Chapter 47 Beggar's Chicken
As soon as the main force stopped, Lu Mingxiu got off the carriage with his two children to look for his younger sister and brother-in-law, while Mo Zhu took the horses to graze and hunt.
"Daddy, Mommy!"
"Daddy, Mommy!"
The two little guys happily ran in the direction of Lu Yao and Rong Yan. Lu Mingxiu behind them was worried that they would fall, so he kept saying "slow down, be careful". The two children thought that they were very careful and not running fast, so they would definitely not fall. But they were well-behaved children, so they slowed down a little obediently.
"Daddy and Mommy, are you tired?"
"Daddy and Mommy, let me give you a leg massage."
"Daddy and Mommy, let me switch with you this afternoon."
"I'm really good now. I can walk very far without getting tired."
The two children chatted with each other, like hardworking little bees, buzzing around, which made Lu Yaorong and Yan Hui feel very sweet.
Lu Mingxiu also walked up to them, his eyes smiling: "These two children, my attention has been on you all the way."
Lu Yao kissed both children on the cheek, "Mom and Dad are doing fine. You're all well. Don't worry about us."
Xiao Yueyue smiled and promised, "Mom, I will listen to my uncle."
Little Yunhao was kissed by his mother. He was shy but happy. His little face flushed and he nodded heavily. He knew that he and his sister were still too young. Following their parents would only hinder them and make their life more difficult. All he could do was to take his sister and study hard with his uncle.
Rong Yanhui pinched the little guy's cheek and asked, "What did you learn this morning?"
Little Yueyue immediately answered: "Three Character Classic."
"Then, Yueyue, can you tell me about it?" Rong Yanhui opened his mouth and said, "Daddy has forgotten a little bit."
I am not worried at all about exposing my shortcomings in front of my children and losing my dignity.
"Daddy, it's okay. Yueyue knows how to do it. Yueyue will teach you." Little Yueyue imitated the adults and patted her chest, which made Lu Yao's heart tremble.
"Yueyue is so amazing?" Rong Yan smiled and said, "Then Daddy would like to thank Yueyue."
Little Yueyue coughed lightly, stood up straight, put her hands behind her back, and said with a serious expression, "Humans are pigs, their nature is scattered..."
Rong Yanhui's mouth twitched, and seeing the serious look on the little fellow's face with a smile in his eyes, he didn't smile out of courtesy, but nodded in praise.
Lu Yao looked at the father and daughter with amusement, one daring to teach and the other daring to learn. She ignored them and took Yun Hao and Lu Mingxiu to collect firewood.
Lu Mingxiu disagreed: "You and the child can rest, I will go."
He needed to move around after sitting in a carriage for the whole morning, but his younger sister and the others had walked such a long distance and needed to rest well.
There is still a long way to go in the afternoon.
His tone was firm, but his eyes showed heartache and concern.
"Don't worry, brother. I won't force myself." Lu Yao clenched her fists and bent her elbows, showing off her biceps. "Look at me. I'm much stronger than before."
Lu Mingxiu: “…”
He curled his lips in a faint smile, and seeing that there was no one else around, he whispered, "Walking like this every day isn't a solution."
Even though they lost their parents when they were young and her brother was incompetent, her younger sister had never suffered such hardship.
Lu Yao nodded.
The total distance from the capital to Ganzhou is 2,800 miles, and it takes two months to arrive. Conservatively speaking, one has to walk nearly 50 miles every day.
Fifty miles is close to three-fifths of a marathon. It may not seem like a long distance, but when you actually walk it, it takes more than a few legs to break. This is especially true in ancient times when transportation was underdeveloped. The further southwest you go, the more difficult the road becomes. Later you have to cross a large mountain range. It's okay if the weather is fine, but if you encounter bad weather such as rain, it's considered quite good if you can walk half of it.
Therefore, while they are not far from Beijing, the weather is good and the road is easy to travel, they will try to travel as much as possible.
She and Rong Yanhui are not people who cannot endure hardship, but if they can be more comfortable, who would be willing to suffer that?
But this matter depends on the timing and cannot be rushed.
Lu Mingxiu also understood this logic, but he also kept it in mind.
Xiao Yunhao was digging wild vegetables, listening to the conversation between his uncle and mother, and secretly praying that it would be great if his mother and father could also ride in a carriage.
