Chapter 571: Chapter 437: Merchant from the South (Part 2)
The moment they entered the courtyard, Jin Xiaomei called out from next door, “Zhao Jun, Jie Chen, come on over! Auntie will make you something tasty.”
“Alright!” Zhao Jun replied. He walked to his front door and shouted inside, “Mom, Jie Chen and I are going over to Auntie’s to eat.”
“Go ahead,” said Wang Meilan, who was scrubbing a pot and boiling water. She smiled. “Your auntie learned a new dish. Let her whip it up for you two.”
Filled with curiosity, Zhao Jun led Jie Chen next door. As soon as they entered, they saw Jin Xiaomei at the stove, shucking corn kernels.
Nearby sat an opened package of Butter Paper, holding a pile of pine nuts.
Pine nuts are simply shelled pine seeds. They were common in the Northeast, but this batch was tiny—half the size of the ones Zhao Jun usually snacked on.
Zhao Jun knew at a glance that these were from a horsetail pine.
Horsetail pines have small cones, which means their seeds and nuts are also small, but they are more nutritious than other varieties.
Just then, Jin Xiaomei said, “Baoyu’s uncle brought them. Someone from the Southern Region came to their area this year specifically to buy them. His whole village is harvesting them for money now.”
Hearing this, Zhao Jun walked over, grabbed a small handful of pine nuts, and poured half of them into Jie Chen’s hand.
Zhao Jun popped one into his mouth and chewed. His eyes immediately lit up. “Wow, these are actually really fragrant.”
The pine nuts were raw, but they got more flavorful the more he ate.
People used to avoid horsetail pine seeds because they were too small and a hassle to eat, but these pre-shelled nuts were delicious since no work was involved.
Jin Xiaomei deftly blanched the corn kernels, fried the pine nuts, and diced some carrots and cucumbers.
She then used the remaining oil from the nuts to stir-fry the corn, carrots, and cucumbers. Next, she added a light starch slurry to thicken the sauce, and just before serving, she tossed in the pine nuts for a final stir.
Pine nut corn!
‘This is the first time I’ve seen anyone make this dish since I was reborn.’
But before he could say anything, Jie Chen, who was standing to the side, asked Jin Xiaomei, “Auntie, what dish is this? It looks really nice.”
He wasn’t wrong. The mix of yellow, red, and green was quite pretty.
“It’s called pine nut corn!” Jin Xiaomei said with a smile. “I heard from Baoyu’s eldest uncle that when those buyers came to their village to sample the pine nuts, they asked for them to be cooked this way.”
“They sure know how to eat,” Zhao Jun chimed in with a laugh. He then glanced around the stove but didn’t see any staple food.
‘The dish is already done. Is she going to start steaming rice or making bread now?’
Just then, Li Baoyu walked in carrying a large basin. It was filled with fatty meat from the bear, while the few lean cuts had been placed outside to soak in well water.
Black Bear meat was the opposite of wild boar. Boar was mostly lean with little fat, whereas Black Bear was mostly fat with little lean meat.
Li Baoyu set the large basin aside, sniffed the air, and spotted the small bowl of food he didn’t recognize on the stovetop. “Mom, what’s this dish?” he asked Jin Xiaomei, who was now washing the pot.
“Pine nut corn!”
“Pine nuts?” Hearing that, Li Baoyu immediately located the remaining nuts in the Butter Paper package.
Li Baoyu grabbed a big handful, gave a small portion to both Zhao Jun and Jie Chen, then stuffed some into his mouth and asked Jin Xiaomei, “Mom, where’d you get this stuff?”
“Your third uncle came by and brought them,” Jin Xiaomei said as she ladled water into the large pot.
Hearing this, Li Baoyu quickly asked, “My third uncle was here? Where is he?”
“He left,” Jin Xiaomei said. “He just dropped the stuff off and left.”
Li Baoyu pressed, “Where’d he go?”
“He went to your eldest uncle’s house.” As she spoke, Jin Xiaomei put the lid on the large pot. Then, suddenly remembering something, she turned to Zhao Jun and Jie Chen. “Baoyu’s third uncle is coming back tonight. Auntie will cook a few dishes, so you two should come over.”
“We can’t,” Zhao Jun declined with a smile. “Brother Zhang invited us to his place for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, that’s fine too.” Jin Xiaomei didn’t insist. “You young people prefer being together. It’s better than hanging out with us.”
Zhao Jun just smiled at her words. He was more curious about why Jin Xiaomei was boiling such a large pot of water.
