Chapter 51 - Chicken Stew with Two Kinds of Mushrooms, a Delicious Mountain Delicacies...
Pei Ying lowered her eyes without showing any emotion, and suddenly recalled the feeling of their fingers intertwined.
The sun was slowly moving westward, and the setting sun stretched the shadows of the two of them long. Pei Ying finished what she was doing, and Lin Chuntao also came to her senses.
"Could you get me a cutting board? I need to chop it up and start cooking."
Lin Chuntao got up and brought out the cutting board.
After the chicken pieces were chopped, Pei Ying went to clean the intestines, while Lin Chuntao washed the pot, added lard, and started stir-frying the chicken.
Chicken stewed with matsutake mushrooms doesn't need to be stir-fried until golden brown like last time. Just stir-fry it briefly to render some chicken fat. Once it's almost done, Lin Chuntao adds water, puts in the cleaned offal, covers it, and starts cooking.
After finishing all that, Pei Ying took the wood ash and washed her hands twice more.
When Lin Chunxing and the others returned, the chicken in the pot was already simmering and smelling delicious. The sisters rushed into the yard and shouted, "Sister, the chicken is already cooking?"
Lin Chuntao looked at them and smiled, "It's cooking. Where did you all go today? Why are you back so late?"
Lin Chunhe chuckled and replied to Lin Chuntao, "We went to Shapo with Sister Qingqing and the others. Brother Jiaye said there were yellow peony there, but we didn't find anything."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Hurry up and wash your hands, rest for a while and wait to eat chicken."
After Lin Chunxing put out the pig feed, she casually tossed some to the piglets.
She watched the piglets munching on their feed and smiled at Lin Chuntao, saying, "Sister, the piglets seem to have grown a bit."
These days, there's been a lot going on, and Lin Chuntao has hardly paid any attention to the piglet. It's been Lin Chunxing and the others who have been taking care of it. When she heard Lin Chunxing say this, she went over to peek and saw that it hadn't gained much weight, but its frame had grown bigger, and it was taller and longer.
"It's growing quite fast."
"It should weigh about 200 jin by the time we raise it for the Chinese New Year, right?"
Lin Chunxing's eyes sparkled with anticipation. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "There definitely will be."
Nowadays, it's common for a pig to weigh four or five hundred pounds a year, but with feed and grain, can a grass-fed pig really weigh two hundred pounds? Lin Chuntao wasn't quite sure, but in any case, she would have to find a way to fatten the pig up in a few days, otherwise, even if she slaughtered a two hundred-pound pig, she wouldn't get much lard.
Lin Chuntao gently patted her shoulder, "Go wash your hands, the chicken is almost cooked."
Lin Chunxing smiled and sniffed, "It already smells wonderful."
"I haven't added the termite mushrooms yet. It will smell even better if I add them later."
The two sisters turned around together. Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er, who had already washed their hands, were already gathered around the pot. One of them was fanning the steam from the pot, while the other was sucking in the steam with her eyes closed. Lin Chuntao couldn't help but laugh at their antics.
The sunset on the horizon was like shimmering gold, a breathtaking sight.
They sat in the sunset, listening to the chicken soup bubbling in the iron pot, their faces beaming with happiness.
At the entrance of the Lin family's courtyard, Lin Jialang and his younger siblings squatted by the door, occasionally peering into the distance. Only when Lin Miaomiao returned did they slowly stand up, but then hurriedly went to greet her.
"Sister Miaomiao, you're back?"
Lin Miaomiao gave a faint "hmm," and Lin Jialang wasn't sure what she meant. Had things gone well or not? He could only ask, "How did it go? Did Grandma say anything about a solution?"
Lin Miaomiao remained silent, while Lin Jiacai, standing to the side, showed displeasure.
“Lin Jialang, that’s my maternal grandmother, not yours! What’s your plan to get to your grandmother’s house? It’s not far.”
