At around nine o'clock in the evening, I finally turned off the TV on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, complaining that I was hungry.
"Brother, I'm hungry too. I didn't expect Bao Qingtian to play so many episodes in a row."
Zhang Xuan stood up and stretched comfortably. She hadn't watched TV so comfortably in many years.
I shook my head and sat on the bedside without moving. I watched TV for several hours and my head felt a little swollen.
Except when Zhan Zhao comes out to fight, I can refresh myself for a while, but the rest of the crying plot is really unbearable.
On the other hand, Chujiu and Zhang Xuan watched it with gusto, and they even heatedly discussed the grievances on TV, although they knew at a glance who would be beheaded in the end.
Many years later, when I returned to my apartment after work, as long as I stood at the door and heard a love song coming from the room, I would turn around and go out to hang out again. I really couldn't stand the pretentious tears of staring at the TV on the ninth day of the lunar month.
"Brother, people say they are hungry. Are there any people like you who can be their boyfriend?"
Seeing that I didn't respond, Zhang Xuan walked up behind me and put her arms around my neck, resting her chin on my right shoulder. They looked so intimate and intimate that anyone could see that they looked like a real couple.
"Oh, okay, let's eat and go."
Zhang Xuan woke up my groggy head instantly. It was just like what she said if you want to act realistically, you have to gradually forget your original identity.
When going out, Chujiu clasped her fingers and muttered: Sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, third sister-in-law, fourth sister-in-law...
"Chujiu, what are you muttering about?"
"Chujiu, you should continue humming Bao Qingtian."
Zhang Xuan and I spoke at the same time, and Zhang Xuan glared at me. Her ears were very good, and she even counted her fourth sister-in-law on the ninth day of the lunar month.
"Uh, sister-in-law Yiyi, I'm counting how many red envelopes I can receive during the Chinese New Year."
This time, the three of us did not have any disagreement about which food to eat. We walked out of the hotel door, took a quick glance, and walked to the Anhui food stall.
There are still many shirtless train drivers with beers on the seats at various night stalls, and there are also more or less seductively dressed women sitting next to them.
"You three, take any of these empty seats. What can you eat today?"
The proprietress of the food stall was holding a thick menu in her hand. As soon as she handed it to me, Chujiu snatched it away.
"You guys take a look at the menu first, and I'll pour you some tea. There are few people there now, so there's no rush."
The landlady pointed at the fat man squatting in front of the kitchen stove and smoking. This was his husband who was also a chef and could cook for us at any time.
Chujiu flipped through the menu and asked me if I wanted to order some Anhui specialties. Anyway, it was the first time for everyone to eat Anhui cuisine, so they had to have something special.
Zhang Xuan nodded, confirming that she had never eaten Anhui cuisine before.
"Boss, let's have a smorgasbord of Li Hongzhang, Huangshan stewed chicken, salt and pepper rice chicken, why is there no price written on this smelly mandarin fish?"
The female boss had a pen and paper in her hand and a smile on her face. It was rare for a customer to order so many special dishes at one time.
"This stinky mandarin fish needs to be ordered. If you want to eat it, come back tomorrow, or I can change it to another dish for you."
The female boss had a look of regret on her face, fearing that if we didn't get the smelly mandarin fish, we would eat somewhere else. These dishes are not cheap.
Chujiu frowned, with a look of disappointment and displeasure on his face. Zhang Xuan kicked Chujiu under the table and signaled Chujiu to pay attention to the wooden barrel not far away.
"Isn't the peach blossom mandarin fish in that bucket just for making stinky mandarin fish?"
Chujiu said with some dissatisfaction, "We can't even tell when we will leave, and we may have to go home tomorrow. Why aren't we given the materials when we clearly have them?"
"That fish was ordered by a regular customer, and we don't dare to make random decisions."
When the landlady said this, she muttered with some dissatisfaction in her tone.
In fact, they don't know when the regular customer will come. Anyway, he is someone who can't afford to offend, so they can only prepare one and put it here every day.
"Boss, whose business are you doing? Besides, it's not like we won't pay. Why don't you discuss it with your husband?"
I discussed with the proprietress that it was so late now, and the customer who ordered the smelly mandarin fish might not come, so why not give it to us? The owner of the hotel specially recommended their authentic Anhui cuisine.
"Then I'll go discuss it with him."
The female boss walked to the kitchen stove, whispered to the man sitting there smoking for a long time, and pointed towards us with her finger.
I saw the male boss threw away the cigarette butt in his hand and stood up, stared at the road in the distance, then looked down at the watch on his wrist, and nodded with determination.
The female boss suddenly had a smile on her face, and her steps were much lighter as she trotted towards us.
Chujiu originally wanted to order another dish or soup, but the female boss stopped her. These few dishes were enough for the three of us, and any more would be a waste.
"Guo Guo, do you know why stinky mandarin fish is called stinky mandarin fish?"
This is not nonsense. It must be another name for Taohua Mandarin fish. Could it really stink?
Chujiu burst out laughing. The stinky mandarin fish was really smelly, worse than stinky tofu. Most people couldn't stand the smell.
"You've never eaten it, how do you know?"
Zhang Xuan rolled her eyes at Chujiu. She had just said that she had never eaten Anhui food, but now she was telling the truth.
A proud smile appeared on Chujiu's face. He really knew it and knew the origin of the smelly mandarin fish.
Stinky mandarin fish is a dish made with mandarin fish, ginger, and red pepper. It is one of the top ten famous dishes in Huizhou.
In this dish, the mandarin fish is complete in shape and bright red in color. Although it smells extremely stinky, it only feels fragrant and tender when you eat it.
The origin of Anhui stinky mandarin fish dates back more than two hundred years.
At that time, after winter every year, fishmongers along the river packed mandarin fish in wooden barrels and sold them to the mountainous areas of Huizhou.
In order to prevent the mandarin fish from deteriorating during transportation, fishmongers sprinkle a layer of salt on top of the fish and frequently turn the mandarin fish during transportation, because it takes seven or eight days to reach the mountainous area.
When the fishmongers transported the mandarin fish to the mountainous areas of Huizhou, the gills of the mandarin fish were still bright red, and the scales were intact, but they emitted a special smell that seemed to be smelly but not smelly.
People washed this kind of mandarin fish and made it into dishes. They found that not only did it have no smell, but it was more fragrant and delicious than fresh mandarin fish.
As a result, this practice slowly spread and formed a unique local style of eating fish.
"So that's it. It's just like pickled fish, right?"
Zhang Xuan nodded, praising Chu Jiu for knowing a lot and teaching herself a new lesson.
"Guo Guo, do you know how stinky mandarin fish is famous?"
Chujiu stared at the menu in his hand, and the smile on his face became even more proud.
How did it become famous? Didn’t you tell us just now? Of course it’s because this pickled mandarin fish has a unique taste. People spread the word about it and it became famous.
"Guo Guo, I'm asking how stinky mandarin fish became the top ten famous dishes in Anhui."