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Jing Nan took a nap in the morning, but he couldn't fall asleep after lunch. He strolled into the yard and played with the geese for a while with some grass, then watched Nianniansuisui catching insects for a while, and finally his eyes fell on Xuanyu and Duheng.
Du Heng was cleaning the jars he had bought for the third time, while Xuan Yu was helping Du Heng move the jars. Jing Nan watched for a while and asked, "What are you doing?"
Du Heng explained: "To make green plum wine."
Hearing the word 'green plum wine', Jing Nan immediately became excited: "Can it really be made into wine?" He quickly moved a small stool and moved closer to Xuan Yu and Du Heng.
Du Heng was putting the plums to make wine into a jar. He put a layer of green plums in the jar and then covered it with a layer of rock sugar.
Jing Nan asked: "Can we make wine like this? Is this like Lingmi wine, can we drink it in a few days?"
Du Heng shook his head: "No, green plum wine needs to be stored for a long time, at least a year before it can be drunk. And the longer it is stored, the purer the taste. Just add a layer of green plums and a layer of rock sugar, and then pour white wine to cover the green plums."
Jing Nan seemed to be thinking about something: "Oh... I went to visit the Wine Fairy before and saw that he had a lot of sugar and various fruits at home. At that time, I wanted to ask him how he made the wine, but the Wine Fairy kept it a secret, so I never knew how he made it. So that's it."
Du Heng smiled and said, "Once it's done, I'll put the jar of wine on the terrace, so that when Feng Gui comes back, you and Feng Gui can drink it."
Jing Nan was delighted: "Hey, that's great. Make more. I remember there are a few plum trees on Nanshan Mountain. I'll pick them for you later."
Du Heng was overwhelmed when he heard this: "Finish these first. What if you don't like the taste? What if I make a mistake?"
Jing Nan had great confidence in Du Heng. He said firmly, "You won't fail. I believe in you."
Xuan Yu said, "Where are those plum trees in Nanshan? I'll go there, and you stay at home."
Jing Nan glared at Xuan Yu: "Really? Am I so weak in your eyes?"
Xuan Yu lowered his eyes and said calmly: "Isn't it weak for someone who can fall down while talking?" Jing Nan was speechless.
As he was talking, Du Heng had already filled half a jar with green plums. When making green plum wine, you don't need to fill it too full, because you have to pour in the wine pulp and it has to ferment. Therefore, just half a jar of green plums is enough. Du Heng poured the white wine that he had prepared long ago into the jar.
He weighed it with a Tianhu scale, and found that the plums needed to make green plum wine were exactly fifty kilograms. Fifty kilograms of green plums needed to be supplemented with thirty-five kilograms of rock sugar and fifty kilograms of white wine. Fortunately, he had made enough spiritual rice wine before, otherwise he would have to make some spiritual rice wine temporarily.
Fifty kilograms of green plums need to be packed in five small wine jars. The small wine jars may not look big, but after they are filled with rock sugar green plums and wine, they are still heavy in the hands. Du Heng sealed the entrance of the wine jar with two layers of oil paper and tied the leaves of dragon grass on the edge of the oil paper.
There is a bowl-shaped lid on the wine jar. After putting on this lid, the wine can be placed on the terrace to ferment. When you open it next time, the plum wine inside will turn into red wine and the plums will become wrinkled.
Du Heng made green plum wine when he was in his hometown. If you want the plums to be less wrinkled, you can poke a few holes on the surface of the plums. This will make it easier for the plums to ferment and the flavor to seep out. However, after doing this, the flesh inside the plums may come out, and the wine will become turbid with flesh filaments. In addition, because it is fully soaked, the bitterness inside the plum kernels will be more intense.
After trying it, Du Heng still felt that it was better not to poke holes in the plums, as the wrinkles on the plums did not affect their eatability.
After the plum wine was ready, Xuan Yu carried the plums to the terrace upstairs, while Du Heng was busy with his salted plums and candied plums.
There was no ready-made jar to store the salted plums, so Xuan Yu went to Feng Gui's house to get a glass cup. The glass cup was two feet high and one foot in diameter, with a big belly and a thin neck, which was perfect for storing two kilograms of plums.
