Looking at the bamboo basket lying in front of her, Qin Huairu couldn't help but sigh.
She now seriously suspects that everyone in the Jia family is mentally ill, and that Jia Dongxu's brain disease probably came from Jia Zhangshi, otherwise how could he come up with such a whimsical idea!
Just like the stir-fried snails incident, Jia Zhangshi successfully knocked out her family members, and the medical expenses alone were enough for the family to eat meat for many meals.
Then there's Jia Dongxu. Seeing that Chen Jun made so much money selling ginseng, he kicked him out to find ginseng. But ginseng isn't like cabbage; you can't just find it whenever you want.
Now that Jia Zhangshi has seen Chen Jun make that smelly powder, she wants to try it too.
"Mom, I want to eat snail rice noodles! I want to eat snail rice noodles!!"
Banggeng's urging made Qin Huairu even more exhausted.
"Okay, then you stay at home, I'll go out and look for it."
After saying that, Qin Huairu picked up the bamboo basket and went out. Before leaving, she also took a shovel from Xu Damao's door.
And so, Qin Huairu dug up some bamboo shoots, and Jia Zhangshi brought back some snails.
Although it was the first time Jia Zhangshi had heard of snail rice noodles, she had an inexplicable confidence that she could make it work.
So she pickled the bamboo shoots in a jar using the same method as pickling vegetables, and soaked the snails in a basin to expel the mud and sand.
To avoid ending up in the hospital after eating them, Jia Zhangshi chose only small snails this time and plans to change the water three times a day!
"Grandma, Grandma, when can we eat that stinky rice noodle?"
Only half a day had passed when Banggeng couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry, my dear grandson. That heartless Chen Jun said it needs to be pickled for two or three days. We can eat it when it's rotten." Madam Jia patted Banggeng's head.
When does it start to smell bad, then it's ready to eat?
Banggeng grasped the essence of this sentence, so every now and then he would go to the jar to smell it.
Unfortunately, Jia Zhangshi's method of pickling bamboo shoots was incorrect, and by the next day, there was still no change, let alone any foul smell.
Banggeng was getting impatient; this thing was too slow.
Scratching his head, Banggeng decided to add some ingredients to the bamboo shoots to speed things up.
She glanced warily into the room. Jia Zhangshi had gone out to haul manure, and Qin Huairu was washing clothes in the yard. It was the perfect opportunity to add the ingredients.
Believe it or not, the day after the ingredients were added, Banggeng could smell the sour and pungent odor from the jar.
"Grandma, Grandma, that stinks!" Banggeng hurriedly went to find Jia Zhangshi.
"Did it really stink?"
Madam Jia was secretly delighted. She hadn't smelled any foul odor when she checked the jars yesterday, and she wondered if Chen Jun had just made up a time to fool them.
But to my surprise, it turned out to be different on the third day.
It has to be summer, when the temperature is high and the flavor comes out quickly. If it were winter, it would probably take four or five days to get it.
Upon returning to the house and checking, Jia Zhangshi indeed smelled a sour, foul odor.
However, this sour smell seems different from Chen Jun's. First of all, the sour smell is not as strong, and secondly, there is a hint of urine in this sour smell.
"My dear grandson, don't be impatient. The flavor isn't quite right yet. We need to wait another day!" Madam Jia thought that the marinating time was not long enough.
Little did she know that the reason Chen Jun's pickled bamboo shoots were so pungent was due to fermentation, and that her pickling method was incorrect, plus she added some ingredients to the bamboo shoots, resulting in a sour and smelly taste from spoilage.
When Banggeng heard that he would have to wait another day, he added some more ingredients to the jar while Jia Zhangshi was out pulling the manure cart.
In that case, we should be able to eat it tomorrow.
Sure enough, when Jia Zhangshi opened the jar the next day, a pungent, sour smell hit her right in the face.
"Ugh~~"
Jia Zhangshi couldn't help but gag, then, suppressing the urge in her stomach, she said to Banggeng, "It should be alright now. My dear grandson, go and bring the snails over, Grandma will make you snail rice noodles!"
Banggeng responded and then happily went to fetch the basin.
And you know what? After these few days of purging sand and changing the water, the snails are much cleaner than last time.
After washing the snails again, Jia Zhangshi stir-fried them according to the method for cooking noodles, and then poured in hot water and rice noodles.
As the water in the pot boiled, Banggeng couldn't help but swallow.
Finally, he could eat something delicious, and he was already starting to plan how many bowls he would eat.
"Now we can add the pickled bamboo shoots." Jia Zhangshi estimated the time and then threw the chopped pickled bamboo shoots into the pan.
Wow, with the added bamboo shoots, the flavor in the pot instantly improved.
"Is this edible? It tastes different from what Chen Jun makes."
Standing to the side, Qin Huairu only took one sniff and couldn't help but feel like vomiting. The smell was even worse than what Chen Jun had made.
"You don't know anything! That kid Chen Jun said the stinkier the snail rice noodles, the better they taste. Look at our pot, it's much stinkier than Chen Jun's!" Jia Zhangshi said, covering her nose.
This pot of food now has not only the fishy smell of snails, but also the sour smell of bamboo shoots. When heated together, it's even more pungent than stinky tofu made with advanced technology. The entire courtyard is enveloped in the stench.
The middle-aged women who were chatting in the front yard also smelled the stench and couldn't help but frown.
"What's that smell? Did Jia Zhangshi bring the manure cart into the yard?"
"It doesn't smell like it. A manure cart doesn't smell sour. It smells like someone is cooking at home."
"Could it be Chen Jun? He made some kind of powder the other day, and it smelled stinky."
"It wasn't him. Chen Jun went to work early this morning. I suspect someone secretly cooked shit at home!"
These words disgusted the middle-aged women present.
"Okay, stop talking. I'll take the clothes home first so they don't smell."
"Oh dear, I would have forgotten if you hadn't reminded me. I wonder which scoundrel did it."
"I think the smell is coming from the backyard, Auntie. Why don't you go and take a look?"
Upon hearing this, the second aunt waved her hand and said, "No need to go. It was probably Jia Zhangshi who did it. She sneaked to Chen Jun's house to eavesdrop a couple of days ago. I guess she wanted to learn how to make that kind of powder from Chen Jun."
"Hey, Chen Jun is a level two cook, how could she learn something just by eavesdropping a couple of times?"
"Learn my ass! Jia Zhangshi's cooking is terrible; she's just not cut out to be a cook."
The women chatted for a few more minutes before hurrying off to collect the clothes that had been drying in the sun.
Meanwhile, the Jia family of three were also overwhelmed by the strong, pungent stench, and even Qin Huairu's eyes welled up with tears.
Jia Zhangshi pursed her lips, lifted the pot lid, and took a look.
Good heavens, a plume of white steam rose up, making the air in the room seem thinner.
It stinks horribly!
Madam Jia muttered to herself, vaguely sensing that something was amiss.
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