Chapter 155 Copper Hot Pot
Everyone played for a while, and before they knew it, it was already past noon. Seeing that the masters showed no intention of stopping, Butler Rong had to come over to ask when the food would be served.
The kitchen has been ready for a long time. If it is not served, it will have to be heated up again.
In fact, with so many snacks and fruits, they are not hungry at all, but if they don’t eat something for three meals a day, it seems like something is missing.
Liu Manyun looked at the little food left on the low table in front of everyone and couldn't help but ask, "Can you eat more?"
Huaiyu replied seriously, "Grandma, I have two stomachs, one for snacks and one for meals."
Liu Manyun: "..."
She glared at the other person and said, "You little bastard, you deserve a beating."
Huaiyu grinned, he really could still eat.
Liu Manyun no longer paid any attention to the boy and directly instructed the housekeeper to have someone clean up the place and prepare to serve the food.
Fortunately, today's lunch arrangements are all simple home-cooked meals.
During the Chinese New Year, everyone’s meals are better than usual. If all they eat is meat and fish, it will actually affect your appetite.
Of course, home-cooked meals are not simple. If you want to make them delicious, you need to spend as much effort as those big dishes.
The people below moved very efficiently, and in just a short while, the messy warm room was clean and tidy again.
After lunch, they did not stay in the warm room, but returned to their respective courtyards to rest. As for the warm room, the fire was still burning. After taking a rest, they would come here again to cook wine around the fire and have barbecue by themselves.
The group walked back to their own yard in groups of three or four.
In the yard, the servants had already lit the floor heating in advance, and when I entered the room, it was very warm.
Lu Yao and Rong Yanhui took the two children to wash up briefly and went to bed with them to rest.
Xiao Yunhao and Xiao Xinyue were indeed tired. They fell asleep within two minutes of lying down.
"Let's get some sleep too," Rong Yan turned to look at Lu Yao. "You've been getting up early these past two days. Are you tired?"
Lu Yao shook her head. Compared to the past, life now was much easier.
Looking at the two sleeping children, Rong Yanhui moved outward and motioned them to lie down beside him.
Lu Yao thought he had something to say, so she moved the child inside and then lay down beside her man. Rong Yan reached out and held her in his arms, "Sister Yao, I'm very happy."
The life he is living now is something he never dared to imagine in his dreams.
Lu Yao placed her hand on the man's chest and said, "From now on, be happy every day."
"If I fail the scientific examination, will you be disappointed?" Rong Yan recalled the scientific examination that everyone had talked about before. He said that at the time, but he still felt a little unsure.
He believed that Yaomei would not dislike him, but he also did not want to disappoint her.
"If I didn't pass the exam, then I didn't pass," Lu Yao said indifferently. "Life at home is okay now. If I can pass the exam, it will be icing on the cake. If I fail, it won't affect anything."
She thought of what the other party had said before and chuckled: "Don't worry, I can afford it."
Rong Yanhui's old face flushed.
He coughed lightly and held the other person's hand tightly: "I will try my best."
Although his current life would not be affected, there were too many powerful people in the capital, and he did not want to face those people one day and feel inferior to them, and have no place to complain when he suffered losses.
Their uncle's family can provide them with support, but it is better to rely on themselves than on others.
"Just do your best," Lu Yao said. "I think the way things are now is fine. You don't need to put too much pressure on yourself. I'll be heartbroken."
All things are inferior except reading.
In this era, the status of scholars was indeed much higher than that of ordinary people, but they had the support of the Rong Mansion, and as long as they were not dealing with the royal family, there would surely be no blind people who would deliberately find trouble with them.
"Don't think too much," she patted the man, "It's useless to think too much, just let it go."
This man must be anxious about the exam, otherwise he wouldn't keep talking about this.
Lu Yao was puzzled. She didn't put any pressure on the man, so why did he become so nervous?
Little did he know that it was precisely because of her attitude that Rong Yanhui wanted to get good grades and make Yaomei proud of him.
Lu Yao didn't want to dwell on this topic, otherwise the man would probably think too much about it. She changed the subject and talked about something else. As she spoke, her voice gradually became softer until it disappeared, and her breathing became even.
Rong Yan looked back at the person sleeping in his arms, smiled helplessly, lowered his head and gently kissed the other person on the lips, then closed his eyes.
The family took a rest and gathered in the warm room to chat and laugh.
It’s a rare opportunity to have a leisurely day. If I want to do this again, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait until next year’s Chinese New Year.
They had just finished their meal and were not hungry, so they sat in the warm room and watched the kitchen staff roasting a whole lamb outside.
This sheep was sent by Rong Yuqing's parents-in-law. In addition to the sheep, there was also a leg of mutton and a slab of beef.
In this dynasty, oxen were an important labor force and the farmers' treasures. They were also protected by the imperial court. They could not be killed at will, and their meat could not be eaten. If they died accidentally, the village head and the head of the neighborhood had to be informed, and then reported to the county. Only after the facts were confirmed could the meat be eaten.
Lu Yao made a lot of snacks, but she had never made one with beef. The scarcity of beef was the main reason.
There is lamb and beef today, and she suggested having hotpot.
hot pot?
Except for Rong Yanhui, no one present knew what this was, but out of trust in Lu Yao, they were all looking forward to it.
