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Under the azure sky, the earth was a dry, yellowish-brown, while the campfire glowed a faint, fiery red.
Occasionally, birds fly by in the sky, bringing the whole world to life.
Shi Wen at the scene before him, Shi Wen felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
They roasted the Dolan Sheep, which were tied together with wire, over the campfire.
Today's main dish is grilling and eating at the same time.
All the little ones who can eat meat came over and gathered around, waiting for their meat.
Even the little creatures that can't eat meat are on the periphery, chewing on fresh radishes, cucumbers, and other vegetables—they're celebrating the New Year in their own way.
The weather is great today, a rare sunny day, and not too cold, but it's starting to get dark now.
They were using local time, and by then, the various TV stations' galas had already begun.
Shi Wen they had set up a screen outside to watch videos, but instead of showing a variety show, they showed Animal World.
The kids in their family watch TV, especially Animal World; almost none of them dislike Animal World.
Shi Wen they put animals on the show, the little ones sit there waiting to eat roast lamb while their eyes are glued to the screen.
The campfire licked at the mutton, and the aroma of the meat gradually wafted out; the surface of the mutton was quickly roasted.
This part of the mutton was marinated the best, with the most flavor and tenderness. They used a small knife to slice off pieces of mutton to eat, one slice at a time, while drinking freshly squeezed watermelon juice.
There are also lettuce and various seasonings on the side. If anyone finds eating meat on its own too greasy, they can wrap it in lettuce and then coat it with the seasonings.
Zhu Ji stuffed a large piece of meat into his mouth and mumbled, "How could you possibly find your meat greasy? I'm not greasy at all. I could eat this whole sheep on its own and not get tired of it."
Shi Wen wrapped a vegetable bun, took a bite of it herself, and stuffed the other half into Yan Kexing: "I can't, I still want to eat it with vegetables. But this mutton is really delicious, fatty but not greasy, tender and juicy, with a particularly strong mutton flavor."
This mutton flavor doesn't refer to the gamey smell of mutton, but rather the natural umami flavor of the mutton itself.
Their Dolan Sheep is even fresher than fat-tailed lamb, mainly because it's tender. Even when roasted, it's not dry at all and is full of juicy meat.
Homegrown fresh lettuce wrapped around piping hot mutton, the meat juices mixed with refreshing wild onion leaves—one bite and you get a burst of flavors; it tastes absolutely amazing.
Even though Shi Wen meat, he had to admit that it was really enjoyable to eat like that.
If you let him eat freely, he could eat half a sheep by himself.
They were only eating the mutton on the surface.
Once the lamb at the bottom was slightly cooked, they ate some of the Yan Kexing themselves and fed the rest to the little ones.
This part doesn't have as much seasoning, which is just right for the little ones.
Meat with less seasoning tastes completely natural, offering a different flavor for them, essentially making the sheep serve two purposes.
The Dolan Sheep have been raised for so long, and when they finished processing the meat, they weighed it and found that the pure meat weighed 93 jin (41.5 kg).
With so much meat, everyone ate their fill.
Although I could stuff myself even more if I tried harder, I'm already full at this point.
After finishing the meal, Yan Kexing took another large pot, placed it on the campfire, and cooked the mutton offal directly.
The lamb carcasses, left over from the roast meat, were given to the little ones so they could gnaw on the bones and play with them.
It was getting late, and the sky was completely dark. Today was New Year's Eve, and there was no moon, only a sky full of bright stars.
A night breeze picked up, and it got a bit chilly.
They cooked mutton offal under the night sky, and the aroma of the broth gradually filled the air, while the campfire provided ample warmth.
The lamb offal soup is ready. First, give each person a bowl of soup with chopped green onions, chopped cilantro, and pepper.
A bowl of mutton offal soup—fresh, hot, spicy, and fragrant—made everyone sweat.
The slight greasiness from eating roasted lamb was completely washed away by this bowl of lamb offal soup.
After finishing the soup, eat the lamb offal; it's incredibly delicious dipped in garlic chili sauce or chive blossom sauce.
Zhu Ji was almost in tears. "So this is what you call a life of eating meat to your heart's content! Waaah, it's so delicious! Is this garlic chili sauce made on your ranch? Old Yan's cooking is amazing!"
Yan Kexing: "Their skills are so-so, but the main thing is that the ingredients on our ranch are good."
Zhu Ji: "I don't care, it's just really delicious."
Shi Wen laughed at him, "You clearly haven't been drinking, so why are you acting like you're drunk? Will you even be able to drive home later?"
Zhu Ji sniffed, "The food is intoxicating! I should be able to, but let me catch my breath."
Shi Wen, "If that's not possible, you can stay at the house we rent in the village. We just cleaned up that rental a few days ago, and we even changed the bedding."
Zhu Ji immediately changed his tune. "Good brother, then I won't go back. I'll come over and hang out with you guys tomorrow."
Yan Kexing glanced at him expressionlessly. "We're going to have some alone time tomorrow."
Zhu Ji reached out and pulled An Wa, who was trying to mooch some lamb offal, close. "Then I'll stay with the dogs. Single dogs are still dogs. I have my own companions and won't disturb your romantic time together."
"..." Shi Wen looked at Yan Kexing, "This guy is really drunk."
Yan Kexing with a smile, "Mutton soup is good for the head."
There were only three of them, but that was enough for playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game).
After finishing the mutton soup, the three of them played Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) on the grassland by the light of the campfire and the curtain.
This game relies more on luck. Shi Wen the best luck, and Yan Kexing and Zhu Ji also had good luck. The three of them played back and forth and had a lot of fun.
The next day was the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Shi Wen and Yan Kexing planned to take the little ones out to play.
It just so Zhu Ji is here; they can take two cars out and bring all the little ones along.
Zhu Ji: "You guys really know how to have fun! Where are we going? Let's go skiing in the mountains, right?"
Shi Wen, "Let's see if it's skiing. I checked a few days ago and the snow on the mountain hadn't melted yet, so it should be skiable. I don't know about the next couple of days."