Chapter 87 The All-Powerful Whole Fish Feast in the Back Mountain
It was Yao Xiaoyu's custom to treat herself to a nice meal after receiving her royalties, but this time the lucky driver didn't take them to a fancy restaurant. Instead, he stopped by a small gate in a wall.
"Don't let the unassuming storefront fool you, the chef inside is an absolute master at cooking fish!"
The rickshaw driver confidently asserted that when the rickshaw driver from the tenement had brought back his newly bought rickshaw to celebrate with a feast, he had invited this family because of their friendship. It was not unusual for fish to be delicious when braised in soy sauce, but the fish dishes made by this family were mostly white, yet each bite was full of flavor. The meatballs his wife brought back from the basket were also delicious when boiled in water with a little salt.
With the silver dollar he received today, he will have saved up seventy silver dollars. After saving for a few more months, he will buy a new car and hire this cook to make wine!
With Tao Xiaoxiao protecting her, Yao Xiaoyu opened the door with some skepticism and went inside. She found that it was not the cramped space she had imagined, but a clean and spacious open area of several dozen square meters. She hadn't noticed anything amiss because the driver had been running close to the wall.
"Nier, we have guests. Remember the dishes!"
The cook, his face flushed and neck thick, stood in the center of the open space, stirring the soup in the large iron pot while shouting loudly. Soon, a little girl of about eight or nine years old, with braided pigtails and a round face, darted out and recited the names of the dishes in rapid succession. Yao Xiaoyu was initially very interested, but after a while, her head started buzzing, and in the end, she could only remember what the driver had said.
"Some people say you're really good at cooking fish?"
The little girl nodded proudly, pointing to a row of water vats along the wall:
"Our specialty is fish. We put the fish we buy in the tank in the morning, and they don't even last until the afternoon. Would you like one?"
The map of Yan was a bit short, but Yao Xiaoyu didn't mind. She reached out to this and that, and the little girl took a net to scoop out the fish that had been called out. She then neatly cleaned the fish and handed it to the chef in the middle. The chef quickly prepared the fish and served two plates to Yao Xiaoyu and Tao Xiaoxiao—fried fish cakes and fish ball and egg soup.
The golden fish cakes had no fishy smell at all, and the fish balls, which had been chopped just five minutes ago, were as tender as tofu. After taking a bite of each, Yao Xiaoyu knew that the driver hadn't lied—this chef was really skilled.
The following fish dishes were all prepared in a home-style manner: braised catfish, stir-fried carp, and fish intestines with chin and tail to make soup rolls; pine nut fish rice, fish shreds with melon and ginger, and fish chunks with eggplant. Finally, the fish bones with the meat left were fried twice and stewed with sweet and sour sauce to finish the meal. It truly lived up to the saying that meat was meat, vegetables were meat, and even the staple food was meat. There was a bit too much rice, so the restaurant gave us a free fish head and vermicelli soup, along with a fried egg.
Yao Xiaoyu and Tao Xiaoxiao ate to their hearts' content, and even took a lot of fish balls with them when they left.
"I'm back."
Wenrou greeted Yao Xiaoyu and then buried herself in copying books. After the initial period of enthusiasm and fatigue, her daily copying volume had stabilized, and she could earn about seven silver dollars a month.
This wasn't a small amount of money; ordinary employees outside earned only six yuan a month, and shopkeepers generally only received eight yuan. Wenrou was quite satisfied with the money, and it even helped improve Zhou Chunhua's literacy skills.
Last year, they were both illiterate and started from the same point. Zhou Chunhua even learned faster than Wenrou. But now, Zhou Chunhua is still doing handicrafts that pay a maximum of three yuan and fifty cents a month, while Wenrou has changed tracks and doubled her salary. How can the competitive Zhou Chunhua be willing to accept this?
Yao Xiaoyu was happy to see this happen: literate people always have more options than illiterate people. Even if she wasn't asked to copy books, she could still earn some income by setting up a table and writing letters for people. As long as society is relatively stable, people who can read and write won't starve.
...
Having already submitted her only 10,000 words, with the deadline in seven days, Yao Xiaoyu filled her pen with ink and began working on the manuscript.
