Zhuang Er finally rushed to build a Kang for his family before the year, and it was Liu Da who did the work himself.
The old lady Qian took the doctor's medicine and felt a little better, but she still couldn't get out of bed. When Liu Da came to the door, she was still lying on the bed and yelling at her to prevent people from coming in. In the end, it was Old Man Zhuang who made the final decision and agreed to the deal.
.
Mrs. Qian knew her old man's character very well. She usually kept quiet, but if she really pissed him off, she wouldn't get any good results.
However, this kang costs money, but it is indeed comfortable. As soon as the fire in the stove is lit, the room becomes hot. When you lie on it, it is warm, your legs no longer hurt, and you can see that the swelling has subsided.
I felt comfortable and less angry. The second wife of the Zhuang family was finally having an easier time, and the second wife of the Zhuang family and his wife, Mrs. Li, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But I didn't have a long break, and I had to start busy with New Year's Eve matters again.
A few days ago, just after the Wufuji came to sign the deed, every household started to kill chickens and dry meat again. After the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, they would start to pickle meat.
In previous years, the conditions of the villagers in Erli Village were better, but they had to slaughter two lean chickens, or go to the town to buy a piece of pork, pickle it back, and wait for the Chinese New Year to eat it.
This idea of saving meat and vegetables can be served from the 30th of the New Year to the 15th of the first lunar month, just to look good on the table and bring some festive cheer to the family.
But this year is different.
Maybe the big guys in the sweet potato workshop have money in their pockets, or maybe the wheat seedlings covered by the heavy snow earlier indicate a good harvest in the coming year, or maybe the Five Blessings are coming to build a winery. In short, the villagers seem to be tough.
After a while, some people actually killed pigs.
It was Mr. Liu who killed the pig.
His family had a large population, and they had three piglets at the beginning of the year. If they followed the practices of previous years, they would have to survive the winter and wait until the weight increased to sell them for money in the spring.
But this year, the three pigs were not hungry or thin at all during the winter. They all had fat heads, big ears, and round bodies, and their bellies were five inches thick and full of good-quality pork belly.
This is all thanks to the sweet potato residue powder.
Let’s not talk about fat pigs for now. After Zhuang Keqing gave him potato residue powder for the first time, everyone felt better after feeding it a few times. Poultry and livestock like to eat this stuff. They are hungrier than vegetables. They mix it with other ingredients and feed it for a while.
, even the fur is much brighter.
Liu Da invited the famous pig-stewing craftsman from the next village to come to his home. Together with his brothers, he swarmed up and tied down the fat pig, which was about 200 pounds and weighed 200 kilograms.
Reconciled with salt water.
The pigmaker praised the pig for being so fat and strong, and asked how it was so well-raised. He also had accurate eyes, ruthless hands, and neat movements.
When the knife was struck, the pig's soul returned to the west without even neighing a few times, and blood gurgled into the basin, filling it up.
Liu Da mixed the pig blood with salt water and put it aside. Then he stacked several large basins over and waited to remove the bones and divide the meat.
The pig maker is really good at his craftsmanship. In just a few breaths, a pig was cut into eight pieces. The bones are bones and the meat is meat. Even the two tenderest tenderloin pieces in the backbone were shaved out and put together with the two outer tenderloins.
together.
"Don't move the spine here. I'll get a piece of pork belly and an elbow later and send it to Miss Zhuang."
Liu Dazhi called the family, and no one else had any objections.
They are very grateful to Zhuang Keqing now. If it weren't for this girl, how would Liu Da be able to lead the construction team? He only worked hard for a period of time this year and actually made almost two thousand dollars.
Aunt Liu was still afraid that the meat would not be enough, so she took the initiative and took half a fan of ribs. I heard that Zhuang Yatou made bone soup every day at home. These ribs are much fresher than those bought in the town, and the soup is better.
Liu Da happily picked up the meat and headed to the banker's house. Over there, Zhuang Keqing was also making a list of what he was going to buy in the town tomorrow, as well as which houses he was going to visit after the new year, and what gifts he had to prepare.
The shops in the town have been closed since around the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, and will not open until after the 15th day of the first lunar month, so if you want to buy things, you have to plan everything before the year to avoid being in a hurry and having money. There is no place to spend money.
"The village chief's house, Zhao Xiucai's house, well, Doctor Li's house..."
Zhuang Keqing was worried. She hid in her room alone and secretly sharpened her ink. She bit her pen and wanted to write down all the people and things she wanted to go to. But after thinking for a long time, even the ink on the inkstone was almost dry. Haven't written yet.
