Chapter 18
After carrying the two pickled fish back up the mountain, Shu Wanxiu put aside everything else and first rummaged through her belongings to process the fish.
Last time, Xun Yi lent her his wood-chopping knife. Before returning it, she used it to chop a bamboo and shave it into several thin bamboo strips.
I originally intended to use it to cut gourds and white gourds, since these gourds are quite large and it's impossible to stew them whole.
Nowadays, bamboo strips are easy to use for scraping fish scales, but they are barely good for gutting fish. She used up three bamboo strips for two fish.
She carefully cleaned the gills, scales, internal organs, and the black membrane inside the fish's belly, and then, under Shu Shouyi's watchful eye, evenly coated the two fish with salt.
"Let's smoke the fish and save it for winter. Tonight, let's just eat the fish innards, okay?"
The raw fish had a particularly strong fishy smell, especially since it had just gone through the processes of scaling and gutting. At this moment, even the air was filled with the fishy smell.
Shu Shouyi's appetite was not aroused at all; he agreed without hesitation.
Why isn't the little glutton eating anymore? Shu Wanxiu looked up in confusion and found him half-covering his nose.
Oh—so you hate the smell of fish.
Seeing through his thoughts, Shu Wanxiu couldn't help but laugh as she picked up the fish's innards and continued processing them.
Remove the contents from the fish intestines, turn the fish inside out, and clean it thoroughly. The fish liver and bladder are simple; just clean off any bloodstains and any black membrane that accidentally gets on them.
The innards of two large fish were put together in a small bowl, but unfortunately there was no oil at home, so Shu Wanxiu could only boil them.
She was afraid the fish would be too fishy to eat, so she boiled the innards twice. After boiling them once, she poured out the water, and after boiling them a second time, she added salt to taste and perilla leaves to enhance the aroma.
In the past, her family always used to add Bai La Yun (a type of spicy herb) when cooking fish, always adding some slices or shreds to remove the fishy smell. This year it's no longer suitable to plant it, so she'll have to find a way to get some Bai La Yun to grow in her own vegetable garden next year.
Oh, and perilla leaves too. You can still find some in the mountains now, but they'll be gone in a while. It's best to gather as many leaves as you can when you have time and dry them, so you won't have any seasoning to remove the fishy smell when you cook smoked fish in winter…
After dinner, Shu Wanxiu took the reeds she had painstakingly gathered from the bag in the dark and spread them evenly on a large bamboo tray in the main room. If there was no sun, she would let them air dry in the shade; if the weather improved in a few days, she could take them out to dry in the sun.
The night is over in the blink of an eye.
As promised, we were going to Wuli Village today, so Shu Wanxiu naturally dragged Shu Shouyi out of bed early.
She took the lead in changing out of the clothes she had worn all the way during her escape from famine, because those clothes were too torn and she had not yet found any fabric to patch them up. She looked like a beggar, and it was really inappropriate to visit relatives dressed like that.
Although the two pieces of clothing donated by the villagers were not the right length and were patched upon patched, at least they were not torn or exposed.
Since they got a wooden bucket to fetch water up the mountain, she had already let go of the responsibility and let Shu Shouyi wash and groom himself every day. But today, because she was worried, she took matters into her own hands and carefully groomed him from head to toe.
You don't necessarily have to pass through the village entrance to get to Wuli Village. Shu Wanxiu knew a small path that was the one that Village Chief Pang took when he brought them back from the county.
The road was at the foot of the mountain. It was almost time to meet Aunt Chen the day before. Shu Wanxiu carried a piece of rabbit leg meat that she had smoked last time down the mountain.
Before leaving, she took one last regretful look at the vegetable garden in front of the house.
It's such a pity that these vegetables aren't ready to be picked yet; otherwise, it would have been so nice to pick some and take them to my uncle and the others.
Chen Sanhe and Chen Lian hadn't returned to their parents' home since the autumn harvest. Not long after Shu Wanxiu arrived at the agreed-upon place, they also came over with their baskets.
At first glance, the basket contained chestnuts from the mountains, roasted peanuts, and fresh, first-harvest chrysanthemum greens of the year... There were no particularly valuable items, but even these ordinary things conveyed to others their longing for their maternal family.
Wuli Village is named so because it is exactly five li (about 2.5 kilometers) away from several nearby villages. The four of them chatted as they walked, and entered the village in a little over two quarters of an hour.
Shu Wanxiu heard from Tingyi that their family was staying in four different households, but she didn't know which ones. So after entering the village, she followed Aunt Chen to her parents' house to find out their address. Then, Aunt Chen accompanied her to find her uncle's residence.
Fortunately, Shu Yanrong was on his way out of the village when he ran into them. Although he had gone out to collect the bamboo traps he had set the day before and pick some reeds, he was about to leave the village.
"Uncle!"
"Uncle!"
Shu Wanxiu and Shu Shouyi called out to him at the same time.
He was clearly taken aback for a moment, then, after recognizing the person, he replied, "Yes!"
...
Shu Yanrong, his wife Xu Zhen, and their daughter Shu Tingyi lived together in one household, while the rest of the family members were scattered in different places. Their large family could only gather together for breakfast and dinner once a day.
