jdhmnovel Chapter 221 The Picky Old Man
Chapter 221 The Picky Old Man
If she hadn't been so tired last night, she would never have missed such a delicacy and kept it until today. A dead fish cannot be compared with a live fish.
Thin slices of fish are spread on the oiled stone slab, the oil sizzles, the fish curls up and changes color, sprinkle a few grains of salt on it, and it's ready to eat, without sprinkling any dried shrimp powder.
Thinking that the fish had been left outside overnight and wondering if it had gone bad, I picked up a piece to taste it first.
Zhou Xing stared at her and asked, "How is it? Is it delicious? Is it not bad?"
Zhou Guo wrinkled his nose slightly, "It's not bad, but it's not as fresh as yesterday. It seems that it's better to kill it now."
Since the umami flavor is half gone, it’s better to sprinkle some dried shrimp powder on it.
But even after it was left out overnight, everyone still enjoyed the meal and said it was delicious.
"This fish is really delicious. It's really different from other fish. It tastes sweet at the end. Did you notice?" Zhou Gu smacked his lips and savored it. "It's really sweet. I've never tasted such a sweet fish before."
Zhou Xing laughed at him, "You've only eaten fish a few times, and you're saying that."
Zhou Mi said: "That's right, there are so many fish I haven't tasted yet."
Zhou Gu was not angry either, he smiled and said, "I really haven't eaten it before."
Zhou Dacang ate several slices in one go. "This fish has been left out overnight, but it still tastes so good. I wonder how much better it would taste if it were killed right away. In addition to looking for ginseng in the mountains today, we can also catch a few more of these fish."
The old man only ate two slices and stopped. If he hadn't eaten freshly killed fish yesterday, he might have eaten a few bites, but after yesterday's experience, he couldn't eat the grilled fish fillets at all.
Zhou Guo was not so particular. Although the taste was not that good, it was still meat after all and it was not bad. He had already had porridge in the morning, so every extra bite was a good one. After all, it was dry.
Zhou Dacang tried to persuade them, "Sir, please eat the fish. There is so much of it. Everyone can have a share." He was also worried that the old man would give in to the younger ones.
The old man waved his hand and said, "No, no, you guys eat it yourself."
Zhou Da Cang wanted to persuade them again, and Zhou Gu and others also came to persuade them.
The old man's face turned green from being advised.
Zhou Guo smiled secretly and stepped out to smooth things over. "Alright, alright, uncle, big brother, it's OK if Master doesn't want to eat it. The one he ate yesterday was freshly killed, and the one today is stale. Unless he's starving and has nothing else to eat, he won't touch it."
Although the old man eats everything and seems to be not picky about anything, sometimes he gets so picky that others simply can't understand him.
When Zhou Dacang and the other man heard this, they became suspicious and stopped trying to persuade him.
Zhou Xing said: "It's not bad, it's delicious, why don't you eat it, sir?"
"Yes, it tastes so good." Zhou Gu ate another piece, still couldn't understand.
Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi didn't say anything and just ate by themselves. If the gentleman didn't want to eat, then he didn't have to eat. Not eating was obviously not to his taste. When had he ever seen the gentleman being humble? When it came to eating, this word had nothing to do with him.
Zhou Guo shook his head and recalled the taste: "You will know when you eat freshly slaughtered fish. It is so fresh, tender, springy, sweet and juicy. It is really the pine mushroom of fish."
"Gulp~~" The old man swallowed his saliva, put down the bowl and stood up to walk away, "I'm full."
Zhou Guo chuckled.
Li patted her, feeling both angry and amused. "Why did you bother your master so early in the morning? He only ate one bowl and then stopped. It's obvious that he wasn't full. Normally, he would have eaten three bowls."
Zhou Gu came over and said with a smile: "Guoguo, this fish is really as delicious as you said. Can I go into the mountains with you guys today? Even if we don't find ginseng, it's worth catching a few of these fish. I want to try the pine mushrooms in the fish, hehe."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi also came over.
Who wouldn't want to go look for the treasure? If they were available at home, Li and Zhou Xing would also want to go.
Zhou Guo looked at the three people who were looking anxiously, and said, "One person has to stay at home, who will stay?"
The three of them looked at each other and then turned their gazes to another place at the same time.
Zhou Dacang raised his eyebrows, "Are you sure you all want to go?" He glanced at Zhou Mi and Zhou Mai, "You two should stay at home. The mountains are very far away. I'm afraid your legs and feet won't allow you to walk far."
"What? Uncle, you have to understand that we walked the thousands of miles of escape step by step. The scars from the blisters on our feet are still there. Do you want me to take them off and show them to you?" Zhou Mi said as he was about to take off his shoes.
Zhou Mai also said: "Yes, uncle, although we don't know how to jump up and down, our leg strength is not bad, it's not like we haven't been there before."
Zhou Gu nodded repeatedly and said, yes, yes.
Zhou Guo looked at him with a smile.
The next moment, Zhou Dacang turned his gaze to Zhou Gu, "Then Damao, you stay here."
Zhou Gu: “…”
Then he looked at Zhou Mi and said, "Sanmao, stay as well. Sometimes the masters don't have enough manpower. You guys can help more. It will be a relief if we finish digging the well sooner."
Zhou Mi nodded.
Zhou Gu also nodded. Although they both wanted to go, matters at home could not be delayed.
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Brother, third brother, it doesn't matter. We will take turns every day. In two days, when the well is dug, our whole family will go into the mountains." Go into the mountains to collect firewood!
Just build a solid shed in the yard for the woodshed in winter. There are so many things to do, so let’s do the most important ones first.
The two of them smiled and agreed, saying that there was nothing wrong with staying at home.
The family ate all the roasted fish fillets with relish, accompanied by wild vegetable and pheasant porridge.
After eating, I felt a little unsatisfied. Although my husband didn’t like it very much, they liked it very much.
After eating, Zhou Guo, the old man, Zhou Dacang, and Zhou Mai went to the mountains.
Li stayed at home as usual, making clothes and shoes, and Zhou Xing would join in after she finished her housework.
It is not an easy job for two people to make clothes, shoes and socks for the whole family. They have to keep their heads down and their backs hunched all day long, which makes their necks sore, their waists sore and their eyes blurry.
I also have to wash clothes for the whole family, which is not an easy job. It’s okay now, but it will be a pain in the ass when winter comes.
Li planned to arrange marriages for Zhou Da Cang and Zhou Gu after the new year, and they would be able to do less work then.
Soon, the masters all arrived and the work officially began at home. Zhou Gu and Zhou Mi, who stayed behind, followed the masters and busy themselves around, giving them whatever they asked for.
Zhou Guo and his group had just entered the mountain from a small path.
After walking for a long time, they chose an uninhabited mountain. Zhou Guo pointed at the mountain and said, "Let's go here. It looks like there is a lot of wood. There is no road to get there, so I guess few people go there. This is the closest to the village. We can just throw the chopped firewood down there instead of carrying it from the distant mountain."
Everyone had no objection and took out their machetes to cut a path up the mountain.
As soon as they entered the mountain, Zhou Guo took a machete and started chopping any suitable firewood he saw. Zhou Dacang climbed up a tree and chopped the dead branches, while Zhou Mai picked up scattered dry firewood in the woods.