Lin Jialang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. Were Lin Jiacai and the others going to sever ties with him?
Everything was fine in the morning, but it changed after I went there and came back. That means Lin Miaomiao and the others' problem has been resolved, but it has nothing to do with them.
As for his maternal grandmother's house, he didn't have the courage to go there. Years ago, his mother and aunt had a big fight, and they weren't very popular there.
He thought Lin Miaomiao and the others were in the same boat as him, but he never expected that they would draw a clear line between themselves and him so soon.
"Sister Miaomiao, are we going to separate and live separately?"
Lin Miaomiao was taken aback by Lin Jialang's question, but she quickly replied, "I'm asking for help too. I don't have the ability to take care of you three siblings, so let's live separately."
Lin Jialang looked at Lin Miaomiao's cold eyes for a long time before finally nodding.
Seeing that Lin Jialang readily agreed, Lin Miaomiao didn't say anything. She turned around and went to the kitchen to cook. Lin Jialang asked his younger brother, Lin Jiarong, to help. He said he was going to fetch some firewood. After leaving the yard, he headed towards Lin Cunzheng's house.
Lin Cunzheng and his family had just returned from the mountain when they saw Lin Jialang say that he wanted to divide the family property, and they frowned.
"You six will split it?" Lin Cunzheng asked rhetorically.
Lin Jialang nodded and then said, "Sister Miaomiao went to her maternal grandmother's house today. I don't know what she did, but when she came back she told me that we wanted to live separately. We don't really have anything to divide, but we need to ask Grandpa to help us sort out the food, pots and pans, and the house so that we won't have any entanglements in the future."
The elderly couple exchanged a glance, then sighed and said, "Alright, I'll go with you."
Just as Lin Miaomiao and the others finished making the buckwheat pancakes, Lin Jialang brought Lin Cunzheng in.
He looked at the two flatbreads. Lin Jiacai and the others were holding the thick one, while Lin Jiarong was holding the thin one. Lin Cunzheng's eyes were on Lin Miaomiao, somewhat disappointed, but he didn't say anything.
"Miaomiao, Jialang said you two are going to separate?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Miaomiao frowned, looked at Lin Jialang with displeasure, and said indifferently, "We should live separately. I can't manage six people. Each of us should take care of ourselves."
There's nothing to say about this. Lin Miaomiao is still young, they're all still children. It's not about who takes care of whom, but rather the siblings supporting each other to get through life.
Since they wanted to separate and were willing, he had no choice but to help them.
Looking at the two cakes, Mrs. Sun found them increasingly irritating and said indifferently, "It's fine if they live separately."
"What do you want to distribute first?" Sun asked Lin Jialang, turning around. Lin Jialang saw the cake in his younger brother's hand and replied, "Let's distribute the grain first."
Lin Cunzheng said, "The grain needs to be weighed. Go back and tell your aunt to bring the scale over. Do you have any more sacks at home?"
Lin Jialang went inside to take a look and found two.
Mrs. Sun took it and said, "Okay, then go get the scales."
Lin Jialang left, and the old lady went inside to take a look. Besides the buckwheat noodles, there was also some buckwheat bran, which she took out as well.
Lin Miaomiao was displeased. There wasn't much food left at home, and she had only intended to give Lin Jialang and his family a little bit. She planned to carry the rest to her grandmother's house later. However, she didn't expect Lin Jialang to be so cunning as to call them over without even informing them beforehand. Looking at the old couple, it seemed like they were going to divide the food equally.
She couldn't think of a good reason to refuse to split it equally.
While waiting for Lin Jialang to return with the scale, Chen Dongniang followed along and quickly divided the buckwheat flour and bran into two portions.
A serving of buckwheat noodles weighs 63 jin (approximately 31.5 kg) and contains over 40 jin (approximately 20 kg) of bran.
