Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Wang Qing'er carefully selected some large mushrooms, washed them thoroughly, and rinsed a small handful of wild onions until they were spotless before bringing them into the kitchen.

Wang Cuiying gritted her teeth, scooped two large bowls full of fine rice, and kept muttering, "Such a good rabbit has to be served with rice to be truly delicious. I won't drink the brown rice porridge tonight; I'll indulge myself this once."

Just thinking about the fragrant rice and tender rabbit meat and mushrooms made Wang Qing'er lick her lips and say in a sweet voice, "Mother, I'll cook dinner tonight."

"You can cook?" Wang Cuiying glanced at Wang Qing'er's fair and delicate hands with slender fingers and asked with a look of suspicion.

"Mother, I can do it now. My maternal grandparents' family makes a living by hunting, and they often cook wild game. I've been exposed to it since I was little, so I really can do it." Wang Qing'er found herself lying so calmly and naturally, without even blushing or panting. You see, the original owner of this body was so pampered in her maternal grandparents' family that she couldn't do anything!

"Alright then, I'll help you start the fire." Seeing that her daughter-in-law spoke so sincerely, and didn't seem to be just making things up, Wang Cuiying agreed.

"Yes, Mother! Just wait and enjoy the delicious food."

Wang Qing'er washed the rice clean and poured it into the large pot to stew. She was afraid there wouldn't be enough to eat, so she took out a few peeled sweet potatoes from the cupboard and cut them into chunks for later use.

Wang Cuiying watched her cut sweet potatoes, filled with curiosity, but since she had already asked her to cook, she simply decided not to interfere.

Wang Qing'er added water to the small pot outside and put the rabbit meat in it to blanch. After the rabbit meat was blanched, the rice inside was almost cooked.

Wang Qing'er then picked up a wooden ladle and scooped the rice into a bamboo strainer to filter out the rice water. Next, she poured the sweet potatoes into the pot, added some water, covered it, and let them cook for a while.

Since there was no lard at home, I had to cut a few slices of fatty meat and render the oil in a pot. I also cut the small half bowl of rabbit fat into small pieces and added it to the pot to render together. Soon, the aroma of the oil filled the air.

Seeing that the oil was almost ready, she ladled out some of it to use for stir-frying shepherd's purse.

Wang Qing'er poured the wild onions and garlic cloves she had dug up that day into the pot and stir-fried them, releasing a fragrant aroma.

Next, she poured the rabbit meat into the pot and stir-fried it with the other ingredients, as if she were dancing.

Then she rummaged through the cabinet to see if there were any other seasonings.

I saw a black jar, gently opened it, and a rich aroma of soy sauce wafted out. Oh! It's soy sauce.

She carefully scooped a spoonful of soy sauce into the pot, stir-fried it for a while, and then, seemingly feeling it wasn't flavorful enough, decisively scooped another spoonful and continued stir-frying until she was satisfied.

Unfortunately, there are no chili peppers here, and ginger is only used as a medicinal herb, making it expensive rather than a common seasoning.

Fortunately, there was still garlic, but the Mu family would sell it all; they wouldn't normally eat it at home.

Wang Qing'er added some water to the pot, gently submerging the rabbit meat, then covered the pot and let it simmer quietly.

She gently stirred the sweet potatoes in the large pot, as if caressing precious treasures.

I poked the sweet potatoes with my chopsticks and they felt soft and tender.

So she spread the half-cooked rice on the sweet potato like snowflakes, added an appropriate amount of water, and then used chopsticks to poke small holes in the rice, as if opening up channels for them to breathe. Finally, she covered the pot with the lid.

"Mom, the rice is cooking in the big pot," Wang Qing'er's voice, as clear and melodious as a nightingale's song, reminded her mother-in-law.

Upon hearing this, Wang Cuiying replied, "I understand." She then busily moved some of the firewood from inside to the small pot.

Just then, Old Man Mu and Mu Xiao returned from the fields. The father and son were overjoyed to see the bamboo shoots in the yard, dancing with excitement like children. When they saw the mushrooms, they were astonished as if they had discovered a new continent.

Mu Xiao picked up a mushroom and examined it repeatedly in his hand, as if admiring a rare treasure, muttering, "Why pick so many? We can't eat them anyway?"

Zhou walked over with a smile and explained to her son and grandson, "Qing'er picked these. She said that her maternal grandparents often eat these kinds of mushrooms, and that there are many kinds of mushrooms in the mountains that can be eaten."

“They all ate a lot of it this afternoon. They all seem fine, so it shouldn’t be poisonous and it’s safe to eat.”

"Ah! My sister-in-law really dares to eat that?" Mu Xiao's face was filled with disbelief.

“Your sister-in-law has been eating this since she was a child and she’s never had any problems. What is there that she wouldn’t dare to eat?” Zhou Shi glanced at her grandson with annoyance.

Then he added, "You guys hurry up and tidy up. The mother and daughter are cooking dinner in the kitchen, it'll be ready soon. Nan-ge was lucky today, he caught a litter of rabbits, but one of them died, so it won't fetch much money. We'll just cook it for dinner."

"Grandma, where are the other rabbits? I can't see them." Mu Xiao searched the yard.

"In the backyard, in the old cowshed, your brother said there's one that's pregnant with baby rabbits, so we'll keep it instead of selling it. There are also eight half-grown rabbits that we'll raise to a bigger size, as it's not worth selling them now. There are also two male rabbits; we'll keep one and sell the other. Make sure you catch the wrong one tomorrow." Zhou Shi explained everything related to the rabbits in one breath.

Mu Xiao looked incredulous when she heard there were so many rabbits. "Grandma, is my brother really that lucky today? Did he disturb a few rabbit burrows?"

Old Man Mu chimed in from the side, "Mu Nan is really lucky today. He even managed to find a pregnant female rabbit. It's not a bad idea to raise it for now. Anyway, we have a house to raise it. We can just cut some grass to feed them every day, and we can also feed them vegetable leaves that we don't want from the garden."

After the father and son went to the backyard to check on the rabbits, they fetched water and washed themselves clean.

Wang Qing'er stood by the stove, trying to recall if there were any chili peppers or Sichuan peppercorns around here. She vaguely remembered seeing wild ones in the mountains.

She thought she should go to the mountains to look for some, because she felt that without chili peppers, the dishes would lose their soul, and she was someone who couldn't live without spicy food.

Seeing her daughter-in-law standing there in a daze, Wang Cuiying reminded her, "The meat in the pot is almost ready."

Wang Qing'er hurriedly lifted the pot lid, and a rich aroma wafted out like a wild horse. She quickly added the mushrooms, stir-fried them for a moment, then covered the pot again and let it simmer for a while before it was ready to serve.

Wang Qing'er added garlic sprouts and stir-fried them quickly for a few seconds before taking them out of the pan and ladling them into a large bowl. She then added soy sauce, and the broth became as rich and thick as a pool of golden lake water.

She poured the remaining oil into the pan and turned to her mother-in-law, saying, "Mom, add some more firewood. I want to stir-fry some shepherd's purse."

"Qing'er, do your maternal grandparents eat shepherd's purse too?" Wang Cuiying suddenly remembered the shepherd's purse. They had never tasted it here, only occasionally digging it up to feed the pigs. They didn't want to waste this precious vegetable.