Chapter Fourteen Six Swords of Arhat
"How come it is so fragrant, how come it is so fragrant?" Outside the kitchen of the Zhu family, Zhou Qingyun kept repeating this sentence with drooling.
Not only Zhou Qingyun lost his composure, Zhu Shitou, who was grinding a sickle and packing the wheat straw, kept looking into the wing room. The Adam's apple kept rolling. Not to mention the yard, there was a little noisy outside the yard. The sound of floating into the yard was nothing more than "Why is it so fragrant", and you could even hear the children's crying, "...I want to eat too..."
Zhu Da walked out, and his mother Zhu Wangshi, who was following him, looked shocked. It was okay for outsiders. The closer the family members were, the more they felt that Zhu Da’s cooking skills were incredible. His mastery of the temperature, the amount of seasoning, and even the knife skills were not something that could be practiced in one day. Fortunately, Zhu Da’s other performances did not exceed the scope of “This child has grown up”, otherwise he would think he was possessed by some monster. Of course, these ideas would only be hidden in his heart and would never be told to others.
After hearing the movement outside, Zhu Da ran to his father Zhu Shitou and said, "Dad, go outside and tell everyone that it is Xiang Bo and our family to have dinner, and send us wild boar meat, so that everyone can disperse!"
Although he knew that the secret of fishing and eating fish would be discovered by the villagers sooner or later, the later the better. Zhu Shitou, the father with a sickle, was stunned for a moment, then reacted, got up and stood up and went out. He shouted outside the door, and the outside of the house soon became quiet, leaving only the voices of children.
"The wild boar is not easy to fight. I can't kill it with a bow and arrow. Xiang Bo has to take the steel fork and do it. Now Xiang Bo is old and dare not fight head-on." Zhou Qingyun said in a muffled voice, and then asked again: "Can catfish and eggplant be so fragrant if you stew it together?"
"Of course not." Zhu Da replied.
Vegetables are not worth much in Baibao Village. Every household grows some of them themselves. Zhu Da’s home grows eggplant, cuts eggplant into sections, cuts catfish into sections, washes them, and then adds onion, ginger, garlic and soy sauce to stew them red. A few drops of wine and vinegar can be used to remove the fishy smell.
The catfish itself is very oily, and autumn is the most plump time. This ingredient does not need to be added with oil. Just simmer in a pot and simmer the catfish fat. As for the eggplant added, it is better to use the catfish oil and water to make the eggplant taste better by using the catfish oil and water. This method does not require too many skills. Put soy sauce and ingredients in it and wait until the juice is collected.
By the time it was released, the whole family, including Zhu Da himself, couldn't help swallowing. The bright red catfish segment, the shiny eggplant, and the thick juice, not to mention the rich sauce flavor, which made everyone have a big appetite.
"Be careful of fish bones." Zhu Da reminded him. Zhou Qingyun had already picked up the cake and started eating it. When he took the first bite, his eyes glowed. He said vaguely while eating: "It's better than meat, and it's better than meat."
This pot of stewed eggplant with catfish can be divided into several pieces for everyone, but Zhu Da’s parents stopped after eating a few bites, dipped in the soup and finished the dry food, and then smiled and said, “I haven’t eaten oil for a long time. If I eat too much, I will have a stomachache. I will eat it slowly tomorrow.”
Zhu Da understood his parents' intentions and said with a smile: "Don't keep it for me, I can catch fish tomorrow."
"I'm going to come to eat tomorrow. I bring my own food and seasonings. I will teach you how to practice martial arts." Zhou Qingyun did not miss any opportunity and said vaguely.
Although the villagers in the countryside have no wealth of food, not to mention that Zhou Qingyun is the most edible child. When he heard that Zhou Qingyun came to have supper, Zhu Da's parents' expressions were immediately not very good-looking. When he knew that the other party brought his own food, he reluctantly agreed.
When he heard Zhou Qingyun say that he wanted to teach Zhu Da to practice martial arts, his father Zhu Shitou subconsciously wanted to stop him, but he looked at his wife, and saw helplessness from the other person's expression, and he didn't speak.
The autumn harvest and drying of grain are about to end. In Baibao Village, everyone will send the grain to Mr. Li, gather the amount and then deliver it to the master's house in a big cart. Every family in the village is busy with this. Although the fragrance of the Zhu family's food attracted many people yesterday, after hearing the "wild boar meat", no one asked the truth. Who doesn't know that the pork is delicious? As for wild boar meat, you can imagine it.
Having said that, Baibao Village subconsciously retreated from the matter involving Xiang Yue Xiang's family. You must know that even President Li stayed away from this old man Xiang, and Xiang Yue was a martial artist with a knife on his back. Everyone was naturally afraid and they dispersed when they heard it.
However, early that morning, Zhou Qingyun was already waiting outside the Zhu family. He even brought a piece of dried meat and a few cakes. He must eat the leftover catfish stewed eggplant with the Zhu family last night.