What can be done?
Her character is illiterate!
What if she splashed ink here, even if she wrote a few idiots, and A Ling or Mom saw it, she would be covered with mouths and couldn't explain it.
In fact, she can always ask Shen Ling for help.
It's just that the drunken boy's uncontrollable kiss last time has made her still afraid to have any eye or body contact with the other person, and even the conversation has been very rare.
As if overnight, the two of them were back to the days when they had just gotten married, and they were not even as intimate and casual as they were then.
"ah……"
Putting down his writing brush, Zhuang Keqing gave up. He might as well just rely on his brain to memorize it, but it would still be the same.
Just when she was going crazy, the door opened and Shen Ling walked in.
A gust of cold wind was suddenly brought into the warm room by the young man. Zhuang Keqing raised his head in front of the desk and happened to meet the other person's dark eyes.
Somehow, Zhuang Keqing could see a hint of forbearance and annoyance in his pure eyes.
"Aling."
She couldn't help but call him softly.
The girl's voice was soft and melodious, like the occasional clear calls of orioles amid the chirping of cicadas in early summer.
Shen Ling took a step closer and looked down at her.
He was so close that he could even smell the faint fragrance of the girl. He glanced sideways and saw that the green knuckles were holding the rabbit hair pen he used every day. The dark brown pen barrel made those hands like jade. Gentle.
Zhuang Keqing was nervous for no reason, and she slightly tightened her fingers on the brush. In Shen Ling's view, these hands were so slender and white and soft, as if they were holding on to the apex of his heart.
"Let me help you."
Shen Ling finally controlled the emotions surging in his heart and sighed slightly.
He lowered his eyelashes, and there was a shadow under his long and dense eyelashes, making it difficult for anyone to see the desire for dominance tumbling in his eyes.
And when he raised his eyes again, there was only a hint of clarity left in those eyes. The depression, entanglement, and regret in the past few days had all disappeared, and he had returned to the gentle and calm young man he had been before.
Zhuang Keqing felt the invisible pressure around him relax, and he naturally smiled at Shen Ling.
"OK."
It seemed that Aling didn't remember everything about that day, but his fearfulness and over-sensitivity these days probably hurt him.
Zhuang Keqing couldn't help scolding herself in her heart, and her face was even more flattering.
"What do you want to remember?"
"Well, it's just the things I need to buy for the New Year, as well as the people who need to pay New Year greetings and the gifts I've prepared in advance."
With Shen Ling's help, the two quickly sorted out the order of New Year greetings.
The banker has not arranged for the second and third bedrooms. Since there has been no contact in the past years, there is no need for this year. However, the village chief, Zhao Xiucai, and Dr. Li’s family have to go. They even have to go to Wufu Ji tomorrow to send some in advance. Go with your heart.
The sounds of Qin Manzhi and Liu Da talking could be heard outside.
Not long after, Qin Manzhi walked into the room and happily told them that they had just sent fresh meat. They couldn't finish the meat for the time being, so they wanted to marinate it all to make bacon.
The topic suddenly changed from paying New Year greetings and buying new year's goods to discussing whether to make bacon or sausage.
Early the next morning, Shen Ling got up early, fed Dahei beans and potato starch, prepared the cart, and headed to Songling Town with Zhuang Keqing.
In addition to preparing New Year's goods, their task today was to go to Zhao's house on Quanshui Street to send some local gifts to express their gratitude for their care over the past year.
Now the mule cart is full of miscellaneous goods, and half of the cart is piled with vermicelli noodles, dried potatoes, eggs, hens, and sausages.
Yes, sausage.
There is no such thing as sausage in Dasheng Dynasty. The winter cured meat is just mixed with coarse salt and blow-dried. There is no technical content. It is not even fried with pepper and salt. Although the local pork itself is delicious, it lacks seasonings. Not beautiful.
After discussing with Qin Manzhi for a long time yesterday, Zhuang Keqing finally convinced her mother to divide the pork belly into two parts, one part was made into sausage and the other part was made into cured meat. For this reason, Zhuang Keqing went to Liu's house to get some. Here come the casings.
But now the sausage was skewered one by one, and when it was delivered to Chef Jia, he frowned with a look of disgust.
"What is this? Why does it look so awkward?"
He was embarrassed to say that he had the greatest respect for Zhuang Keqing after seeing something that looked like pickled fish in the toilet.
