The three of them quickened their pace at the same time and soon arrived at the gate of the yard.
Through the courtyard gate, I first heard the chattering sounds of children coming from inside. It was obvious that Dabao and Erniu were not the only ones at home, but Qi Feng's two sons were also here.
Engineer Ning turned to look at Shen Qingyun: "Oh, are we having a banquet tonight?"
The meaning of that statement was very clear - you have invited the instructor and his family to dinner, so why can't you bring us two old people along?
It would be fine if you didn't invite us actively, but we shamelessly followed you back, and you are still making excuses?
Is there any spirit of respecting the elderly left? It's really unpleasant!
Since Shen Qingyun went to Province C, he has spent the longest time with Ning Gong and his friends, and their feelings have grown deeper and deeper.
When I first met them, I felt that they were all respected elders, and I had to be careful with what I said and did.
After a long time, he discovered that these scholars were actually very simple in nature. Once I get to know you, I will never treat you as an outsider.
Well, he is quite disrespectful and doesn't consider himself an elder at all.
For example, Ning Gong had only known him for a short time, but he rudely took away the bottle of shredded mustard greens that his wife had brought for him!
He was so speechless.
Seeing the complaining expression on Ning Gong's face at this moment, Shen Qingyun's mouth twitched. He turned his head away, pretending not to understand, and pushed open the gate.
As soon as they pushed the door open, the aroma became even stronger, and it spontaneously rushed into their noses.
This caused all three of them to subconsciously take a deep breath.
Erniu was the first to see Shen Qingyun. She suddenly stood up from the small stool, shouted "Dad!" and ran towards him.
Seeing the chubby little body rushing towards him, Shen Qingyun quickly lowered his head to take it, but she quickly stuffed something into her mouth: "Dad, eat potato chips!"
Shen Qingyun was caught off guard and her mouth was filled with food.
He chewed it subconsciously and found that the food in his mouth was soft, chewy, salty and delicious. After chewing it twice, he could indeed tell that it was potato, but the taste was completely different from the potatoes he had eaten before.
He knew that his wife was thinking about making delicious food for them again.
He felt relieved, and when he looked up again, the little girl had already noticed Engineer Ning and Mr. Hua who followed him in.
Erniu let go of her father's legs, walked over, bowed politely to the two old men, and shouted, "Hello, Grandpa."
Then he stood up straight and smiled at them with narrowed eyes.
The little girl is now being raised very pampered by Yin Xiaoman.
She was wearing a clean floral jacket and had two small buns on her head. The white little face is not at all like the yellow and skinny children of most children of this era, but rather chubby and pink.
Seeing him standing there so obediently, the two old people felt warm in their hearts.
At this time, Dabao also saw them and hurriedly ran over from where he was before.
He did not rush towards Shen Qingyun like Erniu did, but bowed and greeted the two old men first, then turned around and called out "Dad."
The two old men couldn't help but secretly marvel at the manners and rules of upbringing.
Seeing them like this, Qiangzi and Huzi also followed over, and followed their example to greet the elders, and then accompanied them to the place where they had gathered before.
At this time, the three people finally understood where the fragrance they had just smelled came from.
There is a charcoal brazier in the yard near the kitchen.
It's the kind you use to heat your home in the winter.
Although Haishi is located in the south and has relatively warm winters, it is close to the sea after all, so the weather is wet and cold during the coldest period.
It would be impossible to survive without a charcoal brazier at home.
But now it has become warmer and every household has put away their charcoal basins. No one would have thought that Yin Xiaoman would use this thing again.
At this time, there was an iron net clamped on the charcoal basin, which was obviously made of the iron wire taken down from the waste bullet boxes.
The iron net is woven very densely and works great when placed on a charcoal basin.
At this moment, there were a lot of thinly sliced potatoes and sliced pumpkins neatly stacked on the iron net.
The potato slices and pumpkin were coated with a thin layer of oil and were being roasted over the charcoal fire, making a sizzling sound.
Next to the iron net, there was a small bowl of oil, a brush in the bowl, and a pair of chopsticks on the bowl.
As soon as he arrived, Dabao sat on the small stool beside the charcoal basin with familiarity, picked up the potato chips with chopsticks, and turned them over one by one.