After the grain was distributed, the houses were distributed. The Lin family had a total of six rooms, and Lin Cunzheng divided them from the middle. Lin Miaomiao and Lin Jialang chose for themselves. Lin Miaomiao took the lead and chose the room where the old lady and the others had lived and the two rooms next to it. Lin Jialang passively accepted the rest. As long as there was a place to live, he didn't have anything to fight for.
There was only one pigsty in the backyard, and next to it was a shed, but it had no door.
Lin Miaomiao said she wanted the pigsty, but the shed next to it was for Lin Jialang.
Since there were no pigs to raise right now, Lin Jialang readily agreed.
After the houses were distributed, all that was left were pots, pans, and some farm tools like baskets.
Bowls and chopsticks can be shared equally, but there is only one iron pot.
Before Sun and Lin Cunzheng could speak, Lin Miaomiao said, "This iron pot should be given to us, but we can give them an extra earthenware pot."
Sun said, "If the bowls and chopsticks are separated, there's only one pot, one steamer, and one kitchen. No matter who gets them, what will happen to the others?"
Lin Miaomiao pouted unconvinced, and Lin Cunzheng said, "We won't separate the steamer, the iron pot, and this kitchen. You can all use them together. When cooking, one of you can finish cooking before the other finishes."
Lin Miaomiao snorted coldly, "What if they do it and then occupy the space and won't let us in to do it?"
Madam Sun frowned. "It's still like this. Who's hogging the job and not letting anyone else do it?"
“You and Jia Cai and Jia Liang are older, so Jia Lang and Xiao Du Juan won’t dare to monopolize your seats. On the contrary, Miao Miao, you are older, so don’t bully your younger siblings.”
“You’ve separated, but you’re not enemies. You’re still cousins. Even though you’re living your own lives, you should still help each other out when needed.”
The old lady was trying to point out that there were already examples right in front of her, to tell Lin Miaomiao not to be so domineering, but it was obvious that she didn't seem to listen and didn't reply.
Lin Cunzheng asked, "Miaomiao? Do you agree to not separating them?"
Lin Miaomiao said irritably, "Whatever you say goes."
Sun said, "There is a way to divide it. It's not that you take the earthenware pot and I take the iron pot. We will divide it equally. You can take the iron pot to the shop in the county town and sell it for money. You can each have half of it. But it won't be easy for you to buy another one after you sell it."
Hearing Sun's words, Lin Miaomiao had a thought, but she only glanced at Sun and said, "Then let's do as Grandma says, we won't divide it, we'll use it together."
Lin Miaomiao agreed, and Lin Jialang had no objections. Afterwards, they divided up all the cabinets, adults' clothes, winnowing baskets, and some chairs and benches in the house.
After the items were divided, Lin Cunzheng drew up a written agreement, and the six siblings put their fingerprints on it. The family was then considered to have been divided.
As they were about to leave, Mrs. Sun asked Lin Miaomiao, "I heard you went to your maternal grandmother's house. Did they agree to let you be adopted?"
Lin Miaomiao revealed a smug look, "I agreed. My eldest uncle went to see my maternal grandfather, and we'll take the household registration certificate to the adoption office tomorrow."
Sun looked at her calmly.
"Okay, it's fine if we can adopt him. We'll all live well together from now on."
After saying that, she looked at Lin Jialang and said, "Jialang, move your things back inside."
Lin Jialang nodded and, after seeing the elderly couple off at the door, began to instruct Lin Jiarong and Xiao Dujuan to carry their belongings into the house.
After watching the old couple leave and closing the gate, Lin Miaomiao cursed in the yard, "Well, Lin Jialang! You've grown some guts now, sneaking off to find Grandpa and the others to divide the family property? Do you think you can curry favor with those old folks like Lin Chuntao and the others?"
Seeing Lin Miaomiao's angry expression, Lin Jialang said in a deep voice, "It was Sister Miaomiao who said you wanted to divide the family, so I went to find Grandpa and the others."
