Dreaming of Lion Rock: Recipe in Hand

Before the spring plowing, there was a moderate rain in the Lion Village. The rain water flowed from Lion Mountain into the river, and both the old farmers and the children were very happy.

Spring rain is as precious as oil, and old farmers are looking forward to it so they can plant rice seedlings; as for the children, they happily put bamboo baskets in the gaps in the fields, waiting for small fish, shrimps, loaches and eels from upstream to flow into the baskets.

Xiazhi is almost as tall as her sister, but she is thin, like a bamboo pole. They had a holiday during the busy farming season and went home to help plant rice seedlings.

After this year, Xia Zhi has matured a lot, but he still has the mentality of a child. Seeing his friends using their tools to catch fish and shrimp, he couldn't help but follow them.

"The pond is full, the rain has stopped, and the mud beside the field is full of loaches~"

Chunni followed Xiazhi to the edge of the field, listening to the nursery rhymes coming from afar, and felt as if she had truly merged with the landscape and people of Lion Rock. After marking the bamboo basket, Chunni and her brother returned home.

Two of Chunni's big rabbits were pregnant again, and she was afraid that the other one would get pregnant too, so she decided to kill the last male rabbit. The rabbit was pickled directly, hung in front of the stove, and smoked like a bamboo rat.

In Chunni's previous life, there was an old farmer in Chunni's village who had the skill of saltpetering rabbit skins, saying that it was a craft passed down from his ancestors. The old farmer had no children, so he passed this skill to Chunni, who had nothing to do at the time.

Chunni hung the rabbits under the fence at the gate of the yard to dry before nitrifying them.

So far, Chunni's family has four adult female rabbits, two adult male rabbits, and two half-grown rabbits distributed by the team, one male and one female. A total of eight rabbits, hehe, can't be eaten in one meal.

Chunni laughed foolishly.

At this time, the old lady came with a smile on her face.

"Auntie, what are you so happy about?" Chunni asked the aunt to come into the yard, brought a stool, and went to the kitchen to get a bowl of boiled water.

The old lady handed the noodles in her hand to Chunni and whispered: "Chunni, this is what your uncle got from the noodle workshop. Keep it and I'll give you a different taste."

As soon as Yang Anzhang opened the noodle workshop, he recruited several villagers to work in the workshop. Uncle Yang Andang was one of them. Comrade Yang Anzhang is promoting the best without avoiding relatives! Of course, it is also because the surname Yang is a big surname in Shizishan, so there must be one or two people with the surname Yang in the quota for noodle workers. Uncle's family is poor, so the village takes special care of him.

"Chun Ni, I have something to thank you for. The female rabbit you gave birth to ours, eight rabbits in total." The old lady was very happy.

Now the whole village is raising rabbits. With her skills, she can definitely raise good rabbits, and her family will finally have an additional source of income.

As for the meat, she was reluctant to eat it. Wouldn't it be better to save it and exchange it for food or money?

"Then congratulations, Auntie. But I heard from Qiuguo that all the children in the village have gone to pick rabbit grass during this period." Chunni chatted with the old lady in a casual manner.

"Yes, now I have to pull some vegetables from the fields to feed the rabbits. If this continues, I don't know if there will still be rabbit grass near Lion Rock in the second half of the year." The old lady looked worried.

"Actually, grasses like purslane, honeysuckle, plantain, and dandelion can also be fed to rabbits. It's just that the juice in these grasses is not as rich as rabbit grass. Alas! Rabbits don't like to eat them that much." The old lady really has a family background in this field. She can even classify the grass that rabbits eat into different grades.

Chunni only knew one kind of rabbit grass, and was instantly crushed to pieces in front of the old lady.

But she was smart and advised: "Don't worry, the village has just started raising rabbits, and everyone is very enthusiastic. The villagers are afraid that there will not be enough rabbits to eat, so they send the children to look for them everywhere. Many families have stored enough rabbits for a few days. When they find that there is enough fodder in Lion Mountain, they will stop hoarding."

"Yes, rabbit grass will go bad if it is stored for too long, and rabbits still like to eat fresh grass." The old lady agreed.

"When the weather gets cold in the second half of the year, radishes, cabbages and other vegetables will grow in everyone's vegetable gardens, and rabbits love to eat them." There's no need to worry at all.

"Next time I meet Grandpa, I will ask him if he has alfalfa seeds. If he does, I will give some to each family, which will completely solve the rabbit fodder problem." Chunni continued.

"Yes. I've heard before that those farms that specialize in raising rabbits grow grass that is suitable for rabbits." The old lady turned her worry into joy and looked at Chunni with happiness.

"Chun Ni. There's one more thing I want to thank you for."

Chunni was very confused because she hadn't done anything good recently.

"Have you forgotten that last year you suggested that we inquire about the Wang family brothers and sisters? I actually went to ask. According to my cousin's wife, they are all kind people, and they are well-known for their filial piety. The elder brother Wang Datie is hardworking and caring for his sister. He is a good son; the younger sister Wang Lamei is also filial to her parents and friendly to her brothers. She can work in the fields and in the kitchen. She is a good girl. The family has no other problems except poverty. At that time, your uncle agreed to this relative. We will prepare to hold a wedding banquet in a while. The brother and sister will hold it together. Then you three sisters and brothers can come!"

Chunni understood immediately after hearing this, and she did not dwell on why her uncle's family did not tell her earlier. This was the custom in Shizishan, to keep the engagement a secret until the wedding was about to begin before telling relatives and friends, to avoid being snatched away by others.

Alas! It’s all because of poverty.

"Really? Congratulations, auntie. This is a double happiness." Chunni was very happy for the uncle's family, and she was genuinely happy.

The old lady chatted with Chunni for a while and then went back.

Chunni thought that it would be a good idea to keep the rabbit she killed today as a dish for her cousin's wedding.

After a while, Xiazhi returned with a bamboo basket containing a dozen fish two fingers wide, of unknown species, a dozen loaches, and three or four yellow eels. This was a great harvest.

Chunni leaned over to take a look and was very satisfied.

Although I didn't get to eat the rabbit meat, having these things was enough.

Instruct Xia Zhi to deal with the fish, shrimp, and eels. Chun Ni went to the pickled cabbage jar to get some pickled greens, pickled ginger, and pickled peppers. Chun Ni wanted to stew all these things in one pot.

She asked Qiuguo to heat the pot until it was hot, and put in some lard from last year's Spring Festival, and wait for the oil to melt. Then she put in the pickled cabbage and stir-fried it, and added some bean paste, and waited until the aroma of the pickled cabbage filled the whole kitchen, and then poured all the fish and eels into the pot, and with a sizzling sound, she carefully stir-fried them twice, added boiling water, and cooked them all together.

"Wow, how can it smell so good?" Xia Zhi walked into the kitchen and sniffed hard.

"Sister, your cooking skills are getting better and better." Qiu Guo also looked like her sister was the best.

"Big sister is the best!" Dong Lin also said.

"Little flatterer!" Chunni was also very happy. Who doesn't like to be praised?

The three siblings finished eating this pot of food before ordering noodles.

Each noodle is covered with rich soup, which is sour, spicy and delicious.