Mu Lianrong chatted with her daughter for a few minutes before leaving. Xiao Yunying put the well cover back on, drained the water from the stone trough, sat down on the swing, and slowly swayed her feet, tapping the ground with her toes.
Should I sneak off to Huiweilou to check it out sometime?
Asking directly won't work, so what reason should I use to subtly probe?
If I get caught, will I be arrested and beaten up as a spy for the enemy?
The children knew Xiao Yunying's habit of spacing out when she was thinking, so they wouldn't disturb her. Once she finished thinking, she would go back to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.
After finishing their meal and clearing the table, Xiao Yunying led the children to wash their hands and then stuffed out the finely minced meat that had been marinating for more than two hours.
The supermarket has special tools for making sausages. Xiao Yunying is in charge of making the sausages, while the children help out by tying the sausages with corn husks and dividing them into small pieces.
The amount of meat stuffed in should not be too little or too much. It should be able to be flattened to about half its original size when pinched with your hand. If it's too full, it's likely to burst open.
Rinse the tied sausages in warm water and rinse off the sauce, meat scraps, and grease that are stuck to the surface.
Use a toothpick to poke some small holes in the sausage casing to release air. Put it in a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil over high heat until foam appears on the surface. Then turn the heat down to low and cook until done. Let it cool naturally and hang it up to dry until the skin is slightly dry before eating.
The meat filling for dried sausages should be marinated for at least six hours to allow the flavors to penetrate. Xiao Yunying didn't rush to fill the sausages. She had the children wash their hands and go to wash up, while she put the meat filling and the pure meat sausages into the supermarket.
No one was in the kitchen at night, and she was afraid that insects and rats would eat her minced meat.
"Should we get two cats? There aren't many mice now that it's cold, but there will be in the spring. It's better to get them in advance than to be unprepared."
After cleaning up the kitchen, Xiao Yunying washed up and went back to her room. As usual, she told Luo Xin a fable before finally falling asleep.
The next day, after breakfast, she went to the greenhouse to check on the growth of the seedlings. The door was unlocked, and her parents were busy inside.
"Dad, Mom, what are you doing at the greenhouse so early?"
Mu Lianrong straightened up: "Didn't you say that the young master of the Chen family came to see the vegetable seedlings today? Your father and I discussed tidying up the seedlings."
"What's there to regulate? Our seedlings are perfectly healthy, so don't worry. Just do what you normally would."
Xiao Shanhe pointed at the newly sprouted weeds: "Your mother said that wealthy families like things to be clean and tidy, so they arrange the vegetable seedlings neatly and neatly, which makes them look pleasing to the eye."
Xiao Yunying said, both amused and exasperated, "It's a seedling, not a person. It can't understand what Mother says and won't grow if you try to straighten it out."
Mu Lianrong waved her hand and said, "You should go back now. You don't need to do this. Your father and I will go home after we've settled things over."
The work wasn't tiring; in fact, there wasn't much work. Her mother came here for peace of mind, so Xiao Yunying didn't try to dissuade her.
"Then I'll go back. I won't keep you for dinner today, Mom. Come to my house tomorrow. I have something to tell you."
"What's up?"
"That's good. The goods haven't been delivered yet, so it's hard to say for sure. I'll tell you when they arrive the day after tomorrow."
"Alright, you should go back now, lest you find yourself not home when the young master of the Chen family arrives."
"Then I'll go back."
Xiao Yunying returned home, hung the pure meat sausages she had made the night before under the shady, well-ventilated roof beam, and began preparing the lunch dishes.
She poured two basins of bubble solution and placed them in the yard: "Xin'er, you play with your brothers. Mom needs to prepare lunch, so I can't play with you this morning."
Luo Xin rubbed her little hands together and said, "Xin'er wants to help Mother cook."
Xiao Yunying, wearing an apron, said, "I can't help with what Mother made today. If there's anything I can do to help, Mother will call you, okay?"
"Mother, don't forget, if you need any help, be sure to call me."
"Mother will remember. Luo Li, you play with your sister."
With the two younger children settled in, she could do whatever she wanted in the kitchen.
Put the soaked red beans into a pot, add water and cook. After boiling, drain the water, add fresh water to cover the red beans, and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.
Add an appropriate amount of white sugar and mix well. Continue to simmer until the water evaporates (do not let it dry out too much, or the red beans will harden). After cooking, do not open the lid. Let it cool naturally before storing it in a container.
Luo Chen went into the kitchen and dragged a stool to sit in front of the stove.
Xiao Yunying was already used to him saying this: "Luo Chen, keep an eye on the fire for me, and call me in about 15 minutes."
Luo Chen responded, and Xiao Yunying went to the grain storage room, scooped up some fine rice and millet, and also took some snow fungus, tea tree mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, wood ear fungus, and dried plum vegetables to soak in water.
Although the two older ones knew her identity and suspected she was a demon, she avoided their gaze whenever possible to avoid frightening them.
Most importantly, she didn't want to confirm the fact that she was "not human".
With his back to Luo Chen, he quietly took out all the necessary ingredients from the supermarket and placed them on the table.
For lunch, she planned to make braised pork with preserved mustard greens, tiger-skin quail eggs, stir-fried black fungus with yam, stewed pheasant with tea tree mushrooms and dried bamboo shoots, stir-fried mung bean sprouts, and pickled fish.
The staple food is rice steamed with peas and corn kernels.
For dessert, make egg tarts, red bean double-skin milk, and snow fungus and pear soup.
Xiao Yunying mentally reviewed the recipe, then clapped her hands: "Perfect."
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