Hearing Lin Jialang's words, Lin Miaomiao was so angry that she gritted her teeth. She wanted to divide the family property, but not in this way!
Lin Jialang, that scoundrel, is just as cunning as his parents.
Lin Miaomiao glared at him through gritted teeth and said hatefully, "You just wait!"
Lin Jialang didn't argue with her. After moving his things in with his younger siblings, he cleaned the house.
By the time he finished, it was almost dark. Lin Jialang sat at the door looking at the empty courtyard and suddenly felt that his heart was even emptier than the courtyard.
Lin Miaomiao and the others have already found their place, but he and his younger siblings are still unsure of what to do next.
Lin Chuntao and the others sat in the sunset eating chicken stew with matsutake mushrooms. The wild pheasant they made last time was very fragrant, but with vegetables and green peppers added, the flavor was spicy and mellow, making it a bit more intense.
The chicken tasted completely different today. The fragrant matsutake mushrooms added made the chicken soup even sweeter. Pei Ying had eaten mushrooms many times, but this was the first time he had eaten matsutake mushrooms. He often heard people in the shop talk about matsutake mushrooms as if they were eating divine meat, and he originally thought they were exaggerating.
To this day, he has tasted the chicken stew with matsutake mushrooms made by Lin Chuntao.
The mushrooms I ate before tasted good and were delicious, but their aroma wasn't very strong. This termite mushroom is different; its delicate aroma blends perfectly with the chicken flavor, making it increasingly irresistible.
This time, Lin Chuntao didn't even want to use the soup to cook vegetables; she drank two bowls of soup before eating.
The younger sisters drank with her, and were quite satisfied afterward. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It's a pity that we can't always find termite mushrooms. Let's fry some termite mushroom oil after we finish eating and keep it. We can add some to our rice noodles later, it will taste amazing."
Pei Ying had already given up on the rice noodles. After finishing his soup, he served himself rice and started soaking the rice in the soup. The chicken and chicken soup tasted several times better than the mutton hot pot from a few days ago.
It's a pity he never studied and lacked talent; otherwise, he could surely compose a couple of poems by now. He finally understands that it wasn't Zhang Dayong and his group exaggerating; truly, the finest delicacies should have this flavor.
After dinner, dusk gradually fell.
Pei Ying and Lin Chuntao, having eaten their fill, sat in the courtyard to rest, while Lin Chunxing and the others, overjoyed, ran off to play with Lin Qingqing and the others.
There weren't many entertainment options. The children would play with pebbles or kick shuttlecocks, or play hide-and-seek at dusk, spending the whole night in hiding.
Lin Qingqing and Lin Chunxing didn't play for long before they heard that Lin Miaomiao and Lin Jialang were going to separate their families. A group of teenagers ran over to peek.
The three sisters witnessed the division of the family property between Lin Miaomiao and Lin Jialang.
Although there was no loud argument, it felt like a bucket of cold water being poured over me unexpectedly, chilling me from head to toe.
Lin Jiacai and Lin Jiarong used to be very close friends and often played together.
It's only been a few days, and it's already like this.
After they finished dividing the property, Lin Jiaye casually remarked, "Jialang is quite clever; he knew to call Grandpa and the others over. If he were to divide the property with Miaomiao and the others, Miaomiao definitely wouldn't have given him so much."
Lin Qingqing sighed softly and said, "Miaomiao is still as domineering as her mother."
Lin Chunxing remained silent, and the group played for a while longer, but afterwards, Lin Chunxing and the others became somewhat distracted.
Since they were kicked out of their home, Lin Chuntao has been taking care of everything for them—the food, the clothes, and even picking mushrooms to sell and save money. They have put in the effort, but if they think about it carefully, if it weren't for Lin Chuntao's arrangements, they would be worse off than Lin Jialang and his family.
Lin Jiaye said that Lin Jialang was smart.
Thinking back to when they passed by today, Lin Jialang addressed her politely as "sister." And then, recalling their thoughts at the time and Lin Chuntao's words, a strange irony struck her.
