Led by Tiedan, a group of children carried buckets and walked towards the backyard.
They were also very considerate. Knowing that Jianshu was afraid of eels, they specially collected them in a corner of the yard and formed a circle to ensure that Jianshu could only see the thick wall of people and nothing else.
There are only two kitchen knives in the house, one new and one old.
Led by Tiedan, a group of children spontaneously divided into two teams. The eel-killing team took the new kitchen knife, and the remaining old one was taken away by the loach-killing team.
Tiedan, as a member and captain of the eel-killing team, looked at his team members and felt that there were too many people and one knife was not enough, so he hurried back home to get his own kitchen knife.
The others watched with envy, but unfortunately their homes were a bit far away, and going back and forth was a waste of time. No matter how envious they were, they could only take turns using one knife. Fortunately, there were plenty of fish, enough for them to take turns killing several.
The two teams of children who had been given a task sharpened their knives and headed towards their goal.
The remaining children, who knew neither how to kill eels nor loaches, stood there, looking this way and that, and finally looking at Jian Shu. Their lips were tightly pursed, and their fingers were tugging at their clothes, making circles back and forth.
Sighing inwardly, Jianshu bent down and invited, "Can you help me wash the conches?"
When everyone else has work to do, those who can't help feel lost.
"Okay, I can wash vegetables! My mom even praised me for how clean I wash them!"
"I can do that too. I've washed cabbage, potatoes, and beans..."
The remaining few people raised their hands in agreement, and then became Jianshu's followers, following her wherever she went.
Without Jianshu even asking for permission, a group of children rushed to fetch water for washing.
Freshly caught snails have too much sand and mud, so generally they need to be allowed to spit out the mud for a few days before they can be cooked. But Jianshu didn't have the time to let her spit out the sand, so he just found a pair of scissors and cut off the tail of the snail.
Most of the mud and sand in the snails are concentrated in the tail. After cutting it off, shake it for ten minutes and it will be able to spit out the mud and dirt in its body. After cleaning it, continue shaking it and repeat this several times until the water is clear.
If Jianshu had been the only one to cut half a basin of snails, it would have taken him a long time. But with a group of helpers, the process became much faster. Although there were a few mistakes and jokes along the way, it did bring a lot of fun.
The snails were small and numerous, making it difficult to cut them. The eel-killing team and the loach-killing team completed their tasks one after another and quickly surrounded Jianshu, crowding around him in three layers.
"Sister, we are here to help you!"
"Then I'll leave this to you guys. I'm going to take a break?" Jianshu joked with a smile.
A group of children were worried that they had not done enough work and were eager to do more, so they urged Jianshu to go somewhere else to rest.
Seeing how enthusiastic they were, Jianshu smiled helplessly and gave up his seat.
The empty seat was quickly grabbed by Tiedan, who was quick-witted and quick-handed. The others were not quick enough and could only squeeze outside unwillingly, yelling at their friends inside:
"You've been cutting hair for so long, that's enough, let us try it too!"
"That's right, we can't let you guys do all the work!" Others also joined in.
The members of the snail-cutting team were unhappy. What's wrong with these guys? We had already divided the work, and now that you've finished your own work, you're here to take ours, right?
"No, we didn't compete with you to kill the eels. Cutting the snails is our job. You are not allowed to compete with us!"
"You guys don't want to rob? You obviously don't!"
"Yes, we saw that you were working too slowly, so we wanted to help you!"
The two sides exchanged verbal attacks and were almost about to fight.
Jianshu had watched the excitement from the side and laughed so hard that he was shaking with laughter. After Tiedan calmed down the commotion over who was vying for work, he started to get down to business.
Of course, what she said before about being lazy was just talk. Not to mention that as an adult, she couldn't let a child do the work while she watched. Even if she really wanted to be lazy, it couldn't be today.
She promised to make the food herself, so she couldn't break her promise, could she? She had a lot of work to do.
Looking at the eels in the basin that had been killed and cut into strips and segments according to her requirements, Jianshu weighed them. It must be said that these little brats were really capable. The total weight must be about seven or eight kilograms.
But there were a lot of children, more than ten of them. Fortunately, there were still a lot of loaches and snails, enough to eat.
Part of the eel was made into stir-fried shredded eel, and the rest was made into braised eel slices. The eel would have been more delicious with more chili peppers, but since this was for children, it couldn't be too spicy, so Jianshu only added a small amount of chili peppers.
Loach has a strong earthy smell, and Jianshu is not very good at cooking it. Frying is the easiest way, but it consumes too much oil. Although she has enough oil, she cannot be too extravagant in front of outsiders, as it will have a bad influence if it gets out.
So I just stewed it with soybean paste. The strong flavor can cover up the taste of the food itself, so it won’t be too bad.
The remaining snails are simple to prepare. Just add some chili peppers and stir-fry. This is a must-have in summer. Pair it with a little wine and the taste will be amazing!
Having only vegetables is not a big deal. Jianshu also stewed mung bean soup. If it is drier, it can be a staple food, and if it is thinner, it can be a drink. It is suitable for both adults and children.
The mung bean soup takes time to stew, so Jianshu let the children eat it first.
There were several basins on the dining table, some big and some small. The largest one was filled with stewed loaches.
All the dining chairs were taken away, and Jianshu moved a few benches, and everyone could barely sit down despite the tight squeeze.
"Sister, come and sit with us!" The children sitting on the same bench with Tiedan squeezed together to make a small space for Jianshu, and enthusiastically invited her to sit with them.
The other children on the benches followed suit, moving and squeezing together to create a small gap. "Sister, come here! Sit with us!"
"No, you have to sit with us!"
After what happened before, Jianshu became a hot commodity in everyone's eyes, and everyone wanted to sit with her.
Because of this, the group of people almost started arguing again.
Jian Shu saw that things were not going well and quickly stopped her, "Sister, don't sit down. Just stand. You can eat more when you stand. I like to eat when I stand!"
But don't fight, it would be terrible if you accidentally overturn the table.
After all, children don't care about anything when they are angry.
"Okay then." Seeing that she didn't choose them, the group of children felt a little unhappy, but seeing that she didn't choose anyone else, they reluctantly agreed.
After comforting a group of jealous children, Jianshu wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his head.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s okay!
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