Chapter 91 The Truth About Grilled Fish? Grilled Fish
It was the last day of the year, and the tavern was ablaze with revelry all night long. As the first rays of dawn roused the sleeping town, the patrons swayed and pushed open the heavy wooden doors, supporting each other as they began their journey home.
The morning air was unusually cold, and the group shivered as soon as they stepped outside.
"It's fucking cold."
One of them tightened his clothes as he spoke, then raised the nearly empty bottle and took the last swig.
"ha!"
With a snap.
An empty wine bottle was thrown against the wall and shattered, startling the birds that were rummaging through the garbage.
"Hahahaha, they're fucking tough. These birds are still alive in this cold weather. I'll catch a few and roast them tomorrow."
"Hey! Hey!"
His companion retorted to the man who was still spouting nonsense.
"Look at that, it looks like a person to me."
Where?
"There, there."
"where?"
"Over there! Over at the garbage dump."
The man looked closely and indeed saw a human-shaped object.
"Let's go take a look."
Still hungover, the group headed straight for the garbage heap.
The more I walked, the more doubts I had. It didn't seem like I was seeing things, or that someone had been so heartless as to burn the puppet here. It really did look like a person.
The man swallowed hard.
"Brother, maybe we shouldn't go,"
"What's wrong, chickening out?"
Alcohol emboldens even the most timid man; though he may be somewhat cowardly, he would never back down at this moment.
"If you're scared, stand to the side!"
Upon hearing this, none of the others in the group spoke, and they walked silently beside the man.
"Heh, let's go, what's there to be afraid of in broad daylight?"
The garbage dump was only a hundred or two meters away, and the group quickly arrived.
Upon arrival, I was stunned. My muddled mind instantly cleared. Lying amidst the pile of broken wood and rotten bricks was a completely naked man. He was motionless, clearly frozen stiff.
"Brother... what do we do?"
The man asked in a trembling voice.
"What do we do? We need to report this to the mayor right away! We didn't kill him!"
The group ran away at their fastest speed ever.
Within half a day, news that a man had frozen to death that night spread throughout the entire town of Rosen.
The man's identity was quickly revealed. His name was Bill, a thug at the pub, who had a good wife but liked to philander.
Bill died a painful death; he was frozen to death.
When the two people responsible for collecting the body lifted his body onto the stretcher, his entire body remained lying on the ground, like an ice sculpture.
The process of freezing to death is long and painful, but Bill's facial expression was smiling, giving the impression that he was very relaxed.
Although Rosen is a small town, murders still happen. We've seen several people like Bill freeze to death before. Most of them were found naked, and no one thought anything of it, assuming it was just another drunkard who passed out by the roadside in the middle of the night and then left.
His clothes were scattered around him, and there were some empty bottles on the ground. The alcohol and the discarded building materials were the only two things that accompanied him before he died.
"Another one froze to death. See? Next time you go out for drinks, tell your family first. Otherwise, no one will even know if you freeze to death."
"Sigh, Bill is dead. What will happen to his woman and two children now?"
......
A crowd gathered at the scene to watch the spectacle, their discussions continuing.
The woman hunched over, hiding herself in the crowd, staring intently at the stiff corpse with a triumphant smile on her face.
It would be better if he were dead!
This woman was the same one who had spent the night with Bill at the Kako Hotel.
After they left that day, fearing Bill would continue to threaten her, she took the compensation she had received and went straight to a distant cousin's house. Because of the holiday, she secretly returned to Rosen.
My brother told me that after that incident, Bill went to the Cabor Hotel twice more, and each time he came out with a bulging wallet. After that, he would go to the casino and gamble all day.
She found this very strange. Although she hadn't known Bill for long, she knew he wasn't a drunkard. He had many friends and was always out drinking and partying. How could someone who loved socializing be found drunk and dead on the street all by himself?
"Ha, after doing so many bad things, he deserves to die."
"Oh my goodness, his earlobes have all frozen off."
While the people around her were still gossiping, the woman, not wanting to have anything to do with Bill anymore, tugged at her scarf, lowered her head, and turned to leave, accidentally bumping into the shoulder of the person behind her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I bumped into you."
