Beside the stove were ginger and garlic that Aunt Liu had washed in advance. After Jiang Hua heated the pot, she scooped out a piece of lard the size of a fingernail and put it into the pot. After the oil melted...
Only after pouring the rabbit meat in did they render out the fat. They had noticed a thick layer of oil on the rabbit's body while processing it.
Jiang Hua estimated that it would take about ten minutes for the oil on the rabbit meat to render out. She then removed the rabbit meat and the excess oil, leaving a small amount of oil in the pan.
I put the ginger, garlic, and spices I took out from my space into the pot and sautéed them until fragrant. After the spices were fragrant, I added the rabbit meat and stir-fried it.
In addition to the spices from her space, Jiang Hua added a bowl of diluted spiritual spring water from her space, then covered the pot and simmered it.
This time, Aunt Liu also brought back two radishes. As she walked to the kitchen door, she could faintly smell the aroma of meat.
"Er Ya, this rabbit meat smells delicious!" Aunt Liu said while washing the radishes she had just pulled up.
"Then Auntie, eat more later." Jiang Hua lifted the pot lid, and a rich aroma of meat immediately wafted out from the pot.
Aunt Liu was captivated by the aroma and hurriedly handed the plate to Jiang Hua so she could serve it.
"Auntie, let me cook the soup. You take the rabbit meat out first," Jiang Hua said.
Then, they cut the white radish that Aunt Liu had washed into chunks, and added water to the remaining broth from cooking the rabbit meat in the pot to boil it together.
After the soup in the pot boiled, I threw in the washed wild vegetables, then turned off the heat and served it.
Jiang Hua brought out a bowl of wild vegetable and radish soup. Uncle Liu and Liu Tianming also returned from town. Uncle Liu had taken vegetables from home to sell, while Liu Tianming worked as an accountant at a restaurant in town.
"Mom, why are we having meat today? How come your cooking skills have improved so much?" Liu Tianming almost drooled as he smelled the plate of rabbit meat on the table.
"You silly child, everyone's not here yet. This dish was made by Er Ya." Aunt Liu patted Liu Tianming's outstretched hand.
"Wife, where did our rabbit come from?" Uncle Liu asked.
Aunt Liu then recounted her experience of going up the mountain with Jiang Hua that day, as well as what had happened yesterday to her husband and son. The two looked at each other in disbelief. Was this really acceptable?
How could the Xu family next door do such a thing? They usually go to town often and don't come back for lunch, only returning in the evening. They don't know much about what's happening in the village, only having heard bits and pieces.
"Grandma Xu isn't being fair. Er Ya is not even sixteen years old yet, and Xiao Jiang already has a child. Wouldn't Jiang Hua be a stepmother in the future?" Uncle Liu frowned.
"Old Mrs. Xu accepted fifty taels of silver from them, otherwise she would have caused trouble, but Er Ya agreed," Aunt Liu replied.
"Uncle, Aunt, Brother Tianming, the soup is here." Jiang Hua listened to their words without making a sound and placed the soup on the table.
"Er Ya, how come I never realized you were such a good cook? Your cooking is even better than what our restaurant's chef makes!" Liu Tianming couldn't wait and picked up a bowl to serve the soup.
After serving the soup, he picked up a piece of rabbit meat and put it in his mouth, looking at Jiang Hua with admiration in his eyes.
"Father, Mother, you must try it!" Liu Tianming shouted.
"You child, you really are like someone who has never eaten before!" Aunt Liu picked up clean chopsticks and put a piece on Jiang Hua's plate as well: "Er Ya, you should eat more too, you're so thin."
"I've certainly never had anything this delicious before," Liu Tianming chuckled.
“Auntie, you should eat too. There’s more in the kitchen if you’re not full,” Jiang Hua nodded.
Uncle Liu glanced at Jiang Hua secretly, feeling somewhat surprised by Er Ya in front of him. He had seen her before, but she never behaved like this.
In just two days, could he have missed so many things?
Jiang Hua and Aunt Liu's family enjoyed the meal immensely; it was the most peaceful meal she had ever had since she came to this era.
After the meal, Uncle Liu and Liu Tianming were about to return to town, and Aunt Liu had already cleaned up the dishes.
"Auntie, I'm going back now." Jiang Hua said goodbye to Aunt Liu and left.
However, she didn't go home, but instead headed towards Black Wind Mountain.
Little did she know that no sooner had she left than the Xu family returned, and they even ran into the gossipy Li Dahua at the village entrance.
After exchanging a few words with Li Dahua, Madam Xu and Madam Xu hurriedly returned home.
My first instinct was to rush into the kitchen, lift the pot lid, and open the cabinet, only to find it still empty.
“Mother-in-law, could it be that Li Dahua is lying to us? How could that wretched girl catch a rabbit?” Xu Shi walked into the kitchen from outside.
She just checked the woodshed and inner room where that brat lives, and there wasn't even a rabbit, let alone a single hair.
"No way, I don't think Li Dahua wants to lie. That brat must have hidden herself. Let's look again!" Madam Xu said, still unwilling to give up.
"Grandma, Aunt, when I came in just now, I saw a rabbit pelt drying in front of Aunt Liu's house," Lin Shuyan said, her eyes darting around.
Upon hearing this, Madam Xu immediately rushed out the door and went to Aunt Liu's house...
When Jiang Hua came down from Black Wind Mountain, she had a handful of herbs in her hand, but she put the herbs she had collected into her spatial storage before going down the mountain.
Once we've collected enough, we'll take them to town to sell. The storage space has a preservation function, so what goes in will come out exactly the same way.
She had asked Liu Tianming at lunchtime; the town's pharmacy buys herbs, but the prices aren't high.
For now, while still in the Xu family, to avoid being targeted by the original owner's clueless parents and stepmother, Jiang Hua felt it was best to break away from the Xu family first.
When Jiang Hua arrived at Aunt Liu's house after coming down from Black Wind Mountain, the sun had already set. Uncle Liu and Liu Tianming had not yet returned. Jiang Hua went inside and noticed that Aunt Liu's eyes were red.
"Auntie, what's wrong?" Jiang Hua quickly stepped forward and asked.
"Er Ya, your grandma and your mother came and took back the half rabbit from the kitchen," Aunt Liu explained.
Jiang Hua's eyes instantly turned cold. It wasn't just about stealing the rabbit; she must have said something nasty.
After offering a few words of comfort to Aunt Liu, Jiang Hua turned and left the house, heading towards the Xu family's house next door, since the matter was caused by her.
Aunt Liu couldn't stop her even if she wanted to.
When Jiang Hua walked into the courtyard, she saw the inner room with the door closed, and the voices of Da Xu Shi and Xu Shi talking came from inside the room.
"Our Yan Yan has such sharp eyes that she noticed the rabbit skin hanging in the Liu family's courtyard," said Madam Xu in praise.
"That's right! That wretched girl is a traitor! She knows we haven't had any meat in a long time, yet she still sent the rabbit to a complete stranger's house!" Xu Shi complained angrily.
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