Chapter 162 A Foreign Land (2)
"Mother." Jiang Huiqin said softly, her eyes red.
Liu Xiuzhen acted as if she hadn't heard anything and stared blankly out of the window, stroking the urn with her right hand as if patting a child who had just fallen asleep.
"Let's go, we will come back later to bring some sweet porridge to mother." Li Mingyi said helplessly.
"Huiqin, when you move here, you, Mingzhe and Mingqing can go to school together." Liu Xiuzhen said suddenly.
Jiang Huiqin and Li Mingyi were stunned at the same time.
"Zhen'er (eldest sister) has been gone for two months, and I have also thought about it for two months. It's better for girls to read some books." There was a dim light in Liu Xiuzhen's eyes, "These days, I always think, if I had Send her to a girls' school, even if it's just If she learns a few more words in foreign language, will her personality be as cheerful as yours? If I had thought more about her family background when I was looking for a husband for her, and if I had scolded her less in the past few years, would she have become less cheerful? It will be like this.”
"I have lived for others all my life, and Zhen'er has lived for others all her life. She doesn't want to live anymore, and I still have to live. When Mingyi first went to school, he often told me that reading can make people understand and make people more sensible. People are wise and ask me to send Zhen'er and Chun'er (the second sister) to a girls' school. I don't believe it and don't listen. It's my fault. It's all my fault."
Liu Xiuzhen said as she walked into the room holding the urn.
There was a picture frame sitting alone on the table in the room.
The photo above is a family photo taken on New Year's Eve. It is a black and white photo. Everyone has a smile on their face. The eldest sister looks particularly small standing in the corner holding Fen Yatou. Fen Yatou smiles sweetly at the camera.
Things are different and people are different.
……
Chinatown is like a dilapidated and complicated maze, with bungalows and short buildings arranged irregularly. There are vendors on the street carrying baskets on poles. There are various shops with dilapidated or shabby signs. The wooden walls, stone walls and earthen walls are mottled or More mottled. The further in you go, the more shabby it becomes, and the further in you go, the darker it gets.
Jiang Huiqin and Li Mingyi stopped in front of a half-opened shop with no signboard. In front of the door was a dusty wooden board with crooked Chinese characters written on it: New goods 7 yuan per pound.
"Mother Chen." Jiang Huiqin called outside.
"Here we come!" A middle-aged woman with disheveled hair and clothes opened the door. She looked like she had just woken up and spoke in non-standard Mandarin. "Mrs. Li, oh, Mr. Li is here too. I heard You bought a house in the Highlands and are moving there!”
"Prepare to move away. I heard yesterday that you were back. Have you found him?" Jiang Huiqin got straight to the point.
"It's too difficult. There are wars everywhere now. I have relied on many connections. It's not that I don't do anything after receiving money. Now the whole north is at war. Before I boarded the ship, I heard that there was going to be a war in the south too. It's chaotic. Very! You only have a few photos. I asked many people, but they had no impression. It’s a good thing that your brother and your nephews are all men. That Fen girl in your family is so good-looking, I guess..." Mother Chen He looked embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, and then said it.
"Don't blame me for speaking poorly. I know all the slightly famous dealers, but none of them have any impression of Fen girl. Her appearance is also a hot commodity in our industry. The Fen girl in your family is probably gone. And now In this world, for such a beautiful little girl to be alone outside, it would be better to be dead than alive.”
Jiang Huiqin couldn't even say a word of rebuttal.
"Then please ask someone to look for it." Li Mingyi sighed.
Mother Chen is the largest human trafficker in San Francisco. Almost all the women who are sold in San Francisco pass through her hands. She does not engage in prostitution, she only sells people. She resells women from the country who cannot survive, who are deceived or who voluntarily sign a contract of sale, and are sold here. A bachelor who cannot find a wife.
"I can't go in the past few months. It's too chaotic. There are wars everywhere. I have to wait until at least next year. You...hey, you should be mentally prepared." After finishing speaking, Mother Chen went in and shouted in a sharp voice, "It's almost noon and none of them are getting up to work. Pigs are more diligent than you. Who wants to buy a lazy pig with weak hands and feet and go back to be a mother-in-law..."
"She's right, girl Fen is better off dead than alive." Jiang Huiqin murmured, taking a deep look at the wooden sign at the door.
7 yuan a pound.
Li Mingyi took Jiang Huiqin's hand and led her out: "If you die, you can end everything, but only by living can you wait for hope."
The two walked into a very simple restaurant, with only 4 or 5 small tables. An old man with gray hair was sitting at a table peeling garlic with his eyes narrowed.
"Aunt Liu." Jiang Huiqin greeted her with a smile.
"Here you go, the ingredients are all in the kitchen and I've prepared them for you." Aunt Liu said.
Li Mingyi was stunned and asked: "What are you going to do?"
