"Zhou Baoyu, look at your silly big head." Zhou Chenyu was amused by him, but before he could be happy for two seconds, the eel shook its body and slipped out of Baoyu's hand.
Eels!
Meat!
Yes, you can eat it!
These words flashed through Zhou Chenyu's mind. He didn't know where the courage came from, but he stretched out his two paws and unexpectedly caught the fat fish that had escaped.
She strained with all her might, her eyes wide, and roared, "Baoyu, Baoyu, get the bucket! I can't hold on much longer! Hurry!!"
"The bucket, where's the bucket?" Zhou Baoyu looked around frantically, but couldn't see the bucket anywhere. He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, and the more anxious he became, the more flustered he became. "Sister, I can't see the bucket!!"
Li Xiuju had already taken the bucket to her side, and she quickly threw it over, saying, "Baoyu, catch it."
Zhou Baoyu ran forward, and the bucket flew over, splashing him with mud and water. "Sister, the bucket is here."
Zhou Chenyu put the eel into the bucket, sweating profusely. "You think you can escape now that you're in my hands?! Don't even think about leaving a door or a window!"
"Sister, you're amazing! I'm so useless, I can't even catch an eel." Zhou Baoyu scratched his ear. Zhou Chenyu saw his cat-like face and suppressed a laugh. "Little rascal, learn from your sister."
Li Xiuju looked at the two noisy children, smiled helplessly, bent down, and tried to drain the water from the paddy field so that the transplanted rice seedlings could be stable.
She reached her hand into the drain deep in the paddy field, and the water gurgled out. On her right, a slightly higher corner of the field was exposed on the surface of the soil, where an eel was struggling in a contorted position.
"Hey, there's an eel here too."
Li Xiuju staggered over and easily caught the eel. "Baoyu, bring the bucket over here. Mother has another one here."
"Anything else?" Zhou Baoyu scurried over with the bucket, and Li Xiuju carefully tossed the eel into the bucket. Then, seeing Baoyu's face, she laughed, "You silly child, your face is covered in mud. Alright, I'll go to the seedling field and pick some more seedlings. You two take your time here."
Li Xiuju picked up a winnowing basket with a carrying pole and walked towards the rice seedling field not far away.
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu walked to the other side of the field and continued planting the remaining rice seedlings.
Suddenly, people arrived at the nearby paddy field: three adults and two children. The woman with a round face walked over and said with a smile, "Sister Xiuju, you are so lucky to have given birth to two such capable children."
Li Xiuju walked over carrying rice seedlings and replied, "What good fortune do you have? You were just fooling around. In my opinion, your family is the lucky one. These three children are so young, yet they already know how to care for their parents and are helping with the work. They'll be amazing when they grow up."
The woman looked at her own children with disdain, "They're just little ones, it's good enough if they don't cause us any trouble. Yours are much better."
The two men exchanged compliments for a while, and since their paddy fields were connected, the adults started gossiping about the neighborhood, talking about weddings and births.
Zhou Chenyu kept her head down and worked diligently, afraid that if she made eye contact with them, they would steer the conversation toward her and try to arrange things for her.
Since Li Xiuju had already mentioned it last time.
After working for an hour in the afternoon, someone from the neighboring family brought over some hot tea. They had been chatting happily, so the woman called them over to have a bowl too.
Although it was springtime and the weather was getting warmer, Zhou Chenyu had been constantly in the rain, her clothes were soaked, and the cold seeped in. In addition, she had been soaking in the water the whole time, so none of her hands and feet were warm.
This bowl of hot tea came at just the right time.
Zhou Chenyu washed her feet and stood on the shore. She took the hot tea the woman offered. The tea was still scalding hot. She took a small sip and said that although it was tea, she couldn't taste any tea flavor. Instead, it tasted a little sweet and sour.
Only after asking the woman did I learn that the tea was not made with tea, but with dried fruit peels and wild chrysanthemums picked from the mountains, all mixed together and brewed.
After finishing their hot drinks, they thanked them again and continued planting the remaining seedlings. They worked until evening, and finally finished planting the seedlings in this acre of land.
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu went home first, while Li Xiuju needed to repair the collapsed field ridges before returning.
Back home, Zhou Chenyu lit the pot for boiling bathwater, added dry firewood and let it burn, then chopped up the withered wild vegetables she had picked earlier and threw them into the chicken coop.
They have been captured for several days now and have gradually grown into the shape of large chickens.
"In a while, it should be ready to be served on the dinner table." Zhou Chenyu gestured with the chicken's thigh, thinking of all sorts of ways to cook it, such as poached chicken, salt-baked chicken, or roast chicken.
No, how can such a fine free-range chicken be made into roast chicken?
This is such a waste!
It definitely has to be boiled, and served with a ginger, scallion, and garlic sauce for the best flavor.
The more she thought about it, the craving became. She quickly closed the door and saw Li Xiuju return barefoot, with two eels and some ginger hanging beside her. Today's haul was plentiful, and her face was beaming. "How about we cook some eel porridge tonight?" she said.
Zhou Baoyu readily agreed, “Great! I haven’t had any meat in ages since we had meat last time. I’ve been waiting for this. Mother, I’ll kill this eel. You go wash it first.”
"Okay, then be careful not to cut your hand."
Zhou Chenyu glanced at the sky and realized it was getting late, so she got to work: "I'll start cooking the rice first."
“Okay.” Li Xiuju took two steps and then turned back. “Chenyu, add more rice, four or five times more than usual. This eel porridge needs more rice, and it tastes better when it’s thick.”
"Okay." Zhou Chenyu rinsed twice as much rice as usual, put it in the pot, and slowly simmered it over a wood fire.
Zhou Baoyu took a sharp knife and sat down in front of the courtyard. He sliced the eel's body with the knife, removed its internal organs, washed it clean with water, and cut it into small pieces.
Zhou Chenyu used the remaining water to wash away the mud and sand on the surface of the ginger, peeled it, and then washed the scallions clean as well.
When Li Xiuju came out of the bath, the white porridge in the pot had already started to boil. Each grain of rice burst open in the boiling water. She put the cleaned eel into the pot, then sliced the ginger into thin slices to remove the fishy smell, and finally mixed in chopped green onions to enhance the flavor.
A pot of eel porridge, with its smooth and tender meat and thick, fragrant rice porridge, is ready.
"It's ready to eat, it's ready to eat."
A thick tablecloth was placed on the table. Li Xiuju brought the eel porridge to the table. Although she had left the stove, the porridge was still bubbling. She held a spoon and said, "Put your bowls over here."
Zhou Baoyu watched eagerly as Li Xiuju ladled the porridge into the bowl. As soon as she placed it, he reached out to grab it, only to be scalded. "Ouch, ouch, ouch, it's so hot!"
Li Xiuju laughed and scolded him, "What's the rush? Nobody's going to take it from you."
After Zhou Chenyu and others let it cool down a bit, she picked up the bowl with both hands, took a sip, and felt warm all over after eating the hot porridge. After drinking a couple more sips, she started to sweat a little.
“No wonder those wealthy families cherish this eel. It tastes different from ordinary meat; it’s tender and smooth, melts in your mouth, and you can eat as much as you want without getting tired of it,” Baoyu said after finishing his drink.
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