was found successfully, but looking at the dead state of the duck, Shaoxing Yang could not say that it died with its eyes open.
"Is this edible or not?"
Shaoxing Yang had no cooking experience at all, let alone judging ingredients, especially since it was meat. He originally wanted to drag the duck back to ask for directions regardless of whether it was edible or not. However, when Shaoxing Yang picked up the duck's wings, he discovered a row of red bumps hidden under the wings.
These bumps are exactly the duck's anus, and this duck is actually a mammal!
Shaoxing Yang was silent for five seconds, imagining what the duck would look like on the plate, and finally put the duck back.
"How's it going? Did you find it?"
"No, probably dragged away and eaten by some other animal."
"Forget it then," Lu Shiyu didn't think it was a pity: "Let's wait and see what others can bring back."
After a while, Yanhong came back covered in weeds and duck feathers, bringing with her a basket of eggs.
"Those duck nests stink, what a smell!"
Yan Hong put down the duck eggs with a curse, took out the towel from her backpack, dipped it in water and wrung it out, then put it into her clothes to wipe her body.
"You went to steal duck eggs? You're in such a mess."
"It's because those ducks are too alert. If I didn't have their scent on me, they would have spotted me immediately."
After wiping, Yan Hong threw the towel into the basin and couldn't help but complain, "Why do I always feel that what we are doing now is getting further and further away from our original mission area! It feels like we are looking for food every day. If you don't know us, you would think we are a foraging team."
"Task division area? What is that?" Lu Shiyu, who was originally peeling a pumpkin, suddenly became interested when he heard Yan Hong's words.
"Oh, that," Yan Hong squatted down and rubbed the towel in the basin. "There are different divisions of labor among the exploration teams, and generally they don't change. Everyone stays in one area until they are thoroughly familiar with it."
"For example, those responsible for collecting will continue to collect, and those responsible for mapping will continue to map. In the end, the collectors will know by memory where things are and how to collect them. The mapmakers can draw a relatively detailed map just by listening to a simple description. Our team's main task is to explore places that are far away and away from most exploration teams. It's like playing the vanguard."
"Besides the fixed tasks, won't you do anything else?" Lu Shiyu asked.
"No, there are people specifically assigned to do the odd jobs. Everyone just needs to do their own job well. If you interfere with other people's work, you'll be ostracized," Yan Hong said after pouring out the slightly turbid water in the basin. "But the exploration teams don't really communicate much, so it doesn't matter."
"It sounds like the relationship between colleagues is quite bad..."
"If it weren't for work, I wouldn't want to have anything to do with that group of people." Yan Hong got angry when she thought of them: "They're all just pretenders, haha."
Lu Shiyu only peeled the small pumpkin and cleaned the dirt on the surface of the big pumpkin. Shaoxing Yang thought that Lu Shiyu was only going to cook the small pumpkin and not the big pumpkin today, and was worried that there would not be enough to eat. However, Lu Shiyu shook his head and told him to just wait and eat.
Lu Shiyu used a knife to cut a jagged opening in the top of the large pumpkin, removed the top, and used a spoon to reach inside the pumpkin to hollow out the seeds. He then peeled and deseeded the small pumpkin, then cut it into small pieces. He also took out the baby-like flesh left over from last time and cut it into small pieces as well.
Pour water into an iron pot and put an empty bowl in the water. The water level should not exceed the height of the bowl. Put the fruit pulp and pumpkin pieces into the bowl and steam them. Poke them with chopsticks to make sure they are completely soft and glutinous, then take them out, crush them together and stir them into a paste.
At this time, take out the hollowed-out pumpkin, place it on the fire, and pour clean water and pumpkin puree into it.
While Lu Shiyu was dealing with the pumpkin, Shaoxing Yang sneaked over to the pumpkin pot and sighed as he looked at the bubbling pumpkin pot.
"Oh, the soup is so bland, I have to help."
As he spoke, while no one around was noticing, Shaoxing Yang quickly threw something into the pot, then walked away as if nothing had happened, secretly excitedly waiting for the little surprise he had added to be discovered.
After Lu Shiyu peeled off the skin of the pumpkin covered with circles of threads, he removed the seeds and cut into pieces, threw it into the pumpkin pot, and boiled it with other ingredients. When the ingredients in the pumpkin pot were almost cooked, Lu Shiyu added seasonings and a spoonful of ant honey and stirred them evenly. He also took five duck eggs from the basket and beat them in the pumpkin pot. The pumpkin pot was easily filled with eggs. Next, he just had to cover the pumpkin pot and wait for it to be cooked.
Lu Shiyu looked at Shaoxing Yang, who was rubbing his hands and waiting, and said, "You seem to be looking forward to this dish. Do you like pumpkin?"
"Ah? Haha, actually I'm not picky about food, I eat everything, I'm just too hungry right now," Shao Xingyang said carelessly, "How long do we have to wait? I'm starving."
"Just wait five more minutes for the eggs to be cooked." Lu Shiyu felt a little strange when he saw Shaoxingyang's expression, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
After waiting for a few minutes, Lu Shiyu opened the lid on the pumpkin. The eggs on the top had turned into a layer of round and plump boiled eggs. Lu Shiyu carefully scooped them out one by one. The boiled eggs were shaking in the bowl, and the yolks inside seemed like they would flow out at any time.
