Chapter 120

Upon hearing about the barbecue, the children found it novel, and Fan Jin’s dark eyes also lit up with curiosity.

Different from the children’s cheers, he simply asked obediently, “What do you need me to do?”

Shuiqing calculated the ingredients needed for the barbecue and said one by one, “First, we need to prepare the ingredients.”

She looked around at the children of various sizes in a circle. The advantage of having many children was that there were more people to work!

And all of them were used to working, quick and nimble.

She first turned to Fan Jin and said, “Since we have many people, let’s roast two rabbits. Otherwise, I’m afraid it won’t be enough to eat. You’re responsible for cleaning them up.”

Rabbits were particularly delicious.

Secondly, they raised many rabbits at home.

Since a few days ago, they had started having litters one after another. There were already forty or fifty of various sizes, and several more seemed inclined to have litters next.

Rabbits reproduce quickly, and they mature quickly for market.

Although most were still young and not ready for market, it didn’t matter. They had twenty fat rabbits purchased previously, and they could easily replace them with larger rabbits later.

When the larger rabbits had offspring, those offspring would grow up and have more offspring… then they could trade with the villagers for authentic local hens.

It was entirely possible to have free-range chickens and rabbits!

“Okay,” Fan Jin obediently agreed without any objection, and went to do his task.

Shuiqing then instructed Fan Jiang, “You go and cut down a bamboo tree, chop it into thin bamboo skewers. We’ll use them later to skewer various meats.”

Fan Jiang had a lot of strength, didn’t like to use his brain, and loved to work. He grabbed a chopping knife and ran up the bamboo mountain directly.

He had to be quick going and quick coming back; he couldn’t delay the barbecue tonight!

Although he had never eaten barbecue, he had enjoyed roasted potatoes and roasted locusts.

Xing Hui and Bai Ziqian went their separate ways: one went to wash pork belly, lamb, and other meats, while the other went to the vegetable garden to pull lettuce, spring onions, garlic, fresh ginger, and coriander.

Xing Hui was afraid Bai Ziqian wouldn’t wash them properly, so he assigned him the less skilled task of pulling vegetables.

Bai Ziqian was deeply moved.

Then he resolutely refused!

“It’s cold. I’ll wash the meat, and you go pull vegetables!”

Xing Hui: … Big fool, don’t you know there’s something called hot water?

Nowadays, they made rice wine every day at home, and the fermentation required a certain temperature. There were also three fire pits in the wine workshop that needed occasional heating.

And there was a constant supply of hot water in the big iron pot.

However, thinking that Bai Ziqian was well-intentioned, he quietly swallowed back the words he was about to say.

He picked up the bamboo basket from the corner and went to the vegetable garden.

Bai Ziqian thought he was doing a great job as the eldest brother!

Fan Jiang: … Why didn’t you switch with me?

Cutting bamboo and chopping bamboo skewers wasn’t an easy task!

Meanwhile, Ling Ran was in charge of cutting meat, slicing the cleaned pork belly and lamb into evenly sized pieces.

Fan He and Fan Hu were in charge of skewering all the meats and vegetables that could be skewered.

Shuiqing felt that what she was doing was the most technically demanding part—aside from her, no one else could replace her.

First, they prepared the cold dishes.

Yes, how could you have a barbecue without cold dishes?

After all, barbecue wasn’t something that could be done instantly, nor could it be continuously available to eat.

So, cold dishes were indispensable.

Preserved egg with tofu, braised peanuts, cilantro with dried tofu, refreshing wood ear fungus, spinach mixed with scrambled eggs—each dish was prepared in duplicate and placed on both sides of the long table for everyone’s convenience in serving.

Next came the main dishes.

With time running short, it was time for some cheating.

Secretly bought ready-made tangyuan from the market, made a wolfberry rice wine tangyuan;

Bought buns, made pan-fried buns.

Also bought some steamed buns, rice cakes, and glutinous rice cakes, ready to be sliced later and grilled on skewers for eating.

In the fire pits, the new charcoal burned to a bright red color was taken out and placed into the small red clay stoves.

Similar to eating hotpot, various ingredients were placed in a circle around.

Four small red clay stoves were prepared, Fan Jin, Ling Ran, and Yan Qiu responsible for grilling the other ingredients.

Shuiqing was solely in charge of grilling the rabbits.

As she flipped the rabbits, she meticulously brushed layers of honey onto two fat rabbits, making sure not to miss any spots.

The sweet fragrance of honey combined with the sizzling fat rabbits made everyone involuntarily swallow their saliva.

Honey was rare these days, extremely precious.

Usually, only farmers who happened to find honey and come to sell it could get it.

But Shuiqing didn’t need to.

Because she had the marketplace, which was a cheating artifact.

Thirty-plus yuan per bottle of honey, she didn’t hesitate to use it.

Meanwhile, lamb skewers, pork belly, chicken wings, grilled bread slices, grilled green peppers, roasted garlic, roasted chives… continuously came out of the stove.

The rice cakes and glutinous rice cakes puffed up with golden bubbles, then ‘pop’ burst open.

Yan Qiu took them off and put them on empty plates on the side.

With the completion of the honey-grilled rabbits, the atmosphere suddenly reached its peak.

“So fragrant and delicious!”

“Look! My glutinous rice cake can stretch so long!”

“The grilled bread slices are also delicious!”

“I still prefer eating pork belly, it’s so juicy and tasty!”

…

Bai Ziqian gnawed on the rabbit meat, suddenly sniffed, and muttered vaguely, “If my parents were still here, they could also enjoy such delicious food.”

Shuiqing: … Big brother, the way you said that makes it sound like they’re not here anymore.

It’s just a barbecue meal, even if you don’t eat it, it’s not that dramatic.

“Shuiqing, I’ll take care of the rest of the grilling. You focus on eating,” Fan Jin said softly to her, placing a rabbit leg into Shuiqing’s bowl and bending down to speak in her ear.

Shuiqing nodded.

While eating, from time to time, she put some grilled skewers into the plate in front of Fan Jin.

This way, when others took over later, Fan Jin wouldn’t miss out on eating.

Time passed slowly in the mountains.

In winter, it was the farming off-season, and there wasn’t much farm work. Outside, the cold wind howled, but inside the dining hall, it was warm and cozy. A group of people leisurely enjoyed their barbecue.

It was lively and heartwarming.

Ling Ran chewed on the rabbit leg, watching Fan Jiang earnestly gnawing on pig trotters, Fan He happily eating lamb skewers, Yan Qiu curiously stretching out the glutinous rice cake, and Fan Jin grilling skewers tirelessly without complaints. The scene in front of him seemed unrealistically beautiful.

Since his mother’s death, he hadn’t seen such a heartwarming scene again.

They never treated him as an outsider, nor did they ever mistreat him.

He worked, and they also worked;

Whatever they ate, no matter how precious, he also had a share, and because he was the oldest, often his share was the largest and the best.

The rabbit leg was fragrant, tender, and chewy. Ling Ran lowered his head as he ate.

“What’s wrong, Big Brother Ling?” Yan Qiu, who was close by, noticed his unusual expression and asked with concern.

Ling Ran shook his head, his voice hoarse and low, “It’s nothing, just got a bit of charcoal ash in my eyes.”