"It's alright, just be careful when you walk."
"Okay, okay, I'm very sorry."
The woman thought the voice sounded familiar, and while apologizing, she quickly looked up and glanced at the person.
"gold......"
The woman swallowed the words that were already on the tip of her tongue, tightened her scarf, and hurried away, her heart pounding with panic.
She never expected to run into the manager of the Kako Hotel here.
The transaction was settled, and she has kept her promise ever since, not revealing anything about what happened that night to anyone. The butler always gave her a creepy feeling, and her intuition told her to stay away from him and the Kakou Hotel.
Jin turned around to look at the woman's hurried departure, then at the man's corpse, his expression shifting unpredictably.
——
Time flies, and more than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
It hasn't snowed much in the past month or so, and it's been dry and cold all the time. Only in the last few days has the weather shown signs of warming up.
The snow piled up by the roadside and the icicles on the roof beams gradually melted, and the forsythia bushes in the village showed signs of sprouting.
The old saying goes, "It's not cold when it snows, but it's cold when the snow melts." Although the snow is starting to melt due to rising temperatures, the perceived temperature is not as low as one might imagine.
Neil wanted to take off his cotton coat and go out, but was stopped by a look from Ray.
It's not time to take off your thick clothes yet. If you go out and run around in a sweat, the sudden change in temperature will surely make you catch a cold.
The melted snow covered the ground, so you had to choose a spot with stones to go out, otherwise you'd be covered in mud. This is where the advantages of the gravel road that Barnett and the villagers had built became apparent once again: convenient, smooth, and clean.
Every household in the village gathered up their farm tools, which had been covered in dust all winter, so that they could start farming when the weather warmed up a bit. The villagers relied on these tools for their annual food supply, so they took them very seriously.
Compared to usual, it was indeed very hot today, and the sun was very strong. Lei brought out his and Neil's thick quilts and blankets and hung them in the yard to dry.
After hand-washing some clothes, I started a thorough cleaning, cleaning the small building inside and out.
Make the most of the free time now, otherwise there won't be time to clean up when the busy farming season arrives.
Another day passed just like that. At dinner time, Lamb came over with Luna and a big fish to freeload.
"elder brother!"
"Uncle Lei!"
"Bro, we're back to freeload again!"
Lamb and Luna have become quite adept at mooching meals, and they're very casual about it.
Lai took the cleaned snakehead fish. Snakehead fish is a very common freshwater fish species with very good meat.
"Go put it in the bowl, I'll prepare the other side dishes first."
"Okay, bro!"
After doing this for so long, Lamb became exceptionally skilled at his assistant work, showing signs of surpassing Neil.
Lai picked a head of romaine lettuce and then went to the storage room to get wide rice noodles, dried chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorns.
"Brother, what are you looking for?"
Lamb poked his head out from the doorway, and Ray held up a bowl of wide rice noodles.
"Brother, add more of this, it's delicious!"
"good."
Ray grabbed another handful of wide rice noodles into the bowl, and Lamb continued to help with the work, completely satisfied.
Luna hid in front of Tata, cautiously circling around him.
"Tata the cat, can I pet you?"
Tata ignored Luna and turned over so that her backside was facing Luna.
Ha, ignorant human cub, how could I possibly be a lowly human pet like a cat?
Seeing Tata's obvious rejection, the little girl didn't forcefully reach out to touch him. Instead, she stood up, spun around halfway, and then squatted down in front of Tata to continue looking at him.
Did you see Neil when you came?
Ray asked Lamb.
"I saw him. He was with Helen and the others. He said he would be back in a little while."
"That's good."
After washing the wide rice noodles, Lai soaked them in hot water. Then he split the fish in half and made cuts along the back of the fish.
"Brother, what are you making this time? The boiled fish you made last time was especially delicious!"
"Make grilled fish."
"Grilled fish?"
"Um."
After marinating the prepared fish with seasonings, Lai started preparing the main dish.
"Noodles or steamed buns, which would you like to eat?"
"Steamed buns! The kind with scallions!"
Luna answered quickly, looking expectantly at Lai, who was in charge of the cooking.
"good."
Lai fulfilled all of these reasonable little requests, and the little girl jumped for joy.
