Chapter 3: Stir-fried River Clams with Chili Peppers Old Man Su and Granny Wu...
It was completely dark when Old Man Su, Old Lady Wu and the others came back. Each of them was carrying a load on their shoulders or on their backs, and their backs were almost bent by the load. Their faces were covered with sweat, and as they spoke, their wrinkles on their faces dripped down to the ground.
When the heavy burden fell to the ground, almost all three of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, as if what they were carrying was not rice, but the burden of life.
"The mowing is finally done. Everyone should take a good rest at home for a few days." Old Mrs. Wu was tired after a day of work. She wiped the sweat from her head and said.
Old Man Su went to fetch water to wash his hands and face, while he said to Chen who was still harvesting rice, "Mother Qingshan, don't worry about it. Just leave it there. The rice is too wet, so there's no need to rush to harvest it."
Chen didn't look back, "It's okay, Dad, I'll make it smooth for them."
These rice grains are the food for the next year. Chen is very concerned about it. He will have to rely on this food to survive for the next six months. The court cannot pay the military salaries, so he can only rely on the one acre of thin land and raising some small livestock to survive.
Whenever this happened, Chen would think of the advice her parents had given her. However, she was too young at the time and always thought that as long as she worked hard, her life would gradually get better. However, over the years, not only did her life not get better, it became even more difficult.
Compared with her third sister who married a carpenter in the village and her fourth sister who married a rice shop in town, Chen was really ugly. She couldn't even give any decent gifts when she went home for the holidays.
Although her parents-in-law were kind, her husband treated her well, and her children were filial and sensible, Chen still felt a little regretful sometimes. If she had married into a better family or even an ordinary family like her third and fourth sisters, she wouldn't be in this situation now...
"Grandpa, grandma, mom, have you finished washing? Come and try the fried river clams with chili peppers made by my fifth sister. They are delicious!" Su Tao hurried out from the inner room when she heard the voice. She and Su Li had just taken a bath and washed their hair. Her hair was not dried yet and she was only wearing her underwear.
Seeing her like this, Chen quickly scolded her, "Hurry up and put on your clothes. You are not a three-year-old child anymore. It would be disastrous if others saw you."
Although there weren't so many strict separations between men and women in the countryside, people of this dynasty were still quite conservative.
Su Tao stuck out her tongue, quickly turned around and hid back in the house.
However, Su Li heard the voices of Chen and others, put on her clothes and went to the kitchen.
The porridge was cold, but the dishes were still hot in the pot. Since everyone else had returned, Su Li naturally had to bring out the food.
The dishes tonight are much more sumptuous than those at lunch. There are fried river clams with chili peppers, cold cucumber salad and pickles. The fried river clams with chili peppers are not as fragrant as when they are just out of the pot because they have been left for a while, but they still look very good. The shiny red chili peppers paired with the river clam meat are very appetizing at first glance.
Old Man Su was the first to finish washing. He filled a bowl of porridge and sat at the wooden table. The first thing he saw was the fried river clams with chili peppers. It was simply too fragrant. Old Man Su took a few more glances to confirm what the dish was. Until he found out that it was the river clams that he had always disliked, he felt a little disappointed.
What's so delicious about river clams? They are fishy and smelly. Old Man Su decided not to eat them and instead picked up some cold cucumber salad with his chopsticks.
It was the first time he had seen cucumbers cut into long strips and smashed. Usually they were cut into slices and served cold, but Old Man Su thought again and realized that his granddaughter couldn't cook, so it was understandable that she cut them like this.
But then again, it does look okay.
Old man Su tried to take a bite.
?
Spicy, fragrant, crispy, and slightly sour and sweet?
Old man Su was a little shocked. Is this still a cucumber? Why is it so delicious? He quickly put the rest of the cucumber into his mouth.
Delicious, delicious. Old man Su quickly took a mouthful of porridge and his eyes lit up again. It tastes even better with porridge.
And this bean porridge is so delicious. Every grain of rice is blooming. It is warm, not too hot or too cold, just right. The beans are also cooked soft, and there is a fresh fragrance of beans in the mouth after drinking it.
