Food for the people

"It's here, thank you both, if you don't dislike it, go inside and drink some water before leaving."

When the carriage reached the place leisurely, Qiao Yu and the two brothers unloaded their things into the carriage, and then spoke politely to them.

The boy looked at him and smiled mysteriously, and said: "If you want to thank, thank my father and go. We are just obeying orders, and the water is also spared. Let's go."

Speaking of which, the servant turned his horse's head and turned out from their alley.

The two stood outside the courtyard and watched the carriage go out of the alley before carrying their things back home. Qiao Ling carried a pot-bellied pot in one hand and said as he walked, "The owner of the carriage does not seem to be a resident of West Street."

Qiao Yu had already entered the door, took the jar from him and put it in the kitchen, and replied after hearing the words: "Of course I'm not a resident of West Street, have you ever seen a carriage in West Street?"

Qiao Ling looked back at him: "But didn't they just say that they would take the same route? Neither South Street nor North Street can be taken by West Street."

Qiao Yu poked his head with his finger: "If he says he's on the way, you really believe he's on the way."

Qiao Ling didn't respond when his head was poked, so he smiled and asked, "Then we don't know him either."

"So what? In this barren courtyard, are you afraid that he may plot something wrong? No matter what the reason is for him to help, it will be harmless to us. He is willing to make friends with the best, and if he doesn't want to make friends with us, there is no loss at all. I think What are you doing with so many? Isn’t it good to have too many friends?” Qiao Yu put the five jars together, and said, “Go, get a ladle of water.”

Hearing Qiao Yu's words, Qiao Ling suddenly became enlightened, and didn't think too much about it, so he walked quickly to the water tank, and scooped up water for Qiao Yu.

"What is this for?"

Qiao Yu carefully poured water into one of the jars at the edge of the sink, and said, "See if that old man framed me."

After speaking, he found a few dry and wide dry leaves from the pyre, lit them with kindling, quickly threw them into the jar and covered it with a lid.

A few seconds later, the water on the edge of the altar made a snoring sound, and most of the water was sucked into it.

Qiao Ling was dumbfounded, "What's going on?"

"It's a good pot. It seems that the old man didn't lie." Qiao Yu said, and then answered Qiao Ling's question. "The principle is very simple, but I guess you won't understand me when I tell you."

Qiao Ling was not convinced, "Brother, you have to tell me first before you know."

Seeing his unconvinced look, Qiao Yu smiled and said: "Okay, let me tell you, the flame burned the oxygen in the jar, causing the pressure in the jar to become unbalanced for a moment, so the water from the edge of the jar was sucked into the jar This shows that the jar is well sealed, and the pickled vegetables are not easy to break."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Qiao Ling, and he looked confused as he didn't understand a word.

He smiled happily, "You don't understand after I told you."

Qiao Ling wanted to ask again, but was interrupted by Qiao Yu: "Hurry up, do the work first, and I will tell you slowly when I have time."

Qiao Ling closed her mouth obediently, and continued to work.

On the other side, the boy watched the servants bring the wine into the palace, then got into the carriage non-stop and went back to the tavern. As soon as he entered, he ran to the private seat on the second floor and said with a smile: "Master, I You came back, and someone sent you back unscathed, what else do you want?"

The man sitting by the window was no longer tasting wine, he had set up a chessboard, and was playing chess with himself with black pieces in one hand and white pieces in the other, when he heard this, he ignored him, and let him stand there stupidly scratching his head.

The servant waited and waited until his master asked, so he had no choice but to answer on his own initiative: "Master, I remember where that man lives. Do you still remember the alley where we passed by West Street last time and smelled the smell of meat? We live in it." Next to it, the yard looks pretty dilapidated from the outside, but I didn't see what it looked like inside, the main reason is that the master didn't give orders, so I didn't dare to go in and have a look, so I stayed at the gate of the yard for a while and then came back."

The man didn't seem to hear it, and he didn't raise his head, as if he wasn't interested in the boy's news at all.

After a long while, a sunspot fell down, and then slowly said: "Don't you dare to make decisions without authorization?"

The servant nodded, for some reason, he felt that his master's tone was not right, and the back of his neck felt a little cold when he heard it.

Sure enough, the next moment the man looked up at him coldly, and said, "Then when did I let you inquire about other people's addresses?"

The boy's back molars became cold, and he knelt down after slipping away, not daring to smile playfully with the man anymore, and said with a slightly mournful face, "Sanqi knows his mistake."

The man turned his head away again, and said in a low voice casually: "If you continue to speculate wildly, you will slap your mouth ten times."

The servant hurriedly said, "Sanqi remembers it."

"Get up, I asked Yipinlou to deliver a roast goose, get out and eat."

The man continued after putting down a white stone.

Sanqi was so moved that he wanted to cry, his grandfather was really the best master in the world, he kowtowed sincerely to thank him, and then went downstairs to eat roast goose.

As soon as he left, the man grasped the chess piece and became dazed. He didn't know what he thought of, and the corner of his mouth curled up, revealing a slight smile.

After testing each jar one by one, Qiao Yu boiled water and washed the jars inside and out twice, and then hung them upside down in the sun to dry.