There is a recipe for salted plums in my hometown, and the standard is usually three taels of salt for one pound of plums. Then Du Heng fell into the evil conversion again. Xiaoxiao couldn't stand it anymore, so he chirped a few times to solve Du Heng's problem.
Two catties of plums were matched with nine taels and six qian of salt. Du Heng carefully weighed out nine taels and six qian of salt using the Tianhu scale. He felt that the little foxes under the Tianhu scale were laughing at him. As a cook, he couldn't even figure out the measurement conversion. If he told others about it, it would make people laugh to death.
I have to say that Feng Gui's glass cups are really beautiful, colorful, with flowers and plants carved on them. Du Heng placed a layer of green plums and a layer of salt in the cleaned glass cup, and then sealed it with oil paper.
Jing Nan was stunned: "Hey? Why don't you pour the wine?"
Du Heng had to explain again: "This is salted plums for cooking, no need to soak in wine."
Xuan Yu took the glass cup and sealed it with a layer of oil paper. He felt more and more that he needed to build a refrigerator at home, otherwise there would be no place to put all the bottles and jars that needed to ferment.
After the salted plums are ready, they are ready to be candied. The method of candied plums is similar to that of salted plums. Du Heng prepared 15 kilograms of plums for candied plums, and one kilogram of plums requires one kilogram of sugar.
Watching Du Heng sprinkling sugar, Jing Nan shrank his neck: "Wouldn't this be so sweet that it would be deadly?" The sugar has even covered the plums. Can the resulting food be eaten?
Du Heng said calmly: "It won't be too sweet. Unripe plums are sour and astringent. If there is not enough sugar, the candied plums will be...very unpalatable." Don't be reluctant to add sugar, otherwise the plums will be sour and astringent.
The candied plums were placed in the wine jar, because no additional wine was needed this time, and 15 kilograms of plums were placed in the wine jar. However, after three days, the juice from the plums would submerge the plums themselves.
The juice that comes out is green plum juice. If you drink some when your throat is uncomfortable, it will have an immediate effect.
Du Heng felt that after the candied plums were ready, the first thing he had to guard against was Xiaoxiao, because this child would lose control when he found something delicious. Du Heng pasted a piece of red paper on the wine jar, and on the red paper, Xuan Yu wrote four solemn characters: Candied Plums.
Seeing these words, Jing Nan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "How many people asked for Xiaoyu's calligraphy, but he actually made labels for food at home."
Xuan Yu was very calm: "Isn't it the same when you classify spiritual plants?"
Jing Nan felt that he must have been in a bad mood these past two days, and Xiaoyu had become so bold that she actually dared to confront him!
After the plums were all lying obediently in the jars, the yard suddenly became quiet, with only one bucket left for making crispy plums.
To make crispy plums, you need to soak them in sugar liquid three times, and the ratio of plums to total sugar is about five to four. Using four pounds of sugar for five pounds of plums sounds scary, but if you divide the sugar into three parts to make sugar liquid, it will be okay.
After the plums are taken out of the salt water tomorrow, they need to be rinsed with clean water, soaked for a while and then dried. In short, making plums is an extremely complicated process. If it weren't for the desire to avoid wasting these plums, Du Heng really wanted to quit.
However, all the steps do not need to be completed in one day. It is also a pleasure to watch the ingredients become delicious step by step.
After a few days, Xiaoxiao started eating sour and sweet plums. The plums were green and yellow in color and crunchy. Xiaoxiao would chew plums whenever she had free time. More than 20 kilograms of plums were gone in a few days.
Du Heng, who makes plums, can only drink the sweet water used to soak the plums. He is no longer old enough to eat plums. When he hears the sound of Xiaoxiao eating plums, he can't help but drool.
On the day of Grain in Ear, Lao Dao and Da Hundun moved into Jing Nan's house. Hearing that Jing Nan was going to have a tail, Lao Dao was more nervous than anyone else. He wanted to stay with Jing Nan all day long. If Jing Nan hadn't resisted so much, Lao Dao would have made a bed on the floor in Xuan Yu's guest room.
It was on that day that Du Heng learned something. It turned out that Lao Dao was Jing Nan's subordinate. The three people in the village all had subordinates, and their status was not low.