Children protected by their parents can live carefree lives, without having to think about anything.
Lin Qingqing and Lin Jiaye are them.
But their parents were gone, and the sisters lived together, and before they knew it, they felt they could live carefree.
Even Lin Miaomiao and Lin Jialang had their own little schemes for survival, and these girls were no better than Lin Miaomiao and her friends, and they even started to give indiscriminately good deeds.
No wonder my sister was angry.
As it was getting dark, Lin Qingqing's mother came looking for them, and the friends dispersed.
Lin Chunxing led Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er home.
The three sisters remained unusually silent on the way.
Lin Chuntao looked at the three people who came in and was as wilted as an eggplant after being hit by frost, completely lacking the spirit she had when she left.
She assumed it was something like a fight with the village children and asked, "What happened to the three of you?"
Lin Chunxing looked at Lin Chuntao sitting in the chair, pursed her lips and said, "Miaomiao and Jialang have separated from their family."
Lin Chuntao paused for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "So fast?"
"I thought it would take another two or three days." After she finished speaking, Lin Chunxing and the others fell silent. Seeing their expressions, Lin Chuntao raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong? Do you feel sorry for them?"
Hearing her words, Pei Ying, who was standing next to her, turned her head to look over. Lin Chuntao's expression was calm. Pei Ying glanced at the three sisters and saw that they all shook their heads in unison.
Lin Chuntao didn't bring it up again and looked at the medicine jar on the ground.
"The medicine has just cooled down, go get a bowl and pour it out for me to drink."
The three sisters went inside to get bowls. Pei Ying blew on the bowl in her hand and said, "It's a little hot, be careful not to burn yourself."
Actually, the younger sisters are soft-hearted, so Lin Chuntao wasn't that angry, after all, they are kind people.
But if a person is kind without principles or bottom lines, they will become a pitiful creature that everyone can bully.
Lin Miaomiao and Lin Jialang were pitiful, but Lin Miaomiao was able to go to her maternal grandmother for help. After coming up with a solution, she immediately devised a plan. When she returned, she wanted to divide the family property. When Lin Jialang learned that Lin Miaomiao wanted to get rid of them, he quickly realized what was going on and called Lin Cunzheng to ensure that he would at least get what was rightfully his.
If they hadn't separated, she would have been demoted like the other adults in the Lin family, leaving Lin Chunxing, Lin Chunhe, and the other two sisters as scraps.
They're young now, and she's taking care of them, but she can't be a stay-at-home mom forever. She'll have to grow up and live her own life from now on.
By the time the medicine cooled and I finished drinking it, it was completely dark.
After everyone boiled water to wash up, they all went back to their rooms to sleep.
The next day at dawn, the system announced the location of the mushrooms, and Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying set off as usual to pick mushrooms in the mountains.
A few days after the summer rain, the mountains are full of mushrooms. Today, the system reported red mushrooms, and Lin Chuntao picked up more than half a basket of red mushrooms. She also picked up a whole bamboo basket full of green-headed mushrooms and pine mushrooms.
If it weren't for the fact that she had picked so many that she had nowhere to put them, Lin Chuntao would never have been willing to leave the mountain.
Although she arrived a little late today, since it was red mushrooms, and the doctor at the clinic, Dr. He, wanted to dry the mushrooms, she didn't carry them to the stall; she carried them directly to the clinic.
The remaining bamboo basket contained four or five different kinds of mushrooms, which were difficult to distinguish. Selling them mixed together wouldn't fetch a high price, so Lin Chuntao decided to take them back to eat.
She finished her work early, and it would take quite a while to wait for Pei Ying, so she went to tell Pei Ying and went home early.
Seeing that no one was around when they reached the halfway point, Lin Chuntao brought up the control panel, took out two dou of flour, and went to the living area to exchange for some yeast powder.
