"Where are we going back?" Mao Shisan immediately became nervous. [Full text reading] For sailors who are eager to return home, returning to Hong Kong means going home, but for Mao Shisan, who regards the Haitian as a paradise, "going back" is an unknown future.
"It's probably time to go back to Lingao. It's been too long since I've been out," Fu Ji said as he threw the washed radish into the basket and shook the water drops on his hands. "When you get back to Lingao, just wait and enjoy the blessings." He added Start saying this.
"Yes." Mao Shisan agreed absently. What was originally a beautiful day immediately cast a shadow.
Lunch is relatively simple. A "big catty" package of "navy rations" is packed with wax paper and thrown into a large pot. Chopped vegetables are added to it, and then water is added together to cook it into a gray paste. The chef will also add a little bit to the paste. The food he took out of the small jar, such as dried shrimps and the like. When the supply is good, meat will be added. In short, it is a hodgepodge of staple food and non-staple food.
Although this kind of hodgepodge doesn't look very good, it tastes quite delicious. However, when the voyage encounters strong winds and waves, this gray paste will no longer be provided. Ready-to-eat military rations will be distributed directly to the soldiers. In order to help the soldiers swallow, hot black tea with sugar will also be provided. After distributing tea to the soldiers, the tea leaves at the bottom of the tea bucket will not be wasted. They will be dried on the steam stove and mixed in when making porridge or paste for the next meal. Tea contains a lot of carotene, crude fiber and other nutrients. It would be a pity to just throw it away, so tea leaves are also included in the food category.
Every time they saw bricks being supplied, the soldiers complained. Except for some people who would put it in their pockets as a teething snack when they were hungry, others took a few bites with disgusted expressions and threw it out of the porthole. The sergeants pretended not to see it.
"What a waste of natural resources." The fat chef always likes to use an idiom. The fat chef has always been very low-key, but from time to time he will burst out some difficult words. According to Fu Ji, the fat chef was originally a scholar. Because he pursued all kinds of delicious food and did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to taste it, he finally left the family with nothing to do and had no choice but to defect to the chief. Come.
Fu Ji and Mao Shisan shook their heads and sighed after understanding the meaning of this idiom. Although Fat Chef and Fu Ji sighed, they would not chew the brick. For people in the kitchen. It is easy to open a small stove for yourself. At least you can cook this ration before eating it. Mao Shisan once threw a small piece of dry food in front of the kitten Oscar. The cat smelled it and walked away with an expression of disgust. Mao Shisan always ate the rations that the cat didn't even eat, but he still ate them out of habit. For a person who is chronically hungry for a long time, wasting food is a real regret. My adoptive father said that only the emperor eats cabbage. Throw away the rest, and God will punish anyone else who does so. So he once went out of his way to collect it, and the soldiers would throw the rations to him casually. Within a few days, a pile of dry rations was piled in the corner where he slept. Until Fu Ji discovered him.
"Oh my God!" Fu Ji was shocked. "If the officers see you, they will think you are stealing military supplies. They will lift your mast and throw it away quickly."
Seeing Mao Shisan throwing rations into the sea with a look of pain on his face, the fat chef who was smoking started boasting again: "I remember when we docked in Shandong, two pieces of rations could be exchanged for a yellow-flowered girl. Thirteen, you lost ten Several wives have gone to sea."
"Bragging again," Fu Ji took the lead: "Why didn't I see you get a chef wife instead?"
"You have to be disciplined. Dozens of people have been punished for this matter. Some lost their medals, some were transferred to the White Horse Team and the Swordsman Team... Fortunately, most of them are from the Army..." Fatty The chef's expression remained unchanged. : "Besides, we, who run boats all year round, don't worry about having a wife at home. Aren't you afraid of being a cuckold? Do you understand cuckolding?"
Mao Shisan huddled in the corner and did not say anything, but in his mind he thought of the beggar's shack-like settlement by the Port of Lushun, the dead babies abandoned on the roadside, the roads that were fought over by wild dogs, and the adoptive father who was hard to see again. For a moment, he burst into tears. .
"Why are you crying? Just wait and enjoy the blessings when you return to Lingao." Fu Ji began to mutter again.
After lunch was given to everyone, the three people in the kitchen drank the soupy version of rations together. This is one of the small perks of working in the kitchen.
"Everyone should work harder for dinner today. The vice-captain said that this time is not only to support Commander Huang, but also a treat for the whole ship. Everyone must eat well and eat safely. There can be no problems." Fat Fatty The chef drank the paste and wiped his mouth with satisfaction. As he said this, he took out a pad bound with thick paper from under his buttocks, opened it and read it several times, and then gave notes to the two helpers on what needed to be done.
After lunch, the people in the kitchen began to work on the dinner. The two young men distributed the rice in each lunch box according to the quota, and then stacked it neatly in the rice steaming cabinet. When the time comes, steam will pass through the engine room.
