Chapter 67 Chestnut Chicken Soup

Regarding this matter, Ye Anyian originally did not want Wu Xianglian to sign the IOU.

　　But Jiang Zhu reminded him that Ye Quan had many ideas and he had to think of a perfect solution and do it in one go.

　　Only then did Ye Anyian decide to involve Wu Xianglian.

　　After all, if it was just Ye Xiaomei who signed the IOU, given Wu Xianglian and Ye Quan's temperaments, they might throw her out to work to make money, or find her to marry into a family with a lot of betrothal gifts.

　　Therefore, only Wu Xianglian signed the contract herself to be able to control this evil-hearted couple.

　　The three of them were very happy that the matter was over. They stopped by the market on the way back and bought some yams, chestnuts, and two chickens. They planned to go back and make some delicious food to celebrate.

　　When we returned to the bullock cart, the other villagers who were hitching a ride had already arrived, but Wu Xianglian and Ye Anbai were nowhere to be seen.

　　Zhou Liang waited for them to get on the car, then shouted and started driving the cattle.

Even though he didn't care about Wu Xianglian and the others, Ye Anyian was also a little curious and asked Zhou Liang, "Uncle Zhou, why don't we give them a ride back?"

　　Zhou Liang flicked his whip and said, "I left early. I hired an oxcart from the neighboring village in a hurry. I don't know what's so urgent. Maybe everyone will be home by now."

　　"Oh." Ye Anyian nodded and said nothing more.

　　But the three of them knew in their hearts that Wu Xianglian must have panicked and was anxious to go home to discuss it with Ye Quan.

　　We were silent all the way, and it was already dark when we got home.

　　Fu Zai moved a small stool and was sitting in the yard cleaning the rabbit cage for two little rabbits. Ding Qiu was helping him.

　　The three of them carried their things and entered the door. When Copper Coian, who was lying at Fu Zai's feet, heard the noise, his ears immediately stood up and he trotted forward to greet them.

　　As a result, when he ran forward, he found the two chickens in Jiang Zhu's hands.

　　It curiously stepped forward and sniffed, and then croaked at the chicken, which frightened the two chickens into shrinking together and "clucking" non-stop.

　　"Copper coins!"

　　Jiang Zhu snorted at it, and the copper coin ran away.

　　Seeing the three people coming back, Fuzai happily invited them to come and see his little rabbit.

　　"Brother, Brother Jiang, second sister! Look, my little rabbit has grown up!"

　　He waved his little finger to show his little rabbit to the three of them. While pointing, he gestured with his hand: "Before, it was only as big as my two palms put together. Now it is half a hand longer than before!"

　　However, Fu Zai gestured for a long time, but Ye Anian still didn't see it.

　　Jiang Zhu also laughed: "It's only been a few days, how can a rabbit grow so fast?"

　　"As I've grown older, Brother Qiu has weighed it with his hands and said it feels a lot heavier." Fu Zai pursed his lips.

　　Ding Qiu said cooperatively: "It's indeed heavy. I've been feeding Fu Zai very carefully these days."

　　"Have you thought about the name of this brown rabbit?" Ye Anyian asked.

　　I thought Fu Zai was still worried, but Xiao Tuanzi smiled with crooked eyebrows and nodded: "I've thought about it!"

　　"Sister Lingling came up with it for me. It's called Sesame Ball."

　　"Snow dumplings and sesame balls." Ye Annian raised the corners of his lips, "Not bad, they match well. They are both round and chubby."

　　"Isn't my 'earth ball' also round? Why doesn't it match?" Jiang Zhu came over and raised his eyebrows at Ye Anian.

　　Ye Anyian:...

　　"The soil is falling apart."

　　Seeing his disgusted look, Jiang Zhu smiled happily.

　　A few people chatted and laughed for a while, and then it was time to prepare for the evening meal.

　　In the evening, Jiang Zhu planned to make chestnut chicken soup, but one chicken was enough, so the other one found an empty basket, put the chicken in it, and raised it for a few days.

To make chicken soup, the chicken must be killed freshly.

　　Ye Annian saw Jiang Zhu holding a chicken wing in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other. He was afraid that it would be difficult for him to kill the chicken if it struggled, so he wanted to step forward to help.

