Chapter 15 Fried Eggs with Toona Sinensis, Besides Bamboo Shoots, Chen Gengnian...
Besides bamboo shoots, Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing also found some medicinal herbs. Chen Gengnian's basket was the fullest, while Lin Jing's was less full. As for Lin Qing'an, he was weak, so Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing forcibly prevented him from carrying too much. When they arrived, their baskets were the smallest, and when they returned, they only had two or three bamboo shoots, some medicinal herbs, and the skinny pheasant. The three of them returned with a full load.
On the way down the mountain, Lin Qing'an also discovered a wild vegetable with an exorbitant price.
That's Chinese toon.
In February, the Chinese toon sprouts are just beginning to emerge, with only a very few tender tips growing a few centimeters long.
He was so happy he couldn't stop smiling, and he put down his basket to go pick some.
Before she could even reach it, Chen Gengnian grabbed her from behind and asked, "Aqing, what are you doing picking this?"
"Eat."
“This smells bad, you can’t eat it.” Chen Gengnian, who was carrying a heavy basket, put it down and explained, “Lin Erwa from the village ate this before and developed a lot of rashes. Doctor Shen also said that you shouldn’t eat this easily.”
Lin Qing'an looked at Lin Jing, who was leaning against the earthen embankment, and she nodded repeatedly.
Lin Qing'an looked at the two of them and, seeing that they looked serious and not joking, asked, "Neither of you are eating this dish?"
Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing nodded in tacit agreement.
"What kinds of wild vegetables do you eat?" Lin Qingan asked again.
"Bamboo shoots, mustard greens, dandelions, and..."
Lin Jing suddenly couldn't remember the names, so Chen Gengnian picked up the conversation and said, "There are also kudzu root, cogon grass root, mudwort, resurrection grass, purslane, and so on. In short, there are corresponding wild vegetables for each season, but we don't eat them much."
Lin Qingan heard a long list of dishes, most of which he recognized, but he didn't hear about the ones he liked to eat. So he asked again, "Do you eat bracken?"
Lin Jing and Chen Gengnian shook their heads at the same time, "That stuff is astringent, unless there's a famine, nobody would eat it."
Lin Qingan asked about several other things, such as wild aralia shoots, houttuynia cordata, and garlic, but they all said they didn't like them and had never even heard of many of them.
Hearing this, Lin Qing'an didn't ask any more questions, guessing that the reason it tasted bad was because the way of eating it was too monotonous.
Lin Qing'an's mind raced, and he suddenly wondered if anyone would eat these wild vegetables if they appeared on restaurant plates and were prepared the way he wanted.
If someone eats it, can he sell the recipe to restaurants and then provide wild vegetables, thus earning more money?
Just thinking about it made Lin Qing'an feel as if he could already see the real silver in his mind.
Lin Qing'an quickly stopped his silly grin and snapped his fingers.
"A-Meng."
Ah Meng lazily opened his eyes in Lin Qing'an's basket. Lin Qing'an pointed to the tender toon sprouts that had just emerged and said, "Help me pick some, and I'll make something delicious for you later."
He didn't know who liked it or not, but Ah Meng loved it. They used to always make omelets with toon leaves, and Ah Meng always ate them with the most relish.
Ah Meng was very obedient. He flapped his wings and flew up to the branch, quickly bringing back several clusters of tender buds with his beak.
The aroma of toon leaves was very strong. Lin Qing'an held up the tender red buds and waved them in front of Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing, saying, "Come on, I'll go home and make you something delicious. Let's see if you'll still say it smells bad."
Seeing his happy expression, Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing didn't say anything to spoil the mood, and carried the bamboo shoots on their backs and followed him down the mountain.
When they returned to the village, the sun was already setting. The direction of Lin Qing'an's house was opposite to that of Lin Jing's house. Just as Lin Jing was about to part ways with them, she ran into Chen Yuetao, who was rushing over with a bamboo basket and a food box.
"How come you've been gone all day!" She put down the food box and went to take Lin Qing'an's basket, her voice trembling with concern. "Here, let your mother carry it."
"ah--"
As soon as Chen Yuetao reached out to take it, she saw a dark, shadowy thing squatting in Lin Qing'an's basket, which startled her so much that she couldn't help but scream.
Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing quickly pulled the person away, since they were in the village and shouting would only attract more attention.
