Chapter 40: Brewing Medicine
It must be said that Long Buxi's cooking skills are excellent. The bamboo shoot stir-fried with cured pork is made with fresh, seasonal bamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots are blanched before stir-frying and then sliced into thin, translucent pieces. The cured pork slices are half fat and half lean, with the lean meat showing a bright red color. The cured pork slices are first stir-fried until they curl slightly, then the sliced bamboo shoots are added, along with a little salt, and it's ready to serve.
The stir-fried cured pork slices have a rich, smoky flavor typical of southwestern China. The fatty parts are not greasy, and the lean parts are not dry. Every bite is full of smoky aroma.
The bamboo shoots absorb the excess oil from the stir-fried cured pork slices, making them crisp and refreshing while also carrying a rich oily aroma, making them a perfect accompaniment to rice.
Other dishes like braised pork ribs with radish, steamed fish, and stir-fried vegetables are also very delicious.
The cured pork ribs were stewed until tender and fell off the bone with a single bite, and the radish chunks were also stewed until soft and tender, with a particularly sweet taste.
The fish was steamed to perfection, tender and not fishy at all, and tasted absolutely delicious with a little soy sauce.
Stir-fried sweet potato leaves, cooked until bright green and not black, have a crisp and refreshing taste.
After eating too much meat, a bowl of radish soup is the perfect way to cleanse your palate.
Most importantly, the rice that Long Buxi steamed was grown in the terraced fields of their village. They enjoy preferential policies from the state and do not have to work collectively or hand over grain rations like the Han people outside. Their rice is slowly ground by themselves using stone mortars and mills. The grains are snow-white and clean, and taste very delicious and sweet, unlike the rice outside which is yellowish and has some husks, and tastes rough on the throat. The rice from Pucang Village is more like the refined rice that is machine-milled in later generations.
Having lived a second life, Cheng Ying hadn't eaten such delicious rice in a long time, and she never expected Long Buxi's cooking skills to be so good, with every dish perfectly suited to her taste.
She was initially worried that Long Buxi would use a curse on her and was debating whether to eat. But then she thought that Long Buxi had saved her life, and she had no grudge against him. Besides, she was a postman and would be delivering mail to Pucang Village in the future. He would only do something stupid to offend her by using a curse on her. So she ate her meal without worry.
Upon tasting it, their eyes widened in amazement, and their chopsticks unconsciously reached for every single dish.
Long Buxi watched her eat with great interest. He rarely picked up any food for himself. Watching her enjoy the food he had prepared was more interesting to him than eating it himself.
He hadn't cooked for anyone in a long time. The last time he cooked for someone was for his father, who was dying.
Feeling his gaze, Cheng Ying mumbled through her ribs, "Why are you looking at me like that? Aren't you going to eat?"
Then he felt a little embarrassed and wondered if she had eaten too much. She had said she wouldn't eat, but she ended up eating more than him. He probably thought she was being inconsistent and that it was strange.
“I thought my cooking wouldn’t suit your taste, but it seems you like it.” Long Buxi put a piece of tender fish belly into her bowl. “I’m not particularly interested in food. For me, eating is just a way to live. I’ll eat when I’m hungry, and how much I eat depends on my mood. I won’t die if I don’t eat for a day or two. I prefer watching people eat.”
Cheng Ying looked up at him, puzzled. "There are people who don't like to eat?"
In this era when everyone is hungry and wants to eat three big bowls of rice in one meal, with so many delicious dishes in front of him, he has no interest in eating at all.
No wonder he looks quite thin, and his face is smaller than that of an average man.
Seeing him put more food into her bowl, she quickly reached out to block her own bowl: "That's enough, I've almost finished eating, stop putting food in my bowl. Besides, this is our first time meeting, our first time getting to know each other, right? You keep putting food in my bowl, it's like we're old friends. You're too enthusiastic, I'm not used to it. Just eat your own food and stop putting food in my bowl."
