Chapter 107: Oh, the Misfortune! I've Been Booked, Bunny Me!

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There was truly no time to make candied hawthorns for Zhou Sinian. Ming Dai was busy organizing the items in the space to send to the capital city. Soon they would head to the county town to deliver mushrooms, conveniently retrieving the goods from the capital at the same time.

Ming Dai packed small half-bags of corn cobs, soybeans, millet, red dates, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, and chestnuts, carefully portioned and sealed. On the specialty list Ming Dai prepared, what caught the attention of Director Niu and his wife were mainly the mountain goods and dried meats.

Hazelnut mushrooms, shiitake, wood ear fungus, dried wild vegetables, plus a bag of jerky would make a very respectable gift in the capital as well. The jerky came from the space warehouse and was mainly wild boar meat.

Ming Dai found it not very tasty—somewhat tough and gamey—but others did not mind. In these times when pork was scarce and fiercely competed for, wild boar meat was highly prized.

Once everything was arranged, they just awaited Old Master Liu’s arrival tomorrow to take them to the county town.

After finishing, Ming Dai checked the kitchen. Last night, she had soaked the dried rabbit meat she had traded for at the grass market, planning to cook it for lunch.

Outside, Zhou Sinian was bathing the dog sled. Seeing the sled covered in foam, Ming Dai felt a faint helplessness—such a promising person heading down the path of a mischievous child, how could she turn him around?

“Zhou Sinian, you don’t have a dog, so who’s pulling this?” Ming Dai asked.

Zhou Sinian, holding a small brush, was meticulously cleaning the sled with attention to detail.

“I do have a dog,” he said, for the second time.

Ming Dai suddenly remembered Ribao Niu and exclaimed, “You do? Where did it come from?!”

Zhou Sinian sprayed water with the hose, foam flying everywhere.

“I won it in a fight.”

Ming Dai frowned. “A fight? With whom? When?”

Zhou Sinian thought for a moment. “Last time. With whom? I don’t know. But I know where they are!”

...

Ming Dai breathed a sigh of relief. It was probably someone’s dog; after fighting, they had agreed to let him keep it for fun.

“Alright then. After you finish here, go pick some celery and coriander in the vegetable garden.”

Zhou Sinian blinked and asked, “What’s for lunch?”

“Rabbit—beer rabbit—then steamed rice.”

Zhou Sinian tilted his head to recall, “Rabbit? I’ve eaten rabbit before.”

Ming Dai was curious, “You have?”

This was the first time he had voluntarily mentioned something he had eaten.

Zhou Sinian nodded, “I did. They put it in the pot and cooked it. It didn’t behave, kept running off, had to block it.”

Ming Dai shivered and cautiously asked, “Um, how did you cook the rabbit without bleeding it first?”

She clearly remembered bleeding the sheep, which had nearly scared Liu Dazhu unconscious.

Zhou Sinian paused his cleaning and enthusiastically gestured to Ming Dai, “Rabbit meat isn’t tasty, but it smells good! Plus, it looks better than sheep—fluffy and soft to touch.

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I saw villagers catch them and said they should be roasted. I caught one too. When I bled it and skinned it, it looked bad. Roasting it was awful—smelly, gamey, and tough to bite.

Later, I found cooking it with the fur on was just right. Though still not tasty, it smelled fragrant while cooking!

If you like, when summer comes, I’ll catch rabbits and roast some for you to smell.”

Who would want to just smell it?!

What kind of logic is that?

Who roasts rabbits just to sniff them, not to eat?

What you’re smelling is the protein burning in the rabbit fur—how could that not be fragrant?

Even if it smells good, you can’t just roast a living rabbit!

With you around, rabbits really are doomed!

Ming Dai took a deep breath and told Zhou Sinian earnestly, “You can’t do that! We can eat rabbits, but we mustn’t torture them. Roasting a live rabbit—don’t you think it hurts?”

Zhou Sinian was a bit defiant, glancing at her and muttering quietly, “It never said it hurt.”

Ming Dai: ....

“Anyway, you’re not allowed to roast any animal alive again! Understand? If you want something to eat, kill it and leave the cooking to me. We can eat, but we must let them peacefully go to the afterlife, or the immortals will punish us!”

Hearing “immortals will punish,” Zhou Sinian’s face instantly changed. He was terrified of losing the immortal cave again and starving.

He nodded earnestly, “Okay, I remember. From now on, you do all the killing!”

Ming Dai rolled her eyes. So that means the immortals will punish me instead. Have you forgotten the immortal cave is mine?

