The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

When everyone returned to the pond after delivering the water, they did not see the native women anymore. It seemed that they had already fetched water and left.

Everyone became excited: "Now that everyone has left, we can take a shower!"

As someone was talking, he took off his clothes and ran to the stream downstream of the pond to take a bath. Min Xi didn't have time to stop him. Although the weather was sunny and not too cold, it was winter after all. It would still be cold to take a bath in the water in this season.

"Wash yourself clean and come up quickly. Don't soak for too long. It's winter now, be careful not to catch a cold." Min Xi reminded everyone.

"Wow, it's so cold." Someone shivered and sat in the water, gasping for cool air.

Seeing this, Yun Ji asked Min Xi, "Ninth brother, do you want to wash?"

Min Xi hesitated: "I want to take a shower, but I'm a little afraid of the cold."

"If you are afraid of the cold, I will carry some water back to boil for you to wash." Yun Ji said.

Upon hearing this, Min Xi shook his head vigorously: "Forget it, let's wash here. But let's wait a while, we can wash later, there are natives here, it would be bad if someone attacks us by surprise."

"Okay!" Yun Ji said to everyone, "Hurry up and wash. We will watch you."

"Sir, what are you looking at? Are you afraid that those women will peek at you?" someone said with a laugh.

"It's not that I'm afraid of my wife peeking at me, but I'm worried that someone will attack me. Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and wash." Yun Ji said.

When everyone heard this, they remembered the natives who were not very friendly to them, and they did not dare to take it lightly or delay. They all took the time to scrub each other's backs and take a quick shower.

Soon, everyone finished bathing. After they finished bathing, they came up to dry off and put on their clothes. Only then did Min Xi and Yun Ji take off their clothes and go into the water to bathe.

Others washed clothes, fetched water, and stood guard, with clear division of labor.

Min Xi sat in the stream and couldn't help shivering at first. It was really cold. The water temperature was only about 10 degrees Celsius at most. But thinking about those brave winter swimmers, he comforted himself that he would be fine once he got used to it.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for him to get used to it and he no longer felt how cold it was. He and Yun Ji took the time to clean each other's backs and put on their clothes. It's no wonder that taking a shower makes you feel a few pounds lighter.

After washing the clothes, I carried the water back.

After returning to the beach, knowing that everyone had gone to the river to take a bath, Doctor Qiao quickly prepared a dose of Chinese medicine to dispel the cold and asked the cook to cook a large pot of soup for everyone to take. When going out, a small cold could be fatal, so it is better to be cautious.

Although there are conditions for taking a bath, many people are still reluctant to take a cold shower, mainly because they are worried about catching a cold. Doctor Qiao himself did not take a cold shower. He pays attention to health preservation and will not take a cold shower in the cold winter.

After running three or four times and working all afternoon, the water tank on the boat was still not full, so they had to stay here and continue to fetch water tomorrow. They did not choose to spend the night on the shore, but returned to the big boat. The natives around here are not easy to get along with, so it is safer on the boat.

Before dark, they all boarded the ship. The weather was fine, and the sea breeze was relatively gentle. No one went into the cabin to rest, but sat on the deck to chat.

The sail ropes were full of clothes that everyone washed in the afternoon, rustling in the wind. Min Xi reached out and touched his own clothes, which were already dry, so he put away his and Yun Ji's clothes and reminded the others: "Put away your clothes too, because the dew will get them wet in the evening."

Someone heard his reminder and came over to collect the clothes.

Yun Ji came out with a fishing rod. Seeing Min Xi holding clothes in his arms, he gave him the fishing rod and took the clothes himself: "I'll go collect them. You go fishing for shrimps."

Min Xi took the fishing rod and was a little excited. When he was making lobsters at noon, he told Yun Ji that he also wanted to experience the joy of lobster fishing. Unfortunately, he was busy the whole afternoon and had no time. He didn't expect that he still remembered it.

Yunji not only brought a fishing rod, but also brought small fish as bait. Fishing for lobsters does not require a fish hook, just tie the bait to the end of the fishing line.

Min Xi took a small fish, cut off its head, tied it to the fishing line, and threw the bait into the sea. The bloody smell would more easily attract fish and shrimp.

Yun Ji came back soon and saw Min Xi sitting cross-legged on the deck fishing. He walked over and sat next to him: "Did you catch anything?"

"No, I just started fishing." Before he finished speaking, he felt a pulling force on the fishing rod in his hand, "Here it comes!"

Min Xi lifted the fishing rod and a crab was pulled to the surface of the water, but as soon as it came out of the water, the crab loosened its claws and fell into the sea.

"It's a crab!" Yun Ji said, "It's a pity it fell."

Min Xi was a little disappointed: "Why isn't it lobster? Have they caught all the lobsters here before?"

Yun Ji smiled and said, "How about we move you to another place?"

Min Xi rolled his eyes at him and said, "Just to change places for lobster fishing? How dare you say that!" To move a boat this big, one needs to raise the anchor and hoist the sail. How can one just move it?

Yun Ji raised his hand and patted the back of his head, laughing and saying, "I'm just teasing you."

Everyone was not surprised to see them talking and laughing as if no one was around. The two adults had a very close relationship and were inseparable. It was said that neither of them had married or had children, which inevitably made people suspect their relationship. But everyone tacitly agreed not to mention it, because in Fujian, this kind of relationship was not uncommon.

