Chapter 114 - 114 Chapter 114. How do I Eat This?

114 Chapter 114. How do I Eat This?

“Sister su Qing said it’s grilled fish.”

Ji Xiaoying said to her brother with a smile, her tone full of pride.

“Oh? It looks delicious.”

Ji Shuisheng sighed in his heart. Su Qing knew a lot of things.

He had thought he would only be able to eat wild vegetables today, or at most, some fish. However, Su Qing had made such a sumptuous meal. The wild vegetables, usually bitter and unpalatable, had been skillfully made into a beautiful combination of green and red. The taste was excellent, and it was simply an endless treasure.

A big pot of fish stewed with lotus root was ready. Aunt Qiu and aunt Li were responsible for distributing the fish to everyone. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the stone slab. They wanted to try what it tasted like.

Zhong Yong leaned in front of Su Qing, his eyes almost falling onto the stone slab. He drooled,

“Sister, this looks delicious.”

Su Qing glanced at him and used a pair of long chopsticks made of willow branches to pick up a giant mud loach for him.

“Try it.”

The mud loach had just been removed from the stone slab and was scalding hot. Zhong Yong was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor and extended his hands to receive it. Zhong Yong couldn’t bear to throw it away and opened his mouth to eat it.

“It’s delicious. It’s delicious.”

Zhong Yong praised as he ate, finishing the loach quickly. Only after he finished did he remember something important. He turned around and ran before his mother, kneeling to admit his mistake.

“Mother, I was wrong. I didn’t give it to you first.”

“It’s fine; Xiaoying has sent fish to Mother.”

Madam Li smiled gently. She held a bowl in her hand, and the bowl was filled with the middle section of a catfish. Aunt Qiu and the others took care that Madam Li could not see it, so they gave her the fish meat without bones.

Zhong Yong naively said to Ji Xiaoying,

“Thank you, Xiaoying. If you want to hit someone in the future, tell me. I’ll help you.”

“I’m not fighting anyone.”

Zhong Yong’s words tickled Ji Xiaoying. He was too cute. How could he repay others like this? Was he going to be her assistant?

Qiu Yue had already woken up, but the slightest movement would cause her entire body to hurt. Su Qing had beaten her beyond recognition, and her face was frighteningly swollen.

Moreover, she realized that Auntie Jiang and Auntie Li, who used to like her, were now far away from her. The other villagers of Peach Blossom Cove also avoided her.

Qiu Yue felt very wronged. Su Qing had gone too far, almost killing her. Who wouldn’t be afraid of that kind of situation? At that time, she didn’t think about anything other than living.

“Qiu Yue, have some!”

Aunt Qiu came over with a bowl of fish to feed her daughter. After all, it was her meat, and she still felt terrible for Qiu Yue.

“Mother, why didn’t you help me when she hit me?”

Su Qing had knocked Qiu Yue’s teeth out, so she couldn’t speak properly. She asked her mother, feeling wronged.

“How can I help? What you’ve done has made us too ashamed to help you. If Su Qing had not promised your grandfather that she would spare your life no matter what, she would have killed you long ago.”

Aunt Qiu was so angry with her daughter that she went against Su Qing. It would be easy for Su Qing to kill her if she wanted to, and no one in her family would stop her.

“She beat me like this, and I must thank her?”

Qiu Yue was furious when she heard her mother’s words. Her excitement pulled on her broken ribs, and it was so painful that tears came out.

“Su Qing’s patience has reached its limit. Don’t provoke her anymore. Otherwise, she won’t give face to your grandfather. When that happens, no one can save your life.”

Aunt Qiu looked at her daughter worriedly. She was afraid that Qin Yue would be killed if she made Su Qing angry.

“I know.”

Qiu Yue closed her eyes and swallowed the dissatisfaction in her heart.

“Let’s eat. If Su Qing weren’t here, we wouldn’t have been able to eat our fill. One should know how to be grateful.”

Aunt Qiu brought the fish to her daughter’s mouth. Hearing what she said, Qiu Yue turned her face away and said,

“We can live without anyone; without her, we wouldn’t have encountered those dangers! It’s all her fault for bringing such bad luck.”

