Chapter 257
The two people sat around the fire, rubbing their hands together to warm themselves, occasionally exchanging a few words.
The courtyard was quiet and peaceful, the sunlight was bright, and the atmosphere was lovely.
As Ji Wanmei watched this scene, she suddenly had an idea.
If decades later, when she and Lei Tingjun are old, will they be like this: sitting together by a fire in a farmhouse courtyard, with a big yellow dog or a lazy cat lying nearby, and fragrant chicken soup simmering in the pot?
He chopped firewood outside the yard, while she picked vegetables inside the house. The two of them lived a warm and slow-paced retirement life.
Such a scene, even just imagining it, feels exceptionally beautiful.
"The soup should be ready by now." Lei Tingjun smelled the aroma, lifted the lid of the pot, and leaned forward to smell it. "Hmm, it smells delicious."
"Shall I scoop some out for you to try?" he asked, looking up.
"Okay." Ji Wanmei was very excited.
Lei Tingjun went into the house and found a gourd ladle in the kitchen. The gourd ladle was about the width of his palm and was the kind of ladle that farmers usually used to scoop water.
Since I don't have a soup spoon, I'll have to make do with this.
Lei Tingjun also brought out two brown earthen bowls and chopsticks.
He scooped half a spoonful of chicken soup into a bowl, blew on it, and handed it to Ji Wanmei: "Try it and see if it has any flavor. If it's not salty enough, I'll add some more salt."
Ji Wanmei took a sip, her eyes suddenly lit up, and her whole face brightened. She looked up and praised, "Very good, just right! This soup is so fresh and delicious, it's really tasty!"
Lei Tingjun smiled after being praised by Ji Wanmei: "I was worried you wouldn't like it. I'm glad you do."
He took Ji Wanmei's bowl, ladled it full of chicken soup for her, and added several large pieces of chicken and some wild mushrooms: "Eat slowly, it's a little hot."
The earthenware bowls used by farmers are usually quite large, often large bowls.
Ji Wanmei sat on the wooden bench with her knees together, holding a large bowl that was bigger than her head, and sipped the water slowly.
Lei Tingjun looked at her tenderly for a while, then scooped himself a bowl, sat opposite Ji Wanmei, and slurped it down.
The soup was piping hot, and Ji Wanmei ate until beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, with a few stray hairs falling beside her temples, her body glistening with fragrant sweat.
Although the meat of a pheasant is not as fatty as that of a domesticated chicken, it is still incredibly flavorful when stewed with Tangli.
Especially when you encounter fresh, delicious mushrooms picked from the mountains, stir-fried in lard to release their fermented aroma, and sprinkled with wild vegetables and Sichuan peppercorn leaves to enhance the flavor, the broth's umami taste is elevated to another level.
Ji Wanmei had only eaten a roasted sweet potato that morning, and after walking with Lei Tingjun on the mountain for so long, she was busy starting a fire and washing vegetables. Smelling the bubbling aroma coming from the pot, she was already very hungry.
She held the large bowl, finished the soup, and handed it to Lei Tingjun, saying, "I'm done eating, but I want more."
Lei Tingjun rarely saw Ji Wanmei eat a second bowl of rice; this was the first time.
It seems she really enjoyed the pheasant and mushroom soup he made today with his simple tools.
Lei Tingjun ladled another bowl for her, and Ji Wanmei said, "I want some mushrooms. Mushrooms taste better than chicken."
Wild pheasants often roam in the mountains, so their meat is quite firm and will become a bit tough if not stewed for a long time.
It takes a long time to stew until it becomes tender, but mushrooms are different. They fully absorb the flavor of the chicken into their caps, making them easy to chew and even tastier than meat.
Lei Tingjun specially prepared mountain delicacies and mushrooms for Ji Wanmei, filling her bowl with more than half a bowl before adding a little soup.
He, on the other hand, scooped up the slightly dry chicken that Ji Wanmei didn't like and put it in his bowl, then quickly ate it.
When Ji Wanmei ate her second bowl, her belly was already bulging and she couldn't eat anymore.
"I'm so full, I've never eaten this much before." She even patted her stomach and let out a burp, then quickly covered her mouth.
Seeing that she wasn't eating anymore, Lei Tingjun scooped the remaining dry ingredients from the pot into his own bowl and ate them heartily.
Ji Wanmei held her cheeks in her hands and sat opposite Lei Tingjun, watching him eat without blinking.
He has a huge appetite!
He must have eaten at least three or four bowls, and this was already his fifth bowl of soup, yet he still managed to finish the rest.
Lei Tingjun said, "Actually, it's just a three-pound chicken and a bag of mushrooms, with no staple food or rice. There's not much of it; it's just the soup that looks like a lot."
Ji Wanmei smiled and said, "I didn't complain that you eat a lot. It's just that seeing you eat reminded me of the first time you came to my house. I cooked noodles for you to take home. You probably... weren't actually full, right?"
Lei Tingjun paused, looked up at her, and said honestly, "I really wasn't full, I only ate about half full."
"Then why didn't you say so?" Ji Wanmei said.
Lei Tingjun touched his earlobe: "Back then, how could I have been so embarrassed?"
The two couldn't help but chuckle as they recalled the scene.
After finishing a pot of chicken soup, Lei Tingjun boiled another kettle of water to wash the dishes and utensils.
He was quick and efficient, and Ji Wanmei barely needed to help him; he finished tidying up in no time.
Ji Wanmei looked at the chicks and the little rabbit they had brought back and kept in the yard, and said, "Shall we take them to Uncle Wang's house when we leave later?"
"Okay." Lei Tingjun had no objections.
Although they only stayed for two days after returning, Ji Wanmei felt that this trip was really enjoyable.
There was nothing else to consider, just the two of them, pure and genuine.
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