Chapter 18 Delivering Dried Fish

Chapter 18 Delivering Dried Fish

After having Xie Wanniang memorize parts of three medical books and then testing her on the medicinal parts, processing methods, properties, meridians, effects, and dosages of some herbs, Doctor Chen picked up his medicine box and left Jiang Yuan's house with very mixed feelings.

Jiang Yuan followed him out to take him home, while Xie Wanniang locked the courtyard gate and continued to process the remaining small amount of medicinal herbs.

By the time Jiang Yuan dropped Doctor Chen off at home and rushed back, Xie Wanniang had already washed her hands and gone to the kitchen to fry fish pieces.

Jiang Yuan guessed that she must be busy, so he didn't bother to call her to open the door for him. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he took a running start and climbed over the courtyard wall to get in.

Afraid of startling Xie Wanniang, he paused for a moment before entering the kitchen. "What can I do?"

Xie Wanniang was using a strainer to scoop out the fried, crispy fish pieces when she heard a familiar voice. She subconsciously looked up and asked, "I remember locking the gate?"

Jiang Yuan nodded. "I climbed over the wall to get in."

Xie Wanniang chuckled, "Luckily, most people don't have your skills."

Otherwise, she would definitely carry a knife and medicine powder with her every day.

With a sigh, Xie Wanniang began to smoothly and effortlessly instruct Jiang Yuan on what to do, "The remaining fish heads and bones cannot be wasted. Boil a pot of water and blanch them for me."

Jiang Yuan happened to have bought a lot of tofu on her way to town today. Once she's done with her work, she can easily make a fish head, fish bone, and tofu soup with chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, and then add some mixed grain dumplings to cook. That will take care of their dinner tonight.

Jiang Yuan had never seen anyone eat fish head and fish bones before, but thinking of the other dishes Xie Wanniang had prepared, Jiang Yuan suddenly became looking forward to dinner.

The two of them worked for a long time, taking advantage of the last bit of daylight.

Xie Wanniang continued frying the fish. After frying the fish, she ladled the remaining hot oil in the pot into a large bowl, then threw the fish head and bones that Jiang Yuan had already blanched into the pot, added water, and simmered it over low heat.

During this time, she and Jiang Yuan washed and cut the cucumbers and white radishes that she had instructed Jiang Yuan to pick from the vegetable garden into small pieces, and put them into a jar to pickle.

After the pickled vegetables were ready, Xie Wanniang went to knead dough to make dumplings. Jiang Yuan was directed by her to cut the tofu into small pieces and tear the bok choy he had washed in advance into two pieces.

Xie Wanniang threw the dough dumplings, tofu, and bok choy into the thick fish soup that had been simmering until it turned milky white and from which the fish heads and bones had been removed. Xie Wanniang rubbed her aching arms and sat there comfortably eating the sweet and sour apricots that Jiang Yuan had washed for her while washing the vegetables.

Jiang Yuan first lit one of the oil lamps in the house, then took out bowls, chopsticks, and wooden spoons, preparing to lift the lid and scoop out the food as soon as it was cooked.

The cabbage and tofu soup with fish broth as the base didn't have the same strong aroma as the fried fish, but after tasting it, Jiang Yuan felt that this was definitely another dinner that would make the village children cry with delight.

Indeed, some of the village children were once again brought to tears by the tempting aroma emanating from their house.

Compared to the rich aroma emanating from Xie Wanniang's fried fish, the meat slices they stewed with lots of vegetables were so bland and tasteless. Not to mention, there were some children in the family who couldn't even afford to stew such bland and tasteless meat slices for them.

Adults, driven to desperation by their unruly children, can only try to appease them by saying, "Fish smells good, but they taste very muddy."

Of course, some people would just start beating their kids without saying a word, making them never dare to cry out again.

The next day, Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan left home a little later than usual. The nearby villagers who had gotten up early to go to the fields finished their breakfast and left home around the same time.

When Chen Lizheng's second son, Chen Moqin, saw Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, he immediately smiled and said to them, "Your family has been eating so well these past few days, I'm drooling in my dreams."

His wife, Deng Xiaoyan, nodded in agreement, saying, "He kept smacking his lips in the middle of the night; it was quite creepy."

Hearing the young couple say this, their next-door neighbors, and even their neighbors' neighbors, all laughed and talked to Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang about it.

Some said their children were so hungry they cried, others said their children ate the meat their mothers cooked but insisted it didn't taste the same, and still others said they'd been eating rice with the aroma of Jiang Yuan's cooking lately.

Jiang Yuan was always taciturn, and when he had to say something, he would try to be concise and to the point. Naturally, he was not good at dealing with the villagers' teasing, which had no real substance.

Fortunately, Xie Wanniang, who had heard the children's loud cries more than once but had never seen anyone come to cause them any trouble, had prepared about two pounds of fried dried fish for Jiang Yuan in advance.

The dried anchovies are salty, fragrant, and crispy. Whether it's the fish head or the fish bones, you can chew them directly without worrying about any danger to children.

Jiang Yuan handed the two oil paper packets containing dried fish to Chen Moqin, saying, "You two can divide them yourselves."

After saying that, he carried his basket on his back, took his bow and arrows and his wood-chopping knife, and turned to leave with Xie Wanniang, who smiled and nodded to everyone.

The villagers, half envious and half complaining, were completely stunned by his move. Only after the two had walked away and their small figures were still visible did Chen Moqin awkwardly speak up, "No, that's not what I meant!"

Although he did envy Jiang Yuan's good life and his mouth watered every day, he really had no intention of asking Jiang Yuan for anything to eat!

Others chimed in.

"That's not what we meant!"

"This kid really hasn't changed at all."

"That's right. We wanted to chat with him, but he just came up and gave us things without saying a word. He's too honest."

"Let's send something back to their family tonight."

"......"

The adults tried to ease the awkwardness with their words, but the children were so tempted that they were practically staring at the oil paper package in Chen Moqin's hand, their eyes practically spitting fire.

Chen Moqin laughed at the children, handed one of the bags to his wife standing next to him to hold, and then carefully opened the bag in his hand and waved it at the children from a distance.

"Come on, come on, stand in front of me according to age. The younger ones first, the older ones last. Those who are naughty, mischievous, or bully others will not get a single scrap of food."

The children cheered and swarmed around Chen Moqin.

With delicious treats dangling in front of them, even the most mischievous children are now forcing themselves to behave.

Chen Moqin roughly estimated the number, and then quickly distributed the dried fish to the children queuing in front of him, according to the ratio of two small fish per child.