There are advantages to having many mountains: lush trees provide plenty of firewood in winter, and you can easily pick up a piece of firewood at the foot of the mountain.
Wen Xi also took the opportunity to wander around the mountains. Perhaps because it was so cold, the ground was frozen hard, and the plants were dead, making the scenery look a bit desolate.
It seems that we can only explore again next spring when the flowers bloom.
When I got home, I saw Xiangye busy in the kitchen, and the smell of meat wafted over.
He controlled his saliva, ran over, and threw the firewood on the ground.
"Auntie, what delicious food are you making?"
"I didn't cook, I just extracted the fat from that piece of meat so it would be convenient for cooking later."
"Then why do I smell so good!"
Xiangye touched Wenxi's bun with a distressed look. The smell of lard alone had made this former lady of a wealthy family so greedy.
"Xi'er, you've suffered. We can't eat vegetable oil here anymore, so we can only afford this kind of oil. In fact, this lard is also a rare and good thing in ordinary people's homes! You will like it in the future."
"Yeah, I think so too. What are you going to do with those oil residues, aunt?"
Xiang Ye was a little embarrassed to see that most of the oil residue she had scooped out was from the jar. She remembered that when she was a child, the oil residue was used to satisfy the cravings of children, but with so much... wouldn't it be choking?
"Aunt, I have a good idea. How about we eat fried dumplings?"
"Fried dumpling? So many, that's so choking!"
"How could that be? I have an idea. Today I'll mix the stuffing and I guarantee you'll be drooling while eating it."
"Haha, you're drooling. You're just a little kid who's never even touched a stove, how can you possibly cook? You'll eat some later, and the rest will just have to be thrown away! That thing won't taste good when it gets cold."
"Aunt, I really can. You have to trust me. It'll only take a moment."
Xiang Ye was helpless. She was used to being a lowly woman and didn't know how to say no. So she just accepted it! Anyway, no matter how bad it tasted, it couldn't be worse than the black steamed buns along the way!
"Okay then! You do it, and I'll help you."
Wen Xi replied with a sweet and shameless smile:
"Okay, auntie. By the way, do we have any dishes?"
"My sister bought some dried vegetables and frozen cabbage yesterday."
"That……"
"Hey, you're making lunch so early?"
Aunt Du came over with a large bowl in one hand, and rubbed the corner of her clothes with the fingers of the other hand a little unnaturally.
"I'm sorry you spent so much this morning, leaving such a big bowl of rice for an old woman like me. I usually only eat two meals a day, which is just right for me to eat around your schedule. So don't worry about cooking next time. This is some homemade pickled cabbage. It's not something fancy, but you should try it. Don't leave me that kind of expensive rice next time. Times are tough, so you have to save it."
After saying that, he put down the bowl, and, resisting the aroma of lard that kept coming into his nose, he hurried into the house. He couldn't help but think, how long has it been since he last had meat?
Wen Xi lowered her head and picked up the bowl of pickled vegetables. Every place has countless poor people, countless pitiful people. Her group, she thought, was pitiful, wasn't it? We'd traveled thousands of miles, endured so much hardship, to reach this impoverished place. But there was never the most pitiful, only the more pitiful.
Faced with the pitiful plight of others, I feel a little powerless. It's not that I'm not kind enough, but that I lack the ability. If I ever have enough ability, I hope I can still have this kind of heart and be able to help those in need.
Well, even I am afraid that if I become rich, I will lose my mind. Oh my God! How much I despise myself!
I cleaned the fragrant leaves into a large basin, moved it to the board and sighed:
"Alas... In this world, the poor have it so hard. Okay! My dear chef, you can tell me what I should do."
Wen Xi, who had been preparing to calm down for a while, suddenly couldn't hold back her smile.
"Haha, ha, auntie can joke around too! Just help me knead the dough! Grandma Du just happened to bring some sauerkraut, so let's have some sauerkraut dumplings."
Wen Xi picked up the knife and started to cut the sauerkraut, but because Grandma Du's knife was too blunt, it was like cutting a piece of skin and she couldn't cut it for a long time.
Xiangye was a little scared when she saw it.
"Oh, my aunt! I think you are more suitable to be an official. You can command me and let me do it!"
As he said that, he snatched the knife from his hand, kneaded the dough in a few strokes, covered it, picked up the knife, sharpened it on the water scoop a few times, and started cutting the sauerkraut.
The finely chopped sauerkraut placed in the bowl emits a sour smell that is very mouth-watering.
Wen Xi brought the oil residue can over again:
"Auntie, cut this into smaller pieces too. Oh, and add some meat too."
Then he turned around and took out a portion of the various seasonings from the coffin.
Xiangye was stunned when she saw these things suddenly appear.
Wen Xi said calmly:
"Auntie, don't ask yet. Let's make dumplings first. After we eat, I'll tell you slowly."
I took the cut filling, poured some soy sauce, salt, sesame oil, and a seasoning I had never seen before. It smelled good, so I put some in!
It seems that no one in the Great Chu Dynasty uses peppercorns and aniseed.
So it’s not that there is a lack of seasoning in northern Xinjiang, but that the cooking level of the entire Da Chu is not very high.
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