While Lin Yan was at home collecting leaves, Zhao Shiyun went up the mountain twice more, each time filling his backpack to the brim. On his last return, he mysteriously pulled out a cloth bag from behind him. Lin Yan took it and looked at it. "A beehive!"
He stood up hurriedly, pulled Zhao Shiyun over and looked around, "Why did you go to pick the beehive? Did you get stung by a bee?" Zhao Shiyun turned around and said, "It's okay, I was careful this time."
Lin Yan glared at him helplessly, went to the kitchen to find a large bowl, put it there first, and deal with it later.
Zhao Shiyun helped to sort them out, and soon bundles of southernwood branches, red-blue grass, purple-blue grass, and yellow gardenias were neatly placed in the backpack, ready to be taken to the market to sell.
Seeing that it was still early, Lin Yan planned to soak his own glutinous rice first.
Maple leaves need to be air-dried, soaked for a day and a night, and rubbed frequently to extract the black dye. That's why Lin Yan doesn't like to use them. He mostly uses the branches and leaves of the Nanzhu tree, also known as the black rice tree. He simply crushes the branches and leaves and extracts the juice to soak the glutinous rice.
As for yellow gardenia, you can take its fruit, crush it, add water and boil it to get yellow juice, which can be used to soak glutinous rice, turning the glutinous rice yellow.
Buddleja buddhistata, also known as yellow rice flower and dyed rice flower, is made by boiling fresh or dried buddhistja buddhistata in water. The resulting water can be used to soak glutinous rice to dye it yellow.
For red, red blue grass is often used. Crush its stems and leaves and boil them in water. The red soup can be used to soak glutinous rice, making it bright red.
Purple is usually dyed with purple indigo plant. Purple indigo plant and red indigo plant look a bit similar, except that the leaves of purple indigo plant are longer and darker in color. The color after cooking is darker, and the soaked glutinous rice turns purple.
Lin Yan used southern candlesticks, yellow gardenias, red blue grass, and purple blue grass. Zhao Shiyun helped him to mash what needed to be mashed and boil water for what needed to be boiled. After two hours of hard work, he finally soaked all the glutinous rice.
Looking at the pots of glutinous rice in the yard, Lin Yan twisted his neck. Seeing this, Zhao Shiyun hurriedly massaged his shoulders.
"Brother Yan, let me help you massage it."
Lin Yan closed his eyes comfortably. He was so tired that he didn't want to move. But his father and mother had gone to his grandmother's house and were not at home, and he still had to cook dinner later.
"I'll cook dinner later, you go and have a rest." Zhao Shiyun said with concern.
Lin Yan thought about it and decided not to refuse.
Zhao Shiyun didn't know how to cook complicated dishes, but he could still make simple ones. He pushed Lin Yan back into the room and watched him lie on the bed to rest before closing the door.
The mutton wasn't finished yet, and if he didn't eat it now, it might go bad. Zhao Shiyun took out the lamb tenderloin, planning to repeat the barbecue from the previous day. He sliced the mutton thinly and carried it directly to the courtyard, along with the clay oven and frying pan. He planned to start grilling it once the rice was cooked.
One dish was too little, so Zhao Shiyun went to the tofu shop to get a piece of tofu, cut it into rectangular blocks, and prepared to dip it in egg liquid and bake it together.
Yu Ge'er just happened to get two eggs from the backyard. It was spring time and the chickens were starting to lay more eggs.
"Brother Yu, give it to me. No need to take it to the kitchen. By the way, please get me a bowl." Zhao Shiyun just needed eggs. When Brother Yu brought the bowl, he beat two eggs into the bowl and stirred them with chopsticks.
"Where's Gefu?" Yu Ge'er looked around. He Ge'er had taken him out to play this afternoon and he wasn't home.
"What else can I say?" Zhao Shiyun gave him a complaining look. "Where did you go this afternoon? Brother Yan and I went to the mountains to pick leaves, sort them, and soak glutinous rice. We were busy for most of the day. Now your brother-in-law is tired and is resting in the room."
Yu Ge'er felt bad, and he explained: "I went out to play with He Ge'er this afternoon. I'm sorry, brother."
He didn't do it on purpose. His father and mother had gone to his grandmother's house, and his brother and brother-in-law had gone to the blacksmith shop that morning. He didn't know when they would be back, so of course he went out to play. When he came back, his brothers had finished their work.
Zhao Shiyun didn't really blame him. Seeing that everything was almost ready, he asked Yu Ge'er to go to the kitchen to see if the meal was ready.
The meal was ready. Yu Ge'er turned off the fire and placed the meal on the table in the yard with a rag.
"Brother, do you want to eat roasted lamb again?" Yu Ge'er sucked his saliva. He liked roasted lamb and he didn't eat enough that day.
"Well, if I don't eat it now, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it. I still have lamb ribs to make tomorrow."
Lin Yan felt much more comfortable after his sleep. He stretched and felt as if he could smell the aroma of barbecue.
Lin Yan walked into the yard and saw Zhao Shiyun roasting mutton slices intently, with Yu Ge'er watching eagerly from the side. Seeing him come out, he quickly called out, "Brother, come quickly. I was just about to call you." Lin Yan smiled and sat down to help.
Zhao Shiyun placed the tofu dipped in egg liquid in the frying pan, and soon the aroma wafted out. The roasted lamb sizzled under the charcoal fire, emitting tempting oil.
Yu Ge'er couldn't wait to reach out to take a piece of roasted lamb, but Lin Yan gently slapped his hand away and said, "Don't be afraid of the heat, just use chopsticks. And have you washed your hands?" Yu Ge'er had no choice but to pout and run to wash his hands.
The three of them gathered around the table and began to enjoy their meal. The lamb was tender and flavorful, and the tofu was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. After their hearty meal, the three of them slumped in their chairs, unable to move.
Lin Yan said, "Let's stew the lamb ribs with radishes tomorrow. If we don't eat it soon, it might taste bad." Yu Ge'er agreed with both hands, "Then I'll pick some radishes this morning."
Zhao Shiyun quickly began to clean up the dishes, "You guys take a break, I'll do it."
The two young men smiled at each other but didn't do anything. It was a rare occasion for someone to rush to do the work, and they were really looking forward to it.
"Oh, that's right, the beehive!" Lin Yan suddenly remembered and immediately jumped up and ran to the kitchen.
Zhao Shiyun saw this from the kitchen and quickly shouted, "Don't run! You've just eaten and you might get a stomachache."
It was only a few steps away, and Lin Yan had already reached the kitchen door just as Zhao Shiyun finished speaking. He looked left and right, but didn't see the bowl of honeycomb. He asked in confusion, "Where's the honeycomb?"
"I've already processed it. The honey has been squeezed out and placed in a jar. Here, it's in the cupboard. Take it if you want to eat it." Zhao Shiyun dealt with it before making dinner. He didn't throw away the squeezed honeycomb yet. He put the remaining honey in the bowl in the cupboard first. He was afraid that Lin Yan might need it.
Yu Ge'er didn't know his brother had brought back a beehive, so he ran over to see it. "Where is it? Let me see."
Zhao Shiyun reluctantly opened the cupboard to let the two boys see the honey. Lin Yan opened the jar and took a look. Yu Geer was even more exaggerated and leaned in to smell it. Lin Yan said with a smile: "What? What did you smell?"
Yu Ge'er shook his head and said, "I can tell this is a jar of good honey."
Lin Yan laughed and said, "I'll use this honey to make you something delicious someday."
Yu Ge'er can't wait any longer.
Zhao Shiyun looked at the two young men chatting and laughing, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
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