Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 9: Is There Ever a Meal That Isn’t Delicious to You?

Chapter 9: Is There Ever a Meal That Isn’t Delicious to You?

Chapter 8

Is There Ever a Meal That Isn’t Delicious to You?

"Since they were already resting, Tianrong and Liu Hao decided to go hunting, something they hadn’t done in months. Usually, Tianrong would be out at sea, and Liu Hao would find work in the city. They brought along their bows and knives, so there was no need to go back home for equipment.

After the two men left, Tianchen was left lying comfortably asleep, and Xiaolin sat behind with a gloomy face. She wanted to explore too, but her young uncle seemed content just lying around.

"Uncle, let’s go explore the forest," she prodded his cheek with her small fingers.

"Where to? We need to watch our stuff, Xiaolin," Tianchen replied, eyes still closed.

"I want to look around here. Maybe we’ll find something good. Please, uncle?" She shook his arm, coaxing him with a wide, pleading smile. Tianchen sighed and reluctantly got up.

"Just around here, okay? Otherwise, someone might steal our sweet potatoes and you’ll have nothing to eat," he warned her. Normally, such a threat would scare a regular child, but Xiaolin, being as old as Tianrong in her past life, just nodded in agreement.

"Okay! It won’t take long."

The duo didn’t wander far from where they found the sweet potatoes. Hearing the sound of a waterfall nearby excited Xiaolin, and she eagerly led Tianchen towards it.

A small waterfall with crystal clear water made Xiaolin beam. She ran to the stream’s edge to watch the large fish swimming in the water.

"Uncle! There are so many big fish!" She called back to Tianchen, waving him over.

Tianchen hurried to her side and was amazed at the size of the fish, larger than any sea fish he had ever caught, and there seemed to be an abundance of them, as if they had never been caught before.

"Let’s catch some fish, uncle!"

"How are we going to do that?" Tianchen asked, pondering their options. Although the stream was shallow enough for the fish’s fins to nearly breach the surface, their speed made them nearly impossible to catch by hand.

"Uncle, can you go back and get the basket we used for the sweet potatoes? Pour them out and we can use it to scoop the fish."

"That’s right, we could probably catch three or four fish like that. Xiaolin, wait here for uncle, okay?" Xiaolin nodded vigorously, and Tianchen hurried back to get the basket, not wanting to leave his little niece alone for too long.

Xiaolin sat watching the big fish swimming joyously in the water. Steamed fish with lime must be on the menu now. Then there’s the big salt-grilled fish. Just thinking about it made her mouth water. Since discovering chili and lime, her appetite had improved significantly.

Previously, she preferred freshwater fish because they were cheaper, but living here meant eating mostly small sea fish because the larger ones were sold by her father.

Xiaolin was salivating not long before Tianchen came running back. In addition to his large basket, he also brought Xiaolin’s small basket. He dumped the fragrant mushrooms into his own pouch so that he would have one basket to scoop fish and another to hold them.

"Xiaolin, uncle is back," he announced from behind, making the little girl turn around.

Tianchen placed the baskets beside his niece, took off his shoes, rolled up his trousers, grabbed the smaller basket, and slowly walked into the water, cautious not to startle the fish away prematurely.

"Xiaolin, catch the fish in the basket, okay? I’ll throw them up to you."

"Right away, uncle!" She moved the larger basket a bit away from the stream to prevent it from capsizing and losing their catch.

Tianchen slowly approached and used the basket to scoop up two big fish. The fish were unaware of any danger because they had never been hunted before.

Tianchen tossed the large fish onto the bank of the stream with a thud. The fish flopped around, and Xiaolin ran over to clumsily put the big fish into the basket. She looked at the large tilapia with sparkling eyes, her mind filled with thoughts of dishes made from tilapia.

Thump.

The second fish landed near the first spot. The small figure ran to catch this one too, and after a bit of struggle, she successfully secured it in the basket. After that enjoyable moment, they managed to fill half the basket, catching over ten fish in total.

Tianchen removed his outer shirt to tie around the mouth of the basket, also securing it with some vines for added measure, and placed the basket in shallow water to prevent the fish from dying too soon.

