Wu Shuqin said hurriedly: "Xinglan has nimble hands and feet, and good eyesight. Xiaolan and she are close cousins, so she will definitely do a good job."
Tong Xinglan also said: "Aunt, thank you for helping me. I will do my job well and will never cheat or be lazy."
Wu Shufen looked at her and smiled and said: "Xinglan, making cakes is very tiring. You get up earlier than a chicken and go to bed later than a dog. Don't bother going home then."
Tong Xinglan was stunned for a moment: "I heard that my cousin opened a shop, and Qiaohui works as a salesperson in the shop!"
Wu Shufen said: "We hired someone to sell things in the shop. Yuezhen and your cousin will not be free these two days. Qiaohui is temporarily helping in the shop."
Wu Shuqin pulled Tong Xinglan: "Xinglan, Qiaohui can persevere, and you have no arms or legs, so what are you afraid of?"
She felt that selling things in a shop would be better than learning a craft from Lin Lan. Once you learn a craft, it will be your own and you will benefit from it for the rest of your life.
Tong Xinglan didn't respond after hearing this, but she still wanted to go to Lin Lan's shop to help.
Wu Shufen glanced at her sister and decided to persuade her to take care of Xinglan as soon as possible and not follow her old path.
Wu Shufen fried the meat in oil until it was brown in color. She first put the meat into a jar, then scooped the oil in the pot into a clay pot until all the meat in the jar was covered, and then continued to fry the meat in oil.
The marinated meat in oil is fried, and the rim of the clay pot is already cold.
Wu Shufen and her sisters carried the jar to the east chamber and placed it against the wall. After the oil in the jar solidified, they then sealed it and waited a month for it to be eaten.
When eating, take out a piece and put it on a plate to steam for ten minutes. You can slice it and eat it as it is, or you can stir-fry vegetables, green peppers, garlic sprouts or other vegetarian vegetables.
The oil-based meat has a mellow taste, is fat but not greasy, and has the effect of appetizing and strengthening the spleen.
The oil-based meat fried in this way only needs to cover the meat in the jar with oil and seal the lid tightly, and it will not go bad even if it is left for several years.
After the oil-based meat was fried, Wu Shufen took the marinated meat out of the pot, drained the brine, put it into a half-sized pottery jar, sprinkled some fennel, pepper... powder in it, and took out the soy sauce jar.
Pour the soy sauce into the clay pot until the soy sauce submerges the meat.
Wu Shuqin smiled and said: "Second sister, I haven't eaten soy meat in a long time. I remember when I was a kid, the old man would pickle a lot of it every year and sell it to people who make banquets."
Wu Shufen nodded, "Every time the old man marinated it, he would ask us to take it out and hang it on a bamboo pole to dry for a day before hanging it on the beam." She beat her sore waist, "The sauced meat has been marinated a lot.
I’ve never been happy after eating.”
Wu Shuqin smiled and joked: "Your family has a pig farm. Xiaolan has marinated so much, and you are afraid that you will not have any meat to eat in the future!"
Speaking of Lin Lan, Wu Shufen was all smiles: "Yes! Xiaolan said that your brother-in-law and I will wait and enjoy the blessing."
She is not showing off, but she really feels satisfied. She feels that her life has not been in vain. Her children are sensible, obedient and filial. Isn't that what being a parent means?
"Second sister, you are so lucky." Wu Shuqin felt a little sour in her heart, but she was also happy for her.
The two nephews who were soldiers sent all their allowances to their families. The two nephews at home also agreed with their parents. Even the most disobedient Lin Lan became so capable.
The two sisters chatted, prepared the sauced meat, and took out the spareribs and bacon that had been dried on bamboo poles and hung them on several bamboo poles.
Then pour a few handfuls of grain husks, sugar cane bark and cypress branches under the bacon, go into the house and take out two mats, surround all the bacon, light the cypress branches and start smoking the bacon.
