Chapter 29 I can only talk about stories before I was six years old

  Tian Ai Nu washed her hands clean and walked into the kitchen, at the same time tying the multi-purpose bed sheet that had been replaced around her waist.

  In the basin, fish are jumping and shrimp are leaping, on the chopping board lies a lump of mutton.

  Yang Fan blinked a few times, and the rice was already rinsed and put in the pot, while the scallions, ginger, and garlic were all peeled, pounded flat, and cut into strips for later use.

  Yang Fan blinked a few more times, and the fish had already been scaled, gutted, cleaned, and placed in an open dish.

  Scallion segments, ginger shreds, cooking wine, soy sauce and other seasonings were poured onto the fish that had been cut with several diagonal knife marks on its body. The plate was pushed aside, and Tian Aini picked up her knife again.

  A knife flashed up and down in her hand, and with only one hand, in the blink of an eye, the mutton had become a lump of bright red minced meat.

  With a "ding" sound, the knife stabbed into the chopping board and the handle was still trembling. Tian Aini had already bent down to add a few pieces of firewood to the stove, washed her hands with soap in a prepared basin, picked up several large dates, skillfully pitted them, and threw them into the rice pot.

  The fellow brought a plump chicken that had already been cleaned and dressed, washed it again, stuffed various seasonings into its belly to give it flavor, the date meat porridge was already cooked, the fragrance of rice wafted up, on this side he put fresh fish in the steamer, with a quick scoop, a handful of chopped ginger and scallions covered the fish pieces.

  Yang Fan was staring blankly at the big fish with all its fins and tail intact under the scallion and ginger, a few pieces of cheese were thrown into the water again, Tian Ainiu's jade arm waved lightly, her casual and elegant movements, just like a master calligrapher wielding his brush, writing a wonderful piece of calligraphy with ease.

  The fresh fish didn't need to be steamed for too long, when the fragrance of the fish and the creamy milk wafted out from under the lid with the steam, making Yang Fan's mouth water profusely. The plump chicken was then put into the steamer, while the bowl of lively jumping prawns had already been drained of clear water and were ready to be used.

  The old man leaning against the door frame only felt that he was very hungry, hungrier and hungrier, but he didn't want to leave. He had never known that cooking could be so beautiful, so elegant. Men don't cook, they're afraid of even entering the kitchen for their whole lives, but if there's such a beautiful scene in the kitchen, why not go into the kitchen?

  Yang Fan stared at Tian Ai Nu, who was wearing a small apron made of blue cloth around her waist, her waist was slender, like a small white radish.

  In Yang Fan's eyes, she is undoubtedly the most delicious dish in this kitchen, beautiful and truly edible.

  That delicate little white vegetable was still busy in the kitchen, whether it was waving a spatula, picking up a knife, sprinkling scallions, or cutting lamb with flying speed. Even her action of adding firewood was full of artistic beauty, as if she was not stir-frying, but dancing lightly.

  It seemed as if she felt Yang Fan's gaze, Tian Ai Nu suddenly asked without turning her head: "Do you know what I like to do the most?"

  Yang Fan shook his head and said, "I don't know!"

  Tian Ai Nu deeply sniffed the aroma of the dishes and exclaimed excitedly: "Cooking! My favorite thing to do is cooking!!"

  Yang Fanwei: It turns out, he's a foodie...

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  Scallion vinegar chicken, milk-braised fish, bright shrimp stir-fry, small stir-fried lamb, date and meat porridge, all were placed on several trays.

  Yang Fan and Tian Ai Nu sat on either side of several cases, kneeling in a dignified manner, with their eyebrows raised.

  The dishes on the table were sumptuous, but there was no green vegetables.

  Yang Fan had a hard time improving his life, so he wouldn't buy green vegetables. Tian Ai Nu didn't pick on the ingredients he bought back either. Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Hu and Han people lived together, and the culture, clothing, food, and other aspects of the Central Plains were all influenced by the Hu people's customs, which had undergone great changes. At that time, it was already difficult to see green vegetables on the menu of a wealthy and powerful family.

  Yang Fan ate very fragrantly, his belly was full and round, a fat fish of one catty eight taels six mace, a fat chicken of three catties four taels, half a catty of mutton, a plate of river shrimp was almost swept clean by him, even the pot of porridge was eaten down by him more than half.

  Tian Ai Nu held up her rice bowl and looked at the empty plate, asking him: "Are you a hungry ghost reincarnated?"

  Yang Fan held his rounded belly and sighed, "This is the most delicious meal I've had in my life, so... why don't you just stay?"

  Tian Ai Nu gave him a glance and said lightly: "Can you afford to invite this chef?"

  Yang Fan coughed and said: "Must... be a kitchen maid."

  Tian Ai Nu was eating her rice porridge, scraping up a bit of leftover vegetables from the plate that Yang Fan had swept clean, completely ignoring him. Yang Fan's eyes rolled around and he suddenly let out a "heh heh" laugh: "Let me calculate, ah yeah, you've been at my house for three days now."

  Tian Ai Nu raised a pair of scissors-like eyes and uttered a surprised "Hmm?"

  Yang Fan smiled slyly: "On the third day after the new daughter-in-law enters the household, she must go to the kitchen and cook."

  Tian Ai Nu snorted and continued to ignore him with a straight face.

  Yang Fan rubbed his nose and said tentatively, "By the way, you gave me that hairpin, which was worth two thousand eight hundred dollars. I'm getting more and more curious about you. From your words and deeds, as well as the fact that you can casually take out a hairpin that's so valuable, you must be from a wealthy family. Do you still need to steal?"