When Lao Dao arrived in the village, Du Heng had more motivation to cook. Lao Dao could eat spicy food, and it just so happened that the pickles Du Heng had made in the past few days were ready to be taken out. Lao Dao chewed the sour and spicy pickled radish and ginger, and even without any other vegetables, he could eat two bowls of rice.
Lao Dao plans to live in the village until Jing Nan grows his seventh tail, and Jing Nan won't be able to drive him away.
The weather was sunny and the temperature was rising these days. Du Heng's broad beans were getting old, but his peas were fresh and tender. Du Heng tried different ways to eat peas. Fortunately, he had good cooking skills and everyone enjoyed the meal.
There is a Dragon Boat Festival after Grain in Ear. In order to commemorate a great man, people in his hometown would make rice dumplings, row dragon boats and hold various sacrificial activities on the Dragon Boat Festival. However, there is no such person in the demon world. Du Heng cannot celebrate the festival, but he can make rice dumplings!
Zongzi are delicious. Du Heng likes egg yolk and meat zongzi the most. The egg yolk and meat zongzi he makes at home is big, with half rice and half meat and egg yolk. One bite makes your mouth full of oil, and one eats a full stomach. It's decided! He wants to make zongzi!
When Xuan Yu helped Du Heng pick reed leaves from Nanshan, Du Heng was picking broad bean pods in the fields.
Originally, he could have cut all the broad beans and dragged them to the yard to dry, but the small animals in the house were too noisy moving around, so Du Heng decided to pick the beans and take them to the upstairs terrace to dry.
Du Heng plans to make some fermented bean paste in two days when the weather is good. When he was in his hometown, his mother would start making fermented bean paste after the Dragon Boat Festival. The fermented bean paste is mixed with the newly-released red peppers and dried for a period of time before it can be made into bean paste for seasoning.
Bean paste is the soul of spicy dishes. When making spicy dishes, add a spoonful of bean paste, red oil will come out and the taste will be perfect.
Xuan Yu put the backpack beside the ridge and went to the spiritual field to help pick bean pods. Du Heng smiled and said, "There are not many beans. I can do it by myself. Can you help pick some pea pods? We can have pea rice for lunch and stir-fry some tender pea pods?"
Xuan Yu nodded: "Okay." Xuan Yu picked things very quickly, and he could pick all the suitable pods with a flash of spiritual energy. However, he deliberately slowed down in order to wait for Du Heng.
Just as Xuan Yu was pulling the pea pods, the pea seedlings shook, and Xiao Xiao poked his head out from under the pea seedlings. There were still fallen pea flowers on his head: "Chirp."
Xuan Yu touched Xiao Xiao and cast a barrier around her: "If you feel hot, go inside the house."
Xiaoxiao turned his head and looked at the ridges next to him, where the goslings were playing. He was worried about the goslings, not because he was afraid that they would encounter any danger, but because he was worried that they would not understand and eat Du Heng's food.
When the weather gets hot, the downy Xiaoxiao and Nianniansuisui have a hard time. No one will feel comfortable wearing down in the hot weather. Every time Xiaoxiao takes the little geese to stroll in the fields, she always wants to jump into the spiritual spring and soak for an hour to be happy.
In previous years, when he felt too hot, he would roll into Xuan Yu's arms and refuse to move. This year, he has a lot of little brothers, and Xiaoxiao would rather be a little hotter than not take care of them.
The goslings hatched from the eggs have all grown up and are now in the awkward molting period. Seeing the cute furry ones turn into ugly ducklings, Du Heng's heart was broken. Only then did he think that spiritual animals were still good. Look at the years, after so long, they are still cute and furry.
Every time Du Heng and Xiao Xiao went out, the geese followed their footsteps and walked in the fields. Jing Nan reminded Du Heng several times that these were wild ducks and would fly away when their feathers grew out. If Du Heng wanted to continue raising them, it would be best to clip their feathers so that they would stay.
Du Heng didn't care, just let them fly away. He didn't raise them to eat their meat.
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Du Heng casually plucked the broad bean stalks after picking the pods and threw them on the ridge of the field. If he was in his hometown, he could dry the stalks and burn them for firewood. However, he had such good fuel as the blood-sucking vine in his stove, and the stalks were not very practical. It would be better to give them some spiritual energy and let them turn into soil and return to the earth.