But then he heard Jin Xiaomei tell Li Baoyu, “Son, hurry up and go pick a couple of cucumbers from the garden behind the house.”
“Okay!” Li Baoyu answered. He cupped his palm to his mouth, tipped the rest of the pine nuts in, and turned to run out the door.
Jin Xiaomei added, “And pull up an icicle radish. Grab some small chilies and cilantro, too.”
‘Cucumbers, small chilies, and cilantro…’ Zhao Jun thought. ‘Why does it feel like we’re about to have cold noodles?’
Sure enough, Jin Xiaomei walked over to the cupboard, opened the door, and took out two bundles of dried noodles.
As Jin Xiaomei walked back, she smiled at Jie Chen. “Come on, kid, head inside and get on the kang. Auntie hasn’t even poured you any water. Anyway, now that you’re here, just make yourself at home.”
“Okay,” Jie Chen replied with a smile before Zhao Jun nudged him toward the inner room.
After Li Baoyu returned with the cucumbers, radish, chilies, and cilantro, the sound of Jin Xiaomei chopping vegetables came from the outer room.
Before long, the noodles and toppings were on the table. The boiled noodles had been cooled in cold water and were served with the pine nut corn, shredded cucumber, shredded icicle radish, minced chili, and minced cilantro.
In his two lifetimes, this was the first time Zhao Jun had ever eaten cold noodles with pine nut corn, but the flavor was genuinely excellent.
Jin Xiaomei had cooked two pounds of dried noodles, and the three of them slurped it all down.
After eating their fill, Zhao Jun took Jie Chen home for an afternoon nap. He didn’t get up from the kang until after three in the afternoon.
As soon as Zhao Jun got up, Wang Meilan handed him two strings of bear meat—one lean and one fatty—both tied with iron wire so they could be carried.
“Go!” Wang Meilan ordered. “Take these to Ma Ling.”
“Okay.” Just as Zhao Jun agreed, he heard Wang Meilan ask, “Aren’t you going to take the Bear’s Paw to Ma Ling?”
Wang Meilan remembered Zhao Youcai saying he had seen Zhao Jun give Ma Ling a Bear’s Paw last year.
“Not for her, it’s for Baoyu,” Zhao Jun said. “Baoyu’s third uncle is visiting. Mom, give the Bear’s Paw to Auntie later and let her stew it.”
“Oh my,” Wang Meilan laughed. “Stewing a Bear’s Paw on a hot day like this? How hot will you have to get the kang? Won’t the room turn into a sauna?”
At this, Wang Meilan paused and asked curiously, “This Black Bear you killed, didn’t it have four paws? Didn’t Baoyu get a share?”
“He did,” Zhao Jun said, holding the two strings of bear meat. “Baoyu got a front paw, but I heard him say he’s going to give it to Teacher Xiao.”
“Teacher Xiao?” Wang Meilan asked, confused. “Which Teacher Xiao?”
“Teacher Xiao Nan, Ruhai’s homeroom teacher,” Zhao Jun said with a smile. “Didn’t Uncle Li offend her? He was thinking that with Teachers’ Day coming up, he should give her a little something.”
“You’re all talking nonsense,” Wang Meilan said exasperatedly. “You encourage that kid to skip school, and then you lie to the teacher about it. Someone with Teacher Xiao’s personality would never accept a gift from you.”
“Heh heh…” Zhao Jun chuckled. “If she won’t take it, Uncle Li will just give it to her husband. Her husband is Master Li, the electrician at our Forest Farm.”
“You guys are really something else.” Wang Meilan shook her head and went back inside.
Carrying the two strings of meat, Zhao Jun popped into the west room before leaving to tell Jie Chen, “You stay here, alright? I’ll be back in a bit.”
After speaking to Jie Chen, Zhao Jun left the house with the bear meat. He had just stepped into the courtyard when he saw Li Baoyu also leaving his house, carrying bear meat.
No need to ask—they were both taking meat to their girlfriends.
Once outside the courtyard, since they were heading in the same direction, Zhao Jun asked Li Baoyu, “Hey Baoyu, is your third uncle back yet?”
“Not yet.” Li Baoyu glanced left and right, then lowered his voice and said to Zhao Jun, “My mom said my third uncle came this time because he wants to get a contract for some small lumber and materials from our Forest Farm.”
“That should be easy,” Zhao Jun said. “Right now, it just takes a single word from Uncle Li, doesn’t it?”
On that note, Zhao Jun added, “When your third uncle is about to head back, have him ask around for you. See if those merchants buying the pine nuts also buy Bear Gall.”