My childhood sweetheart, who was reborn with me, ended up as a loser.

Chapter 73: Cooking crayfish after the rain, together with everyone

A popular saying in their class lately is, "Move quickly and look cool," I wonder which wandering poet came up with it.

However, Xu Qingfan and his group were indeed fast and handsome this time. After collecting enough supplies for the playhouse, they ran home just before it started raining.

The torrential rain was like fireworks from the gods, suddenly scattering onto the muddy ground, and a familiar scent spread through the air.

Together, everyone moved the things in the yard under the eaves, and then sat on a small stool at the door to enjoy the rain.

Xu Qingfan went home and found a sharp pair of scissors. He was in charge of cutting off the shrimp heads, while Wu Lingyu was in charge of removing the shrimp veins.

Deveining shrimp is a rather technically challenging task. After Xiao Ruanwen and Lin Wanning each ruined two crayfish, they decisively gave up and watched them work with their hands supporting their chins.

Yao Jinping was initially worried that they would waste the food, but after watching for a while and discovering that her son was indeed quite capable, she went home with a smile.

"Brother Qingfan, will Uncle get soaked to the bone?" Lin Wanning was the only one among them who called Yao Jianjun "Uncle." In short, she called him whatever Brother Qingfan called him.

But let's forget about Mom and Dad, Ningning is smart too!

"Probably not. He just sped off on his motorcycle into town. Seeing that it was about to rain, he probably wouldn't be in a hurry to come back. He would find a place to take shelter from the rain first. This kind of rain stops quickly."

"Hehe, we just darted back in a flash!" Lin Wanning said cutely, gesturing with her hands.

"Will we still be able to see fireflies at night if it has rained?" Xiao Ruanwen asked.

"We probably wouldn't see any fireflies in October, but we might actually see some after the rain. However, don't expect to see swarms of fireflies. We'll catch a few dozen and put them in a bucket, then release them from the rooftop attic. That would be quite a sight."

Because Xu Qingfan was talking, he couldn't keep up with Wu Lingyu's speed in cutting the shrimp heads and removing the shrimp veins. Xiaoyu wiped her cheek with her sleeve and listened attentively to what he was saying.

"To see swarms of fireflies, you can only do so in April, May, or June, on the first two nights after a rain. At that time, the air is filled with the scent of grass, and the fireflies perch on the water plants in the small ditches. If you throw a pebble in, swarms of lights will take flight together, like a song..."

He was about to mention "The Light of Dreams" when he realized that "The Divine Weapon Little General" hadn't been released yet.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!"

"Is this the song, Brother Qingfan?" Fortunately, Lin Wanning came to his rescue.

"That's right, it's this song! Wan Ning and I are truly on the same wavelength!"

"Gurgle, gurgle!"

Wu Lingyu pouted. She had just thought of this song, but she hadn't sung it.

[I also feel a connection with Fan Ge!]

"I thought it was this song: The stars in the sky are weeping, the roses on the ground are withering, the insects fly, the insects fly, who are you thinking of~"

Xiao Ruanwen was the best singer among them. Her soft a cappella rendition of "The Little Insects Fly" had a soul-cleansing effect, though she sang the lyrics wrong.

"Ruan Wen, did you sing the lyrics wrong? Shouldn't it be 'The dark sky hangs low, accompanied by bright stars'?"

"We even performed this song at our kindergarten graduation!"

"Hey, don't worry about those details, okay?"

Xiao Ruanwen waved her hand, and everyone laughed, and the matter was over.

...

Xu Qingfan and Wu Lingyu quickly worked together to clean up dozens of crayfish. The torrential rain stopped, and their pretend play began.

Xu Qingfan brought out an iron stove for starting a fire. After lighting it, Lin Wanning and Xiao Ruanwen were like two diligent little ants, constantly searching around for things to burn and putting them into the stove.

"What should I do if all I have in the kitchen is peanut oil? I'm worried that if I use too much oil, my grandma will beat me."

Xu Qingfan came out of the kitchen carrying a large bucket of peanut oil. Beside him was Xiaoyu, who was holding an iron pot with both hands, on which various seasonings were placed.

"Are you stupid? Just pour less oil and fry it in batches," Xia Xiaoxiao said.

"That makes sense. That's why I say you're smart, Xiaoxiao!" Xu Qingfan gave a thumbs up.

