Chapter 43: Dinner
Erniu was still confused, but when he saw that the leader, Qian Chuanzi, was already showing impatience, Datou quickly grabbed Erniu and warned him softly, "Don't you want to live? If you don't want to live, don't bring trouble to us."
Erniu wasn't afraid of his companions, but after his reckless actions, his rationality returned. His fear of the knife-wielding soldiers took over. He lowered his head in fear, not daring to say another word.
Refugees, perhaps refugees of a different status, surely didn't have some special communication signals. After a few whistles of varying lengths, several figures emerged from the forest.
Seeing Erniu's broken arm, Datou stood there respectfully. For a moment, he couldn't figure out what was going on. However, being respectful was always right. So, the group immediately knelt on the ground. "Greetings, sir."
"My wife and I will go back to the carriage first. You still need to discuss the matter of selling yourself with your family." Fan Jingrui was polite and distant, portraying the image of a dignified young man to the fullest.
As expected, these people didn't even dare to ask a question. They only dared to ask in a low voice after Chu Ci, Fan Jingrui and Qian Chuanzi left.
Datou and other young men did not dare to hide anything and told the whole story.
Finally, half pleading and half threatening, he said, "Although I don't know what's wrong with Brother Heng, the lady's expression when she mentioned Brother Heng clearly showed disdain. I think we've all been tricked. So, we have to leave."
Datou's grandfather had always looked down on Heng Ge'er and his mother. He had nothing, yet he always wanted to be superior to them. He always used his future to lure everyone, and now he almost implicated his own grandson.
"It's good to go out and explore the world, but remember your identity, be sincere and careful. Maybe grandpa's lifelong wish will fall on you." After saying that, he patted Datou's shoulders twice, picked up the pen, signed his name on the indenture, and pressed his fingerprint.
Chu Ci watched from afar: "He can actually read. It seems he is a man with a story!"
Fan Jingrui didn't respond, but just frowned, as if thinking about something. Seeing this, Chu Ci could only continue to observe the development of the situation quietly.
In the end, among the eighteen children who "robbed" together, seventeen except Erniu were all registered under the name of the eldest sister Fan Qianxi, and successfully got rid of their status as refugees.
They also had new names. Datou was renamed Moyan, and the other sixteen were named in order: Bingmo, Guanyan, Minglu, Mingxin, Mingji, Qingyu, Qingan, Shuangrui, Shuangshou, Laiwang, Laibao, Laixing, Laizhao, Ping'an, Pingshun, and Pingxin.
Chu Ci always felt that they would meet again in the future, so he took the initiative to change the original five taels of silver per person to five taels of silver plus twenty catties of coarse grains.
The refugees, led by Big Head Grandpa, were naturally filled with gratitude. However, one of the children, indeed, grew increasingly anxious. It wasn't until her family had left, vanishing without a trace, that she mustered up the courage to ask, "Sir, no, sir, can I have a different name? I'm actually a girl."
The voice gradually became lower, but Chu Ci could still hear it clearly.
A girl? Fan Jingrui pondered for a moment, then said, "Then I'll call her Caiwei, and follow my elder sister from now on. What do you think, my lady?"
"I'll listen to my husband." Chu Ci had no objection.
After all the hassle, it was almost noon. After a day and night of running around, the feast I had worked so hard to prepare had all turned into rotten meat.
However, the tense situation left them no time to re-order. As the saying goes, a good cook cannot cook without rice, and for a moment, the eldest sister, who had been in charge of the kitchen, was really stumped.
"Sister-in-law, you're the one with the most ideas. Help me figure out what to eat for lunch." After being accustomed to eating a variety of different dishes every day, suddenly switching to steamed buns would be difficult for everyone to adapt to. In desperation, the eldest sister, Fan Qianxi, could only turn to Yue Chuci, the living cookbook.
At this time, the value of the inkstone became apparent. "Moyan, do you know where there is a river?"
"There are some just outside the valley, but the fish has a strong fishy smell and many bones. Would you, my lord, eat such disgusting things?" Although Mo Yan remembered his grandfather's teachings, he couldn't help asking out of curiosity.
"That's because you haven't tasted delicious fish before. Today, your young mistress will let you open your eyes. All right, let's go fishing!" Chu Ci had been suppressed by Fan Jingrui's talent for the past few days, and he felt very depressed. Now that someone finally let him show off, Chu Ci suddenly became lively.
"Yes." Although Mo Yan and others did not believe it, they kept their identities in mind, agreed and ran out of the valley.
Perhaps because no one had fished all year round, in just a quarter of an hour, Mo Yan and his companions brought back a large bucket of fish and a basin of river shrimp. "Madam, since you said the fish is edible, I figured these shrimp should be edible too. What do you think?"
"Okay, let's add another dish of boiled shrimp and braised prawns for lunch today."
Chu Ci still only talked but did not do anything, but with the help of Mo Yan, Cai Wei and others, the eldest sister in charge of cooking became more efficient. She marinated the fish with salt and pepper to make them taste good.
As for the steamed series, Chu Ci didn't need to bother with any preparations. Her elder sister Fan Qianxi had already steamed them skillfully.
Deep-frying fish was even simpler. Simply coat the attractive fish in a batter of flour and starch, fry it in a pan, and it's done. Chu Ci didn't need to remind her; she had already mastered the proper heat.
The only thing she hadn't made was shrimp, but whether it was blanched or stir-fried, the method was not difficult. With a little help from Chu Ci, the elder sister made it perfectly.
Soon, as the dishes came out of the pot, the aroma gradually spread around, penetrated into everyone's nostrils, and stimulated everyone's taste buds.
"It smells so good. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have known that fish could be so delicious." Caiwei's eyes sparkled. If she could have such a skill, she would probably be able to survive any disaster, right?
Caiwei finally became convinced that she was really lucky this time.
Likewise, the others weren't stupid either, so the previously harmonious group visibly started to get upset. No wonder the saying goes, "Food is the first necessity of the people"!
Looking at those pairs of expectant eyes, Chu Ci felt that if he didn't start eating, he would be drowned in the saliva of everyone present. "Eat, eat."
As soon as Chu Ci finished speaking, Qian Chuanzi and his companions rushed over. Not only that, they also made a request: "I'm tired of the steamed fish. I want more of these braised prawns."
Qian Chuanzi was getting cocky, and Lao Liu next to him immediately retorted, "Qian Chuanzi, you're getting cocky. You're tired of eating such delicious fish. What are you going to do when you don't get to eat it again?"
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