The previous part had been handed over to Pi Kangxiu. Fortunately, the outline was still in her hands. Yao Xiaoyu smoothly wrote about all the big and small things that happened during Zhang Xiu's convalescence, and solidified the heroine's determination to separate from the family. Then she introduced a super classic element of farming novels again - a mountain with everything!
As we all know, in almost every ancient farming novel, there will be one or even several mountains near the heroine's home. These mountains will refresh with all kinds of items according to the protagonist's needs, regardless of the era, season, region, or growing environment.
Ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, wild boar eggs, corn, potatoes, and even the male protagonist and male supporting characters can find them on the mountain. It seems that there is nothing the female protagonist cannot find. However, after modern readers have read too many of these kinds of stories, they have gradually begun to value realism, so this classic element has been used less and less.
But now Yao Xiaoyu has abandoned her brain, letting Zhang Xiu fully utilize the resources of the back mountain. These plots have already been rewritten in various ways, and even the villains are stereotypical. Yao Xiaoyu doesn't need to think at all:
Zhang Erya got out of bed and looked at her small body. She went to the back mountain to find something to eat. With the help of the protagonist's halo, she found more than ten wild eggs. When she got back, Grandma Zhang took them away, saying that she was not worthy of eating them. Zhang Erya fought and snatched them back, breaking Grandma Zhang's kind-hearted image.
Zhang Erya wanted to eat meat, so she went to the back mountain and found a pheasant, but Grandma Zhang took it away, saying she wanted to give it to her eldest grandson who was studying and her bound-foot granddaughter who was going to marry into a wealthy family to nourish her body. Zhang Erya made a scene and was told that she was not respectable enough, so she tore off the fig leaf that covered her face.
Zhang Erya wanted to make money, so she found a wild boar that had fallen to its death in the back mountain. She asked her parents to secretly take it to sell for money. When they returned, they were caught by Zhang's aunt, who accused her of stealing money and told her to separate the family. She was scolded, but the seed of revenge was planted in her heart.
...
Although these plots are mindless, it's really satisfying to see people slap in the face. Yao Xiaoyu kept writing until Zhang Erya was really going to split up the family before she stopped. Her fingers were sore and weak, but she felt a great sense of accomplishment looking at the thick stack of manuscript paper.
It's time for dinner... It's not even dark yet?!
"Gurgle—"
Yao Xiaoyu touched her flattened belly, then looked outside at the still bright sky despite the large clouds obscuring the sun, and began to doubt her own eyes.
"Eating dinner so early?"
Yao Xiaoyu came downstairs with her stomach bulging in protest, and saw Tao Xiaoxiao cooking noodles. She was immediately puzzled – could fish digest so quickly?
Tao Xiaoxiao didn't understand what Yao Xiaoyu meant, but that didn't stop her from cracking eggs into the pot and answering Yao Xiaoyu's question.
"This is not dinner, it's lunch."
Yao Xiaoyu still hadn't reacted:
"Didn't we have fish for lunch? Are you still hungry?"
Tao Xiaoxiao glanced helplessly at Yao Xiaoyu. She had seen Yao Xiaoyu immersed in writing several times and roughly understood Yao Xiaoyu's current situation.
"Eating fish was yesterday."
These words swirled in Yao Xiaoyu's mind three times before she fully grasped them. Somewhat disbelieving, Yao Xiaoyu asked about the date before finally accepting it—it wasn't that her typing speed had increased, but rather that she had written directly from daytime to daytime!
"So, do you want to go out to eat with me, or just have noodles?"
Once she figured out the time, the hunger she had initially thought she could endure suddenly intensified into a devastating tsunami. Yao Xiaoyu applied a hot towel to her face and tightened her belt even more, constantly reminding herself that she would eat something soon, just to keep her mind from shutting down and collapsing to the ground.
"..."
I should have cooked the noodles later.
After about half an incense stick's time.
Yao Xiaoyu ate several shrimp and slurped up two mouthfuls of noodles. Only when she had something in her stomach did she feel truly alive again. She told Tao Xiaoxiao to watch the noodle bowl and not let anyone tamper with it, and then walked to the braised food stall across the street. When the vendor saw this big customer coming, he immediately showed his most enthusiastic smile.
Is this all the beef?
Yao Xiaoyu examined the beef with long chopsticks, not particularly satisfied.
