Xin'an County is born with water, surrounded by rivers outside the city, and there are several rivers interspersed in the city. The rivers are sometimes narrow and sometimes wide, and the narrow places can only accommodate two rowing boats. The merchant boatmen parked their big ships on the pier outside the city, and then rowed a scull boat into the city to sell their goods. They moored the boat in a spacious place, put up colorful banners on the bow, and used the boat as a stall to start selling.
Some will stay for three or two days, and some will leave after selling for a day. The boats are bustling every day, and today’s boat passengers may not be able to see them tomorrow. Therefore, the river goods on the river are different every day, but because of the short stay, these It is not clear whether the goods are genuine or not, and it all depends on one's sharp eyes to search, maybe you can really find some good things. Of course, if someone is cheated today, there is no place to complain tomorrow.
There are a lot of small boats in some places, and for the convenience of some scull boats, wooden planks are set up between them for guests to walk around. Gradually, it really feels like a river market. It looks like floating on the clouds, and because the market gathers and disperses at times, people at that time also called such a market on the river a "floating market". There are three or four such floating markets in Xin'an County, and they are very lively every month and month.
There is no rent for boats moored by the river, so the price is more affordable. Even if some unscrupulous merchants hide in it, ordinary people still like to come and shop. There are all kinds of fish sold on the boat, and there are aquatic products from the east. There are also some fish from the river, as well as cheap rouge powder and small pearl hairpins, floral cloth spices from the southwest, small candies from the north and south...
The white walls and black tiles on both sides of the river, the blue sky and clear water, the women in the clothes patted the clothes in a patchwork pattern, and the boatman who sold the winter dates and oranges laughed twice across the water. , the other party was not annoyed, but laughed and threw back a few jujubes and oranges to show his favor.
Yu Jinnian and Ji Hong couldn't walk more than a hundred steps. As soon as they turned out of the alley, they saw a floating market on the edge of the river, and many people had already gathered. He was splashed with slops before, the woman felt very sorry and brought a bucket of water and a cloth towel to wipe his clothes with him. Although Yu Jinnian had shaken off the filth from his body, the smell of swill was still lingering go.
Because of helping him clean up, Ji Hong inevitably got some smell on his body. The two of them wanted to go home and take a shower, but when Yu Jinnian saw the floating market, his heart fluttered and he obviously wanted to go for a stroll.
But the smell is really too bad, walking on the road seems to be a moving smelly mass, others want to cover their noses and step back for three hundred feet, Yu Jinnian has been immersed in the stench for too long, he has already got used to it, even so, he is embarrassed Drilling into the crowd of people, he took a look on a boat with a tent for buying river fresh food. Anyway, he also smells fishy, so don't dislike anyone.
The boatman who sells river seafood was quite kind, not only did he not drive him away, but he also enthusiastically introduced all kinds of fresh food, and said that it was the first time he came back to Xin'an County to set up a boat, and he would probably come here often in the future. It can also be regarded as "good luck for the opening", and it can be called a low-cost and good blog repeat customer.
Yu Jinnian saw a lot of buckets on his boat, looked at them one by one, there were river shrimps, mussels, snails and so on, and some fish that Yu Jinnian had seen but could not name, not many, because they were stuffy in the buckets , Many fish and shrimp are not very lively, lifeless.
But the boat man called it really cheap, and Yu Jinnian couldn't help thinking about buying it. He squatted in the tent and poked the belly of the fish one by one to see if they were dead or alive. The boatman followed Yu Jinnian holding a basin, To give him the fish in the picture. Ji Hong stood at the bow of the boat and waited for him, but he was surrounded by the boat girls in a short while. One introduced rouge, the other introduced gouache, but they didn't think he stinks.
Every time he took Ji Hong out for shopping, he would inevitably be harassed by all kinds of girls. Yu Jinnian was used to this situation, and at first he waved him off angrily, but then he simply let him go. Anyway, Ji Hong didn't like it. they. But getting used to it is one thing, and being depressed is another, Yu Jinnian muttered while picking fish: "A beautiful person can indeed do whatever he wants."
The boat man also looked straight ahead, and praised: "I don't know which girl is so lucky to be able to marry such a handsome man."
