The Prodigal Son of Zhenguan

More and more children ate locusts. After they mustered up the courage to try, they proved that they were not cowards and began to talk to their classmates around them.

"No way, no way? We all ate it, and you don't dare to eat it?"

"You are so timid."

"I, I am not timid, I, I will eat it!"

Those children who were nervous, under the "encouragement" of their playmates, also took the first step of bravely trying.

For children with poor diets today, a dish of fried locusts is already a delicacy.

Soon, the locusts brought by Li Chengqian and Tiezhu were eaten up by these children.

"How about it, I didn't lie to you?" Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I am a real person, and I mainly tell the truth. Good things should be shared with classmates. If I lied to you, why would I eat it myself?"

The boys around laughed and put their arms around Li Chengqian's shoulders.

"Chengqian, that's nice."

"This is really a good thing."

"Are these really the locusts that can be seen everywhere in the fields? They are so delicious."

"Why would I lie to you?" Li Chengqian said, "This is what I caught in the fields. After I caught it and cooked it, it tasted like this. You don't need to have high cooking skills. Simply sprinkle some salt and it will be delicious enough."

Li Chengqian didn't know how popular lard was in other people's homes in the village, so he just said that the locusts could be eaten after they were cooked.

In Li Chengqian's opinion, lard was also relatively precious. Ordinary people might not be able to use it. Moreover, even if there was lard at home, they would not use so much lard to fry food, which was very wasteful.

Li Chengqian was not sure about lard. After all, even his uncle wrote a letter to Uncle Wang specifically to ask for the method of making lard.

"It's a pity that there was only this little bit and it was all eaten."

Some people were still not satisfied.

"It's easy. There are so many in the field. Just catch them and eat them." Li Chengqian said, "Aren't people in the village killing locusts now? These are ready-made ingredients."

"Yes, we can catch them ourselves."

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard Li Chengqian's words.

When they go home for lunch at noon, they go to the field to catch locusts.

Every day after school, the children have to go home for lunch. Only a few who live far away from home will stay in the school and eat the food cooked by the school kitchen, and then pay a meal fee to the school every month.

Nowadays, the daytime is long and the weather is hot. Generally, after lunch, the children will take a nap at home for a while, and then come to the academy to go to school when it's time.

At noon, you can take advantage of the lunch break to catch locusts in the field.

"But what should we do with the caught locusts, Chengqian, how do you make this?" Someone looked at Li Chengqian and asked.

"The ones I brought today are fried in lard." Tiezhu said.

"Ah? Lard? That's a rare thing." Someone said, "The small can of lard in my kitchen will last for a long time, so I dare not waste it like this."

"Yes, it's the same in my family. Only when the farm slaughters pigs, can we buy a small piece of fat meat at home, and we can't make much lard."

Even the lard residue left after making lard must be cooked into dishes, so that the vegetables can also be stained with meat and eaten by the whole family, instead of being eaten as snacks like in the Jingyang Palace.

"I haven't tried other methods, but since this thing can be eaten in this way, it means that as long as it is cooked, it can be eaten, or roasted, or fried with less oil, it should be OK." Li Chengqian said thoughtfully.

It is indeed a very extravagant thing for ordinary people to fry locusts at home.

"After class, let's try it and we will know." Someone suggested.

They really like to eat this delicacy, but there is not so much lard at home, so they can only think of other ways. As long as they can save lard and the food can still be eaten, that's enough.

"Okay, then after class at noon today, let's go to the field to catch locusts."

"Or let's wait until the evening and bring some salt from home at noon."

"Okay, let's each bring a little less, and put it together, so that we can all use it."

"Yes, yes, yes, even if it's lard, everyone can bring a little bit, and then smear it on the tiles, and we can fry locusts to eat."

The children gathered together and discussed going to the field to catch locusts to eat after class in the evening.

All of a sudden, they had hope, and they all thought about whether time could pass faster, faster, and hurry to the evening, until the afternoon class was over.

At noon, Li Chengqian and Tiezhu returned to the house.

Li Fu and the guards were outsideThe patrol has not come back yet.

Old Zhou asked someone to send the food to Li Chengqian's room and let Li Chengqian eat first, after all, he didn't know how long his husband would be outside.

In the evening, Li Chengqian also came out with Tiezhu and waited at the gate of the academy. As soon as school was over, the children quickly packed up their things and rushed out of the school.

Seeing that Li Chengqian was already waiting for them outside, everyone gathered together and went to catch locusts in the field.

"My father and mother have been busy killing locusts in the field these two days, so busy that they can't even eat." A child said: "What do you think, if we go to the field to catch locusts now, what should we do if we meet someone at home?"

"Or, let's not catch them in the field, and go somewhere else to have a look?" Someone suggested.

"It's not just in the fields anyway. Wherever there is grass, there will be locusts. Let's find a place first."

"Yes, let's find a good place first and pick up some firewood first."

The division of labor among the people was very clear. First, find a place. Some people go to pick up firewood, look for some grass and dead branches that can be ignited, and other people go to the river to find clean tiles, wash them and bring them back.

There are also people who are responsible for catching locusts, and after catching them, they bring them back and deal with them.

After all, there is strength in numbers. Many children gathered together, and after the work was divided, they took action one after another.

Li Chengqian and Tiezhu knew what locusts would do, so they had to follow the other two children to find a good place, dig a pit and build a temporary "stove".

In fact, it is to dig up the ground, ignite the dead branches with hay inside, cover them with tiles, wait for the tiles to heat up, and then apply some lard, and then you can throw the cleaned locusts on it and fry them.

The tools the children used to dig holes were also simple and crude. They would find some stones or thick branches and start digging. After loosening the soil on the ground, they would dig it open with their hands and put all the soil aside.