EBE Chapter 169 Big Pot Meal in the Woods
Chapter 169 Big Pot Meal in the Woods
It was she who promised to catch the prey, but she had forgotten about it since she found the first matsutake mushroom. If the master had not had this matter, he would have returned with two sacks filled to the brim.
But one sack is a lot.
She stepped forward and said with a smile, "Master, you are back. How come you picked up so much by yourself? It took the three of us to pick up a sack and a basket. It really is true that the old ones are the wisest. It takes the three of us to be as good as you."
The old man put down his things, handed her the prey in his right hand, and said, "What unclean thing did you eat? Can you say that?"
Zhou Guo: “…”
She turned around and handed the things in her hand to the aunts who had been waiting for a long time, and then whispered: "Master, did you really pick up a sack? Do you know how to pick these pine mushrooms?"
"What's so difficult about this? Just bend down and look on the ground. Look at it covered in mud. It's probably not unearthed yet." After saying that, he turned and left.
Zhou Guo quickly grabbed his sleeve and asked in surprise: "Hey, Master, where are you going? It's time to eat."
The old man didn't even turn his head. "Go to the mountain. I have to pick up another sack. I have another sack that I don't need."
"No, no matter how anxious you are, you don't have to worry about it for a while. You have to eat. Don't you want to eat?" Zhou Guo asked anxiously. Is he crazy? He doesn't even want to eat? Or has he already eaten?
As I thought of this, I smelled a faint scent of fireworks coming from him. I pulled his sleeve and sniffed it. Sure enough, I smelled a familiar aroma: roasted matsutake mushrooms, eating them all by myself!
The old man pulled his sleeves guiltily and said fiercely: "Are you a dog?"
Zhou Guo waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and find your mushrooms." It was better to eat. With so many people eating from one pot, the master was afraid that they would not be full. Even though the old man was old, he had a big appetite.
"Guoguo, your old man didn't even want to eat? What did he do in the mountains?" The woman next to him looked up and saw the old man going back into the forest without looking back. "The meal will be ready soon."
Zhou Guo said: "I don't know. How can I, as a disciple, control the whereabouts of my master?"
"That's right. Don't blame you later if you keep asking. However, the old man is so capable and careful. Look, the prey he gave us has been prepared. I don't think he will starve. He must have eaten in the mountains. So should we just ignore him?"
Zhou Guo nodded. She still had to leave some food for him in case he was hungry again when he came out. Food was still more filling than pine mushrooms.
The hare and pheasant were chopped into pieces. The rabbit and chicken fat in the pot had been boiled out and started to smoke. All the meat pieces were thrown in. There was a loud sizzling sound and almost sparks came out. The woman took the spatula and stir-fried it vigorously. When the meat changed color, she opened the gourd and put water in. When the soup boiled, add the washed and torn pine mushrooms into small pieces. Because there were many people, more pine mushrooms were washed. A large iron pot was already full of vegetables and soup. Finally, salt was added.
The fragrance had been lingering in the camp for a long time.
People who had worked for the whole morning no longer had the heart to work. They were half-hearted and then simply stopped working. They threw down their tools, sat by the pot and did not move. Even if they had nothing to eat, it was good to just smell the fragrance.
Especially for everyone else except the Zhou family, the last time they ate meat was when they were fleeing. It has been a long time since each family spent money to buy wild game from Zhou Dacang and others.
The aroma of meat mixed with the fragrance of pine mushrooms wafted over, and I couldn't resist it. My saliva kept oozing out.
Zhou Guo was also hungry. It was actually past lunch time. It would not be helpful for her to eat so much in the morning. The pine mushroom stewed with meat was still very fragrant. Even though she had just eaten it last night, she thought it would be okay to pick up some pine mushrooms to take back. No one would complain about having too many dishes.
She looked at the pine mushrooms and meat bubbling in the pot and smelled the aroma, her stomach growling.
"Okay, let's eat."
The word "dine is ready" was like unlocking the prison door. Everyone stood up from the ground, picked up the bowls in front of them, rushed to the wooden barrel and started to get their meal.
Zhou Guo followed closely behind her mother holding the bowl.
After serving the meal, Li gave the bowl to her daughter, "Go find a seat and start eating."
Zhou Guo nodded, "Mom, I'll save a seat for you."
"No, take care of yourself."
There were too many people, so Zhou Guo, with his small stature, slipped in quickly. He used chopsticks to fish in the pot and pulled out five or six pieces of meat and a few large handfuls of wild mushrooms. His bowl was full, and he left with satisfaction.
Li was waiting outside with a bowl in her hand. She would wait until these people had taken their dishes and left before she went to get some more.
Zhou Guo came forward with his big bowl and took half of the meat and vegetables in his bowl. "Come on, Mom, eat. I took a lot. Eat first. We'll go in when there are fewer people behind us."
Li looked at the food in the bowl, her heart was filled with joy. Having such children was worth her life.
Zhou Guo had already started eating with the bowl in his arms. He first took a mouthful of rice, then ate a pine mushroom, which was fresh, plump and tender. After that, he took another mouthful of rice and started eating the rabbit meat.
Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi also came over with their bowls in their arms, and Zhou Dacang followed closely behind them.
The whole family sat in a row holding their bowls.
There was no one around the pot at this time, and everyone automatically moved away after picking up the food to make room for others.
Zhou Guo seized the opportunity, pulled Li up, walked to the pot, and picked up the vegetables again. All he picked up were pine mushrooms, without any meat.
She just glanced inadvertently and saw that several aunts had not eaten a single piece of the meat in their bowls. They had kept all of it, apparently intending to take it back home to feed the children and the elderly who didn't get to eat it.
The Zhou family members all refused to eat any meat. They thought pine mushrooms were delicious, almost the same as meat, but even better than meat.
It’s not that no one saw it and sighed in their hearts.
The whole pot of food and the soup were finished, not a grain of rice was left in the bucket, and the bowl was licked clean. Zhou Guo looked at her bowl and sighed, wondering when she would stop licking the bowl.
After finishing her meal, she did not go into the mountain for the rest of the afternoon, but stayed to help saw wood and pick branches.
Li turned around and asked Zhou Dacang to take Zhou Mai to the mountains. "You have been working for two days. You should take a break. They are both still young and need someone to watch over them."
Zhou Dacang declined, "Second sister-in-law, you should go. I am a grown man, why would I go and pick mushrooms instead of doing my job? I will be laughed at."
"If you don't go, should I? I don't have the ability to protect the two of them in such a deep mountain. If we encounter a wild boar, the three of us can only run away. Can we outrun the wild boar?" Li asked back. She really didn't have that ability.
Zhou Dacang thought the same and said, "Then let Guoguo go."
Zhou Guo stood up and said, "Uncle, if I ask you to go, then go ahead. I have to stay and work. Are you stronger than me? I can saw these beams out by myself in the next half an hour. Can you do it?"
Zhou Dacang turned and left after hearing this.