Chapter 10 Chapter 10 (Xiao Xiu) Cheng Xin is...
Cheng Xin was preparing lunch in the kitchen, while Geng Yunye was building a fire in the yard. Beside him was a bamboo basket covered with banana leaves and topped with bamboo fungus.
Geng Yunye had learned how to dehydrate mushrooms in the army, and he offered to help Cheng Xin process the bamboo fungus and leftover mushrooms.
Xu Fengxia went outside and came back with a basket of pine needles. "Comrade Geng, these are the pine needles you wanted."
Geng Yunye added pine needles into the fire, and spread the red mushrooms face down on a tray woven from bamboo strips to prevent moisture accumulation. He scraped off the mud roots of the porcini mushrooms, and used bamboo clips to hold up the skirts of the bamboo fungi to prevent them from sticking.
Cheng Xin poked her head out of the kitchen and asked, "Can we sell them after they're baked?"
He paused as he turned the mushrooms over. "Turn the bamboo fungus over three times every other day and dry it in the sun for a week to ensure it is completely dry."
Three pounds of bamboo fungus only yielded six ounces after drying, and Cheng Xin felt heartbroken.
"If I had known that bamboo fungus could be sold for money, I would have gone to the mountains to pick them after the rain, to prevent them from being eaten by wild boars."
Everyone was busy, but Cheng's father couldn't sit idle in the yard, so he volunteered to catch and slaughter the pheasants and rabbits.
Cheng Xin specially lit the stove, took out the clay pot, put the cleaned and diced pheasant and some mushrooms in a pot for slow cooking. Pheasant meat is firm but easy to dry, so it needs to be stewed at high temperature for three hours until the meat is soft.
After helping Geng Yunye, Xu Fengxia came to the kitchen to light the fire.
Cheng Xin tore the chanterelles into small pieces and the golden caps into strips. She beat the eggs in a coarse porcelain bowl, stirred them evenly, and with the sizzling hot oil, she spread the eggs into round cakes, sprinkled them with chopped green onions, and the aroma of the mushrooms and eggs filled her nose.
Cut the bacon on the beam in half, slice the porcini and blanch them in water to remove the astringency, extract the oil from the bacon, pour it into the hot oil and stir-fry it together with the garlic slices. Only add a little salt, and there is no need for any extra seasoning to dominate the dish. The bacon and porcini are quickly served.
Only half of the pheasant is used to make the soup, and the other half is blanched and braised. The potatoes are cut into different sizes, and soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine are added to make pheasant and potato stew.
The skinned and boneless rabbit meat is chopped into small pieces and marinated with salt and chili powder for half an hour. When the rapeseed oil is used to stir-fry the peppercorns, the people in the kitchen sneeze, and the oil splashes onto the earthen stove, sizzling with a burnt aroma. After stir-frying over high heat, the sauce is collected and a spicy and fragrant dish of diced rabbit is ready.
The smoke from cooking, wrapped in the aroma of meat and spicy flavor, drifted over the courtyard wall. Passers-by sniffed, slowed down their pace, and took two deep breaths before they were willing to leave.
After processing the mushrooms, Geng Yunye helped to rub the remaining pheasants with salt and hung them in a cool place to dry. He also rubbed the rabbit meat with wood ash to remove the fishy smell and then cured it.
He noticed that there was only a piece of bacon left in the Cheng family's kitchen, and the remaining two pheasants and a rabbit just filled the gap.
Seeing him holding a hook and preparing to hang the pheasant and rabbit meat on the beam in the kitchen, Xu Fengxia hurriedly stopped him and said, "Comrade Geng, you were going to take these chickens and rabbits back home, why did you hang them up for us?"
Geng Yunye didn't stop moving his hands: "Auntie, I'm the one who bothered your family today, how can I have the nerve to eat and take things at the same time."
Xu Fengxia didn't like to take advantage of others: "You kid, you helped so much but you still push it back. If it weren't for you, how could your uncle Cheng catch the pheasant? The food at home today is more sumptuous than during the Chinese New Year, all thanks to you!"
Geng Yunye refused to take it, but Xu Fengxia forced him to accept it. Finally, he had no choice but to make up a lie: "Auntie, I'm not a good cook. If I take the pheasant and rabbit home, it would be a waste."
"Puchi," Xu Fengxia looked at his red ears and suddenly remembered that the child's parents had passed away long ago, and he had just been released from the army. There was no one at home who could cook, and he must have been eating biscuits every day.
She said lovingly, "Okay, I'll keep the rabbit and two pheasants in our house for you. If you want meat someday, just ask Xinxin to cook it for you."
