Chapter 109: Barbecue

  Geese honking in the clouds

  Yaner's article is on the strong recommendation list! Yaner is so happy! If book friends are pleased, that's all! If there are votes and rewards, of course, it would be even better!

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  My goal is the halfway up the mountain, where there is a small spring that has been flowing for years. The water of the spring is sweet and delicious. Our village also dug a well at the foot of the mountain, and the water we drink in our village is the mountain spring water from that well.

  We brought everyone to the foot of the mountain, and the boy took all the things away. Chui and I went up the mountain easily, arrived at our destination, and found a vacant lot by a small spring. They put down their belongings, and Chui and I started to tidy up, taking out a large underlay, spreading it on the ground, then taking out food from the bag and placing it on the underlay.

  Wow! We brought a lot of food! Meat dishes include sliced pork, chicken, and cooked foods like chicken feet, fish balls, meatballs, tofu fruit, fried fish, and my favorite taro and radish balls. Vegetable dishes include spinach, lotus root slices, peppers, potato slices... When we laid them out, the large tablecloth was filled to capacity. Hmm? There are even several bottles of soda. Qiaohui said: "These were bought by my mom for Chinese New Year, but it's been too cold recently and we haven't had a chance to drink them. Luckily, I brought them today. Don't worry, they're from my mom. When she heard we were going on a picnic, she kept telling me to bring more." "Your aunt is so nice!" I smiled, "When we get back, tell her that in a few days I'll teach her how to make these dishes, and then your family's noodle shop can add another item to the menu." "My mom will be thrilled!" Qiaohui's eyes sparkled with delight.

  Looking at the full table of food, Qiao Wei exclaimed in surprise: "Yun Er, you're so thoughtful! I was worried that there would be too much food on the ground and it would get dirty. I didn't expect you to have already solved this problem." "That's why he's our leader!" Fat Fish said with admiration, "He may look small but his brain is really bright!"

  "Stop being lazy, let's get to work! Take the wire and wash it in water, make sure it's clean!" I said with a smile. Fat Fish responded with a "yes" and went to wash it. After washing, I picked up a piece of wire and started stringing meat: "See, like this, can you do it?" I asked while demonstrating, Lu Qi and the others were all very interested in stringing them up. I shouted for Xiao Yang to help me start a fire, the charcoal was brought from home, now just need to blow on it a bit, add some more charcoal and it's okay. Looking at Xiao Yang blowing on the fire, he seemed like he was used to doing chores at home, the fire started, Xiao Yang put the iron frame he made on the magnetic plate under my indication, while they also strung up quite a few over there.

  I'm preparing the seasonings, and Qiu Ni has brought everything we need, including oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and even some chili oil. Haha, great! I took out a paintbrush to brush the seasonings onto the food. Speaking of this paintbrush, it's really coincidental - I bought it several months ago and only used one of them, and now this unused one is finally being put to use today.

  Everything is ready, and they also saw that today's picnic is indeed different. Qiao Hui said mysteriously: "You haven't eaten it either? This is called barbecue! Yuner thought of it. Bull?" "Barbecue? Isn't it on TV where you fork the fish or meat directly over the fire?" Pang Yu looked at our charcoal fire, somewhat skeptical, "Can this small charcoal fire work?"

  "Just you wait and see!" Qiao Wei said with a pleased smile, looking at me as I worked. "Don't you trust Yun'er to do things?" Actually, I had only seen others roasting on the streets many years later, and of course, I had eaten some too, all while accompanying my son. As for myself, I had never done it before, but how to do it was crystal clear. Isn't there an old saying "If you haven't eaten pork, you've at least seen a pig run"?

  I picked up a few strings of lean meat and started roasting them on the stove, turning them over as I cooked. They stared at me intently. Before long, a savory aroma wafted up, and I began to brush on some seasonings. The meat sizzled immediately, looking shiny and oily. I brushed on a bit more chili oil - mmm, so fragrant!