　　Jiang Zhu shook his head: "No, just help me get a bowl to catch the chicken blood."

　　Upon hearing this, Ye Anyian quickly went into the main room, took out a clean empty bowl, and placed it in front of the chicken.

　　After putting the bowl away, he didn't leave. He squatted aside and watched Jiang Zhu kill the chicken.

　　"Squat a little closer to me, be careful of blood splashing on you." Jiang Zhu said.

　　Ye Annian did as he was told. As soon as he found his position, he saw Jiang Zhu put the kitchen knife temporarily on the bowl and freed up his other hand to twist the chicken's neck.

　　He skillfully held the chicken's neck and two wings together with his left hand, plucked the feathers from the chicken's neck near the breast to expose the skin and flesh underneath, then quickly picked up the knife and cut that area.

　　He picked up the knife and dropped it. The chicken kicked its legs in his hand a few times before rolling his eyes and dying. All the blood that flowed from the neck fell into the bowl, cleanly and without wasting a drop.

　　Seeing how neatly he handled it, Ye Annian couldn't help but said, "I didn't expect you, a doctor, to be so good at killing chickens."

　　Jiang Zhu put the freshly killed chicken into a copper basin next to it, poured boiling water on it and prepared to shed its feathers.

　　Hearing this, he laughed and said, "Doctors know this better than most people. This chicken has many blood vessels on its neck. If you pluck out the hair and expose the most deadly one, you can kill it with one cut."

　　"Hiss," Ye Anian took a breath and touched his arm, "You scared the hair on my head."

　　"Then you are so timid." Jiang Zhu teased him.

　　Ye Anyian:...

　　The two of them were bickering while handling the ingredients. Jiang Zhu was handling the whole chicken, while Ye Anyian was peeling chestnuts and peeling and dicing yams.

　　After all the side dishes were prepared, Jiang Zhu also blanched the cut chicken pieces.

　　He sauteed the chopped onions, ginger and garlic in the pot until fragrant, stir-fried the chicken pieces as well, then added water and simmered them slowly.

　　Wait until the last half hour, then stew the chestnuts and chopped yam pieces in the pot, sprinkle some salt and other seasonings to taste, and wait until the aroma wafts out, then you can take it out of the pot.

　　After simmering a pot of fragrant chestnut chicken soup, some of the remaining chicken offal, heads, feet, etc. can be stewed together, and some other side dishes can be added.

　　As for the chicken blood, let it solidify overnight. You can make chicken blood, tofu and stir-fried leeks tomorrow. It is very fragrant and tonic.

　　Not long after, a delicious smell wafted out of the pot. The deliciousness of the chicken soup mixed with the sweetness of the chestnuts made people's index fingers move.

　　Jiang Zhu poured out the chicken soup, then used the remaining chicken offal, chicken heads and feet, added some cabbage, potatoes, and vermicelli to stew a pot of vegetables.

　　The staple food is the corn pancakes Ye Xiaomei sticks on the stew pot. The pancakes are soaked in the aroma of the stew, oily and sizzling. You can take a bite and have crispy rice crackers. It is very delicious.

When the food was served, five people sat around the main room, each with a bowl of chestnut chicken soup and each with a corn tortilla in his hand.

　　In the stew, the potatoes were soft and floury, full of the flavor of stewed chicken. Even the chicken feet were soft and tasty. Fu Zai and Ding Qiu ate each one with gusto.

　　The chicken hearts and livers were all given to Ye Xiaomei. After all, she was too thin and needed to eat more good food to replenish her body.

As for Ye Anyian and Jiang Zhu, they each drank a bowl of chestnut chicken soup.

　　The freshly killed old hens were simmered for an hour on low heat, and sweet chestnuts and yams were added. The soup tasted fresh and sweet, and the meat was clear and not greasy at all.

　　But Ye Anian still prefers to eat the yam and chestnut inside. The chestnut soaked in chicken soup is sweet and glutinous, and the yam is soft and floury, which suits his taste very well.

　　When Ye Xiaomei was adding food, she accidentally looked up and saw these two people sitting side by side, with their shoulders straight, holding soup bowls and drinking slowly. Their movements were surprisingly consistent, and they seemed to have a tacit understanding.

