Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Four Unfilial Sons
Chapter 32 Four Unfilial Sons
"Crack!"
Qin Yao threw a few fresh river fish into the bucket and said to the man holding a bowl opposite her,
"Add some water to keep them alive. We'll give them to everyone for lunch tomorrow."
Liu Ji asked curiously: "Where did you get this fish from?"
He leaned over and took a look into the bucket. There were five fish, four big and one small. The big one was three fingers wide, and the small one was two fingers wide. Without water, the fish were struggling in the bucket with their mouths wide open.
Liu Ji hurriedly stood up and scooped a few scoops of water from the water tank into the bucket. After getting the water, several fish turned over and started swimming. Maybe the bucket was too small and a bit crowded, and the tails of several fish swam together. With a "splash", the water splashed all over Liu Ji's face!
Qin Yao looked at his stunned and embarrassed appearance, with a sarcastic smile on her face. She found a dustpan to cover the bucket, and pressed it down with stones to prevent the fish from jumping out.
"I caught it in the river. I'll continue to be busy. Remember to cook the meat tonight." Before leaving, she emphasized her tone.
Liu Ji wiped the water stains on his face, said "oh", stood up and looked around in confusion - he actually didn't know how to cook at all!
I was in a hurry to cook a pot of porridge at noon today, and I had long forgotten that she asked me to cook meat in the morning.
At this moment, the piece of meat was hanging under the beam of the side house. Liu Ji hurriedly cleared the bowl and pot in front of him and walked over with some trepidation.
There are still four pounds of meat left. I bought it three days ago. If it weren't for the low temperature these days, it would probably have gone bad.
Now he took it down and smelled it. The smell was gone, but it was no longer the fresh color.
Holding the piece of meat, Liu Ji stood blankly in front of the window and pondered for a long time. He dug out all the memories about cooking meat in his head, only to find that his memories about the kitchen and food were very few.
All I could think of were the meals that were already on the table.
But if he can't cook the meat tonight, he might not survive the night.
Thinking of this, Liu Ji couldn't help but feel sad.
Think about him, a man of seven feet tall, from childhood to adulthood, has he always eaten ready-made meals? Besides, looking around the whole Sheng country, which man would go into the kitchen to light the stove and cook?
This is to humiliate him and make him be laughed at by all the men in the village!
Qin Yao, this evil woman, is really vicious!
Dalang and his three friends were playing hopping stones around the bed. They saw their father standing at the window, staring at him for a long time, and thought he was possessed by evil spirits.
Erlang called out tentatively, "Dad?"
This gentle call woke up Liu Ji, who was immersed in sadness.
As if he had grasped a life-saving straw, he turned around quickly, weighed the pork in his hand, and asked them if they knew how to cook meat.
Even Sanlang and Si Niang nodded and said they would do it.
Liu Ji coughed twice uncomfortably, then assumed his father's authority and pointed at Dalang and Erlang, wanting to assign the task of cooking meat to them. He also planned to ask Sanlang and Siniang to be responsible for washing and picking vegetables, so that he only needed to stand in front of the stove to supervise.
It was a nice idea, but he didn't consider whether the four children were willing to listen to him.
Dalang said, "This is the job that Auntie gave to you, Dad, and you assigned it to us? Then what do you do?"
Liu Ji thought, of course I'll just lie down and watch you guys work.
Dalang didn't want to see him acting like a scoundrel, so he lowered his head and continued picking up stones to play with.
Erlang's eyes rolled around and he came up with another idea.
"Dad, I can teach you how to cook, but you have to share the copper coins that Auntie gave you with us."
"You little rascal, you are obsessed with money at such a young age!" Liu Ji suddenly felt annoyed.
Once the money comes into his hands, there is no reason to give it back, forget it!
Erlang seemed to have expected this from him. He shrugged nonchalantly, squatted down and continued playing with his brother and sister-in-law. The four of them didn't even look at him.
Liu Ji almost fell backwards in anger. He walked up to the four people and asked quietly through gritted teeth:
"Are you four still my children? I am your biological father, so how can I not appoint you guys?"
Erlang rolled his eyes at him and said, "Auntie didn't assign us the job. If she had said so, my brother and I would have done it right away without saying anything."
"Right, bro?"
Dalang nodded without even raising his head. He was worried that his father would be divorced by his stepmother if he continued to be such a scoundrel.
At that time, the stepmother will no longer be their stepmother and will no longer have the status to manage them.
Of course, if the stepmother didn't mind, the four of them would definitely follow her.
The two brothers exchanged glances and reached an agreement.
Liu Ji was so angry that he raised his hand to hit the kids. Sanlang and Si Niang opened their big eyes and looked at him innocently. Their two identical clean little faces were so pure and innocent.
Liu Ji took a deep breath and raised his hand but couldn't bear to bring it down.
He paced back and forth in the room restlessly, glancing outside from time to time, paying attention to Qin Yao's whereabouts, and then looking at the sky. He really didn't have much time left.
"What sin did I commit in my previous life to give birth to four unfilial sons like you!" Liu Ji was helpless and furious, and his voice was the only one in the room.
"Okay, give me the money!" he said gritting his teeth.
The four brothers and sisters looked at each other in surprise, and Erlang immediately said, "One copper coin per person!"
Liu Ji's voice seemed to come from between his teeth, "Okay——"
The four brothers and sisters all put their palms in front of him. Liu Ji rubbed his aching temples, called a few to follow him to the main house, took out the hidden copper coins, and gave one to each of them.
The four children kept their promise and taught him what they knew after receiving the money.
Dalang had seen his aunt cooking before, and because she was cooking meat that day, he remembered the process very clearly.
First brush the wok, then apply a thin layer of oil on the wok dry. Put the chopped fat into the wok first and stir-fry over high heat to release the fat. Then add the scallions, ginger, and garlic. Finally, pour in the chopped pork belly slices, add salt and sauce, and stir-fry before serving.
Liu Ji: "That's it?"
Dalang nodded heavily, "Yes, that's it."
If there are other side dishes, you can also put them in and stir-fry them together. No matter what the dish is, as long as it comes with gravy, it will definitely taste good.
Unfortunately, there were no vegetables at home, so Dalang didn't say anything.
"Dad." Dalang looked at Liu Ji seriously, "Don't always make your stepmother unhappy. What if she wants to divorce you? What will you do?"
After saying that, he called his younger brothers and sisters and ran excitedly to Liu the peddler's house in the village, completely unaware of his father's furious look.
"Divorce me?" Liu Ji slammed the stove, "She's lucky enough that I didn't divorce her!"
After saying these harsh words, he quickly turned around to see if the other person was there. Seeing that she was not there, he started to show off again.
The relatives and clansmen who were helping nearby saw him grinning and muttering at the stove alone, and sighed:
"It's really rare that we can actually see Liu Laosan going into the kitchen to cook for us."
However, it seems that there is no man cooking in the village. It is the women in the family who are busy in the kitchen. If the man is forced to cook, there must be a tigress in the family.
If this happened to someone else, they would be laughed at, but when it happened to Liu Ji, everyone just felt that he deserved it.
(End of this chapter)