Before leaving, thinking that dinner was still undecided, Jiang Xi asked Yan Zheng to take a salted fish and a dried rabbit from the shelf.
He also casually pocketed a few radishes.
Three people, one car, and one deer. By the time they arrived at the stone house, the daylight was already dim.
These root potatoes need to be placed inside the earthenware kiln house; it's too cold elsewhere, and once frozen, they become watery and inedible.
Jiang Xi took off her gloves, breathed on her hands to warm them up, and then rubbed her frozen ears.
Yan Zheng, who was unloading the truck nearby, saw this and advised her, "Go inside and start a fire. We can unload these."
Jiang Xi was not resistant to the cold, and as soon as Yan Zheng finished speaking, she remembered the hot stove and quickly nodded, picked up her bedding and went to the pottery kiln house.
There was a lot of firewood piled up in the house. Jiang Xi didn't have to worry about not having enough. On the contrary, she wanted to use up the firewood as soon as possible. It was already a bit cramped for three people to live there, and the wood piled up here was just taking up space.
She first went outside and filled a pot with snow, then picked up a few pieces of not-too-thick wood and threw them into the stove. Next, she grabbed a handful of straw from the side and stuffed it under the wood. Then she took out a lighter and lit the straw.
Once the wood was fully burning, Jiang Xi took out the oil lamp from her backpack. She had emptied the oil earlier to make packing easier, so she had to take some lard from the jar and put it into the lamp pan.
I learned this from my maternal grandmother when I was little. Back then, when the power went out and we didn't have any candles, my grandmother would take out some lard, put cotton thread in it, and use it as a temporary candle.
Recalling her grandmother's methods, she followed suit one by one.
The oil lamp was lit, and the house, whose windows had been sealed, finally began to have some light.
The snow in the pot slowly melted, growing from a ball the size of a plate to the size of a fist. Jiang Xi sat on a wooden stool in front of the stove, took some hot water, and soaked the salted fish and dried rabbit in it.
Then she went to the yard, picked up a long wooden pole, knocked down some red dates, washed them, and put them in a pot to steam.
This earthenware pot is still too small; otherwise, I could steam it with salted fish. Once the moving is over, I'll dispose of the iron pot next door and use it.
Yan Zheng and Yan Jing'an carried the sweet potatoes into the house one after another, but because the space was small, they could only pile them up in a corner.
There was nothing we could do about it; the other houses were too cold, and the sweet potatoes would freeze and become inedible.
When the room was filled with the aroma of red dates, Jiang Xi lifted the pot lid, took a chopstick and poked at the dates. The dates were done when they were easily mashed. Jiang Xi picked out the dates and put the salted fish on a plate to steam together.
After unloading everything, Yan Zheng and Yan Jing'an finally had a moment to sit down and drink some hot water. Once they had calmed down a bit, Yan Zheng took the axe from Jiang Xi and chopped the dried rabbit into pieces.
These rural earthen stoves have two openings, one in the front and one in the back. The front one is the main fire source, with a strong flame and a wide opening, and is mostly used for stir-frying. The back one, because it uses the tail fire, is not strong enough for stir-frying and can only be used for boiling water and steaming rice.
Yan Zheng moved the earthenware pot used for steaming salted fish to the back, then set up another earthenware pot. He heated the pot, added some lard, and then threw in a handful of dried Sichuan peppercorns. After the peppercorns were fragrant, he took them out and then threw in the rabbit meat pieces to stir-fry. The rabbit meat had been salted before being air-dried, so no additional seasoning was needed.
Once the rabbit meat starts to sizzle and release oil, add the chopped radish, a little water, cover the pot, and let it simmer for half an hour.
While waiting, Jiang Xi took out a few pieces of dried tangerine peel, brewed a cup of tangerine peel water for each person, and served the steamed red dates on the table as a snack.
The house had warmed up quickly after the fire was lit and the food was cooked. Jiang Xi took off her down jacket and was only wearing a sweater.
The three of them sat together drinking tangerine peel tea. The steamed red dates had no raw taste and were soft, sweet, and fragrant. They took a bite of red date and a sip of tangerine peel tea, chatting occasionally. It was a rare moment of leisure, and they were very content.
Just when everything was harmonious and beautiful.
Bang
A large wooden plank crashed down from the window, startling the deer by the door, which immediately sat up.
With a gap in the window, the cold wind from outside blew straight in, and Jiang Xi, who was only wearing a sweater, shivered from the cold.
This caught everyone completely off guard.
Yan Zheng hurriedly grabbed the cloak from the bed, spread his arms, and lunged to block the window.
Yan Jing'an was also startled and quickly picked up the wooden plank from the ground to check it.
"The nails are ruined. Wait, I'll go to the blacksmith's shop and get a few more."
With that, Yan Jing'an picked up the torch by the door, lit it, and went outside.
Jiang Xi quickly grabbed her down jacket and put it on.
Yan Zheng, standing to the side, said irritably, "Now you know to wear it. It would have been better if you hadn't taken it off earlier, or you would have agitated yourself."
"That was an accident. Who would have thought the window would collapse?"
She spoke with an air of self-righteousness.
Yan Zheng was amused by her and asked, "Are you cold?"
"A little." She felt her nose was a little red.
Yan Zheng said, "Put the cloak on and go sit by the stove."
Jiang Xi stopped arguing and obediently went to sit down.
A short while later, Yan Jing'an returned.
"Look what I found! Is this the bell from the cave?"
As he spoke, he took out a lump of iron from his cloak and handed it over.
Jiang Xi took it and examined it; it really was the same as the bells they had seen in the cave. Only this one was slightly larger.
Yan Zheng asked, "Have you found the nail?"
"Found it, found it."
As he spoke, Yan Jing'an went over and picked up the wooden plank from the ground. Yan Zheng put down the cloak he was holding. He then went over and pressed the plank down, while Yan Jing'an took a hammer and nailed the four corners of the plank back to the wall.
Then Yan Zheng checked both windows again to make sure they didn't collapse in the middle of the night and cause someone to get sick.
By the time all that was done, the rice in the pot was ready. Jiang Xi hung the string of bells on the wall.
Jiang Xi took the steamed fish and braised rabbit meat out of the pot and placed them on the table.
Jiang Xi didn't add too much salt when marinating the rabbit meat and salted fish. In addition, they were soaked in hot water before cooking. After steaming, the fish had a slightly salty taste, which highlighted the aroma of the meat.
The radish added sweetness to the rabbit meat. Because it wasn't stewed for too long, the rabbit meat still had a bit of a chewy texture. Jiang Xi felt that she could still taste the firm texture of the rabbit meat; it was chewy but not too tough to bite into, which was delicious.
The two-legged rabbit wasn't small. Jiang Xi originally planned to reheat the leftovers for porridge the next morning, but because it tasted so good, the three of them ate the whole rabbit and a fish.
I'll only be able to have some porridge tomorrow morning.
They had eaten and drunk their fill, and it wasn't very late, but they were all tired after a long day. The wind had just blew them away, and Jiang Xi felt a slight headache. She drank a cup of hot water and went to sleep while it was still warm.
Jiang Xi woke up in the middle of the night and found that the bell that used to hang on the wall had somehow moved to the bedside, which startled her.
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