"We got a lot of fish, next time let’s catch and dry them, Uncle," Xiaolin suggested.

"Can we really dry fish as big as these, Xiaolin?" Tian Qin asked. The fish they caught each weighed no less than two jin; he wondered how many days it would take for them to dry.

"We should try. Or should we catch smaller ones to dry instead?" the little hands pondered. Maybe she should bring squids to dry. There were also shrimps. She didn’t know what else they might catch while they were out at sea.

"Squids can be dried too, Uncle. I don’t know what else you might catch while you’re out there."

"There are many things, some I don’t even recognize. There are shells, oh, and there’s this weird one-sided shell as well."

Xiaolin’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Could it be abalone? If they could dry and keep it for the winter, that would be great. She excitedly grabbed and shook Tianchen’s arm.

"Do we have a lot, Uncle? I want to see. Maybe we can dry and store it for later."

"How about we take a walk to the beach next time? There are shells and some sea creatures that get washed ashore too."

"That sounds great, Uncle!" Xiaolin beamed.

If the sea creatures she dries can be kept for winter consumption, she might find a way to open a dried food store because the last time she walked in the city, most shops only sold fresh fish. Tourists from other cities could buy and take it home too.

She had yet to visit the docks. The last time she encountered a large foreigner, she wondered what they sold, as she hadn’t paid much attention to these details in her previous life.

"Let’s go back to the pond now. Your father should be back by now. We might get scolded if we’re late."

The two relatives carried their baskets back to the shallow pond. Indeed, Tianchen and Liu Hao had already arrived, sitting and drinking water with a large wild boar lying dead beside them, soaked in a pool of blood.

"What have you two found?" Tianchen turned to see his younger brother and his tiny daughter walking hand in hand back to the pond.

"We caught a lot of fish, Dad. They’re almost as big as Xiaolin herself."

"Is that so? Will Xiaolin cook something delicious for Dad?"

"I’ll grill them with salt and also steam some with spicy sauce, Dad. The big fish must be really tasty because they’re so meaty."

"I’m starting to get hungry now. We better head back soon. But how are we going to carry everything back?" Tianrong looked down at the multitude of items they needed to transport back home, causing the other three to laugh at his defeated expression.

"Should we carry the wild boar out first? We can come back for the sweet potatoes with the cart," Liu Hao suggested, and Tianchen nodded in agreement.

"Let’s do that. Xiao Chen and I will come back for the rest. You go order the cart from Uncle Kong, and invite Grandma Liu over for dinner at our place tonight. Xiaolin caught some really appetizing big fish," Tianchen, seeing the fish in his brother’s basket, invited Liu Hao as well.

"Sure."

"Let’s go then, so we can come back here again quickly."

Tianrong and Liu Hao carried the large wild boar, while Tianchen carried the fish he caught. Xiaolin, tasked with carrying a sack filled with mushrooms in her small basket, also carried it back.

By noon, all four of them had returned to Xiaolin’s modest home. The three men agreed to separate to attend to their tasks before coming together again to butcher the boar. Xiaolin asked her mother for a drying rack so she could dry the mushrooms.

"What are you doing, Mother?" After setting the mushrooms to dry, Xiaolin walked over to find her mother at the back of the house.

"I’m cleaning the fish, dear. Do you need something?" Hui Ning was scaling fish beside the water jar behind the house and turned to look at her daughter approaching.

"Mother, can you make grilled salted fish and steamed fish with spicy sauce? I really want that," the little girl cuddled up to her mother from behind, wheedling. Hui Ning chuckled softly before responding.

"Of course, dear. I was planning to make grilled salted fish anyway. I’ll add steamed fish with spicy sauce for you, okay?"

"Mother, you’re the best," Xiaolin kissed her mother’s cheeks twice, and both of them laughed together behind the house.

Hui Ning mentioned that the lemongrass Xiaolin had collected last time was all used up, so the little girl volunteered to gather some more. She also took her mother’s bamboo sickle with her. Xiao Zhong, seeing its little owner heading out, jumped up from its resting place and followed eagerly.