They are just ordinary meals, why are they so delicious this time?
Old man Su was puzzled, but he didn't stop eating, one mouthful after another.
When Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Chen came in, they saw Old Man Su eating hard. They both thought that Old Man Su was too hungry from working hard today.
"Eat less. You've almost finished the cucumber, and your wife hasn't eaten it yet." Mrs. Wu reminded.
After hearing this, Old Man Su realized that he had lost control and eaten too much. He quickly put down his chopsticks and said with an embarrassed smile: "Hehe, this cucumber is too delicious today, I couldn't help it."
Seeing this, Chen said,
"It's okay, Mom. Dad likes to eat more."
It's not a rare thing. There are plenty of cucumbers in the field. There's no need to fight over it.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wu stopped talking and gently poked the clam meat with her chopsticks.
"What kind of dish is this? Why don't you eat this?"
After saying that, Mrs. Wu took a chopstick and put it into the bowl herself. Old Man Su wanted to stop her but couldn't. He could only show an expression that was hard to describe.
"Stir-fried river clams with chili peppers?" Because it was dark, Mrs. Wu looked for a long time before she could see what the dish was.
Chen also looked over. Is this a river clam?
Why does it smell so good?
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but put some into the bowl.
Then he tasted it carefully.
This taste...
So fresh, so tender, without any earthy smell at all.
Is this really river clam meat? Chen was a little skeptical. In her memory, wasn't river clam meat hard to chew?
When Mrs. Wu heard that it was river clam meat, she didn't feel anything special. She just frowned slightly and ate it.
However, the moment she took a bite, even Mrs. Wu, who didn't care much about her appetite, was a little surprised.
How can it be so delicious!
As she is old, she loves strong flavors the most, but given the situation at home, they always use less salt when cooking. She can't say anything because it's good enough to have something to eat these days, so why should she be picky?
So when eating this dish, Mrs. Wu felt as if her taste buds came alive. She couldn't help but take another bite before swallowing it.
Old Man Su, who was standing by, had been paying close attention since he saw the two trying the dish. Seeing them eat for a long time without saying anything, he felt a little curious, but he had to pretend to be calm and asked, "How is it? Is it delicious?"
However, Mrs. Wu pretended not to hear and said, "You can tell if it tastes good by trying it yourself. Have you not tried it yet?"
This only shows that Mrs. Wu knows her husband too well.
Old Man Su coughed when he heard this, but in his heart he sentenced this dish to death. It must not be delicious, so the old woman said that.
Instead, Chen said, "Dad, you can try it. It's delicious."
Daughter-in-law Chen was not the kind of person who spoke without thinking, so when she spoke, old man Su believed her a little.
"Okay, I'll try it then."
In fact, old man Wu Su wanted to try it from the beginning. After all, it was really delicious, but he kept thinking of the bad memory he had had of it before.
"!!" Old man Su took a bite and was a little bit unbelieving. He quickly picked up another piece of food with chopsticks and took another bite.
This, this, this…
It was so delicious. The taste was completely different from the clam meat in Old Man Su’s memory. It was fresh, spicy, and even the chili peppers had a meaty aroma. If he hadn’t personally pried the clams for his granddaughter today, he wouldn’t have believed that this was clam meat.
But he had already eaten three bowls of bean porridge, and no matter how delicious the dish was, his stomach was a little full.
Regret it!
If he had known that the clams were so delicious, he would have had a glass of wine with them. They must have been delicious as a side dish.
What a pity.
.
On this side, when Su Tao came in after getting dressed, she saw that there was almost nothing left of the dishes on the table.
"Grandma and Grandma!!! How come you're almost done eating! My river clam meat...?"
She had even waited for them to come back and eat delicious food together, but they had already finished almost everything, sob…
Su Tao felt wronged and couldn't help crying...
Seeing this, Chen and Mrs. Wu felt a little guilty. Today's food was so delicious that they couldn't help but eat a little more.
"Okay, okay, there are still so many. We will give the rest to you. We won't eat them anymore." Chen said.
