Volume 1: Reborn in the 1980s, selling lunch boxes with my mother Chapter 30: Almost Got Beaten
Because both mother and daughter planned to go to the river beach to dig loaches when no one was around at noon, they started preparing lunch at ten o'clock today.
Jiang Tian was still the chef. Hu Qiongfang put the eels she had collected in the morning into the water tank and went outside to dig earthworms.
Jiang Tian stewed the rice first, then estimated that one bowl of rice would not be enough for each person, so she scooped some flour and corn flour and stuck a circle of corn cakes along the edge of the iron pot.
Then we deal with the two black carp.
Wild silver carp are very spirited. They will jump around wildly on the ground when they are caught.
Chef Jiang took the mallet and hit the fish on the head twice, causing it to fall to the ground.
Scrape the scales, remove the internal organs, cut the fish meat from both sides and slice it into thin fillets. The fish head and fish bones are just right for making soup base.
Jiang Cheng was originally reading a book in the room, and when he smelled the aroma of the sautéed food over here, it was so delicious that he couldn't help but come over with a math book, and while reading, he was cooking for his sister.
With someone helping to light the fire, Jiang Tian cooked much faster.
After the sauerkraut fish is ready, serve it in a large bowl, sprinkle with a handful of sesame seeds and chopped green onions, reheat the pan, heat the rapeseed oil, and pour a spoonful of it on the fish.
Jiang Cheng's eyes widened.
"Sister, this dish is too oily, isn't it? Fortunately, our grandma... cough! Otherwise, if you used so much rapeseed oil to cook a dish, wouldn't she be nagging you for half a year?"
Jiang Tian rolled her eyes at him, "What kind of family is this? Can you afford to eat pickled fish every day? I see that you and mom have never eaten it before, so let's cook it at home and try it. Do you think I would dare to cook like this with outsiders here? Those people in the village are very mean-spirited, they will definitely scold me for being a spendthrift behind my back."
Jiang Cheng smiled, then stood up, looked around to see that there was no one around and his mother hadn't come back yet, so he went to his sister, opened his arms and quickly hugged Jiang Tian.
"Thank you, sis."
Jiang Tian was so confused when he hugged her: "Why thank me?"
Jiang Cheng raised his head shyly, staring at the beams, and whispered after a long while -
"I know you went to the police station to report the incident and went to school to make a scene because of me."
Nowadays, no one is willing to go to the police station unless they are forced to do so. However, Jiang Tian is only a few years older than him, but in order to protect his brother and to make sure that no one dares to bully him in school in the future, he did something that even a grown man would not dare to do.
Jiang Tian was stunned for a moment, and the memories of two lives suddenly flooded into her mind. She turned around, opened her arms, and gently hugged her brother.
"You are my brother, I will protect you forever!"
Both the brother and sister's eyes were a little moist.
I don’t know why, but after crying, Jiang Tian felt that her relationship with her brother was inexplicably much closer than before.
In her previous life, her relationship with Jiang Cheng was not particularly good. The eldest children in families with two children should all understand this well.
She was the only child of her parents, so anything good in the family would be given to her first.
But since the younger brother was born, the mother's heart has been devoted to the younger one. The eldest child has to start learning to do housework, help take care of his younger brother, and is also taught that "the delicious food should be given to the younger brother first."
Why?
They are both born to their parents, so why does her brother get more than her?
If nothing had happened to Jiang Cheng in his previous life, Jiang Tian's feelings towards this younger brother might have been more complicated.
But she didn't expect that her brother was killed by the beast Jiang Lesheng in order to make money to return to school.
Jiang Tian sometimes thought that her forgiveness and repentance towards her brother, as well as the regret of wanting to make up for it but never being able to do it, must have started from the day her brother left in her previous life.
Fortunately, God gave her a chance to start over.
In this life , it is her turn to pamper her younger brother.
After crying for a while, both the brother and sister felt a little embarrassed.
Jiang Cheng made an excuse that he was going to change a book to read, hid in the house and never came out again.
Jiang Tian also felt embarrassed. It was so humiliating to cry with her brother over such a small matter.
Fortunately, Hu Qiongfang came back at this time.
Seeing her daughter's red eyes, she immediately asked.
Jiang Tian smiled and said, "Nothing. I was just making pickled fish and the chili peppers made it spicy."
Following Jiang Tian's finger, Hu Qiongfang finally saw the large pot of pickled fish on the small square table in the kitchen.
Hu Qiongfang's eyes widened instantly when she saw a thick layer of oil floating on the big basin.
"My God! Is this the pickled fish you mentioned? These two fish cost us half a month's supply of rapeseed oil, right?"
"Are you eating fish or oil? Don't do it next time!"
Hu Qiongfang's tone was a little angry.
Although life is better now than it was a decade ago and ordinary people can barely get enough to eat, no family is rich enough to pour spoonfuls of rapeseed oil into the dishes when cooking.
If this wasn't her own daughter, Hu Qiongfang would have raised the firewood stick in her hand.
While silently repeating in her heart, "My own child, I can't hurt her", Hu Qiongfang still glared at her daughter fiercely and reiterated once again -
"Next time, just make fish soup instead of this pickled fish!"
Jiang Tian never thought that she didn't get beaten when she went to the police station to make trouble, but she almost got punished by Ms. Hu for making a pot of pickled fish. She secretly stuck out her tongue, thought about it, and pointed to the big pot of pickled fish and explained -
"In fact, not much oil is wasted in this dish. There is clear soup at the bottom, and only two spoonfuls of hot oil are poured on top."
"I read in a book that pickled fish must be poured with hot oil, so that the fish fillets will taste good."
"And after the fish and pickled vegetables are eaten, the fish soup can be used to stew tofu."
"One pot of fish for three meals, is that a good deal?"
Hu Qiongfang sighed. It was already done. Could it have fallen over? Let's eat it while it's hot.
Although two tablespoons of rapeseed oil were used for the dish, which was really painful to think about, Hu Qiongfang was still amazed when she ate it.
This pickled fish is so delicious, isn’t it?
Jiang Tian used Chinese mustard greens pickled by Hu Qiongfang herself to make this dish. The Chinese mustard greens were sour and crispy. After being stewed with the fish for a while, they were infused with the freshness of the fish and the aroma of the chili peppers. It tasted fragrant and spicy and went especially well with rice.
The fish fillets were just as Jiang Tian described, very smooth and tender, and without the usual earthy smell of silver carp, and there were very few fish bones.
As he spoke, Jiang Cheng had already shoveled in a large bowl of rice and was eating the fish soup with corn cakes.
However, the soup with pickled fish and pancakes is not as "mild and harmless" as the soup with mixed fish.
It tastes crunchy when you eat it, and after you finish it, the spiciness spreads from the tip of your tongue all the way to your anus.
The spiciness made Jiang Cheng's eyes and nose run, and smoke came out of his head.
If you don’t know him, you might think he is some martial arts master practicing some unique skills.
Hu Qiongfang was also unable to bear the spiciness, so she used the kitchen gourd ladle to scoop a large ladle of well water and squatted at the kitchen door to rinse her mouth.
Jiang Tian wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained awkwardly: "Next time, I'd better put less chili."
Hu Qiongfang finally exhausted the last bit of her maternal love, turned around and roared:
"Don't do it next time!"