Du Heng got two baskets of dark gray bean pods. It was hard to imagine that those soft green bean pods would turn into this shriveled appearance after ripening.
If you peel the pods at this time, you will find that the soft protective layer covering the beans has deflated. Each pod contains two or three thumb-sized bluish-white hard beans, and the skins can no longer be pinched.
Du Heng estimated that he could harvest 50 to 60 kilograms of broad beans. He planned to keep a few kilograms to make bean paste, and the rest to make orchid beans or five-spice beans.
Xuan Yu carried two baskets in one hand and walked into the yard. Du Heng smiled unconsciously when he saw Xuan Yu's back. He felt safe with Xuan Yu by his side. No matter what Du Heng wanted to do, Xuan Yu would support him unconditionally.
Jing Nan lay on the recliner under the eaves, with the Great Chaos lying at his feet. Hearing the footsteps of Xuan Yu and the others, Jing Nan opened his eyes and said, "I just had a dream, a dream about my childhood."
Xuan Yu placed the basket of reed leaves next to Jing Nan. He carried the basket of broad beans upstairs and said, "Hmm? What did you dream about?"
Jing Nan complained: "I dreamed that he made a chicken. I was thinking about eating the chicken leg, but Feng Gui snatched away one chicken leg and you took away the rest of the chicken. I was so angry that I cried..."
Du Heng slipped and almost fell. What kind of a bullshit dream was this? Could it be that he hadn't cooked enough chicken for Jing Nan recently?
Seeing Du Heng coming over, Big Hundun wagged its tail. At this time, you can see the difference between Big Hundun and Little Wonton. Little Wonton from Du Heng's family has grown into a big dog now, and in terms of size, it is only one size smaller than its father.
But when Big Chaos leaned over there, a murderous aura came out. Before raising Little Wonton, it was not very obvious, but now, in comparison, Du Heng felt that his Little Wonton was just a fool. Especially since there were two white spots on Little Wonton's eyebrows, and it often grinned and laughed, which made it look even more foolish.
Today, Lao Dao took Xiao Wonton up the mountain. Lao Dao said that Xiao Wonton should hunt alone, and he wanted to teach him. Du Heng and the others didn't say anything. Xiao Wonton was actually quite wild. Du Heng had seen it wading across the Stone River and running to the South Mountain. It would be good to have some skills. At least in the future, if Xiao Wonton encounters large prey, he can escape safely.
When the two dogs are together, Du Heng tends to get tongue-tied. So he came up with a good idea: "Da Huang, come here, let me touch you."
Dahundun was smart and knew that Dahuang was referring to him. Du Heng decided that when the two dogs were together in the future, he would call them Dahuang and Xiaohuang, otherwise it would be easy to mistake a Hundun for a Wonton.
Da Huang stood up and walked in front of Du Heng. He stretched his body towards Du Heng, and then put his big head into Du Heng's palm and let Du Heng rub it. Du Heng really loved this spiritual dog: "Why are you so smart~~"
While Du Heng was kneading the rhubarb, Xuan Yu had already spread all the broad beans on the terrace to dry. They estimated that by the evening, they would be able to receive the dried broad beans.
Xuan Yu asked slowly, "What do you do with the reed leaves you picked?" Du Heng immediately stopped playing with the dog and said, "I'll do it, I'll do it."
Wash the fresh reed leaves and boil them in water. The boiled reed leaves are tough and not easy to break. Then cut off the heads and tails of the reed leaves, and you can make rice dumplings!
Du Heng can make triangular zongzi and tall zongzi. Zongzi sold outside are long, which he is not very good at making. But no matter what shape the zongzi is, as long as it tastes good, it is equally delicious!
Du Heng prepared three kinds of fillings, one of which is pure Ling rice filling. People who like sweet food can peel off the skin of the rice dumpling and dip it in sugar, or they can eat it plain, which will taste very fragrant and glutinous.
One was made with peanuts and red beans, and Du Heng was going to stuff two red dates into it. It would be even better if there were candied dates, as the zongzi would be sweet when cooked. However, Du Heng didn't have candied dates, so he had to make do with red dates.