The dough has already risen; all that's needed is to knead it and shape it into a flower roll.
Lard solidifies easily, making the steamed buns taste greasy and unappetizing. Lai poured out a small bowl of vegetable oil.
There are many types of vegetable oils, each with different prices. The bottle in Lai's house was bought at a high price.
Add a spoonful of salt and some chopped green onions to a small bowl of oil, and stir together.
After rolling the dough into a large round sheet, pour the mixed scallion oil on top and spread it evenly. Lei skillfully performed the actions on her phone, and in no time she had made two trays of scallion rolls, and also wrapped a few small sugar triangles.
"Do you know what to do next?"
"I know, I know. Put the steamer on after the water boils, and then put the lid on once it's hot."
Lamb expertly explained the next steps. His time helping out in the kitchen alongside Rye during this period hadn't been in vain.
"Then it's up to you."
"Okay."
Lai handed over the task of steaming the flower rolls to Lamb and continued making the grilled fish.
After marinating the fish, Ray fried it on both sides, a move that surprised Lamb.
"Brother, didn't we say we'd eat grilled fish?"
Lamb looked completely bewildered.
He thought that when Lai said "grilled fish," he meant grilling it over a fire, but he didn't expect Lai to do this next.
"Another type of grilled fish."
"oh oh"
The fish was fried until golden brown and crispy on both sides. Lai took it out and began the next step.
"Brother, I'm back! My little niece Luna is here too."
"Hello, Uncle Neil!"
Luna greeted Neil politely and warmly.
"Hello Luna, how have you been lately?"
"have!"
Neil took off his coat and changed his shoes at the door.
"Uncle, give me your clothes, I'll hang them up for you!"
"good."
It's a good thing that kids are willing to do chores. At this point, just let them do it. Don't refuse them out of pity. Doing a little bit of work within their capabilities won't hurt them.
Neil didn't think much of it; he simply handed the cotton coat to Luna without thinking.
Luna, holding Neil's clothes, moved a stool over and used it to hang the clothes on the hanger.
"Luna, be careful."
"Okay, Uncle, I'll be right down."
"Neil is back?"
Lamb came out to wash his hands after steaming the flower rolls and heard a noise at the door.
"You're back. Is your brother cooking?"
"Yes, we're making grilled fish today!"
"Wow!"
All three pairs of eyes sparkled at the same time, with Luna's reaction being the most exaggerated; she had already started drooling.
"Brother, is it ready yet?"
Lamb couldn't help but start urging Rae on.
"Almost done, let's tidy up the table first."
"good!"
The cups were cleared away, and the bowls and chopsticks were set out. The table was quickly cleared, and under the eager gazes of the three, the grilled fish was finally served.
A whole, crispy fried fish is laid out on top of a generous amount of side dishes: wide rice noodles, romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, cilantro, and a few pieces of sweet potato.
Luna is too young to handle spicy food, so Lai only added a tiny bit of chili to enhance the flavor.
"Eat quickly, it won't taste good when it gets cold."
No one touched the grilled fish; they were all staring at Lai.
"well."
Lei sighed, picked up a piece of fish, and took a bite.
"Eat up, this time it's fried quite well."
"Okay."
Lamb grinned and picked up a piece of wide rice noodles with his chopsticks.
"I love eating this."
"Then eat more, I've made a lot."
"Um!"
Luna was too young to remove the fish bones, so Lai used serving chopsticks to give her a large piece of meat from the fish's belly.
Snakehead fish has few bones, which is a great advantage, so it is often used to make grilled fish and boiled fish.
Neil was eating with his head down, and Ray sensed that he seemed a little down, so he also put a large piece of fish on his plate for him.
"elder brother?"
"Eat up, do you want me to remove the fish bones for you?"
"No need, thank you, brother!"
Lamb held up his bowl and looked at Ray, the meaning of which was self-evident.
"elder brother!"
"..."
In the end, each of the three people had a large piece of fish in their bowl. Luna looked at Neil, who was obviously much happier, and then at Lamb, who was eating steamed buns in the building, and shook her head.
That's so childish.
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Author's note: Ah, I'm craving grilled fish.
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