When his niece and grand-nephew arrived, Shu Yanrong naturally didn't go to get the ground cage. Instead, he turned around and led them, along with Chen Sanhe, back to his residence to entertain them.
Shu Yanrong looks somewhat serious, but he's actually quite easy to get along with.
Along the short distance, he thanked Chen Sanhe countless times as an elder of Shu Wanxiu and Shu Shouyi.
In fact, even if Chen Sanhe is not Pang Lizhang's wife, he would still take the initiative to greet ordinary villagers when he meets them on the road.
However, most people in Wuli Village avoid them like the plague, and they rarely get a response when they greet them.
Upon arriving at the temporary residence of Shu Yanrong and his companions, Chen Sanhe sat down for only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before warmly chatting with the family they were staying with.
Most people in Wuli Village are surnamed Chen, and all of them are related by blood and come from the same clan.
She was a prudent person. Although she trusted Shu Wanxiu's character, she still had to find out the villagers' true opinions about Shu Yanrong's family and the Liu family, who were previously complete strangers, before she could vouch for them.
Someone said, "The Shu family? I've never had any dealings with them."
Some people said, "I don't know, I'm scared of these refugees. I avoid both of their families whenever I see them."
Others said, "It seems the Shu family is more honest and hasn't caused any trouble. Don't even mention that Liu family..."
...
Shu Wanxiu watched Chen Sanhe leave, desperately wanting to keep him there and to say a few good words for her uncle and the others, but she was at a loss for words and couldn't think of any good options.
Chen Sanhe left without saying anything, and Shu Wanxiu didn't know what impression Chen Sanhe had of her uncle and the others.
With something on her mind, even when relatives finally gathered, she seemed somewhat listless while talking to her aunt and Tingyi.
Shu Shouyi was happy. These elders had taken care of him before, and he had a memory of them. After being separated for a while, he felt no stranger when they met again. Instead, he felt very close to them.
When her aunt asked why they had brought rabbit meat, Shu Wanxiu gave a general answer, but Shu Shouyi provided the details.
They chatted casually until noon, when the aunt scooped out rice to prepare a meal for them.
Shu Wanxiu suddenly realized what was happening.
Everyone was eating relief food, and no one had any extra rice in their rice bin.
While Tingyi went to ask the host to borrow the stove, her uncle carried firewood to start a fire, and her aunt went into the house to get the fish that had been stored away yesterday. She left without saying a word, carrying Shu Shouyi with her.
There was no need to wait for Aunt Chen, because Aunt Chen had said early in the morning that she and her mother-in-law would stay at their parents' home for dinner before returning.
"This child, giving me wild duck eggs and rabbit meat, why didn't he stay for a meal before leaving..."
Xu Zhen came out with a fish in her hand, looking at the empty house and muttering to herself.
The voice was so soft that it was impossible to tell whether it was out of heartache for her understanding or blame for her leaving without saying goodbye.
...
Shu Wanxiu led Shu Shouyi back home along the mountain path, and the already gloomy weather suddenly became even more overcast.
She looked at the sky with a worried expression.
If it rains heavily, how will Aunt Chen and the others get home in the evening?
A moment later she remembered that her aunt and the others had gone back to their parents' home and couldn't come back because of the heavy rain, so they could stay overnight at their parents' home.
Thinking about it this way, I was glad that I brought Shu Shouyi home early, otherwise my uncle and the others would be living under someone else's roof, how would they have been able to settle them down?
There are things to do on a rainy day.
For example, smoking the fish that was marinated yesterday.
There are many tricks to making smoked fish and meat taste good.
First, you must master the timing and temperature.
If the fire is too strong, it will bake the food dry in one go; if it is too weak, the food will not dry for a long time, and under the influence of the warmth, the inside will easily become smelly and spoiled.
Secondly, choose the right materials.
The flavor is determined by the type of wood used for smoking. For example, using woods like pine, cypress, or maple, which have their own natural aroma, will give the fish a unique fragrance when smoked.
Shu Wanxiu had never seen a cypress tree in the vicinity. There were a few maple trees, but they were all very tall, and she couldn't reach their branches.
The only easy target was the pine tree.
She picked out the dry pine branches she had collected recently and put them in a separate pile. Before the rain started, she ran to the mountainside and broke off some fresh pine branches.
Dry branches are easily ignited, while wet branches produce smoke.
Using only dry branches will result in insufficient smoke and a less fragrant aroma. Using only wet branches will produce too much smoke, and the excessive pine resin produced during smoking will leave residue on the fish, affecting its texture.
Only when smoked with a mixture of dry and wet pine wood will the meat have the most suitable flavor.
Shu Wanxiu rarely cooked before and never diligently studied culinary skills. She probably knew this because her mother was an excellent cook, and through long-term, subtle influence, she was able to learn without formal instruction.
A note from the author:
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"One becomes skilled through observation and learning without formal instruction." This phrase comes from Han Yu's "Epitaph for the Tomb of Fang Gong, Duke of Qinghe County" during the Tang Dynasty.
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