Chapter 107: This is a Misfortune! My Rabbit, I Am Predestined to be Squashed!

There was simply no time to make candied hawthorn skewers for Zhou Sinian. Instead, Ming Dai took him into her space to sort out the things they needed to send to Beijing.

Since they were heading to the county town to deliver mushrooms, it was the perfect opportunity to send the package to the capital as well.

Ming Dai carefully packed small half-bags of corn cobs, soybeans, millet, red dates, hazelnuts, mountain walnuts, and chestnuts, neatly organizing everything.

On the special products list she had prepared, the items that most interested Director Niu and her husband were the mountain goods and dried meat.

Hazel mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and dried wild vegetables, along with a bag of dried meat, would definitely make a good gift in the capital.

The dried meat was from the storage in the space, mainly wild boar meat.

Ming Dai didn’t find it particularly tasty, as it was somewhat tough and gamey, but others didn’t think the same. In the days when pork was hard to come by, wild boar meat was quite popular.

Once everything was packed, they only had to wait for Liu Laosan to come and take them to the county town the next day.

After finishing, Ming Dai went to the kitchen to check. Last night, she had soaked the rabbit jerky she traded for at the grass market, planning to eat it for lunch today.

Outside, Zhou Sinian was busy bathing the dog sled.

Watching the sled covered in foam, Ming Dai felt a faint sense of helplessness. A perfectly good person was turning into a mischievous child—how was she supposed to fix this?

“Zhou Sinian, without a dog, are you planning to pull this yourself?” she asked, exasperated.

Zhou Sinian, holding a small brush, was carefully scrubbing every inch of the sled, utterly focused on his task.

“I have a dog,” he replied.

It was the second time he had said that.

A sudden thought struck Ming Dai—the cattle. Her eyes narrowed. “You have a dog? Where did it come from?!”

Still rinsing off the foam with a hose, Zhou Sinian answered matter-of-factly, “I won it in a fight.”

Ming Dai’s frown deepened. “A fight? Who did you fight? When?”

Zhou Sinian paused to think, then shrugged. “Last time. Who was it again? I don’t know… but I know where they are!”

…

Ming Dai sighed in relief. It must have been some family who kept the dog, and after fighting, they probably agreed to let him play with it.

“Alright then, after you’re done, go to the garden and pick some celery and cilantro.”

Zhou Sinian blinked and asked, “What are we having for lunch?”

“Rabbit, beer-braised rabbit, and steamed rice.”

Zhou Sinian tilted his head and recalled, “Rabbit? I’ve eaten rabbit before.”

Ming Dai was curious. “You have?”

This was the first time he had voluntarily mentioned something he had eaten.

Zhou Sinian nodded. “Yeah, I ate it. Put it at the bottom of the pot and cooked it. It wouldn’t listen, kept running away, so I had to block it.”

Ming Dai shivered and cautiously asked, “Uh, how did you cook the rabbit without bleeding it first?”

She clearly remembered bleeding the sheep, and it had almost made Liu Dazhu faint.

Zhou Sinian paused his actions and began gesturing enthusiastically to Ming Dai. “Rabbit doesn’t taste good, but it smells great! And it’s prettier than sheep, all fluffy, so nice to touch.

I saw people in the village catch some and say it’s a rabbit, and you have to roast it. I caught one, let it bleed, but after skinning it, it didn’t look good anymore. It was horrible to eat, smelled awful, and was tough to bite.

Later, I figured out that if you roast it with the fur on, it’s just right. Though still not tasty, it smells nice while roasting!

If you like, I can catch a rabbit for you in the summer and roast it so you can smell it.”

Who would want to smell that?!

What kind of brain logic is this?!

Who roasts a rabbit just to smell it, not eat it?!

What you’re smelling is the protein burning off the rabbit’s fur. How can that smell good?

You can’t just roast them alive!

The rabbit really met its misfortune when it encountered you!

Ming Dai took a deep breath and sternly told Zhou Sinian, “You can’t do that! We can eat rabbit, but we can’t torture it. Roasting it alive—don’t you think it would be in pain?”

Zhou Sinian looked a bit defiant, glanced at Ming Dai, and muttered softly, “It didn’t say it was in pain.”

Ming Dai: …

“Anyway, from now on, you are not allowed to roast any animal alive! Got it? If you want to eat something, kill it and leave the rest to me. We can eat, but we have to let them go to the happy place peacefully. Otherwise, the gods will punish us!”

When Zhou Sinian heard her mention the gods punishing them, his expression instantly changed. He was scared that the gods might take away his celestial abode, and then he’d go hungry again.

So, he solemnly nodded, “Okay, I got it. From now on, I’ll leave the killing to you!”

Ming Dai rolled her eyes. So, it’s just up to the gods to punish me, huh? Has he forgotten where the gods’ abode is?

In the end, Zhou Sinian hesitated for a moment before seriously suggesting to Ming Dai, “How about we eat lamb instead? Lamb isn’t pretty, but it’s tasty. A silly roe deer would work too. It’s a bit stupid, but also delicious. I promise to kill it with one clean stroke, no pain at all!