Min Xi instructed Yun Ji: "Help me chop up these baits and scatter them into the sea to make nests."

"What kind of nest are you digging?" Yun Ji asked in confusion.

"A shrimp nest. Sprinkle the bait into the sea to attract many lobsters to eat the bait, and then you can catch one every time." Min Xi explained.

Yun Ji raised an eyebrow and said nothing more. He just took out his dagger and cut the fish used as bait into small pieces: "Is this size enough?"

"Okay. But why did you cut them all? Leave two for me as bait." Min Xi complained to him.

"I'll cast a net for you and catch some small fish to use as bait." Yun Ji said with a smile.

"No need to spread it, let's talk about it tomorrow. Anyway, we are just fishing for fun, and we don't know if we can catch anything." Min Xi shrugged.

Yunji threw all the chopped fish overboard.

Min Xi muttered, "This shouldn't be the case. They caught so many during the day, but why haven't I seen anything for so long? Did they really catch all the lobsters around here? It's supposed to be better to catch lobsters at night."

"If we can't catch anything today, we'll catch it tomorrow," Yun Ji said indifferently.

"That's right, we can just fish for fun anyway." Min Xi moved the bait to the water where the bait had just been laid.

At this time, Doctor Qiao came out with a bamboo flute in his hand, and it seemed that he was going to play the flute. This was his signature program. As long as the weather permitted, he would play a few tunes almost every day. When he was in a good mood, he would play cheerfully, and when he was in a bad mood, he would play low.

Min Xi smiled and asked, "Doctor Qiao, what do you want to play today?"

Doctor Qiao looked at the moon rising in the east and said, "I think the weather is good today. The sunset glow has not yet dissipated. Let's play a piece of "Sunset Flute and Drum". "

Min Xi put down the fishing rod and clapped his hands: "Good!"

As soon as he put down the fishing rod, it began to slide out of the boat. Yun Ji was quick-witted and grabbed the slipping fishing rod. He pulled it upward with force, and a lobster was pulled out of the water. It formed an arc in the air and flew towards the boat, almost landing on Doctor Qiao. Fortunately, Doctor Qiao stepped back smartly and barely avoided the lobster: "You scared me!"

"It's a lobster!" Min Xi was speechless after this series of actions. He had been fishing for so long but didn't catch a single one. As soon as he put down the fishing rod, Yun Ji caught one.

"It seems that there are lobsters. There are still some. Here, take them. I'll go pick up the lobsters." Yun Ji smiled and put the fishing rod in his hand into Min Xi's hand.

Min Xi turned his head and looked at the lobster on the ground. It was huge, weighing at least one pound, and was considered a giant among lobsters. He said unconvincedly, "I don't believe I can't catch a lobster!"

He threw the fishing rod into the water. Yun Ji picked up the lobster and came to show it to Min Xi. The lobster was red all over and looked majestic and domineering.

After Yun Ji checked on him, he ran to find a bucket, drew some water from the sea, and put the lobster into the bucket: "You can cook lobster porridge tomorrow morning."

Min Xi smiled at him and said, "That's a nice thought, but unfortunately there's no rice left."

Yun Ji tapped his forehead and said, "I almost forgot. We are out of rice. But we still have some potatoes. Let's cook them into paste and use them as a substitute for rice."

"The potatoes have sprouted, too."

"Didn't you say that we can eat it if we dig out the buds?" Yun Ji insisted.

"Okay, let's give it a try."

Doctor Qiao calmed down after the lobster had interrupted his mood, leaned on the main mast, picked up the flute and started to play. If he didn't lean on something, the boat would be shaking and he wouldn't be able to stand steadily, and his breathing would be even more unstable, so he wouldn't be able to play the flute.

The clear sound of a flute rang out. This piece of music was originally a flute and drum due to limited conditions, so only the flute sound was available. Everyone had heard it countless times, but it still sounded very nice.

Everyone was immersed in the music. Min Xi suddenly felt the fishing rod in his hand sink. He became excited and patted Yun Ji's thigh. He lowered his voice and said, "It's hooked!"

Yun Ji smiled and said, "Then pull it up. Don't worry. I'll help you get the scoop net to catch it so it won't run away."

He stood up and took out the scoop net to catch the lobster. Min Xi made sure that the lobster was firmly clamped before pulling it up. His movements were slow so that the lobster would not notice the big change in speed. When the lobster came out of the water, Yun Ji's scoop net had already reached over and caught it in one go: "Done!"

Min Xi smiled proudly: "That's pretty good. I thought I really couldn't catch it! Is it big?"

"Not bad, a little smaller than the one I caught." Yun Ji poured the lobsters in the scoop net into the bucket.

Min Xi leaned over to take a look and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad! Keep it up!"

At this time, the sky has darkened, the night is coming from the sea, and the sky in the west has turned purple. A full moon rises from the sea, and the starlight gradually lights up the sky. The familiar night is coming again.

Doctor Qiao was still playing the flute while Min Xi continued to fish for shrimps. After catching a few, he caught much faster. Unfortunately, after catching three, there was very little bait left on the line.

Yun Ji went to the kitchen to look around again, but didn't find any fish, so he picked up the fishing net and cast it at the stern, catching a lot of small fish. Now he not only had bait, but also enough bait for Min Xi to enjoy fishing.