The turned over potatoes have been baked into a dark yellow color, with a uniform grid pattern on them. They are so beautiful and tempting that you can feel how delicious they are without even eating them.
Several adults watched Dabao busying himself with great interest, but he was not shy at all.
The movements are skillful and the techniques are efficient.
Just looking at him like this, you can tell——
This must be more than the first or second time they have eaten like this.
"Where is your mother?" Shen Qingyun looked around and didn't see Yin Xiaoman, so he couldn't help but ask.
Before he could finish his words, the courtyard door was pushed open from the outside, and Yin Xiaoman and Cui Yan walked in together, each carrying a bamboo basket in their hands.
Seeing them, Yin Xiaoman was stunned for a moment, then hurried over to greet the two elderly people, and then asked the children to move stools and pour tea.
It was obvious at first glance that the stool was unusable, so Cui Yan quickly ran back to her home and moved everything she had over.
After everyone was busy for a while, they finally sat down, and Shen Qingyun finally understood what was going on.
It turned out that the daughter-in-law went to the county and bought a bag of pumpkin and potatoes, and then roasted them for the two children to eat. As a result, the smell was so fragrant that it lured Qiangzi and Huzi over.
The children were enjoying their meal. Cui Yan came to call them several times, but the two little ones refused to go home.
Later, Cui Yan became anxious and wanted to hit someone, but was stopped by Yin Xiaoman.
He said that since he bought a lot of things this time, they might as well have dinner together at night.
Cui Yan had no choice but to agree.
Then she suggested that there were a lot of ripe vegetables in her backyard, and asked Yin Xiaoman to go with her to see if there was anything they could roast together, otherwise potatoes and pumpkins alone would not be enough for so many people!
When the three of them came back just now, the two women were picking vegetables in the backyard, so they didn't run into them.
Seeing so many people, one charcoal basin is naturally not enough.
Cui Yan winked at Yin Xiaoman, and while asking Qiangzi to go home and get the charcoal brazier from their house, she pulled her into the kitchen.
"You stay busy here first. I'm going to go to Uncle Li's place to see if he has anything to buy. Tell me, what else can be grilled?"
After hearing what Cui Yan said, Yin Xiaoman did not stop her.
Although they had agreed to have dinner together, they didn't plan on making a big deal.
It's just two families getting together to chat and have a bite to eat.
Barbecue is not enough to fill you up, so in the end you will definitely have to eat some steamed buns or something like that.
But now that Engineer Ning and Mr. Hua are here, we can’t fool them like that.
First of all, they are real guests, and they come from afar.
Furthermore, in Yin Xiaoman's heart, no matter what, it was because of the two of them that Shen Qingyun was able to leave the arsenal before the explosion.
Even if it was an unintentional act, he was still their family's savior.
Now that our benefactor has come to us, we must treat him with all our heart.
"Sister-in-law, please make the trip. Don't worry about whether you can bake it or not. Just buy some of what you have. You'll have enough time to eat it later."
Hearing her say this, Cui Yan nodded. She felt that Xiaoman was right. After all, anything could become delicious in her hands.
Thinking of this, she turned around and was about to go out, but was grabbed by Yin Xiaoman, and then she took out a handful of money and was about to put it into her pocket.
Cui Yan suddenly became anxious!
"You are the only one who has money? You are still fighting with me for such a small amount of money. Do you have too much money to spend?!"
Seeing her sullen face, Yin Xiaoman quickly explained: "The guest was brought back by Qingyun..."
"If he is brought back, he will just be a guest of your family? Isn't he coming to our camp? Isn't Qi Feng the instructor?"
As she spoke, Cui Yan reached out and poked Yin Xiaoman hard on the forehead, feeling very disappointed with him.
"Grow up your mind, little girl! If you are so lax, what will you do in the future?! Don't think I don't know that the oil and sauce used outside were all bought by you today. Are you going to empty out all the money in the house in one go? Will you be able to survive tomorrow? Will you be able to survive in the future?"
Cui Yan became angrier and angrier as she spoke, but she also knew that now was not the time to argue with her.
He could only glare at Yin Xiaoman and said, "If you keep arguing with me like this, we won't talk to each other anymore and I won't enter your house anymore!"
After saying that, he just turned around and walked out.
Looking at Cui Yan's back, Yin Xiaoman shook his head with a wry smile.