Xia Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him disdainfully, realizing that Xu Qingfan's praise should be taken in reverse.

After Xu Qingfan put the iron pot on the stove, the little chef officially went online!

"Let me teach you how to cook. First of all, make sure the pan is dry before pouring in the oil. There can't be any water droplets left, otherwise the oil and water will mix together, like popping candy in your mouth, making a crackling sound like a battle."

"Xiao Fan, give it a try!"

Xu Qingfan glared at the instigating Xiao Ruanwen: "There's a saying: 'Try it and you'll die,' the 'die' in 'die'!"

"Now that the pan is almost dry, we can add oil. Our first step is to fry the crayfish, so we can add plenty of oil. Normally, when stir-frying vegetables, you only need to add a few millimeters of oil."

"Oh no! I poured too much oil! Don't tell my grandma!"

"Xiao Fan, you're in big trouble! I'm going to tell Grandma!"

"Then you won't get any crayfish to eat later."

"What are you doing? I was just kidding, hehe!"

Xu Qingfan glared at her again, waved his hand, and said, "You all move aside, I'm going to dump the crayfish. There's water on them, it'll be like a battle when I throw them in!"

Xiao Ruanwen is the best at talking big, but when there's real danger, she's the fastest to run away.

Lin Wanning wanted to stand behind Qingfan and watch him cook, but Xia Xiaoxiao pulled her to hide behind Xiao Ruanwen.

After everyone retreated to a safe distance, Xu Qingfan used the pot lid in his left hand for defense and the drained crayfish in his right hand to quickly pour the crayfish into the pot and put the lid on.

This step seems easy, but it is actually the most difficult step in the whole process, because many beginners will put the pot lid on first and then pour in the crayfish, which looks very beautiful.

"Brother Qingfan, there's a battle going on inside!" Lin Wanning ran back to look, and sure enough, just as Brother Qingfan had said, there was a crackling "battle" going on inside the pot.

"Yes, that's why this step is very dangerous, you have to be careful!" Xu Qingfan waited until the noise inside subsided before reopening the pot lid and flipping the crayfish over.

The remaining steps are quite simple: scoop out the fried crayfish, secretly pour out the oil from the pot, then pour in fresh oil, stir-fry the spices and fermented bean paste, add the crayfish and stir-fry, add water to cover the ingredients, and finally add some high-proof liquor to seal the edges.

Normally, beer is added when cooking crayfish, but children's taste buds are particularly sensitive. They can taste even the slightest trace of alcohol and then find it unpalatable.

After covering the pot with the lid, the five people moved small stools and sat around the stove. The air was damp and chilly after the rain, and it was especially comfortable to warm themselves around the stove at this time.

"When can we eat duck, Brother Qingfan?"

"It will probably take about twenty minutes. It's better to cook it a little longer so you can eat it with peace of mind."

"Xiao Fan, can we put the sweet potato in now?"

"It's okay now. The fire was too strong before; if you put it in directly, it would have burned to charcoal."

Xu Qingfan put all the smaller sweet potatoes and taro inside, shoveled away the ash, and buried them.

Steam rose from the pot, making a "bubbling" sound, and the sound of a motorcycle engine came from afar; Yao Jianjun had returned after buying fireworks.

"Uncle, Uncle, let's make crayfish!"

"Wow, you guys are amazing! Uncle bought so many fireworks, let's all set them off together tonight!"

Yao Jianjun got out of the car and patted Lin Wanning on the head. If there were to be a vote for his nephew's wife in the future, he would definitely vote for Wanning!

The fireworks were bought, and soon Grandpa and Grandma returned on their tricycle, which carried a large bag of lychee charcoal they had just bought from the roast chicken farm.

Mud that has been rained on cannot be used to kiln chicken, but that's okay, you can use it to roast chicken instead!

When the crayfish were cooked, the dark clouds dispersed, Xu Aiguo returned, and everyone enjoyed the meal together in the courtyard.

"Our little darling is so amazing! She can write poetry and cook!"

"Excuse me, who is this person who can write poetry and cook?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked. She and Xiao Ruanwen answered in unison, "B!"

"Brother Qingfan, what are you looking for?"

"I'm going to find a crack in the ground to crawl into."

"Hahaha!"

........

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