Why does that voice sound so familiar?
"Who was it again?" Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu exchanged a glance at each other. Baoyu reacted first and banged on the door: "Brother Chen, it's me, Baoyu. My sister and I are looking for a place to take shelter from the rain and we found this place."
Zhou Chenyu suddenly remembered and raised her voice: "Oh! Right, right, Brother Chen, could you take us homeless poor folks in?"
"How could it be them?" Chen Tongsheng quickly put on his clothes and straw hat and went out. As soon as he opened the door, he saw three people huddled at the door, soaked to the bone. He quickly called them into the house.
"You all sit here and warm yourselves by the fire. I'll brew you some hot tea to ward off the cold, otherwise you'll catch a cold and it will be troublesome."
Chen Tongsheng turned and went into the kitchen. Zhou Chenyu, Baoyu, and Wanqiu stared at each other, looking at each other's awkward expressions, and burst out laughing.
"You're all soaked to the bone, how can you still laugh?" Chen Tongsheng returned with a teapot, placed it above the fire, boiled the water, added ginger slices, red dates and scallions, and poured a bowl for everyone. "Here, drink it while it's hot."
Zhou Chenyu took the bowl and jokingly said, "Brother Chen, I didn't expect you to be so virtuous? Then I'll gladly accept your offer."
Chen Tongsheng smiled helplessly, "Miss Chen Yu is joking. It's just ginger tea, how can it be considered virtuous?"
“Brother Chen, my sister just likes to talk nonsense, I’m used to it.” Bao Yu complained, and Zhou Chenyu glared at him coldly.
Chen Tongsheng was amused by the quirky siblings and couldn't stop laughing. After a while, he noticed Zhou Wanqiu, who was standing silently to the side. "And who is this little sister?"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you." Zhou Chenyu finished the bowl of ginger tea. "Brother Chen, this is my cousin, Zhou Wanqiu."
"Hello, Brother Chen." Zhou Wanqiu was shy and shivered from the cold. Her timid and cowardly appearance was heartbreaking.
"Don't be afraid, little sister Wanqiu, we're all family." Chen Tongsheng comforted her with a smile. Outside, the wind and rain were raging. He tied the dog inside, closed the door, and glanced at the basket full of summer solstice mushrooms on the ground. "So you're picking summer solstice mushrooms. I wonder when the rain outside will stop? You'll probably have to stay here with me for a while."
Baoyu squeezed closer to the fire, his cheeks flushed red in the firelight. "Brother Chen is willing to take us in, we can't wait to stay here forever."
"That's good. You all stay here and warm yourselves by the fire. I'll be right back."
Chen Tongsheng opened the door and went out, leaving the big black dog inside. It blinked its shiny black eyes, opened its mouth to cool off, and saliva dripped from its tongue.
Zhou Chenyu drank another bowl of ginger tea, which warmed her up and dried her clothes.
Seeing how cute the dog was, she couldn't resist tentatively patting its head. She thought the dog would resist, but to her surprise, it comfortably closed its eyes and let her pet it. "You're so cute. Why isn't your owner back yet?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the dog immediately got up from the ground, wagging its tail and going to the door to greet her.
Chen Tongsheng pushed open the door and entered, holding a stick with two freshly slaughtered, plump chickens stuck in it. "I caught these two pheasants in the back mountain. We already have a flock at home, so it would be troublesome to take them back, but it would be a waste to throw them away. Since you're all sheltering from the rain here today, roasting them is just right for the four of you."
He's already said so much, it would be impolite to refuse again.
Baoyu stared longingly at the roast chicken, swallowing his saliva several times.
However, since gifts are given and received in return, Zhou Chenyu took the basket, grabbed two handfuls and placed them on the table. "Brother Chen, these are summer solstice mushrooms that we just picked from the mountain. You treated us to roast chicken, so we're returning the summer solstice mushrooms to you. Please don't find them too much."
Chen Tongsheng looked at the mushrooms and said, "I appreciate your kindness, but I live alone and can't eat so many. You should take them back."
