Chapter 7 A Busy Day (Part 2)
Gong Zhili thought about all the extraordinary things that had happened to her over the past two days, and finally concluded that she must have been an extraordinary person before she lost her memory - this idea indirectly reflects that she is really a very optimistic person.
Anyway, let’s have dinner first.
She stood in front of the table filled with abundant food, rolled up her sleeves, and said to the twins who were lying by the kitchen door, "We're having a big dinner tonight!"
The two children cheered very politely.
She smiled, cut the taro into small pieces, sliced the pine mushrooms, spread them evenly on the rice, and sprinkled a little salt and soy sauce on them - she didn't dare to put too much, and tapped the stone stove to let it start simmering the rice.
Then he took out a deep earthenware cooking pot, put taro cubes and water in it, and started cooking.
Then cut the cleaned pine mushrooms into thin slices and the wild onions into thin sections. Then call two children over, beat the wild duck eggs into a bowl, add a little salt, and teach them to stir evenly.
As the two children diligently beat the duck eggs, Gong Zhili faced a dilemma over the hot iron pan: How much oil should I add to stir-fry the wild duck eggs with wild onions? If I add mushrooms, should I add more oil? Do mushrooms absorb oil?
She poured the oil carefully, and when the oil was hot, poured in the pine mushroom slices. The pine mushrooms gave off an exceptionally rich aroma. Then she poured in the scallion segments. The twins handed her a bowl of egg liquid. She poured in the egg liquid and watched it quickly solidify in the pan. The aroma became even richer. Gong Zhili could almost hear the two children swallowing their saliva.
She placed the stir-fried pine mushrooms, wild onions, and wild duck eggs on a plate and handed each twin a pair of chopsticks: "Try it."
She also took the chopsticks and took a bite.
The three of them had the same happy expression on their faces.
"I'm such a genius!" Gong Zhili said without blushing, "It's so delicious!"
Nanako and Mimiko nodded in unison, agreeing loudly, "Super delicious!"
The flavor was actually a little bland, but the freshness of the pine mushrooms and the unique spiciness of the wild onions made up for it, and the light seasoning further highlighted the tenderness of the wild duck eggs.
The three people in the kitchen laughed out loud. Perhaps this is what it means to be happy when you eat something delicious.
Gong Zhili knew that her confidence must have a source. She was such a capable person. Even if she burnt the cabbage on the first day, she could really learn to cook very quickly!
Gong Zhili immediately cut the hairy straw mushrooms into pieces and put them into the pot of cooking taro. The taro had already become soft, but she still added a little salt and soy sauce to season it. She waited until the taro became soft and the hairy straw mushrooms were well-seasoned. After serving the soup, she sprinkled some chopped wild garlic on it to enhance the flavor.
She wasted no time and brought over today's main dish - snake meat.
Without any extra seasoning, she stir-fried the wild onions and wild garlic in hot oil until they were fragrant, then poured the snake meat segments into the pan and stir-fried them quickly. The snake meat turned brown under the high temperature and emitted a unique aroma.
Gong Zhili poured in some cooking wine to remove the fishy smell, then sprinkled salt, stir-fried, and poured in soy sauce to enhance the color. Finally, she thought about it and boldly poured in some vinegar.
It doesn’t matter, she comforted herself. The two children had never tasted snake meat. As long as it wasn’t bitter or astringent, the taste wouldn’t be that strange and they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Even though she thought so, she still picked up a piece of snake meat and tasted it before serving it on a plate.
Unexpectedly delicious!
She really is a genius!
The snake meat is very tender but has a firm texture. The aroma of wild onions and garlic permeates the snake meat, and the slight sourness from the vinegar makes it even more appetizing.
Mimiko happily brought out the plate of snake meat.
Finally, Gong Zhili blanched the tender leaves and stems of the dandelions, then soaked them in cold water to maintain the taste. She prepared the sauce with chopped wild onions and wild garlic, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. After draining the dandelions, she poured the sauce into the sauce and stirred gently.
Dandelion salad, done!
She didn't taste the dish, deciding to keep it a surprise for herself.