At last, Zhou Sinian hesitated a moment and seriously suggested, “Maybe we should just eat sheep. Sheep don’t look good, but taste great. Even the silly roe deer is good—it’s a bit dumb, but tasty. I promise to kill them with one cut, no suffering!

Rabbits… rabbits are pretty, but really not tasty.”

Ming Dai sighed, momentarily at a loss for words.

Finally, she patted Zhou Sinian’s shoulder as he crouched, “When we get back from the county, we’ll arrange acupuncture. You can’t be this foolish anymore; it’s scary!”

Zhou Sinian touched the dent on his head and pouted, “Okay, when you prick me, use thinner needles, not too thick.”

Ming Dai looked at him sympathetically, “I’ll try.”

After Zhou Sinian finished cleaning the sled and went to pick celery and coriander, Ming Dai, lost in thought, returned to the kitchen.

Looking at the soaked dried rabbit meat and recalling the tragic fate of rabbits at Zhou Sinian’s hands, she couldn’t tell who was more pitiful.

What a sin!

Well, rabbits are so cute. It’s better to stew them with beer and send them off fragrantly.

She chopped the soaked dried rabbit meat by sections into small pieces.

Heating oil in the pan, she added scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers. Ming Dai planned only to give Zhou Sinian medicinal baths these days, so she added extra chili.

After stir-frying until fragrant, she added the rabbit meat, then poured a circle of soy sauce and vinegar around the pan edges, with dark soy for color.

She didn’t find any broad bean paste in the warehouse, planning to make some herself one day.

Adding a spoonful of fermented black beans for aroma, she stir-fried and then poured in two bottles of beer, covering the pot to simmer.

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After Zhou Sinian finished washing the sled, he came in carrying a small vegetable basket. Standing by the island counter, he sniffled while picking celery, avoiding coriander, always wearing gloves.

Ming Dai took the basket from him. “I’ll handle this; you go steam the rice.”

Obediently, Zhou Sinian went to scoop and wash the rice, his small mouth chattering again, “Ming Dai, let’s go out to eat rice again sometime. I want that crispy rice with pickles.”

Ming Dai removed celery leaves. “That’s called ‘scorched rice.’ We’ll eat it when we get back from the county. I want some too.”

She considered trying to make crab roe scorched rice since they would fry meatballs before the new year—it would be convenient to do both together.

The rice was perfectly steamed, and the beer rabbit stew was ready.

Ming Dai lifted the lid, dripped in a few drops of Sichuan pepper oil, stirred in celery stalks, covered the pot, and let it simmer two more minutes.

After two minutes, lifting the lid, the rich aroma made them both swallow.

Zhou Sinian eagerly held out a plate to her, no sign of earlier distaste for rabbit.

Ming Dai served him a plate, then herself one, hers with coriander, his without.

After drying all winter, the wild rabbit meat was firm and taut from abundant exercise, with a wonderfully chewy texture.

The beer not only removed the gamey smell but its carbon dioxide altered the meat’s structure, tenderizing it and breaking down collagen for faster cooking.

One bite, the rabbit meat was fresh, fragrant, tender, and effortlessly fell off the bone without sticking between teeth.

Paired with celery soaked in rich meat juices, crisp and refreshing, the unique malt aroma of the beer elevated the dish.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

Both slumped in their chairs, staring at empty plates and bowls, having truly practiced the “clean plate” campaign.

Zhou Sinian excitedly said, “Ming Dai, when the grass grows, let’s go catch rabbits. I know where they live.”

Ming Dai thought a moment. “Alright, catch more to raise in the space. Wild rabbits are too tough; farmed rabbits are plumper and more delicious!”

Stars twinkled in Zhou Sinian’s eyes as they held hands and spun in circles. “Great! Great! Great!”

After the meal, Zhou Sinian tidied the kitchen while Ming Dai went to check on Ribao Niu.

The big and small Ribao were already able to stand, eating sweet potato vines cut by Zhou Sinian. Seeing her, they were not afraid and looked at her with still cloudy eyes.

Ming Dai checked them over; their recovery was good. As long as they could eat and drink, they wouldn’t die.

She added some salt to their water basin and went to the cornfield.

The corn had sprouted and, thanks to the space’s temperature, was growing tall. Soon there would be fresh corn to eat.

Finally, Ming Dai inspected the pond they used as a bath, thinking to raise some fish. The warehouse only had salted fish, but she wanted fresh fish head stewed with tofu.

On the way back, she saw Zhou Sinian’s dog sled drying in the corner.

Not only had he cleaned it, but he had tied the red silk scarf she had given him to the front of the sled.

True love, without a doubt!