After we finished eating, she asked, "Where did that steamed fish come from? It was quite delicious. You must have worked very hard to cook so many dishes in such a short time. Thank you for your hard work. I'll wash the dishes after we finish eating."
She was staying at someone's house, receiving medicine from them, and eating the good food they cooked. She couldn't just eat and drink for free; she had to do something within her ability.
Long Buxi's gaze was gentle. "The fish are rice paddy fish that I caught in the fields. I didn't spend much money or time cooking them. If you like them, I'll cook them for you every day from now on."
"No need. Even the best food gets boring if you eat too much of it. I just think that steamed fish made with rice paddy fish is tastier than I imagined," Cheng Ying refused directly.
In the southwest region, rice paddy fish are typically raised by releasing carp, grass carp, crucian carp, and other fish fry into paddy fields in the spring when the rice is still seedlings.
These fish live in rice paddies and grow by eating aquatic plants, algae, various microorganisms, rice grains, and rice flowers, hence the name "rice flower fish".
Because they live in the fields, rice paddy fish inevitably have a muddy smell. People in the southwest region usually fry, boil, or cook rice paddy fish, using spices such as pickled peppers and pickled vegetables to cover up the muddy smell, which makes the fish meat very delicious.
It's rare for a dish like Long Buxi's to be steamed.
Long Buxi steamed a grass carp weighing about two pounds, stuffing it with ginger slices and scallions. The steamed fish was tender and had no muddy taste. It was delicious with just a little soy sauce, and Cheng Ying, who loves fish, thought it was really good.
After finishing her meal, Cheng Ying washed the dishes, took the medicine jar that Long Buxi had given her, and went up to the third floor to her room.
She placed the medicine bottle on the bedside table, opened the cabinet, and saw her mailbag, along with the post office uniform that Yalin had washed and placed on top of it.
Cheng Ying took out her clothes, mailbag, and crossbody bag, and opened them all to check. The thirty or so yuan she had tucked into her clothes were still there. The military dagger, chili powder, water bottle, and the sachet Zhuo Zuilan had given her in her crossbody bag were also there. The two letters and the small package in the mailbag were also intact.
Cheng Ying breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that some of her belongings would fall off after falling from such a high mountain, but they were all still there, so she was relieved.
She straightened up, preparing to apply the medicine, when suddenly a thought occurred to her. In the extremely hot weather, she had been unconscious for over a week. Although Yalin had been taking care of her, she must have been seriously injured at the time. Yalin probably didn't have time to give her a bath, at most just wiping her body with water. Now, she was covered in a strong medicinal smell, along with a faint, unpleasant odor. She felt that she should take a bath before applying the medicine.
Cheng Ying went down to the second floor, looked around, and asked Long Buxi, "Can I take a shower? I feel like I smell. Where do you usually shower?"
Long Buxi stood in front of the medicine table in the dim light of the living room, doing something. Hearing this, he turned his head and said, "I usually bathe in the hot spring pool in Lizhai. You can take a bath if you want, but you have to use the medicine I brewed for you. Otherwise, you will suffer a lot if you bathe in ordinary water."
Lizhai has hot springs?! This Pucangzhai is truly a hidden gem.
Long Buxi repeatedly mentioned that she would be in great pain without his medicine.
A rebellious thought suddenly arose in Cheng Ying's heart. She wanted to test whether she would suffer as much as he said if she didn't use his medicine.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she finally suppressed her rebellious impulse.
To reiterate, she had no grudge against Long Buxi, so he had no reason to harm her. Moreover, it was illogical that she fell from the mountain unharmed and only remained unconscious for a week; she had no reason to court death.
On the left side of the second floor, under a window, there are several large bamboo tubes split in half, joined together, with a babbling stream flowing inside. The water flows through a wooden opening under the window into a large earthenware jar next to Long Buxi's medicine table, which is filled to the brim.
Long Buxi emerged from the shadows, her arms deathly pale. She picked up a gourd float that was floating in the water vat and scooped water into a large wooden bucket, ladle by ladle.
