Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Fried eel is another great tonic!
"Don't move!"
Hearing Cui Ergou's urgent cry, Zhao Mingsheng was a little confused. Just as she was about to ask the reason, she felt the wooden chopsticks in her hand shaking violently. The leech clamped by the chopsticks was twisting its body frantically, as if trying to escape from the clamp of the two wooden sticks, causing her to almost lose her grip.
When I raised my eyes, I met two small black eyes that were glowing faintly.
Her first reaction was, do leeches have eyes?
The answer is no...
Zhao Mingsheng realized belatedly that what she had picked up did not seem to be a leech. No wonder she felt that this "leech" was particularly long when she first picked it up!
It was two feet long and more than two fingers wide, and looked more like a snake...
During this brief moment of thought, the thing on the wooden chopsticks quickly raised its upper body, ready to attack.
The next second, in the blink of an eye, it attacked Zhao Mingsheng's face with lightning speed.
She had no time to dodge at such a close distance, and Zhao Mingsheng subconsciously closed her eyes.
After a moment of silence, the imagined pain did not appear.
Zhao Mingsheng narrowed his eyes and looked forward.
The young man had rushed in front of her without her knowing when, and was tightly grasping that unknown thing.
The blood drained from his face, and his chest heaved violently, unable to calm down for a long time, as if the shock he suffered was many times greater than that suffered by Zhao Mingsheng, the person who was attacked.
"It's okay, it's okay, don't be afraid..." Cui Cen comforted Zhao Mingsheng, and it seemed like he was talking to himself.
God knows that the moment he saw this thing rushing towards Zhao Mingsheng, his heart stopped for a moment and his mind went blank, but his body reacted faster than his brain. It was almost a subconscious reaction. He was faster and more ruthless. He grabbed its head with one move and would not let go even if it twisted desperately.
Now that he realized what was happening, he felt the object in his hand was slippery and disgusting. The sticky slippery liquid clung to his palm, mixing with the sweat from his palm, making him feel very uncomfortable. However, in order to prevent it from breaking free and causing harm, Cui Cen could only tighten his grip a little more.
Except for the moment just now when it rushed towards her face, Zhao Mingsheng was caught off guard and got a good fright. She feels much better now and is not so scared anymore.
Cui Ergou's face looked unhappy, so she comforted him instead.
"Are you okay?"
"Quick, quick, bring the bamboo basket." Cui Cen gritted his teeth, and the words were almost squeezed out from between his teeth.
If he doesn't bring the bamboo basket, he will be in real trouble.
Zhao Mingsheng hurriedly handed over the bamboo basket.
Cui Cen quickly stuffed the things in his hand into the bamboo basket, then closed the lid of the bamboo basket and took a deep breath.
He stared at his right hand. Although the things in his hand had been put into the bamboo basket, the sticky feeling was still there, which made him frown. He was about to find a place to wash it, and the next moment his right hand was held by a pair of gentle little hands.
Zhao Mingsheng took out a handkerchief, dipped it in the clean water by the pool, and carefully wiped off the mucus on Cui Ergou's hands bit by bit.
"Thank you for what you did just now." After wiping it, Zhao Mingsheng put down his hand, looked up at the young man and smiled to express his gratitude.
If Cui Ergou hadn't reacted quickly, she might have been bitten.
The boy suddenly blushed, put his hands behind his back, and pretended to be nonchalant: "It's nothing."
Zhao Mingsheng nodded, then lowered her head and began her leech-picking mission.
But no matter what, she remembered Cui Ergou's kindness. She could only make more delicious food in the evening to repay him!
While Zhao Mingsheng wasn't paying attention, Cui Cen couldn't help but lower his head and sniff his fingertips.
After being wiped clean, his right hand no longer felt sticky. When he smelled it carefully, it seemed to still carry the faint fragrance of the handkerchief, which made him reluctant to wash it off.
Zhao Mingsheng had the experience from last time, so she quickly caught a large leech and put it into the bamboo basket smoothly. She looked up and saw Cui Ergou still standing there in a daze. She couldn't help but urge him, "Cui Ergou, come quickly. Once you pick it up, we can go home!"
Hearing Zhao Mingsheng's call, Cui Cen immediately put his hand back behind his back as if he was guilty, and quickly responded:
"good."
Working together, they finally collected all the leeches and put them back into the bamboo basket within half an hour. While they were picking, they also found a number of long worms that looked very similar to the one that attacked Zhao Mingsheng. They put all of them into the bamboo basket and planned to take them back to ask Zhao's father if he knew what they were.
As soon as he returned home, Cui Cen was called away by someone in the village who knew carpentry. Some tables and chairs in the school needed to be adjusted, and he could take advantage of the break to deal with it.
Zhao Mingsheng put the leeches and worms in the bamboo basket into two shallow wooden basins.
Before she could ask Zhao's father, someone answered her question first.
Aunt Shi walked into the Zhao family's yard, carrying a basket. Seeing what was in the wooden basin, she said casually, "Oh, you guys went to catch eels!"
"Aunt Shi, do you recognize this thing?"
"Of course I don't recognize it! It's an eel!" She said with a sigh, "Look at how big it is! It's a very nutritious dish!"
