Chapter 4 Seven Treasure Fish & Fish Ball and Water Shield Soup

Shihe Village is a small village, and pork, beef, and mutton are expensive, so most people can’t afford them. But there is a stone river in the village, so people catch fish on warm days and ice fish on cold days. Fish is a daily dish. The meat stored at home is reserved for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Now that it’s only the 20th day of the New Year, Su Huai decided to cook fish.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-

In the kitchen, Su Huai was chopping fish meat with two knives. He chopped once with the left hand and twice with the right hand. This knife technique is called horse hoof knife because the sound is very similar to the sound of a horse running. The snow-white fish meat turned into meat paste under the knife in an instant. Su Huai boiled a pot of water and glanced out the window.

The weather at noon was just right, and the fragmented sunlight refracted the remaining snow, sparkling brightly. A cleared space was cleared in the middle of the courtyard. Lu Yuan moved a small stool and sat there. In front of him was a porcelain basin, and he was throwing yellow bean sprouts with the heads and tails cut off one by one.

Su Huai said that if the yellow tassels and roots on the yellow bean sprouts were pulled off, they would taste delicious and look beautiful.

“Hehe, I’ve picked them!” Lu Yuan, who was working hard, suddenly felt a black shadow covering him. He quickly handed over the porcelain basin.

Lu Yuan was a person who had no principles when it came to eating, drinking and having fun. Now that delicious food was in front of him, he certainly had no reason to make things difficult for his cook.

 At this time, he was holding a wild vegetable in his hand, smiling at Su Huai with narrowed eyes: “I have never seen this kind of wild vegetable before, what is it called?”

The rough green wild vegetable was only half a finger long, and its plump flesh looked pleasing, like a lotus leaf that was a few sizes smaller. Lu Yuan held the juice and poked the round leaf with his finger, and the lotus leaf began to shake non-stop.

“This is water shield, it is very delicious when stewed in soup.” Su Huai snatched the small dish from Lu Yuan’s hand, threw it into the basin, and walked to the kitchen with it in his arms. Lu Yuan naturally followed curiously.

 “Brother Su, what is this?”

“This is called Seven Treasure Carp. It is made of pork, black fungus, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, green beans, and fennel. You can stuff it into the fish belly later and steam it.”

“Eh? Why did you put all the vegetables I picked on the plate? Can they be eaten raw?”

Snap–

He slapped someone’s restless claws.

“Don’t move!”

The stove was lit, and the big pot was greased. A plate of vegetables was steadily transferred to the pot. It was sprinkled with starch slurry. Su Huai picked up the pot and shook it in circles. The vegetables slowly stuck together because of the starch slurry. He threw the pot and dragged the plate with his left hand. The round pancake-like vegetables returned to the plate intact-this technique is called stir-frying vegetables.

 This dish was originally called Braised Vegetarian, which required many seasonal vegetables to be put together. However, in the middle of winter, there were not so many vegetables. Su Huai cut winter melon and cabbage into thin strips and placed them in a circle. In the middle, he put crystal clear yellow bean sprouts, which were moistened with a layer of sauce to make the color more lustrous. Lu Yuan started to protest just by looking at the white steam belly.

“Bring it over first.” When he took over the plate, the water boiled. Su Huai grabbed a handful of fish meat paste and squeezed it skillfully. A fish ball came out between his index finger and thumb. Then he gently flicked it with his thumb. The fish ball fell into the boiling water with a plop. Soon, all the plump white balls floated up.

When the water shield and seasonings were put in, the steamed seven treasure fish was also done. Su Huai ordered Lu Yuan to continue to carry the plate, and he went to the backyard and took out a small jar of wine.

 “Brother Su, you have hidden such a good thing!” Lu Yuan, who was originally staring at the table of dishes, began to stare straight at Su Huai as he entered the room. He looked at Su Huai with expectation as he opened the bottle, and a strong rice aroma wafted out.

It turned out to be millet wine!

Lu Yuan was a person who loved alcohol. Although millet wine was a bit shabby, it was still easy to arouse his alcohol addiction. As soon as Su Huai filled the glass, he couldn’t wait to grab it and swallow it in one gulp.

The slightly turbid wine went into his throat, slightly choking and spicy, but the aftertaste was lightly sweet, and the strong aroma of sweet wine made people drunk. After just one glass, Lu Yuan’s eyes were wandering.

“Brother Su… your millet wine… is so strong! Hahaha…” Lu Yuan picked up a piece of fish meat with his tongue a little unsteadily.

 The meat on the fish belly was wrapped with some stuffing, and it was stuffed into the mouth. Not only did it not have any fishy smell, but the seven treasure stuffing was mixed with fish, and the fish meat was soaked with meat fragrance. The complex taste was like azalea blooming layer by layer in the mouth.

