Chapter 132 Let's Stay and Have a Meal Together
After a brief chat with Xiaohu, he led the helpers away first. After all, they had been working for so long, and it was time to pay them their wages.
Carpenter Wang was about to leave, but was stopped by Sang Yu: "Grandpa Wang, we are so grateful for your presence these days. You have helped our family so much. Please stay and have a meal with us."
"This... isn't good." Carpenter Wang looked hesitant.
Nowadays, even relatives rarely come to visit at mealtime. It’s because there are no decent dishes at home. There are only two or three vegetarian dishes on a big table, which doesn’t look decent.
So everyone silently abides by this unwritten rule and tries not to go to other people's homes for dinner.
Besides, the Sang family had just finished building their house, so they certainly didn't have a lot of money. If he stayed here to eat, he might have to ask them to use their best food, which was really not worth it.
"There's rice and vegetables at home. I'll just heat them up when I get home. I won't bother you." He was still about to leave.
Sang Yu quickly stopped him: "Hey, what are you talking about? It's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks. There's not much food at home, so please don't be disgusted."
Not to mention anything else, the furniture and neatly repaired walls that Carpenter Wang gave to their family cost more than five hundred coins.
People who have done favors must repay their debts, and their family cannot turn a blind eye and pretend that they did not see anything about this matter.
Inviting someone to dinner is not a big deal, but the meaning behind it is very important. It is a signal that our family appreciates your kindness.
"Then...I'd be honored to refuse." Carpenter Wang also understood what she meant and agreed with a smile.
He asked Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia to come over and chat with him, and Sang Yu went straight into the kitchen.
There were two specially built earthen stoves in the kitchen, with each stove placed side by side. The two shiny big iron pots alone cost her a full four hundred coins.
But now, she finally had the right kitchen utensils and no longer had to use clay pots to cook.
There were only a few vegetables left that Sang Yongjing had brought back from the Sang Family Restaurant. Only two cabbages, which were small cabbages, and three white radishes were left.
Fortunately, the pickled salted fish is almost ready to eat, but it would be too shabby to serve only these two dishes to guests.
After thinking about it, Sang Yu asked Xie Qiujin to soak five salted fish, and then he turned around and walked out.
The biggest advantage of moving to Qingxi Village is that you no longer have to climb mountains or cross rivers to buy vegetables. You can buy vegetables by just walking out of the canyon.
Sang Yu walked around the market, bought some wild vegetables and tofu, and then went back.
She planned to use only salted fish for the meat dish, not because she was reluctant to buy pork or because she couldn't buy pork.
Don’t underestimate the market because it is small, as the saying goes, “small but complete.”
There were also pork stalls, but they weren't as lavish as the ones in the city where pork was hung halfway up the ground. They only sold three or five pounds a day, all fresh pork bought from the city early that morning.
She didn't buy pork simply because the fishy smell couldn't be removed in a short time and had to be soaked in advance. She was buying vegetables to entertain guests, not to torture her enemies.
It's a pity that there is no market today, so no one is selling wild animals like pheasants and rabbits, otherwise she could buy one.
After returning home, Sang Yu went straight to the kitchen, put dry bamboos into the stove, and then used dry grass to ignite the fire. He asked Sang Xinghao, who was sitting next to him, to watch behind the stove and add some grass from time to time.
Speaking of these bamboos, they had cut them down in the bamboo forest before, intending to dry them and use them to build the wall later. However, the continuous heavy rain made the bamboos completely soaked and could not be used.
In order to avoid waste, Sang Yu led Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia to spend an afternoon carrying the bamboo down the mountain. Later, they brought it here when they moved, and now it comes in handy.
The red flame in the stove gradually ignited. Sang Yu lifted the lid of the pot and hung it on the wall, then began to work on it.
The pot on the left was against the wall and had a slightly lower fire. She added more water than usual to the washed rice, set up a bamboo steaming rack, and placed a plate on it.
Place the processed salted fish pieces in a dish and spread them out flatly. Add shredded ginger and green onion, drizzle with a little rice wine, then cover the pot and leave it alone.
Put water in another pot, add the cut soft tofu after boiling, add salt and blanch for about one minute, then remove and set aside. This step is to remove the bean smell.
After blanching the tofu, scoop out all the water and boil another pot of hot water to use as a standby.
After washing the pot, dry it and pour in oil. Put in the chopped salted fish head and fry both sides of the fish head until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
Pour a little more oil into the pot. When the oil is hot, add ginger slices and scallion segments and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the fried salted fish head and pour in the hot water that has just been boiled. The water should completely cover the fish head.
At this time, the water in the pot has turned into a light milky white. After the soup boils, skim off the foam on the surface and continue to simmer over high heat for ten minutes.
Then turn to medium heat and simmer for a quarter of an hour. Add tofu cubes and white radish slices, and simmer over low heat for five minutes. When the soup base turns completely milky white, it is ready to be served.
Before serving, Sang Yu scooped some soup with a spoon to taste the saltiness. He found that the taste was delicious enough without adding salt, so he just sprinkled some green onions in it as a garnish.
After a dish of salted fish and tofu soup was finished, the rice and steamed fish slices in the pot next to it were also cooked.
Take out the steamed fish slices and place them on the stove, sprinkle some green onions on them, drizzle with a spoonful of hot oil to stimulate the aroma, and another dish is ready.
Afterwards, Sang Yu stir-fried Chinese cabbage, stir-fried leeks, and paired them with sweet and sour pickled radish and cold-mixed gray vegetables. The simple meal of six dishes and one soup was complete.
The three people sitting in the yard chatting were tempted by the aroma since white smoke started to emerge from the kitchen chimney and could not sit still.
They had no idea what they were talking about. They were chatting haphazardly, but their eyes were actually fixed on every move in the kitchen.
When I saw the dishes being brought out from the kitchen and into the main room, I couldn't help but swallow my saliva.
Let’s not talk about how the salted fish and tofu soup tastes, but the delicious aroma that goes straight into people’s noses is enough to whet the appetite of everyone present.
Sang Yu served bowls of rice and called Sang Xinghao, who was still sitting behind the stove: "Little brother, go call them to eat."
"Okay!" Sang Xinghao responded quickly, trotting out of the kitchen and heading for the pavilion, "Dad, Grandpa Wang, Big Brother, dinner is ready!"
Almost as soon as the voice fell, the three of them stood up and looked at each other. They saw the impatience in each other's eyes, and then smiled awkwardly.
"Ahem, Uncle Wang, please go first."
"Together, together."
When they sat down, the two of them became polite about who would sit in the main seat.
Sang Yu came in with three bowls of rice and saw that they were all standing. She couldn't help but feel strange: "Aren't you hungry? Why are you all standing instead of sitting down?"
The two of them suddenly quieted down and stopped being polite. They sat down like two obedient elementary school students waiting for their teacher to serve lunch.
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