  "Wow, looks delicious!" Chui Lian couldn't help but praise. "Mmm, I smell the aroma." Pang Yu leaned in closer, wrinkling his nose to sniff. Just a few more flips and it's done. I handed the meat skewers to them, and Pang Yu started devouring it immediately, while Chui Lian was afraid of getting burned and kept blowing on it. Xiao Yang examined the skewer for a bit before taking a bite as well. Lu Qi said while eating, "It's really delicious! Xiaoyu, how did you think of grilling them like this? It's indeed very flavorful."

  I smiled and said, "You can't imagine how many more there are! Eat as much as you want!" Xiao Yang ate a string and then brought several strings of meatballs to the stove, saying, "Let me try!" I made way for him: "You were watching very carefully just now, shouldn't you have learned it by now?" He rotated the strings in his hand like I did: "Is that how it's done?"

  "Exactly!" I laughed, "Now Xiao Yang is going to roast, who's next? Why don't we have a barbecue competition today, you're all contestants. How about it? Want to give it a try?" Everyone heard my suggestion and didn't object. "But how do we know who wins?" Qiao Hui was still a girl after all, she thought things through carefully. "I'll be the judge of course! Who can roast the most delicious meat will win!"

  Xiao Yang's meatballs were brushed with seasoning and smelled delicious. Then, Fat Fish shouted that he had finished roasting his dish, which was chicken feet. Since it was a cooked food, all he needed to do was reheat it and add some seasonings. Everyone was busy roasting and eating, having a great time! "Oh no!" Fat Fish suddenly shouted. We were all eating nearby and didn't pay much attention to him. "What's wrong?" I quickly asked as I walked over to him. "It's a bit burnt," Fat Fish said dejectedly.

  I took the chicken paw from his hand, turned it over and looked at it. Oh, one of the chicken paws was really burnt. "Hey, don't worry about it, it's your first time, I can forgive you!" I comforted him with a smile, "Besides, only this one is burnt, the rest are still pretty good." Fat Fish pouted: "Just now Yang Ge roasted them so deliciously, why couldn't I?" "Who said your roasting wasn't good? You just didn't put any seasoning on, that's why it's burnt. Hurry up and brush some seasoning on!" I instructed him, he suddenly realized: "I felt like I forgot something, but I couldn't think of what it was. It turns out I forgot to put seasoning on. Hehe" He smiled foolishly while busily brushing the seasoning on.

  The fragrance slowly wafts out, we sit on the ground, Xiao Yang is very considerate, bringing two books for me and Qiao Hui to sit on, while the boys sit cross-legged. Pang Yu's chicken claws are done, Lu Qi takes over, he chooses vegetarian dishes, I see his movements are leisurely, his demeanor elegant, it doesn't look like he's barbecuing, but rather playing around.

  I reminded him, "Vegetables are the hardest to roast, if you're not careful they'll burn, be careful!" He raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Don't worry, are you afraid I'll lose? Thanks, Little Ruo Ruo!" He gave me a flirtatious glance, oh, this guy! That seductive look really makes people go crazy. I turned my head and ignored him, he also focused on roasting.

  A refreshing aroma wafted around my nose, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, it smelled great! "Stop smelling, eat quickly!" A string of vegetarian dishes was placed in front of me, I looked up to see Lu Qi smiling at me. I took the dish and examined it, not bad, the presentation was quite good. I took a bite, hmm, delicious! As I looked around, everyone else was eating too. Pang Yu muttered while eating, "This is strange, they're so skilled at roasting? No way, let me try again!"

  "Hey, wait a minute! It's my turn now!" Qiao Wei interrupted him and took out a few strings of tofu to roast. As the chef's family member, Qiao Wei was quite skilled, learned from her experience, flipping and brushing seasonings with ease. She handed us the finished dish with a smile, proudly saying to Pang Yu: "Do you admit it? You're definitely going to be first place today... but in reverse order! Do you believe me?"

  Fat fish hung his head in defeat: "Yes, yes, I admit it, you all roasted better than me!" I shook my head and laughed: "You're all great! I know that chicken feet are very difficult to roast, so this judge has decided to give Fat Fish another chance. Do you all agree?" They nodded in agreement with smiles, and Fat Fish enthusiastically started roasting again. This time he was roasting fish balls, and seeing him being so careful and meticulous, it really warmed my heart. I slightly nodded my head - friends like these are truly lovable, aren't they? That's how one should approach things, with dedication and persistence.