When Zhao Mingsheng heard that it could be cooked, his eyes lit up and he immediately asked Aunt Shi for instructions on how to make it.
Aunt Shi didn't hold back and told us everything she knew. She listed several recipes for eels, including eel soup, braised eel, fried eel, and eel stewed with tofu.
Zhao Mingsheng was almost drooling after hearing this.
She immediately decided to make an eel banquet with the eels in the evening.
Zhao Mingsheng said goodbye to Aunt Shi with a smile and was about to clean up the eels when he saw Aunt Shi, who had left the yard, turn on her toes and come back.
"Look at my memory. I almost forgot what I was doing because of this interruption." Aunt Shi knocked her head and said a little embarrassedly.
As she spoke, she took off the basket slung over her arm. When she peeled back the thin layer of cloth covering the basket, seven or eight furry little creatures appeared before Zhao Mingsheng's eyes.
"It's a chick! So cute!"
It was the first time that Zhao Mingsheng saw the chicks. Each one was as big as a fist, covered with golden fur, and made tiny chirping sounds. Once they were put on the ground, they scattered and looked for food in the yard, adding vitality to the yard.
Aunt Shi's face lit up with joy. "Thanks to Doctor Zhao's medicine, chicks have finally hatched. Otherwise, I would have raised those chickens for over a year in vain. If you don't mind, please take them."
Zhao Mingsheng knew that the Shi family had a difficult life. Her father had helped her without asking for anything in return, so she naturally felt embarrassed to accept it.
"Aunt Shi, just keep it for yourself."
Besides, she has never raised chickens, and I don’t know if she can raise them well if I give them to her.
"My chickens are quite capable this time. They've hatched over twenty. I can't afford to raise more, so just take them." Aunt Shi seemed to see through her thoughts and continued, "These chicks are easy to raise. Just put them in the yard and they'll naturally go looking for food. Or just sprinkle a handful of millet on them every morning and they'll be fine."
What Aunt Shi said seemed quite simple, and Zhao Mingsheng was gradually convinced.
"Thank you, Aunt Shi."
Father Zhao has recently been back to his old profession, walking around the streets as a barefoot doctor. Although he earns less, he is free and at ease. As long as he can treat people, Father Zhao is happy with it.
As soon as he got home, he found his daughter squatting in the yard, looking intently at something. Following her gaze, he saw seven or eight chicks happily frolicking in the yard.
"Hey, we have chickens at home!"
His words awakened Zhao Mingsheng, who was obsessed with furry fur.
Zhao Mingsheng was shocked to realize that he had been squatting here watching the chicks and laughing foolishly since Aunt Shi left, and he didn't even have time to deal with the eels.
"Daddy's back." Zhao Mingsheng rubbed his numb legs and slowly stood up. "We're having eels tonight. I'll go get them now."
Father Zhao knew that his daughter had gone to catch leeches, but he didn't expect that she also brought back a basin of eels. This was a pleasant surprise. He nodded and was about to say yes, but when he saw the basin of eels, he suddenly remembered something.
"Wait!" Zhao's father hurriedly called out to Zhao Mingsheng. "Let me handle the eel. I need its blood for medicine."
"Compendium of Materia Medica" records that eel blood has the effects of removing rheumatism, promoting blood circulation, and detoxifying. It is a rare treasure and it would be a pity to waste it.
Zhao Mingsheng finally realized that in her father's eyes, everything could be used as medicine. She smiled helplessly and handed the eel to her father.
Cut the cleaned eels into three sections if they are short and four sections if they are long, and then cut them into strips vertically.
Zhao Mingsheng ground the pepper he bought from the spice store that day into fine powder and put it into a small jar.
Sprinkle a layer of pepper and rice wine evenly on the cut eel segments and marinate for a while. Although eels are a great tonic, if they are not processed properly, their fishy smell will make them difficult to swallow, so the role of pepper and rice wine is to remove the fishy smell of eels.
After the oil is hot, add the scallions, ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, then put the marinated eel segments into the pot. Driven by the high temperature, the strips of eels will immediately curl up slightly, and the surface will gradually turn into an attractive brown color, and the air will be filled with fragrance.
Zhao Mingsheng put the fried yellow eel shreds on a plate and poured a large spoonful of hot oil on it. With the crackling sound, the yellow eel shreds in the plate seemed to come alive again and curled up even more.
For the other part of the eels, Zhao Mingsheng fried them directly in oil, and after frying them until golden brown, he added ginger slices and water and stewed them.
The soup gradually changed from clear water to a rich milky white. After the soup started to simmer, Zhao Mingsheng added the cubed tofu and simmered it over high heat.
After asking his father, Zhao Mingsheng learned that eel is also a kind of fish, so the two together have to be stewed for a longer time.
Cui Cen returned home before dinner. As soon as he entered the yard, his nose started to hurt.
"Fish soup for dinner?"
Coincidentally, Zhao Mingsheng came out of the kitchen carrying a large bowl of eel stewed with tofu.
Seeing Cui Ergou's greedy look, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's fish soup, and you caught it yourself!"
Cui Cen was stunned. He didn't remember catching any fish.
In a trance, he suddenly remembered the slippery thing, and the sticky feeling seemed to return to his hand.
It can’t be what he thought!!!
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