Tonight's dining table is still a horizontal box, but the dishes on it are much richer than at noon. There are vegetables, meat, and soup. There are three full bowls of pine mushroom and taro rice, which are steaming hot.
Nanako and Mimiko ate until their stomachs were full, and Gong Zhili finally realized that he had to prepare some food to help digest the food, and then go up the mountain to look for hawthorns.
After dinner, she took the twins and began to process the reeds they had collected during the day.
Gong Zhili demonstrated for them. She placed her thumb against the middle of a reed stalk, hooked her index finger around the stem, and pulled it back. The green skin split open, revealing a snow-white core. Then she crossed two reeds, pressed the joint with her left middle finger, and passed the reed under the intersection with her right hand.
"It's a half-turn here." She slowly turned her wrist inward, giving the children a better view. The reed just passed through curved around the joint of her index finger and fit into the groove at the intersection. Nanako imitated her movements and turned. The reed snapped open, and she spread her hands, somewhat bewildered.
Mimiko's reeds were tangled into a knot. Her hands were too small and her strength was too weak to do anything about it. With sweat pouring down her forehead, Gong Zhili used his little fingernail to pry open the top reed. He pressed down on Mimiko's wrist with the back of his hand, "Loosen it a little to allow room for movement. Take your time. You've picked a lot of reeds, so replace them if they break."
Three pairs of hands moved back and forth among the reeds. Gong Zhili scraped his fingernails twice, and the raised burrs were smoothed out. Nanako finally managed to weave several consecutive diamond-shaped grids. She was about to pull the reeds tight, hesitating and leaving a little space. Gong Zhili took her hand and gestured for her to tighten: "They will shrink after drying, so it's okay to just tighten them."
Reed scraps fell as they weaved, gradually forming a small mountain on their knees. The base of the straw hat took on a rough outline. Gong Zhili held up the half-finished product to measure its size, pleased. "We can take it out to dry tomorrow."
The reeds she had gathered today were all gone. Thinking of her plans for tomorrow, she said to her two children, "Let's go gather some more reeds tomorrow, dry them, and weave something else."
As for tonight, it's time for them to take a bath and go to bed.
She helped the children take a bath and went to the bedroom, asking them to go to bed. "I won't turn off the lights in the courtyard outside. You guys go to bed first."
Even though it was September, the mountain nights were still chilly. The two children were covered with thin blankets. Nanako tugged at the edge of the blanket and asked, "Master Gong, aren't you going to rest?"
Gong Zhili: "My Lord will not go to bed so early."
Without saying anything, she turned off the bedroom light, walked through the corridor next to the atrium, passed the living room, and went to the living room.
She checked the fishing rod sent by the village chief, and the box that came with it also contained some bait and fish food.
She looked out onto the balcony from the living room. This was her second day in this house. The strange and dark night of yesterday seemed somewhat familiar today.
Since I can’t sleep now, I might as well go to the warehouse and take a look.
When she lit the wall lamp in the warehouse, she made up her mind to install electric lights in the warehouse when she had time in the future.
She walked around the piles of firewood and went deeper into the barn.
The warehouse was very dusty, and her long-sleeved shirt and long pants, which she had not changed yet, were stained, but the search was well worth it. She found a large bundle of plastic film, and underneath it were many wooden shelves stacked up.
A clothes drying rack! There's also a rack for drying quilts!
Gong Zhili didn't care what these wooden racks were originally used for, but she decided on their uses the first time she saw them: drying quilts, drying vegetables, drying radishes, drying persimmons, drying bacon... many memories rushed into her mind.
The awakening of this memory filled her with motivation. She moved the wooden racks to the well and scrubbed them for more than an hour under the moonlight. After washing them, she carried them to the open space outside the balcony.
After finishing all this, she stretched and felt more energetic than when she first arrived.
Simply working hard can make you stronger, and no one would have too many complaints about this.
Contented, Gong Zhili took a bath, changed into pajamas, and returned to the bedroom. Mimiko, upon hearing the noise, suddenly woke up. Recognizing her in the moonlight, she asked vaguely, "Master Gong?"
Gong Zhili hushed, "It's okay, go to sleep."
She climbed onto the bed nimbly, pulled the blanket over her, and fell asleep on the pillow.
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