"Mom, don't dry the elm-head mushrooms. We'll use them to make dumplings this afternoon. It's been a long time since we've had dumplings, and I've been craving them!" Chen Lan said when she saw her mother preparing to dry the elm-head mushrooms.
Hearing that they would have dumplings with elm-head mushrooms, her mother replied joyfully, "Great! Great! It's time for dumplings. We've been in the mountains for months, eating nothing but rice, steamed buns, noodles, and pancakes. I've really been craving dumplings." With that, she bustled off with her winnowing basket to get busy.
Chen Lan quickly took a quick shower, changed her clothes, and put her dirty laundry into the automatic washing machine. Then she went to have lunch. After eating, she peeked in at the four children. They were sleeping soundly, and a smokeless mosquito coil was lit beside the big bed. Yes, it was indeed cool in the mountains during the summer, but there were too many mosquitoes and insects. Children were particularly susceptible to mosquitoes. With their current simple conditions and no other options, Chen Lan could only buy smokeless mosquito coils from the system for everyone. She also sprinkled insect repellent around the RV, which helped reduce the number of bugs.
Chen Lan didn't have time to think about anything else. After covering the children and tucking in their kicked-off blankets, she joined Lin Mai and Cui Qiao, helping them clean the wild chickens and rabbits.
The three divided the work: Chen Lan boiled water to pluck the chickens, while Lin Mai and Cui Qiao skinned and gutted the rabbits, then cleaned and marinated them with spices and salt.
As Chen Lan boiled water and plucked feathers, she pondered how many chickens would be needed to stew with such a large ginseng root without being too potent, worrying about over-nourishing someone. "Ah, this is truly a happy problem!" After half a second of deliberation, she dismissed the thought. Once the wild chickens were cleaned, she would hand the ginseng over to the master chef, Lin Mai, to handle.
Putting aside her thoughts, her movements became more efficient. Lin Mai, as expected of a master chef's apprentice, was very swift in cleaning the game. Even Cui Qiao, who was always at ease in the kitchen, was slower than her when it came to preparing the game.
With Chen Lan's help, the work of cleaning the game sped up significantly. By the time all the game was cleaned and ready for marinating, the three of them were almost exhausted.
While waiting for the cleaned wild chickens and rabbits to drain, the three took a short break before resuming their marinating work. The kitchen was stocked with a wide variety of seasonings. Lin Mai, grabbing handfuls of spices here and there, quickly prepared the marinating mixture and took it to the RV kitchen for grinding.
Soon, Lin Mai brought out the ground spices and began the marinating process. Seeing Lin Mai pick up a wild chicken to marinate, Chen Lan finally remembered the ginseng-chicken stew. She quickly went to Lin Mai and asked, "Mai Zi, can wild chicken be stewed with ginseng?"
Lin Mai looked at Chen Lan in confusion and replied, "Yes, any chicken can be stewed with ginseng."
Upon hearing Lin Mai's response, Chen Lan immediately took out the ginseng with its broken root from her pocket, which was actually from the system's warehouse, and handed it to Lin Mai, saying, "Mai Zi, can this ginseng be stewed with wild chicken?"
Lin Mai nodded in surprise and said, "Yes!"
Chen Lan continued, "How many chickens should be stewed with this ginseng root so that people won't get overheated?"
Lin Mai replied with agitation, "The whole root? Are you planning to stew the entire ginseng root?"
Chen Lan calmly nodded and said, "Yes! All of it. Tomorrow morning, except for the seven children, including Ming Zhe, everyone else will eat chicken and ginseng stew."
Lin Mai said, "This ginseng root is so large, it will require at least a dozen chickens to stew, and several large clay pots. Ginseng cannot be stewed in an iron pot, otherwise, its medicinal properties will be lost, and it could even be toxic."
"Mai Zi, how many clay pots are needed for stewing two chickens?" Chen Lan asked.
Lin Mai thought for a moment and replied, "About seven should suffice!"
With that, she began to grab a handful of the prepared marinade and evenly coated the wild chicken in her hands. Chen Lan and Cui Qiao followed Lin Mai's example, grabbing handfuls of marinade with their right hands and evenly coating the wild chickens in their left.
The three of them quickly marinated over twenty wild chickens. Chen Lan then asked Lin Mai to prepare the wild chickens set aside for stewing with ginseng, while she and Cui Qiao would marinate the rabbits. With that, she got up and walked into her RV to check if the children were awake. Seeing that they were still asleep, she went into the bathroom to take the clothes out of the washing machine and hang them to dry.
She then immediately purchased seven extra-large family-sized purple clay pots from the system and brought them out of the system warehouse into the RV. She calculated the number of people and estimated the amount of pork needed for the dumpling filling, then bought twenty-two catties of pork belly and two bags of fifty-catty flour, placing them in the RV's kitchen. She then returned to help marinate the rabbits.
Meanwhile, her mother, Wen Rou Niang, and Xiao Shan Niang, who were drying mushrooms, began cleaning the elm-head mushrooms to prepare the dumpling filling.
Chen Lan walked over and quietly told Wen Rou Niang, "Mom, the pork belly and white flour are in our kitchen."
Wen Rou Niang nodded silently, indicating she understood.
Chen Lan went back to continue marinating the rabbits. She had only marinated less than half when she heard the whimpering of children from inside the RV. Without even washing her hands, Chen Lan rushed back into the RV. As expected, the four little ones had woken up. Jia Hui was sitting on the bed with a pout, looking unhappy. Jia Yao was also sitting on the bed, dazed. Xiao Shi Tou was saying something to Jia Hui. As soon as Chen Lan entered the RV door, she saw this. Jia Hui, the little angel, immediately smiled at Chen Lan, her big eyes curving into crescent moons. Yes, the twins were now over eight months old. They could sit up in bed, crawl around, and understand a lot of words.
Chen Lan immediately greeted them, "Jia Hui, Jia Yao, Xiao Shi Tou, Hu Tou, you're awake." With that, she quickly rushed into the bathroom, washed her hands thoroughly, and then came out to pick up Jia Hui and hug Jia Yao. She gently asked, "Jia Hui, Jia Yao, do you need to pee?" Both little ones shook their heads adorably.
Chen Lan then asked them, "Jia Hui, Jia Yao, do you want some milk?" The two babies nodded adorably again.
Chen Lan said gently, "Jia Hui, Jia Yao, sit still on the bed. Mom will go to the kitchen to make you milk, okay?" The two babies nodded adorably again.
She then asked Hu Tou and Xiao Shi Tou, "Hu Tou, Xiao Shi Tou, do you want yogurt or goat milk?"
Both replied that they wanted yogurt. Chen Lan quickly went to the kitchen to prepare goat milk and get the yogurt and cake.
After settling Hu Tou and Xiao Shi Tou, Chen Lan watched the twins drink their milk from their bottles. She held a small piece of cake, tearing off a little bit at a time, feeding Jia Hui a mouthful, then Jia Yao a mouthful. The two little ones had a good appetite after waking up. In a short while, they finished the piece of cake. She picked up another piece of cake and fed them only a few bites before both babies refused to eat more, patting their little tummies with their hands and shaking their heads. They were truly adorable!