Mountain mushrooms can be used to make a simple soup, and their delicious flavor is unmatched. Everyone who has tried it says it’s good.
Mountain mushrooms can also be stir-fried with vegetables. Whether paired with cabbage or sliced meat, once you try it, you won’t be able to put your chopsticks down.
If you stew them with chicken, the chicken soup is delicious, and the mountain mushrooms are delicious too. The combination of flavors is so delicious that it will make your tongue tingle.
Coincidentally, tonight we’re having mushrooms at home.
Lu Yang hasn’t changed his diet in a while, so tonight he made a pickled dish with bamboo shoots and salted pork. Xie Yan felt sorry for him because he’s lost some weight recently, so she insisted on killing a chicken to make chicken soup.
Both are soups, so how do you serve them with rice? He stir-fried the mushrooms with cabbage.
They got to try the new mountain produce at the store.
They hadn’t recorded the accounts yet, so they put the money aside and decided to talk about it after dinner.
The chicken soup wasn’t ready yet, but the aroma was already wafting through the air. The family sat in the kitchen to eat. The rooms were too small, and after eating, the bedding was filled with the smell of food, so it wasn’t suitable to set the table for dinner.
Lu Yang served himself a bowl of pickled pork and didn’t need any rice.
He had been eating less lately and preferred to eat some hot soup dishes. He wanted less soup and more side dishes, just to taste them.
He also had to take medicine every day. It was not suitable to boil the medicine at home, so he lit a stove in the small alley outside the back door every day and sat on the doorstep while boiling the medicine.
This was too tedious, so Lu Yang wanted to move the stove into their house. There were no ingredients or supplies stored in their house, so it didn’t matter if the bedding absorbed the smell of medicine. After all, he had it on him anyway, and Xie Yan was used to it.
“Mother, Yan, I’ve thought it through. If anyone asks who in the family is sick, just tell them the truth—that I’m not feeling well and need to take some tonic herbs to help conceive a child,” Lu Yang said.
This was normal; everyone wanted to have many children. If they couldn’t conceive or give birth, they would grow anxious. If he took tonic herbs to strengthen his body, others wouldn’t think he was sick; they might even ask for the recipe and inquire about its effectiveness.
Zhao Peilan and Xie Yan both agreed.
Xie Yan wanted to clean the courtyard and cut up three sheep, but the back yard was filled with the smell of blood.
Li Feng said that next time he came, he would clean it up in the village and bring it over. Their place was small and had people living there. It was fine in cold weather, but when it got hot, it would attract insects and cause illness.
The courtyard was muddy, so they couldn’t use water to clean it. If they used too much water, it would be impossible to walk. Lu Yang thought about it and decided to turn the soil over.
Since it was fertilizer, he’d wait until Lu Lin and Zhang Tie came to work tomorrow to discuss it further, and let Zhang Tie take the shovel home.
They had ash from the stove every day, which could also be used to fill the area.
This matter didn’t need Xie Yan’s involvement. Lu Yang told him, “ Tomorrow the two of us will visit Old Master Lu. The lamb leg is already set aside. You should review the booklet again tonight, and we’ll discuss the matter tomorrow.”
Printing the booklet is a major undertaking. If this doesn’t work out, they’ll have to seek collaboration with the study.
Given their current circumstances, directly approaching the study for collaboration won’t yield favorable terms. Without sales figures for the book, no matter how Lu Yang negotiated, with a lawsuit pending at the magistrate’s office, Mr. Jin would not budge.
He wanted to take a detour and first collaborate with Mr. Lu. Printing would take some time, and by the time sales began in February, their legal case would be resolved. Their debt to the Jin brothers would be settled.
At that point, they could assess sales. If sales were low, it wouldn’t attract attention, so they could just let it go.
If sales were high, Lu Laoyezhi’s small workshop wouldn’t be able to keep up, and they could then approach Jin Boss.
