Chapter 662: Chapter 434: Hot Pot
With their previous experience of catching foxes and wolves on the grassland, a few little goats were just a piece of cake.
They found the right direction, carefully approached, and then activated their Spiritual Power, quickly rushing out.
In the blink of an eye, the goats and buffalo were brought into the space by Xiaomi.
So quick that they didn’t have time to react.
"Done! Tonight we’ll take two goats back, and they can count as our prey."
Wei Ziang came over, just in time to hear this.
"Great, but it’s getting late, we should head back soon."
He handed the map to Xiaomi as he spoke, asking her to store it in the space. When he returned to Lishi City tomorrow, Xiaomi could periodically use the map to water the potatoes.
Xiaomi took out their bows and arrows, but both quivers were missing an arrow.
The two rode their horses home, and as they approached, Xiaomi took out the two sheep she had prepared earlier.
With an arrow stuck in its neck, it was already almost cold; Ling’er had helped her with this when she stored the wild goats into the space.
Each person had a sheep in front of them, along with a few wild rabbits, and then they went back.
They returned early today, everyone was just about to finish work and go home. Seeing their haul was surprising and delightful.
But thinking closely, it seemed quite normal. These two had such good skills that it would be more shocking if they returned empty-handed.
"These two young talents are indeed remarkable; this goat was killed with a single blow, impressive!"
Commander Yang couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up upon seeing the wound. Not only the goats but the rabbits were also similarly dispatched.
He prided himself on having a little lacking ability compared to them.
The two threw down the sheep and rabbits, then dismounted.
"Commander Yang, could you find someone to help process these? Just give us enough to eat, the rest can be for everyone to share."
The weather was too hot, and these things couldn’t be kept; they had to be dealt with today.
"Then I won’t be polite. Fourth Miss, how do you plan to eat these?"
He summoned two subordinates to clean the goats and rabbits by the river.
Since having experienced the deliciousness of beef organs, everyone decided not to throw away the innards. There were people in the Imperial Guard who knew how to cook—having learned some skills from the second aunt—making goat organ soup wouldn’t be difficult.
And the way to eat goat meat varied, requiring different parts.
Xiaomi looked at the sky, there was still time.
"Tonight we’ll have hot pot; just give us two pounds of goat leg meat, and a rabbit; the rest can be divided among everyone, the leftovers are for you."
Everyone else included the more than one hundred villagers. Half a goat wasn’t much, but having beef yesterday and lamb today was actually quite good.
The most important thing was, these weren’t just recently caught goats from the space; they had been raised in the space for several years, each weighing over a hundred pounds.
"Alrighty, thank you Fourth Miss and Third Young Master. Tonight, I’ll have someone brew a big pot of goat organ soup, and Fourth Miss can have a taste, it should be pretty good."
"No problem."
Just as they were speaking, their parents came back too, and Xiaomi hurriedly pulled Wei Ziang over.
"Mom, we caught goats and rabbits; how about hot pot tonight? Do we have any vegetables at home?"
Suddenly realizing, for hot pot, just meat wouldn’t do.
"We do. Your second sister soaked wood ear mushrooms and bamboo shoots this afternoon, originally planning to stew chicken tonight. Plus, some bean sprouts we sprouted a few days ago are ready to eat, and there are some greens in the field."
"Oh, I just dug some fresh bamboo shoots and picked a few as well."
She showed Xiaomi a basket hanging from her elbow.
Though there weren’t many varieties, the quantities were plentiful. Add a few eggs, knead some hand-rolled noodles, and make some rice, and that should be enough.
Thinking of eggs, Xiaomi suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, mom, Xiaoge and I found lots of bird eggs in the mountains this afternoon."
She quickly ran back to the horse.
Wei Ziang was surprised for a moment but soon returned to normal. Even Jiang Yu didn’t notice this time.
Xiaomi used the horse’s back to block others’ view while taking out a small cloth pouch from the space, made from floral fabric.
She then hopped back excitedly.
"Look mom, let’s boil these bird eggs later, peel them, and eat them with the hot pot."
These were quail eggs picked by Ling’er, eggs without beast essence, unable to hatch quail chicks.
Although she didn’t know how Ling’er chose them exactly, she trusted that since Ling’er said so, it must be right.
Besides, Ling’er had been borrowing hens to hatch eggs, not just quail but also leftover peacock and ostrich eggs.
The chickens had been raised for years, only now they’d started to hatch.
Xiaomi thought Ling’er was like her, a bit scatterbrained before. But Xiaoge said Ling’er might have gotten bored farming and wanted to do something different.
But none of that mattered! What mattered was they’d turned around in the mountains today, just enough to try some quail egg, which was also quite tasty in hot pot.
What’s most satisfying about this space for Xiaomi is that no matter how long things are stored, they never spoil.
Just then, she saw her eldest brother taking the quail eggs for a look.
Xiaomi’s heart skipped a beat, fearing he’d notice something again?
Luckily, her brother just looked them over for a while before taking the eggs back, telling their mom and second sister to prepare the hot pot soup. He found a small jar, cleaned it, and boiled the eggs in the yard, peeling them.
Besides this bag of quail eggs, Jiang Yu also brought over some chicken eggs. Given limited ingredients for hot pot, they didn’t have the luxury to be picky.
Jiang Hu still went and selected a young chicken to slaughter. The others prepared hot pot soup, dipping sauce, rolled the noodles, washed, and organized the food.
Just as everything was ready, Commander Yang delivered the goat leg meat. Cleaned and cut into thin slices.
The hot pot was spicy and flavorful; the lamb raised for years in the space didn’t need any marination, could be eaten straight from the pot.
Besides lamb, there was half a rabbit and a big fish, caught while processing the goat meat.
Others went to the yard to set up the hot pot. Second aunt and Xiaoxue further prepared rabbit and fish, enriching the once bland fare instantly.
It wasn’t their first time having hot pot; a small stove was placed in the yard, a large round table with a hole in the middle, broth pre-cooked, now just simmered over low heat.
The little stove sat low, with the pot placed in the table’s center, exposed just a bit, keeping the stove mouth away from the tabletop, nothing to worry about breaking anything.
Soon, the family sat together. Jiang Hu brought rice wine and white wine, eating and drinking together.