The kitchen is bright and clean, with several pendant lamps and two floor-to-ceiling pear wood moonlight lanterns on both sides of the window sash next to the stove.
Xia Zhaoyi was picking up ingredients on the low cabinet and wooden stand while talking to Shen Lie about the reason why she came back from Zuoxing and her encounter with Du Xuan.
Shen Lie was cutting meat nearby, and Mr. Liu He's chopping board was made of ginkgo wood, which had a very light medicinal aroma. Every time he cut the knife, he seemed to be able to smell the medicinal aroma.
He cuts neither too fast nor too slowly, and the thickness of each piece of meat is even and the presentation is excellent.
When Xia Zhaoyi came back with the washed ingredients, she saw Shen Lie squatting on one knee behind the stove to light a fire.
It was a rough job, but he did it very smoothly. The fire started at the mention of it and gradually grew bigger.
Come to think of it, they are all people who live in style and enjoy the scenery. This small job is really nothing.
Shen Lie pushed the firewood in, his movements lazily. When he heard Xia Zhaoyi preparing to chop vegetables, he looked up, stood up and said, "Is he the only one in Mr. Liu's family?"
"Yes," Xia Zhaoyi said while chopping vegetables, "Uncle Liu's wife died during childbirth, leaving Uncle Liu and his son behind. His son also died in the war more than ten years ago."
"Then Mr. Liu has lived alone all these years?"
"Maybe."
Shen Lie looked at the three stoves in the kitchen, and there was a row of small stoves opposite.
There are many places and many pots, so they can cook together without disturbing each other.
Xia Zhaoyi smiled, turned around and said, "Uncle Liu is very particular about life. You see, everything inside and outside the house is elegant. Even the kitchen is extremely elegant."
Seeing her smile, Shen Lie couldn't help but smile too: "Mr. Liu is open-minded. I think Uncle Liu's wife and son would also be happy to see him live a comfortable life."
"Yes," Xia Zhaoyi put the chopped vegetables aside and brought in new and tender vegetables to continue cutting, smiling, "Mr. Liu's wife died in childbirth, so he went to learn midwifery. Until now, His job of delivering babies was extremely wonderful, and he saved countless mothers and livestock."
Shen Lie looked at her, as if some warmth was pouring into his heart, and said sincerely: "I have almost never heard of men delivering babies. It is really admirable for Mr. Liu to have such an idea, not to mention that his wife is dead. Even though he has learned it, it is no longer of use to him; his actions are all for the sake of others."
"But there are some people who won't listen," Xia Zhaoyi said. "If it weren't for a difficult delivery that would endanger his life, few people would come to him. Uncle Liu has gained some fame now, is respected by others, and praised by everyone, but In the early years, he said he wanted to help deliver babies, but he was almost beaten to death. I heard my elder brother say that Uncle Liu delivered a woman in the early years. He felt that he was "dirty", so he took an opportunity and jumped into the river. "Uncle Liu has been sad about this for a long time, but he doesn't want to continue delivering babies, because all the people who come to him are dying, and he can't ignore death."
"Those people are really stupid." Shen Lie said.
"But it was not the mother herself who killed the pregnant woman," Xia Zhaoyi said with a deep breath, "it was her deep-rooted thoughts, and those thoughts were not her own, but were imposed by others."
Shen Lie raised his eyebrows lightly and nodded: "Yeah."
"Tell me something happy," Xia Zhaoyi curled her lips and smiled, "Where have you been these past years?"
Shen Lie paused slightly and said: "...That doesn't seem to be a happy thing."
"Pfft," Xia Zhaoyi said with a smile, "Then don't talk about it, just talk about me."
"Okay," Shen Lie also smiled, Qingjun smiled, "Where have you been these years, I have been looking for you."
"It's not a happy time. There aren't many interesting things, but I learned a lot." Xia Zhaoyi said.
Since Zhu Xian's death, she has always felt guilty, regretful, and hating herself for being powerless.
In addition, during that time, she always had a bad temper in her chest, so Master asked her to temporarily put aside her hatred and give her several years to grow.
Indeed, there were many things that were really inconvenient for a girl and needed to be done when she grew up, so she agreed to the master and walked out with Zheli.
I read a lot of books, wrote a lot of notes, went to many places, and even looked for Shen Lie several times, but unfortunately, I couldn't find him.
He also mentioned that he wrote five letters to Shen Lie, but they seemed to be lost in the sea, with no reply at all.
When they said this, they had already started to take the pot.
The simmering barbecue has changed from a rough and elegant campfire wooden frame to an exquisite charcoal grill on a three-sided small stove.
In addition to the barbecue, he also cooked a bowl of broth and set two grilled fish on several other small stoves.
Now he saw Xia Zhaoyi cooking in the pot from the side. He thought for a moment, then washed some meat and came back, sliced it into pieces and stir-fried it with the washed cowpeas.
His cooking posture was a little stiff, and the rising oil smoke stained his long eyebrows and blue hair. While he was frying, he looked at Xia Zhaoyi's pot, and at the same time listened to Xia Zhaoyi talk about the past few years, and the borrowed book The recipe lay aside, half a page unturned.
He was a little confused when putting the seasonings in. Mr. Liu He had a lot of seasonings here. He picked up some and smelled some, and found some of them acceptable. He was about to spread them out, but Xia Zhaoyi quickly called him to stop.
But in fact, Xia Zhaoyi, who is well-informed, is not always able to recognize all these seasonings.
The two of them thought about it for a while. Xia Zhaoyi took the chopsticks and dipped it in his lips. He immediately frowned: "It tastes like sour plum, but it's also very sweet. It can be said that it's sour plum, but it doesn't really look like sour plum."
"Want to put a little more?"
"Just a little bit, it's very strong, but not too much."
"Yeah." Shen Lie nodded.
His hands were very steady. He spoke a little bit and meant a little bit. He turned around and saw Xia Zhaoyi looking at his pot. His heart beat suddenly. He calmly put the spoon back into the small porcelain pot filled with seasonings. Put it in the cup and put it back in its original place.
The two of them were very close, and it was obvious that there were many kinds of food aromas in the kitchen, but Shen Lie felt that it was only her scent.
There was already some food on the stove. He was afraid that she would be hungry and asked her to eat some barbecue first. She said that she would eat with Mr. Liu He later, so he did not continue to persuade her.
Then, she added that it had been a long time since she had such a conversation with someone, and she didn't want to interrupt it by eating.
She also said that she liked chatting with him.
Shen Lie once watched a fireworks feast in Zuilu. Those fireworks suddenly burst into the sky, and thousands of trees were dazzling, swallowing up the heaven and earth with their bright brilliance. It was so majestic that all things were shocked.
At that moment, Xia Zhaoyi's casual words made Shen Lie suddenly feel that she had personally set off an equally grand fireworks feast in his heart.
He also liked chatting like this about everything.
Especially now, her eyebrows are clear and bright, and her expression is a little lazy and faint. Once she curls her lips and smiles, the lights in the entire kitchen and the stars in the sky are not as bright as one ten thousandth of the brilliance in her eyes.
