Chapter 133: Salted Fish Tofu Soup and Steamed Salted Fish
The Sang family of six plus Carpenter Wang made a total of seven people. They sat around the octagonal table, with an extra seat for two people on each side.
Sang Yu winked at Sang Yongjing, but received no response. Sang Yongjing's eyes were fixed on the fish soup.
She couldn't help but cough lightly, finally regaining his attention.
She winked at him again, thinking that he would finally understand the meaning this time, but all she got was a blank and dull expression in Sang Yongjing's eyes.
"..." Her father really can't be relied upon at all.
She simply spoke up, "Grandpa Wang, there aren't many dishes at home, so I just made something. Please make do with it."
Glancing over the six dishes and one soup on the table, Carpenter Wang was somewhat flattered. With so many dishes, some poor families could only afford such sumptuous meals at weddings or funerals.
"If this is still acceptable, the old man eats some slop every day."
He is not a good cook. Since his wife passed away a few years ago, eating has become a task for him. He just eats something casually every day. He hasn't had such a sumptuous meal for a long time.
"Then you should eat more. Pick up your chopsticks and taste my cooking."
Carpenter Wang was not polite. Since he had already agreed to stay for dinner, it would be a bit too reserved to sit at the table now.
He picked up the chopsticks and picked up the fish head in the salted fish and tofu soup, put it into the bowl, and used the chopsticks to gently poke off a little fish meat and put it into his mouth.
The fried fish meat has a slightly burnt aroma, the meat is firm and slightly tough, and the fishy smell is completely suppressed by the onions and garlic, leaving only the unique complex flavor of fermented fish.
He couldn't help but pick up another piece of tofu with his chopsticks. The tender and smooth tofu was stuck on the tip of the chopsticks, shaking tremblingly.
The tender tofu that has absorbed the soup is salty on the outside and light on the inside. The sweet aroma of the bean and the salty aroma of the salted fish are mixed together to form a wonderful taste.
It melts in your mouth as soon as you take a sip, and the soup inside turns into a warm current that flows into your stomach as you swallow, making you sigh.
Compared with his reserve, Sang Yongjing seemed much more bold. He directly scooped a large spoonful of fish soup with a spoon and poured it on the snow-white and fragrant rice.
Suddenly, there was a fish head and a few pieces of tofu in the bowl, and even two slices of radish to relieve the greasiness.
His behavior was really not presentable, so Sang Yu secretly glared at him, wanting him to pay more attention.
But he just buried his head in his food and didn't even look up at her, which made her so angry that she kicked him immediately.
Sang Yongjing, who finally realized something, looked at her blankly with a grain of rice hanging from his lips. What had he done wrong?
Sang Yu:...Forget it. Carpenter Wang doesn’t look like he needs to be polite. Since he likes to eat, let’s just eat together.
She also picked up a piece of steamed salted fish with chopsticks. It was not soaked or rinsed for long, so she wondered if it would be too salty.
The salted fish that has been pickled and dried has a complex smell produced by fermentation. When you first smell it, you will feel a little fishy, as if it has gone bad, but it will soon turn into a mellow aroma.
There weren't many fish bones. I poked out a piece of garlic-shaped fish meat with a chopstick and put it into my mouth.
The next second she couldn't help but frown slightly. The salt on the surface of the fish seemed a little too strong, and she could only taste the saltiness when she put it in her mouth.
But soon, under the flushing of saliva, the freshness of the fish itself seeps out layer by layer, and the saltiness and freshness slowly reach a delicate balance in the mouth.
The shredded ginger and green onion at the bottom of the dish are steamed, and the herbal fragrance seeps into the fish meat, neutralizing the fishy smell without taking away the original flavor.
The fat under the fish skin thoroughly soaks into the fish meat underneath after steaming, giving the fish a unique sense of satisfaction that can only be brought by animal fat when chewed in the mouth.
Both the host and the guests enjoyed the meal very much. No one had time to chat about trivial things. Everyone was concentrating on eating. No one was polite and everyone was picking up food and eating rice with chopsticks one after another.
Sang Yu was afraid that there wouldn't be enough to eat, so she specially cooked two more bowls of rice than usual, but they were all eaten up anyway. Even the crispy rice crusts at the bottom of the pot were shared and eaten up with the fish soup.
After drinking the last mouthful of milky white fish soup in the bowl, feeling the rich aroma sliding into his throat, Carpenter Wang burped contentedly and leaned against the table, holding his round belly.
He couldn't help but sigh, "I haven't eaten this full in a long time. This feeling is worth a fortune."
Sang Yongjing nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, my Yu'er's cooking skills are unmatched even by the chefs of the top restaurants in Beijing."
Hearing this, Carpenter Wang sat up straighter, his expression becoming more serious. "Xiao Sang, since I'm being so generous as to call you uncle, I still feel I need to give you some advice."
Sang Yongjing also quickly sat up straight: "You go ahead."
"I know your family was exiled here from the capital, but if you want to live here peacefully in the future, don't mention it in front of outsiders."
After Carpenter Wang finished speaking, he stared at Sang Yongjing, as if he wanted to see from his expression whether he had heard what he said.
"Why?"
Sang Yongjing was a little confused. Most of the people who could appear here should be exiled or their ancestors were exiled. What was there that they couldn't tell others?
"My family's old house is in Qingxi Village. Although I went to the city to work when I was young and rarely came back, I still heard about what was going on in the village."
Carpenter Wang patiently explained to him, "There's a river running through the middle of the village, dividing it into two parts: the upper village and the lower village. We're in the lower village now."
"In the upper village, most people are newcomers who have some money but can't afford to buy a house in the city. As for the lower village, they have lived here for more than three generations."
Sang Yongjing felt like he understood a little bit: "So both sides look down on each other? Will we be ostracized if we reveal our identities?"
"Well, it's not that I look down on them. It's just that those people are quite aloof and have unruly temperaments. They don't interact much with the lower village, which leaves a bad impression on the villagers."
Carpenter Wang initially didn't expect that his family of new arrivals could convince Village Chief Shen to agree to let them build a house in the lower village. This was probably because the location was far away from other village houses.
In response to this almost obvious advice from his elders, Sang Yongjing finally stopped being so slow and expressed his sincere gratitude.
"Thank you, Uncle Wang. I will pay attention to it."
After dinner, the family sat in the pavilion and chatted with Carpenter Wang.
Sang Yu laid the groundwork for a while before finally getting to the point: "Grandpa Wang, when I passed by the lumberyard earlier, I saw a few people surrounding a man and beating him up. Who were they? Thugs?"
If the previous hustle and bustle was for the purpose of settling down, now that everyone has arrived in Qingxi Village, it is time to take revenge.
“Those people…” When Carpenter Wang mentioned those people, his expression froze, and he forced a smile: “If we don’t provoke them, nothing will happen.”
"That……"
Sang Yu wanted to continue asking and find out the specific identity of the person who had beaten Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia before.
But I heard noisy voices coming from outside the yard, as if a group of people were talking and coming towards this side.
She immediately stopped talking, stood up and walked towards the gate.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com