After working for four or five days in a row, a snowstorm blew Xu Jiang back into the house.
She and Lin Hongchu hurriedly put away all the tools and printing papers. After a while, the world was left with only white.
The work was still a little bit unfinished, and Xu Jiang felt guilty, but he could only stare blankly and wait for the weather to clear up before printing.
The snow came quickly and lasted for a long time. After half a day, there was no sign of it stopping. At this time, there was no one to be seen in the bookstores or even on the streets.
Xu Jiang asked Lin Hongchu to go back.
Before leaving, she fished out two lively carp from the water tank, strung them together with straw ropes, and asked Lin Hongchu to take them back to make soup for Mrs. Lin's health. She also found a cloak for her to wear to keep her warm, fearing she would catch a cold.
"If it snows again tomorrow, don't come. Your mother's illness is even more severe in the snow. You should stay at home with her and come back when the weather clears up."
Lin Hongchu nodded, "I understand." Then he asked, "Is Mr. Lou coming today?"
Xu Jiang looked at the snowflakes falling outside the door and said with a smile, "I guess he can't come."
"Then you are alone in the shop, aren't you lonely?"
Seeing her worried expression, Xu Jiang felt warm in his heart, "No, I also like to be alone sometimes."
"Do you think I'm noisy?"
"Stop being unreasonable."
"oh."
Xu Jiang found another umbrella, walked her to the door, opened it for her, and then put it in her hand.
"It's snowing heavily, be careful on the road."
"knew."
Xu Jiang watched Lin Hongchu walk away when Yue Nu suddenly came to her feet and rubbed against her. Xu Jiang bent down to pick it up and scratched its chin, and it immediately narrowed its eyes and made a 'gurgling' sound.
"Do you want to eat fish?"
After asking, he imitated the voice of a cat and answered softly, "Yes."
She had been craving that fish for a long time. Although Lou Yunchun brought her food every day, the food at Lou's house was so bland that she had almost become a fairy these days. Since she had nothing to do today, she could have two fish, one dry-fried and one stewed in soup, with some potato wine. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
She did what she said. She closed the door, hung a sign saying "Knock if you need anything", and went to the backyard with Yue Nu in her arms.
The fish tank was in the yard, and two fish were leisurely pecking at the snow. Xu Jiang quickly and accurately caught one, knocked it unconscious with two or three blows with the flat of her knife, then caught the other and dealt with it in the same way.
Yue Nu's body was not even as big as the fish, and it was trying to eat the fish by biting its tail with a "woohoo" sound. Xu Jiang was very happy to see this, and waited until Yue Nu had had enough fun before cutting the fish into pieces in a few seconds.
While cutting the fish, he suddenly thought of Lou Yunchun. Thinking of how aggressive he looked when he killed the fish, he couldn't stop laughing.
The dry-fried fish needs to be chopped into chunks that are thick but not too big. It would be more appropriate for Lou Yunchun to do this job.
Xu Jiang had a steady hand, and with a few chops, she chopped the whole fish into evenly sized pieces. She set up a wok on the stove, and when it was hot, she greased the bottom with lard, sprinkled a little salt evenly on it, and then added the fish pieces. She frying them slowly over low heat until both sides were lightly golden brown, then removed the wok and set it aside.
After frying the fish, it’s time to prepare the seasonings. I haven’t bought any for several days, so the seasonings at home are simple, only ginger, garlic, soy sauce and a little dogwood oil.
That's enough.
When stir-frying seasonings, use a mixture of clear oil and lard to make them more fragrant.
Xu Jiang fanned the fire high, waiting until the wok began to sizzle. Then she added a spoonful of cooking oil and a spoonful of lard. Once the oil was about 70% hot, she added scallions, sliced ginger, and cornel oil, stir-frying until fragrant. Then she added the fish and continued to stir-fry carefully. Finally, she added two spoonfuls of soy sauce and a spoonful of Zhuangyuanhong (a traditional Chinese medicine sauce) and simmered until the broth thickened and adhered to the fish. The dish was ready.
The fish soup was even simpler, as Yue Nu wanted to eat it. According to Li Tongxue's "Cicada-Holding Divination Method," it needed less salt and oil. Xu Jiang simply pan-fried the fish, then poured boiling water into the broth until it turned white. She skimmed off the oil, added a little salt, and served.
Yue Nu smelled the fish and circled around her feet. The man and the cat went into the restaurant and set up the meal around the stove.
Xu Jiang was just pouring the wine when she heard a knock on the door.
Judging from the time, it was time for Lou Yunchun to leave office.
Thinking that he would not come today, Xu Jiang went to open the door with a smile, but was surprised when she saw the visitor.
"Zhuchun?"
Hu Xu put away his umbrella and said with a smile, "I have some free time today, so I came to see you."
Seeing that he was covered in snow, Xu Jiang quickly let him into the house.
Hu Xu held his umbrella outside the door, shook off the snow on his body, and then stepped into the bookstore.
"It's snowing so heavily, it must be hard for you. Come, have some hot tea to warm yourself up." Xu Jiang asked him to sit down and quickly poured him a cup of tea.
After finishing his tea, Hu Xu looked at the dishes on the table and asked with a smile, "Serving dinner so early?"
"I just have nothing to do." Xu Jiang said with a smile, "It's a good thing you came, let's eat together."
"Then I am lucky."
"I'll go get the dishes." Xu Jiang got up and went to the kitchen.
The wind and snow were strong along the way, and Hu Xu's hands were frozen stiff, so he moved closer to the fire. As soon as he reached out his hand to the fire, he saw the cat that Xu Jiang had picked up squatting on the ground, guarding a bowl and drinking soup.
He reached out to touch it, but the cat purred softly.
Pretty protective of food.
"That collection is almost finished printing. Once it's bound, I'll give you the first copy." Xu Jiang returned, handed him the bowl and chopsticks, and asked, "Would you like a drink? Potato wine."
"good."
Xu Jiang added another wine glass and poured him some wine.
He stopped caring about the cat and started chatting with Xu Jiang. "I heard from the teacher a few days ago that it was being printed. I wanted to come and see it, but I was afraid of causing you trouble. Since it's snowing today, the market should be quiet, so I came to take a look. I didn't expect to have such a good time."
After saying that, he looked at the dishes on the table and sighed, "It's been a long time since I tasted your cooking."
Xu Jiang narrowed her eyes and smiled, and quickly asked him to pick up his chopsticks, "Why don't you try it? Here, dry-fried lotus fish."
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