I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 97. Kiln Control
"Hey~ Wan Ning, you're not allowed to tickle my armpits."

"Ah! I'll wash there myself, what are you doing? It's itchy!"

"."

After Xu Qingfan finished showering first, the four kids said that it would be a waste of time for them to shower one by one, so they decided to shower together.

Listening to the noise of the four little ones in the toilet, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but swallow hard.

He poured the chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic into a large, slaughtered rooster, added light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and cooking wine, and then gently massaged the chicken.

"Little one, your legs are so long!"

Let's have a competition!

"."

Xu Qingfan couldn't help but swallow again, thinking to himself, "This chicken smells so good even before it's been roasted!"
Xu Qingfan swore that he was not a perverted pervert and had no interest in a seven or eight-year-old little girl. His unmoved second brother was the best proof of that!

"It's because Chicken Bro smells so good." He muttered as he poked Chicken Bro's butt with a knife.

He suddenly remembered that in his previous life, when he was in junior high school, many boys in his dormitory also liked to take a bath together in winter.

But Xu Qingfan felt that male-male brothels and the like were too shameful, and he refused to go along with them.

"Don't shower for too long, be careful of carbon monoxide poisoning!" After covering the massaged man with the lid, he knocked on the toilet door and reminded the person inside.

"understood!"

When will Brother Qingfan get to eat roasted sweet potatoes?!

"Roast chicken, sweet potatoes!"

"Brother Fan, my clothes are soaked and I can't wear them. Do you have any clean clothes? Could you lend me one?"

The voices of the four women echoed in turn inside.

"Yes, yes, wait a moment, I'll go get it for you."

"Thank you, Brother Fan!"

"It's nothing~" Xu Qingfan turned and left the kitchen. He searched for a while in the room where Yao Jinping lived when she was a child, and found a short-sleeved shirt that had been left there before.

Xu Qingfan brought it to his nose and smelled it. There was no strange smell, so he decided to keep it.

He went back to the bathroom door, knocked on it, and said to Xiao Ruanwen, "It's a short-sleeved shirt I used to wear. I've hung it on the doorknob. Wait until I come out and then open the door to get it."

"No need for all that trouble, Brother Fan, just give it to me directly~" The next second, Xu Qingfan heard the sound of the door opening, and a wet arm reached out from inside the door.

"Hehe~ Brother Qingfan!" Lin Wanning piled his head on top of Xiao Ruanwen like a human pyramid, greeting him with a grin.

"Tsk~ What are you doing here? Hurry up and finish your shower and come out." Xu Qingfan was completely unfazed. He tapped the two of them on the head in an annoyed tone, and after Xiao Ruanwen withdrew her hand, he closed the door for them again.

[Someone like Aunt Zhang is more appealing, or at least Teacher Guan would be fine.] Xu Qingfan thought to himself.

The four of them quickly got dressed and came out of the bathroom, their wet hair loose and their faces still wet with water droplets, looking just like the hardworking and kind little elves in Hans Christian Andersen's stories.

"Brother Qingfan, Ningning wants to eat sugarcane!" Seeing Xu Qingfan busy rinsing sweet potatoes in the sink, Lin Wanning picked up the sugarcane she had chosen and asked Xu Qingfan for help.

"Brother Fan, I want some too!"

"Yi-yi, I want to eat!"

"Give it to me." Xu Qingfan looked at the group with affection and took the large sugarcane from Lin Wanning's hand.

"You have to be careful when eating this sugarcane. If the flesh inside turns red, you absolutely cannot eat it. You can't eat the whole stalk, not just the part that turns red!" he said to the group while peeling the sugarcane.

"Why ducks?" the group asked curiously.

"Because if the flesh turns red, it means the sugarcane is spoiled and poisonous, and eating it will kill you!"

"Huh? Then Ningning won't eat it, Ningning doesn't want to die!" Upon hearing that eating sugarcane could kill people, Lin Wanning immediately took two steps back in fear.

"Will eating sugarcane that turns red necessarily kill someone?" Xiao Ruanwen pressed.

