Chapter 56 (Doujinshi)
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Xiahe Village.
She Ning had just finished cooking dinner and was carefully carrying the dishes to the main room when she looked up and saw She Hongmei pushing her bicycle into the yard with a joyful expression.
She arranged to visit the cannery with Guan Xiuhua this afternoon. Judging from her beaming smile, the outcome must have been excellent.
"It smells so good! What are we having today?" After parking the car under the peach tree, She Hongmei unloaded a cardboard box from the back seat and walked inside while carrying the box. From a distance, she asked.
"Your favorite braised goose, and my favorite red bean soup!" She Ni followed behind She Ning with four porcelain bowls and a pair of chopsticks. Hearing She Hongmei's question, she tilted her head out from behind She Ning and answered loudly.
"Grandma's favorite is steamed clams with eggs, and my sister's favorite is vegetable soup." She Ni continued reciting the dishes, swallowing as she spoke.
"Wow, is the food so plentiful today? I'm in for a treat!" She Hongmei said with a smile.
"You can eat after washing your hands."
She had cooked too much vegetable broth, and the dish she was using was too shallow, so the broth was about to overflow. She quickly walked a few steps, holding the scalding hot dish, and placed it on the table. Then, she quickly pinched her earlobes with her fingertips to cool it down.
"Okay," She Hongmei replied, then placed the cardboard box next to the chicken coop in the yard.
That place used to be a pigsty, but it had been vacant since Grandpa She passed away. She Hongmei dug out all the useless junk from the pigsty.
After throwing everything into the outside trash can, she clapped her hands, stood in front of the water vat by the yard, scooped up a ladle of water with a gourd ladle, and shouted to She Ni.
"Nini, come and wash your hands together."
"I'm here!" Upon hearing the voice, She Ning, with her hair in two small ponytails tied with pink sequined hair flowers, wearing pretty little leather shoes and a newly made mustard yellow dress, ran out of the main room. As she ran, her ponytails drew beautiful arcs in the air.
"Mom, hurry up!" After washing her hands with soap, she urged She Hongmei to quickly scoop up water.
"Okay, you little glutton, I won't delay your meal." She Hongmei said affectionately, gently pinching the tip of She Ni's pert nose.
After washing her hands clean, she dried them with a handkerchief and turned to go back to the main room when a strange noise suddenly came from the courtyard. She listened carefully and heard soft moaning sounds, like the calls of some small animal.
"Mom, it sounds like something's making noise over there." Pointing to the pigsty in the yard, She Ning looked up at She Hongmei with her eyes wide open, as if reporting something. After saying that, she took off running.
"I'll go take a look," she said excitedly, as if she had guessed something.
"Wow, sister, come here quickly, the puppy is so pretty!" She shouted excitedly towards the main room from the edge of the pigpen.
Before She Ning could reply, she rushed back to the main room like a firecracker, grabbed her hand, and ran towards the pigsty.
The small, light yellow dog lay in the tattered clothes inside the cardboard box. Hearing the noise, it pushed itself up with its little paws, tilted its head to the side, its ears drooping, and its round, black pearl-like eyes looking at people. They were wet and looked very cute and innocent.
"Ahhh, sister, look, look, it's so cute!" She exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down while grabbing She Ning's hand.
After receiving a positive reply from She Ning, She Ni cupped her face and leaned against the edge of the pigpen again, her eyes practically glued to it.
"It's so cute, so cute!" Having always dreamed of having a puppy, the happiness came so suddenly that She Ni still couldn't quite believe it. "Mom, is it really a member of our family?"
Meeting her expectant yet slightly nervous gaze, She Hongmei's eyes were full of affection. She gently stroked her head and said softly, "Silly child, of course it is."
"Mom, thank you! You are the best mom in the world." She gestured for She Hongmei to squat down, then kissed her cheek, hugged her, rubbed her fair face against hers, and said in a coquettish tone.
The sweetness was so intense that She Hongmei's eyes crinkled with laughter.
Without showing favoritism, she then hugged She Ning on one side, tilted her head back, blinked her round puppy eyes, and said with utmost sincerity, "Sister is also the best sister in the world."
She Ning pinched her cheek and said with a smile, "Hmm, Nini is also the best little sister in the world."
At the entrance of the main room, Chen Yuzhen walked out with her cane and stood at the door. Seeing that She Ning and the others had not returned, she called out to them in the courtyard.
"Eat first, the food is getting cold."
Upon hearing this, She Ni and She Ning looked at each other, stuck out their tongues, and quickly ran back hand in hand.
"Grandma, I'm coming right now!"
I originally planned to surprise them after dinner, but this is fine too.
She Hongmei followed slowly behind.
The octagonal table in the main room was laden with dishes.
The soup is snow-white with bright green vegetables and a glossy red color. The braised goose is rich in sauce, and the steamed eggs and clams are tender and fragrant. There is also a pork bone soup with five-finger peach that exudes a faint coconut aroma.
"Grandma, Mom, Nini, have some soup first." After serving the soup to them, She Ning sat down and took a sip with her spoon.
The coconut flavor of the five-finger peach blends perfectly with the umami of the pork bones. When cooked with red dates and honey dates, the soup not only gains a touch of sweetness but also balances the medicinal taste, resulting in a refreshing, sweet, mellow, and delicious flavor.
Lu'e is a traditional delicacy with local characteristics in southern provinces. There are strict requirements for the selection of geese. Male grass-fed goslings that are 100-120 days old and weigh between 8.5 and 9 jin are selected to ensure that the goose meat is tender and not greasy.
