Chapter 2182: Chapter 1859: Poor Ducks
Everyone was extra enthusiastic about picking cantaloupes, even Wu Lei was full of energy, but Zhang Chen was helpless:
"How long are you going to pick? Aren’t we just eating them ourselves? You’d find a decent selection just by walking through this row."
Do we really need to circle around here several times?
Wu Lei was quite cautious: "I want to pick some that are good for us to eat and then pick some badly cracked ones for the cows to try."
His cousin said that at their place, the badly gone ones are fed to pigs, cows, and sheep, so picking some shouldn’t be an issue.
But...
His cousin has specialized people to raise the cows, take care of them, and even treat them when they’re sick! He only learned half of it, so what if he picks something bad and the cows get diarrhea?
He wants to let the cows taste some good ones, but he’s also afraid of any issues. At this moment, Wu Lei was full of worry: "You don’t get it, ever since I started raising cows, I’ve put more heart into it than anything else."
"Well, I’ve certainly noticed." Zhang Chen said lazily: "You weren’t this much of a fool before, but since raising cows, maybe talking to them every day made you dumber."
Alright, the fun of rural life is nice, but naturally, he loves enjoying comforts and just wants to eat ready-to-go things.
Walking on this muddy ground forever isn’t practical!
Thus, he couldn’t bear watching Wu Lei dawdling like this, took a couple of glances at the sweet melon vines nearby, and reached out to snap off a few.
The plastic basket seemed big, but filled up with about a dozen or twenty; he hadn’t walked far, and the basket was half-full.
Wu Lei opened his mouth, wanting to say something but not knowing what.
It was Song Tan who saw Zhang Chen busy, and didn’t need to say anything, already understood.
Rarely polite this time: "My brother Wu Lei’s brain sometimes isn’t too quick on the uptake, thank you for your care."
"Do you like eating young peanuts? We’ve pulled lots from the field; take some tonight and let my aunt cook them in salted water as snacks, they’re very fragrant."
These things can’t be stored, as they easily spoil.
"Sure." Zhang Chen was overjoyed:
"Who doesn’t like your stuff? I’m benefitting from Wu Lei. Besides, he’s just an honest guy in these times where this kind of sincerity is hard to find."
Saying that, he glanced at the basket and couldn’t help laughing: "Wu Lei must’ve told you, can I pick a few pounds to take home when I leave?"
Song Tan remembered Wu Lei’s previous words and couldn’t help laughing: "Yes, when the time comes, just pick the intact ones from the field, take them home for your family to try."
Wu Lei opened his mouth beside them; he originally wanted to say that Ning City is just a few hours’ drive away, there’s no need to pick the good ones!
But at this moment, with both of them looking at him, he pursed his lips and stayed quiet.
On this muddy ground, Lun Chuan couldn’t step in, and Song Tan swiftly picked two baskets prepared for the guesthouse, while also getting some for Lun Jing to give to friends.
Just as they put two baskets on the car, they heard Seventh Uncle’s joyful voice message:
"Tantan, with this rain, the road is slippery, and several ducks fell over by the riverside and slipped down Shitou Slope..."
"Poor ducks! Their necks were broken!"
If Seventh Uncle’s voice wasn’t so excited, Song Tan might genuinely believe he thought the ducks were miserable.
"Well, Seventh Uncle, do you want to make the tea smoked duck you mentioned before?"
"That tea branch isn’t dry, where to smoke ducks then." Seventh Uncle grumbled:
"Put the rough branches in the warehouse to dry first. Moreover, the old ducks by the riverside are cunning and wouldn’t play on slippery Shitou Slope on a rainy day. Those that went are just medium-sized ducks."
Total wasn’t even two months; ducks at this age make outrageously tender and flavorful roast ducks!
Calling because...
"We have a large family, so two people per small duck, still need to kill three more. You see, I’ll have Chen Xi kill them later, don’t you feel sorry?"
We raise ducks not for eating, why keep old ducks?
Besides, they’ve already fallen anyway.
Song Tan decisively said: "Kill them, kill extra, otherwise there won’t be enough to eat—don’t worry about the ducks keeping up, our incubator is always hatching."
Seventh Uncle, as the chef of the family, once in control of the power of thrice a day reflection [What to eat for breakfast? What to eat for lunch? What to eat for dinner?], the ducks were already killed when he asked this.
Oh, poor ducks!
Anyway—
[Tomorrow morning if you notice it’s not raining—never mind, that’s uncertain, pick now then, pick more cucumbers, pick some unripe cantaloupes as well.]
[Pick two green onions, I’ll slice some onion shreds when I return]
Even though the duck slaughter, plucking, and seasoning still takes about eight or nine hours, doesn’t stop one from preparing things first.
Ideally, besides cucumber strips in rolled duck meat, cantaloupe strips also offer a distinctive flavor, and our family does have them, sweet melons suffice.
Mix a fresh sweet sauce, pick a spicy sauce...
Makes a show of eating both sweet and savory! It’s delicious!
Humming along, he blissfully went to prepare the honey sauce for glazing.
...
While at the riverside.
Liubao sneakily squeezed into the lotus pond again, but Chen Xi and Chen Chi, who were busy with the ducks, didn’t notice.
The brothers were busily flipping ducks in hot water in a basin, the other using a ladle to pour hot water over the ducks.
Hot steam mixed with the unique fishy smell of duck surged over them, Chen Chi, tall and seated on a small stool, reached into the hot water, feeling the tingling warmth and then plucked duck feathers according to the direction of the fur—
He raised his head:
"Done."
Chen Xi nodded: "My basin is still a bit off, you’d better pluck yours first."
The young duck’s meat is tender, and the feather-plucking time was shorter than expected. With the water still hot now, Chen Chi was plucking the thick duck feathers by handful, and asked:
"Brother, wait, are there extra tweezers?"
Seventh Uncle diligently told them, these ducks were to be made into roast ducks, so the skin shouldn’t be damaged, it’s not pleasing to look at, and the fuzz must be individually plucked with tweezers.
This is meticulous work, pity he’s aged now, his eyesight isn’t as sharp as before.
Originally planned to bring them back for Wu Lan and friends for help, but it rained all the time, and the riverside was free at the moment, so the brothers volunteered.
Especially Chen Chi, he’s just like Qiaoqiao, now very interested in new knowledge, never seriously plucked a young duck.
Here, just plucked the feathers of the first duck, already anxious about tidying the fuzz up.
Chen Xi nodded: "No worries, there are extras."
Just pity: "These ducks if grown another two years, who knows how fragrant they’d be for soup..."
"It’s okay brother." Chen Chi earnestly said: "There are some older ducks, I recognize them, next time when they want to make duck soup, I’ll pick those."
Chen Xi: ...that’s not quite what he meant...
Oh! Anyway.
Poor ducks!
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