Chapter 55 Sweet and Sour Short Ribs

　The sky gradually darkened.

　　The two busy figures in the medicine house moved to the main room at some point.

　　Jiang Zhu was cutting the ribs into small, even lengths. Ye Annian was standing next to him, carefully choosing a handful of green leeks.

For sweet and sour short ribs, choose lean and well-proportioned pork ribs. Cut them into sections and marinate them with vinegar, soy sauce and other seasonings for half an hour.

　　During this time, he ladles out water, rinses the rice, and steams the rice in the pot.

　　Ye Annian finished selecting the leeks, cut them into sections and put them on a plate aside for later use. He also took out the marinated tofu soaked next to them and cut them into pieces.

　　Jiang Zhu said he would make stir-fried tofu with leeks later, which sounded new to him. He had eaten scrambled eggs with leeks and tofu mixed with shallots before, but this was the first time he had heard of stir-fried tofu with leeks.

　　Soon, the tempting aroma of rice wafted from the pot. Jiang Zhu took out all the rice, cleaned the pot, heated the oil, and deep-fried the marinated short ribs until slightly charred.

　　Pour out the oil in the pot and set it aside for cooking later. You don't need to brush the pot to keep the aroma of the fried ribs. Add water directly, add the short ribs, add white sugar and brown sugar to adjust the color, and stew together until the meat is soft and tender. Remove from the pot after simmering.

　　At this time, the sweet and sour short ribs have taken on a caramel color, and are sprinkled with chopped green onions and sauteed white sesame seeds, which not only garnishes them, but also enhances the flavor.

　　Bringing the prepared sweet and sour short ribs to the table, Jiang Zhu picked up a piece with chopsticks, blew it to cool down and handed it to Ye Anyian's mouth.

　　"Here, try the first piece."

　　Ye Anian was putting the cut tofu pieces on the kitchen knife, intending to put them into a bowl. When he made such a mess, the knife in his hand shook, and the piece of tofu on the edge fell to the ground with a squeak.

　　"you..."

　　Ye Anyian frowned, and just as he was about to speak, a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs was stuffed into his mouth.

　　Jiang Zhu smiled and said: "It's okay, Tongqian likes tofu very much."

　　As if in response to his words, a black furry ball "rolled" in from the outside happily.

　　The copper coin spread out and ran to Ye Anian's feet, sniffing and sniffing around his feet. The piece of tofu that fell on the ground disappeared.

　　After eating the tofu, the copper coin squatted at Ye Anian's feet, looking up at him expectantly, as if hoping he would drop another piece.

　　Ye Anyian:...

　　The puppy's eyes were watery and sparkling. Ye Anian still couldn't bear it, so he pinched another piece from the plate and threw it to the copper coins.

　　Tongqian's tail immediately started wagging, his eyes fixed on the arc of tofu, his front paws stood up, his back paws kicked on the ground, and with such a jump, he accurately took the tofu into his mouth.

　　After sending the puppy away, Jiang Zhu still stayed by his side and refused to leave.

　　Ye Annian looked at him while chewing the sweet and sour pork ribs in his mouth.

　　Jiang Zhu looked at him and reached out to him.

　　"Huh?" Ye Anyian made a confused syllable.

　　"Bones." Jiang Zhu said.

　　With his cheeks bulging from the ribs, Ye Anyian flipped the ribs in his mouth flexibly with his tongue and ate all the meat on them.

　　Not to mention, the meat is very tender, easy to remove from the bones, sweet and sour with a little burnt aroma, and quite delicious.

　　After finishing the ribs quickly, Ye Annian took Jiang Zhu's hand and spit the bones into his hand.

Jiang Zhu laughed and raised the bone in his hand: "Copper coins! Your brother Ye rewarded you!"

　　Whoosh!

　　A black shadow rushed in quickly.

　　Jiang Zhu threw the bone in his hand far away, and the copper coins flew out like an arrow from the string.

　　"You..."

　　Ye Anyian simply couldn't laugh or cry: "What kind of strange seniority is 'Brother Ye'?"