Yu Jinnian kept his mouth shut, fished out a herring and a mandarin fish from the bucket, and threw them into the wooden basin in Chuanlang's arms. The tail of the fish splashed the water on Chuanlang's face. !"
"Peach blossoms and flowing water mandarin fish are fat", mandarin fish is the most plump in spring, this is not a good time, and the mandarin fish in Chuanlang's bucket is dying, it doesn't look fresh, but Yu Jinnian is greedy, even so He is also confident that he can make delicious mandarin fish.
Right now herring is in season, all of them are green and black, and they are fat. It is said that the herring is as big as dozens of catties. The one I bought actually weighed eight catties.
Chuanlang threaded the two fish through his gills with hemp rope, and handed them to him. Yu Jinnian paid the money, and when he turned his head, he saw that Ji Hong had just taken something from a shopkeeper, and quickly hid it in the The girl smiled brightly, like a scene of "privately giving and receiving".
Yu Jinnian was full of anger, but he didn't want to question him in public, so he took the fish and slapped Ji Hong with a "slap", "Let's go!"
The man followed up like a tail, Yu Jinnian walked ahead with the fish in his hand, expecting him to take the initiative to explain, but after waiting for a long time, he did not catch up with him, squinting his eyes and looking back, the man was unexpectedly captured by a Taoist priest The man was entangled, saying that his shoulders were entwined with black air, and he wanted to sell him a wooden amulet with a stern face, and the lion opened his mouth wide, asking for five taels of silver.
Ji Hong didn't know how to refuse, and was looking at himself innocently, Yu Jinnian snorted, but slowed down, walked back to him slowly, took the man's hand and said, "Listen to what he's talking about?" , if you want an amulet, I'll make it for you!"
The Taoist said, "I am consecrated!"
Yu Jinnian cast a contemptuous look at him, and said bluntly: "What's the matter, mine can still attract peach blossoms, last for a long time, and they are of good quality and cheap, I will make him a whole box for five taels of silver, and wear them every day!"
"..." The Taoist was so angry that he was speechless, he put on his amulet and turned away, spitting at them, "Stinger!"
Yu Jinnian also poohed at him from a distance.
The two were walking home, Ji Hong looked at him sideways for a while, and asked, "Really?"
Yu Jinnian was puzzled: "What is true and false?"
Ji Hong: "Amulets, a whole box..."
Before he finished speaking, before Yu Jinnian could answer, an old woman was selling fat beads on the side of the street with a basket on her shoulders. He suddenly remembered that the saponins at home had run out, so he turned around and ran over, and bargained with someone to buy two catties. Fat beads.
Fat bead is a common name, but it is actually a plant called Sapindus chinensis. Its peel has the effect of cleaning clothes and skin. Sore throat, cough and asthma, is a traditional Chinese medicine.
Carrying things back to a bowl of noodle shop, Qing Huan was so smoked that he let out a loud cry.
At this time, the wetness on his body was blown dry by the wind, and the smell on his clothes was fermented into another rotten smell, which was even more disgusting than before. Yu Jinnian couldn't bear it himself, so he hurriedly went to the back kitchen to boil the bath water, Ji Hong's question has long been left behind.
Nowadays, there is no condition to take a bath every day. When the weather is warm, I usually take a basin to take a bath and put some warm water to wipe my body. If it is cold today, Yu Jinnian will take out the bathtub, scrub it clean and move it to the room, and fill it with some cold water , and threw a few newly bought fat beads into it, and when the water was boiled in the kitchen, he asked Ji Hong to help him pour it in pot by pot.
He stripped himself clean with his hands and feet. When Ji Hong came back with a basin of hot water, he saw him digging into the bucket naked, and buried himself in the water with a loud splash. There was a small wooden stool in the bucket for sitting and resting while taking a bath. Yu Jinnian sat on it with his legs bent. After getting wet, he wrapped six or seven fat beads with a piece of wet cotton cloth, rubbed and lathered his body Bubble.
Yu Jinnian reached out to play with the few fat beads in the water, and Ji Hong poured a pot of hot water in. The rising water temperature quickly steamed Yu Jinnian's skin into pale pink. Shrinking into the depths of the bathtub, only the head and a long and slender neck were exposed.