"Secret." Jiang Huiqin didn't allow him to enter the kitchen. "Today is a good day. I recently learned a new dish. I wanted to make my mother happy after eating it. But she doesn't want to come, so you can help her eat it."
"Your mother still doesn't want to go out?" Agu Liu suddenly asked.
"Yeah."
"Hey, you'll be fine once you get used to it. I was like this when my second son died. It will get better gradually." Aunt Liu peeled the garlic slowly.
Jiang Feng followed Jiang Huiqin into the kitchen.
The ingredients are all ready in the kitchen, including steamed sea cucumber, cooked white chicken, cooked ham, oiled fish maw, steamed squid, watered bean curd, egg yolk cake, pigeon eggs, pure fish meat, steamed magnolia slices, steamed shiitake mushrooms, and cooked white pork belly. , scallops, spinach stems and cooked salted egg yolk. There are quite a variety of ingredients. If you only make one dish, the taste of this dish must be very rich.
Jiang Huiqin first cut sea cucumber, fish maw, magnolia slices, yuba, pork belly, chicken and part of ham into slices of equal length and width, then cut the chicken and remaining ham into shreds, and boiled the pigeon eggs in cold water. Various processed ingredients were neatly placed on the plate by Jiang Huiqin, all in five colors and very neat.
There was a pot of chicken soup still simmering on the stove next to it. Jiang Huiqin opened the lid and the rich aroma instantly came out. The chicken fat had been completely stewed into the soup. The chicken soup was pure yellow and fragrant. Skimming off the grease on the surface, Jiang Huiqin scooped out a large bowl of chicken soup.
In order to extract the deliciousness of the ingredients, Chinese cuisine always likes to use chicken soup to stew and stew. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall does the same thing. Jiang Huiqin put all the sliced ingredients into the pot together with large pieces of green onions and ginger slices, poured in the chicken soup and added seasonings , use chopsticks to pick out the green onions and ginger slices after the stew is fragrant.
After taking out the pot and putting it on the plate, Jiang Huiqin picked a beautiful porcelain bowl from the cabinet. It had a black background and white edges with blue and white flowers. This kind of porcelain bowl was rare in San Francisco. Wash the porcelain bowl, pick out the mushrooms from the plate and pile them on the bottom of the bowl. The remaining ingredients are piled up one by one according to color classification. It takes dozens of minutes just to pile up these ingredients. Finally, pour the chopped ingredients on top, pour the original soup, and steam in the steamer.
Jiang Feng said that Jiang Huiqin's presentation was not good.
The chicken and pork belly should obviously be placed crosswise according to the color, but she placed them on two adjacent floors. Jiang Feng, who has been professionally placing dishes for many years, said that the color design is very bad, and they are all flaky and stacked like a pile. A flower-like arrangement would obviously be better.
When Jiang Huiqin arranged the dishes like this, she knew that they were going to be turned upside down. When they were stacked together and scattered, they would look better.
Jiang Feng can't guarantee that the dish he makes will taste better than Jiang Huiqin's, but it will definitely look better than hers!
After ten minutes, take it out of the pan.
Place the porcelain bowl upside down in the soup basin, surround it with pigeon eggs, and place ham shreds and cooked chicken shreds crosswise on the mushrooms. Boil the original soup in the pot, add rice soup to thicken it, pour in cooked lard, the aroma will instantly overflow, and pour it on the chowder.
Finally, add cooked salted duck egg yolk on top of the mushrooms, and insert spinach stems upside down on top.
The dish is done!
All the ingredients are soaked in the bright yellow chicken soup, mixed with the aroma of the cooked lard poured at the end. The ingredients are abundant and rich, the color is full and bright, the fragrance is delicious, and the aroma is not greasy.
There was a large soup bowl full, enough for two people to eat, and they didn't even need staple food.
When I went out with the soup basin, a customer happened to come in outside.
"Hey, Li Hongzhang's chowder, Aunt Liu, your family's business is big enough and you're selling this dish." The visitor was surprised.
"I just prepared the ingredients. They made them themselves. How could I be this good? Chicken soup wonton noodles?" Aunt Liu put down the garlic in her hand.
"You know the old rules." The guest found a table and sat down.
This large pot of Li Hongzhang's chowder was placed on the table, with a lingering aroma. Li Mingyi had eaten this Hui Province famous dish before, but it was not made this way.
Jiang Huiqin went to get the bowls and chopsticks, and Li Mingyi took his own and asked, "How do I remember that my brother-in-law didn't do it like this before?"
"This is a new method improved in Chinatown. It's more delicious than baking it directly with sesame oil and then simmering it slowly." Jiang Huiqin picked up the shiitake mushrooms on the surface of the chopsticks, looked at it, and stopped, "If my brother knew there were still This approach must be studied happily for several days.”
"We will return to China when the war is over. A capable person like my uncle can survive anywhere. You study hard. When you find them when you return to China, you will teach your uncle how to do it yourself." Li Mingyi comforted.