Lin Qing'an quickly sidestepped and waved his hand, saying, "Mother, no need, I carried the least, it was very easy."
"That's an eagle that Aqing found in the mountains. It's very intelligent. It just caught a pheasant. Aqing liked it, so I let him bring it back."
Chen Yuetao was only startled at first, but after hearing her son's explanation, she realized she had overreacted.
"Mother? Where are you going?" Lin Qing'an asked at the right time.
Chen Yuetao then remembered the purpose of her visit, bent down and picked up the food box on the ground, saying, "I made some food to bring to you, but no one was home when I arrived. I heard from the aunt next door that you went up the mountain, so I was preparing to go back."
After Chen Yuetao finished speaking, she took Lin Qing'an and Lin Jing's hands and walked towards Lin Qing'an's house. "Come on, come on, let's go home and have dinner. Mom made preserved rabbit, it's so delicious."
Lin Jing was about to decline when Chen Gengnian spoke up in time: "If you're comfortable with this, Jing, leave the bamboo shoots with us. We'll clean them up together after we finish eating, and we'll take them to sell first thing tomorrow morning."
Lin Qingan nodded in agreement.
Lin Jing knew perfectly well that these two people were doing it for her own good. Even if she didn't trust anyone else in the village, she wouldn't distrust Chen Gengnian and Lin Qing'an, so she didn't hesitate any longer and went back to Lin Qing'an's house with them.
After returning home, Chen Yuetao put all the food from the food box on the table. A large plate of rabbit meat looked delicious and smelled wonderful. The group of people who had eaten porridge early in the morning were so hungry that their mouths watered when they smelled the aroma.
However, Lin Qing'an was in no hurry. He told the two to eat first and then started taking out the tender toon sprouts from his basket.
Seeing him quickly wash and blanch the vegetables before chopping them into small pieces, Chen Yuetao asked for the third time, "Aqing, is this really delicious?"
Lin Qing'an smiled patiently and replied, "Mom, it's delicious."
Lin Qing'an didn't sit down at the table, so Lin Jing and Chen Gengnian naturally wouldn't eat first either. Chen Yuetao helped Lin Qing'an start the fire while the two of them sorted the bamboo shoots.
They are divided into categories based on size and age, which makes buying and selling easier.
Meanwhile, Lin Qing'an...
After seeing him crack three eggs without blinking, Chen Yuetao quickly lowered her head, not daring to look any longer, and silently felt sorry for him.
It wasn't that she was reluctant to part with the food; she had been starving for so long during the famine and was afraid of wasting even a single grain.
Lin Qing'an naturally didn't see the heartache in his new mother-in-law's eyes. After heating the pot, he put the oil in directly. He generously scooped half a spoonful of oil from the porcelain jar and put it into the pot. After the oil melted, the aroma instantly filled his taste buds. Chen Yuetao craned her neck to look at the pot again, and then moved her lips several times but couldn't say a word.
"Mom, keep it cooked."
After Lin Qing'an called out, he put the toon leaves into the egg bowl, then quickly stirred them a few times with chopsticks and poured them into the pot along with the egg mixture.
The egg mixture quickly solidified upon contact with the high temperature, and the aroma of caramelized eggs, mixed with the fragrance of wild boar oil and toon leaves, wafted out of the kitchen, making Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing swallow hard.
Even A-Meng, who had been lazily sleeping under the eaves, was awakened by the fragrance. He opened his eyes, flapped his wings, and headed for the kitchen.
But Lin Qing'an stopped him as soon as he flew to the door.
Lin Qing'an said with a look of disgust, "A-Meng, don't come in, you're a big jerk."
Without looking at Ah Meng, she used a spatula to flip the fried egg in the pan. When she saw that it was almost done, she swung the spatula and scooped the round omelet into a bowl.
He picked it up and headed to the dining table, excitedly calling out.
"Time to eat."
On the dinner table, eggs coated with grayish-blue toon leaves were fried until golden brown. Several people gathered around to watch, and the enticing aroma wafted into their nostrils, making them swallow hard.
Lin Qingan reminded them, "Try a little bit of what you haven't tried before, then eat the other dishes and wait to see if you have any allergic reactions before continuing."
“I’ve eaten it,” Lin Jing said first. “When I was little, I was abandoned on the mountain by an alcoholic. I was so hungry that I grabbed some leaves to eat. I didn’t eat much, but I didn’t feel any other discomfort.”