He made it clear upfront: “I once had the nerve to ask him to teach me skills, and I even called him ‘godfather.’ Later, he didn’t want me to call him that anymore, but I still respected him as my godfather. If the business deal falls through, there’s still Mr. Jin to fall back on. The lamb leg is just a token of respect.”
Under no circumstances should one show a sour face or speak harshly. Years of friendship are more valuable than gold.
Xie Yan wouldn’t do that. At most, he might show little expression or some disappointment.
After dinner, they went to bed a little later. Lu Yang, who was taking medicine, ate very little at each meal to aid digestion before taking his medicine. Xie Yan handled the boiling water, letting his mother rest for a while.
After drinking his fill, Lu Yang couldn’t squat down, so he washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen.
After washing up, he could go to bed.
Xie Yan sat on the bed and checked his little notebook.
He had been busy lately and hadn’t written the second volume yet, so he took some time to read the book and wrote some example questions.
He could write articles, and with his recent change of heart, he analyzed and sorted through what he had learned in the past. Feeling the urge to write, he also wrote a few essays.
He read them aloud to Lu Yang, but Lu Yang couldn’t understand them.
Xie Yan was very patient. When Lu Yang asked deeper questions, Xie Yan would explain further. He would start by explaining the meaning of words, telling him how to pronounce a character, what a word meant, what a sentence meant when put together, what allusions were used in the text, and what the underlying meaning of the sentence was with that allusion.
Later, he would first tell the allusion as a story to Lu Yang.
He noticed that Lu Yang’s energy wasn’t as good as before at night, and learning things was tiring for him. It was better for him to listen to a story and go straight to sleep.
Lu Yang was eager to learn, and before falling asleep, he would always ask questions. When he asked, Xie Yan would answer. If he didn’t ask, Xie Yan wouldn’t say anything.
Lu Yang would point out his shortcomings: “Are you not making progress, or do you lack patience with me? You used to tell me, but it’s only been a few days!”
Xie Yan would usually choose to kiss him on the lips.
The sleepy Lu Yang was soft and had no guard up against him, feeling tired and unwilling to move. When kissed, he would open his eyes briefly, and after his lips were licked and bitten a few times, he would say less.
After chatting aimlessly for a while, he fell asleep.
Yesterday, before Lu Lin finished work, he hurriedly made a basket of dumplings. They can be stored for a long time at this time of year, so he steamed them all this morning.
With the dumplings ready, he could wake Lu Yang up later.
Today was the second time they hung the sign, so Xie Yan didn’t call him. He went to the front to unload the door panels, met Mr. Ding, borrowed a ladder, and hung the sign.
The two families get along well, but they don’t talk much.
Mr. Ding saw that he was always sticking close to his husband, who was warm and caring, so he came over to chat with him.
“Mr. Xie, are you opening today?”
Xie Yan knew a few small talk phrases and replied, “Yes, I’m open today. Mr. Ding, have you eaten yet?”
Mr. Ding: “…” That’s too direct.
He said, “My family had lamb and lamb soup last night, so I don’t feel like eating meat today. Could you give me two flower rolls?”
He usually bought meat buns or flower rolls, as long as they had flavor. He rarely ate plain buns.
Xie Yan didn’t interact with him much, but he had figured out his preferences.
He said to Mr. Ding, “Don’t you have some mountain produce at home? You could make a mushroom meat sauce. My husband said it’s delicious and goes well with rice.”
Mr. Ding glanced into his shop and suddenly missed Lu Yang.
Lu Yang’s husband had a big mouth and could talk, but he couldn’t speak from the heart, so chatting with him was uncomfortable.
Xie Yan thought he wanted to look at the mountain produce, so he stepped aside to lead him into the shop to take a look.
Mr. Ding: “…”
Was he being genuine or just pretending?
Xie Yan’s eyes lit up with excitement at being the first customer of the day. Under such warm hospitality, Ding Boss actually came in.
Lu Yang had already sorted and arranged the mountain goods. The square-bottomed, high-sided baskets custom-made by his uncle were neatly arranged on the table, allowing for more varieties of goods to be displayed.
