Chapter 47 Dinner for Two



"Carp has high nutritional value, but it has a strong fishy smell, so it is more suitable to be braised. I can make three kinds of dishes: home-cooked, braised, and sweet and sour. In addition to these three, grass carp can also be made into boiled fish, pickled fish, smoked fish, and grass carp soup. However, pickled fish cannot be made without pickled cabbage. Which two do you want to eat?"

After everyone had left, Yi Qingqing planned to cook. The fish belonged to Yun Guyuan, and he wanted to learn how to cook, so naturally she wanted to ask his opinion.

"I want to eat them all," Yun Guyuan said, "I'll go for the fish later. You can teach me slowly, okay? Let's do it today."

Yi Qingqing wanted to say that it was a different price, and she didn't want to cook for others every day. However, considering that Yun Guyuan had helped her today, she didn't agree or object, and just said, "Then if you want to eat again, you can prepare the fish when I teach you every week as agreed before."

"Okay," Yun Guyuan nodded, "I'll light the fire for you."

"Hey, wait, we need to prepare these ingredients before putting them in the pot," Yi Qingqing stopped him. "We can just cook the whole carp. To make it more flavorful, you can cut a few cuts on both sides of the fish body, then apply a little salt on the fish body and belly and marinate it for a while. We'll make this carp for home cooking today. We also have green peppers picked from Aunt Guihua. As for the grass carp, it's big and you may not be able to finish it in one meal today. We'll make some fish head soup and fry the rest into smoked fish. It shouldn't go bad if you leave it overnight, so you can still eat it tomorrow."

"Okay," Yun Guyuan stood beside Yi Qingqing and watched her movements carefully.

Although his intention was not very pure, he was serious about learning to cook, because since she was such a good cook, she must be a good eater.

Yi Qingqing said as she did it, "When washing the fish, the black film inside the belly must be removed, otherwise the taste will be bad. When making smoked fish, the fish body should be cut into sections and some flour should be sprinkled on the fish. The most important thing is to prepare the sauce. My recipe is two spoons of soy sauce..."

“Let the sauce cool down before frying the fish and then add the sauce at the end,” Yi Qingqing makes smoked fish first, so that the remaining oil from frying the fish can be reused to make homemade fried carp.

As for the fish head soup, she stewed it in a clay pot.

The staple food was cooked by Yun Guyuan on the stove in his own house, because Yi Qingqing had used up a lot of oil and she couldn't afford to spend money on anything else.

The aroma of fried fish aroused the appetite of many people at the educated youth site.

"To cook two fish, it takes so much oil, what a waste!" Liu Chunxing muttered, then thought of something and asked Wang Lingling who was sitting nearby waiting for dinner, "Lingling, our oil tank is empty too. Did you receive a letter from home when you went to the post office? Do you have any oil coupons?"

"As for fuel coupons, I don't have any. My family just sent me a little bit of money, saying that they couldn't gather that many fuel coupons in such a short time," Wang Lingling said apologetically.

Liu Chunxing's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. Didn't Wang Lingling say that her family was rich and powerful? How could she not even get a ticket? Would she have to follow her and eat for free? "Where are the food coupons?"

"I do have some food coupons, but not much. Sigh, Chun Xing, I can only rely on you. Fortunately, your family loves you. They sent you a lot of things this time, right? Don't worry, my parents said they will send me some next month, and I will pay you back double then. It's all because of that abominable thief. Otherwise, the money and coupons my parents prepared for me would have been enough to last me for at least three months!"

Wang Lingling said hatefully, but her eyes were looking at Liu Chunxing.

Liu Chunxing smiled and said, "Yes, yes!"

Double the amount? Can it really be paid back?

Liu Chunxing felt that it was not right for her to refuse, nor was it right for her not to refuse.

If she refuses, she might not be able to get back the things she lent out before. If she continues to borrow, the things she has will not be enough to feed two people for a month, and she will have to pay back her savings. Her family will no longer send her things, and when she goes to the countryside, they will treat her as if she were dead.

After thinking about it, I decided that it would be better to hold on for a while longer. Wang Lingling was silly and said that it shouldn't be a problem to pay back double the amount.

This Jiaojiao girl is clumsy, she can't even light a fire, let alone cook. She can even drop a bowl when washing it, and she has no relationship with the six people behind her. Who else would be willing to work hard and cook with her except me? If she doesn't return the food, I will break up with her. She won't be able to eat even if she has food, and she still has to rely on her.

Liu Chunxing felt much more relieved when she thought about it. "My things should be able to last for a while. For you, I really put all my family's wealth into it. You have to keep your word when the time comes!"

"Of course. Don't you know who I am? In this rural haunted place, you're the only one I can rely on," Wang Lingling said with a forced smile.

Here, Yi Qingqing finally finished cooking. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with a towel and placed the dishes on the table. The two of them sat opposite each other. She said to Yun Guyuan, "Try it!"

Yun Guyuan picked up a piece of the best meat from the fish belly and gave it to her. "Thank you for your hard work."

"Hey, you have a conscience!" Yi Qingqing said she was very pleased and served him a bowl of fish head soup. "Don't be polite, eat now!"

Yun Guyuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled, picked up the fish soup and took a sip.

"How is it?" Yi Qingqing asked. She learned how to cook fish from Master Zhu, so her cooking skills were definitely not as amazing as Master Wen's.

"Very fresh! I like it very much," Yun Guyuan took another sip.

Yi Qingqing felt relieved. This guy was easy to feed. After tasting Master Wen's cooking in a state-owned restaurant, he actually liked dishes of this level.

He was satisfied, so the thank you was complete, and she didn't feel guilty about eating the fish.

Yun Guyuan gave positive comments on every dish after tasting it.

After that, the two of them started eating in silence. They finished the homemade fried carp, and there was still a small portion of smoked fish left.

"Please sit for a while, I'll clean up," Yun Guyuan started to clean up the dishes very consciously.

Yi Qingqing sat on the kang, wiping the table while staring at him washing dishes by the stove with his sleeves rolled up.

The stove was a little too low for him, so he hunched over slightly, the candlelight casting a gentle shadow behind him.

She inexplicably felt that she was virtuous.

Shaking his head and clearing his strange thoughts, Yi Qingqing stood up, found a small soup bowl, and filled it with the remaining smoked fish.

Yun Guyuan finished washing the dishes and wiped the stove carefully before leaving the house with the smoked fish that Yi Qingqing had stuffed into his hand.


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