Lu Yuan’s face was full of happiness: “Brother Su, you are so good at cooking!”

It’s worth it! After so many days of being sullen by him, this meal is all worth it!

Somewhat impatiently, Lu Yuan stretched his chopsticks to the plate of braised vegetables again.

It made a crunching sound in his mouth. The crispy and smooth taste made people feel refreshed, but the taste was a little bland.  Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes, picked up the small wine glass, and smiled at Su Huai: “Hehe… another glass…”

Su Huai was eating the tender meat on the back of the fish. He didn’t look at Lu Yuan when he heard it, but put down his chopsticks and scooped a large spoonful of soup into the bowl.

“Drink the soup first.”

“Brother Su…” At this moment, Lu Yuan’s face was pink, and it was red from the ear to the base of the neck. His watery eyes were a little hazy. His mouth curled and his nose moved with it, looking pitiful and aggrieved.

He watched “Big Trouble” reluctantly fiddling with the spoon with his fingertips, making a sound against the porcelain bowl. His head sank down like he was dozing off, and his slightly open mouth pecked at the edge of the bowl. He drank a sip, licked his lips, and then ate a fish ball. Then he ate a bunch of water shield, and swallowed it bit by bit…

Su Huai knew that this guy was drunk.

 After drinking several cups quickly, there was little rice wine left in the small wine jar. Su Huai let go and let Lu Yuan grab it. He went out and got two bowls of rice.

“Brother Su… the wine is gone! Go open another jar…”

“No more. Let’s eat.”

“Brother Su… hehe… this seven treasure fish is simply the best! I haven’t eaten such delicious fish in more than 20 years… ah! And this fish ball… come on… I’ll pick one for you…”

Lu Yuan smiled, picked up a fish ball and put it to Su Huai’s mouth: “Come… open your mouth…”

Pah——

The two chopsticks touched each other, and the fish ball fell to the ground, rolling far away, covered with a layer of dust.

 “Hehe… You dare to run! I’ll take another one…”

After repeating this for five or six times, Su Huai finally couldn’t help it. He picked up the soup spoon and scooped all the fish balls left in the soup bowl into his bowl. He glared at Lu Yuan and said, “Enough, sit down and eat!”

“Brother Su! Why did you take all the fish balls away? I want to eat more…”

With a trembling arm, Su Huai pushed the bowl away. Just as he was about to say “all for you”, he heard Lu Yuan shouting “ah, ah”, opening his mouth and leaning towards him.

“All… for you”

“Ah——”

“Sit still.”

“Ah——”

“You drank too much!”

“Ah——”

“…”

A spoonful of fish balls was sent in, and Lu Yuan chewed happily: “Delicious, another one!”

Su Huai turned his face away, his shoulders trembling a little, and stretched out the spoon again.

 “Don’t bite the spoon!”

“Mmm…”

“Open your mouth!”

“Mmm…”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Before Su Huai could say anything, he saw Lu Yuan’s face darken. He opened his mouth obediently and… vomited.

“Come here!” Su Huai’s face turned black. He grabbed Lu Yuan’s skinny arm and walked out. Lu Yuan covered his mouth and vomited all the way. Finally, he was thrown into the toilet by Su Huai and vomited.

After Su Huai cleaned up the mess left by Lu Yuan along the way, he fed all the inedible food to the pigs, and returned to the toilet. Lu Yuan was hanging on the wooden door, his face was green, and his legs were trembling and bending.

“Brother Su… I feel uncomfortable…” Lu Yuan frowned. His voice was very low, his clothes were all dirty, and there was a strange smell.

 Su Huai looked at him for a long time, but he couldn’t say a word in anger. He walked over with a cold face, half squatted with his back to Lu Yuan: “Come up.”

“Ah?”

Exhaling impatiently, Su Huai grabbed Lu Yuan’s hand that was holding the door, wrapped it around his neck, and dragged Lu Yuan’s thigh with his other hand. Just like that, he carried him on his back.

This troublesome guy looks skinny so how can he be so heavy! And… he stinks!

“Brother Su… the food you cook is so delicious… I want to eat it next time…”

“Mm.” From today on, I will only give you porridge.

“Brother Su… millet wine… I want more millet wine…”

“Mm.” That’s right, I will never let you touch alcohol again.

“Brother Su… I stink! I want to take a shower…”

“Mm…” I really want to throw this guy out like this.

 “Brother Su… I… I want to go home…”

“…” His footsteps paused slightly, and he stepped over the threshold: “Mm, go home.”

Lu Yuan lay on Su Huai’s shoulder in a daze. For a long while, he shook his head and rubbed his temples, and muttered in his ear: “Brother Su… Actually… you are a very good person…”