Chapter 215: Prosperity 215: Smells so good
Gu Qingqing took a green date out of the net bag, rubbed it on her clothes casually, and bit into it. It was crunchy.
"Sweet," she said.
Pei Zhu smiled happily, "Isn't it? This is the date tree in my mother's yard. It's quite old. Although the dates are not big, they are very sugary."
Gu Qingqing nodded repeatedly: "Brother, you try one too." Then she stuffed another one into his mouth.
Tuantuan was holding a small tomato in her little hand, with red juice all over her hand and her mouth. She was staring at the green dates in her hand.
Gu Canyang ate it without hesitation, and under the unblinking gaze of his eldest nephew, he spat out the date kernel, caught it in his palm, and threw it into the trash can beside him.
Xiao Tuantuan let out a howl and continued to eat the tomato.
Pei Zhu watched the interactions between the siblings and uncle and nephew, and thought that Captain Gu, who was usually cold and aloof, was actually very easy to talk to in front of his sister.
Gu Qingqing chatted with Pei Zhu for a while, then looked at her watch and said, "I should cook now. Sister-in-law, are you going to eat in the cafeteria or cook for yourself?"
"Ah? What time is it? I have to go back too. The eldest should be out of school. There are two younger kids at home. We have to cook for ourselves." She said as she was about to get up.
"Half past eleven." Gu Qingqing opened her mouth and wanted to give her the prescription, but she didn't tell him about her sister-in-law's condition, so he couldn't just give it to her.
How else to explain it? Did I specifically ask about your sister-in-law's family and find out that she was injured and caught a cold and couldn't get pregnant?
The Xue family is full of smart people. If I just rush over and send it over, they will definitely think there is some conspiracy.
Anyway, I have regular contact with Pei Zhu now, so I can wait for a while until she takes the initiative to speak.
Once women become close, all the troubles at home will be revealed.
Gu Qingqing grabbed a handful of cherry tomatoes and gave them to her, then sent her out.
Seeing Xiao Xiao squatting in the yard scraping fish scales, he quickly went to get a small stool for her to sit on, muttering, "I don't know where my second brother took Nian Nian, otherwise I would have asked him to help."
As for Gu Canyang, she didn't dare to call him.
"It's okay, I can do it alone, you can go and cook."
"Then I won't care about you?" she asked tentatively.
Xiao Xiao lifted his sleeves to wipe the sweat off his face and said with a smile: "I'm not a child, just stir-fry some beans and eggplant for me as a reward."
"Okay, when my second brother comes back, tell him to deliver the net bag to the market."
"Know."
Gu Qingqing returned to the kitchen, scrubbed two large crabs clean, placed a steaming tray in the large pot, put a few slices of ginger on it, picked up a king crab and put it in the pot to steam.
There is just enough space to put down one.
Crack an egg into two porcelain bowls, mix well, add salt and warm water, and place them in the gap next to the king crabs. Cover the pot and steam them together.
She cut the other one into pieces with a knife and chopped some ginger and chili peppers to stir-fry. She also happened to have some chili sauce she brought from home, so it was flavorful enough.
The fried eggplant and green beans that Xiao Xiao specifically requested are also indispensable. Fry the eggplant and green beans briefly in overheated oil, drain the oil and remove from the dish.
Add garlic to the remaining oil and sauté until fragrant. I was originally planning to add some dried chili segments, but I thought that Xiao Xiao couldn't handle spicy food, so I gave up.
Add some salt and soy sauce, turn off the heat, add chopped green onions, mix well and serve.
The king crabs in the pot next to her were almost done steaming. The stove was burning coal. She took two wet rags and held the handle of the pot on the ground next to her. She filled the kettle and put it on the stove to boil water.
After counting that there were three dishes, she took out a handful of cherry tomatoes, cut them into small dices, and cooked a tomato and egg soup.
Mr. Qin is old now and likes to eat rice with soup.
I ate another cucumber and fried some pork belly with non-spicy peppers. I looked up at the time and it was twelve twenty-five.
There are five dishes and one soup, and if we can’t finish them, we’ll have the leftovers at night.
Old Qin and Shen Sui stepped into the courtyard at half past twelve.
Xiao Xiao not only scraped the fish scales clean, but also took out the fish intestines and fish bladders, and asked Gu Qingqing: "Do you want some?"
"Yes." Gu Qingqing glanced at the large pot in the yard. "It's just right to make boiled fish fillet tonight. I forgot about it at lunch. I'll ask my brother to see if there are any bean sprouts for sale when he returns the net bag. Do you like soybean sprouts or mung bean sprouts?"
"Soybean sprouts." Xiao Xiao washed his hands and cleaned up the fish scales in the yard. "This fish can be pickled. Which one do you want to keep for cooking tonight? I'll take it out so that I don't get your hands dirty."
"This one." Gu Qingqing pointed at a piece of paper that was neither too big nor too small, and was surprised at her attentiveness.
I used to think she was as careless as I was, but I didn't expect she was also a meticulous person.
Xiao Xiao picked up the fish she mentioned with one hand, threw it into the small basin beside him, and brought it into the kitchen together with the fish intestines and fish soup.
After she washed her hands, the food was served one after another. Because an old friend was at home, Chu Yuan also hurried back to eat.
There was another large table of people. Chu Yuan liked this lively atmosphere very much. Fortunately, that bad boy married a good wife, otherwise the house would have been lonely and he would have to eat in the cafeteria every day.
Gu Qinglie came back from outside holding Nian Nian and sniffed: "It smells so good."
Niannian also followed suit and sniffed, clapping her hands: "Fanfan! Fanfan~"
He shook his calves and tried to get out of the man's arms.