The bacon is smoked until just before going to bed, and then the smoked bacon is taken out and hung on a wooden stick hanging horizontally in front of the kitchen hall. It can be eaten after smoking for more than half a month.
The bacon smoked in this way is full of waxy aroma in your mouth, has a mellow flavor, is fat but not greasy, and is thin but not filling your teeth.
At half past five, Lin Lan and his daughter came back from Brother Yong's house, and Wu Shufen had already brought Xiaodouzi back.
Lin Lan said to Wu Shufen: "Mom, I have to go to the shop and take Qiaohui home."
Xiaodouzi pulled Lin Lan: "Mom, I want to go with you."
Lin Lan nodded: "Okay, go put on the scarf and hat. Mom will take you there."
Tong Xinglan glanced at Wu Shuqin: "Mom, I also want to go to the street with my cousin."
Wu Shuqin glanced at Lin Lan and said with a smile: "Go and meet your cousin."
Tong Xinglan sat in the back seat, and Lin Lan could only let Xiaodouzi sit on the big bar, tie Xiaodouzi's scarf, put on his gloves and ride towards the shop.
The three of them arrived at the department store first. There was a customer looking at a hair dryer, and a few others were playing around in the store.
Lin Lan locked the bicycle, and Xiaodouzi had already run into the alley and went to the shop.
Lin Lan took Tong Xinglan into the store. He Li glanced at Lin Lan with a smile: "Sister-in-law looks really good today."
Qiaohui smiled and nodded: "My cousin looks good in anything she wears."
Xiaodouzi took Lin Lan's hand: "Yes, my mother is the most beautiful."
The customers and people hanging around in the store laughed.
Lin Lan glared at the two of them angrily and asked He Li in a low voice: "Are you busy today?"
He Li wailed in a low voice: "Sister-in-law, you and Brother Xiangyang are not here. We are very busy today. Fortunately, Sister-in-law Yongmei is here to help us."
Lin Lan smiled and patted her shoulder: "When you are done with this, I will treat you to hot pot."
Tong Xinglan looked at the watches on the counter and felt that her eyes could not see clearly: "Cousin, you have more watches than those from the supply and marketing cooperative, and they are more beautiful than theirs."
"They are all the latest styles imported from the coast. They are definitely better looking than those from the supply and marketing cooperative." Lin Lan smiled and glanced at her, "Don't you know Xinglan and Qiaohui?"
Tong Xinglan then raised her head and looked at Qiaohui. The filthy mountain cousin in her memory had changed drastically since she came to the city!
Qiaohui glanced at her and smiled shyly: "If my cousin didn't tell me, I really wouldn't have recognized her as cousin Xinglan. I thought she was a relative of the Yang family!"
Tong Xinglan smiled and nodded: "If we hadn't met at my cousin's place, I wouldn't have recognized you. We haven't seen each other for eight or nine years, right?"
Lin Lan looked at the two happy girls and held Xiaodouzi's hand: "You sisters, let's talk. I'll go and take a look at them."
The two said in unison: "Okay, cousin."
Lin Lan took Xiaodouzi to the clothing store opposite, and saw three people trying on clothes and two others choosing. Zhou Yongmei, the screw, came here to help again.
Zhou Yongmei greeted with a smile: "Xiao Lin is here!"
Lin Lan looked at her gratefully: "Sister-in-law, thank you for your hard work."
Zhou Yongmei smiled and shook her head: "It's okay. I'll walk around every day after moving here, and it will be easier to sleep at night."
Lin Lan smiled and joked: "I'm afraid that if I tire you out, Brother Shui Qing will settle the score with us."
Zhou Yongmei blushed and said, "It's not too late to thank you!"
As I write this, Mao reminds me of the time when she smoked bacon with her mother, and the days when she cooked pig food and secretly cut the bacon and boiled it in the pig food to eat secretly. Unfortunately, such warm and beautiful days will never happen again.