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Zhao Hexi had no objections. "Then let's set off, and try our best to not need Little Otter's help."

The Little Otter following behind, upon hearing him mention himself, raised its head and whimpered, "Eek?"

Zhao Hexi bent down and affectionately stroked it. "It's nothing, go back to playing."

The weather is nice today, and there are many children out for a stroll.

Many children saw them fishing and ran over to watch.

Qing Mengzhu recognized some of the children but did not chase them away.

The children squatted nearby, watching them fish and playing with the two dogs—the red fox and the Little Otter, who weren't fond of strangers, had already run off and hidden themselves.

Qing Mengzhu wasn't particularly good at fishing. After fishing for a while, she started marinating hazel grouse.

Their land was right next door, so he went and picked some scallions, ginger, and garlic, and also picked tomatoes and peppers.

To make hazel grouse into kiln-roasted chicken, you first need to pile up earthen blocks, heat the earth until it's scalding hot, and then put the hazel grouse inside to roast it using the residual heat.

Now we'll start piling up the dirt blocks so we can start grilling the fish we catch later, otherwise we'll run out of time.

So, Ming Lexin and Zhao Hexi fished on the side, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi built a kiln by lighting a fire, and a bunch of children came over to help move the clods of earth.

Qing Mengzhu even took out the sweet potatoes from the bag, wrapped them one by one in aluminum foil, and planned to put them in the oven to bake later.

Zhao Hexi was fishing when she turned around and saw the sweet potatoes he was carrying. She was quite surprised. "Where did these sweet potatoes come from?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Didn't we plant a lot of sweet potato vines last year? These are the ones growing underneath."

Zhao Hexi: "Isn't that a variety specifically grown for eating sweet potato leaves? I remember you mentioning that."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Indeed, usually that variety of sweet potato produces very small potatoes, but for some reason, the sweet potatoes in my house are quite large and taste good, so we harvested some of them."

Many sweet potatoes nowadays are high-yield varieties, and they are very large, often weighing several kilograms.

Those kinds of sweet potatoes aren't suitable for grilling. The sweet potatoes from Qing Mengzhu's family are small and long, which are perfect for grilling and they cook very quickly.

Besides sweet potatoes, Qing Mengzhu also wrapped several sweet fried cakes in tin foil and baked them.

These fried dough cakes are somewhat similar to brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, except they don't have a molten sugar filling. They should taste pretty good baked.

Their hazelnuts were already marinated.

When Qing Mengzhu finished firing the kiln, she looked at the tiny hazel grouse and said to Ming Chunxi, "It doesn't seem quite right. They're too small. I'll go pick some lotus leaves to wrap them up, otherwise they might burn later."

Ming Chunxi: "I'll go with you."

Zhao Hexi: "Then we'll fish here and wait for you. Come back soon!"

Ming Chunxi: "You guys do your best! Don't bother Little Otter during the New Year."

Qing Mengzhu's family planted their lotus roots early, and now quite a few lotus leaves have sprouted.

The lotus leaves are small, so you have to pick several to wrap up a hazel grouse.

Since they were already there, Qing Mengzhu wanted to get some other ingredients. He couldn't bear to catch any more shrimp, so he ended up catching a few large river clams instead.

Their river clams have been raised for so long in pond water containing Spirit Pearl Dregs, making them much more delicious than ordinary river clams. I'll add some chili and minced garlic later, and they'll taste amazing when grilled.

Besides them, many other families in the village also grow vegetables.

Most of the vegetables grown this season are greenhouse-grown.

Among the children who came to watch, some came from families that grew vegetables. Seeing Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi return with a large amount of ingredients, one of the clever children immediately went to his greenhouse and picked a bunch of eggplants of various sizes, then looked up at Qing Mengzhu and the others with his little face, eager to show off his achievement.

Qing Mengzhu scratched the child's cheek with his hand. "Pick so many eggplants here, you are not afraid of getting beaten?"

The child said, "It's Chinese New Year, my family doesn't hit children."

Qing Mengzhu laughed, "You've got it figured out perfectly."

The eggplants had already been picked, but Qing Mengzhu didn't let the children take them back; it was the New Year, and they didn't want to spoil the mood.

Once the food is grilled, just let the kids take a fish home to eat.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi made a lot of garlic chili sauce, just so they could use it to cook all sorts of ingredients today.

