Chapter 23

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“Sister, I’ll help you cut it too.”

Ji Xiao Ying rolled up her sleeves and came over to help. She did not even ask Su Qing what she was doing.

Anyway, everything her sister made was delicious, so it was definitely going to be delicious.

“No need. Help me pick some wild scallions and wild ginger. If you see chameleon plants, pick some too.”

Su Qing was afraid that the knife would blister Ji Xiaoying’s hand, so she asked her to help her pick some wild onions.

“Alright,” she said.

Ji Xiao Ying was overjoyed to be assigned a task. She happily carried the basket that Su Qing had woven into the mountain.

“Wait for me!”

When Li Shuang ‘er saw that Ji Xiaoying was going into the mountains, so she ran over, wanting to go with her. Qiu Yue looked at Ji Shui Sheng who was not far away. He was sitting under a tree with his head lowered, not knowing what he was thinking about.

She bit her lip and did not follow Ji Xiao Ying into the mountains. Instead, she walked towards Ji Shui Sheng.

“Brother Shui Sheng, Su Qing sent Xiao Ying into the mountains to pick green onions. I’m afraid she’s in danger. Can you go and take a look?”

Qiu Yue’s voice was not loud, only she and Ji Shui Sheng could hear her. Ji Shui Sheng raised his head as if he was suddenly jolted awake. Qiu Yue was so frightened by his red eyes, which were filled with killing intent, that she took a step back and asked in a trembling voice, “Brother Shui Sheng, what’s wrong?”

Ji Shui Sheng didn’t answer her. He stood up and looked into the mountain. When he saw that his sister had indeed entered the mountain with Li Shuang ‘er, he walked towards them.

Qiu Yue hurriedly followed behind him, but because Ji Shui Sheng’s gaze was too fierce just now, she did not dare to speak to him anymore.

There were dozens of pounds of horse meat. It was too slow for Su Qing to cut it alone, so when Aunt Qiu offered to help once again, Su Qing did not refuse. Although cutting meat would improve her cooking skills, everyone was hungry. She could not let everyone wait on an empty stomach just so she could improve.

Aunt Li also found a knife to help cut the meat, but she and Aunt Qiu couldn’t cut as fast or as well as Su Qing. Su Qing cut the meat with the same thickness, while they cut it thin and thick.

“Su Qing, are you going to cook it?”

Looking at the thin slices of meat, Aunt Qiu suddenly realized that this was a good way to do it without water.

“Stir-fry half of it,” Su Qing answered without looking up. There was too much meat, so it would be faster to cook both at the same time.

Moreover, the two cooking methods could also improve her cooking skills faster. Aunt Qiu was very happy to get an accurate answer and did not feel tired when cutting the meat.

Soon, old seventh Jiang came back with more than ten bamboo sticks. He had followed Su Qing’s order strictly. The bamboo sticks he cut were as thick as Su Qing’s wrist.

“Chop them into pieces.”

Su Qing was very satisfied with the bamboo that Jiang Laoqi had brought back, and she ordered him to chop the bamboo into sections for future use.

Old seventh Jiang didn’t even ask her why she wanted to chop it up, obediently taking the machete and starting to chop.

Aunt Qiu couldn’t help but ask Su Qing, “Su Qing, there’s no water here. Why are you cutting bamboo? Besides, it can’t hold much water!”

“Don’t fill it with water, just meat.”

Su Qing finished cutting a pot of horse meat and put down the vegetable knife. She picked up a piece of bamboo that was cut by old seventh Jiang and looked at it, seeing that it was not bad. It was cut neatly and there was a block at one end, so the meat would not fall out even if she put it in.

“Meat?”

Aunt Qiu and Aunt Li asked Su Qing in surprise.

Using bamboo tubes to store meat? What kind of eating method was this?

“I’ve eaten bamboo rice before, so it should be fine to use bamboo to make horse meat,” Su Qing explained briefly, then asked for salt from Aunt Qiu. She had been sweating all day and needed to replenish her salt.