Zhou Chenyu refused, "That won't do. How can we eat roast chicken if you don't accept the mushrooms?"
Baoyu frowned and said seriously, "That's right, Brother Chen, there are only a few mushrooms. We can go up the mountain again after the rain stops and pick some more."
Chen Tongsheng chuckled and came up with an idea. "Hey, how about this? Eating roast chicken alone will make our mouths dry. Why don't we wash them and make a mushroom soup? That way, everyone will have something to eat."
"Roast chicken with mushroom soup, great idea! Let's go with that!"
Chen Tongsheng laughed heartily and pointed to the location of the kitchen.
Zhou Chenyu grabbed two handfuls of fresh summer solstice mushrooms and took Zhou Wanqiu outside, while Baoyu stayed behind to roast chicken with them.
The summer solstice mushrooms were first rinsed with rainwater from nature, and then cleaned with spring water fetched from the kitchen.
Light a fire, set up a large pot, add a small spoonful of lard, throw in the cleaned, white and tender summer solstice mushrooms whose caps can be broken with a snap, stir-fry until golden brown, then add two spoonfuls of spring water and simmer until cooked.
"The mushroom soup is ready."
Zhou Chenyu and Zhou Wanqiu carried the pot full of mushroom soup out and first offered a bowl to their host, Chen Tongsheng. Chen Tongsheng drank it while it was hot, and found it to be fresh and sweet, praising it endlessly.
After everyone had received a bowl of mushroom soup, Zhou Chenyu picked up her bowl to treat herself.
The soup made with summer solstice mushrooms is clear, sweet and not greasy. The mushrooms are fresh and delicious. Even without chicken, you can taste the aroma of chicken. No wonder summer solstice mushrooms are also known as chicken mushrooms.
After drinking a bowl of mushroom soup, there was still some left in the pot, which was kept warm by the residual heat.
They sat around the fire, warming themselves and chatting.
Chen Tongsheng kept turning the wooden sticks, ensuring that every part of the chicken was roasted by the fire. The skin of the roasted chicken was golden brown and crispy, and the oil dripped into the fire, giving it the flavor of Orleans roasted chicken.
Zhou Chenyu looked at Chen Tongsheng and realized that he was an expert at roasting chicken.
"It smells so good!" Baoyu wished he could bury his head in the fire, and Wanqiu also looked on with anticipation.
"That's not enough. Let me go get something else." Chen Tongsheng turned and went back to the kitchen, where he retrieved a jar and a brush. "This roast chicken smells delicious, but it always has a slightly burnt and bitter taste, so I came up with a solution. Can you guess what it is?"
Looking at his posture, Zhou Chenyu asked in an exaggerated tone, "This isn't honey, is it?"
Chen Tongsheng snapped his fingers and laughed happily, "Little sister is so clever! Brushing a layer of honey on the surface of the roast chicken adds sweetness and makes it taste even better!"
After saying that, Chen Tongsheng put the honey jar aside, broke off a leg of the roast chicken, and was about to hand it to Zhou Chenyu. Then he thought of Zhou Wanqiu, who was the least talkative person in the room, and handed it to her instead, saying, "You are the youngest, so the biggest chicken leg is for you."
Zhou Wanqiu had never been treated like this before, and stood there stunned, at a loss for what to do.
Zhou Chenyu knew she was nervous, and said softly with a smile, "Don't let Brother Chen's good intentions go to waste."
Zhou Wanqiu cautiously accepted the chicken leg. "Thank you, Brother Chen."
"Eat as much as you want, there's more if you're still hungry." Chen Tongsheng broke off the remaining chicken legs and handed them to Baoyu and Zhou Chenyu.
Baoyu accepted the offer with great enthusiasm, "Thank you, Brother Chen. Then I won't stand on ceremony."
Zhou Chenyu got to eat a long-lost version of Orleans roasted chicken. The chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, bursting with juice with every bite. He wanted to eat it again and again.
Seeing the three of them eating so eagerly, Chen Tongsheng smiled, left the fattest pieces of meat, and picked out the tougher parts for himself.
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