Of course she knew that her sister-in-law was good to her, so even though it hurt a lot when she was poked on the forehead, she didn't dare to say a word.
He honestly buried his head in picking up the various vegetables he had picked earlier.
Speaking of which, Cui Yan is from the capital and grew up in the city. But when it comes to growing vegetables, he is many times better than Yin Xiaoman.
It's only a few months now, but the vegetables in her yard are growing well.
Just now they picked garlic, ginger, carrots, eggplant, greens and tomatoes.
Each one is so fresh and fresh, and people like them just by looking at them. They were so much more beautiful than the pumpkins and potatoes she had bought from the county town before.
Yin Xiaoman washed the carrots and cut them into long strips as thick as fingers, and cut all the eggplants into thick round slices half the width of a fingertip. Then he sliced the potatoes and chopped the pumpkin into pieces. He didn't stop until he had cut enough pieces to fill an entire bamboo plate used to dry vegetables.
Because the food was just for the kids to eat for fun and not intended as a dish, Yin Xiaoman made it light, just spreading a little fine salt on the potato slices and no other seasonings.
She looked out the window and found that Qi Feng had also arrived and was lighting another charcoal basin with Shen Qingyun.
A few grown men and a bunch of kids filled the yard.
After thinking about it, she made a rich dry ingredient dip.
Fry the Sichuan peppercorns in a pan and grind them into powder. Add salt and chili powder, and also add the powder ground from the dried mountain mushrooms that were brought back from the palace.
You don’t even need to taste it to know that it’s definitely fresh, fragrant and spicy.
Seeing that everything outside was almost ready and the charcoal brazier was lit, she took the things out.
After teaching the two grown men how to roast and how to sprinkle the ingredients, she returned to the kitchen.
This time, she took out all the scallops she had bought from Xiao Tao in the morning, cleaned them one by one, removed the internal organs, and rearranged the scallop meat in the shells.
When she was about to prepare the sauce, Cui Yan ran in holding a small bamboo basket.
From the sweat on her forehead and her panting, it can be seen that she has been running all the way.
Yin Xiaoman quickly stopped what he was doing and poured her a bowl of water. Cui Yan drank it all in one gulp without saying a word.
After he finished drinking, he said, "I cleared out Uncle Li's things. They are all here. Can you take a look?"
Yin Xiaoman poured everything in the basket into a large basin, and then he saw five or six small flatfish the size of a palm, a few small flower crabs, three large octopuses, and seven or eight oysters.
"Enough, this is really enough." Yin Xiaoman did not expect that Cui Yan could buy so many things this time. He was overjoyed and finally felt relieved.
You know, she had been struggling with her thoughts for a long time, wondering whether to take out the grouper she bought today.
To be honest, she really couldn't bear to leave.
It would be a waste to roast such a good thing.
As a chef, besides making food delicious, you also need to make the best use of ingredients and get value for money. This is also something they care about.
Now with these, her grouper was saved.
After teaching Cui Yan how to wash and put these things away, Yin Xiaoman continued to prepare her sauce.
She first used a mortar to mash a lot of garlic, then added chopped ginger, soy sauce, mushroom powder, and finally heated a spoonful of oil and poured it on...
Suddenly, a rich fragrance filled my nose.
"Oh my god, Xiaoman, what are you doing?!"
The fragrance was so attractive that Cui Yan stopped working, dropped the half-washed fish and ran over.
Yin Xiaoman smiled with her eyes narrowed, and ignored her. He then placed all the cleaned scallops and oysters on a large plate and poured the sauce on them little by little with a small spoon.
After everything was done, he handed the plate to Cui Yan: "Sister-in-law, take it out and let them grill it. Be careful not to break the outer shell. The soup will overflow and dirty the net, and it will be easy to burn when you grill other things."
"Don't worry, I'll tell them that if anyone dares to spill this delicious soup, they won't be able to eat the rest!"
Cui Yan said this, looking at the plate in her hand and couldn't help swallowing.
After Cui Yan went out, Yin Xiaoman walked to the basin.
She rolled up her sleeves and was about to clean up the flatfish and octopus when she smelled a familiar smell behind her.
The taste of Shen Qingyun.
Even in this kitchen filled with mixed smells, Yin Xiaoman was able to distinguish them immediately.