"Yes, I will teach my brother how to do it when I return to China."
"The chicken soup wonton noodles are ready." Aunt Liu came out of the kitchen with a bowl of wonton noodles, brought it to the guests, and went back to peel the garlic.
"Hey, Aunt Liu, where are your children? I haven't seen them for a while."
"He, he went back to Peking to get married!"
"Why are you going back to get married? Go buy one from Mother Chen! Aren't her girls all clean girls? It's so troublesome to go back, and it's dangerous to wait for several months. I heard that there are wars everywhere now, but there is no war in Peiping? "The guests chatted while eating noodles.
"I don't know, the matchmaker introduced me." Aunt Liu said, "Mother Chen's girl is clean, but too expensive. Now it has risen to 7 yuan a pound. If you buy one that weighs 60 to 70 pounds, you will definitely not be able to support her. I can't afford it because it's expensive. I'm already 37. , I can’t wait anymore, it’s cheaper to go back to China to get married. In fact, I’m not worried about going to Peking, but the matchmaker introduced me to Peking. He should be on the boat back now. This kid doesn’t even send a message. It’s really embarrassing. Heart.”
"Do you also know about Peiping?" asked the new guest.
"What's going on?" they both said in unison.
"My son told me that the newspaper said that Peiping had fallen."
With a snap, Jiang Huiqin's chopsticks fell.
"Beiping fell? When?" Jiang Huiqin stood up.
"Mrs. Li, oops, Mr. Li is here too. I heard that you bought a house in the highlands and are still eating here!" The visitor looked surprised. "Just a few days ago, my son told me when he was reading the newspaper at school. Yes, Mr. Li, don’t you also read the newspaper? Didn’t you see the news?”
"It's okay, it's okay. Gangzi must be on the boat now." Aunt Liu comforted herself, but her voice was trembling.
"Huiqin, please sit down first." Li Mingyi's voice could not hide the trembling, "I have never dared to tell you, nor have I dared to tell my father."
"Beiping has fallen?" Jiang Huiqin sat down slowly, her whole body shaking, "Beiping has fallen. Second sister and Master Chen are still in Peiping. Where are they?"
"All gone." Li Mingyi lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Jiang Huiqin, "Uncle Fu sent me a telegram four days ago. The second brother-in-law and Master Chen's son were killed for hiding wounded soldiers in the cellar. The second sister and Master Chen... led his family to self-immolation.”
Jiang Huiqin remained silent, Li Ming raised her head again and again, tears streaming down her face.
After wiping away her tears, Jiang Huiqin choked and said, "I can't tell my mother."
"Let's eat vegetables." Jiang Huiqin took another pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of mushroom.
Entrance.
"It's not as delicious as my brother's cooking." Jiang Huiqin blinked and tears fell into the bowl.
Li Mingyi also picked up a piece of shiitake mushroom.
Entrance.
“My uncle’s cooking is still delicious.”
Salty tears dripped onto my hands.
This is the first time he has cried in front of others in the four days since he received the news.
Jiang Feng was shrouded in fog.
Sitting blankly on the bed, surrounded by darkness, Jiang Feng touched the corners of his eyes, which were a little wet.
After sitting quietly for a while to calm down, Jiang Feng clicked on the game panel.
【Li Hongzhang Chowder Grade C】
Producer: Jiang Huiqin
Dishes details: This is a famous Hui Province dish that is well-known at home and abroad. Both the selection of ingredients and the production techniques are quite qualified. Due to the limitations of the producer's own strength, this famous dish has been slightly overshadowed. It was originally a Li Hongzhang chowder with some flaws, but it was the release of Li Mingyi's negative emotions in painful moments. Because it was full of hatred between the country and the family, it became a dish that he could not forget in his life. It will cause people to have extreme emotions within 20 minutes after eating it. The desire to cry and release negative emotions.
Number of productions per day (0/1)
Jiang Feng:...
With such a big bowl, if one person takes one bite, the whole restaurant will burst into tears.
It's quite touching to think about it this way.
Jiang Huiqin's three dishes in the menu bar have all been highlighted, including willow-leaf agarwood in clear soup (fake), shredded yam and Li Hongzhang chowder.
Three dishes, Jiang Huiqin’s life.
There is also a memory of Zhang Zhiyun in the toolbar. After thinking about it, Jiang Feng decided not to be immodest and clicked on it now. If it was another depressing memory, he might have insomnia until dawn tonight.
As soon as he lay down and turned off his phone to go to sleep, Jiang Feng heard Wang Haozhentian talking in his sleep before his eyes closed for even a second.
"Come out, god-level golden egg fried rice!"
Jiang Feng:? ? ?
Has he become obsessed with writing novels recently? Why is he still arguing with egg fried rice in his dream?
"Go to hell, two-dimensional Fourier analysis! Golden egg fried rice and duck!" Jiang Huiqin and Li Mingyi officially finalized and offline~
(End of chapter)