Chapter 17 Chapter 17 What Kind of Husband Can Satisfy You
Fan Jing slept in a daze and had many dreams throughout the night.
He dreamed that when his mother was still alive, Chunyue was sitting by the window, teaching him how to thread and sew.
The mother and son were talking and laughing, and the mother praised the clothes he made for his father.
I dreamed again that my mother was in agony for a whole day before giving birth to Zhen'er. When my grandparents, who were waiting to hold their grandchild, saw that it was a girl, their faces immediately fell...
I also dreamed of the night when Zhen'er was two years old and his mother passed away. There was no doctor in the village, so his father hurried to the county to find one. He came back with one shoe missing, but he didn't get to see his mother for the last time.
Many fragments of the past were mixed together. His head was dizzy and he wanted to open his eyes to end the nightmare, but his body was extremely heavy and he could not move.
After a long time, the foggy sky finally brightened, and he saw a figure that seemed strange yet familiar waving at him.
"Ajing, come here quickly."
"Look at Dafu, he can already write your name after just two tries!
Ouch, ouch, dear Xiaofu, don’t scratch daddy’s ears…”
Fan Jing wanted to see clearly who was sitting at the table holding the child, but before he could get closer to see clearly, he suddenly woke up.
The wooden house was as dark as a cave.
He thought it was still early, but a gust of wind made him feel extremely cold.
Only then did I realize that it was raining outside.
He pulled open the curtain and got out of bed, only to find that Kang He was not in the room again.
The stove was cold and it seemed that he had left without lighting the fire.
Fan Jing washed his face with cold water, chewed a willow branch, washed and brushed his teeth, and his mind became a little clearer.
Then he started a fire and prepared to heat up the konjac tofu and brown rice left over from last night.
The firelight brought some warmth to the cold wooden house. He sat by the stove, still feeling a slight headache.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t sleep well last night, I feel groggy all the time.
He took out a bulging oil-paper bag from his pocket.
After a while, the sound of a door opening was heard outside.
"You're awake."
Kang He took off his straw raincoat in the yard, took off his pair of wet and muddy cloth shoes outside, put on a pair of straw sandals and went into the wooden house.
"Um."
Fan Jing responded and glanced at Kang He who came in with a damp and cold look on his face: "It's raining outside, where have you been?"
Kang He went to the stove to warm his cold and stiff hands. As he got closer to Fan Jing, he could smell a faint sweet fragrance, the scent of candied winter melon.
He glanced at Fan Jing in surprise: "Are you hungry?"
Fan Jing was a little surprised why he asked that: "No."
Kang He looked at the person sitting with his legs apart on the small stool, his cheeks were calm, and he was usually calm and expressionless.
In their opinion, this kind of personality is called aloof.
But the cool little guy in front of me likes... eating sweets~
Kang He secretly smiled in his eyes, but he didn't say it out loud.
His mood unconsciously improved: "Just wait, I'll show you something good."
After saying that, he went out to tinker with something for a while, and after a while, he came back into the house carrying a wooden barrel.
There was a gurgling sound of water in the bucket. Fan Jing took a look and saw that there were four black carps in the bucket. The small one weighed more than one kilogram, and the big one probably weighed three kilograms.
Not only that, there were also five or six finger-long shrimps and a turtle with its head retracted into its shell.
He was surprised where Kang He got these things.
"I said I'd teach you how to eat fish sooner or later."
Kang He said, "The day before yesterday I made a fish trap, dug up some earthworms to bait it, and placed it in a dark corner of the river. I've been busy making konjac and tofu these past two days and haven't had time to check on it. I didn't expect it to have caught fish."
The fish got into the fish cage and couldn't get out. I don't know when it got close to the cage, but the earth dragon ate it all.
When he went down to the stream to get it, there was a lot of fish poop floating in the cage.
Kang He didn't expect that there were other things in the river. The cage was surprisingly useful. After taking out the fish and shrimp, he dug out the earth dragon and put the cage back in the river.
Prepare to cut some more bamboo to weave a few more cages.
You can place them in rivers and streams to catch fish, or you can make traps to catch living creatures like Fan Jing did.
Fan Jing thought that he was quite skillful and could do these things.
He said, "The herrings in the mountain stream are more valuable than those in the pond. Let's take them to the county."
