Chapter 268: The Marvels of Fermented Lees
At the Educated Youth Courtyard.
Liu Yao was sitting by the drainage ditch in the yard washing clothes. Suddenly, her hands stopped mid-motion. She sniffed the air, half-squinting her eyes.
“Eh? That smells so good! I can smell fermented rice lees! It reminds me of my mom’s fermented rice with brown sugar and eggs—so fragrant! Don’t you guys smell it too?”
Wang Mengmeng, still bent over washing a pair of shoes, twitched her nose and concluded, “I smell alcohol.”
Chen Ye Chu, sitting in the courtyard with one hand holding a bag of bricks and the other threading a needle, looked toward the entrance and smiled. “It’s coming from Xiyue’s hands.”
“Xiyue? Where?” Liu Yao opened her eyes wide, searching eagerly.
“Comrades, I’m back!” Ning Xiyue entered with a bright, cheerful smile, calling out as soon as she stepped through the gate: “Who likes fermented lees? If you do, grab a bowl—come get some!”
“What? Fermented lees! I love that—wait for me, Xiyue!”
Liu Yao jumped up, rinsed her hands quickly in the clean water, and dashed excitedly into the kitchen to fetch a bowl. Before anyone else could react, she had already vanished.
Everyone else looked toward the kitchen doorway, impressed. No one could match Liu Yao’s speed.
“Yaoyao, bring me a ladle!” Ning Xiyue called toward the kitchen.
“Okay! Let me rinse it real quick—coming!” Liu Yao’s voice trembled with excitement.
Ning Xiyue shook her head helplessly. “Such foodies,” she muttered, then turned to the others. “Don’t just stand there—go get your bowls if you want some. I’ve got over half a bucket of this stuff, plenty for everyone.”
“Alright, I’ve never tried cooking with fermented lees before—today’s my chance,” said Wu Guifang as she headed toward the kitchen.
The others, tempted by the sweet aroma in the air, also rushed to fetch their bowls.
The smell alone made Chen Ye Chu crave fermented lees chicken. Her desire quickly turned to action—she ran to the kitchen for a bowl too.
Ning Xiyue thought to tell her not to bother since she’d be heading there anyway, but seeing Chen Ye Chu running so fast, she just let her go.
Liu Yao soon came running, clutching a small bowl in one hand and a gourd ladle in the other. Her eyes were already fixed on the bucket. “Xiyue, here’s the ladle!”
Ning Xiyue smiled helplessly at the tiny bowl in her hands. “You ran the fastest, yet brought the smallest bowl. Why didn’t you grab one of the big soup bowls? One scoop won’t even fit.”
“It’s fine, this is enough. If I eat too much, I’ll get tipsy.” Liu Yao grinned as she held her bowl under the ladle.
“Alright, if it’s not enough, come back for more.”
Even half a ladle was enough to fill it.
“Thanks, Xiyue!”
Liu Yao carried her bowl carefully away, gazing lovingly at the lees. She couldn’t resist any longer—she puckered her lips and took a sip, eyes half-closing in bliss. After swallowing, her expression twisted comically, and she muttered to herself:
“Mmm… Mengmeng would love this. I’ll add some brown sugar and make fermented lees egg soup—it’ll taste even better.”
Ning Xiyue laughed at her adorable expression. Fermented lees left after brewing yellow rice wine weren’t sweet like laozao (sweet fermented rice)—they were mostly sour. For those with a sweet tooth, it definitely needed some cooking and flavoring first.
After Liu Yao left, the rest of the educated youths came running with bowls just as small, lining up automatically in front of Ning Xiyue to wait for their turn.
Ning Xiyue focused on scooping for each person. Since everyone’s bowls were tiny, even after serving them all, there was still plenty left—what had been more than half a bucket was now just under half.
Looking at the remaining lees, Ning Xiyue’s mind began to whirl with possibilities:
Fermented lees chicken, fermented lees duck, fermented lees eggs, fermented lees pork… fermented everything!
Just the thought made her happy.
That one-yuan processing fee had been worth it—ten jin of yellow rice wine and half a bucket of lees? Totally worth it.
Ning Xiyue quickened her pace, following close behind Chen Ye Chu into the kitchen. She still had tasks to finish today and needed to hurry.
Back in the kitchen, she put away the wine and lees, then closed the door and headed to Aunt Liu’s house.
Aunt Liu’s son, Zhang Jianjun, was about to leave for a workers’-peasants’-soldiers’ university, and he needed money and ration coupons. She had been saving up eggs, which she often exchanged with Ning Xiyue.
This time, Xiyue had come for her usual trade—every fifteen days. She returned with twenty-five eggs.
As she walked back, she noticed on the rack by the kitchen door three bamboo trays used for drying herbs, now holding small gifts and notes.
Opening them, she found they were all thank-you gifts from her fellow educated youths—for the fermented lees she had shared earlier.
Ning Xiyue felt deeply touched. The people in their courtyard truly lived harmoniously, helping one another—warm and kind.
She put away the small gifts and went into the kitchen. The first thing she did was hold each egg up to the light, shielding the larger end with her hand to inspect them carefully.
Out of twenty-five eggs, she picked out nine fertilized ones.
Together with the ones she had set aside before, she now had twenty fertilized eggs in total.
She handed the twenty eggs to her robot housekeeper for incubation—soon, she’d have chicks of her own. Then, when she wanted to eat fermented lees chicken, she’d have her own supply.
Of the sixteen remaining eggs, Ning Xiyue used all of them to make a large pot of beautifully fragrant and flavorful Fermented Lees Poached Eggs.
She added goji berries, red dates, and brown sugar, kneaded some small glutinous rice balls, and simmered everything together. With the mellow aroma of the lees, the soup turned out sweet, rich, and nourishing.
Ning Xiyue ate two eggs and drank two small bowls of the sweet soup before stopping.
Looking at the big pot before her, she filled an oversized bowl halfway and stored it in her system backpack—for breakfast later.
She saved five eggs and a bowl of soup for her second brother, then packed another two eggs and a bowl of soup into a lunchbox.
After washing the pot, she fried a plate of peanuts, sprinkled a pinch of salt, and packed them neatly.
Finally, she took out a small bamboo flask from her spatial storage—it could hold two jin of yellow rice wine.
With everything ready, Ning Xiyue closed the kitchen door, picked up the two lunchboxes, tucked the bamboo flask under her arm, and walked lightheartedly toward Aunt Yang Liu’s house.