Su Tao finally stopped crying, quickly went to get some rice and sat down.
Su Li was not very hungry. She had already eaten a cucumber when she picked it in the afternoon. Besides, the weather was too hot and she was not feeling well, so she had no appetite.
"Wu Ya, did you cook all these dishes today?" Old man Su, who had almost finished eating, suddenly spoke. As soon as he finished speaking, Chen and Mrs. Wu looked at Su Li who was drinking porridge.
It’s not that Old Man Su has any doubts, but cooking is just like doing anything else. How is it possible to do it so well when he has never done it before?
"I made it." Su Tao knew that what was coming had to come. After passing the test of her family, she would have a reason to sell the food she made in the county.
Sure enough, after hearing Su Li's words, Mrs. Wu suddenly looked at Su Li in the twilight and asked, "Who did you learn this from?"
The pair of kind eyes that usually looked a little strange suddenly. Su Li was a little dazed. For a moment, she was worried whether the reason she had just given could convince them.
Just when she was wondering what to say, her fourth sister Su Tao, who was busy eating beside her, suddenly said, "Grandma, let me tell you, Fifth Sister is really talented in cooking. She watched you and Mom cook, as well as other people cook, and she learned it herself, right, Fifth Sister?"
Su Tao seemed particularly happy, because Su Li's delicious cooking meant that she would no longer have to eat the slop-like food made by her mother and grandmother! !
"You will learn it just by watching?" Mrs. Wu obviously didn't believe it. Others who have never cooked may not know, but she knew it after cooking for so many years. Cooking is also a science. Without a master to guide you, you can't make delicious dishes at all, especially river clams. People who don't know how to cook can't even get rid of the earthy smell.
Su Li was a little panicked. She suddenly regretted that she shouldn't have exposed herself so quickly. She should have let them accept it slowly later. It was just her fault that she was too impatient and wanted to do something to help the family quickly.
"Yes, milk." Su Li lowered her head, not knowing what to say.
But it was precisely because of her behavior that Mrs. Wu's doubts were somewhat relieved.
The reason is simple, it's just the original person's personality, he has a small burden and is timid.
She couldn't help but curse herself in her heart. What was she thinking? How could the person in front of her not be her granddaughter?
She slowed down her tone a bit, "You mean you can learn it just by watching us do it, right?"
Su Li saw that Wu Pozi's attitude had changed for some reason, so she nodded and said, "Yes, it's just to look after mother and grandmother, and also to look after other people during the feast."
However, once these words were spoken, they fell into the ears of Mrs. Wu, Old Man Su and others, and it became clear that Su Li learned to cook by watching others cook, and she learned it by watching others cook during banquets.
That makes sense, after all, the guests invited to the village banquet are all famous chefs and cooks in the surrounding area.
But there is still a question: Is it really possible to do it just by watching it?
But if that is impossible, my granddaughter Su Li did make it again, and the taste is even not inferior to that of other chefs.
But Old Man Su really believed these words.
"Our Wu Ya is really amazing. She can cook such delicious meals without any training."
Old Man Su felt that his granddaughter was extremely talented and was sincerely happy for it.
Chen also showed an expression of surprise. This was the first time she knew her little daughter had this talent. After all, she never let her cook on weekdays, so it was normal that she didn't know about it.
Then Chen couldn't help but feel happy, not because of anything else, but just because of finding a marriage. With this skill, she wouldn't have to worry about finding a marriage.
You know, it was very difficult for the eldest daughter to get married at that time. If the family hadn't given a lot of dowry, it would have been really difficult...
Only Mrs. Wu didn't speak for a long time, no one knew what she was thinking.
"What a pity, your father and the others are not here. It would be nice if they were here." As she ate the delicious food, Chen couldn't help but think of her husband and son. They had been gone for almost half a month, and they would probably be much thinner when they came back. Now she could only hope that this year would not be so tiring, and that the centurion family could give them some good food, although she knew that was unlikely...
When talking about their sons and grandsons, both Old Man Su and Old Lady Wu fell silent.
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