They quickly collected firewood and dug up wild vegetables. When they came back, Rong Yanhui and Xiao Yueyue had already built the stove.
The military service is already distributing lunch.
To facilitate management, the meal distribution is no longer like it was in the beginning, where the exiled prisoners waited in place and the food was distributed to them one by one. Instead, they were fixed in one place and everyone lined up to receive the food.
The line was gradually shortening. Many families had already received their items. Lu Yao and the others put their belongings down and went to queue up with Rong Yanhui and their children.
There is no way, they distribute it one-to-one and do not allow proxy collection.
This is to avoid people like Old Lady Wang who are arrogant, domineering and unreasonable, and deliberately take money from other people in the family but withhold it from them.
Although the imperial court would provide three meals a day for exiled prisoners, the quantity was limited. They would not starve to death, but they would not be full either. Everyone had a quota of food every day, and once it was taken, there would be no left over.
Soon it was their turn. After thanking the soldiers for their service, they returned to the stove. Lu Mingxiu had already lit the fire.
Lu Yao and Rong Yan returned with the pottery jars, coarse bowls and wild vegetables to the lake to wash them. As usual, they broke the pancakes into small pieces, waited for the water to boil, poured the pancakes in, rolled them a few times, added the wild vegetables that had been twisted into small pieces, and when the wild vegetables were cooked, they could start eating.
What was different from the past was that today they added the seasonings and bacon that Lu Mingxiu brought to the pot.
The aroma of meat filled the air, making everyone around us salivate.
Now many people are following Lu Yao’s example and making the same dish. It doesn’t taste very good, but at least it can fill the stomach. That’s why everyone is in good spirits after so many days of traveling.
However, things like clay pots and coarse bowls are not available just because you want them. After all, only a few people can find them by chance. But these things are not very expensive, and you can afford them if you can scrape together enough.
At worst, three or five families can get together and buy half a piece.
There is always a way to fill your stomach.
Mo Zhu came back at this time.
He shot two pheasants and a rabbit, which was a good harvest.
Lu Yao's eyes lit up when she looked at these things. Her mind was already working fast, thinking about how to make them quick and delicious.
Thinking of what I had heard before, I suddenly had an idea.
She told her husband and brother to clean up the prey. Knowing that her brother had knives, she asked him rudely to chop the rabbit into small pieces.
In addition to these, they were also asked to dig a small hole in front of the stove, about the size that could bury two pheasants.
Of course, don't forget to clean the pottery jar.
As for himself and Mo Zhu, they went to the woods to pick what they needed.
That’s right, Lu Yao planned to make beggar’s chicken.
Beggar's chicken is a must-have for time travelers.
In the time-travel novels I’ve read, the protagonists almost always show off their cooking skills, especially beggar’s chicken, hot pot, and malatang, which are classic, representative, easy-to-make and delicious dishes.
As a member of the army of time travelers, how could I be an exception?
This season is the time when all things come back to life. Although there are no lotus leaves, other leaves can be used as substitutes. She seemed to have seen some herbs before that could be used as seasonings.
After dividing the work, everyone started to get busy. Xiao Yunhao and Xiao Xinyue guarded their bowls with serious faces. They felt that the eyes of the people around them were full of greed. The two kids encouraged each other. Everyone was busy, and they had to put these things away, otherwise they would go hungry.
In fact, the two children were worrying too much.
Although everyone was more or less envious and jealous of their family, they really didn't dare to rush forward to grab the food.
Firstly, everyone is exiled to the same place. Once someone makes a bad start, the others will follow suit. Then, the current peaceful exile environment where everyone does not interfere with each other will be broken. When you attract other people's attention, you must be on guard against other people's thoughts. The cycle of cause and effect will continue, and in the end, you will be the one who suffers.
Secondly, the deterrent power of the officers and soldiers is there. Once something happens, those involved will definitely not end up well. They all want to live, so how could they possibly pull out the tiger's whiskers?
Moreover,
Although the food I received every day was limited, I learned a lot of ways to keep myself fed from that family.
Just based on this point, they cannot repay kindness with enmity.
otherwise,
What’s the difference with the Shen family?
But it was quite amusing to see the two children looking so serious and cautious.
