Gu Xi's attention was indeed diverted by a few words. With a curious look on his face, he asked, "You guys have gained a lot this evening. Do you go into the mountains often?"
Wang Xu secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "It depends on the season. There is a saying that goes, spring is foraging, summer is for seedlings, autumn is hunting, and winter is for hunting. We go into the mountains more frequently in spring and autumn, but we still have to be careful in spring not to kill pregnant animals. In summer, we are busier with farm work, so we go into the mountains less often. In autumn, we go into the mountains the most because the weather turns cooler and we can store some meat so it won't spoil easily. On the one hand, in winter, there are fewer active animals, and it snows every day. We don't go into the mountains very often because the snow is thick. It's too dangerous."
Gu Xi learned a lot of new knowledge: "That's quite particular. Do other villagers go into the mountains to hunt?"
Wang Xu finished his burger and said, "Most of the other men who went into the mountains only ate rabbits and pheasants, and occasionally they would bring some meat home. But we were not able to catch wild boars, and we could occasionally catch sheep."
Gu Xi's eyes lit up instantly: "The grilled lamb skewers are delicious, and the braised lamb casserole is delicious."
Wang Xu saw her greedy look, shook his head and smiled: "You are drooling now, but when you really catch it, you will be full after eating a few bites."
Gu Xi: "Enjoying food is not about the amount you eat."
Wang Xu was helpless: "You can't say this to anyone. People can't even get enough food, and you want to enjoy delicious food."
Gu Xi stuck out her tongue and said, "I said the wrong thing. I now feel that the best decision I have ever made is to live with you. Please take care of me, Brother Xu."
After a while, Wan Hexing came over with a bamboo basket on his back. In the basket were the prey he had hunted last night. "Brother Xu, Wan Xi has processed all these. I brought them to you."
Wang Xu looked at the prey in the frame and asked, "Didn't you keep any for yourselves?"
Wan Hexing waved his hand and said, "We just ate rabbit meat and chicken last week. It was just me and Wan Xi eating them for several days. Now I'm not craving for them at all. You decide how to share them."
Wang Xu looked at Gu Xi and thought for a moment: "Send two pheasants to the village chief and the secretary, as they have many families. Send one rabbit to the accountant. The remaining three of us will each get one."
Then he went back into the house and took out two rolls of paper wrapped in paper. "This is the money from selling the wild boar. It's divided into three parts. You and Yin Jie each have one. You can give him the rabbit as well."
Wan Hexing took the money skillfully without counting it and stuffed it directly into his pocket: "Brother Xu, I'll leave first if you're fine. I'll go deliver something to Yin Jie."
After the others left, Gu Xi looked at Wang Xu and asked, "Do you always give the village chief and his men the things you find?"
Wang Xu: "Not really, I only give it away during the Chinese New Year. I've been fighting and slacking off lately, and I've made a few hundred yuan, so I want to thank the village chief. Although it's common to go into the mountains, it's inevitable that some people will be jealous and say that the things in the mountains are public. I'm afraid of causing trouble for the village chief, so I'll still take some out to stop the gossip."
Gu Xi saw that the rabbit had been cleaned and even cut into pieces: "Wan Hexing is quite careful in his work. He even cut it into small pieces."
Wang Xu was a little unhappy when she heard her praise others: "Wan Xi handled these small animals with quick hands and feet, and was very careful, better than us men."
Gu Xi was greatly surprised: "Wan Xi looks so weak and barely dares to talk to anyone, how can she kill chickens and rabbits?"
Wang Xu washed the rabbit meat in water and said, "In the countryside, you have to cook for yourself. How can you expect others to cook for you? Every household is short of meat. When you are really hungry, they will do it for you."
Wang Xu marinated the rabbit meat in a bowl again: "Can I braise it?"
Gu Xi immediately smiled flatteringly: "Sure, I'll eat whatever you cook."
Wang Xu: "Stop laughing, it's scary."
Gu Xi couldn't help but roll her eyes again: "You can't spit out ivory from a dog."
Wang Xu blanched the slightly marinated rabbit meat in water, threw in the chopped green onions and ginger, and then poured some wine to remove the smell.
Gu Xi thought for a moment and said, "I'll make you a clay pot rice today, a specialty of Guangdong."
Wang Xu heard about clay pot rice for the first time: "Okay, if it's the kind in the morning, it's actually not necessary. Rice is expensive nowadays and it's not good to waste it."
Gu Xi hit him half angrily: "I admit that I cooked this dish creatively this morning. The clay pot rice must be delicious. It is one of the few dishes I have been praised for."
Before Gu Xi traveled through time, her parents went out traveling, and when she was alone at home occasionally, clay pot rice was the easiest to make.
Gu Xi took out the iron pot that she usually used to steam rice, spread a thin layer of lard on the bottom of the pot, then poured in the washed rice and spread it flat on the bottom of the pot, added an appropriate amount of water, covered it with a lid and cooked it for about ten minutes.
During these ten minutes, Gu Xi cut the bought sausages into thin slices, washed some vegetables, and sliced the mushrooms for later use.
After ten minutes, open the lid of the pot, poke it a few times with chopsticks to release the air, place sausage, green vegetables, and mushroom slices on the rice, crack two eggs in the middle, pour some cooking oil along the edge of the pot, cover it with the lid again to simmer.
Gu Xi also prepared the sauce. The seasonings were limited, so she only had soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and a little water to mix. Simmer the rice for five minutes, open the lid, pour in the sauce and stir, and a pot of clay pot rice was ready.
Wang Xu watched Gu Xi's entire process. The finished product looked very tempting, with the aroma of meat, vegetables and eggs mixed together, filling the air with fragrance.
"You're not exaggerating. It looks really delicious. I've never seen this method of cooking rice before."
Gu Xi immediately raised her chin proudly: "I just said this is my specialty, everyone who eats it praises its deliciousness."
Wang Xu was also busy. He blanched the rabbit meat, added some lard to the bottom of the pot, poured in minced garlic and chili peppers to sauté, then poured in the diced rabbit meat. After stir-frying, he added soy sauce, cooking wine, bean paste, rock sugar and water. After boiling, he turned to low heat and simmered for about 20 minutes.
Gu Xi looked at him and began to drool: "Don't add onions, I don't eat onions."
Wang Xu didn't answer, but Gu Xi knew he heard it. When the juice is almost dried up, add the leftover mushrooms from preparing the dish, stir-fry with a spatula, and serve after the juice is dried up.
Gu Xi washed two more tomatoes, cut them into slices, and sprinkled them with sugar. Tomatoes mixed with sugar are her favorite in summer.
After everything was done, the two took the dishes to the yard to eat. Gu Xi stayed in the kitchen for a long time and felt very hot: "See, I said we should put up a sunshade. It's so hot in the afternoon."
Wang Xu looked at the sun shining on the yard. It was indeed very hot. "Come with me and carry the table to the door of the room. Here, against the wall, the eaves will block it from the sun."
Gu Xi took a look and saw that it was true: "That's fine."
Wang Xu brought her some mung bean soup soaked in well water: "Drink it after dinner, and it won't be hot anymore."
A figure suddenly rushed in from the gate of the courtyard, snatched the mung bean soup from Gu Xi's hand and drank it, scaring both of them.
After a bowl of mung bean soup, Lin Ling burst into tears: "Gu Xi, it's a good thing you didn't go to the fields today. I felt like I was going to be dried up by the sun. If I were to get tanned, my iron body would die. Not to mention that several of the new educated youth fainted and were carried to the clinic."
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