Lu Shiyu put a fried egg in everyone's bowl, and then went to check the pumpkin pot. The soup in the pumpkin pot had turned into a beautiful golden color. Lu Shiyu finally dripped a few drops of the red jam he had made earlier on the soup as decoration, and the pumpkin soup was ready.
"It's even better than I expected," Lu Shiyu exclaimed as he looked at the pumpkin soup that had turned a perfect golden color. "This pumpkin is really good. The soup is even golden enough."
"Hurry up and give me a bowl! I can't wait." Shaoxing Yang urged Lu Shiyu to come.
Yan Hong, however, keenly sensed something was wrong and asked, "Why are you so active today?"
"Ah? What did you say?" Shaoxing Yang's eyes dodged, but it attracted Yan Hong's even more suspicious look.
"You're usually so hesitant when eating, always waiting for the captain to finish before you eat. Why are you demanding to eat first?"
"Well, that's because those deformed creatures look so weird," Shao Xingyang said nonsense. "I finally get to eat such normal food, so isn't it normal for me to be happy? You're being too sensitive."
"Am I too sensitive or am I right?" Yan Hong looked at Shao Xingyang and said, "Don't try to fool me."
While the two were still pulling each other, Tang Zeyu and Chen Yunliang on the other side had already started eating.
Tang Zeyu blew on the boiling pumpkin soup. The soup was mellow and rich, as rich as melted gold. It was neither thin juice nor thick paste. The surface of the soup had a soft luster, and large pieces of zucchini pulp and finely chopped pumpkin pulp were floating in the soup.
Tang Zeyu took a sip directly from the bowl. The first thing he could feel was the aroma of pumpkin wrapped in heat. After steaming, the sweetness of the pumpkin was completely boiled out, as if it was concentrated in this bowl of soup. Strands of pumpkin pieces floated in the soup and went down his throat, adding a richer taste. If he savored it carefully, he could taste the milky aroma.
When you first put the vine melon in your mouth, you might mistake it for a pumpkin. After all, its appearance is completely assimilated into the pumpkin, and the outer layer is covered with a thick layer of pumpkin soup. But as you eat it later, you can taste the unique freshness inside the vine melon, as if you are eating a piece of heated honeydew melon.
Shao Xingyang saw that several people had already started eating, and his voice turned up a few degrees, saying, "Why have you already started eating?"
"Who told you to keep messing around with Yan Hong?" Chen Yunliang said without any psychological burden. "You didn't eat properly at mealtime. You should be quiet after everyone finishes eating."
"Don't say that. There are plenty of pumpkins, enough for you to eat." Lu Shiyu turned to Shaoxing Yang and Yan Hong and said, "Come and try some too. This pumpkin is really sweet."
The two people who were playing around moved over reluctantly and picked up their bowls to eat.
Chen Yunliang placed the poached egg in his bowl and poked the yolk with a spoon. The tender yellow egg liquid flowed out from the snow-white egg white. Chen Yunliang mixed the poached egg and pumpkin soup thoroughly and tasted it. He felt that the taste was not as good as drinking the soup directly.
“Not all food combinations are delicious.”
Chen Yunliang silently finished a bowl of pumpkin soup mixed with a poached egg, feeling that the natural sweetness of the pumpkin had been destroyed.
"Oh! It's really delicious and sweet, just like a dessert." Shaoxing Yang was also captivated by the delicious pumpkin soup: "I should have brought out a few more pumpkins earlier. It's worth it to be beaten."
"I hope you'll remember what you said next time you get beaten," Yan Hong said, and then she took a sip of the soup. The rich flavor was beyond her expectations. "Hmm, why is it so delicious?"
"Right, right," Lu Shiyu said, holding the bowl. "This pumpkin tastes much better than the pumpkins at the base. It would be great if we could bring it to the base for mass cultivation."
Yan Hong imagined that scenario and shook her head. "I feel like they'll start killing each other before they can achieve mass production, causing a sharp drop in production. And who knows, they might even have to pay workers' compensation for injuries."
"Ah, that seems to be the case," Lu Shiyu thought, biting his spoon. "But it's a shame that such a delicious pumpkin variety can't be cultivated artificially."
"Hey, I'm saying, you really can't taste any difference in this?" Shaoxing Yang said, pointing to the soup in the bowl.
"What's different?" Lu Shiyu thought for a long time but couldn't think of anything unusual about the soup.
"Tell me! What did you do secretly again?" Yan Hong had already guessed that according to Shao Xingyang's character, he probably did something secretly and was waiting to be discovered. An elbow strike almost sent Shao Xingyang flying with the bowl.
"Oh, actually I put some cheese in the soup," Shaoxing Yang scratched his head, "How come none of you noticed?"
"Cheese?" Tang Zeyu looked at the orange-yellow soup: "No wonder it has a faint milky taste."
"Cheese? Where did you get the cheese?" Lu Shiyu asked.
"Is there any need to ask? It must be the snacks that this kid brought secretly."
After saying that, Yan Hong stood up and started to rummage through Chen Yunliang's backpack. Chen Yunliang quickly put down his bowl to stop her.
"Hey, hey, hey! Stop turning it over! There really isn't much! It's not enough for me to eat!"
"Bullshit! You've never left the base without bringing snacks!"
In the end, Yanhong returned with an arm full of snacks, leaving Shaoxingyang crying while holding his obviously shriveled backpack.
"Robbery! This is blatant robbery!"
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