fictionpage Chapter 50 Inviting the Whole Family to Eat Chicken
Chapter 50 Inviting the Whole Family to Eat Chicken
"I was just going to leave the day like this, without much to show for it, but I ended up catching a pheasant right before I got home?"
Li Xiangyang snapped the pheasant's neck, threw it into a sack, and joked, "Looks like God still favors the reborn."
He had gained something, his mood improved, and his steps became much lighter, but no matter how fast he walked, it still didn't get dark as quickly as he had walked.
Before long, the path underfoot became obscured, and we had to grope our way forward, with the piercing howls of wolves echoing in our ears from time to time.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangyang felt a pang of anxiety and quickened his pace.
"I wish I had a flashlight right now," Li Xiangyang suddenly thought, realizing he needed to buy one.
In particular, they have recently been going out to search for traps before dawn. It is inconvenient to carry a kerosene lamp in the wilderness, and the range of illumination of a kerosene lamp is very limited.
They cannot detect danger in time!
"Brother... Xiangyang... Brother... Xiangyang..." Li Xiangdong's shouts echoed across the vast grassland, growing louder as they approached.
However, it's impossible to tell which direction it is in.
"Brother has come to pick me up." Hearing Li Xiangdong's call, Li Xiangyang's mood instantly calmed down.
I climbed up the small hill next to me and looked out from the top. I could immediately see the orange glow of a kerosene lamp in the distance.
For the first time, Li Xiangyang felt that the light emitted by the kerosene lamp was so warm.
"Brother, brother, I'm here!" she called out and rushed towards Li Xiangdong's direction.
Just like when I was a child, I ran towards my brother countless times.
Li Xiangyang was mischievous and loved to cause trouble since he was a child. Whenever he got into trouble outside, Li Xiangdong would just chuckle and protect him behind his back.
Of course, Li Xiangdong also took the blame for him a lot when he was young.
"Sigh... Brother, I've finally found you. Why are you up so late today? If you can't finish, you can do it tomorrow. Don't you know how dangerous it is to be out in the middle of nowhere at night?"
Li Xiangdong's tone was somewhat reproachful.
"Next time... next time, I'll definitely be earlier next time. I didn't manage my time well today."
Li Xiangyang gave an awkward laugh.
Li Xiangdong was a little surprised that the man admitted his mistake so readily for the first time.
but,
Li Xiangdong's words seemed like a reprimand, but they were actually expressions of concern for Li Xiangyang's safety. How could Li Xiangyang possibly talk back to him?
"Alright, come back with me when you're done." Li Xiangdong took the Type 53 infantry and cavalry rifle off his back and handed it to Li Xiangyang: "I'm still not very good at using this thing, you take it."
He proudly brandished the axe in his hand: "I'm more used to using this."
"Okay, thanks, brother." Li Xiangyang took the gun and then put his arm around Li Xiangdong's neck, saying, "I'll get you something good to eat when we get back."
As he spoke, he lifted the sack containing the pheasants in front of Li Xiangdong and shook it.
"What is it?" Li Xiangdong asked curiously, bringing his nose closer to smell it.
Ugh! I almost threw up: "What's that smell? It tastes like chicken poop!"
"That's right, brother, it's a pheasant!" Li Xiangyang smiled smugly. "Come on, let's go home and I'll get you a beggar's chicken."
"Beggar's chicken? What's beggar's chicken?"
Beggar's Chicken is a famous dish from the Jiangnan region.
Legend has it that during the Ming and Qing dynasties, beggars in the Jiangnan region, lacking cooking utensils, wrapped chickens in mud and roasted them. Later, the scholar Qian Qianyi tried it and improved it, and it gradually spread in the local area.
but,
At that time, information dissemination in Inner Mongolia was not well-developed, so most people were unaware of it.
Li Xiangdong had never heard of it either, but from Li Xiangyang's tone, he could tell it was something delicious.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he unconsciously swallowed.