Ji Hong moved the high stool over, picked up the prepared loofah pulp, soaked it in water, and said, "Hands."
Yu Jinnian stretched out his arm, and it hung softly in Ji Hong's hand.
He first lathered it with a beaded cotton bag, then gently washed it with a loofah, and said, "The other one."
Yu Jinnian obediently put on another arm for him, leaned his head back against the edge of the bathtub, and sighed: "Oh, a beauty is waiting for the bath, this is probably the true meaning of life..."
After washing his hands, Yu Jinnian leaned his mouth on the edge of the bucket and asked Ji Hong to rub his back. In short, he was determined to make a piece of mermaid meat on the chopping board. Ji Hong shook his head while laughing, and rolled it up. Sleeves waited patiently, and he asked, "What were you thinking about at that time, and you were so preoccupied that you didn't realize that you were splashed with filth?"
Yu Jinnian lay on his stomach, propping his chin with his arm, and said, "Thinking of Yan Yuyao's illness, I probably have a clue. Next time Yan Rong comes to invite me, I'll try it out."
Ji Hong's subordinates used some strength and said, "Anyway, I'm thinking about other people's affairs."
"Ah! This is not cleaning the dishes, this is cleaning me!" Actually, it didn't hurt very much, Yu Jinnian pretended to cry out in pain, turned around and asked with a smile, "What's the matter, is it delicious?"
Ji Hong squeezed out all the water in the loofah, rolled his eyelashes, threw the loofah into the boy's arms, nodded and said, "Well, it really smells good, I'd better wash it myself."
He got up to leave, but was suddenly grabbed by a wet hand. Yu Jinnian swam over from the end of the tub like a fish, put his chin on the side of the barrel, winked at him, and said with a smile: "Do Why don't you go, let's wash together, you smell bad too."
Ji Hong saw the looming under the surface of the water, his heart skipped a beat, but he held on, and said solemnly: "Wash together, and you won't be able to get out until tomorrow. Don't just be stubborn, carefully, the water is cold, and you will catch the wind and cold."
Yu Jinnian laughed straight, pointed to a wooden board next to him and said, "Then you cover me up."
After covering it, he laughed again, only showing his head: "Does it look like a potato?"
Ji Hong didn't know where this young man got so much energy every day, he could always find joy in trivial things, but it was undeniable that he himself was infected by the laughter, and he couldn't help feeling lighthearted.
The wooden plank fits the bath tub, covering it can keep the temperature, and there is a gap to stick out the head and shoulders. After Ji Hong covered it for him, he went to get two oranges. Yu Jinnian thought they were peeled for himself to eat. He waited expectantly for the feeding, but Ji Hong peeled the oranges into flower shapes, ate a petal himself, and placed it on the wooden cover of the bathtub.
Yu Jinnian stared at it for a while, then opened his mouth to hint at him.
Ji Hong tapped the wooden cover with his finger and asked, "Where's my amulet?"
"..." Yu Jinnian was almost out of breath, "Do it, do it, I'll do it for you at night after washing!"
Only then did Ji Hong take the orange slices and feed him with satisfaction. Feeding oranges would inevitably involve some vulgar scenes of "I'll eat it", "I won't give it to you", and "Will I give it to you or not". , Yu Jinnian groaned and gnawed off the orange and his fingers, but right now he is a potato buried in a bucket, unable to reach Ji Hong's hand, so he can only stare at him to show morality above condemnation.
The water was warm, and the steam made the young man hazy, smooth and tender like an egg that had been peeled off its shell, with a blush. The round eyes under such a scene were not so much angry as coquettish. , Ji Hong's chest softened and rotted into a swamp ocean, he took the last piece of orange in his mouth, leaned forward and kissed the potato.
In the end, I don't know who bit the orange petals, but the juice flowed down, and the wooden bucket lid was overturned.
Yu Jinnian plunged into the water, gurgling and spitting bubbles in the water, as if he was shy, only a mass of black hair floating on the surface of the water, finally couldn't hold it back, and finally showed a little , Gu Lulu rolled his eyes and peeked at him.
Ji Hong pursed his lips and smiled, and didn't talk too much to make people think that he took a cotton bag of fat beads to wash his hair.