“When she’s better, let’s get her married!”

Old master Qiu had come to see her because he was worried about his granddaughter, but when he heard Qiu Yue’s stubborn words, he immediately decided.

If he did not marry Qiu Yue off as soon as possible, he would not be able to save her life, even when she angered Su Qing.

Su Qing didn’t hear what Qiu Yue said. She gave Xiaoying two grilled loaches and Ji Shuisheng the three biggest ones. She didn’t care about the others. She took three for herself and some wild vegetables. Together with the lotus root fish that aunt Qiu had given her, she ate them at the side.

Su Qing wasn’t very hungry. She had eaten all the dumplings that Xiao Qi had made, so compared to the others who were wolfing down their food; she ate slowly and gracefully.

Ji Shuisheng carried the fish and sat beside Su Qing. Su Qing only glanced at him once before continuing to eat.

“What’s that?”

Ji Shuisheng pointed at the massive pile of lotus roots. He wanted to talk to Su Qing; the lotus roots were just an excuse.

“Lotus root, don’t rush to the road after dinner. I’ll make some lotus root starch for you to eat on the road.”

Su Qing didn’t lift her head like the beautiful fish in the bowl.

“[ congratulations, host. Cooking has reached level six; weaving has reached level four; constitution, mental strength, combat power, and god of war ability have risen to level 27. Continue to work hard, host.].”

The system’s voice rang in Su Qing’s ears. She was delighted with the two consecutive levels.

After Madam Li’s eyes recovered, her [ medicine ] could also level up. It seemed that it would not be challenging to level up the god of war’s ability to the maximum! In the next two days, she was preparing to make cotton-padded clothes. By then, her sewing skills would also be able to level up.

After dinner, the girls and aunt Qiu were left to clean the place. Su Qing started to prepare the lotus root starch.

The first step to making lotus root starch was to clean the lotus root, remove the lotus nodes, smash it, add water, and grind it into the lotus pulp with a stone mill.

Most importantly, they didn’t have a stone mill. Su Qing found a basin and placed the washed lotus roots in it. She then let Zhong Yong use the iron hammer as a stone mortar to smash the lotus roots into lotus root pulp. Zhong Yong was strong, so doing this was child’s play. He especially liked to do it.

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The second step was to wash the lotus root pulp: put the lotus root pulp in a cloth bag, put a vat or basin under the bag, and wash the bag with clear water. While washing, stir the Lotus root residue in the bag until the clear water is filtered.

Since she did not have a cloth bag, Su Qing took out the cotton cloth she had bought and sewed it into a cloth bag to filter it.

Third, the lotus root pulp would be washed in water for a day and stirred once a day. After it was clear, the fine lotus root residue floating on the water surface and the sediment at the bottom layer was removed. Then, the starch in the middle was placed in another basin, diluted with clear water, and settled. This process was repeated one to two times until the lotus root starch turned white.

The fourth step was to drain and roast the Lotus root starch, which had been rinsed and settled, into a clean cloth bag and then hung up with a rope. It would be drained dry in about half a day.

After the water was drained, she removed the lotus root starch and broke it into about 500 grams of starch dough. After drying it for about an hour, she used a knife to slice the starch dough into thin slices. Continue to roast or sun-dry to form lotus root starch.

Su Qing looked at the recipe list. They couldn’t leave in a hurry today, so she discussed with Ji Shuisheng to rest here for a day so that it would be easier for her to make the lotus root starch.

Moreover, they caught a lot of fish. The smaller fish were dried, and the bigger fish were cut into two pieces, sprinkled with salt, and then dried in the sun. No matter what, they had to wait two days before leaving.

Ji Shuisheng thought they had already cleared the bandits, and everyone was exhausted. Resting for two days before leaving would be fine, so he agreed.

Su Qing’s lotus root starch was done two days later and packed into three bags.

Everyone was curious as they looked at the lotus root starch. How was this thing supposed to be eaten?

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