si-mexico Chapter 175 A sumptuous seafood feast
Chapter 175 A sumptuous seafood feast
After taking a bath, the old general and his wife slept on the large new bed, covered with the same brand new quilt, leaning on each other and feeling filled with emotion.
The old lady said: "Old man, although the journey here was full of hardships, but now it is not as difficult as I expected."
Jing Yongcheng: "The whole family is together, no one is missing. This is a blessing in disguise."
The old lady said, "That's not the case. When I saw you covered in blood, with only outgoing breath but no incoming air, I thought you were going to die on the road. At that time, I thought I couldn't hold on and would follow you."
Jing Yongcheng placed his wife's hand on his chest and said, "They say those who survive a great disaster will be blessed in the future. Now even our eldest son is fine, so just wait and enjoy your life."
Old Madam: "As long as our family can be together, it's better than anything else. Even if I can't return to the capital, I will accept it.
But when I think of Qiu Rong and her widowed mother staying in the capital, burdened by those families, I feel sad. Why don’t we wait until we have settled down and bring them to Jiangmen County? As long as they don’t have to suffer in Yamen Village, it will be fine.”
Jing Yongcheng: "You are old now, don't worry about this, take care of your health first. As for me, children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. Qiu Rong and Xi Jie'er are very independent, I believe they will live a good life.
Besides, even if you are willing to live in this remote place for the rest of your life, you also want your sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons to live here in the future?
Don't you want to avenge us?"
The old lady said: "Alas, I am just worrying about nothing. Let's think about how to farm those dozens of acres of land."
Thinking of the fifteen people who were exiled, except for Jing Mingzhu who was young and not on the list and did not need to cultivate the five acres of land, the rest of the people each had five acres, which added up to a total of seventy acres. It was a headache to think about how to cultivate the land.
Jing Yongcheng: "Old woman, you're overthinking it. Since you were assigned to this village, haven't you seen clearly along the way? The ones who are strict are the ones working on the farm. As for these village heads and town heads, as long as you have good relations with them, they will turn a blind eye. As long as the land is cultivated well and the 70% rent is paid, why would they keep a close eye on who is working?
Besides, after the land is divided, planting will have to wait until spring. I think that although the current house is not spacious, it is enough for living. I should let them dig up the vegetable garden at the back and plant it in a few days. We can't go to the market every day to buy a few vegetables. It will be too conspicuous.
You should take care of the chores at home."
It is indeed a bit unreasonable if an exiled criminal has servants who go to the market to buy vegetables and meat every day. The people in the village will definitely rebel.
"Okay, I think in addition to growing vegetables, I should also raise some hens, and see if I can buy two dairy sheep. The old and young in this family need to be supplemented, and I can't always rely on Sister Xi to move things out."
Jing Yongcheng knew that he couldn't let his wife be idle. When old people have nothing to do, they tend to think about other things. If he didn't find her something to do, her stubborn mind would start to wander.
As for other matters outside, naturally only he, his son, and his two eldest grandsons could discuss and resolve them together.
Everyone changed into new clothes, and suddenly it felt a little unreal when they lay down on the bed. It had been a long time since I felt that kind of touch, and a new life had begun.
The weather was fine and the patio was dry.
Dinner was served in the west house, with two tables in the main hall and one table by the patio. Nanny Wang placed the servants' table in front of the door of the side room without anyone's instructions, not far away across the patio.
The eaves of the side room extend outward for several feet, which is somewhat similar to the arcades in the south. Although not exactly the same, they both have the same function of sheltering from wind and rain. If the table is not big, it can barely be placed in it.
When they got here, everyone was no longer as unruly as they were in exile. When eating, they would consciously follow the rules of their original home. Even though there was no partition in the main hall, men and women had separate tables.
The old general and the old lady naturally had to sit together at the main table. Except for Zhuang who stood beside them to help the old lady serve the dishes, the rest of the seats were occupied by Jing Changning and the male members Dalang, Erlang, Sanlang and Silang. Nanny Wang wanted to stand over and serve them, but was driven away by the old lady.
Yin and Si sat at the same table with Jing Mingyue and Jing Chunxi, and also reserved a seat for Zhuang.
The table in the courtyard was a bit crowded, with several concubines, Xiaotuanzi, Lin, Qiaoqiao, Wang Ma, Tangshuang, Chuntao and Jing Mingrong all sitting together.
The table under the eaves was occupied by Grandpa Xiaobei, two guards, a groom and several servants. When they got here, Grandpa Xiaobei refused to sit at the same table with the old general.
The meal was an unprecedented feast, with steamed, boiled, and fried seafood, and a large pot of sea duck mushroom soup in the center. Each table had a duck, its belly stuffed with mushrooms, stewed for an hour and a half before being served. The skin was crisp and the meat was tender, melting in the mouth. It was suitable for both children and the elderly. The soup and mushrooms were also particularly fresh. The mushrooms were brought back from their exile.
The table was almost full of clams and duck eggs, steamed sea bass, braised prawns, crab with ginger and scallions, scallops with vermicelli, and pan-fried whitebait.
After waking up from a nap, everyone was hungry. No one was polite when they sat down to the table. After eating so much that almost all the food was gone, they all felt a little sick.
Chuntao also placed a basket of vegetables on each table for everyone to enjoy. Several kinds of vegetables were washed clean and mixed together, including green, white, and red.
The old lady couldn't help but be curious: "This is spinach, this is mustard greens, and what are these small leaves?"
Others also chimed in curiously: "How come we have never seen this dish before?" When eating hotpot in Beijing, most of the dishes are radish and cabbage, and sometimes potatoes, mushrooms, vermicelli and so on. How can there be so many dishes?
Chuntao explained with a smile, pointing out the leaves: "The one with small forked leaves is coriander, the one with round leaves is watercress, and the red one is cauliflower."
Someone exclaimed: "Why does the cilantro here look like this?"
Chun Tao smiled and said, "My servant and Nanny Wang have both tried it. The coriander here is also called cilantro. It is tender and more fragrant. You can eat it with the roots. It is delicious in stir-fries, soups, and even hotpots."
The old lady said: "I've never seen watercress before. I didn't expect it to taste so crispy."
Chuntao explained further: "Well! This vegetable is probably only available in Lingnan. It has indeed not been seen in other places. It grows in water and is cut every time it grows. It is similar to leeks, but you have to soak it in salt water when washing it." Chuntao did not say the rest of the words, for fear that if it was not soaked in salt water, it might hide leeches and the masters would not dare to eat it.