Rebirth of a Village Girl

Chapter 117: 076: Thrash Scum, Eat Hot Pot 6

He slapped himself twice, silently, “Blinded by your dog eyes! Blinded by your dog eyes!”

Ni Yang took the change from the bald man, her eyes fell on the cow bones on the counter, and asked, “Uncle, how much do you sell these cow bones for?” The bald man enthusiastically replied, “The cow bones cost two cents for a pound, if you want, 1’11 give them to you for one and a half cents a pound.” Because the cow bones had no meat and people didn’t know how to consume them, these bones basically went unsold. Who would have eaten their fill and bought a few bare bones home?

But in Ni Yang’s eyes, these cow bones were all treasures. Although there was no meat on the cow bones, they were extremely nutritious. The soup made from them was both fragrant and rich, and they even contained bone marrow; they were perfect for making hot pot broth.

“I want ten pounds.”

“Okay.” The bald man quickly weighed the beef bones, “A little over eleven pounds, let’s call it ten pounds.”

“Thank you, uncle.” Ni Yang handed the bald man a one and five yuan note, and reached out to take the beef bones.

Passing by the toy shop, Ni Yang purchased a rattle drum and a little rubber ducky for Little Ni Yun.

Little Ni Yun was now over two months old, and it was a very active time for her.

When Ni Yang arrived home, Ni Cuihua was sitting at the front door waiting for Ni Yang while practicing her handwriting.

After some practice, Ni Cuihua’s handwriting had greatly improved on her initial attempts.

She could now write many characters independently, without having to look at the textbook.

“Mom, your handwriting is now really beautiful,” Ni Yang complimented sincerely.

Ni Cuihua responded with a smile, “That’s all thanks to my little teacher over here.”

Ni Yang said, “It’s more that you’re smart. If you were a dunce, no matter how good 1 taught, you wouldn’t learn.” Students under a teacher could be good or bad.

Ni Cuihua patted Ni Yang’s head, “You, all you know is how to please your mother. Speaking of, food is in the pot. Yangyang, you should go eat.” Hmm. Ni Yang nodded and asked, “Mom, where’s my little sister?”

“She’s sleeping in the back room.”

“Oh.”

Funnily enough, just as Ni Yang stepped into the room, Little Ni Yun woke up. Now she was gnawing on her white little feet. Seeing Ni Yang come over, she started laughing happily.

’Yunyun.” Ni Yang went over to pick up Little Ni Yun.

Even though Little Ni Yun couldn’t talk yet, she would still gurgle in excitement when she saw her big sister.

Ni Yang handed Little Ni Yun the rattle drum and the rubber ducky, “Is Yunyun happy?”

Little Ni Yun didn’t know how to play with the ducky, but she shook the rattle drum, making it create a ruckus.

Ni Cuihua came in from outside, worried, “Yangyang, money is hard for you to earn, why are you spending it carelessly on toys for your sister again?” Ni Yang replied with a smile, “Buying things for my sister doesn’t count as wasting money.”

Ni Cuihua reached out to pick up Little Ni Yun, “I’ll hold her, you go eat your meal quickly.”

Ni Yang turned and headed to the kitchen to eat.

In the afternoon, Ni Yang went down to the river to retrieve the crayfish trap. The river bank was completely deserted, and not even a herdsboy could be seen.

It was unknown why, but every time Ni Yang arrived at the river bank, she would inexplicably think of Mo Qishen.

Was it because Mo Qishen had helped her retrieve the crayfish trap for several days in a row?

Not long ago, Ni Yang had been able to see Mo Qishen by the river every afternoon. Yet, starting from yesterday, he seemed to have evaporated from the face of the earth.

In such times, there were no mobile phones, let alone WeChat or QQ…

Once someone lost contact with another, they might never see each other again.

Thinking about this, Ni Yang suddenly felt a sense of melancholy.

But the very next second, Ni Yang chuckled faintly. He was just a man, what was there to be heartbroken about!

A man as ungrateful as a stray dog, good riddance if he left.

After returning home, Ni Yang prepared the fish she’d gotten and started preparing dinner for the night.

The first thing she did was to parboil the beef bones before scooping out the floating scum and starting over to make the soup.

Add to it some green onions, ginger, garlic, star anise, and cinnamon bark. After bringing it to a rolling boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes, gradually letting the fragrance spread.

It somewhat resembled the flavor of the Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles from her past life.

However, it was much more fragrant than that of the Lanzhou noodles.

While the beef bone soup was simmering on the stove, Ni Yang started preparing the hot pot base.

Ni Yang had worked in the catering industry in her previous life, so she knew how to make the sauce base more flavorful and which ingredients paired well with it. In no time, the aroma filled the entire courtyard.

The smell was mouthwatering.

While Ni Yang was preparing the spices, Ni Cuihua was washing vegetables on the side.

Ni Yang bought a lot of vegetables – there was duck’s blood, tripe, kelp, beef and lamb, bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, and so on.

Of course, no hot pot would be complete without fish balls and shrimp paste. However, pre-made shrimp paste wasn’t available at this time, so Ni Yang planned to make it herself and see if she could succeed.

The fish and shrimp were just caught from the fish trap today, so there was no cost involved.

Ni Cuihua’s knife skills were impressive. In no time, she removed the bones from the shrimp and fish meat and minced them.

That night, when Ni Chengui saw the hot and steamy copper pot on the table with a layer of red oil floating on the surface, she couldn’t help exclaiming, “Yangyang, are we having hot pot tonight?”

Ni Yang came out from the back, “Yes, Auntie Ni, we’re having hot pot tonight.”

There was a hot pot restaurant in the city of Beijing.

Ni Chengui had gone there once with her boss, but because of the high price, she never went again. Although it had been a long time since, Ni Chengui would never forget that delicious, spicy and sour taste.

She just didn’t know if the hot pot Ni Yang made would be as delicious as the one she had last time.

When Ni Chengui tasted the food from the hot pot, she was so excited she didn’t know what to say.

It was so delicious!

A hundred times better than the one she had in the restaurant before!

The boiled beef dipped in the oil sauce prepared by Ni Yang tasted divine. A subtle spiciness and numbness danced on the tip of her tongue, stimulating the taste buds and leaving an unforgettable aftertaste.

And with a glass of ice-cold plum juice, it was irresistibly delicious.

Ni Chengui picked up a humble looking meatball, originally thinking that it was just a regular meatball, only to be surprised by its firm texture. One bite and it was smooth and chewy, mouthful of meaty flavor, satisfying and fulfilling, making one wish to swallow even their tongue.

Ni Chengui had never tasted such a meatbail before, and curiously asked, “Yangyang, what kind of meatbail is this?”

Ni Yang explained with a smile, “This is called shrimp paste, it’s made from shrimp meat and starch.”

Ni Chengui was surprised and asked, “You made this shrimp paste yourself?”

Ni Yang nodded.

Amazing!

Ni Yang was truly amazing!

If Ni Yang were to open a hot pot restaurant, the one in the city would have to close instantly.

But Ni Chengui couldn’t bother praising Ni Yang anymore, because the hot pot was so delicious that she just wanted to enjoy it fully.

Ni Cuihua picked up a piece of tripe and said, “Yangyang, this tripe is a bit tough to chew. Did it get under-cooked?”

Ni Yang picked up a piece of raw tripe and while demonstrating how to cook it explained, “When eating tripe you have to swish it back and forth ‘seven up eight down’, like this..”