Making braised goose involves four steps: marinating, braising, stewing, and reducing the sauce. Braising involves placing the whole goose in a wok of oil and turning it over constantly to ensure even heating, which makes the skin turn golden brown and forces out the subcutaneous fat.
During the braising stage, the goose needs to be turned over constantly to ensure even flavor absorption. In the latter half of the braising process, kudzu root can be added. The kudzu root, when braised together, becomes soft, sweet, and delicate in texture, while also being fully infused with the rich and mellow flavor of the sauce, making every bite an ultimate satisfaction.
After finishing the soup, She Ning picked up a piece of braised goose meat. The braised goose, which had been deep-fried, was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, fatty but not greasy, with a rich soy sauce flavor. She liked to eat the goose breast meat, a thick piece of meat. With one bite, her whole mouth was filled with the rich aroma of meat. The soy sauce flavor, the caramel flavor, and the meat flavor were perfectly combined and exploded as she chewed, making her feel both satisfied and unsatisfied. She wanted to eat another bite.
After dinner, they took a walk to digest their food, then sat on the stone benches under the peach tree, each having a bowl of red bean paste for a late-night snack.
She Ning only likes to drink the water in sweet soup; she doesn't like the ingredients. So, of the four bowls of red bean soup, the other three were full of ingredients, but her sweet soup was the only one.
During their late-night snack, they also held a short meeting.
The terms have been roughly agreed upon with the cannery. They can sign the contract once the paper version is ready. They will provide the recipe, hold a 30% stake, and will not participate in the operation. Guan Xiuhua will provide the raw materials and purchase them at market prices.
There are no restrictions on the number of stores that can be opened, but each store needs to stock canned braised food.
This request is not unreasonable. It can promote canned food and also cater to customers who want to give gifts or travel far away. Moreover, the canned food sold by the agents is purchased at wholesale price, so they can still make a lot of money by selling it at retail price.
After She Hongmei finished talking about the canned food, She Ning also told her about Lin Qingxu's visit to express his gratitude and give gifts.
She Hongmei probably never dared to dream of owning a Seagull brand watch before, but after running a stall, opening a shop, and working in a cannery, she is no longer the She Hongmei who was so poor that she had to scrape together a few hundred yuan.
“We’ll go to the city another day and bring some gifts to visit you. If we get along well, we can treat each other as relatives in the future,” She Hongmei said with a smile after hearing She Ning’s words.
Everyone trusts the character of the village party secretary's family. Lin Qingxu is Yang Hongli's niece, and they are very close, so I believe her character is not bad. Moreover, according to She Ning's description, Lin Qingxu is a good person in terms of her conduct and temperament.
They can talk again when they go to the city. If they get along, that would be great; if not, there's no loss.
After drinking the sweet soup, everyone chatted for a while, then dispersed, washed up, and went to bed. In the quiet of the night, everyone was asleep.
Just as She Ning was lying in bed and about to fall asleep, Ya Ya suddenly sent back a message: someone had entered the old house.
Upon receiving the message, She Ning immediately activated the YaYa Vision Sharing function. When she closed her eyes and opened them again, the scenery in front of her instantly changed from bare tiled roofs to the quaint courtyard of an ancient residence.
Tonight, the sky is covered by dark clouds, and there is hardly any moonlight. The ancient houses, without any lights on, are pitch black, and the poor night vision of the crows is once again exposed.
The crow said it heard someone looking for something inside the house, and fearing being discovered, it dared not get too close.
She Ning had Ya Ya find a secluded corner in the courtyard, released the puppet, and projected her consciousness onto it. She Ning immediately put on the illusion gloves.
She Ning gave Ya Ya a handful of spirit rice and a Linglong fruit, and told it to stay hidden. After watching it finish pecking at the spirit rice, it flew back to the tree with the Linglong fruit in its mouth and hid. She Ning then turned and walked towards the room where Ya Ya said the strange noise came from.
In the darkness, a mosquito buzzes as it flies forward.
Since the last time she impulsively transformed into a tree and remained motionless, causing her to suffer from back pain that lasted for several days, she reflected on her experience. If she needed to transform into something again, her first choice would be small things like mosquitoes and flies, followed by things that could move around her, and lastly, inanimate objects that couldn't move at all.
She flew to the room that Ya Ya had mentioned, buzzing around, but found no one there. She continued forward until she reached the study in the far corner.
The man, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, had an old scar on his face that stretched horizontally from his forehead to the corner of his eye. His triangular eyes looked fierce. He was not tall, only about 1.6 meters, and was very lean. He looked like he could fight.
She Ning stopped by the window and watched him rummage through the room. He was clearly not after money. He had found boxes from somewhere, each filled with jewelry and gold bars, which he casually tossed onto the table and the floor.
He was extremely familiar with this old house. He could casually twist a vase, push a bookshelf, or pull out a book, and all sorts of hidden compartments and secret rooms in the house would be opened.
After searching around, she couldn't find what she was looking for. The man sat in the armchair in the hall. She Ning watched as his eyes grew darker and his face darkened. Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he pressed one hand on the table and reached the back of the solid wood table with the other.
A moment later, a soft clicking sound was heard. The side of the solid wood table bulged slightly, and the person used that bulge to pull out a box.
Inside the box was a thin notebook.
The distance was a bit far, and She Ning couldn't see the words on the notebook clearly, but when she saw the man's tightly furrowed brows relax and his stern face soften into a smile, she knew she definitely couldn't give him the notebook.
[The crows are cooperating with me]
She passed this information to Ya Ya, and She Ning buzzed into the room.
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