As for rabbit… it’s pretty, but really not tasty.”

Ming Dai sighed, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Finally, she patted Zhou Sinian on the shoulder as he squatted, “Once we’re back from the county town, we’ll arrange for acupuncture.”

We can’t let him keep being this silly, it’s so terrifying!

Zhou Sinian rubbed the dent in his head and pouted, “Fine, but when you give me acupuncture, use thinner needles, not too thick.”

Ming Dai looked at him sympathetically. “I’ll try my best.”

After Zhou Sinian finished cleaning the sled and went to the field to pick some celery and cilantro, Ming Dai walked back to the kitchen in a daze.

Looking at the rabbit jerky soaking in the water, she couldn’t help but think of the tragic fate of the rabbit that had died at Zhou Sinian’s hands. For a moment, she didn’t know who was more pitiful.

What a misfortune!

Well, since the rabbit is so cute, let’s stew it with beer and send it off with a fragrant farewell!

Ming Dai chopped the soaked rabbit jerky into pieces, separating it by parts.

She heated oil in a wok, and once it was hot, added scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers. These days, Ming Dai planned to give Zhou Sinian only medicinal baths, so she had been adding more chili peppers than usual.

Once the aroma was released from the ingredients, she added the rabbit jerky to the wok. Along the edge of the pan, she poured in a circle of light soy sauce and vinegar, using dark soy sauce for color.

Ming Dai hadn’t found any broad bean paste in the storage, so she planned to make some herself someday.

She scooped a small spoonful of fermented black beans into the wok, sautéed them until fragrant, and then poured in two bottles of beer. After covering the pot, she began to stew it.

Zhou Sinian finished cleaning the sled and came in holding a small vegetable basket. He stood by the island counter, sniffing and picking celery. He wouldn’t touch cilantro, and always wore gloves when picking it.

Ming Dai took the basket from him. “I’ll handle this, you go steam the rice.”

Zhou Sinian obediently went to scoop rice and rinse it. His little mouth started to make suggestions again. “Ming Dai, let’s go out and eat rice again. I want to eat that dried rice with pickled vegetables.”

Ming Dai removed the leaves from the celery. “That’s called guoba. We’ll have it when we get back from the county town. I want to eat it too.”

She could even try making crab roe guoba. They planned to fry meatballs before the New Year, so it would be the perfect time to make both.

The rice was ready, and the beer-braised rabbit in the clay pot was done too.

Ming Dai opened the lid, dripped a few drops of prickly ash oil into the pot, added the celery segments, and stirred everything together. She covered the pot and let it stew for another two minutes.

Two minutes later, Ming Dai opened the lid, and the rich fragrance immediately made both of them salivate.

Zhou Sinian eagerly held the plate and handed it to her, clearly no longer showing any signs of dislike for the rabbit.

Ming Dai scooped a plate for him, then took one for herself. The difference was that his didn’t include cilantro.

The rabbit meat, after being wind-dried for a winter, had become very firm. Since it was wild rabbit, the meat was even more firm due to its high physical activity. The texture was incredibly springy.

The beer not only helped eliminate the gamey smell of the rabbit, but the carbon dioxide in the beer also changed the structure of the meat, making it tender, breaking down the collagen, and allowing the meat to cook faster.

One bite, and the rabbit meat was not only fresh, fragrant, and springy but also very easy to separate from the bones, with no trouble getting stuck in the teeth.

The celery, coated in the meat’s juices, was crispy and helped balance the richness, while the unique malty aroma from the beer added an extra layer of flavor.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

The two of them slumped in their chairs, staring at the empty plates and bowls. They had truly achieved a “clean plate” victory, with every bit of food consumed.

Zhou Sinian excitedly spoke up, “Ming Dai, when the grass grows, let’s go catch some rabbits! I know where they live.”

Ming Dai thought for a moment, “Alright, we can catch more rabbits and keep them in the space. Wild rabbits are too lean, and farm-raised ones are fatter and tastier!”

Zhou Sinian’s eyes sparkled as he spun in circles, hands clasped together. “Okay! Okay! Okay!”

After finishing the meal, Zhou Sinian cleaned up the kitchen while Ming Dai went to check on the cattle in the grassland.

Both the big and small ribs had already managed to stand up and were currently munching on the sweet potato vines Zhou Sinian had cut for them. When they saw her coming, they weren’t afraid, still looking at her with their murky eyes.

Ming Dai checked on them and was pleased with their recovery. As long as they could eat and drink, they were going to be fine.

She added some salt to the large water bowl for them and then headed to the cornfield.

The corn had already sprouted, and due to the temperature in the space, it had grown quite tall. In a little while, they’d have fresh corn to eat.

Lastly, Ming Dai glanced at the pond, which had temporarily served as a bathing area. She thought about raising some fish there. The warehouse only had salted fish, but she was craving fresh fish heads stewed with tofu.

On her way back, she noticed the dog sled that Zhou Sinian had left drying by the wall.

Not only had he cleaned it thoroughly, but he had also tied the red scarf Ming Dai gave him to the front of the sled.

True love—without a doubt!