Ye Wenxue: "......"
She extinguished two dry firewood sticks, filled an earthenware jar with hawthorn jam, and placed it in a high place to cool. Only then did she take off her sleeves to look at the goose that was constantly gurgling with water.
Dazhuang arrived late with Shuangshuang and Sanyuan, standing listlessly at the kitchen door, neither daring to go in nor move.
"What happened?"
Dazhuang and Shuangshuang's gazes wandered, and they remained silent.
Sanyuan smiled ingratiatingly at Ye Wenxue, walked to the table, picked up a string of candied hawthorns, and stuffed a mouthful into his mouth.
Siwang had already finished his portion by then, and was watching Sanyuan nod and eat with longing eyes. He subconsciously leaned closer and said, "Third Brother, can I have one?"
Sanyuan deliberately ignored Ye Wenxue's stern gaze and turned to look at Siwang: "What about yours?"
"I finished it in no time, can you give me one, just one!" Siwang didn't notice the unusual atmosphere, scratched his stomach, and continued to look at Sanyuan.
Sanyuan, fearing that he would attract his mother's attention, quickly stuffed one into Siwang's mouth.
Siwang now knew to cherish it, and dared not swallow it after a few hasty chews, but held it in his mouth without moving it.
Ye Wenxue crossed her arms and quietly watched Da Zhuang, who was making small movements behind his back.
After a long pause, Dazhuang said guiltily, "I want to help Mom with some chores."
He then took Sanyuan to pick chili seeds, and the pungent smell in the air aroused his curiosity.
But the two of them remembered their mother's instructions and dared not touch it with their hands or lick it with their tongues. After much hesitation, half of the chili seeds were gone.
When Shuangshuang went to the cellar to call for help, Dazhuang remembered that he still had a goose at home. He tried his best to coax the goose to the cellar and let it eat two bites of chili peppers.
Unexpectedly, after the goose finished eating the chili peppers, it rushed out of the cellar like a madman, almost scaring them.
Ye Wenxue: "......"
Afraid of spicy food and pain, so I'm eating goose?
Even the biggest villains have their moments of youthful ignorance and mischief.
If Dazhuang had used the same brain he used to trick geese into eating chili peppers on studying, he probably would have passed the imperial examination in just a few years.
She sighed, "Didn't Sanyuan stop you?"
Having been clearly called out, Sanyuan could no longer pretend to be engrossed in the food. He lowered his hands and whispered, "I...I'm curious too. Mother, scold me."
Upon hearing that Sanyuan had readily admitted his mistake, Shuangshuang also lowered her head and said, "Mother, it was my fault for not stopping them. I was also at fault."
Dazhuang kept his head down, glancing at Ye Wenxue's expression from time to time. Seeing her half-smile, he quickly came over, took her hand, and imitated Siwang's usual coquettish manner:
"Mom, don't be angry. If you want to scold me, scold me. It was my idea."
Ye Wenxue chuckled and patted Dazhuang's head: "Why should I be angry? If anyone should be angry, it's the goose. But since this was done improperly, you'll be punished by having to change the goose's water and feed it every day. Also, you'll be responsible for fetching all the water from the pond."
Dazhuang nodded obediently; the water in the pool was what he had been carrying every day.
"Dazhuang and Sanyuan, go wash your hands thoroughly before you eat candied hawthorns."
Dazhuang and Sanyuan went to the pool, apologized to the goose, and then used their umbrellas to fetch water to wash their hands.
Ye Wenxue went into the cellar and brought the chili peppers and chili seeds to the kitchen, intending to make chili oil to store.
In winter, heavy snow will likely block the mountains, making it difficult to leave the valleys. We need to stock up on food and grain.
When he returned to the kitchen, he saw the three older children eating candied hawthorns at the table. Siwang had none, so he shoved a few candied hawthorns from his older siblings' mouths.
"Mom, have some candied hawthorns! They're so sweet!" The four children shouted in unison as soon as Ye Wenxue entered the kitchen.