After Lin Jing finished speaking, fearing that everyone would pity her, she hurriedly picked up some food with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
The rich aroma filled her mouth, and Lin Jing excitedly gave Lin Qing'an a thumbs up.
"tasty!"
Seeing Lin Jing like this, Chen Gengnian and Chen Yuetao couldn't help but swallow hard and said, "We've eaten this before during famines."
But I still remember that taste vividly to this day.
Since everyone had eaten it before, there was no longer any fear of allergies, and the group sat down together to prepare for the meal.
Chen Yuetao served rice to the three of them. Lin Qing'an got up and added a bowl to make room for them. He then put a large bowl of rice and dishes in front of A Meng, which was full of rabbit meat and toon omelet.
Regardless of how strange the other people's gazes were, Ah Meng simply lowered his head and slowly began to eat.
Lin Qing'an forced a smile and explained, "Well, Meng is very obedient and is a member of the family. Let it eat with us from now on."
Chen Gengnian and the others watched A Meng eat, and the three of them looked at each other, then tacitly looked away.
Lin Qingan picked up the chopsticks and handed them to Chen Yuetao, "Mother, you should try some too."
Chen Yuetao said she had already eaten, but she was indeed quite curious about the taste of the toon omelet, so she didn't refuse and picked up a piece with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
Lin Qingan knew things were going well when he saw her expression shift from tentative to enjoyable.
Chen Yuetao exclaimed with lingering enjoyment, "Mmm, it really is delicious!"
As soon as she said that, Lin Qing'an put some more food into her bowl and pushed it in front of her. "Mom, eat more if you like it. I'll make other flavors for you later."
"Are there any other flavors?" Chen Gengnian asked.
Lin Qingan nodded: "Of course, there are many ways to eat it. I'll make it for you one by one in the future."
He had an enormous amount of cured meat in his bag, and Chen Gengnian was a hunter, so he could take out so much cured meat to cook whenever he wanted.
This is stir-fried cured pork with toon sprouts, stir-fried cured pork with celery, stir-fried cured pork with prickly ash sprouts...
Lin Qingan's mouth watered as he thought about it, so he quickly picked up his bowl and started eating.
Chen Yuetao ate a few bites and then stopped. She had just eaten at home, but had only tried a few bites because of the toon and egg omelet that Lin Qing'an made. Seeing the children eating with relish and satisfaction, she went outside to sort the bamboo shoots and herbs.
The meal didn't take long, and everyone was quite full. There was still a lot of food left over from Chen Yuetao's meal, including some omelets with toon leaves, which were clearly left on purpose.
Since it was already past Shenshi (3-5 PM), and it would be soon before Lin Yanfeng got home from school, everyone tacitly left him some food.
After the meal, Chen Gengnian took the initiative to do the housework, while Lin Qingan, Lin Jing, and Chen Yuetao sorted out the few remaining bamboo shoots in the yard.
The bamboo shoots looked great, with a thin layer of mud on their golden skin. Lin Qing'an, who came to help, was about to wipe them clean with a towel when Chen Yuetao quickly stopped him: "Hey, Qing, you don't need to wipe the mud off. Keeping them like this will attract more customers and allow you to sell them at the price you want."
Lin Qing'an hadn't thought that much about it, but Chen Yuetao's reminder reminded him that his grandmother had said something similar when he was a child.
Mountain produce covered in mud is more authentic and has a stronger sense of spring, so naturally more people will buy it.
Chen Yuetao kept working, but her eyes never left Lin Qing'an. It is said that a mother-in-law likes her son-in-law more and more the more she looks at him, and she liked her husband more and more the more she looked at him.
Looking at Lin Qing'an's messy hair and muddy clothes, Chen Yuetao felt sorry for him and reached out to smooth them. After thinking for a moment, she advised, "Qing'an, why don't you not come into the mountains with me next time? It's really too much to ask of you to do these things as a young man."
Lin Qing'an shook his head without thinking: "Mother, I like going into the mountains. I'd rather go into the mountains with Brother Nian than do farm work."
"Me too."
Suddenly a dry, hollow sound rang out, and Lin Qing'an, Lin Jing, and Chen Yuetao looked at each other in surprise.
Lin Qing'an stole a glance at A Meng, and their eyes met. A Meng lowered its head and pretended to sleep like a child who had done something wrong.
A note from the author:
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