Lu Yao and Mo Zhu came back quickly, each holding a lot of things in their hands. Judging from their happy expressions, it seemed that they had gained a lot.
Rong Yanhui and Lu Mingxiu have also completed the tasks assigned by Yaomei/Xiaomei.
Not only that, they also found a smooth stone slab and cleaned it on their own to make it easier for her to operate.
On the way, Mo Zhu heard the young lady talking about the mud she needed. He put down his things and went straight to the lake. Lu Yao took the things she had picked to wash them, but Rong Yan took over and said, "I'll go."
He has the style of a domineering president.
Lu Yao smiled and let him go while she started to marinate the ingredients.
This was the season when food was plentiful, and both pheasants were very strong and even had butter.
It just so happened that Lu Yao was worried about not having enough oil, and this just solved her urgent problem.
Set butter aside.
Spread salt and seasonings evenly on the chicken to marinate, and cut the butter into pieces. After the simple preparations were done, her husband came back.
Tear up some seasonings, mix them together and stuff them into the chicken's belly, then spread some on the outside, then use large reed leaves to wrap the whole chicken one by one, and then tie it with vines to ensure that the leaves will not fall apart.
Just then, Mo Zhu came back with mud.
"Miss, do you think this is it?"
Lu Yao took a look and confirmed that it was the yellow mud she wanted, and it was neither dry nor thin. She gave Mo Zhu a thumbs up, motioning him to put it in the corner of the stone slab, and then asked him to spread the mud evenly on the outside of the chicken she had already wrapped.
"Miss, can this be eaten?" Mo Zhu asked hesitantly.
"Of course," Lu Yao finished speaking. Seeing that Mo Zhu still had a look of astonishment on his face, she suddenly realized and said angrily, "This is mud, of course you can't eat it."
"But..." If you apply it on the outside of the wild animal, will the meat inside really not be affected?
Not only Mo Zhu had such concerns, Rong Yanhui and Xiao Yueyue beside him were also looking at it in surprise.
However, based on their trust in their wife/mother, they did not ask anything and just waited to eat the delicious food.
Other people not far away were shocked when they saw Mo Zhu's operation. What, what is this thing?
Don't waste two chickens.
They hadn't eaten meat for a long time and couldn't help swallowing.
Old Lady Wang scoffed, "I've lived for most of my life, and this is the first time I've seen anyone cook with mud. Are they starving?"
As he spoke, he looked at the Shen family members not far away: "You see, this is the end of having no family."
So, all of you must listen to me, otherwise, the misery that this bastard family is experiencing today will be your tomorrow.
Old Lady Wang glared fiercely at those who wanted to rebel and threatened them not to play any tricks.
Shen Yu, Chen Hui and the others did not refute a word. They lowered their eyes, burying all the emotions in their eyes.
Looking at the few people who were as helpless as quails, the old lady was finally satisfied. She looked for Shen Yulian and the other bitches and saw that they were eating with broken bowls.
She spat and said, "Just wait, they will regret it one day."
Shen Zhao and Xu Nianwei went to find Shen Yulian and her daughter, and said that they would unilaterally leave the Shen family.
Shen Yulian was very surprised. Although it was unexpected, it was also reasonable.
The mother and son were very favored in the past, but they have not received any special treatment in this period of time. Apart from paying more attention to his legitimate sons and daughters, the Second Master treats his illegitimate children and concubines almost the same as his father.
Indifference, disregard, and exploitation.
Few people can withstand and accept a sudden drop in fortune, especially when faced with life and death, it is human nature to seek profit and avoid harm.
"Are you sure?" Shen Yulian asked.
After receiving a positive answer, he didn't say anything else, but just asked everyone to take care of each other in the future.
Shen Zhao and Xu Nianwei were very happy to find an ally.
When they had eaten more than ever at noon, they were determined to leave the Shen family.
In the past, when I was in such an environment, I could only please people to make my life better. But now it is different. Men are cold and heartless, and they are unreliable. If I want to survive, I can only find another way.
Xu Nianwei finally understood that no matter how much you rely on others, the mountain will fall, and nothing is as good as what you have yourself.
Thinking of what Lu Yao and the others had said before, she deeply agreed: Only when you are strong and stand up can you be fearless of wind and rain.
As long as they are diligent and hardworking, they will never go hungry.
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