When Zhou Chengning came back with the bamboo basket, Xu Xiangjuan had already brought the fish home and was filleting and removing the bones.
She had never seen pickled fish made with a whole fish, and the steps to filleting fish were complicated, but she knew how to fillet it and was quite skilled at it.
The fish meat also needs to be marinated with salt, cooking wine, oil, etc. for a while.
"Juan, this is the result of my trip up the mountain today." Zhou Chengning saw that his lover was in the kitchen, so he took the bamboo basket to his lover.
Xu Xiangjuan: "We picked a lot, enough to eat for several meals."
The mushrooms Zhou Chengning picks are basically those that are not suitable for drying and are better eaten fresh.
Zhou Chengning was happy to hear that he could have several meals. "Juan, I will go to the mountain to pick mushrooms in the future. I have recognized all of them today."
Xu Xiangjuan: "You are not allowed to go alone, understand? If you want to go, come with my dad and a few others, or the two of us can go together."
She just can't act alone, because if she does, she'll be worried about getting hurt.
Seeing that Zhou Chengning had nothing to do and was watching her filleting fish, Xu Xiangjuan simply picked out some mushrooms and put them on an empty plate. Just as she was about to tell him to wash them, Gua Gua ran in.
"Mom! Niu Niu is awake!" Gua Gua said hurriedly.
Every time the younger brother wakes up, he whines for his mother. She had just come back from Miaomiao's house to collect some money when the younger brother suddenly started whining.
"Aning, please wash the mushrooms I picked." After saying that, Xu Xiangjuan went to the inner room to pick up the baby.
Zhou Chengning was taking a plate of mushrooms and preparing to go to the yard to fetch water to wash them, when he happened to see Gua Gua standing next to the kitchen door.
Guagua's tangled expression and hesitant look successfully attracted Zhou Chengning's attention, "Guagua, what's wrong?"
The little guy seemed to gather up his courage, "Dad is dirty! Mom scolds!"
After saying that, Guagua ran away.
!!!
Zhou Chengning then remembered that his lover was in the kitchen, so he said a few words to her while putting the mushrooms in the kitchen. As they were talking, he forgot to change his clothes.
You said before that you wanted to be decent, but now you are showing your sloppy side to your lover.
And now in his daughter's eyes, her father is not only talkative, but also dirty.
Ah, but now his wife and daughter are in the inner room. He saw Gua Gua running into the inner room, so he can’t go there to change clothes now.
What should I do? I’m embarrassed.
Although it was embarrassing, Zhou Chengning still washed the mushrooms first.
"Mom! I didn't tell Dad!" Guagua went back to the inner room and told his mother.
Xu Xiangjuan was hugging Niu Niu and coaxing her when she realized what her daughter said, "Gua Gua is really amazing. Niu Niu must learn from her sister in the future."
The little Niu Niu didn’t know what his mother was saying and just looked at her cutely.
After Xu Xiangjuan came out with Niu Niu Gua Gua, Zhou Chengning quickly walked to the inner room, "Juan, I have washed them and put them on the table."
"Mom, Dad, hurry up." Run as fast as she does.
Xu Xiangjuan glanced at the place where the egg cake was placed next to the stove, but didn't move. She probably didn't notice it.
When the egg cake was first made, it gave off a sweet fragrance that was so strong that you could smell it as soon as you entered the kitchen. However, after some time, the fragrance became less concentrated.
Besides, the sauerkraut she got from her mother was so sour that it covered up the remaining sweetness of the egg cake.
When Zhou Chengning came back after changing his clothes, Xu Xiangjuan handed Niu Niu to him and said, "Aning, hold Niu Niu. I'll go cook."
Niu Niu still has a natural aversion to his father, but now he has to hold the bottle to drink milk and has no time to pay attention to his father. He just drinks the milk by himself.
Zhou Chengning looked at his wife who was concentrating on slicing fish, and then looked at his daughter who was sitting on a small stool doing nothing, "Gua Gua, Dad's clothes are clean."
He had already changed his clothes, and it seemed childish to tell his wife specifically, so he told his daughter instead.
Gua Gua hummed, without much reaction, and his eyes turned to his mother from time to time.
