Chapter 198: I’ll Feel Hungry If I Eat One Mouthful Less
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Apart from the smaller fish that were released in the ponds, Murong De and Su Ying caught four large baskets of fish.
Ilea Shouyi couldn’t help but sigh. “Brother Murong’s fishing skills are still so impressive.”
Murong De puffed out his chest proudly. “That’s right. Besides cooking, catching chickens and fishing are my two specialties too.”
“You old rascal, you’re really showing off. We can’t finish so many fish in one meal. Let’s process them first. We’ll cook the ones in this basket and make the rest into dried fish.”
“Mm-hmm. Let’s make the five-spiced dried fish. I’ll go prepare the marinade.”
The two of them discussed and began to work together.
After changing into a clean dress, Su Ying also went to the backyard to help. With so many fish, it would take the two of them a long time before they could finish processing them.
“Uncle Ilea, let me slaughter this fish. You guys go do something else. I am back early today, and I have nothing else to do.”
“Alright, Mistress. Then you can help us slaughter all the fish and clean out their stomachs and gills.”
“Sure.”
After Hea Shouyi explained the procedure to Su Ying, Su Ying understood at once. At first, she was still a little unfamiliar with the first one or two fish, but she slowly got the hang of it after that.
These fish had died on the way back, so it was not difficult to deal with them.
By the time she had sliced open all the fish bellies and cleaned out the insides, it was almost dark.
Hea Shouyi cut the processed fish meat into pieces and placed them in a wooden basin. Then, he marinated them with some sauce.
Murong De also marinated the remaining fish and placed them into the wooden bucket before covering it with a lid.
After Su Ying washed her hands, a rich aroma of fish meat wafted out from the kitchen. It was mixed with the smell of pork fat, and it smelled so delicious that it made one drool uncontrollably.
When she came to the kitchen, she saw Hea Shouyi putting the fish meat coated with flour paste into the oil pan to fry.
“Uncle Hea, it smells so good. Are we eating fried fish tonight?”
Hea Shouyi raised his head and said, “I’m making sweet and sour crispy fish for everyone. I’ll make a fish head tofu soup with those fish heads.”
Su Ying looked at the fried fish that had been ladled out and couldn’t resist stealing a piece to eat.
“Hot, hot, hot!” Su Ying took one bite and was scalded by the chunk of hot fish meat. She kept blowing on it to cool it down. Even so, she was unwilling to spit out the chunk of fish meat.
“Delicious. It’s so delicious.” The fried fish chunk was crispy on the outside, but the meat inside was very tender. It even oozed juice out when she bit into it. It tasted so good Su Ying wished she could swallow her own tongue.
The smile on I lea Shouyi’s face widened after receiving Su Ying’s praise. “If Mistress likes it, you should eat more later.”
Murong De also set up the pot to prepare to cook.
After Su Ying saw that there was nothing else she needed to help with, she picked up a few pieces of fried fish and brought them to the livestock shed at the back.
Madam Hu was feeding the livestock for the second time when she heard movement and turned around to see Su Ying walking over.
“Mistress, you are here.”
The weather was so cold now, yet Su Ying saw that Madam Hu was so busy that her back was drenched in sweat. It could be seen that taking care of these livestock was a laborious job.
She took the feed bucket from her hand and said, “It’s getting dark. Aunt Hu. You can go back first. Take this bowl of fried fish back and give it to the children. I’ll take over the rest.”
How could Madam Hu accept that? “It’s almost done, Mistress. After I get some ragweed and feed the pigs, I’ll be done.” As she spoke, she quickly picked up the bucket and went to get the ragweed, as if she was afraid that Su Ying would snatch it from her.
Su Ying didn’t try to stop her. After Madam Hu finished feeding the pigs, she gave her the fish chunks and some potatoes. “Aunt Hu, you should go back. It’s not easy to travel at night.”
Madam Hu looked at the fried fish in the bowl and wanted to refuse, but when she thought of the children at home, she decided to accept it without shame. “Thank you, Mistress. Thank you, Mistress. This job isn’t tiring. 1 can do it well.”
“Alright, it’s good that you can handle it. Go back.”
“Sure. Thank you, Mistress.”
After Madam Hu left, Su Ying finished the last bit of cleaning up, placed the eggs that had been collected during the day into a basket and carried them back.
She had just returned to the house when the older toddler Ji and the others also returned.
“Mother, we’re back.”
During this period of time, these few little fellows had completely adapted to school life, and their temperaments had become much more cheerful than before.
Su Ying carried them into the house and told them to wash their hands and prepare to eat.
“Mistress.”
Su Ying turned to look at Chu Yun. He continued, “Today, I discussed with the teachers in the school. Because it’s going to be the New Year soon, we plan to have a school holiday in two days. As for when classes will restart, we will determine according to the weather then.”
Su Ying murmured her concurrence. “Since you guys have discussed it, just proceed according to your intentions.”
“Alright.”
When it was almost time to eat, Xiao Jin and the others also returned.
“Father is back.”
The older toddler Ji and the younger toddler Ling jumped up from Su Ying’s arms and ran over to hug Xiao Jin’s legs.
Xiao Jin squatted down and picked them up.
“You fellows are back from school.”
“That’s right, Father. 1 miss you so much that I didn’t even have lunch,” Ling said petulantly.
Ji shot a glance at Ling. That stupid Ling was really going overboard. She had clearly eaten a big bowl of dried meat mixed-grain porridge at noon. How could she say she did not eat?
In order to make it easier for the children to study, Hea Shouyi and Murong De would take turns going to the school to prepare lunch for the children. The lunch didn’t need to be too sumptuous as long as it could fill the children’s tummies. After all, this was already a very extravagant thing for them.
Xiao Jin looked at Ling’s increasingly round face and was very considerate not to expose her lie. He carried them back to the hall.
“Dinner time, dinner time.”
Aunt Zhao and the rest walked over with a large pot of food.
From afar, Su Ying could already smell the sweet and sour flavor. It was so enticing that her saliva kept streaming out.
The sweet and sour fried fish was piled up like a small mountain. One’s appetite was greatly stimulated with just one look.
There was also a big bowl of tofu fish head soup and a bowl of stir-fried vegetables. There was not much variety in terms of dishes, but each big bowl was heaped to the brim.
“The big stone mill that Mistress brought back is really useful. If there’s nothing else tomorrow, 1’11 make more tofu for all of you to eat.” Murong De enjoyed cooking so much that he looked downright radiant. Although the two chefs had to prepare meals for so many people every day and they felt very tired, they still enjoyed the work very much.
“Yes, it would be even better if there was corn. We can also grind fresh corn to eat. Corn cakes made from the corn juice are also sweet and tasty. It’s absolutely delicious.”
Everyone sat around the table and ate their dinner. The meal instantly dispelled their fatigue due to working busily during the day.
Su Ying’s mouth didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping. She continued to eat until her tummy was bulging before she reluctantly put down her chopsticks.
Xiao Jin saw that she was so stuffed that she couldn’t move at all. He frowned slightly and said, “Eat less at night. It’s not good for digestion.”
“If 1 don’t eat enough, I’ll be hungry in the middle of the night.”
Xiao Jin tacitly agreed. He thought of the two nights some time ago when she had woken up in the middle of the night and did not return for a long time. When he went to look for her, he saw her gobbling down the leftovers in the kitchen. He did not know where the food she had eaten went to. She clearly ate a lot, but she did not seem to put on any weight at all..