The last one is the salted egg yolk and meat zongzi. Du Heng also added peanuts to the soaked spiritual rice. He personally prefers peanuts. If he can eat one or two peanuts when eating zongzi, it feels like winning the lottery.
The soaked reed leaves give off a fresh fragrance. After being cooked, the fresh reed leaves are still bright in color, and are greener than the reed leaves that are dried and then cooked.
After all the preparations were done, Du Heng moved a small stool and sat on the eaves. He held the reed leaves in both hands and turned them over, and a funnel-shaped hole appeared in his hands. The reed leaves needed to be overlapped tightly so that the spiritual rice would not leak out.
Du Heng first wrapped a zongzi with pure Ling rice filling. He turned the reed leaves twice in his hand, and a triangular zongzi appeared in his hand. The zongzi was not too big, only the size of his palm. He took the reed leaves that had been torn into thin strips and wrapped the three corners of the triangular zongzi, and then tied a knot at the top. A zongzi was made just like that!
Xuan Yu and Jing Nan squatted beside Du Heng while he was wrapping zongzi. After Du Heng finished wrapping a zongzi, Jing Nan smiled and said, "I can wrap it."
Du Heng thought that Jing Nan's skill in wrapping meant that he could wrap with his eyes and brain, but not with his hands. However, as soon as Jing Nan made a move, Du Heng knew that he was defeated and his father didn't recognize him.
Jing Nan's hands were so skillful that after he turned the reed leaves a few times in his hands, the magical rice automatically filled the pits formed by the reed leaves. Jing Nan made the triangular rice dumplings faster and better-looking than Du Heng's! It's really frustrating to compare yourself with others!
Jing Nan said cheerfully: "That's it? I thought it was that difficult. Isn't it just wrapping the contents with leaves? I often do this when I'm refining pills, just leave it to me~"
Du Heng was not convinced and made a tall-legged zongzi. This kind of zongzi looks like a foot, with a pointed tip in the front and a cylindrical section on top. "Can you make a zongzi like this?"
Jing Nan smiled and turned the rice dumpling leaf a few times in his hand. Then a almost-made rice dumpling appeared in Jing Nan's hand.
Du Heng discovered that Jing Nan was the legendary handicraft master. Although he usually kept a low profile, you could tell he had something great when he made a move!
The triangular rice dumpling in Xuan Yu's hand was also made in the same style: "Is this okay?" Du Heng gave Xuan Yu a positive answer: "It's so beautiful!"
Jing Nan groaned: "You don't even praise me. Is Xiaoyu's work as good-looking as mine?"
Du Heng quickly praised Jing Nan. Jing Nan was a key protected person recently and needed careful care: "The rice dumplings made by Master Jing are so beautiful. I am ashamed of myself!"
The rice dumplings were wrapped quickly and sank into the bucket, looking very cute. When Xiaoxiao came back with the geese, he circled the bucket several times, chirping in amazement.
After a while, the rice dumplings mixed with peanuts, red dates and red beans were also wrapped. Du Heng put them together with the previous pure rice dumplings. In order to distinguish the two fillings, the thread used to wrap the red date dumplings was yarn.
It was time for Du Heng's favorite meat-stuffed rice dumplings to be served. The rice had been soaked, and Du Heng added various seasonings to the rice, dyeing it a brown color. Next to the rice were two large bowls, one containing large pieces of marinated meat with alternating fat and lean meat, and the other containing half a bowl of orange-red, round egg yolks.
It is best to wrap the egg yolk and meat dumplings into long strips, but Du Heng is not very good at making them. Du Heng originally thought of making them into triangular or tall dumplings, at most putting less meat and rice. But now he has an idea. With Jing Nan, a master of craftsmanship, here, why not ask him for advice?
After Jing Nan heard Du Heng's troubles, he studied the reed leaves for a while. After a while, Jing Nan suddenly understood: "I got it."
Jing Nan took four reed leaves and spread them out neatly in his palm. The width of the reed leaves was three fingers wide. After the four leaves were overlapped, the width of the reed leaves was wider than the palm. Jing Nan folded the reed leaves at one-third of the tail, and then folded them at two-fifths of the side.