Cheng Lei and Chen Ying walked into the courtyard one after another. Encouraged by Chen Ying, Wang Jiangang insisted on coming to the Cheng family to show his presence.
He sniffed and looked into the yard: "Oh, there's stewed chicken! I can smell the fragrance from so far away!"
Xu Fengxia remained calm and walked over to close the door: "We are entertaining guests today, Jiangang, if you have anything to do, please come back later."
Wang Jiangang had one foot stuck in the crack of the threshold. Since he happened to be invited to a dinner by the Cheng family, he was reluctant to go back.
There were freshly cooked dishes on the Eight Immortals Table in the main hall, with a strong smell of meat. His sharp eyes had already seen it.
Wang Jiangang clung to the gate and shamelessly squeezed into the yard, smiling with a greedy face.
"Aunt, your family is like celebrating Chinese New Year today. I haven't eaten yet. Do you mind having an extra pair of chopsticks at home?"
Xu Fengxia looked at her husband for help, but Cheng Cunzhi shook his head at her. There was no need to offend the captain's family over a meal. He heard that the captain intended to retire this year and give his position to Wang Jiangang, and he had recently been using his connections to canvass votes for his son.
Cheng Cunzhi moved to the end of the bench and said, "About adding a set of bowls and chopsticks."
Wang Jiangang walked into the main room carelessly and sat down. He picked up the chopsticks without hesitation and looked around. "Everyone, start eating. If you don't eat now, the food will get cold." He seemed like the head of the family.
Cheng Lei's seat was taken away, so he took a new set of bowls and chopsticks, sat down next to his sister angrily, and secretly vowed never to go to the captain's house to watch TV again.
He was afraid that Wang Jiangang would finish all the meat by himself, so he quickly called out, "Sister, come and sit down."
Wang Jiangang picked up the largest piece of rabbit meat with a chopstick and stuffed it into his mouth. The chili oil rushed into his trachea, and he coughed bitterly, with snot bubbles bursting on the edge of the bowl with the cough, and his saliva sprayed on the table, making it shiny with saliva.
He couldn't help but complain, "Putting so much chili in it ruins the meat!"
Cheng Xin turned her head away in disgust. This guy didn't cover his mouth when he coughed, and his saliva sprayed all over the food. It was so disgusting.
Geng Yunye sat opposite Cheng Xin and calmly moved the bowls of food that were splashed with water, preventing Wang Jiangang from contaminating all the dishes by himself.
Wang Jiangang coughed for a long time and recovered, then raised his chopsticks and reached for the chicken leg.
Cheng Lei picked up the chicken leg faster than him: "Dad, you are not well yet, eat the chicken leg to replenish your body."
Cheng Cunzhi did not reject his son's intention, "Don't bother me, fill your stomach first."
Xu Fengxia was upset and ate silently. The family had been talking and laughing while they were cooking, but the good atmosphere was ruined by Wang Jiangang.
Chen Ying didn't dare to look up. She just focused on eating the spicy rabbit meat, for fear that Cheng Lei would reveal that it was she who invited Wang Jiangang to visit.
She didn't know that the Cheng family had prepared such a sumptuous meal today. If she had known the food would be so good, there was no way she would have brought back an extra mouth to feed.
Seeing that Chen Ying only ate rabbit meat, Cheng Lei said in dissatisfaction: "Cousin, didn't you say that you like rabbit the most? How can you eat it?"
Chen Ying's mouth was stained with oil. She couldn't remember when she mentioned that she liked rabbits. "Yes, I do like rabbits. They are delicious whether braised or stir-fried."
Finding Cheng Lei looking at her in shock, she quickly explained: "I mean that wild rabbits are delicious and little white rabbits are so cute."
Cheng Lei was alert and warned not to leave his cousin alone with the rabbit at home.
Cheng Xin had scrambled eggs with chanterelles and fried porcini with bacon in front of her. The remaining dishes were all stained with Wang Jiangang's saliva, which made her lose her appetite. She was extremely glad that the most nourishing pheasant stewed with mushrooms was still simmering over low heat.
Cheng Xin gave Geng Yunye an apologetic look. A good meal was ruined by Wang Jiangang, but she couldn't offend him.
Geng Yunye didn't care. To him, the most precious thing on the table was not the chicken and rabbit meat, but the fried mushrooms in front of Cheng Xin.
Cheng Lei was eating so much that his mouth was greasy. He kept asking curiously, "Sister, where did the pheasants and rabbits come from?"
Wang Jiangang spat out the chicken bone from his mouth and pricked up his ears.
Cheng Xin put half of the bacon and porcini mushrooms into Geng Yunye's bowl and praised him generously: "You should thank Comrade Geng. I brought him into our mountain. This is all thanks to him."
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