"It smells so good, sister-in-law. I heard you bought some yellow eels?"

Ling Jiang returned home at some point and went into the kitchen following the smell.

Yun Mo smiled and replied, "Yes, we're having eel tonight."

Looking at the plump and tender yellow eel meat, Ling Jiang couldn't help but sigh, "You know what, I haven't eaten yellow eel in many years. When I was young, I often went to the fields in the countryside with Chuanzi to catch eels, loaches, frogs, and anything edible. They all escaped Chuanzi and me."

Yun Mo laughed, "Brother, I bought six large yellow eels today, I guarantee you will be full."

Ling Jiang chuckled, "Sister-in-law, is there anything I can help you with?"

"That's perfect. Big brother, go light up the stove outside. There are seven of us, so we need to light seven stoves. Use the charcoal that was not used up last time when we had mutton hotpot. I put it in the first storeroom on the left."

"OK."

After Ling Jiang left, Yun Mo glanced at Ling Chuan who was picking celery leaves, and couldn't help laughing when she thought of what Ling Jiang had just said.

"Ling Chuan, you had such a hard time as a child, you couldn't even fill your stomach, it's amazing that you can still grow so tall."

Ling Chuan blushed slightly, "Actually, when I was very young, life wasn't that hard."

Seeing her curiosity, Ling Chuan began to talk about his family situation when he was a child.

"When my great-grandfather was still alive, our family was a well-known wealthy family with dozens of acres of fertile land, as well as a grain store and a cloth shop. Later, when the world was not peaceful, my great-grandfather was worried that his family property would be targeted by others, so he transferred all the land deeds and shops, exchanged them for gold, and divided the property among my grandfather and uncles.

When I was born, my family had some financial resources. Although not as wealthy as my great-grandfather's, we had no problem having enough food to eat.

Later, we encountered WG, and our belongings and the house were all set on fire. My father was forced to no longer be able to survive in his hometown, so he had to take my mother and us to hide in the city. We first lived in the north of the city, and later moved to the old street in the east of the city, and have lived there ever since. "

It was the first time that Yun Mo heard Ling Chuan talk about these things, and she felt a little unsatisfied.

"And what happened next?"

"In fact, we originally had a younger sister. We were so poor at that time that the bark of the trees in the countryside had been stripped off. We had nothing to eat for several days. My father finally dug a nest of bird eggs from a tree and cooked them for my mother to eat. But my mother couldn't bear to eat them and shared the eggs with me and my older brother.

My eldest brother was less than 10 years old at the time and didn’t know anything. He even forgot his surname when he saw the bird eggs. As a result, my eldest brother and I ate all the eggs. My mother was so hungry that her legs became weak and she fell down while walking. There was blood all over the floor. My sister was gone just like that.”

The man's tone was filled with loss, guilt, and regret.

No wonder the two brothers seemed to love their daughter (niece) Ling Chunhua more than Ling Jiale. Perhaps they felt a bit guilty towards their unborn sister.

After chatting for a while, Ling Jiang had already lit the charcoal fire in the seven stoves.

Yun Mo placed seven casseroles in a row on the stove, scooped two scoops of eel bone soup into each casserole, grabbed two handfuls of soaked glutinous rice, and finally added a little lard and fine salt.

After that, put the seven casseroles on the stove and start cooking.

To prevent the rice from sticking to the pot, stir it from time to time with a spoon during the cooking process.

In just a few minutes, the rice and bone soup in the casserole began to boil, and the aroma wafted through the yard, attracting everyone to come over and see the wonder.

Uncle Luo: "I've lived to this age, but this is the first time I've seen someone cook like this. There are seven of us eating, so there are just seven pots, one for each person. It's interesting!"

Yun Mo continued to stir the rice soup in the clay pot while explaining, "This is called clay pot rice, a traditional Cantonese delicacy. This method not only preserves the aroma of the rice itself, but also allows you to taste the burnt rice crust at the bottom of the pot."

Listening to Yun Mo's introduction and smelling the rich aroma of rice in the air, everyone swallowed their saliva silently.

"Little girl, how long will it take for your meal to be cooked?"

Yun Mo picked up some rice grains with a rice spoon and looked at them. "It's about five-tenths done now. When it's seven-tenths done, spread the marinated eel slices evenly on the rice, cover the pot and simmer over low heat for four to five minutes before eating."

"Okay, okay, that should be quick."

"good."

Ling Chuan used to work as a kitchen helper in a restaurant, so making a dry-fried eel is no problem for him.

First, fry the chopped eels in rapeseed oil until both ends curl up and the skin is slightly charred. Then remove from the pan, drain the oil and set aside.

After that, pour an appropriate amount of new oil into the pot. When a small amount of green smoke comes out of the oil, add ginger, onion, garlic, peppercorns, and fermented black beans in turn and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the bean paste and kimchi and continue to stir-fry. Finally, pour the fried eel segments into the pot and stir-fry together.

After the eel slices are fully and evenly coated with the sauce, pour the side dishes such as scallion slices, celery, and garlic sprouts into the pot.

As the sky gradually darkened, Yun Mo turned down the fire in the stove, spread the marinated eel slices evenly on the rice in each casserole, and covered the pots one by one.

“Ouch—Ouch—”

“Ga ga ga!”

I don’t know if they were tempted by the smell of the clay pot rice or because they were hungry, but the dog and the goose were making a lot of noise in a restless manner.

"Chunhua, haven't you fed the dogs and geese yet today?"

Ling Chunhua blushed and stuck out her tongue, "Aunt, I forgot, I'll go now!"

"good."

After Ling Chunhua fed the dog and the goose, the clay pot rice on the stove began to emit the aroma of burnt rice crust. If you listen closely, you can even hear the sizzling sound of the rice crust condensing at the bottom of the pot.

Yun Mo used tongs to take out all the unburned charcoal in the stove and put it in the baking pan for everyone to keep warm.

Only after the sizzling smell in the casserole had completely disappeared did Yun Mo put on gloves, put the casserole on a plate, and then brought it to the dining table one by one.

“Dinner is ready!”

Each person had a pot of clay pot rice with plenty of meat, plus dry-fried eel, pickled Chinese cabbage, and three-fresh egg drop soup on the table. It was a simple and unpalatable meal.

After eating and drinking, everyone goes back to their own homes and looks for their own mothers.

Yun Mo sent Xie Xia to the street corner to take a taxi, and took a walk to digest the food.

As they were about to walk out of the courtyard gate, Xie Xia couldn't help but turn her head to remind Yun Mo, "Have you forgotten anything?"

Yun Mo thought about it seriously, "No? What's wrong?"

No matter how thick-skinned Xie Xia was, she was too embarrassed to ask for snowflake crisps, "...It's okay."

"Then let's go."

“…”

Seeing Xie Xia's deflated look, Yun Mo almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

Those snowflake cakes were originally intended to be sent to the Xie family tomorrow, so there was no need to set aside an extra portion for Xie Xia to take back.

But Xie Xia didn't know the inside story, and was secretly depressed when she went back.

Based on their friendship, don’t they deserve a box of snowflake crisps?

(End of this chapter)