The kitchen shed was simply woven from bamboo strips, and a cold wind howled through the gaps. Qin Xiaozhou rummaged for oil and salt, but the thin layer of oil at the bottom of the oil bowl wasn't even enough to stir-fry a single dish. Lu Yan, however, was used to it. She carried the washed wild vegetables, scooped water into a large iron pot with a gourd ladle, swept them clean with bundled thin bamboo branches, added clean water, brought it to a boil, and then blanched the wild vegetables.
For an eight-year-old child to be so skilled at housework, Qin Xiaozhou didn't want to praise her for being capable, but only felt sorry for her experiences. Before she transmigrated, Qin Xiaozhou at that age only knew how to play every day. When she came home, her grandparents would prepare hot meals and occasionally provide snacks and toys. It wasn't until her grandparents passed away in high school that she became all alone and had to learn to cook for herself.
After taking the wild vegetables out of the water, Qin Xiaozhou put them back into the pot to boil again. She asked curiously, "Why blanch them if we're not going to make a cold dish? Can't we just boil them into soup?"
That's unnecessary.
Lu Yan stuffed firewood into the stove, then took out the embers and put them into the urn next to her. She covered it with a wooden board to extinguish the embers, leaving them for burning in the evening. "You have to blanch them. Eating too many wild vegetables can cause poisoning. I had diarrhea once before the New Year. A couple of years ago, an old lady in the village ate wild vegetables and fruits twice a day and died from diarrhea."
The village was poor, and everyone ate only two meals a day.
Qin Xiaozhou sighed softly. She had eaten wild vegetables when she was a child, but that was just a way to change things up and try something new. If she only ate wild fruits and vegetables, she would definitely get diarrhea. The people here were too poor to afford medical treatment and medicine, so most of them just endured the pain, and whether they lived or died was up to fate.
The family squeezed around a low table for breakfast, which consisted of a plate of boiled wild vegetables in clear broth, without a trace of meat. It was the first time Qin Xiaozhou had met Lu Yunfeng's unmarried aunt, Lu Yu, a seventeen-year-old girl who was tall and thin with downcast eyes and little vitality.
Zhao Fen carried Xiao Si out; Xiao Si was so thin she was skin and bones, and her whole body looked weak and listless. She also smelled strongly of medicine, as if she had been drinking medicine until she was saturated with it.
Little Si was wrapped in a thin cloth, whimpering like a little mouse. He was clearly unwell, as he couldn't cry loudly. This child had only been breastfed for three months, mainly because Zhao Fen was on medication every day and had no milk. The child could only eat coarse food with the adults, like a frail baby.
Zhao Fen held the child and tried to soothe him, but the child was hungry and cold and kept crying no matter what she did. Zhao Fen's eyes slowly reddened, and she carried the child back into the house.
Lu Yunxing was originally studying in the county town, but after his family suffered a misfortune, he dropped out of school and stayed at home busy with other things. He couldn't do anything about his younger brother's crying, and his eyes also turned red.
Wang Lan sighed heavily, put down her chopsticks, and limped off to help her daughter-in-law soothe the child.
Lu Yu hurriedly put down her chopsticks and pulled her back, "Mother, let me go, you eat."
She stays indoors mending clothes and doesn't go out, so it's okay for her to eat less. It's good to save the food for her nephew and niece.
She couldn't skip meals, and Qin Xiaozhou found the wild vegetables quite novel, eating them with relish. She hadn't eaten wild vegetables since her grandparents passed away. At this rate, she was sure she'd lose a significant amount of weight in a month. With the warm wild vegetable soup in her stomach, her head finally cleared, and she was no longer dizzy.
There was nothing else to eat in sight. Little Si had probably cried herself to sleep and was no longer making a sound. In the bamboo cabinet in the kitchen, there were only a few bowls, two of which were chipped. Outside, the mountains stretched out in the vast wilderness. By the fence, two cabbages grew, thin and already slender. They would flower and bear fruit in the spring, but they would be too old to eat.
Qin Xiaozhou shook her head and smiled bitterly as she washed the dishes. Before, besides studying, what she thought about most was what to eat. Now that she had transmigrated, she was still thinking about that same question.
Lu Yunfeng emerged from behind the house carrying a fish basket, and Lu Yan greeted him, "Brother, you have fish?"
Lu Yunfeng hurriedly took out a basin and placed it in the yard. He scooped out two ladles of water from the water vat, poured out the fish, and the fish's tail splashed water. Lu Yan smiled broadly and was very happy.
Two fish, one as long as a forearm, the other smaller, only the size of a palm. The smaller one had already been scaled, gutted, and brought back; no one knew where it had been caught. Qin Xiaozhou was also happy, "I'll cook, you start the fire."
Since we finally have fish, we must cook it properly, otherwise it will be a waste of food. When it comes to cooking, Qin Xiaozhou looked around at the Lu family members, but in the end, he only trusted his own cooking skills.
Lu Yunfeng stuffed bamboo shavings into the stove, saying, "This isn't for you to eat."
"I know." Qin Xiaozhou cleaned the large pot thoroughly, added a little oil, made a few slits in the fish with a knife, and put the whole fish in. The oil and water sizzled and popped in the pot. Qin Xiaozhou carefully watched the fish, and when it was fried until both sides were golden brown, he added some salt and water, then added two slices of ginger, covered the pot, and simmered.
The aroma drew Lu Yan over. "Sister-in-law, it smells so good! You're amazing. The fish soup my eldest brother used to make always had a fishy smell, and my fourth brother never liked to drink it."
Zhao Fen had no breast milk. When Xiao Si was only three or four months old, Lu Yunfeng had to go to the county town to buy cow's milk. The round trip was long, and the milk wouldn't keep for long in the summer. Later, after drinking the village chief's granddaughter-in-law's milk for two months, Lu Yunfeng often brought fish from the river to the village chief's house. If it weren't for the village chief keeping an eye on things, the gossipy villagers would probably have said some very unpleasant things.
"You should eat some too, you're too thin." The water in the pot bubbled up, and Qin Xiaozhou used a wooden spatula to crush the fish. After cooking for about ten minutes, she took it out, filtered the thick broth through a bamboo strainer, and poured a large bowl out. "Take this to Xiao Si and your mother first."
Lu Yan went happily, and when she came back, Qin Xiaozhou gave her two more bowls, saying, "One bowl for you and one for Grandma."
Lu Yan looked at the pot, which was almost empty, not even enough for one bowl. "Sister-in-law, what about yours?"
Qin Xiaozhou sprinkled some more salt on the fish scraps and gave it to Lu Yunxing. She had eaten all sorts of good food before, but now she was determined to lose weight and didn't crave this kind of food. "Your older brother and I are both grown up and can eat wild vegetables." After thinking for a moment, she added, "Give some to your aunt too."
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