With Widow Wu's matter resolved, Zhong Wanwan and the other two can finally prepare for the New Year in peace!

We have a lot of stuff at home, but all three siblings are busy, so we haven't been able to prepare anything.

Zhong Wanwan and Xiao Baiyang used to work at the food factory from dawn till dusk. Zhong Songbai was worried about Xia Ning and took care of her.

Before the Lunar New Year, Zhong Wanwan also used her connection with Captain Qian of Liushu Village to help her exchange 10 jin of soybean oil, so she could start preparing the fried foods for the New Year.

Zhong Wanwan doesn't need to worry about this; with her skills, she really can't afford to waste good stuff.

Zhong Songbai thawed the meat and fish he was going to fry the night before.

The next morning, they got busy preparing. There were small pieces of meat coated in batter, which were to be made into braised pork slices.

Zhong Wanwan, Zhong Songbai, and Xia Ning all prefer this to sweet and sour pork; it's salty and savory, and goes especially well with rice.

But Xiaobaiyang loves sweet-sweet Guo Bao Rou (sweet and sour pork), so he can't miss out on fried pork slices either.

This lean pork was distributed from the farm when they slaughtered their New Year's pig a few days ago. The three siblings usually have plenty of oil and fat, so they don't really like fatty meat.

Although I can make oil, I always manage to find a way to change the soybean oil at home.

In addition, the chickens that Captain Qian from Liushu Village gave us were quite plump, and Zhong Songbai took out all the chicken fat to render and store.

When cooking a dish or making a flaky pastry, chicken fat is even more fragrant than lard!

Zhong Songbai occasionally makes lean meat porridge in the morning, so he chose pork tenderloin directly.

In later generations, pork tenderloin became the most expensive part of a pig, second only to ribs.

But right now, nobody cares about this; there's nothing thinner than this!

So when Zhong Wanwan said she was choosing this spot, Aunt Wei, who was making a big pot of stewed pork stew on the side, was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet.

In addition to the three jin of pork tenderloin that the three siblings shared, there was also the two jin of meat that Tang Zixuan and Bai Yueyao had previously promised to compensate them for.

Because Bai Yueyao has not been found and there is no news of her, Tang Zixuan has been gloomy and doesn't care about anything. He has been quite quiet lately.

Surprisingly, nothing went wrong in this matter, which surprised Zhong Wanwan.

After slaughtering more than a dozen pigs on the farm, the pig hearts, livers, offal, and bones were all used to make a large pot of stewed pig dishes.

The pig's head is saved for the second day of the second lunar month, when the farm will cook pig's head meat again and distribute it to everyone.

The rest, including the pig's trotters with bones, were divided up into smaller portions.

There was only a small portion of pork tenderloin left, and nobody wanted it. Even when they tried to exchange it for work points, everyone preferred to trade for the tougher pork skin rather than the tenderloin.

Although pork skin isn't fatty, if you clean it at home and simmer it over low heat to make pork skin jelly, it'll make a delicious dish for the Chinese New Year.

What can you do with pork tenderloin? Stir-frying sliced ​​pork doesn't add any oil, so it's not flavorful at all. It's only good for making braised pork slices and sweet and sour pork. Who has the oil to waste on it?!

This is a real boon for Zhong Wanwan and her two siblings, as well as Xia Ning.

After discussing it, the four of them decided to buy everything. Xia Ning bought ten catties of pork tenderloin, asked Zhong Songbai to take eight catties back, cut them into small pieces and freeze them, and she took the remaining two catties back to the Bai family herself.

Because of these 8 pounds of meat, many of the old women who stayed to watch the spectacle were extremely jealous, and they made a lot of sarcastic remarks.

Zhong Songbai is really interested. Just look at Xia Zhiqing's family background. Didn't you see that Tang Zhiqing? She was always clinging to Xia Zhiqing before!

They said he was a kept man, that Xia, the educated youth, gave him money and he just accepted it, that he had no manly qualities whatsoever.

Xia Ning was furious and wanted to argue with these old women, but Zhong Songbai stopped her.

Zhong Songbai didn't care. Let them say what they want; it wouldn't hurt him to be talked about like that.

Moreover, it's obvious that these old women are just jealous. If their sons got it, let's see if they would want it.

It's really not worth getting angry with these old women over such trivial gossip.

Zhong Songbai just smiled and nodded in agreement with everyone, without saying anything else.

It was all so boring talking to those old women; it felt like I'd punched a cotton ball.

Xia Ning was completely stunned when she saw this scene.

In the past, when she was with Tang Zixuan and Bai Yueyao, Tang Zixuan would always take his anger out on her because of other people's gossip, as if it was all her fault.

Because of this, Tang Zixuan's relationship with Bai Yueyao was clearly better than his relationship with her.

Over time, she realized that these were her problems and began to feel apologetic towards Tang Zixuan.

Seeing Zhong Songbai's actions, Xia Ning immediately understood that it wasn't a matter of others gossiping or that she had done anything wrong; it was simply a matter of the person being wrong.

The right person, the one who truly cares for you, won't let a few words from others affect your relationship.

Moreover, she, Tang Zixuan, and Bai Yueyao were indeed taken advantage of at the time, and they paid a lot of the price.

She was reluctant to use the money and tickets given to her by her family, as well as the money her brothers gave her out of kindness. She used them only when she was with Tang Zixuan and Bai Yueyao.

That's not how it is between her and Zhong Songbai. Ever since Zhong Songbai confessed his feelings to her, she has always been the one who has given more.

Not only in terms of food and shopping, but also in daily life, everything is done with her in mind.

This 8 jin of pork tenderloin wasn't for Zhong Songbai either; she bought it and asked him to cut it into small pieces so she could give it to her maternal grandfather and maternal uncle.

It had nothing to do with him, and he didn't gain anything from it, yet he endured so much for her sake.

Actually, Xia Ning's heart had already softened after Zhong Songbai took such good care of him last time.

Human hearts are made of flesh and blood. If a young, handsome man who doesn't talk much but takes care of you in every way pursues you, even the hardest heart will be melted.

Moreover, Xia Ning is not a hard-hearted person.

This incident was like the final blow that shattered the walls in Xia Ning's heart; the wall in her heart was completely broken.

Zhong Songbai had no idea about this, otherwise he would have been delivering eggs to each of those old women who were badmouthing him, which really helped him a lot!

Of course, although he didn't know why, Zhong Songbai was a meticulous person, and he clearly felt that Xia Ning had become much closer to him, and their relationship had made rapid progress.