Kang He said, "It's such a long way from the mountains to the county, and fish can't live without water. They'd die by the time we get them to the county. Dead fish won't be fresh and won't fetch a high price. Why bother making this trip?"
He had already made arrangements for these fish and shrimp: "We'll eat two of the small ones, and keep the two big ones in the tank. When we get down the mountain, we'll take them back and give them to our family as a snack."
Kang He knew that he had been preparing some decent food for Fan Jing these days. The better he ate, the more unhappy he felt, and he was always thinking about home.
He wanted to take over the Fan family as well, so that Fan Jing could feel more at ease.
Fan Jing's eyebrows moved when he heard this, and he said, "You should consider what my family is doing."
Kang He paused slightly, smiled, and said, "Who told me to eat your rice? I can't live and eat for free."
Fan Jing was silent for a moment.
After breakfast, Kang He braved the drizzle and went to cut some bamboo to bring home.
Taking advantage of the rainy weather that made it inconvenient to go out, he fixed the broken bamboo strips and weaved baskets in the wooden house.
Fan Jing did not go out either. He just kept warm by the stove and made some wild hemp stored in the summer to make hemp rope.
Kang He pestered him to teach him the local dialect, and since he had no choice but to agree, he was grateful.
The rain was drizzling outside, and when the wind blew, it felt like the cold winter.
There was a fire in the wooden house so it didn't feel too cold.
Kang He did not bring any thick clothes with him. He only wore two layers of thin autumn clothes. Although his body was warm, he could not withstand the cold in the mountains.
If you sit still for a long time, your feet will get cold first, and then your body will become stiff and cold.
He stamped his feet twice, and the third time a piece of patchwork mink fur was thrown into his arms.
Kang He looked up at Fan Jing, and seeing that he was not looking at him, he frowned and smiled.
Time passed by smoothly and the rain stopped in the afternoon.
Fan Jing wanted to go out to circumambulate the mountain, and Kang He went out with him, taking three prepared cages.
While circling the mountain, I placed two in the bushes and another at the head of the river.
The two of them saw some heavy footprints outside, and guessed they were made by Sun Dasheng yesterday.
But I never saw this person again.
Last night, people were still wandering in the woods, and they didn't know whether they were taken away by wild animals.
Even if he was really taken away by wild animals, he can only blame himself. If he had not had such evil intentions and had stayed at home quietly at night, how could he have encountered danger?
The two of them were not so kind-hearted as to go to his residence to see if he was okay.
On rainy days, the creatures in the mountains are duller, not as smart as on sunny days. Fan Jing caught a fox in his trap.
He looked expressionless, but one could tell he was in a good mood.
It has been a few days since I came here. If I don’t get some goods, how can I feel at ease?
When he returned home in the evening, Kanghe slaughtered two black carps.
Prepare one to stew for soup, and use the remaining flat vegetables and dug wild vegetables to make boiled fish. It is delicious and can be eaten with rice.
To remove the fishy smell, Kanghe used slices of old ginger and peppercorns. The fish used for stewing was almost done. After cooking it again, the fishy smell could be reduced by another 10%.
But when making fish soup, the fish must be marinated in advance. If the soup has a fishy smell, it will not taste good.
He set his eyes on the wine gourd that Fan Jing placed under the bed and asked for some wine to marinate the fish.
Fan Jing had never heard of using wine in cooking. It sounded like his father had finished drinking all the wine and came to his room saying that he had sprained his ankle and wanted some wine to wipe his feet.
"Don't be stingy. I saw some wild cherry trees over there by the big rock. When they bear fruit in the spring, I'll pick some and make some wine for you."
Fan Jing said, "You haven't saved enough money by the time the cherries are ripe?"
"Are you so anxious to get rid of me?"
Fan Jing ignored him and threw the gourd to him.
Kang He took the gourd and said slowly, "Or do you think I'm not capable of making money?"
Fan Jing said: "Whether you have the ability to make money or not is none of my business."
When Kang He heard him say this, he opened the gourd and poured more wine into the basin.
Give it to others as much as you can, so that they won’t have to drink without saying anything good.
That was all. He then asked Fan Jing, "Then let's not talk about me. Tell me, how much money do you think your husband should earn to satisfy you?"
"Why are you asking that?"
Kang He stirred the bowl.