　　She looked at it for a while and couldn't help laughing.

　　"Second sister?" Ye Anyian glanced at her doubtfully.

　　Ye Xiaomei waved her hands and sighed: "You two really look more and more like each other."

　　"That's natural, or the second sister is very clear-sighted." Jiang Zhu was very impressed by these words and did not forget to praise her in return.

　　Ye Annian was startled for a moment, and when he glanced at Jiang Zhu, who was doing exactly the same thing as him, he silently put down the bowl in his hand.

　　He didn't speak, but when he lowered his head, the tips of his ears turned a little red.

　　After dinner, Jiang Zhu calculated that the time was almost there, so he removed Fu Zai's splint and checked the healing of his bones.

　　Children's bones have a strong ability to grow and have basically grown.

　　Jiang Zhu pressed his ankle, asked him carefully, and then stopped splinting him.

　　But he still warned: "In the past few days, it is better not to run or jump, walk slowly, and get used to it first. The newly grown bones are still brittle, and it is easy to be injured again by violent movements."

　　Although Fu Zai was dishonest when he was wearing a splint, he listened seriously now: "I remember, I can't run or jump."

　　But just after the splint was removed, Xiao Tuanzi was still very excited. When Ye Anyian brought him water to soak his feet, he couldn't help but look at his little feet.

　　He also said to Ye Anyian: "Brother, look, I think this foot is a bit whiter than the other."

　　Ye Anyian was helpless: "Your foot has been tied up for a month, and it hasn't seen much light. It will definitely turn white."

　　"Then I have to sunbathe this foot more so that it becomes the same color as the other one." Fuzai said to himself, very cute.

　　After taking care of the two children and washing their feet, Ye Annian watched the two of them get into bed and lie down to sleep, and then went out to wash and tidy up themselves.

　　However, when Ye Xiaomei in the West Room had put out the candles and he had finished washing himself, the lights in the medicine house outside were still on.

　　Ye Annian didn't know what Jiang Zhu was still busy with, so he put on a coat and walked over.

　　In the medicine house, the lights were brightly lit on the long table, and medicine jars on the small clay stove nearby were boiling potions, emitting a faint bitter smell.

　　"You're not sleeping yet, where are you waiting for me?"

　　Hearing Ye Anyian's approaching footsteps, Jiang Zhu stopped writing in his hand and raised his head from the desk.

Ye Anyian stood across the long table and looked at him with lowered eyes: "Someone is up late at night, let me come and take a look."

　　"That's not for you."

　　Jiang Zhu smiled and put the brush in his hand on the pen holder aside, stretched out his hand to hold Ye Annian's wrist, and pulled him over.

　　Ye Anyian walked around the long table and sat down on the chair next to him.

　　The two of them were very close, and the faint medicinal fragrance from Jiang Zhu spread around Ye Anyian.

　　He took a deep breath and exhaled gently. Just as he was about to say something, Jiang Zhu suddenly stood up and took down the medicine jar on the small clay stove, filtered out the medicine residue, poured out the medicine and placed it in front of Ye Anian.

　　"Since you're here on your own, it's a good time to drink today's medicine."

　　The dark medicinal soup gave off a bitter taste. Ye Annian smelled it carefully, but felt something was different.

　　After it cooled down a bit, he picked up the bowl and took a sip while holding his breath.

　　However, unexpectedly, tonight's medicine seemed to taste better than before. It seemed to have an extra sweet taste, which neutralized the bitter taste that hit my throat before.

　　Seeing him take a sip and taste it slowly, Jiang Zhu held her chin and smiled and narrowed her eyes: "You drank too much of this medicine, and you still taste it?"

　　Ye Anyian pursed his lips and put down the medicine bowl: "Today's medicine tastes different from before. Did you change the prescription?"

　　"The tongue is very good." Jiang Zhu was a little surprised and stretched out his hand to wipe away the concoction on Ye Anian's lips, "It is added with some medicinal materials."

　　"Is it a snow lotus?" Ye Anyian asked.

　　Jiang Zhu moved his hands and opened his eyes slightly: "Can you taste this?"