After the new year, the weather is slowly starting to warm up. The weather has been excellent for the past two days, the sun is shining brightly above the head, and the body is warmed by the sun.

Qiao Yu spent the whole morning moving and washing in the sun, and it was so hot that she felt a little sweaty.

Qiao Sheng's physical condition is terribly poor. He has recovered a lot since he came here, but the underlying illness is still there, so he has always been more afraid of the cold than others. He didn't sweat as easily as others, so he suddenly felt sticky all over his body. His first reaction was not disgust, but joy.

After I was overjoyed, I got a basin of hot water and went back to the room to wipe it off.

If there was anything in this place that dissatisfied Qiao Yu, apart from the kitchen, it was the bathroom.

It is cold in winter, and there is no shower or heating. The only cleaning tool is a not too big bathtub. It is said that it was something that was moved from Qiao’s house. The size of the bathtub is just enough to hold Qiao Ling. If Qiao Yu washes it, I could only sit in the basin with my legs curled up, feeling extremely aggrieved after washing.

Because Qiao Yu's health is too poor, Qiao Yu can't take more than this kind of extremely aggrieved bath, for fear that if he doesn't keep warm enough, it won't be worthwhile if he catches a cold and has a fever. I can count on my hands, and the last time I took a bath was several days ago. Most of the time, I can only wipe it with hot water.

Qiao Yu really wanted to take a good bath, so he felt that if he made money, the most urgent thing to do was to change to a bigger bathtub, one that would allow him to sit in it with his legs straight.

After going back to the room, he wiped his body and changed his underwear, Qiao Yu loosely brushed his hair, and prepared to go to the kitchen to cook.

I went in and saw that Qiao Ling was already lighting a fire. He was sitting behind the stove with only one head sticking out. While adding firewood to the stove hole, he got up from time to time to stir the pot a few times to prevent it from sticking.

"What are you cooking?" Qiao Yu asked.

"I cooked a piece of bacon, didn't my brother say he wanted to eat it?" Qiao Ling turned to look at him.

When they went, Qiao Yu mentioned that he wanted to eat bacon for lunch today, he just said it casually, he had forgotten, but Qiao Ling still remembered.

Qiao Yu smiled and rubbed Qiao Ling's hair, then pinched his face, and said with a smile: "I said casually, you have a good memory, hurry up, cook the bacon, brother will make you bacon today meal."

Qiao Ling's eyes lit up.

In his heart, Qiao Yu's food is the most delicious in the world, and he also knows many new tricks that he has never seen before. Every time Qiao Yu said that he would make him something new to eat, Qiao Ling was very happy No, upon hearing this, I excitedly added more firewood to the stove hole, making the fire even more intense.

The water was gurgling in the pot, and soon the aroma of bacon permeated the entire stove through the water vapor.

Qiao Yu lifted the lid of the pot and poked the meat with chopsticks. After the chopsticks easily penetrated into the meat, he picked out the meat from the pot, washed it carefully with warm water, put it on the chopping board and changed the knife to dice it. While pinching a piece, he threw it into Qiao Ling's mouth.

The bacon is salty and chewy, the lean meat is not dry, and the fatty meat is not greasy. The more you chew, the more delicious it is.

In addition to the bacon, potatoes were also diced. After preparing the ingredients, Qiao Ling asked Qiao Ling to wash and dry the pot, and scooped half a spoonful of lard into it.

The pure white lard gradually turned into a transparent liquid. Qiao Yu put the bacon in it and stir-fried it. After more fat was precipitated, he poured in the diced potatoes. After the basic seasoning, pour in the soaked rice and stir. Cover the pot twice.

"Boil it, then anneal it, keep it low so it doesn't burn." Qiao Yu ordered.

Qiao Ling nodded knowingly, staring at the stove with undivided attention, never allowing the slightest mistake in his lunch.

Half an hour later, there was no flame in the stove hole, and only a few fiery coals were left dissipating their last residual heat.

"Okay, bury the fire and prepare to eat."

After Qiao Yu finished speaking, he lifted the lid of the pot, and the aroma rushed to his face. Qiao Ling took a deep breath, and then swallowed his saliva without much interest. It was so fragrant.

The fat of the bacon evenly covers every grain of rice, giving off a glistening oily sheen, and the potatoes are soft and rotten, soaking up the gravy and giving off a strong aroma.

Before Qiao Yu could make a move, Qiao Ling quickly took two bowls and filled one for each of them.

In addition to the bacon rice, Qiao Yu also mixed a refreshing shredded radish with chili and balsamic vinegar. It was sour and appetizing, and it was perfect to go with the oily bacon rice.

The two brothers brought the food to the table and were about to start eating when they heard someone knocking on the courtyard door.

"Who?" Qiao Ling was about to put the bowl into his mouth when he was interrupted, a little dissatisfied, and asked loudly.

Song Siming's familiar voice came from outside.

"I'm here to bring you something."

It seemed that he came back from an errand, Qiao Yu put down the bowl and raised his chin at Qiao Ling, motioning him to eat first, then got up and went to open the door.