　　Jiang Zhu: "It's not strange. I heard Fu Zai call him copper coin brother before. Don't you know?"

　　Ye Anyian:...

　　In the courtyard, Shitou and Fuzai were still playing with the little rabbits. Copper Coin looked fresh and gathered around the two children, spinning around to observe the furry little things.

　　It jumped with its two front legs and tried to get closer, making "wow" and "wow" sounds from its mouth, which frightened the four little rabbits with their ears pressed tightly against their backs and huddled together.

　　Fu Zai clenched his fist and lightly knocked on the copper coin's head.

　　Nai Ji said: "Don't bully the little rabbit!"

　　Copper Coin was knocked on the head, looked at him angrily, groaned and lay down at Fu Zai's feet, looking pitiful.

　　Shitou laughed at this and said to Fu Zai: "The copper coins are just because these little rabbits are fresh, and I don't want to bully them."

　　"Oh." Fu Zai scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "I saw that the little rabbits were all cowering together in fear. I thought it was the copper coins to scare them."

　　"Rabbits are timid and will be scared at the slightest movement." Shitou said, "Have you decided where to keep them?"

　　Before Jiang Zhu could weave the bamboo cage, the two little guys must have a temporary nest to live in.

　　Fu Zai looked at the bamboo basket on the back of the stone and had an idea: "How about putting it in the basket first."

　　After he finished speaking, he called to Ye Anyian who was busy in the hall: "Brother, can the bamboo basket be used as a nest for the little rabbit first?"

　　Ye Annian was busy having dinner with Jiang Zhu when he heard the sound and replied: "Okay."

　　Fuzai immediately became energetic, stood up with crutches, and was about to reach the bamboo basket placed on top of the Jiangzhu medicine shelf.

　　However, he was less than half the height of the medicine shelf and could not reach it with his hands.

　　This kid was clever enough to hold the medicine shelf with one hand and use the crutch in the other hand to pick the handle of the basket.

　　Shitou hadn't realized what he was doing suddenly, but when he looked up and caught a glimpse, he was so frightened that he quickly got up and ran over.

　　He was a few years older than Fuzai, and he was strong. He grabbed Fuzai's armpits from behind and picked him up easily.

Shitou put Fu Zai on a chair aside and sat down, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

　　After patting his chest, he said fearfully: "You have to bring the basket to me and I'll help you get it. If you drop it, I'm afraid the splint on your foot won't be able to be removed."

　　"I know." Fu Zai said a little guilty.

　　Shitou was half a head taller than Fuzai. He took the crutch from Fuzai's hand, stood on tiptoes, used the crutch to hook the handle of the bamboo basket, and easily lifted the basket.

"Here, here you go."

　　"Thank you, Brother Shitou!"

　　After helping Fu Zai finish the basket, Shi Shi looked at the sky, and it was time to go home.

　　He said hello to Ye Anian, Ye Xiaomei, Jiang Zhu, and Ding Qiu, and promised Fu Zai that he would come to play with him tomorrow, and then trotted away.

　　Not long after, candlesticks were lit in the main room, and warm yellow lights spread out from the main room, reflecting the shadows of Ye Anyian and Jiang Zhu standing side by side in front of the stove.

　　After a while, the delicious smell of meat wafted out.

　　Ye Annian and Jiang Zhu put the food on the table, and then went out with Fu Zai to place the little rabbit in a bamboo basket and put it on the ground in the east room, covered with a thin cloth.

　　Fu Zai was afraid that the copper coins would get in, so he closed the door.

　　Dinner was sweet and sour short ribs, fried tofu with fresh fish soup and leeks, and a pot of steamed white rice with Jiangzhu as the staple food.

　　The sweet and sour short ribs taste sour and sweet, which is very popular with children. The fish soup is made from fish raised in the tank and is very fresh.

　　What surprised Ye Anian the most was the stir-fried tofu with leeks, which tasted completely different from what he imagined.