Thinking that everyone in the family needs to take care of their health, eating more staple foods can gradually nourish a person's blood and energy.
She often goes out late at night and doesn't have time to make breakfast, so she plans to make some steamed buns to keep on hand. In the morning, she can steam them and boil an egg to make breakfast.
When she returned home carrying her things, her sisters were just about to go cut pig feed. They were a little surprised to see her suddenly return. "Sister, didn't you go to the county town?"
Lin Chuntao replied, "I went. The red mushrooms we picked today were taken away by the doctor who prescribed the medicine for us. I didn't wait for your brother-in-law and came back first."
"Are you going to cut pig feed?"
Lin Chunxing nodded: "Have you had breakfast?"
"We each ate a sweet potato, and there's another one buried in the ashes. Sis, do you want some?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Help me dig it out and peel it. I'll go with you guys in a bit; I'm going to dig for wild vegetables."
Lin Chunxing responded, took a branch and dug the sweet potato out of the ashes, patted off the ashes and waited for it to cool before peeling.
Lin Chuntao went inside, put down her basket, turned around and came out to wash her hands. Then she went back inside to get a clay pot, scooped in a few spoonfuls of flour, guessed that she had added some yeast, and directly mixed it into the flour. She then took it outside to scoop water and knead the dough.
Lin Duo'er saw Lin Chuntao carrying the earthenware pot out and quickly came over.
"Sis, what are you making to eat?"
"Make steamed buns."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Duo'er swallowed hard. "Is it the one we ate in the county town last time?"
Lin Chuntao shook her head slightly: "No filling, just steam the dough directly."
Lin Duo'er didn't know what Lin Chuntao was talking about, but she remembered that Lin Chuntao had made melon seed cakes with this white flour last time, and they were very fragrant and delicious. Her heart was immediately filled with anticipation.
Lin Chuntao scooped water and poured it in, stirring with chopsticks as she poured. After watching the flour begin to turn into clumps, she started kneading the dough until it became smooth. Then she took it back inside and covered it with a straw lid.
Lin Chunxing had already peeled the sweet potato for her.
"Thanks."
Lin Chunxing smiled slightly, while Lin Chuntao went to find a hoe and carried a basket on her back.
"Let's lock the door and leave."
Lin Duo'er opened her mouth, thinking she would be able to eat soon, but Lin Chuntao called out to lock the door and get to work.
Lin Chunxing went up and locked the door. Lin Chuntao saw Lin Duo'er like that and laughed, "I was going to make that when I came back for lunch. Hurry up and come back early."
Lin Duo'er smiled foolishly and followed them out of the courtyard.
The morning sun was warm and the temperature was just right; people were working everywhere in the fields.
Lin Chuntao went to check on the corn in the field first. In just a few days, the corn seedlings had already grown to about three inches tall. The vegetable garden was even greener, and the water spinach had grown quite tall. Lin Chuntao was overjoyed.
"We can come back and harvest these vegetables in a few days."
Lin Chuntao was talking to Lin Chunxing and the others, but Lin Changhua, who had just walked down to the field, picked up the conversation.
"Chuntao, the vegetables you planted are growing very fast."
Lin Chuntao looked up and saw him, greeting him with a smile, "Second Uncle."
"My bamboo leaf vegetable grows quickly, are you here to weed?"
Lin Changhua looked at the corn seedlings in her field and said with a smile, "No, I'm just taking a look. Your corn seedlings look pretty good. Have you checked if there are any insects? Some insects eat the roots of corn, so you have to look carefully. If there are any, sprinkle some wood ash water on them and look for the insects."
Lin Chuntao smiled and agreed, "Thank you, Second Uncle."
Lin Changhua waved his hand, picked up his sickle, and walked forward.
Lin Chuntao crouched down in the field and carefully examined the corn. She did see a few plants that had been eaten by insects, but not many. She searched around the broken corn seedlings and found a white worm wriggling around them.
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