"Business has been a bit slow lately, so I haven't made much beef. Plus, the Yu family is having a belated feast today, so I bought some early this morning. That's all I have left. If you want some, I'll give you a discount."
When the vendor mentioned the Yu family, a look of disdain flashed in his eyes. They were all people living in the same courtyard, so everyone knew each other. He said he was just trying to make up for the lack of food for the banquet, but he was really after the money from the wedding gifts. He said the beef was for the banquet, but who knows how much of it would actually be on the table. [1]
That old woman was pitiful. She raised her son with great difficulty, and he was just at the age where he could enjoy a good life with his daughter-in-law. But her son actually sold his own mother to raise money for the bride price. He was a beast, yet he still had to save face. He used the excuse of getting married to cover up his shame. Everyone knows what really happened!
"So that's how it is,"
Normally, Yao Xiaoyu might have been interested in finding out more, but the two bites of noodles and a few shrimp she ate were only enough to sustain her for one round trip. When the vendor tossed out the melon, she just let it go in one ear and out the other, responding without much thought.
"Slice these two into strips, and slice the rest. Pack them separately, that'll be faster."
Yao Xiaoyu was really hungry, and the vendor offered to lower the price, so she stopped being picky and bought everything. She also noticed the few remaining braised pork pieces next to her.
"Wrap up all this pork too, I'll take it all."
The vendor responded and, with his already nimble hands moving even faster, quickly packed up several lotus leaf packages and brought them to the noodle stall.
"Pick whatever meat you want to eat."
Yao Xiaoyu unwrapped the lotus leaf package, picked up a piece of shredded beef and soaked it in the noodle soup, then took it out and chewed it slowly. Tao Xiaoxiao poured out the noodles from the jar and used serving chopsticks to pick up some braised pork to eat with them.
Yes, Tao Xiaoxiao chose a third option between eating noodles at home and going out for a fancy meal—she poured the cooked noodles into a container, carried it around, and ate them outside.
Yao Xiaoyu didn't stay outside for long. After eating noodles, she went home, went upstairs, took off her clothes, and lay down on the bed in one go. She fell asleep in just a few breaths, but she didn't sleep for long. When she got up, the sun had just hidden the last bit of its head.
"I'm hungry, is there anything to eat?"
As Yao Xiaoyu was speaking, she was about to open the courtyard gate to see if any peddlers carrying loads would pass by when a hand reached out in front of her.
"Sis, have some meat buns, I bought them especially for you."
Yao Xiaoli's eyes were a little unfocused. With the first money she earned, she bought three meat buns. She originally intended to leave them all for Yao Xiaoyu, who had brought her food before, but she was really craving them. She ate one on the way home, and when she got home and was waiting, she couldn't resist eating another one, so she only had one left.
Where did you get the money?
Yao Xiaoyu looked at Yao Xiaoli's face, which had become even thinner, and asked softly.
“Grandma did handicrafts, and I secretly took on some of the work to earn a little money. I would do it for a little while each day, and I could earn a copper coin every two days.”
Yao Xiaoli said with some pride that the Yao family's meals could only be described as filling, not good. The body needs nutrition during the growth period. Yao Tianrui is a boy and attends a junior high school, which the Yao family considers more mentally taxing. It's better if he gets extra food from time to time. Yao Xiaoli was starving, and the family's food was carefully managed, so she could only resort to some tricks.
"Don't worry, sis, I'm just earning enough to buy steamed buns, it won't affect my grades."
Yao Xiaoyu looked at Yao Xiaoli, who was making repeated promises to her, went to the cellar, scooped out a bowl of fish balls, and asked Tao Xiaoxiao to cook them for Yao Xiaoli. Then she whispered to her sister:
"I have seven bowls of fish balls here. If you're hungry, I'll have Sister Xiaoxiao cook them for you."
Originally, she only planned to give a small portion to Yao Xiaoli, but now she thought that Yao Xiaoli didn't need that much meat, so she decided to let the child be happy a few more times.
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Author's note: I don't know how things will develop from here. Do you have any suggestions?
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A little detail: Yu family is actually Yu family. The vendor didn't recognize the character and read only half of it, while inwardly cursing the Yu family for having the same surname, thinking it was a cesspool of mud. But he happened to read it correctly, as Yu as a surname sounds the same as Yu.
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