"Our Xiaoda has been lonely since she was a child, and it's good to have a playmate." Before going out, the Zhu family's parents reluctantly admitted this matter. According to their thoughts, they were all half-year-old children, even if they wanted to teach martial arts, they must be nonsense.
After breakfast and having accompany Zhu Da to clean up, Zhou Qingyun was about to drag Zhu Da to the river to see if there were any fish in the water pit. He also said carelessly: "I will run a house before Uncle Xiang comes back!"
"Can you really teach me martial arts?" Zhu Da stared at this topic. The old man Xiang Yuexiang was unwilling to teach, but Zhou Qingyun must have learned real skills this time, so he could learn a few skills from him.
"I'll teach you if you call me a master!"
"Do you still want to eat fish?"
During this negotiation, Zhou Qingyun was completely at a disadvantage and just said with a smirk: "I can teach you how to swordsmanship, but you can't teach archery and big guns. I told Bo that the swordsmanship is worthless."
Zhu Da naturally had no objection, and it was good to learn it. He had no room for picky choices. Moreover, in the past few days, he still had to learn skills from Xiang Bo in the long run.
After promising to teach, Zhou Qingyun did not hide his own personal information. The two went directly to the Xiang family's yard. Zhou Qingyun picked up a short stick nearly four feet long. It was almost the length of the Yanling Knife, but it was a bit out of proportion in his hand.
"Xiang Bo said that this set of sword techniques is called Luohan Knife. There are six styles. They are common sword techniques in the Datong official army. I will practice them for you to see." When Zhou Qingyun picked up this short stick, the foodie who was not in a formal position disappeared and was very serious.
The name of "Rahant Knife" is very frightening, but in the past twenty years, Zhu Da had heard more than a thousand martial arts titles. He felt that the movements of the six styles were very simple. Zhou Qingyun quickly finished the demonstration. Zhu Da stared at Zhou Qingyun and asked, "Just these few times? Didn't you lie to me?"
The martial arts that Zhu Dana has seen for more than 20 years are divided into performance and practical combat. There is no need to say that the performance is as fancy as dance. The practical combat is not that simple. These six styles are similar to those basic movements. The Luohan Knife looks too simple.
His question made Zhou Qingyun look very bad. Zhou Qingyun originally thought that Zhu Da would be surprised or even praise him, but he was questioned without thinking. He immediately said unhappy: "This is what Xiang Bo taught me. I lied to you to do. Do you want to learn? If you don't learn it, forget it!"
"Just talk. I heard the storytellers say that those martial arts are all kinds of tricks, so I feel that it is wrong. Of course I have to learn it!" Zhu Da made a decision without hesitation. He did not expect to encounter any hidden powerful players in the village. That is not life, but legend. Xiang Bo is at most a veteran. It is normal that he doesn't know much martial arts, so some learn it first.
Zhu Da asked Zhou Qingyun to repeat it twice, and then started to do it with a wooden stick. The reason why he learned it twice was because the movement was too simple, chopping, stabbing, cutting, blocking, and adding changes in steps and direction to make up the six styles. But no matter how you gesture, you think it was a random movement. Even if you don’t understand martial arts, you will do it. But when you see Zhou Qingyun’s serious appearance, you know that this is definitely not a lie to him.
After learning the so-called "Six Styles of Arhat Knife", the two of them ran towards the river again. In the past, when Zhu Da went to the river, there were always gossips watching the excitement, but with Zhou Qingyun, everyone became whispering. Zhu Da didn't think this was a bad thing, and everyone stayed away from it. At least, it could keep the secret of fishing for a longer time.
There were two fish in the puddle. Seeing this harvest, Zhou Qingyun was surprised, but Zhu Da knew that he had to dig a hole in another location. This kind of fishing method has a lot of luck, that is, there are many fish in the Xiami River, but it is inappropriate to always wait for the rabbit in one location.
Zhu Da took Zhou Qingyun upstream and downstream for dozens of steps, and then selected a place to dig holes and arrange them. Before doing this, seeing that Zhu Da had no intention of avoiding himself, Zhou Qingyun himself was puzzled and asked in surprise, "Do you want me to avoid it, and come back after you finish it."
If it were yesterday, Zhou Qingyun might not have said this, but after three meals, he taught martial arts and was already friends. Zhou Qingyun might not have felt this change clearly, but Zhu Da understood that the other party knew that this was his way to make money and knew to avoid it.
"We are both our own people. You have taught me martial arts. I'm not afraid of you!" Zhu Da said generously. When he said this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Although he did think so, he used some means to make friends with a young man, and he was really ashamed.
When Zhou Qingyun heard his words, he was stunned for a moment, then showed a more solemn expression than when he was performing martial arts. He nodded and said solemnly: "Others think it is unlucky for me to have no father or mother. If you think I am my own person, then we are our own person!"
Friendship and friendship cannot be deepened and consolidated with these few meals and two trivial matters, but this is a good start. Even though Zhu Da felt ashamed of his purpose, he was in a happy mood. After waking up, he always felt lonely. Until now, he finally had a friend who spoke with him.
Chapter completed!