Yu Ge'er's business wasn't going very smoothly. He approached several vendors, but either they were full and wouldn't accept him, or the tuition was too high, at twenty taels of silver a year. Yu Ge'er was a little dejected, and Li Yuemei was also a little anxious, but no matter how anxious she was, she could do nothing but return to her stall.
Lin Yan and the others had already returned. Seeing Yu Ge'er looking like a frost-bitten eggplant, he knew things weren't going well. So he didn't mention the shop rental, planning to discuss it later. After they packed up their things, Zhou Chunlan decided not to sell anything. Since they only had a few vegetables left, they decided to go back together.
While Zhao Shiyun was getting the donkey cart, Lin Yan asked Li Yuemei, "Mom, let's cook mutton tonight. Can I ask my mom to come along?"
Li Yuemei smiled and agreed: "Sure, it will be more lively with more people."
After that, without Lin Yan saying anything, he extended an invitation to Zhou Chunlan. Zhou Chunlan waved her hand and said, "How can I not be so polite? Just eat with your family." Li Yuemei took her hand and said, "My dear, don't be polite. We have been together for so long that we are like family. Besides, Brother Yan said he has good news to announce."
After hearing this, Zhou Chunlan looked at Lin Yan, and when she saw Lin Yan nod at her, she agreed.
Everyone returned home in a donkey cart. As soon as Yu Ge'er got off the cart, he ran into the house and sulked. Li Yuemei shook her head helplessly and went into the kitchen to prepare the ingredients.
Lin Yan pulled out the basket hanging from the well and picked up a lamb rib and a piece of lamb tenderloin for Li Yuemei to clean. He put the rest back in and hung them while he went to process the sugarcane. He chopped the lamb ribs into small pieces and soaked them in water with some ginger and white wine for about a quarter of an hour. This would reduce the strong smell when cooking.
Lin Yan also found some red dates and a handful of wolfberries and put them in when stewing the mutton.
The lamb was stewed with green sugarcane, which needed to be washed and chopped into pieces half the length of a palm. No need to peel the skin. Lin Yan washed the sugarcane and called Zhao Shiyun to help him cut and crack the sugarcane while he cooked the lamb ribs.
Add water to the pot, put the lamb ribs into the pot with cold water, add ginger slices and white wine, blanch them and remove them from the pot.
The sugarcane had been processed by Zhao Shiyun. Lin Yan put mutton, sugarcane, red dates, wolfberries, ginger slices, and green onion segments in a clean pot, added half a pot of water and brought it to a boil over high heat. Then he simmered it over low heat for about an hour until the mutton was cooked through.
Li Yuemei helped cut the lamb tenderloin into thin slices and arranged them on a plate. Lin Yan found chili powder and cumin, poured them into two bowls, and added a little salt to the chili powder.
The kitchen was almost done, so Lin Yan asked Li Yuemei to help watch the fire and prepared to go and pick up his mother Zhou Chunlan.
A short while later, Zhou Chunlan followed Lin Yan in. The aroma of meat wafted from the kitchen, and Yu Ge'er came out. Although he looked a little unhappy, he kept his face and helped move the clay stove and frying pan to the table.
The mutton was almost done. Lin Yan lifted the lid, and the aroma filled the air. He stirred it with a spoon and added salt to taste. The rice in the other pot was already cooked. Li Yuemei placed a dishcloth under it and brought the rice bowl to the table.
The stewed mutton was scooped into a casserole and served on the table. Lin Yan also washed some qianjincai, which he learned from Brother Hu. He said that wrapping the roasted pork belly with qianjincai would make it less greasy, or you could roast the qianjincai directly, both would be delicious.
Although there was no pork belly today, Lin Yan felt that since they were all meat, they should all be about the same. Lin Yan quickly stir-fried some leeks and eggs, and some lard and cabbage. The lard was half a bowl of leftover lard from yesterday's oil refining.
The dishes were all served and everyone sat together. Lin Yan served a bowl of mutton soup to Zhou Chunlan and Li Yuemei and said, "Mom, this mutton soup is really delicious, please try it."
Zhou Chunlan took a sip and praised it highly, and Li Yuemei, after drinking it, felt warm all over. The mutton was warm in nature, nourishing the kidneys and strengthening yang, warming the middle and warming the stomach; the sugarcane cleared away heat, promoted fluid production, moistened dryness and relieved qi, neutralizing the dryness and heat of the mutton, making the soup nourishing without causing internal heat.
After Lin Yan took a few bites, he started to grill meat for everyone. The clay stove was already on fire, and a frying pan was placed on it. Lin Yan picked up a few slices of mutton and spread them on the pan. As the temperature rose, the mutton slices gradually changed color and curled up, making a sizzling sound.
Lin Yan sprinkled some cumin and chili powder on the dish, and the aroma instantly filled the air. He picked up the roasted lamb with chopsticks and placed it in the bowls of the elders. "Dad and Mom, please try this roasted lamb." Zhou Chunlan took it with a smile, took a bite, and her eyes lit up. She praised Lin Yan's cooking skills.
Lin Yan then grilled several more slices and shared them with everyone. Yu Ge'er's mouth was greasy as he ate, his previous unhappiness forgotten. Seeing that Lin Yan hadn't eaten much, Zhao Shiyun took the chopsticks from him and grilled them so that he could eat in peace.
I almost forgot about Qianjincai. This Qianjincai can be eaten raw. When Zhao Shiyun picked up some mutton for Lin Yan, Lin Yan directly wrapped it with Qianjincai and explained: "Brother Hu who sells mutton said it tastes better this way, but he said he meant to wrap it with pork belly. Let's try wrapping it with mutton."
After wrapping it, he stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it for a few times. He thought it was just so-so and thought it would taste better without the wrapper. The others also tried it, and the two mamas preferred to eat it wrapped.
When they were almost done eating, Lin Yan cleared his throat and said, "We went to rent a stall today, but there wasn't anything suitable, so we found a shop on South Street. The rent is three taels a month."
Li Yuemei and Zhou Chunlan looked at each other, both showing surprise. "That's great, Brother Yan, this is a great thing." Li Yuemei said happily.
Zhao Qiming was also happy for them, but he asked the key question: "Have you decided what kind of food to sell?"
Lin Yan sighed: "Not yet, I plan to discuss it with everyone."
The others looked at each other, unable to come up with any good ideas. Zhao Shiyun said, "Everyone, think of some good ideas tonight. We'll discuss it tomorrow."
Everyone agreed and continued to eat the delicious mutton while discussing what to buy to decorate the shop. Zhao Qiming found a jar of wine to drink with Zhao Shiyun, and they didn't put down their chopsticks until the hour of Xu.
Zhou Chunlan had finished her meal long ago and returned home. After waiting for his father and the others to finish, Yu Ge'er took the initiative to clear the dishes. He felt less apprehensive about today's misfortunes and decided to just let things take their course. It was only the first day, and he would continue his search tomorrow. He didn't believe he wouldn't find the right person.
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