Like a magic trick, Du Heng saw a pit appear at the end of the reed leaf where Jing Nan had folded it. Jing Nan scooped up a spoonful of soaked spiritual rice and poured it on the bottom, then covered the spiritual rice with a layer of meat and an egg yolk without any instruction.
After the meat and egg yolk were placed, he scooped a spoonful of spiritual rice and spread it evenly on the meat. At this time, he slightly pressed the side and folded the front half of the reed leaf over, and a pillow-shaped long zongzi was formed in his hands!
After Jing Nan tied the rice dumplings with reed leaves, Du Heng couldn't help but applaud: "How amazing!"
Just by listening to Du Heng's description, he was able to make long strips of rice dumplings, and they looked so good. People who didn't know would think Jing Nan often made this.
Xuan Yu also praised: "Old Nan is quite good at this. If you don't want to make pills in the future, you can go to Lingxi Town to make rice dumplings and sell them."
Jing Nan showed his white teeth and squinted his eyes: "Xiao Yu, are you looking for a fight? Are you praising me or insulting me?"
Xuan Yu calmly imitated Jing Nan's method to make zongzi: "Of course I am praising you. Feng Gui and I can help you when the time comes."
He spoke so seriously that Jing Nan was so angry that she didn't want to pay any attention to him.
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After the zongzi are ready, they need to be cooked. Du Heng moved two pots to cook the zongzi. In the big pot, he prepared to cook the pure rice filling and the sweet one, and in the small pot, he prepared to cook the egg yolk and meat filling. The two flavors of zongzi cannot be mixed together, otherwise the taste will be mixed.
When cooking rice dumplings, you can also put some eggs in to cook together. The boiled eggs will be infused with the fragrance of reed leaves, and the eggshells will turn green, giving them a unique flavor.
Du Heng prepared to add some eggs to both pots. He had bought a lot of fresh sea duck eggs from Zhou's shop. Du Heng tried to make some salted eggs himself, which should have been well-seasoned by now.
He took out a basket of salted duck eggs from the jar, and he was going to cook them with the rice dumplings. Because when cooking rice dumplings, some salt and soy sauce should be added, and adding salted duck eggs would make the taste better.
For the pure rice dumplings, Du Heng prepared fresh chicken eggs and duck eggs.
There were half a pot of zongzi in the two pots, with chicken and duck eggs randomly placed on top of the zongzi. Du Heng added enough water to cover the eggs, then he covered the pot and lit the fire. Don't be impatient when cooking zongzi, the longer it is cooked, the tastier it will be.
Du Heng looked at the time. It was now the middle of the night. It would be ready when it reached the evening. After the water in the pot boiled, turn to low heat and simmer slowly. The rice dumplings cooked in the iron pot must taste great.
Du Heng had already started to think: "In a couple of days, Yun Zheng and his friends will come to get food. We can ask them to take some rice dumplings back. And when Feng Gui sends someone over, they can also take some away. It would also be good to have some kimchi at home..."
Du Heng made a lot of food, but he often didn't eat much himself. He preferred to share it with his family members rather than eating it himself.
When the sun was about to set, Lao Dao came back with Xiao Wonton. Lao Dao had a storage bag hanging on his waist, and Xiao Wonton had a silver-gray object in his mouth.
Seeing Du Heng, Xiao Wonton ran very fast, and soon he ran in front of Du Heng and put down the prey in his mouth. Du Heng thought Xiao Wonton had caught a rabbit or something, but he never thought that the thing started to bark after it was put down.
Du Heng was stunned when he looked at it. How could it be a rabbit? It was clearly a kitten! The kitten had silver-grey fur, and if you looked closely, you could see spots on its fur.
The kitten was placed on the ground and backed away from Xiao Wonton, making threatening noises. When it bumped into Du Heng, it was so frightened that it fell to the ground, and its four legs were unsteady.
Du Heng was surprised to hold the kitten by the nape of its neck. The kitten was only the size of a palm, with a layer of blue film inside its big eyes, and it looked like it was not even a full moon. The kitten's eyes were filled with tears because of fear.
Although it was not even a month old, the kitten's claws were already very sharp. Du Heng carefully held it in his arms and touched it: "Where did you find this kitten, Xiao Wonton?"