After yesterday's lesson, Gu Qinglie didn't dare to tease him. He quickly bent down, put the man down, and went to the kitchen to wash his hands.
Gu Qingqing lifted the lid of the pot and said, "Brother, help me take this crab out."
"Is there a plate this big?" Gu Qinglie exclaimed, "One leg is enough to fill me up."
"How about the enamel plate for snacks?" she asked.
"Here, let's try it." Gu Qinglie rolled up his sleeves, took two pairs of chopsticks and scooped up the crab from the bottom. Gu Qingqing happened to catch it with the plate.
The brother and sister work together very well.
Gu Qinglie smacked his lips, "Actually, I think we are more like twin siblings."
Gu Qingqing snorted and laughed: "No, I'm like the eldest brother."
"Then I am like a big brother too."
Gu Qingqing ignored him and went out with the enamel plate. The king crab's legs were not in the plate and could not fit on it.
Gu Qinglie moved the chicken and egg custard in the pot to the stove, and then hung the pot on the ground on the wall.
The two little guys like to eat flavorful food, so Gu Qinglie took a bottle of soy sauce and added a little into each porcelain bowl with a spoon.
As soon as you smell this soy sauce, you can tell it’s brewed by my grandmother. It has a unique bean flavor.
He put the soy sauce bottle back and went out with two bowls of egg custard.
Little Tuantuan sat on his uncle's lap, holding onto the edge of the table with his little hands and shaking his little feet. He smelled the fragrance and stared at his second uncle intently.
Gu Qinglie couldn't help laughing: "This greedy cat looks exactly like your mother when she was a child." He handed a bowl to Gu Canyang and asked him to feed Tuantuan.
Then he sat down, leaned slightly sideways, and fed Xiao Nian Nian, who was sitting on the chair next to him, with a spoon.
Gu Qingqing sat next to Xiao Xiao and said, "How about the beans and eggplant you ordered? I only added a few grains of salt, fearing that the taste would be too strong."
"So exaggerated?" Xiao Xiao picked up a bean and put it in his mouth, mumbling: "It's quite tender, that's the taste. If you add some salt, it will be salty."
Gu Qingqing sighed, stood up and poured her a glass of water. "I think stir-fried vegetables with chili peppers are delicious. You can try the stir-fried crabs. If it's spicy, just drink water."
The person who was about to refuse did not hesitate any more when she saw the man holding a baby opposite her also picked up a crab leg dipped in red chili sauce and ate it without changing his expression.
"Okay, I'll try." As she said that, she stood up slightly and reached for the plate of spicy fried crab with her chopsticks.
Chu Yuan looked at her with a smile: "Xiaoxiao, if you can't eat it, don't be stubborn. Steamed ones are also delicious."
"As long as I want to eat it, there's nothing I can't eat!" Xiao Xiao was so excited that she picked up the crab leg that looked the spiciest, poked the meat out of the crab shell with chopsticks, and stuffed it directly into her mouth.
"How is it?" Gu Qingqing looked at her.
Old Qin was also smiling and paying attention to this.
Xiao Xiao's tears were about to burst out, but she forced herself to swallow them. The burning sensation spread from her throat to her stomach, and she held the enamel cup and gulped down the liquid, which slowed down a little.
"Do you people in Yancheng eat such spicy food?" She leaned back in her chair, feeling a little tired.
"Not really," Gu Qingqing said a little embarrassedly, "I forgot that this chili sauce is made with chili peppers, so I put a little too much."
Xiao Xiao sighed deeply and said gloomily, "That's good."
Gu Qingqing looked at Gu Canyang opposite her, and saw his eyes linger on her for a moment, then move away without a word. She bent her lips and smiled silently.
In fact, Xiao Xiao has a pretty good chance of winning.
Chu Yuan talked to Old Qin about some recent happenings in neighboring countries and their obvious military deployments. Old Qin listened quietly, scooped a bowl of tomato and egg soup, and drank it slowly without making a sound.
After the two little guys had eaten their fill, they got out of their uncles' arms and clung to Shen Sui, going upstairs with him.
Gu Qingqing rubbed the fish in the basin with salt and marinated it there. It would take three or four days before it could be dried. After calculating the time, it was possible that the fish had not been dried much when Gu Qinglie took it back.
But it’s okay. The sun is strong in the border town during the day, so we can eat it after it has been exposed to the sun for a while.
Xiao Xiao had also finished his meal. He took a bowl and washed some cherry tomatoes and dates. He squatted beside her and watched her pickle fish, eating them one by one to cover up the spicy taste in his mouth.
"I have never liked eating salted fish since I was a child. My grandpa's house is close to the sea, and I have smelled the smell of rotten fish and shrimp so many times that I can't stand it," said Xiao Xiao.
"We are different. In my hometown, salted fish and mackerel are only eaten during festivals. When we were young, we rarely ate meat. We could only have it during the Chinese New Year. Fish was also a rare thing."
Gu Qingqing rubbed the salt and said with a smile: "Once there was half a bag of salted fish at home. I had been eyeing it for half a year. Finally, when the Chinese New Year came, grandma took it to visit relatives."
"Then you must be crying." Xiao Xiao moved the small stool behind her and motioned for her to sit down.
Gu Qingqing looked back and then sat down. "Yes, I cried. Later, whenever there was meat during festivals, my grandma would first give it to the children at home to satisfy their hunger, and then think of other ways to eat when visiting relatives."
"But the half-salted fish eventually made its way back to my home." Gu Qingqing couldn't help but laugh. "Life is better now than before. My uncles and brothers all received money and meat coupons from the production team's year-end settlement. My two brothers also sent some back home. Now my brother Jianguo and brother Weidong are also in the army. Life is getting better and better, and we don't have to eat the half-salted fish anymore."
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