The fat chef took Fu Ji off the boat and took a full set of guys to cut the beef and prepare the ingredients for cooking in the evening. The weather was warm in the afternoon, and the frozen beef thawed quickly in the sun. Despite this, the two of them still spent time Not only did he do it himself, but he also specially called two strong sailors to help with the hard work.
Butter and beef bones are separated. Fu Ji set up a large pot on the river beach, threw various kinds of divided beef fat into it and set up a fire to refine the oil. There was a sizzling sound in the pot, and the smell was everywhere on the river.
Mao Shisan helped light the fire and watched Fu Ji stirring the oil pan from time to time. The butter in it kept bubbling - he had never seen so much oil in his life.
"Why, are you greedy?" Fu Ji saw his eyes drooling, and couldn't help but tease him, "You can't eat this thing, take it back and give it to the factory for use..."
Butter has a high melting point and is basically not absorbed by the stomach if eaten directly. It is only used as a flavoring in meals.
You can't eat good oil. Mao Shisan couldn't accept this weird argument, but he couldn't decide what he could and couldn't eat - including the reward at night. He didn't dare to have any extravagant hopes that he could finally get some. He was satisfied with the soup base.
A cow may seem like a lot, but for seventy or eighty people who rarely eat a big belly, it is just a piece of cake. The fat cook thought twice, and decided to make a random stew in order to ensure that everyone could eat meat. Except for leaving some good meat for the chief and the sick, all the other meat was removed and cut into pieces. Potatoes, radish, cabbage and onions were added to make a pot stew.
While the stew was cooking, steam puffed out from the edge of the lid, and the whole kitchen was filled with the earth-shattering aroma of meat and coriander. It came out from the vents on the deck, making the off-duty soldiers come to watch the fun, and all of them drooled.
Mao Shisan, who was shaking the fan, made a roaring sound in his throat. This was like giving him a second punishment. It was even more severe than when he was refining oil. During oil refining, in addition to the fragrance, there was also a smell, and the oil could not be directly Entrance. Now there is a pot full of meat tumbling in the soup - you must know that freshly cooked meat is not often available in heaven.
The fat chef opened the lid, picked up a piece of beef, tasted it, and smiled with satisfaction. He cut a small piece and threw it to Oscar, who had been wandering around his feet, and the remaining piece of meat went into Mao Shisan's mouth.
At this moment, Mao Shisan was out of body as if he had gone to heaven.
"Thirteen, close the damper. Today's mission is completed and we have a dinner party. I'll go get the food and drinks on time," the fat chef ordered, wiping his hands.
Dinner hasn't been cooked yet. Huang Yuanlao, who went to the Tatar capital a few days ago, has already returned. Mao Shisan happened to go to the deck to dump the ashes and saw the team coming from Zhenjiang Fort. Hundreds of Tatar cavalry and servants surrounded Huang Yuanlao's carriage, which looked really majestic.
To be an official, one must be as talented as the chief, Mao Shisan thought.
"Thirteen! Go to the island and boil some water!" Fu Ji called him in a panic.
A large pot of boiling water was boiled on Duozhi Island for the "primary purification" of the newly arrived slaves. Mao Shisan also helped. When these newcomers were stripped naked and rushed into the steam bath for fumigation, he used The long wooden forks picked up the clothes taken off by these people one by one and put them into the cauldron of boiling water for washing. The quality of these clothes is so low that they are boiled and washed only for insect repellent and disinfection, and then recycled as pulp materials.
"Here, let's shave your head!" The barber on the Haitian was standing at the door of the bathroom with a shiny razor, and he had a bench on which he stood with one foot. When a person came out, he asked him to sit down, grabbed the braid and brushed it with a knife, then cut it off. Then, with a few cuts, there was nothing left on the head that originally had a little hair, only a blue scalp. Seeing this scene, Mao Shisan felt a chill on his scalp - he had grown some hair now.
Mao Shisan was busy boiling water, delivering water, running before and after. His bones were weak and his muscles were so busy that in the end he had no strength to even hold firewood. He finally returned to the kitchen in paradise after finishing all the tasks.
As soon as he entered the kitchen, he lay on the floor unable to move.
"Why are you pretending? Get up and work!" The fat cook kicked him unceremoniously, "dinner will be served soon. You have eaten my flesh and you still don't work?"
Mao Shisan got up unsteadily and helped Fu Ji prepare the wine to be distributed in the evening.
Rum is distributed every day according to a certain quota on the ship. Unlike the Europeans who distributed rum mainly to cover up the odor of drinking water, the Haitian has good water purification equipment and disinfectants, so the problem of stinky fresh water is very easy. Solution: Alcohol is mainly used to entertain soldiers at sea and to keep out the cold in high latitudes. Of course, you can't drink while on duty.
The sailors had already lined up outside the kitchen. The news of today's reward had already spread, and the soldiers had already smelled the aroma of the stew. Now they all had full appetites and were waiting to feast. (To be continued...)