“What are you afraid of? This sugarcane was just picked and is very fresh,” he said with a smile as he looked at the trembling Xiao Wanning. “Pretty much. I heard from my mother-in-law that there was a man in the village who ate a reddish sugarcane and ended up paralyzed for life.”

"Auntie~ then Fan-ge, you can eat it yourself, I won't eat either!" Xiao Ruanwen decisively retreated to Lin Wanning's side. Xu Qingfan:
"No, this is freshly picked sugarcane. It won't kill anyone. Xiaoxiao, would you like some?" Xu Qingfan asked Xia Xiaoxiao, holding up the peeled sugarcane.

"I won't eat it, sugarcane tastes awful!"

"Where's Yi Yi?" He waved at Zhang Yi Yi again.

“Yi Yi, I don’t want to eat! Brother, eat it yourself!” Zhang Yi Yi replied, word by word.

"I don't like sugarcane either!"

"Hehehe~ I don't care about you, it's just that you made such a scary statement, Brother Fan." Xiao Ruanwen playfully made a face at Xu Qingfan, carrying the washed yellow peel and cherry tomatoes out of the kitchen.

"Go for it, Qingfan!" Lin Wanning looked left and right, then followed Xiao Ruanwen out.

Xu Qingfan looked at Xia Xiaoxiao, but the little girl didn't say anything and left as well.

"all?"

"Fanfan, good luck!" Zhang Yiyi stuck out her tongue cutely and went out with a smile.

Looking at the peeled sugarcane on the cutting board, Xu Qingfan felt a toothache. His front teeth had only grown in a few months ago, and he didn't want to break them again.

"Take it home to feed the dog!" He nodded contentedly, cut the sugarcane into small sections, and put them in a plastic bag.

"Brother Qingfan, is this kind of clod of soil okay?" Lin Wanning asked, carrying a plastic bucket filled with clumps of red soil of various shapes.

"Hmm~ Ningning is great, let's put it here and go collect some more." Xu Qingfan pointed to an empty space next to him, where his little hands were building the base of a kiln with bricks.

"Hehe~ Go, Qingfan!" Lin Wanning dumped the clod of dirt on the ground and then ran off excitedly into the distance.

He laid a piece of tile he had found flat on top of the bricks, and then piled up layers of clods of dirt in a semi-circle on top of it.

In the rural areas of Lingnan, this kind of earthen mound is also called a kiln. It can be used to kiln sweet potatoes, eggs, taro, potatoes, corn, and basically everything else.

Later, as living conditions improved, more dishes like kiln-roasted chicken and kiln-roasted ribs were added. Although they looked dirty, they tasted incredibly delicious.

In his previous life, Xu Qingfan looked forward to building earthen kilns during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival. He was responsible for collecting clods of earth, while his grandfather was responsible for building them. Food wrapped in tin foil was thrown into the fired earthen kiln, and after leveling it with a hoe, the delicious kiln chicken was ready in about forty minutes.

"Brother Fan, you're amazing!"

"Brother Qingfan is amazing!"

After Xu Qingfan heated the earthen kiln until it was red-hot, the children praised him with admiration.

Listening to the chirping of the little ones, Xu Qingfan felt as if he had rediscovered the joy of his childhood, and that time had suddenly slowed down.

"Alright, we can eat in another forty minutes!" Xu Qingfan stuffed the food wrapped in tin foil into the stove and then used a hoe to flatten and compact it.

Let's play hopscotch!

Hopscotch, hopscotch!

Smoke curls from chimneys, sunlight slants down, and the crimson glow of the setting sun spills onto the red clay path. The aroma of baking food and the joyful laughter of children create a scene of tranquility.

"smell good!"

"I want to eat, I want to eat!"

"Hoo~ Be careful, it's hot." After wetting his hands, Xu Qingfan tore off the chicken legs and wings and distributed them to the smaller chickens.

"Delicious!"

"Brother Fan, you're amazing!"

Five people sat in a row on the bluestone slab, holding freshly baked kiln chickens in their hands, chewing their food while looking up at the sky.

"What a beauty"

"very nice!"

Thank you Jiu Meng for the 100 book coins.

Thank you to reader 20231103093555612 for the 100 Qidian coins.

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(End of this chapter)