Lao Dao came over and bowed. "There is a nest of crickets on the South Mountain. I don't know what happened to the mother, but she disappeared. When Xiao Wonton and I went over, we saw that there was only one little one left in the nest. I guess the mother didn't want it anymore, so Xiao Wonton brought it back."
Du Heng stroked the kitten and muttered, "Species? So, this is also a spiritual beast?"
Lao Dao nodded, "Yes, this species is very flexible and most people can't catch it. Their nest is built on the top of Nanshan Mountain. There are not many plants there and it is difficult for people to get up there. I don't know how Xiao Wonton brought it back. I wanted to throw it away, but Wonton wouldn't let me touch it."
Du Heng looked down at the kitten and said, "Let's keep it for now and see if we can make it obedient. If it's wild and difficult to tame, we'll release it to Nanshan Mountain when it's a little older."
Du Heng's embrace was too warm. The kitten was tired and scared. Du Heng fed it fresh meat but it didn't eat it. It curled up in the old nest that Xiao Wonton had used before, becoming a pitiful ball. Now it fell asleep pitifully.
Jing Nan looked at the kitten and said, "I didn't expect there are still such spiritual animals in Nanshan. They are rarely seen now."
Du Heng asked Jing Nan with a smile: "Is this kind of spiritual beast difficult to raise? Are there any precautions?"
Jing Nan thought for a moment and said, "It is said that they are very wild and will run away when they grow up. Don't keep them. They are worthless. If you like cats and dogs, there is a family in Lingxi Town that keeps Zouwu. I will get one for you later. They are kind animals and look beautiful, much better than humans."
Du Heng turned around and looked at the tear-stained kitten in the doghouse: "Keep it for now. It won't survive if it's this young in Nanshan. If it wants to leave when it's older, let it go."
Du Heng thought that the kitten might be too young to drink milk, so he took some fresh milk out of the refrigerator. The kitten smelled the milk, and it crawled out of its nest and dove into the bowl. The poor little thing didn't know how long it had been hungry, and it was whimpering while wolfing down the milk.
Du Heng stroked its back and said, "If you think our family is okay, you can stay. You will always have something to eat."
The kitten seemed to understand. It looked up at Du Heng, then lowered its head to continue drinking milk. It stopped drinking until its belly was full, then it continued to crawl back to the nest.
After the You hour, the rice dumplings were cooked. The yard was filled with the fragrance of rice dumplings. Xiaoxiao was already squatting on the stove with a heavy heart. He pecked at the lid of the pot to remind Du Heng that it was time to open the pot!
After Du Heng opened the lid of the pot, everyone around the stove stretched their necks to take a look: "Is this a zongzi?"
The water had turned brown, and even the shells of the chicken and duck eggs were dyed. Du Heng took out a wooden basin, picked up the zongzi one by one and put them in the basin. The water used to boil the zongzi was not wasted, and Du Heng also put it in the basin.
Picking up a few zongzi while they were still hot and placing them on the table, Du Heng introduced: "The triangular zongzi here is made of pure rice and is sweet, and can be eaten with sugar. The long strips here are made with fresh meat and egg yolk, and can be eaten directly after peeling them open."
Jing Nan picked up a triangular zongzi and gently pulled off the yarn on it. He smiled and said, "This one is stuffed with red dates and peanuts. Let me eat one first."
After tearing open the leaves, the soft and cooked rice is tightly gathered together. The rice is stained by the leaves, and the color is a little dark, but the rice grains are very warm. The red beans, red dates and peanuts in the middle are mixed with the rice around the reddish brown. After peeling a zongzi, it is colorful and looks very interesting.
Take a bite, the rice is soft and sticky, the red dates are sweet, the beans and peanuts are also soft and rotten, and taste a bit beany. At this time, dip it in a little sugar, take a bite, it is soft in the mouth and sweet to the heart.
Jing Nan savored the taste: "It's delicious, worthy of being made by me." Hearing that the zongzi was made by Jing Nan, Lao Dao immediately became interested: "Did Lord Jing make the zongzi? I want one."
The rice dumplings that Lao Dao peeled were pure rice ones. Jing Nan reminded him, "Look at the string. The ones tied with reed leaves are pure rice ones, and the ones tied with yarn are red dates ones."