Ye Wenxue placed the chili peppers on the stove, picked up the remaining candied hawthorns, ate one, and stuffed it into Siwang's hand: "Mom doesn't like sweets, so you can each have one. After you finish eating, hurry up and leave the kitchen, or the chili oil will be very pungent when we make it."
"good."
The children dared not question Ye Wenxue's words any longer. After finishing their candied hawthorns, they stuffed the sticks into the fire and went out one after another.
Siwang ate several more candied hawthorns, feeling quite satisfied, and then happily went to see the wild boar cubs being raised in the cave.
The peppers picked in the first two harvests were left to dry in the sun long ago.
After Ye Wenxue made a slit in the chili pepper with a knife, she easily shook out the chili seeds. After shaking them all out, she dried them in the sun with a winnowing basket. The chili seeds were kept for seed production, and the chilies were used to make chili oil.
Authentic chili oil requires spices such as sesame seeds and Sichuan peppercorns to enhance its aroma. However, Ye Wenxue robbed the bandit's kitchen of spices, which did not include sesame seeds, so she decided to make a simplified version.
As long as it's edible, it's fine.
Half an hour later, Dazhuang sat in the rocking chair with Yuanyuan, who was unusually clingy after waking up, staring blankly at the endless rain curtain when he suddenly smelled a strong, domineering, and pungent fragrance.
The aroma, amplified by the hot oil, was even more pungent and fragrant than when he and Sanyuan were picking chili seeds.
"Achoo..." Yuan Yuan had never smelled such a stimulating scent before, and couldn't help but let out a small yawn.
Dazhuang quickly got up, dragged his rocking chair to the vegetable garden far away from the kitchen, and stared blankly at the land where chili peppers, sweet potatoes and corn were planted.
My mother seemed to have said that sweet potatoes cooked in the ashes of the stove were also delicious...
"Big brother, big brother, what character is this?" Sanyuan asked as he ran over and sat down next to him, biting the pen.
Dazhuang snapped out of his daze, clearing his mind of the delicious food, and recited the Hundred Family Surnames to Sanyuan from beginning to end.
Sanyuan carefully memorized a few unfamiliar characters, then ran back inside to practice calligraphy.
This was the task Mr. Su left him before he left: to write one page of large characters every day, without being perfunctory, and to have his mother check it frequently.
Too many things have happened in the past few days, and Mother can't remember them all right now, but Sanyuan doesn't want to find out when Mother remembers to check that he still owes several pages of calligraphy.
After Sanyuan left, Dazhuang hugged Yuanyuan, who was sticking close to him, and thought to himself that he had to work hard to learn to write, otherwise he wouldn't be able to answer Sanyuan's questions next time, which would hinder him from establishing his authority as the leader.
Yuanyuan, unaware of her older brother's lofty ambitions, gave him a sticky kiss and then babbled towards the kitchen, wanting to find her mother.
Dazhuang didn't want her to choke again, so after thinking for a while, he carried Yuanyuan to the cave to see how Siwang was raising the wild boar cubs.
After making the chili oil, Ye Wenxue saw that it was almost time, so she decided to start cooking.
The chili pepper tree was knocked down by falling stones and couldn't be saved, but Dazhuang managed to pick up a few intact, fresh chili peppers.
Ye Wenxue didn't dare to be greedy, so she took a chili pepper, stir-fried it with green beans and meat, and then stewed a lotus root and pork rib soup to add flavor.
The lotus root was bought from the foot of the mountain. It had been sitting for a few days and was a bit old, so it was perfect for making soup.
After eating and digesting their food, the family fell asleep to the sound of raindrops.
The next day, Ye Wenxue was sound asleep, enjoying a rare rest, when Dazhuang suddenly shook her awake:
"Mom, something terrible has happened! Yuanyuan has developed a rash!"
Still half asleep, Ye Wenxue instantly sat up: "What?!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