"I'll ask the young man what he thinks. He'll have a better idea of what he's thinking. When he goes out, he'll be able to consider whether he's qualified to start a family."
Fan Jing didn't look at Kang He, but just kept throwing firewood into the stove.
"I haven't thought about that."
Seeing that he didn't want to talk, Kang He begged, "Then think about it for me now."
"Why should I think about it? Even if I think about it and it can't be realized, it will only lead to disappointment and resentment. I can't bear the thought of relying on others like this."
Kang He fell silent upon hearing this, thinking to himself, this is really his character.
Seeing that he was about to lose his temper if someone asked him any more questions, he just kept quiet.
At night, Kanghe stewed the fried herring until the soup was milky white.
Eating a bowl of this soup on a cold, rainy mountain night can warm you from the stomach to the soles of your feet.
He shared a bowl with Fan Jing and left the other pot of fish and vegetables cooked with dogwood and chili on the stove, simmering it over a low heat while adding wild vegetables to blanch and eat, so that the fish wouldn't get cold and have a fishy smell.
The fish in the mountain streams grow up drinking clear spring water and swim all year round to find food, avoiding being caught by gulls and herons. Their meat is very firm and tender, and has a light sweet taste.
Kang He saw Fan Jingyi eating some wild vegetables with brown rice, which was very appetizing. It seemed that this salty and spicy fish soup was just to his taste.
He reached out and picked up a large piece of fish belly meat and put it into his bowl, removed the fish bones, added some hot soup to soak the fish meat, and placed the bowl and plate in front of Fan Jing.
"Why do you like serving people so much?"
Kang He laughed angrily: "Why do the words taste so different when they come into your mouth?"
"Don't you know that a chef's greatest joy is to see people eating the food he cooks?"
Fan Jing picked up some fish and put it into his mouth. The meat tasted better than the vegetables.
After all, wild vegetables are not as good as those grown in the fields. They inevitably have a stronger earthy smell. I don’t know how Kanghe stewed the fish, but the soup is salty and spicy, and the wild vegetables taste just right.
Cooking fish requires a lot of skill. Chen's cooking skills are not very good, so even on festivals when it is time to eat meat, he would not choose to buy fish to cook.
Firstly, I can’t cook this dish well. Secondly, although the price of black carp is not high, it is not as tangy as pork and can not satisfy people’s cravings.
The Fan family seldom cooked fish. If they had a good taste of fish, it would be when someone else prepared a feast for them.
The two of them cleaned up the two fish.
Kanghe saved the remaining fish soup and planned to use it to make noodles the next day.
In the evening, Kanghe changed Fan Jing's dressing.
Fan Jing is in good health and has a strong healing ability. The big wound has healed again.
It will be fine after some time, which is much faster than Kang He expected.
Fan Jing felt that the wound was a little itchy these two days. He had a lot of experience in external injuries and knew that new flesh was growing.
After the gauze was changed and I looked at the wound, I was a little surprised that it healed so quickly this time.
In the past, the flesh wounds were not as deep as this one, but they would not heal for more than ten days or half a month.
But I think it was because Kang He bandaged him well and kept a close eye on him, not letting him do anything to this or that.
Fan Jing was very satisfied with the speed at which his wounds were healing, so he became busy again the next day.
In addition to circumambulating the mountain, I took advantage of my arm being better to collect some firewood.
The weather in the mountains is cold and the temperature fluctuates greatly. Although it is better at the foot of the mountain, it is still cold in winter.
Every household in Dongli Village cannot live without firewood, and even those in the county who cannot afford charcoal have to buy firewood.
Two bundles of firewood can be sold for more than ten yuan, so the idle villagers will go up the mountain to collect firewood and sell it, but it is also hard work.
When the Fan family was at its poorest, Fan Jing and Fan Shoulin would collect firewood and sell it when they couldn't hunt for anything.
The two of them worked hard to chop wood, and Zhen'er and Qiao'er went to the mountains to carry the wood down the mountain one trip at a time, and then Fan Dad and Chen took it to the county.
It's very troublesome and the profit is not much.
Things have been better at home these past two years, and I have to collect less firewood to sell.
But even if you don't collect firewood to sell, you still have to store some firewood for the winter.
Kang He was not idle either. He carried a hoe and a backpack and went out.
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