　　The entrance is filled with a strong aroma of sesame oil. The stir-fried leeks and tofu are very soft. The leeks are not spicy and still have a bit of the original sweetness. The tofu is soft and tasty. It is paired with the ribs, which is both greasy and delicious.

　　The five people had a delicious meal, with no food left.

　　Today, I also ate up all the copper coins, gnawed a lot of bones, and white rice with kimchi soup, which made my stomach full.

　　After dinner, Ye An and Ye Xiaomei talked about going to town to see each other the day after tomorrow.

　　Ye Xiaomei, an unmarried girl, is still a little shy.

　　She blushed and said, "Is this... too fast?"

　　"Unhappy," Ye Annian said, "When the time comes, you come with me and we won't say anything else. You just say that you are going to Clay Figurine Lane with me to sell gadgets. Don't let the villagers know about it yet."

　　Ye Xiaomei understood what he meant. Wu Xianglian and the others must not let Wu Xianglian know that the marriage was not settled. Otherwise, there was no guarantee that the old godly woman would not cause trouble.

　　This night, the two children refused to go to bed very late.

　　Because of the two newly arrived little rabbits, Fu Zai and Ding Qiu were curious about them for a long time.

　　The little rabbit is fluffy and soft, a small ball in the palm of your hand, like a ball of moving cotton.

　　Fu Zai let them run on the kang. The little rabbit was timid. His nose was hunched up and down, but he didn't dare to move. He stretched out his hand and poked the little rabbit's butt.

　　As a result, if you poke it, the two little rabbits will jump.

　　It made Fu Zai giggle.

Ye Annian made the bed and came over to take a look: "Since you want to raise them, have you given them names?"

　　Fu Zai shook his head: "Brother, do you have any nice names?"

　　Ye Annian thought for a while, pointed to the snow-white rabbit and said, "This white one is called...Snow Dumpling?"

　　"Snow dumplings sound good!" Fu Zai's eyes lit up when he heard it.

　　"What's so nice about that?" Jiang Zhu walked in from outside.

　　"Um..."

　　Fu Zai tilted his little head and thought for a while, then said seriously: "This little rabbit is white and round. This name is very suitable."

　　"Oh," Jiang Zhu also pretended to be serious and poked another light brown rabbit and said, "Then I also thought of a suitable name."

　　"What's your name?" Fu Zai looked at him expectantly.

　　Ye Annian looked at Jiang Zhu's face with that familiar and cunning smile, and felt that he was going to cause trouble again.

　　Sure enough, Jiang Zhu said: "This little rabbit is light brown and round. Why don't we just call it... Tuqiu'er."

　　Ye Anyian:...

　　Ding Qiu:...

　　The excited expression on Fu Zai's face gradually solidified, and Xiao Tuanzi slowly opened his mouth, his eyes widened, and the expression on his face was hard to describe.

　　Pian Jiangzhu asked Fu Zai seriously: "What? Doesn't it sound good?"

　　Fu Zai:...

　　"Doctor Jiang, your name is very appropriate, but next time I'd better let my brother do it."

　　Jiang Zhu:...

　　Ye Anian finally couldn't help it, covered his lips and chuckled.

　　"Ahem," Jiang Zhu coughed lightly, pinched Fu Zai's little cheek, and changed the subject, "Your brother and I have been married for so long, why do you still call me 'Doctor Jiang' so unfamiliarly?"

　　"You're used to it," Fuzai stuck out his tongue at Jiang Zhu, "Then I'll call you Brother Jiang."

　　"Well, that's pretty much it." Jiang Zhu reached out and rubbed Fu Zai's head, then grabbed the two little rabbits back into the basket, "It's getting late, I have to go to bed."

　　"Okay." Although Fu Zai didn't have enough fun, he still agreed obediently.

　　The basket containing the little rabbits was placed on the floor of the east room, and it was covered with a thin cloth to give the little rabbits a sense of security.

　　After settling the two children and the little rabbit, Ye Anyian and Jiang Zhu also got into bed.

　　He blew out the candle at hand, and the room suddenly fell into darkness.

　　Ye Annian just turned over and was pulled into his arms by Jiang Zhu.