Then, with his left hand, he carried a full bucket of water to the stove in the middle of the second floor. Again, he poured the water into a large iron kettle with a curved spout next to the stove, hung the kettle on the iron hook above it, and started a fire.
Cheng Ying was surprised that Long Buxi, who looked quite thin, was so strong. He poured dozens of kilograms of water with one hand without any effort, and didn't even flinch.
She also saw that when he was carrying water, the muscle lines on his lean arms were faintly visible, as well as his bulging biceps, which were completely out of proportion to his tall and thin figure.
How did this person develop such muscles? He was wearing a short-sleeved Miao costume that exposed his arms, and unless he exerted himself, you couldn't tell he had any muscles in his arms at all.
Cheng Ying couldn't help but look at Long Buxi as he tended the fire.
Long Buxi used an old-fashioned tinderbox to start a fire. He tore open one end of the cylindrical tinderbox, blew on the wick until it glowed red, and then aimed it at a handful of pine needles to start a fire.
Soon a small flame ignited, illuminating his handsome, pale face with a warm glow, making him appear more alive than usual.
As the fire started, Long Buxi turned around and walked to his medicine table. He grabbed a lot of medicinal herbs from several small drawers under the table, put them in a small winnowing basket, walked back, opened the lid of the large kettle, and poured all the herbs into the kettle.
In a flash, Cheng Ying noticed what appeared to be live scorpions and some strange, writhing insects among the medicinal herbs. Her eyes widened immediately, and she quickly grabbed Long Buxi's hand as he poured the medicine. "What kind of medicine did you give me? How come there are scorpions and insects in it?"
She looked into the kettle and sure enough, there were two dark, menacing scorpions and several red worms, each about the size of a chopstick and no more than five centimeters long, struggling in the pile of herbs and the gradually boiling water.
She felt a chill run down her spine and looked up at Long Buxi. "Who would boil water for someone to bathe in, using these poisonous substances?"
The color of the scorpions and insects clearly indicated they were poisonous. Given how quickly she recovered, could it be that the medicine she used contained these things?
Long Buxi looked at her slender hand that was gripping his left wrist. Her hand was small, warm, and had some calluses. Holding his cold wrist, it felt hot and uncomfortable to him.
However, he did not push her hand away. Instead, he opened his long, deep eyes and said in a low voice, "These poisons are part of the formula for our Miao ethnic medicine. The more poisonous the poison, the stronger the medicine, and the more effective it is at treating serious illnesses. The medicine I make is priceless to outsiders. If you weren't Cheng Jiantong's daughter and a postman, you wouldn't have access to such good medicine."
His dark eyes looked very serious, yet clear and innocent, making people unconsciously believe every word he said.
Cheng Ying slowly released his hand, smiled awkwardly, and said, "I'm sorry, I was just being petty and judging you by my own standards."
"It's alright. You're Han Chinese, and this is your first time visiting our Pucang Village. You've heard a lot of outrageous rumors about our village before, so it's normal that you don't trust me." Long Buxi nonchalantly put the lid back on the kettle, added two pieces of firewood to the stove, and slowly started brewing her medicine.
It's very hot to light a fire by the hearth in the middle of summer.
Cheng Ying saw that his face was flushed and he was covered in sweat from tending the fire. He didn't leave the stove but stood by it, observing the medicinal herbs boiling in the kettle and adding a piece of firewood every now and then. Gradually, Cheng Ying felt a little guilty.
She had a gut feeling that Long Buxi was a dangerous person, so she was always wary of him and questioned his motives for everything he did.
Long Buxi seemed unconcerned about her suspicions. No matter how much she questioned or doubted him, he never took it to heart and always tried to resolve her doubts with kindness. He even brewed medicine for her in the sweltering heat. She felt that she might be overthinking things.
No matter how dangerous Long Buxi may be, at least he doesn't seem to have any ill intentions towards her, so she doesn't need to be so wary of him.
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