Yu Jinnian is also honest, he was messed with by Ji Hong for a long time before he finally washed it off, he was already dizzy from soaking, his face was still flushed after he came out and put on his underwear, he sat at the table and wiped his hair, and saw Ji Hong also After taking off her clothes, she took a quick bath with the residual temperature in the water.
Looking at the snow-white back of the man, he felt his nose itch, raised his hand to touch it twice, and suddenly realized that he was acting like a hungry ghost. Zhu Zi muttered, "You can't even sit on it. You must have never used such a small bucket before..."
Ji Hong sighed softly: "There is no way, marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog."
Yu Jinnian was stunned for a moment, and when he realized it, his ears felt hot. This time he was really shy, and immediately grabbed a fat bead on the table and threw it at Ji Hong.
Ji Hong took it easily, floated it in the water, watched the boy dry his hair roughly, tied the hair behind his head with a rope, and ran out in a hurry, presumably hiding in the kitchen again up.
Yu Jinnian did go to the kitchen, there is no other place to go!
He picked up the fish.
Wash the mandarin fish and cut it open, remove the dirt and scales, cut it with a flower knife, put salt on the inside and outside, then put it in a big big bowl to marinate, press it with a stone of good size, and then buckle it upside down The other plate was put aside afterwards.
Wash the herring to remove internal organs, slice the fish meat, marinate with scallions and ginger, salt, sake, and egg white, and then boil the oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, put the marinated fish fillets into the pan and fry them. Take it out and drain the oil for later use.
Shred mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, and ginger. After frying in the pan, pour in the smooth fish fillets and add salt. No other heavy ingredients are needed. Just thicken it, the fish fillet is tender and smooth, and it has the freshness of bamboo shoots and mushrooms, which has a unique fresh flavor.
The remaining fish heads and tails were not willing to throw away. Looking at the fish heads, Yu Jinnian suddenly remembered something from a long time ago - when Ji Hong first arrived, he seemed to have promised to make fish heads with chopped peppers for him, but forget it Well, the herring has a lot of bones in its head, and the meat on the head is a bit harsh, so it's better to buy some silver carp tomorrow and then do that.
So Yu Jinnian braised the head and tail of the herring in brown sauce, but before putting it into the pot, he carefully split the head of the herring, opened the head and found the occipital bone of the herring.
There is a hard piece like a small stone on the herring occipital bone, which is called herring stone, also called fish pillow. Herring eats snails in the water. This small hard piece is used to chew and grind the snail shell. I don’t know when, this hard piece gradually has all kinds of fantasy legends. It is said that it can ward off evil and detoxify. It is said that pressing it under the tongue of a frightened child can eliminate fright and fear, which is very miraculous, so it is also called the fish frightened stone.
This is the "talisman" that Yu Jinnian promised to make for Ji Hong. Of course, it's hard to say whether it can protect the body, it's just an auspicious statement.
He scrubbed the Yujing Stone clean, put it in a cool place to dry naturally, and then concentrated on cooking the fish head in brown sauce, and Ji Hong just finished taking a bath.
Even though the kitchen was full of the smell of fish and vegetables, he still smelled a faint fragrance from Ji Hong's body, which was different from what he smelled from Ji Hong's body before. At that time, the fragrance on his body was somewhat like sandalwood, but now It is a more sweet and greasy smell, like some kind of flower, which is very pleasant.
Yu Jinnian didn't think about it for a while, after eating, he washed his hands and face and went back to the room, leaned on Ji Hong's body and smelled it intoxicatedly, after a while, he finally remembered, and couldn't help asking: "You Why does it smell like jasmine?”
Ji Hong leaned on the pillow, raised his hand to caress Yu Jinnian's temples: "Do you like it?"
Yu Jinnian said: "It's quite fragrant, it's different from before."
Ji Hong laughed again.
Yu Jinnian looked at him suspiciously for a while, then suddenly remembered, and said with a glare, "Oh! That girl gave it to you!" He reached for Ji Hong's sleeve with both hands, and sat on him without touching it. Furious, he pinched his waist and flipped through the old accounts: "Take it out quickly, you are so bold, do you dare to show me that you actually accept other people's things!"