Chapter 155: If I really can’t walk, I’ll ask Aye to carry me…
Zhou Ye heard it. He didn’t know if his smile looked silly, but he was really happy.
There is probably no one in this world who cares more about whether he has eaten enough and whether he is hungry than Ah Shu.
He suddenly felt that the hardships he had encountered before were nothing. Perhaps all the hardships before him were so that he could meet a good woman like Ashu.
Now that he has met Ah Shu in this life, he will never have such a hard time again.
"Aye, help me bring it to the table quickly, right where you usually sit. Oh, and be careful to heat it."
Zhou Ye looked at her and didn't want to move his eyes. Lin Shu urged him again, and he responded. After wrapping the edge of the clay pot with cloth, he easily picked up half of the pot of braised duck and placed it on a corner of the table.
The stewed duck meat was served on the table, and Lin Zhaodi had also fried all the side dishes, leaving only the last dish of duck offal.
As Lin Shu said, the duck offal was stir-fried with taro stems, and two large plates were made.
After all the food was ready, Lin Zhaodi wiped her hands and went to call for help.
This time, as soon as he shouted, Liu Erzhuang and his companions quickly stopped what they were doing. The young men ran faster than each other, washed their hands hurriedly and took their seats.
The aroma of braised duck had long since wafted to where they were working. They worked harder and harder, but their minds were filled with the smell of duck meat.
"Oh, this duck meat smells so good. I was drooling while I was working just now!" Liu Erzhuang stared at the duck meat on the table.
I don’t know what kind of dish the duck was stewed with, but it was served in two large plates on the table. The aroma was so strong that it overwhelmed the taste of other dishes on the table.
Lin Dashan knew that there would be duck meat to eat today, but he did not come back as early as usual. He came back on time, looking very reserved. He waited for Zhao Laosan to invite everyone to eat, and the first thing he did was to go for the braised duck.
The other men were no less eager and made no secret of their desire for the duck meat.
"Well, this duck meat is so delicious! Aunt Lin, your cooking skills are getting better and better!" Liu Erzhuang chewed a piece of duck meat until his mouth was full of oil, and he couldn't help but praise Lin Zhaodi.
Lin Zhaodi smiled and replied, "Don't praise the wrong person, this braised duck was made by Ah Shu."
Liu Erzhuang hurriedly praised Lin Shu a few more times.
Lin Shu had a smile on her face, but did not respond. She looked like a shy and reserved young wife, causing Zhou Ye to secretly look at her several times.
Liu Erzhuang ate two pieces of duck meat and then picked up the vegetables from the braised duck. He found that the side dishes were incredibly refreshing and delicious. He didn't know what they were, but after being stewed with the braised duck, they absorbed the broth from the braised duck. Combined with their slightly chewy texture, the taste was just as good as the duck meat!
Delicious, so delicious!
"Aunt Lin, what are you stewing with the duck? It's so delicious! So fragrant!" Liu Erzhuang was not only busy eating the duck meat, he found that the things cut into pieces were very fragrant after absorbing the soup, and they went very well with rice!
Lin Zhaodi explained, "They're wild taro stems. Ah Shu said they're actually called taro, and the stems are edible. I went to pick them early this morning."
She was also very surprised. She didn't expect that the wild taro stems would be so delicious when stewed with duck meat!
Ah Shu is so amazing! How could she know more than these rural women? Who would have known that the stems of wild taro could be made into such a delicacy?
From those delicacies made from mushrooms to wild vegetable dumplings, to ice jelly, and now this taro stem, there are so many edible things in the mountains!
She has broadened her horizons by following Ah Shu.
Lin Zhaodi was initially worried that one duck wouldn't be enough for everyone to share. Wild ducks aren't as large as domestic ducks, and with so many people, each person could only grab a piece or two. But after stewing it with the taro stems, the portion size increased significantly. Even if there wasn't enough duck meat, the taro stems, soaked up the duck broth, were still very fragrant, and the generous portion was more than enough!
Except for a few words of praise from Liu Erzhuang at the beginning, he later worked hard like everyone else and was too busy eating to talk.
Not only is the duck meat delicious, but the duck offal is also fried fragrantly. The wild taro stalks fried with the duck offal are not much different from those in the braised duck!
Seeing the half-cooked braised duck in front of Zhou Ye, they all knew that Lin Shu had prepared it just for him, and the young men were envious. This half-cooked braised duck was all for Zhou Ye.
But Zhou Ye ate quickly. While the others were sharing the duck meat on their plates, he had already finished his half pot of duck meat and taro stems. At the end, he even poured all the broth into his bowl and ate it with rice. He could enjoy it without the other dishes.
After the meal, everyone burped continuously and their stomachs were bloated.
Zhou Ye also enjoyed the meal very much. He wished he could go hunt seven or eight more wild ducks, and then go to the mountains to pick a few large bundles of taro stems so that Ah Shu could make another meal like this for him.
It wasn't enough, still far from enough, but compared to before, he was already quite content. If he used to only eat 20% full, feeling empty every day and having no taste for food, now he was 50% to 60% full, and he ate with great pleasure. Zhou Ye now knew how to savor delicious food, instead of just swallowing it whole without chewing it, just to fill his stomach.
After dinner, a group of young men were full of energy and did not rest, but took the initiative to go to work. Zhao Laosan then led the young men to continue building the house.
Lin Dashan lay comfortably on his bamboo lounge chair, like a landlord.