The pure rice zongzi in Lao Dao's hand looked like a piece of unpolished jade in the zongzi leaves. A bite of it was full of fragrance. Lao Dao squinted his eyes and said, "They are all the same, all the same, delicious!"
Du Heng's favorite is the egg yolk rice dumpling. The rice dumpling just out of the pot exudes a strong aroma of sauce, and when you peel off the rice dumpling leaves while it's still hot, you can still see the sticky traces of pure rice on the leaves. The fat and lean meat are steamed at high temperature, and the fat turns into oil, while the lean meat is immersed in the pure rice.
When you break it open, you will salivate at the richness of the inside. When you take a bite, you will find the meat is fragrant and the rice is soft. If you bite into the egg yolk, the salty and crunchy taste will make you want to stop.
Du Heng peeled an egg yolk rice dumpling for Xiaoxiao, and when he looked back, he saw another peeled rice dumpling in his bowl. Needless to say, it must have been peeled by Xuan Yu.
Xuan Yu pulled the leaves carefully, and the well-cooked rice dumplings were very obedient, and they fell from the leaves into the bowl with a light shake. It was a pity that the leaves could not be eaten, and soon there was a pile of leaves in the trash can.
Although reed leaves are not edible, they have faithfully completed their mission. The eggs and duck eggs stewed with the rice dumplings fully absorb the fragrance of the reed leaves. Peel off the discolored shell and take a bite. The slightly green egg white has a delicate taste, which is indeed different from those boiled in plain water.
The best thing is the salted duck eggs. It was the first time I ate the salted eggs Du Heng made himself. The egg whites were not very salty at this time, but the egg yolks were already oily! It was delicious whether eaten plain or crushed and sprinkled on the rice dumplings.
The main dish tonight is Zongzi, which is more suitable for breakfast. This one is freshly made, so everyone can enjoy it fresh.
Lao Dao was amazed: "There is actually such a way to eat it, Mr. Du. The people in your hometown are really smart. They can think of this." In any case, few people in the demon world would pick the reed leaves that are neither fresh nor tender to cook. The human cultivators are really smart.
Du Heng smiled and said, "People have endless attainments in eating. We should find the best way to eat things that can be eaten, and we should create conditions to eat things that cannot be eaten. Look at the spiritual plants outside, none of them are wasted, right? Those that cannot be eaten are used as medicine. The gifts of nature are endless, and it is up to everyone to make use of them."
Lao Dao was taught: "Sir, what you said makes sense."
Jing Nan was already full after eating five zongzi, Lao Dao was not as good as Jing Nan, Lao Dao was full after eating four. Xiao Xiao was the strongest, he finished six zongzi by himself, not including the delicious eggs.
The rice Du Heng used to make zongzi was not glutinous rice. If it was glutinous rice, he would worry that people would feel uncomfortable in their stomachs after eating it. He ate three zongzi himself, and his stomach felt quite comfortable, but he ate two more eggs while eating the zongzi and did not drink any water, which made Du Heng a little thirsty in the middle of the night.
Normally, I would have water to drink if I greeted Xuanyu, but today when I woke up, Xuanyu was not in bed. Did he go downstairs to find Jingnan?
Du Heng put on his clothes and went downstairs, only to see that Jing Nan's room door was closed, but the light was on in the kitchen.
Du Heng stretched his head and saw Xuan Yu feeding the kitten. The tall man was particularly gentle when treating the small animal, and Du Heng's heart softened.
Under the night pearl, Xuan Yu whispered to Xiao Wonton, "If it needs to poop or urinate later, take it outside to deal with it. Don't let it make a dirty house." Xiao Wonton wagged its tail softly, as if it had heard Xuan Yu's words.
Xuan Yu was much more attentive than Du Heng. Du Heng only thought that the kitten could survive the night if it was full, but Xuan Yu thought that drinking milk would satisfy its hunger, so he actually got up in the middle of the night to feed the cat!
Thinking of what Du Heng had said to Xuan Yu before, he said that if the conditions were right in the future, he wanted to have a cat. Xuan Yu must have told Xiao Wonton about this, because Xiao Wonton brought back a kitten!
Du Heng leaned against the door frame and looked at him warmly
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