They quickened their pace!
…………
"Dad, Mom, my brother and I are back!" Li Xiangdong shouted as he opened the courtyard gate.
After rushing around, I'm finally home!
"Oh, it's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. I was so worried about you." Hearing Li Xiangdong's voice, Wang Guiying finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had just heard from Li Xiangdong that morning that they had caught five rabbits, but three of them had been eaten by something and only their internal organs remained.
It's really scary.
Li Xiangyang went out so late and didn't come back, making her extremely worried.
As soon as Li Xiangyang entered the room, he started muttering to himself again: "I'm telling you, Xiangyang..."
But before she could even open her mouth, Li Xiangyang cut her off, saying, "You're a father now, how come you're still so irresponsible? You don't even know to come home earlier..."
Enraged, Wang Guiying raised her hand to slap him.
Everyone else was so angry they laughed.
"Alright, Xiangyang, stop being so nagging. You must be hungry. Come and eat. I've kept the food warm for you."
Liu Xiulan tried to smooth things over.
She handed Li Doudou to her grandfather, Li Zhenshan, and then got up to go to the kitchen to serve Li Xiangyang his meal.
It's so nice to have a wife who cares about you. Li Xiangyang suddenly felt a warm current flowing through his heart, but it quickly turned downwards.
He thought to himself, "I must work hard tonight and reward Liu Xiulan properly."
But he doesn't want to eat rice right now; he wants to eat chicken.
"Xiulan, don't bring out the food, I'm not hungry yet." Li Xiangyang said as he walked towards the kitchen, "I'll make you something nice tonight."
"What...?"
"What's delicious?"
Everyone was a little confused.
"Beggar's chicken! My brother said he'd make us a whole beggar's chicken for dinner tonight," Li Xiangdong said, poking his head out of the kitchen.
He went straight into the kitchen to boil water as soon as he entered the door.
"Chicken? Xiangyang, you caught a wild chicken?" Zhao Lijuan didn't know what beggar's chicken was, but when she heard "chicken," she slipped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and ran to the kitchen to check. Li Chunsheng followed her.
"Chicken, what a big chicken!" The pheasant in Li Xiangyang's hand jumped up happily and shouted.
"Sigh, Xiangyang is such a troublemaker all day long," Li Zhenshan said with a sigh as he played with Li Doudou.
Wang Guiying's anger had subsided by now. Whether or not she ate chicken didn't matter; all that mattered was that her son had returned safely.
He immediately spoke up for Li Xiangyang, saying, "You old man, if it weren't for Xiangyang's antics these past few days, you wouldn't even be able to afford corn porridge."
"Oh, you old woman, you didn't say this before Xiangyang came back."
"That was then, now is now."
"You," Li Zhenshan pointed at Wang Guiying, then stopped talking. Turning to Xiangyang, he asked, "By the way, have you arranged everything for collecting the straw?"
"Everything is arranged." Li Xiangyang put the plucked pheasant into a solution of peppercorns and ginger to soak. "My father-in-law will continue to help us collect straw in the next couple of days."
"That's good. Thank you for your trouble, in-laws. I'll have to bring some gifts next time I visit." Li Zhenshan nodded, handed Li Doudou to Wang Guiying, and lit his pipe: "How much per jin? Is the money enough?"
"That's enough. I bought it for 1.5 cents a pound, and there's still some left over," Li Xiangyang replied, his hands still busy working.
The pheasant, covered in water infused with Sichuan peppercorns and ginger, was lifted up, its body rubbed with coarse salt, and then wrapped with a few cabbage leaves. Finally, it was tied tightly with reeds several times.
"Brother, give me the chicken. The yellow mud is ready." Li Xiangdong had already brought in the yellow mud mixed with water.
After taking the chicken from Li Xiangyang, he began to smear yellow mud on the chicken, and then put it directly into the stove to roast.
Two hours later, a fragrant aroma wafted from the stove.
Everyone was hungry.