"Brother, are you out?" Xiao Yu came back from outside and saw Zhou Yan, wearing an old military jacket, cooking with his back to him. "Are you hungry? Wait a minute, we're having fish today, and I've already cleaned it."
Zhou Yan had just been stirring the boiled rice in the pot to prevent it from sticking. When he heard this, he turned around and saw a young man who was full of sunshine and happiness. There were four silly-smiling children hanging in front and behind him. They were holding three large fish weighing more than ten pounds, which had been cleaned: a silver carp, a bighead carp and a grass carp.
"What a great harvest! Where did you get it?"
"Yesterday, I was out chopping wood when I ran into someone. They told me there was a reservoir to the east, and that a village relied on fishing there every year, earning a lot of government subsidies. So I went to check it out. I discovered the reservoir was truly enormous, so I found a deserted spot and spent a good while there. I had no idea how abundant the water resources were."
"You're back from your space?" Zhou Yan's eyes flashed, but unfortunately Xiao Yu was in high spirits at the moment and didn't notice his difference at all.
☆
"How did you know?" Xiao Yu said to himself, waving his hand and taking out a bundle of firewood from the gourd space. "It was on the day when you finished tempering your body with incense. I went out to chop wood and found my gourd on a strange ice crystal gourd vine on the cliff. It's a bit strange, but it's good to be back. No... Brother, you..."
Zhou Yan frowned, as if he was thinking about something.
Looking at his appearance, Xiao Yu guessed that his fiery sun body had awakened and he had gained insight into some sealed memories.
"Do you want to eat chopped pepper fish head or spicy fish fillets? I have prepared all the ingredients." Xiao Yu automatically changed the subject.
Zhou Yan looked at Xiao Yu and said thoughtfully, "I want to try it."
"Hehe, brother, you really understand me. Only children make choices, while adults naturally want them all."
Zhou Yan didn't say anything, but reached out to take the fish: "How do you do it?"
"First, chop off the heads of the silver carp and bighead carp, then split them in half. I'll make the chopped pepper fish heads first. I'll fillet the remaining fish bodies and chop the bones into chunks for the soup base. I'll skip the grass carp for now. By the way, is this enough?"
Zhou Yan looked at the fish and touched his belly: "Almost done."
Almost, but barely. Xiao Yu automatically interpreted it and decided to add more garnishes when making the spicy fish fillets later. If that didn't work, he could just steam half a fish. He had harvested more than just a few today.
☆
The two of them had more than one pot, cooking rice and fish at the same time. While Zhou Yan was still slicing the fish, Xiao Yu had already sprinkled his homemade chopped pepper on the fish head and put it into the steamer.
When the rice is cooked, the only thing left is the newly added steamed fish.
The steamed fish was made under the banner of supplementary food for four children, so steamed egg custard was also included.
Zhou Yan picked up the chopsticks at Xiao Yu's invitation, looked at the four children next to him who were crawling on the edge of the frame, drooling as they stared at the two large bowls of fish on the small table with their eyes wide open. He felt so ashamed that he didn't know how to pick up the chopsticks.
"We should have steamed the eggs for the children first." He felt guilty for letting the four children watch them eat.
☆
Xiao Yu took a big bite of the chopped pepper fish head and his eyes lit up: "Delicious! Brother, come and try it." Although the chopped pepper had only been pickled for a few days, he thought it was delicious.
The four little babies next to them stared at their father's mouth and smacked their lips, as if saying, "Let me have a taste of it soon."
Zhou Yan looked nervous and worried.
"Haha..." Xiao Yu laughed unceremoniously at Zhou Yan's appearance. At this moment, he didn't care about wasting incense. After that, he took out four cups of brewed milk that he had just put away, as if performing magic.
Zhou Yan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the bottle and said with a smile, "I thought you were going to give them the complementary food before drinking it."
"I do want to, but I don't know when they're full. They drink milk first, then eat."
It was okay for Zhou Yan to think about it. Although there seemed to be something more in his mind, there were not many images about raising children.
So, the dinner table for the family of six was ready. The two adults ate the fish with big mouthfuls, and the four children drank milk with relish while smelling the aroma of the fish.
By the time they finished their milk, the complementary food in the pot was almost done. Most importantly, the two adults were almost done eating too.
Then they started feeding two of them each.
The egg custard steamed from two eggs was divided into four portions, and some minced fish was added to each portion. Because of this, half of the egg custard ended up in the mouths of the two adults.
I really don't dare to feed him too much. If he gets sick due to overeating, they will be worried.
The two adults are naturally responsible for cleaning up the steamed fish.
Of course, Zhou Yan was the one who cleaned up the mess. He even took the last bit of rice crust and soaked it in the fish soup, leaving not a drop of broth behind.
Although Comrade Xiaoyu prepared things for him many times every day when he was tempering his body, in order not to waste time, the preparations were simple.
This was the best meal he had had in over a month.
☆
The two of them hadn't expected that a single body tempering session would take over two months, and the New Year was only four or five days away. Following Zhou Yan's suggestion, they would celebrate the New Year in this cave. However, in the days before the New Year, they could go out and earn some money, collect incense offerings, and get some New Year's goods.
Xiao Yu felt that this arrangement was very good. The cave was warm and spacious. The several pools were also convenient for bathing.
"So where are we going?"
"Let's go north first, from the capital of Jin Province, heading west to Qin Province, then south to Shu. I heard there are quite a few City God Temples there. Then we'll go to Guangdong Province, Fujian Province, and the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas. This is where I know there are the most Earth God Temples and City God Temples. However, before the New Year, we only need to finish our tour of Qin Province."
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