"Be careful, Xiao Zhong. There are lots of thorny grasses around here," Xiaolin cautioned the little calf, but it seemed not to care much as it frolicked around.

Arriving at the small stream, Xiaolin explored the area again in hopes of finding more edible plants. Lemongrass was abundant because no one bothered to collect it, thinking it was just another grass.

Xiaolin noticed a clump of dark green grass not far away with large, sharp-pointed leaves. Her little legs ran towards it, jumping excitedly when she found that what she thought was grass was actually galangal plants.

"Tom Yum Pla Nil1 is definitely happening. Now, if only I could find some kaffir lime trees. Yummy!" She swallowed saliva several times before hastily digging up the galangal to take back, along with collecting a big bundle of lemongrass, and headed home in high spirits. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"What did you bring so much of, dear?" Hui Ning asked her daughter, who came back laden with stuff.

"I found galangal, Mom! It adds such a delicious spicy flavor to fish curry."

"Really? Would you like to have some fish curry then? I’ll make some for you," the woman took the large bundle of lemongrass from her daughter and led her into the house by the hand.

"Mmm, let’s have it for breakfast tomorrow. Tonight, Dad’s going to butcher the pig. Let’s have some grilled pork instead, okay?"

"Of course, dear. You’ll help me cook, won’t you?"

"Sure, Mom!"

Thus, when the three men returned to the small house in the afternoon, they were greeted with the aroma of big salt-grilled fish and steamed fish with spicy sauce already waiting for them. The trio’s mouths watered at the scent of the meal.

"A’Hao, you might as well have dinner here. We can continue butchering the pig after. Or if you want, you can invite Grandma Liu to join us for dinner. I will stir-fry some more vegetables," Hui Ning said as she brought out a pot of rice and small bowls to the table in front of the house, with Xiaolin following behind with chopsticks.

"Then, I’ll go get Grandma first," the young man said before hurrying back to his house, eager to share the delicious meal with her.

"Why don’t you and Xiao Chen go wash up? I’ll stir-fry some vegetables in the kitchen."

"Let’s do that, Xiao Chen." The two brothers walked to the back of the house together, leaving Xiaolin to watch over the meal by herself. The greedy child, eyeing the fragrant dishes, raised her hand to rub her grumbling little stomach.

About a quarter of an hour later, everyone was ready. The white flesh of the Tilapia fish was laid on the small rice bowl of the child who was becoming quite chubby. The aroma made the greedy bugs in her stomach buzz loudly.

"Eat up, Xiaolin, my little lucky charm," Tianchen filled her bowl with fish meat that he had already deboned, piling it high.

"Uncle, that’s enough," Xiaolin laughed softly, seeing her rice bowl nearly overflowing.

Everyone enjoyed their meal immensely. The two large fish dishes and the stir-fried vegetables were completely devoured, leaving not even a scrap of meat. Tianchen and Liu Hao both sat contentedly patting their stomachs beside Xiao Zhong’s resting area.

"This meal was truly delicious, sis"

"Is there ever a meal that isn’t delicious?" Tianrong teased his brother, prompting laughter from everyone.

"Oh, Big Brother, but today’s meal was especially delicious," Tianchen complained playfully.

"The meal was indeed delicious. Thank you, A’Rong and A’Ning, very much. This is the first time I’ve ever enjoyed freshwater fish that wasn’t fishy," Grandma Liu smiled. In her younger days, she too had caught fish from the streams to eat, but they were so fishy she couldn’t stomach them.

"It was little Xiaolin who found herbs to get rid of the fishy smell. So, I used them to cook the food with. Besides without the fishy smell, the herbs also made the curry smell incredibly appetizing."

"Really? Can you tell me what herbs they were? Next time, I’ll try adding them to my fish curry."

"Of course. I’ll show you where to find them."

The young woman and the elderly lady carried their dishes and bowls to the back of the house, leaving the men to chat on the bamboo bench.

‘Tom Yum Pla Nil’ is a hot and spicy lemongrass soup with Tilapia.

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