  Tian Ai Nu stopped her chopsticks and said lightly: "Still can't help but want to ask about my background?"

  "Uh... you don't have to say it."

  Tian Ai Nu shook her head and said with a hint of hesitation: "It doesn't matter if I say it. However...I can only tell you about my life before I was six years old."

  Yang Fan said with a wave of his hand: "That's okay, you say."

  Tian Ai Nu thought for a moment and said softly: "My home is in Zhouzhi County, Guanzhong. There's nothing special about my family. My father is just an ordinary farmer with over ten hectares of dry land. In May of the first year of Yongchun, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong, with thousands of miles of barren land, followed by locusts. The crops were already withered and dead, and then they were eaten clean by the locusts."

  This beginning is probably not a pleasant story, Yang Fan involuntarily put away his smile and listened quietly.

  The official treasury did not have enough grain to relieve the disaster, and in order to survive, Father sold more than ten mu of land at home. However, the price of rice had already risen to 10,000 yuan per dan, so how many days could this money last? Soon, both in the city and countryside, people were crying everywhere, and there were cases of cannibalism, with corpses lying on the roads.

  Heavenly Slave said with a sigh: "Disasters do not come alone, and soon after, a great plague broke out. The refugees pulled their children and wives, begging during the day and sleeping on the streets at night. Many people died in their sleep, vomiting yellow water, and their bodies were left by the roadside. At that time, there was a folk song that said: "Li Si buried Zhang San in the morning, and Li Si ascended to heaven at noon. Liu Er and Wang Wu went to attend the funeral, and when the moon fell, they both went to the Ghost Gate..."

  The starving refugees began to resort to every possible means. Someone had just bought a steamed bun, which was snatched away by the refugees. As they were about to be caught up with, the refugees threw the bun into horse urine and trampled it with their feet. The person who was robbed could only give up, while the refugees picked up the bun again and devoured it greedily. The bark of the trees had all been stripped off, revealing white tree trunks, and the leaves were also eaten away by locusts and the refugees.

  Many people started eating Guanyin soil, knowing that even if they ate it, they would still die, but not filling their stomachs with something really made them hungry. In our village, there was a person who sold all his land and wife, and finally wrapped his four-year-old son who died of starvation in a quilt and fled to a foreign land to escape.

  There was also a widow, who had over 100 mu of land and was considered very wealthy in the village. At this time, she could hardly maintain herself. She had a son and a daughter, both young, and to raise her son and preserve her late husband's bloodline, she personally drowned her young daughter alive by pressing her into a water basin.

  Tian Ai Nu raised her head, looked at Yang Fan, and explained seriously: "Do you think these have nothing to do with me? I said these things just to tell you how miserable it was back then. Many people who were richer than my family couldn't make ends meet either. So... no matter what my parents did to me, I don't hate them, never have!"

  Yang Fan's heart trembled slightly, staring at Tian Ai Nu's sparkling eyes. He wanted to tell her not to say anything more, but facing such a gaze, he couldn't even speak.

  Tian Ai Nu was silent for a moment, then continued: "The swarms of refugees marched east in droves, fleeing to Guanwai and Luoyang. The number of people escaping disaster was as numerous as the hairs on an ox's back. They were dressed in tattered clothes, their bones as thin as sticks. As they walked, some fell down, and the wilderness was filled with wolves and wild dogs that were just as ferocious. These beasts were not afraid of humans and even ventured into villages where nine out of ten houses were empty, treating the remaining humans as their food.

  In Longxi, many people ran to Guanzhong to buy wives, but they were not allowed to bring children. I saw with my own eyes a man from Longxi, who had just bought a young woman of considerable beauty, take her onto his donkey, snatch the child from her arms and throw it into a dry ditch. Ah...

  Tian Ai Nu's voice trembled: "Father, in desperation, also sold Mother away, but the grain exchanged was not enough to eat for three days. What can be done? At that time, as long as there was something to eat, as long as one could live a little longer, what wouldn't one do? Many women were forced to sell their bodies, selling themselves once, only to exchange for a bowl of rice porridge."

  Tian Ai Nu let out a long sigh and said in a low voice: "After finishing the food that was exchanged for my mother, Grandfather stared at me with an unblinking gaze. I was so scared, thinking he would eat me up. But...he just called me to the edge of a dry well and pushed me down..."

  Yang Fan's body trembled, his lips moved a few times, but he couldn't say any comforting words.

  Tian Ai Nu said: "Grandfather lost some bricks and tiles again, and then he ran away to who-knows-where."

  Yang Fan gently grasped her hand, which was icy and trembling slightly. As soon as he held her hand, she immediately clasped Yang Fan's hand tightly, clinging to it like a person who had fallen into a dry well grasping the rope lowered by a kind-hearted person, refusing to let go.

  Yang Fan said in a low voice: "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked these questions, don't say anything more."

  Tian Ai Nu shook her head gently and said sorrowfully, "The stone that Ah Ye threw hit my head and I fainted. But I don't hate him, really don't hate him, he had no choice either... at least... he didn't eat me..."

  Note: Stir-frying existed in the Tang Dynasty, but it didn't spread widely due to the high cost of oil and poor quality of iron woks which were prone to cracking. Soy sauce was invented during the Two Jins period and was popularized during the Tang Dynasty, previously known as Qing Jiang, Dou Jiang Qing, Jiang Zhi, Jiang Liao, Chi You, Chi Zhi, Lin You, You Zhi, Shai You, Zuo You, Fu You, Qiu You, Mu You, Tiao You, Shuang Tiao You. After 755 AD, soy sauce production techniques were introduced to Japan by Jianzhen Master and later spread to Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and other countries.