Yun Qi racked his brains and meticulously recounted everything he had ever encountered and heard to Yang Damei, repeatedly emphasizing the important points until his throat was dry. Afterward, he gave Yang Damei fifty yuan, calling it a loan, but it was really just a gift. Only the word 'loan' sounded slightly better.
Yun Duo endured the journey, and upon returning home, she diligently poured Yun Qi a glass of warm water and added honey. After Yun Qi drank it, she asked, "Grandma, why did you give me more than I expected?"
Yun Qi touched the cloud and smiled, "It's better to be frugal on the road than to be poor. She's a girl. If she had a little more money, at least she would be willing to stay in a proper hotel. It's safer than those nameless, unreputable hotels. That's all we can do to help. There's nothing else we can do. Let's just put our minds at ease."
"Mmm." Yun Duo nodded and said, "Thank you, Grandma, thank you for not thinking I'm being silly."
"Silly child," Yun Qi smiled, looking at Yun Duo and saying, "There's no need for so many thanks among family members. Besides, you have a kind heart, and Grandma is only happy for you." She paused, then added, "Alright, didn't you bring back some wild ducks? Let's clean them and stew them with pickled radishes. If we hurry up and clean them and put them on the stove now, they should be ready to eat by the time your grandfather comes back."
“Okay, I’ll start the fire,” Yunduo said immediately.
As she spoke, she felt a little ashamed, as if she had no other way to help besides tending the fire.
Yun Qi shook her head and said, "No rush. You go and get your grandfather's wine pot first, pour out a spoonful of wine, and feed it to the duck, then go and boil some water."
"Feeding wine?" Yun Duo blinked, looking at Yun Qishi with some confusion.
Yun Qi smiled and said, "Grandma will teach you. There's an old saying: chicken feathers are easy to remove, but duck feathers are hard to pluck. Killing a duck is different from killing a chicken. Before killing a duck, it's best to feed it some wine. Wine promotes blood circulation, and after feeding it wine, the duck feathers will be much easier to pluck. In a little while, don't boil the water too much, just make it scalding hot. Grandma will teach you how to pluck duck feathers, and I guarantee I can pluck even the down feathers clean, so they'll taste better."
Hearing what Yun Qi said, Yun Duo understood, nodded quickly, and ran to get the wine and the spoon.
Yun Dazheng was drinking homemade baijiu, which wasn't very good, but it had a high alcohol content. Yun Qishi only poured one spoonful before having Yun Duo take the wine pot away and put it away.
When it was almost time, Yun Qi was about to kill the duck. She specifically told Yun Duo about it and pointed to the duck's reddish skin, saying, "Duo'er, do you see? You see the duck's skin has turned this color, which means the alcohol is just right and it's ready to be killed."
After Yun Duo nodded, Yun Qi went outside to kill the duck. Since Yun Duo had put firewood in the stove, she followed to watch. Yun Qi even explained the tricks of killing a duck to Yun Duo. She did the same when plucking the feathers, explaining carefully as she worked, clearly wanting to impart her life wisdom to Yun Duo through these everyday interactions.
Yun Duo studied diligently and couldn't help but say to Yun Qi Shi, "Grandma, I feel like I wasted my life before. I didn't even know how to kill a duck or pluck its feathers."
Yun Qi chuckled, unaware that Yun Duo was referring to her 'previous life'.
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