Chapter 199 Dalang, it’s time to take medicine (9)
When Huo Shichu returned with a full load, Wei Qi was talking to a man in his fifties in the yard. When he saw her coming back, he waved at her and motioned her to come over.
"This is the village chief. He helped me a lot after I came back from my injury this time." Wei Qi introduced.
"Hello, village chief. Thank you for taking care of Dalang before. If it weren't for you, Dalang might have died. Our family is poor and we don't have anything good to thank you. I caught a lot of fish today, so I'll give you two as a thank you gift?" Huo Shichu said with a smile.
He actually caught two fish, tied them up with straw and handed them to the village chief.
The village chief declined immediately, "Why are you being so polite to me? Dalang is my nephew who I have watched grow up. Can I really watch him being driven out of the house and left to die? You should keep the fish for yourselves. Your situation is not very good..."
Wei Qi glanced at Huo Shichu and said to the village chief very seriously: "Village chief, please accept it. This is a small token of our appreciation. If you don't accept it, our conscience will be uneasy... Or do you think these two fish are too light as a thank you gift?"
When the village chief heard what he said, how could he dare to refuse? Wouldn't such a refusal mean that he thought the gift was too little?
"Hey, you are just too polite. Since you said so, I will accept it. If you have any difficulties in the future, you can come to your uncle and tell him. I will help you in any way I can." The smile on the village chief's face became more sincere. He helped Wei Qi before because old man Wei and the others had gone too far. He was afraid that something would really happen to Wei Qi, so he held back. He didn't expect that Wei Qi was such a grateful person and such a good person. The village chief suddenly felt that he had not helped the wrong person.
The village chief couldn't refuse the invitation and went home with two fishes. Aunt Hu was just about to prepare dinner. When she saw the fish in his hand, she asked in surprise, "Old man, did you go to the town to buy fish?"
The village chief shook his head proudly and said with a smile, "I didn't buy it. Wei Dalang's family insisted on giving it to me. They said they wanted to thank me for helping him. His wife is generous and cheerful with a good personality. It seems that Dalang has found the right wife. The two of them will live well in the future. It may not be worse than others."
The village chief had a good impression of Huo Shichu. Aunt Hu agreed after hearing this, saying, "That child is indeed a good one. He doesn't dislike Dalang. When he goes out to the market, he still thinks about buying meat for Dalang to nourish his body..."
"They are all miserable people. Since they have the fate to become people of our village, old man, you should take care of them more in the future, so that these two fish sent by his family will not be in vain..."
The village chief nodded and said, "Of course."
Huo Shichu didn't know that he had gained favor among the village chief and his wife by giving them two fish. Although the village chief was not a high-ranking official, he had great status and power in the village. Everything from the sale of land to the site selection of house deeds had to go through his hands. If he made things difficult for you, you would have a headache; but with his help, these matters that were closely related to your own interests would definitely be handled smoothly.
After seeing off the village chief, Huo Shichu saw that there were still a lot of fish in the bucket, so he said to Wei Qi: "Aunt Zhou has helped me a lot recently. I have to give her a few fish when I catch them."
Wei Qi had no objection, so Huo Shichu caught a few fish and sent them to Aunt Zhou. Aunt Zhou refused to accept them at first, but was finally persuaded by Huo Shichu. Huo Shichu said that he would need her help in the future, and if Aunt Zhou did not accept them, then Huo Shichu would not have the face to trouble her in the future. Only then did Aunt Zhou accept them.
"Wei Qi, can you use both hands? Help kill the fish?" Huo Shichu looked at Wei Qi who was doing nothing and asked. She had been busy all day, she couldn't do everything by herself, right? She was not a maid, and she didn't agree with Wei Qi's idea of sitting and waiting for food.
Seeing her looking at him intently, as if she would rattle off a slew of reasons if he refused, Wei Qi compromised, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Okay."
Huo Shichu immediately took out his dagger and used it to kill the fish. The largest of these fish weighed less than three pounds, so it was completely possible to kill them with a dagger.
While he was killing the fish, Huo Shichu washed the ginger, onions, mushrooms and other ingredients, and started cooking.
After Wei Qi killed the fish and the rice was cooked, he started to fry the fish.
"Shua--", the fish made a loud noise when it was put into the oil pan. Wei Qi seemed to be able to see the smoking pan, the rolled up snow-white fish meat, the slightly burnt fish skin and the fragrant aroma...
Huo Shichu stewed mushroom fish soup, fried small fish, and cooked some vegetables, which was their dinner.
In order to save money, the villagers all had dinner before lighting the oil lamps. Huo Shichu was no exception. She simply put the tables in the yard so that the light would be brighter.
Although there are only one vegetarian dish and two meat dishes, the portions are large, so even if Wei Qi has a big appetite, it is enough to eat.
Every time Huo Shichu saw Wei Qi eating, he had the feeling that he was very hungry and was rushing to eat, because he ate very fast and fiercely. Although his movements were not rough or annoying, and were even elegant, he felt like eating was a battle, urgent, fast, fierce and aggressive.
"Did you always rush to eat in the barracks before?" Huo Shichu asked curiously, "Will there be no food if you eat late?"
Wei Qi paused while picking up the food, his eyes flashed with an inexplicable light, and soon returned to normal. He nodded and said naturally, "Yes, the food prepared in the military camp is rationed, but some people eat fast and eat a lot, taking up other people's portions, so those who are slow naturally can't eat enough. I have been in the army for many years, and it has become a habit after being trained."
He smiled at Huo Shichu, looking a little uncomfortable, and said, "Did my eating habits scare you?"
"That's not the case, but now you are not in the barracks but at home, no one will snatch food from you, you can eat slowly in the future, if you eat too fast you will have indigestion and stomachache." Huo Shichu kindly reminded him, "You will get stomach problems if you eat for a long time."
"Then I will slowly correct this bad habit in the future." Wei Qi said, and his eating speed indeed slowed down.
Huo Shichu's eyes curved immediately, she was satisfied, she didn't care whether Wei Dalang had stomach problems or not, she just didn't want to be as nervous about eating as she was about going to war. She was easily influenced by others when she ate, Wei Dalang ate so fast and fiercely, she would also be infected and eat faster involuntarily, how could she enjoy the food like this, she would swallow the food whole and chew the peony without any effort, her good cooking skills would be wasted.
But Wei Qi didn’t know that he was also thinking of the days when he was in danger of losing his life every day and was hungry one day. At that time, they had no time to enjoy food. They had to fill their stomachs as quickly as possible, otherwise your food would be snatched away in the next second, and you might even become food for other creatures. Food only truly belongs to you after you eat it. How could you have the time and mood to enjoy it slowly?
(End of this chapter)
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