Quick mission: We don't make trouble

Yang Jiu returned happily with the hunters.

They had a good harvest, hunting some colorful pheasants, lively rabbits, clever and cute turtledoves, and even a fat muntjac.

Everyone worked together to bring the prey to the stream to prepare for processing.

Seeing so much prey, Mr. Zhu couldn't help but exclaimed, "Wow, so much! Enough for us to make a sumptuous meal."

Yang Jiu smiled and responded, "That's nothing. If it weren't for the fact that it's getting late and the light isn't enough, we could have captured even more."

Yang San turned to Zhu Qingqing and asked, "Master Zhu, how do you think these prey should be cooked?" His eyes revealed his trust and expectation in Zhu Qingqing's cooking skills.

Zhu Qingqing asked back: "How do you usually deal with this game?"

Yang San: "We usually just roast it and eat it. If we can't finish it, we roast it and take it away, and eat some dried meat on the way."

This is the simplest and most convenient way to eat it.

Zhu Qingqing thought that they wouldn't have any new tricks, so her question was unnecessary.

He said, "Okay, I'll make the arrangements today. Master Yang, get a few pheasants to make soup. Make a big pot and everyone can have a bowl.

...As for the rabbit and turtledove...it's a pity there's no chili pepper, otherwise I'd make spicy rabbit and stir-fried turtledove."

Mr. Zhu, who was standing by, drooled when he heard this.

"Oh, spicy rabbit head, it's the most comfortable way to go with wine."

Yang San: "It sounds delicious, Master Zhu, what do you need? I'll see if I have it."

Zhu Qingqing: "Do you have any chili peppers?"

Yang Shan: "What is chili?"

As soon as I heard this, I knew it was gone.

Zhu Qingqing held her forehead with her hand. "Forget it. I'll tell you what chili peppers are when I have time. Roast the rabbit, and roast the turtledove too. Fry the deer meat in a copper pan, but I'll marinate it."

Yang San: "Do you want to pickle it?"

Zhu Qingqing: "What else? How did you roast it?"

Yang San: "Just roast it directly on the fire, and rub some salt on it when it's cooked."

Zhu Qingqing: ...

It really is the easiest way.

Father Zhu: "No wonder you don't care much about food. So this is how it happened. If it were me, I wouldn't care about food either."

Yang San: "Old Master is absolutely right. None of us know how to cook. After a long day of traveling, we all want to lie down and rest, so how can we have the energy to cook?"

Zhu Qingqing: "I don't think so. I think eating well and having enough food will give you fighting spirit. This is also the chef's responsibility."

Although he didn't know what fighting power was, Yang San still agreed: "Master Zhu is right. This food is only powerful when it is well prepared. I have tasted the sweetness of Master Zhu's cooking these past two days. Hehe."

Zhu's father criticized him: "What kind of sweet treat is this? You may not have seen anything more delicious."

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhu Qingqing waved her hand and said, "Alright, let's get started! We're in for a treat tonight! We're going to have chicken soup, roasted rabbit, and pan-fried deer meat. If we can't finish it all, we can roast the rest into delicious jerky and take it with us on the road!"

Yang San's mouth almost watered when he heard this. He could not wait to urge his men to bring the packed game back to the camp.

At this time, the campfire in the camp was already burning brightly, illuminating the entire night sky. One pot was boiling water, while the other was empty, waiting for the ingredients to be put into the pot.

Zhu Qingqing thought about it and realized that the chicken stew needed some mushrooms to add flavor, but going to the woods to find them right now was not a realistic option. So she turned to Yang San and said, "Master Yang, can you go to the Tibetan families nearby and see if they have any dried wild mushrooms or wood ears? We could buy some and make soup with them. It would be delicious!"

After hearing this, Master Yang smiled and waved his hands, saying, "Why bother buying them? We have them all!" He then happily ran off for a while, then returned with two small cloth bags, proudly handing them to Zhu Qingqing, "Master Zhu, take a look at these and see if they're enough."

Zhu Qingqing took the bag and opened it. Inside was dried wild mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms. She grabbed a handful, examined them carefully, sniffed them, and nodded with satisfaction. "Hmm, not bad, not bad. But are these the caravan's goods? It seems inappropriate to take them at will."

Master Yang quickly explained, "Don't worry, Master Zhu, these aren't the caravan's goods. They were given to me by someone else, so it's okay! Master Zhu, just take them if you need them."

After hearing this, Zhu Qingqing felt relieved: "Then I won't be polite."

These wild mushrooms are all natural and very delicious when used to make soup.

Yang San: "You're welcome, you're welcome. Being able to be of use to Master Zhu is the best use of the thing."

Zhu Qingqing complained inwardly: That’s true. It’s a waste in the hands of people who don’t know how to use it. It’s a shameful waste.

She won't waste it.

Zhu Qingqing skillfully picked up a few handfuls of wild mushrooms and handed them to Yang San, carefully instructing him, "Remember to soak them in hot water first, then wash them carefully and set them aside."

Yang San responded and hurriedly acted according to the instructions.

Zhu Qingqing skillfully chopped several pheasants into large chunks, then slowly melted the chicken fat in a pot. Once the fat was completely melted, she quickly added the chopped chicken pieces to the pot and began stir-frying. Since the pheasants were fresh, blanching was unnecessary. Once the chicken had developed an alluring aroma, a pinch of salt was simply added for seasoning. Zhu Qingqing then poured hot water from another pot into the pot, added the prepared wild mushrooms, and began to meticulously prepare a delicious chicken broth.

As the head cook, Yang San's equipment seemed rather rudimentary. Besides salt, he couldn't seem to find any other seasonings. This left Chef Zhu Qingqing feeling somewhat bewildered, like a skilled cook without rice. Fortunately, however, there were some wild vegetables and onions that could be used to effectively remove the fishy smell from the chicken soup.

The chicken soup is slowly simmering in the pot, emitting an enticing aroma.

Zhu Qingqing turned to Yang San and said, "Cut the deer meat into slices as thick and as big as your palm." Yang San responded, and with a movement of his knife, slices of meat fell one after another.

Zhu Qingqing took a closer look and saw that Yang San's knife skills were quite good. Each piece was cut into the same size and uniform thickness. Only then did she show some satisfaction.

Zhu Qingqing ignored Yang San and began to process the rabbits. They weren't large, and after removing the fur and internal organs, they looked even smaller and more delicate. Zhu Qingqing decided to roast them whole, creating roasted rabbits. Luckily, her carriage was stocked with cumin powder, various spices, and a jar of honey, which came in handy.

When the rabbit was marinated and Yang San's deer meat was cut, Zhu Qingqing began to teach Yang San how to marinate the meat.

After hearing this, Yang San suddenly realized why his grilled meat was not tasty enough. It turned out that he was missing a key step!

After the deer meat was marinated, Zhu Qingqing asked Yang San to distribute the marinated rabbit meat to everyone in the caravan to roast, and repeatedly reminded them not to burn it.

Yang San patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, I'm watching over it. It won't get burnt. We spent so much effort marinating this meat, it would be such a shame if it got burnt!"

Zhu Qingqing nodded, then took out a copper pot from the carriage and prepared to fry the deer meat, while her mother Zhu helped.

The mother and daughter have worked together before, so they are very adept at frying and grilling.

When Yang San came back, Zhu Qingqing asked him to pickle the turtledoves separately. The turtledoves would be slowly roasted by the night watchman and taken to eat on the road tomorrow.