When can she eat the Oh Oh cake? She wants to eat more.
Xu Xiangjuan filleted the fish and prepared to cook it. Today's mushrooms can be washed and cooked in the sauerkraut fish.
His wife was concentrating on cooking, his daughter was just doing it perfunctorily, and his son was still young and they could not communicate at all. Zhou Chengning felt that he was isolated from his family and had no way of fitting in.
Time passed by minute by minute, and Xu Xiangjuan cooked the sauerkraut fish and put it into a small bowl that was usually used for big dishes.
The pickled fish was delicious and immediately attracted the attention of both the adults and the children.
Niu Niu was already full and was just watching curiously, while Zhou Chengning and Gua Gua couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks/spoons.
Xu Xiangjuan: "Wait for me to stir-fry some cabbage."
Sauerkraut fish is a big dish, with meat, sauerkraut and mushrooms. You can also drink the soup, and a plate of fried cabbage will be enough.
The cabbage had been stored for a few days and the skin didn't look very fresh, so Xu Xiangjuan picked off the dry and rotten leaves on the outside. The inside looked okay.
Stir-frying Chinese cabbage is not as troublesome as making pickled fish, and it can be done quickly.
Gua Gua has already prepared his own small spoon, "Mom, fish!"
Xu Xiangjuan: "Let's eat later. I have a question first."
Although Zhou Chengning wanted to eat, he was not in a hurry to pick up his chopsticks. "Juan, what's the problem?"
Xu Xiangjuan: "What day is today? Does Aning know?"
"What day is today?" The New Year seemed to have passed. The Lantern Festival was on the 15th, and there were still a few days to go. Zhou Chengning was puzzled.
Guagua spoke up actively, "I know!"
Zhou Chengning waited for Guagua to ask what day it was today. His wife didn't respond, and Guagua didn't answer directly, so he had no choice but to ask, "Guagua, what day is today?"
Finally, Dad asked this! Mom said that she had to wait until Dad asked before she could tell him. Although Gua Gua didn’t understand why she had to do that, she still waited until Dad asked before she told him, “Today is Dad’s birthday!”
"Juan, today... is my birthday?" Gua Gua is only three years old, how did she know his birthday? He himself didn't even remember it... It must be his lover who told his daughter.
Niu Niu didn't make any noise when being held by his father. Xu Xiangjuan lifted the bamboo rice cover and saw that the apple petals had turned brown, which was similar to the color of the egg cake crust.
Although the color is similar to that of the egg cake crust, the color of the apple segments is uneven... I should have used orange segments earlier.
"It doesn't look very good anymore. This egg cake was made for you by Guagua Niuniu and I. Happy birthday, Aning."
Guagua is a down-to-earth kid, "Mom did it! Niu Niu and I didn't!"
"How could there be none? Guagua was watching from the side and helping mom pass things, which was helping mom. Niu Niu was sleeping and not disturbing mom, which was also helping. So this egg cake was made by the whole family for dad. Guagua, go and say happy birthday to dad."
Guagua obeyed, "Happy birthday, Dad!"
Xu Xiangjuan put the apple slices into the empty bowl that she had prepared long ago. Apples are not just for decoration, but can also be used as after-meal fruit. "After being left for a long time, the apples don't look very good, but the egg cake tastes good."
I have to be more careful when making the cake next time...How could something like this happen the first time I made it?
Xu Xiangjuan was not very satisfied.
"Mom, why did Dad run away with Niu Niu?" Gua Gua stared at his father in a daze as he turned around and walked away with Niu Niu without saying a word.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't react either. She was just about to cut the egg cake with the washed kitchen knife.
There are two kitchen knives in the house. One is relatively blunt and is rarely used. She sharpened it when she was sharpening the other knife. She used the blunt knife, washed it with water, and used it to cut the egg cake. Today, she used the sharp knife to slice fish. She was afraid that if she washed the knife clean enough for slicing fish, the knife would still have a fishy smell when cutting the egg cake, so she didn't save the trouble and took out the other knife.
Instead of chasing after the man, Xu Xiangjuan cut the cake first, letting the raisins fall under the plate. She cut the cake into six pieces with three cuts and served a small bowl of rice to Guagua. "Mom will go call Dad to eat. You can eat the fish after Mom comes back, okay? You can drink the soup with a spoon. The egg cake is a snack, not a meal."