First, the kiln for roasting the chicken was fired. Then, they put the hazel grouse, sweet potatoes, and eggplants wrapped in tin foil into the kiln. They didn't dare to put in too much, fearing that the chicken wouldn't cook through. Then, they smashed the kiln and let the hot clay bury the food.

Ming Lexin has already caught two fish, while Zhao Hexi has yet to catch anything, but he is convinced that he will definitely catch a fish soon.

Qing Mengzhu wasn't entirely convinced, so she and Ming Chunxi first cleaned up the two fish that Ming Lexin had caught and grilled them with the river clams. They planned to grill any other fish they caught later—if they had any.

Qing Mengzhu and the others set up a charcoal fire and began grilling the fish. The aroma wafted out as they brushed on the first layer of sauce.

Zhao Hexi sniffed hard. "What kind of sauce is this? It smells so good! Is it a new recipe from Brother Zhou?"

Qing Mengzhu couldn't tell him directly because it contained a little seasoning powder from the Interstellar Mall, so she said, "It's an exclusive secret sauce, never to be shared."

Zhao Hexi: "This will not be revealed to outsiders, tsk tsk."

A child nearby said, "It smells so good, even better than the barbecue stalls outside our school."

Another child said, "It smells even better than the barbecue from the barbecue restaurant!"

Qing Mengzhu chuckled and patted the child lightly, "That's enough, you guys. I know this sauce is fragrant, no need to praise it."

Fish cook very quickly, and once cooked, they are very easy to tell apart.

Soon, Qing Mengzhu divided the two roasted fish into pieces, one for each person, and ate them with fresh lotus leaves—fresh lotus leaves that Qing Mengzhu had picked from the company's pond, not the ones from her own garden.

The children tasted the grilled fish and were amazed, exclaiming how delicious it was.

Qing Mengzhu was afraid they would get fish bones stuck in their throats, so after giving them one piece, she dared not give them any more. Instead, she gave them river clams to eat, as eating river clams was safer.

Before Zhao Hexi even caught a fish, he was already eating grilled fish. He was so overwhelmed by the delicious aroma that he was speechless. "This smells amazing!!"

Ming Lexin: "You two have really honed your cooking skills! It's delicious!"

Qing Mengzhu ate the grilled fish and said, "Our cooking skills are just so-so, but we have a secret sauce in it."

To be honest, the secret sauce from the Interstellar Mall is really delicious. They can buy some more after they finish this batch, since it's not expensive for them right now.

After finishing the grilled fish and grilled river clams, Qing Mengzhu and the others dug out hazel grouse, sweet potatoes, and grilled eggplant.

After being roasted in the earthen kiln, all the ingredients were cooked through.

The best thing to eat there is the hazel grouse; the skin is smooth, the meat is tender and juicy, and even the bones are delicious.

After the Dharma Protector, the Guard, the Little Fox, and the Little Otter finished their portions, they wanted to gnaw on the bones, but instead they stared longingly at the humans, who held onto the bones and gnawed on them reluctantly.

After finishing the hazelnut, everyone, still wanting more, started eating roasted eggplant.

The roasted eggplant was so tender inside that it was brushed with a thick layer of sauce and garlic chili sauce. The piping hot eggplant flesh absorbed the rich flavors, making it both hot and fragrant. The soft and smooth eggplant flesh was incredibly satisfying to eat.

Eating eggplant is risk-free, Qing Mengzhu spreads sauce on the eggplants and distributes them to everyone.

Everyone ate one after another, and the corners of each child's mouth were glistening with oil.

After eating the eggplant, we ate roasted sweet potatoes and roasted fried dough sticks.

The roasted sweet potatoes are steaming hot, and the soft, tender center is practically melting in your mouth. Sitting in the field, basking in the warm winter sun, slowly eating a freshly roasted sweet potato is an absolutely wonderful experience.

The freshly baked fried dough is soft and sweet, and very delicious.

By the end of the meal, Zhao Hexi had given up on fishing and was focused solely on eating, leaving the outcome to chance.

On the contrary, Qing Mengzhu was still not satisfied, so she specially asked the Little Otter to catch a few more fish to grill, and then share the fish with everyone.

Finally, Qing Mengzhu distributed the roasted vegetables to the children, especially the child who had picked his own eggplants; Qing Mengzhu gave him a lot of tomatoes and sweet potatoes.