They won’t go to the fields today. After taking a rest, the whole family will go to the market to have some fun.
"Aye, my bamboo rocking chair is for you to sit on. You can also lie down for a while." Lin Shu pushed Zhou Ye.
Zhou Ye stood there without moving, "A Shu, I'll help you clean up the dishes."
Lin Xiaopu shook her head. "Sister, don't try to persuade me. If Brother Ye likes to work, just let him do it. It will give Mother a chance to rest."
Lin Shu was amused. After rolling her eyes, she landed on Zhou Ye and said with a smile, "That's a good idea, Ah Ye. You can do all the cleaning and let Ah Niang relax today, okay?"
There is a saying that a gentleman stays away from the kitchen. Forget about being a gentleman. These country men in the village do nothing when they return home. People believe that men work outside and women work inside. Cooking and washing dishes are women's work, and men don't do them.
Zhou Ye, however, didn't care about that. He nodded and said, "Okay. Auntie, you go and rest. I'll clean up."
He Guixiang refused and pushed Zhou Ye aside, "Why do you, an old man, have to do this? Go and have a rest. Cooking and washing dishes are jobs for us women."
Lin Shu smiled and shouted, "Mother, please fulfill Aye's filial piety."
He Guixiang glared at her, "You, seeing that Ah Ye is easy to bully, bully others as much as you can. Ah Ye is honest, so you just do whatever you say."
Lin Shu raised her eyebrows and said, "Mother, what did I say wrong? Xiao Pu and I see that you work so hard every day, so we want you to relax for once. I really want to do it for you, but Mother doesn't want me to do it, so I asked Ye to do it for me. Is that not okay? Ye is your future son-in-law, so let alone asking him to wash the dishes, I also want Ye to help with the cooking."
As soon as the words "future son-in-law" came out, Zhou Ye's calm eyes lit up. Without waiting for He Guixiang to continue chasing people away, he started to pack up on his own.
Lin Shu smiled and leaned on her cheek to watch him busying around. His hands and feet were really nimble. She suddenly asked, "Aye, when I marry you, will you be willing to cook for me?"
Zhou Ye hummed softly, "I don't know how to cook. You can teach me what you want to eat."
Lin Shu raised her chin slightly towards He Guixiang. If there was a tail behind her buttocks, it would definitely be raised high like the corners of her mouth.
Lin Xiaopu covered her mouth and laughed, "Sister, aren't you ashamed now? Aunt Lin is still here."
Lin Zhaodi hurriedly said, "Why are you mentioning me? I didn't hear anything." But her face was full of smiles, as if she had been listening with her ears perked up.
Lin Shu looked unconcerned. "Anyway, you all know what happened between Aye and me, so why should I hide it? Besides, Aunt Lin is one of us, I'm not afraid of her hearing it."
Perhaps because they had done so many intimate things together, Lin Shu was no longer so shy. Instead, she had developed a strange desire to show off. Ah Ye was very good, very good. She had never met such a good man. He was everything she wanted. Such a good man, she had already stamped his approval, hehe.
The man who was working in a dull manner had his ears red again.
"Chengcheng, I know you two have a good relationship. You should go to the market quickly while the weather is not too hot. I will clean up here slowly by myself." Lin Zhaodi urged with a smile.
As they were talking, Li Chunmiao came. Not only her, but her son Wang Yingen and the group of little kids also came and asked Lin Xiaopu for duck meat.
Li Chunmiao felt ashamed and cursed with a smile: "A bunch of greedy little dogs who keep their mouths shut!"
Lin Xiaopu explained, "Aunt Li, this is what I promised in advance. A man's word is as good as his bond."
Li Chunmiao immediately said happily: "What kind of man are you? You are just a little kid."
Lin Xiaopu said proudly, "Sister said I can also be a capable husband!"
Lin Chunmiao was amused by her.
There were still some flames in the stove. Lin Xiaopu put the duck meat in a bamboo tube, simmered it in the stove, and then distributed the simmered duck meat to his younger brothers.
The little kids were happily gnawing on the duck meat, and they were reluctant to throw away the duck bones.
With Li Chunmiao's help in packing up, He Guixiang and the others didn't delay any longer. The whole family packed up and set off for the town.
Lin Dashan and Zhou Ye each carried a backpack.
Zhou Ye's backpack contained thirty bamboo jars of chicken mushroom sauce, which he carried steadily without spilling a single drop of the sauce.
He Guixiang carried a bamboo basket, while sisters Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu came empty-handed and brought nothing.
"Sister, after walking such a long way, aren't you afraid that you'll have a sore back and trembling legs when you wake up tomorrow?" Lin Xiaopu asked.
Their family had such a close relationship with Old Man Liao that if they wanted to ride in the ox cart, Old Man Liao would definitely reserve a seat for them. But Sister said that the whole family had to go to the market together, so she insisted on walking with them.
"I feel like I'm much stronger now, but... if I really can't walk, I'll ask Aye to carry me!" Lin Shu smiled brightly and charmingly.
Lin Xiaopu said sincerely, "Sister, you are no longer the shy sister you were at the beginning."
Lin Shu thought to herself: What do you know, little girl? A Ye and I have kissed and hugged each other so many times.
Aye had secretly carried her on his back many times.
He didn't want to carry her in front of so many people before because Aye hadn't figured it out yet and was concerned about her reputation. But now... humph, not only would Aye not be unwilling, he must be so happy in his heart!
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