Crossing 70: Fish in the Pond Have Good News

Chapter 262 Porridge Base? Hot Pot

While it was still light, Jiang Yu went into the house and took out his small hammer, ready to repair Xue Li's door.

After a while, there was a noise of clanging in the backyard.

At half past three, Zhao Chunjiang and his companion helped Luo Chengli out and went to the kitchen in the front yard.

When the old educated youth were hibernating, they only ate two meals a day, and now was time for their dinner.

In order to save firewood and time and effort, people in the front yard resumed the mode of collective dining.

However, because the three female educated youth had made a promise in advance, the other male educated youth no longer dared to be lazy. What's more, there was Fang Qianqian's suitor Liu Qiang urging them on, and he was reluctant to let the goddess suffer any loss.

After they had a tacit understanding with each other, they got along much better than before.

Perhaps it’s because there’s no Guan Wenbin, the person in charge who seems fair but is actually full of calculations, to coordinate.

Soon, smoke began to rise from the chimney in the front yard.

Jiang Yu also reinstalled the repaired door for Xue Li.

She dusted off her hands and asked Wu Aiqing, "Do you want to eat together tonight?"

"Sure, what do you want to eat?" Wu Aiqing came over with a broom and helped clean up the crumbs.

Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Shall we eat something hot?"

"Okay, okay, I'll go look through the cupboards right away!" Xiong Lijin immediately raised his hand in agreement. He had to think carefully about what stock he had.

Xue Li suddenly remembered the porridge-based hotpot he had eaten in his previous life, so he asked Wu Aiqing if he could make it.

"How do you do this? Just cook porridge? Then keep it bubbling in a small pot, and then add the vegetables?" Wu Aiqing had never done this before, so he could only ask according to his own understanding.

"Let's just do it simply. Add a little oil to the rice, stir it, and put it outside to freeze for a while. Then add water and bring it to a boil until the rice has bloomed and the water has become thick. Then scoop out the rice and cook it into porridge, and use the rice soup to cook the vegetables." Xue Li told Wu Aiqing the simplified version of the method. Otherwise, it would take a while just to freeze the rice, and everyone wanted to have dinner now, so they didn't want to wait even a minute longer.

Wu Aiqing understood. Anyway, it was right to cook the porridge first. "Okay, you guys take a look at what to prepare for the hot pot. I'll go cook the porridge first."

"Okay, okay!" The others nodded.

As it gradually darkened, the aroma of food filled Wu Aiqing's room again.

Fu Biao wanted to eat fish, so he went to the mountains carrying a hammer, and then brought back a grass carp weighing about 2 kilograms.

As for the carnivore Jiang Yu, she cut the smoked pheasant into small pieces. As soon as Wu Aiqing had scooped out all the rice, she poured the smoked chicken into the rice soup. After a while, the aroma of the chicken mixed with the fragrance of the rice porridge wafted away.

Xue Li was busy in his room making egg dumplings with eggs and meat filling.

Xiong Lijin wanted to add seafood, but it would take a while for that stuff to soak, so he could only hand Wu Aiqing a bag of dried shrimps and said, "This should taste good if you boil it."

"Such a big shrimp, and you're still worried that it won't taste good? You're simply asking for a beating." Wu Aiqing clicked his tongue. If he didn't want to eat it himself, he would have wanted to label this guy a capitalist.

Xiong Lijin ran away with a chuckle to get the cabbage.

Xue Li poked his head out and called out to him, "Xiong Lijin, do you want to wash the vegetables? Help me wash the bean sprouts too!"

"Bean sprouts? Are you growing bean sprouts?" Xiong Lijin hurried over with a wooden basin.

Xue Li scooped the egg dumplings out of the pot, then dragged the tightly covered small basin out from under the cupboard. She lifted the cover and saw densely packed bean sprouts inside. Their slender bodies stood there crisply. It was so delicious to have a portion of these when you wanted to eat vegetables in the winter!

Xiong Lijin's bowl was half filled with bean sprouts. He looked at them with satisfaction and whispered to Xue Li, "Let's ask Wu Aiqing to stir-fry noodles tomorrow! Let's add some shredded pork and some chili?"

"Okay, okay! Let's have fried noodles tomorrow, but that noodle...can you make ramen?" Xue Li's eyes lit up.

"I don't know how to do it!" Xiong Lijin answered confidently, "If it doesn't work, we can just stir-fry hand-rolled noodles!"

"That's right, fried noodles with bean sprouts. I'll talk to Wu Aiqing about it later!" Xue Li waved her hand, went back to the stove and continued to prepare her egg dumplings.

When it comes to egg dumplings, grandmothers in later generations all use special spoons to make them, but Xue Li didn’t have one, so she could only make them using the bottom of a pot, which was very oil-consuming, and because there wasn’t enough oil, the dumplings would stick to the bottom!

The first few were not very good, their stomachs were broken, and they were just fried egg skin and minced meat, completely unusable.

Xue Li planned to put it in the cupboard so that he could fry it anywhere and eat it later.

After nearly an hour of busy work, everyone finally sat down around the dining table.

There was a charcoal fire burning in the small clay oven of Jiangyu, and a clay pot was placed on it, with porridge bubbling inside.

The smoked chicken that was cooked first has changed the flavor of the entire pot. As soon as Wu Aiqing said "Let's eat", everyone raised their chopsticks to pick up the chicken. After the chicken was shared, they started to cook the egg dumplings.

The steam was rising and the six people were eating so much that they couldn't even lift their heads.

Although the ingredients were not as rich as those in later generations and the porridge base was also messy, Xue Li felt that he had eaten a more delicious hot pot here.

In those days when material resources were scarce, in the snowy north, she and her good friends sat together around a simple pot, sharing food that was very rare for many people. This was a happiness that belonged only to them.

very nice.

Everyone was silently reciting this in their hearts.

It’s great to meet you, it’s great to be friends with you, it’s great to be able to rely on each other!

Fu Biao blinked his eyes. The words that he had buried deep in his heart were trying to reach out and break free to stretch his body.

If all the people in the world were like his friends, then it would be worth it even if he had to sacrifice his life to protect them, right?

Xiong Lijin squinted at Fu Biao, and while eating his egg dumplings, he asked him curiously, "What's wrong with you? Are your eyes burned by the heat? I told you not to get so close to the pot. Sparks will pop out and burn you! It will ruin your beauty that makes people hate you, hehe!"

Fu Biao's little emotion was extinguished instantly. He looked at Xiong Lijin and raised his hand to slap his head. "Eat your meal, you little four-eyed boy. Don't look around. If the soup splashes on your face later, it will burn your pretty face. Isn't it a pity?!"

"Who is the pretty boy?! I am a pretty boy, but what are you? You are a pretty boy!?" Xiong Lijin straightened his back and glared at Fu Biao angrily.

"Yes, yes, I am the little black face, okay, little white face?" Fu Biao admitted it without any burden.

Xiong Lijin suddenly felt that he was being mocked. He bared his teeth and said, "Fu Biao! Let's get up and fight! Otherwise, no one will be able to eat today's meal!"

"What did you say?" Jiang Yu, holding a piece of cabbage in his mouth, raised his head.