She was about to turn around when the man came closer.
"What are you doing? I'll do it, you go out and eat."
As he spoke, he walked behind Yin Xiaoman and looked into the basin over her shoulder.
When he saw the octopus wriggling with its claws and fangs bared, he couldn't help but hissed as if his teeth were hurting. He turned to look at Yin Xiaoman in disbelief and asked in surprise: "Can this be eaten?"
Because the two people were too close, when the man turned his head, his face was almost touching Yin Xiaoman's face.
Only a few centimeters apart.
His breath was almost on her cheek.
Yin Xiaoman's face suddenly turned red, and she subconsciously wanted to step back, but she forgot that the man was actually standing behind her.
This time she retreated, she simply retreated into his arms.
Shen Qingyun supported her with both hands, but did not dodge. Instead, he held her tightly in his arms and hugged her tightly.
Only when she was obviously getting anxious did he quickly let go of her hand, and with a strong desire to survive, he took a step to the side before she got angry.
But in the end, he couldn't hold it back and laughed out loud.
Yin Xiaoman's eyes turned red with embarrassment.
Seeing her like this, Shen Qingyun finally didn't dare to continue making trouble.
I quickly coaxed her in a gentle voice: "Okay, okay, don't be angry. Tell me how to clean up and I'll do it. You go out to eat, otherwise everything will get cold."
After saying that, he took off his military uniform and placed it on the chair next to him, then rolled up his sleeves.
I know the man was making trouble on purpose, but I can't do anything about it.
Yin Xiaoman was angry and anxious, so she simply didn't bother to be polite with him: "Descale the fish, remove the internal organs, cut off the fins, and clean the gills. Octopus..."
Although I really wanted to make things difficult for this man, I was still worried about handing this thing over to him.
Yin Xiaoman sighed, but resigned himself to his fate and personally fished out the three octopuses from the basin and placed them in another basin.
Pour in salt, add water, and rub repeatedly until all the mucus on their bodies is washed off.
Then rinse it with clean water, tear off the membrane, remove the teeth, and squeeze out the internal organs and ink sac, until the fish that originally looked sticky, fishy, and a little black is transformed into a white and tender little cutie.
In this way, one is considered clean.
While Yin Xiaoman was doing this, Shen Qingyun stood by and watched silently. After he had dealt with one of them clean, he suddenly held her hand.
"I know how to do it. I'll do it and you go eat."
Hearing him repeatedly asking me to go out for a meal, it would be a lie to say I wasn't touched.
But there are still so many things to deal with, how can Yin Xiaoman let go?
"Hurry up and help me finish it quickly so I can go out to eat." She said to the man unhappily.
But he himself did not even realize that there was a barely perceptible intimacy in his tone.
Shen Qingyun pursed her lips, looking even happier than when she came in just now.
He cleaned the fish quickly.
When faced with the two remaining slimy octopuses, he was obviously scared.
But after hesitating for a few seconds, he still reached out and grabbed it, following Yin Xiaoman's previous actions and started to clean it up.
At this time, Yin Xiaoman had already prepared the seasonings, and kneaded the flatfish with onions, ginger, garlic and various dry ingredients and marinated it.
After Shen Qingyun finished preparing them, she skillfully mixed them with the ingredients, then put them on a plate and asked the man to hold it. She took a stack of cornmeal cakes that she had steamed earlier, and the two walked out together.
Seeing her coming out, everyone waved at her: "Xiao Yin, come here quickly. I'm sorry for making you tired today. Stop working and come and eat something!"
As he spoke, Engineer Ning moved his stool to the side, making room for Shen Qingyun.
Shen Qingyun was not polite at all. He stuffed everything in his hand to Qi Feng, then pulled Yin Xiaoman to sit up.
As soon as she sat down, a small bowl was handed to her.
Yin Xiaoman looked down and almost laughed out loud.
The bowl was filled to the brim.
From potato chips, pumpkin strips to the oysters and scallops that were just taken out, everything was available, for fear that she would miss any of them.
"Eat quickly, I'll pick the best ones for you."
Seeing that she was staring at the bowl without moving, Shen Qingyun leaned over to her ear and whispered something without any complaint.