The most troublesome part of eating hot pot is the preparation work.
Fortunately, there are many people working at home. Once the instructions are given, someone will naturally do it. The only thing left is the most important pot.
There was no one at the Rong family, so Lu Yao had to find an excuse to go back to her own home with her husband.
Liu Manyun and others originally wanted them to arrange for servants to go, but they didn't say it in the end.
After returning to the Rong residence, Lu Yao and Rong Yan went back to the warehouse. When they came out again, they each held two copper pots in their hands.
In Lu Yao's previous life, copper pots first appeared during the Western Han Dynasty, but whether it was due to the original author's setting or other reasons, she has not found anything similar here.
Copper pots are an indispensable part of Chinese food culture, both in ancient and modern times.
How can we not have it at such an important time as today?
When Lu Yao and Rong Yan returned to the Rong Mansion, the people in the kitchen were already busy.
Although hot pot was added, the originally planned barbecue was also not neglected. With so many people at home, there will be no waste.
In addition to the copper pot, Lu Yao and the others also brought copper hot pot dipping sauce from the county town. You can just use this when the time comes, there is no need to prepare any other dipping sauce.
Since four people passed, Lu Yao planned to order two each of white flavor and spicy flavor. Since they were all family, everyone could just choose what they liked.
Now that we have the tools and dipping sauce, the next step is to prepare the soup base.
Because it was a sudden decision today and there was no time to prepare, Lu Yao simply used the soup dumplings from the county town, one mushroom soup dumpling and one tomato soup dumpling. The spicy one was a normal Bashu hot pot base and the other was a relatively spicy mountain city hot pot base.
Soon, the bottom of her pot was ready.
Rong Yanhui walked out of the kitchen and asked the servants to bring these to the warm room. Once they were placed in the copper pot, add burning charcoal and start making hot pot.
It was still early and many ingredients were still being marinated, so Lu Yao stayed in the kitchen to instruct everyone on how to prepare.
She has always known the wisdom of the ancients. They were not stupid. On the contrary, they were extremely intelligent. The only difference between them and modern people was their environment and knowledge. As long as a window was opened for them, they would be able to soar into the sky!
really,
Lu Yao only gave a few pointers, but they were not only able to grasp the essence of the knowledge, but were also able to draw inferences about other situations, which gave them a great sense of accomplishment.
Since there was no problem in the kitchen, Lu Yao and Rong Yan returned to the garden together.
In the warm room, everyone gathered around the copper pot, looking at it curiously, wondering how to eat it.
"Yaoyao said it's a hot pot. We need to light it later, right?" Rong Yuqing studied it for a long time and pointed at the inner pot in the middle: "Could it be that we put the fire here?"
The others didn't see any other meaning, so after hearing what he said, they echoed him:
"There's no other place to set the fire, so it must be here."
"You know what, this design is quite novel."
"How long will it take before I can eat it? This smell is too overbearing."
“…”
While they were discussing heatedly, Lu Yao and Rong Yan came back.
Seeing the two of them, everyone was excited and enthusiastic, pulling people aside to ask questions. Lu Yao gave everyone a detailed introduction, and everyone couldn't help swallowing their saliva.
"Once the ingredients are ready, we can start cooking." Lu Yao said.
Xiao Huaiyu asked uncertainly, "Raw?"
Lu Yao nodded: "Yes, cook and eat now, cook whatever you want."
"I see," Huaiyu's eyes lit up, "Just like making your own jewelry in a shop?"
"That's correct."
Some ingredients still need to be marinated for some time, and they are not hungry yet, so there is no need to rush.
The students gathered together to discuss academic matters, while Lu Yao and the other female relatives talked about other topics. The three little ones looked left and right, and simply sat on the floor to play by themselves.
For a moment, there was incomparable harmony in the warm room.
The ingredients were finally ready. The butler asked when the meal would start. Everyone present said they were hungry and wanted to eat now.
Lu Yao followed everyone's lead and asked someone to bring some lit charcoal and put it into the inner pot of the copper pot. As soon as the soup base boiled, they could start cooking the meat and vegetables.
While they were waiting, Lu Yao gave them a detailed introduction to the specific cooking methods. When the water boiled, they couldn't wait to pick up their favorite things and put them in to cook.
Copper hot pot has been passed down for thousands of years, and it must have its unique flavor and appeal. Just one bite and it instantly attracted everyone's attention.
Barbecue and the like are no longer their favorites.
There were a lot of ingredients prepared in the kitchen, but everyone was also very active. When they put down their chopsticks, they found that all the ingredients had been eaten.
Not only that, I also asked the kitchen to add some more in the middle.
“I declare copper hot pot my favorite food.”
“It’s my favorite too.”
"I like it best too."
"I like it most."
“…”
Lu Yao watched everyone arguing and curled her lips. "Keep these pots. You can take them out anytime you want to eat in the future."
After hearing this, everyone cheered and said to Butler Rong, who was arranging for people to clean up the warm room, "We'll eat again tomorrow."
Lu Yao's mouth twitched. No matter how good the food was, you couldn't eat it every day.
Because they were too full, no one continued to sit on the mat. Instead, they stood up and stretched their arms and legs. Lu Yao and the others did not immediately say goodbye and go home. Instead, they stayed with them, moving around a little while chatting.
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