"I understand, Mom." Gua Gua replied.
Still worried, Xu Xiangjuan cut a small piece of egg cake for Guagua and said, "Mom is going to find Dad. Be obedient."
Guagua: “Yeah!”
After arranging things for Gua Gua, Xu Xiangjuan felt that Aning should have calmed down by now, so she took a bowl with a piece of cake and went to the inner room.
As soon as I walked out to the outer room, I heard crying from the inner room.
Xu Xiangjuan walked into the inner room and saw her husband crying. He was still holding Niu Niu in his arms, and his tears fell directly on Niu Niu's sweater...
Niu Niu might be confused too, he hasn’t even dropped the gold beans yet…
Xu Xiangjuan put the egg cake on the bedside and quickly rescued Niu Niu from Zhou Chengning's arms.
She was afraid that the little calf would be drowned by his father's tears.
Dad cried, but Niu Niu didn’t cry. It was really strange.
Xu Xiangjuan put Niu Niu in his crib. The wooden fences around the crib were wrapped with rags. They were used to prevent the child from bumping into the fences while sleeping at night.
Niu Niu can already roll over. His mother carried him to the crib, where he turned over. His two chubby hands held onto the fence, staring at his father who was crying.
Xu Xiangjuan: "Aning, don't cry. Let's go eat later. Guagua is already eating."
I have experience in coaxing children to stop crying, but I have no experience in coaxing my own man to stop crying.
Didn't you cry secretly before going to bed in the past? Why did you cry so early today?
Zhou Chengning sobbed and spoke unclearly, and there was a long interval between the two words "um" and "okay".
"Today is your birthday. You had longevity noodles this morning, so you should be happy... I left Gua Gua in the kitchen on purpose because I was afraid she would see her dad crying." Xu Xiangjuan gently stroked Zhou Chengning's back.
"I... won't cry anymore." Zhou Chengning lowered his head and tried hard to stop his tears.
She took the bowl on the bedside table and said, "If you don't cry, have a piece of cake. I made it especially for you today. Happy birthday, Aning."
Seeing that Zhou Chengning was about to cry again while holding the egg cake, Xu Xiangjuan leaned over and took a bite of the egg cake.
After his lover took a bite of the egg cake, Zhou Chengning finally stopped thinking about crying and handed the egg cake to his lover's mouth.
Xu Xiangjuan took another bite and said, "You eat it. I've only eaten two bites. We still have to eat dinner tonight. You've worked hard up the mountain, so you must be hungry."
After hearing what his lover said, Zhou Chengning felt hungry, really hungry.
She ate it mouthful by mouthful normally. Maybe delicious food really has the healing effect on people. Zhou Chengning's tears were gone. "Juan, it's delicious. Thank you, thank you Gua Gua, and thank you Niu Niu."
Speaking of Niu Niu, Xu Xiangjuan noticed that Niu Niu was clinging to the fence of the crib in a strange and stubborn posture.
After she carried the fat boy out, Xu Xiangjuan was in the mood to joke, "Niuniu saw his daddy crying tears... Put a big bib on Niuniu from now on, big enough to cover his belly, to prevent his daddy from crying tears again someday... Aning, you really didn't mean to let your tears fall on Niuniu's belly?"
Xu Xiangjuan touched her son's belly on his cotton sweater and found it was really wet.
Zhou Chengning: "It wasn't intentional."
He just wanted to cry... Anyway, Niu Niu would not remember anything that happened when he was a few months old when he grew up, so he cried without restraint. Unexpectedly, he wet Niu Niu's clothes with tears.
The author has something to say: The fairies in the comment section even noticed the detail of apple oxidation. You must eat apples often. I don’t eat apples very often. I used to eat peaches frequently (since peaches are mentioned, the protagonist of this article will be peaches. Please give me an advance payment~).
Peaches will also oxidize. When they oxidize, I even doubt if it is really a peach [covering face].
But when the season of pomelo comes, I want to shout out that I love pomelo so much!! My eyes and heart are full of pomelo!!
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