Turning her back to everyone's sight, Yin Xiaoman quickly kicked his big foot, then glared at him in reproach.
He was entertaining guests at home, and he wasn't afraid of being laughed at by the guests when he did this!
But Shen Qingyun acted as if he didn't feel anything at all. He touched her arm with his hand and pointed at the bowl with his chin.
When he noticed that his wife was starting to roll her eyes at him, he chuckled, snatched the chopsticks from Qi Feng's hand, and put the fish onto the iron net.
But when he caught the octopus, his hand froze in mid-air, and he turned to look at Yin Xiaoman with an inquiring look.
There was obvious resistance in his eyes, as if he was saying, "Can you really eat this soft, disgusting thing?"
Yin Xiaoman had seen this kind of look many times when he was in the kitchen.
When she told the soldiers that octopus was edible, they looked resistant.
Some people kindly advised her that the stuff was poisonous, and that not only was it jet-black, it was also fishy and sticky, and couldn't be washed clean.
But after she taught the soldiers how to handle and cook it, the young men ate it with great joy.
Shen Qingyun stayed in Province C for too long and missed that stage, so he never got to taste this delicacy.
But Qi Feng is different, he has even eaten octopus dumplings! Of course, that was also thanks to Yin Xiaoman, who taught his wife.
Seeing Shen Qingyun's actions at this moment, he immediately knew what was going on. Without waiting for Yin Xiaoman to speak, he showed a look of disgust towards his partner with the look of an experienced person.
"Go away, let me do it! Let your sister-in-law eat, don't bother her." As he said that, he snatched the plate, put the things in it onto the net one by one, and started to flip and grill them in an orderly manner.
He was totally showing off.
But Shen Qingyun didn't even look at him. Seeing that he was going to work, he just stood there and did nothing. The lackey would pick up the roasted food on the iron net and put it into Yin Xiaoman's bowl.
Every time he saw her eating, she would show a very satisfied expression, as if he had eaten it himself.
Soon, the unique salty and fresh taste of the seafood spread again.
In addition to the freshness of the fish itself, there is also the richness of the sauce and the burnt aroma brought by the grilling.
Then no one spoke anymore and everyone got back to work.
…
This meal was a real pleasure for both the host and the guests. Ten people, big and small, ate almost half a bag of potatoes and pumpkin, and ate up all the other vegetables and fish.
That’s not all, he also ate all the cornmeal cakes that Yin Xiaoman brought out.
Cui Yan had no choice but to bring over her steamed fish balls, which were also roasted on the fire by the men. She ate the fish with the leftovers at the bottom of the bowl and the juice left by the shells.
Seeing that these people still looked unsatisfied, Yin Xiaoman sincerely felt that their stomachs might be a bottomless pit.
But even thinking so, she quickly returned to the kitchen and made a seafood dumpling soup with the remaining scraps.
Although they are just corners, they are actually full of good things.
The crab meat that was picked out, the fish paste that was scraped off, as well as clams, dried shrimps, tomatoes, and green vegetables.
Add pure white flour and stir until the dough is done. Yin Xiaoman also drops two drops of sesame oil before serving...
The taste was so good that even Erniu, who had just been complaining about her full stomach, hummed and ate another half bowl.
It was almost nine o'clock in the evening and it was already dark.
Except for their yard, the entire camp was dark and silent.
But in the Shen family's yard, everyone looked contented, with a long-lost happiness on their faces.
The two old people were really full and didn't care about their image at all. They both slumped down in their chairs, rubbing their stomachs, and couldn't get up for a long time.
Qi Feng was really afraid that the two elders would get sick from eating too much, so he coaxed them and personally sent them back to the guesthouse.
Qiangzi and Huzi were sent back home by their parents to sleep.
Shen Qingyun was clumsily helping Cui Yan to clean up the dishes.
Dabao was in the yard supervising Erniu washing her hands and rinsing her mouth as she prepared to go to bed...
The yard was still noisy, but Yin Xiaoman was forced back to her room by Shen Qingyun early on.
She said that she had worked hard today and she didn't need to do the rest of the work.
Sitting in the bedroom, looking at the people busy outside through the open door, Yin Xiaoman suddenly felt that this kind of life should be what she had been pursuing all along?
I don’t ask for great wealth and fame, I just want my family to be together and live in peace.
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