“There’s only so much salt left. I don’t know how long it’ll take to buy it!”

Aunt Qiu took out a cloth bag. There was only a handful of coarse salt left. She frowned and asked Su Qing if she could use less.

“After dinner, let’s go to the mountain to pick some herbs. We’ll sell them at the Guocheng pharmacy tomorrow and buy some salt and rice with the money.”

Su Qing saw that there was only a handful of salt. There was so much meat, but it didn’t taste good even if she put all the salt in it. No matter how sparingly she used it, there would be times when it would be useless.

Making money was the most important thing right now. With so many people, the remaining food wouldn’t even be enough for two days. The priority now was to first increase income, then reduce expenditure.

“Oh.”

Hearing Su Qing’s suggestion, Aunt Qiu thought it was a good idea. They used to do this when they lived in Peach Blossom Cove. They were self-sufficient, so when they needed to buy salt and other important things, they would hunt and cut wood to sell in the city. With that money, they could buy daily supplies.

However, this was the first time they were collecting herbs for money. They only knew about dandelions and Yimu grass, and they didn’t know if they were valuable.

“Big sister, we’ve come back.”

Ji Xiao Ying came back with a small basket. Before she even reached her, she had already called out to Su Qing. She looked extremely proud, as she had completed the task that her sister had given her.

“Alright,” she said.

The coldness in Su Qing’s eyes would only disappear when she looked at her. She took the basket that Ji Xiao Ying handed over and saw Ji Shui Sheng behind Ji Xiao Ying. He seemed to have a lot on his mind, and the aura on his body seemed to be depressing.

Su Qing retracted her gaze. She chopped up the wild scallions and wild ginger and rolled the salt into the horse meat. After she had evenly mixed the meat, she began to stuff it into the bamboo tubes. She stuffed three-quarters of the meat into a bamboo tube, leaving one-quarter of the space empty.

“Li Daniu, find a stopper and put it in.”

Su Qing was not polite when she called out to Li Daniu, but Li Daniu was willing to listen to her orders. It was an honor to be given such an important task by someone he admired.

Su Qing picked up the second bamboo tube and prepared to fill it with meat. Ji Xiao Ying found it interesting and volunteered to help, doing a good job. Li Shuang ‘er’s hands itched as she watched, so she followed suit. It was much faster with the three of them filling the meat together.

Seeing that Ji Shui Sheng had left, Su Qing sat under the tree alone. She leaned against the tree trunk and looked up at the sky. Her eyes were as deep as the sea, brewing a terrifying storm.

Su Qing retracted her gaze and continued with her work. A large basin of meat was filled with more than 60 bamboo tubes, with each tube filled with a few pieces of chameleon plant and then plugged up for future use.

“Seventh brother Jiang, dig a hole as high as this bamboo tube,” Su Qing ordered seventh brother Jiang, who was still looking for a way to survive.

“Alright,” Jiang Laoqi said, and happily went to dig a hole.

Everyone was curious about what Su Qing was up to. They didn’t feel tired at all, gathering around to watch the fun.

Su Qing ordered Li Daniu to start a fire. He placed four big stones and placed the big iron pot on the fire.

From the pot of meat that Aunt Qiu and the others cut, Su Qing picked three large pieces of fat meat and cut them into slices, then put them in the pot to refine. The fragrance attracted the children.

The children got tired very quickly and recovered quickly. After a short rest, they were full of energy again. They surrounded the big pot and drooled as they waited for the meat to be eaten.

Su Qing threw the wild scallions and ginger into the big pot and fried them. Then, she poured a large pot of horse meat into the pot and stir-fried it. This was hard work, and to heat the meat evenly, she had to stir-fry it from time to time. Su Qing was so tired that her face was red and her arms were numb. As she fried the meat, she saw the progress bar of her cooking skills increase rapidly. She refused Aunt Qiu’s help and added salt to continue frying.

“The hole is done!” Jiang Laoqi shouted at Su Qing after he finished digging the hole.

He asked her, “What do we do next?”