It rained on and off for a few more days in the afternoon. With nothing else to do, Xiao Yunying continued to tell them the story of Sun Wukong.
As evening approached, the rain completely stopped, and Xiao Yunying began to think about what to cook for dinner.
This is what rural life is like: far removed from mobile phones and computers, daily routines consist of fetching water, chopping wood, washing clothes, and cooking.
She still made Luo Chen wait while she went to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients.
I took all the necessary ingredients from the supermarket, called Luo Chen over, and told him to start the fire.
Xiao Yunying washed the rabbit clean, chopped it into small pieces, blanched it in boiling water with cooking wine, and then rinsed it clean.
Pour oil into a pot, add garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, fermented black beans and two dried chilies, then add a piece of hot pot base and stir-fry over low heat until fragrant before adding the rabbit meat.
After stir-frying for a while, add appropriate amounts of cooking wine, oyster sauce, white sugar, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and salt in that order. Stir-fry evenly, then pour in enough water to cover the rabbit meat, add star anise and scallion segments, and simmer.
Because there are many children in the family, Xiao Yunying stewed it for nearly 45 minutes, then put a steamer rack on top to keep the steamed buns warm.
Peel and deseed the winter melon that was taken out in advance, and cut it into slices. When the rabbit is almost cooked, add a little chicken essence and reduce the sauce over high heat.
No need to wash the pot, just braise a winter melon, sprinkle some cilantro on top when it's done, and you're done.
This was Xiao Yunying's first time eating wild rabbit meat. She used plenty of seasoning, so it didn't have any strange smell and tasted quite tender, not as dry as she had imagined.
The rabbit meat chunks were a bit too big for Luo Xin to hold, so Xiao Yunying simply rolled up her sleeves and helped her eat them with her hands.
The kids love spicy food, so she never made non-spicy versions; she just made them mildly spicy enough for them to eat.
"There are chili peppers in it, so be careful when you eat it and don't put them in your mouth."
Luo Xin, her mouth dripping with oil, said, "Mom, it's so delicious."
Xiao Yunying put a few pieces of winter melon on her plate: "Mother doesn't like it."
"Xin'er means that Mom's cooking is really delicious."
"Even if it's delicious, you can't eat too much. Eating too much at night will cause indigestion. Don't just eat rabbit meat; eat some winter melon too. It tastes pretty good."
Luo Xin obediently ate the winter melon, then took a bite of the steamed bun: "Mmm, this winter melon is delicious, and the steamed bun is delicious too."
Luo Li examined the winter melon and nudged Luo Chen: "Big brother, what is this? Have you ever seen it before?"
"Just eat, why ask so many questions?"
Luo Li whispered in his ear, "Big brother, there are so many things I've never seen before in the food we've been eating these past two days. Where did your stepmother get them?"
Luo Chen didn't want to talk to her silly younger brother; she'd been eating him for several days before she even realized it.
Xiao Yunying took in Luo Li's little actions. The dining table was so big that everyone else could hear what he thought was a quiet noise, except for Luo Xin, who was busy gnawing on rabbit meat.
Luo Yang said, "Your stepmother said it was bought in the city. How could you forget that already?"
Luo Li thought for a moment and said, "Oh right, that seems to be true."
Xiao Yunying spoke up: "What's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"
Luo Li quickly shook her head: "No, no, it's delicious, I like it."
He then stuffed a piece of rabbit meat into his mouth and chewed it heartily.
"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you, be careful not to choke."
Xiao Yunying ate only half a steamed bun and a few pieces of rabbit meat, and then she only ate winter melon.
I put down my chopsticks when I felt I was about 60% full.
Luo Chen noticed and said, "Why are you eating so little?"
Xiao Yunying put some food on Luo Xin's plate: "Losing weight is bad for your health; being too fat makes you more susceptible to illness."
Luo Chen said "Oh," thinking she was reluctant to eat it. It turned out that in their mountain village, being too fat could easily lead to illness.
After dinner, Xiao Yunying did not go out for exercise. The country roads were muddy after being flooded, so she stayed in the house to play with the children.
She continued telling the story of Sun Wukong, but stopped after dark. She had to get up early the next day to take the oxcart to the city, so she couldn't stay up too late. She took Luo Xin to the outhouse, and after washing up, she told the children to go back to their rooms to sleep.
I woke up before dawn and saw that Luo Xin was still asleep. I went into the supermarket to wash my hair, and after washing up and drying my hair, I went into the kitchen.
After yesterday's rain, the temperature dropped considerably, and it felt cold when I went out this morning.
Breakfast can be simple: slice the steamed buns, coat them with egg wash and fry them into slices, and also fry five eggs and five sausages.
Worried that the children wouldn't be used to this simple Western-style breakfast, Xiao Yunying took out two packets of pickled vegetables, opened them, put them in a bowl, and made five bowls of soy milk.
After setting out breakfast, I knocked on Luo Chen's door. Hearing a response from inside, I went to wake Luo Xin up.
The little girl hadn't even opened her eyes when she gave Xiao Yunying a big hug.
"Let's go wash our faces, Mom has already made breakfast."
The little girl wasn't grumpy when she woke up; she rubbed her eyes and said okay.
At the dinner table, Xiao Yunying instructed the children: "I'm going to the city today. As usual, you all wait at home. I'll be back before noon. Luo Chen, don't forget to look for the house deeds and land deeds."
"knew."
Luo Xin said softly, "Mother, Xin'er wants to go with you."
I'm not going to sell snow fungus today, I'm just going to get a pot and an axe. I can bring the little girl with me: "Okay, then eat quickly, little one."
Luo Li mustered her courage and said, "I... I want to go with you too."
"What, are you worried I'll sell Xin'er?"
Luo Xin looked up with a furrowed brow: "Mother would never sell me. If Third Brother keeps saying that, Xin'er won't like you anymore."
Luo Li looked aggrieved: "I didn't say that. I just wanted to go to the city to take a look."
Xiao Yunying was worried that the two older children would be unhappy if she only brought the two younger ones: "If you want to go, then go. What about you two? Do you want to come along?"
Unless absolutely necessary, Xiao Yunying will try her best to treat all the children equally and not favor one over the other.
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