Chapter 72 Hand-pulled Lamb Making hand-pulled lamb actually doesn't require much skill, it's purely...

There's really no skill involved in making hand-pulled mutton; it all comes down to the quality of the mutton itself.

In her past life, Shen Miao had eaten hand-pulled mutton once at the home of a herdsman in Abaga Banner, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia. It was the most delicious mutton she had ever tasted. The people of Inner Mongolia are extremely hospitable. Even for a Han Chinese like Shen Miao who doesn't speak Mongolian, if she walked to their door and asked for a cup of water, they would slaughter a sheep and brew tea to warmly welcome her.

She enjoys traveling around by herself with her backpack and car. When she arrives at a place, she wanders through the old streets and alleys with the strongest local flavor. Those shabby, hole-in-the-wall restaurants are always the best food, and she can learn a lot of new recipes there. Whenever she has free time, she especially likes to travel around to find good food.

But her trip to Inner Mongolia was different. She specifically chose a remote, sparsely populated pastoral area, wanting to taste authentic hand-pulled mutton. She had heard that the Honggeer Grassland in Abaga Banner was known as the "Grassland Sky Road" and had little tourism development, which is why she came.

She definitely didn't regret coming; she walked for a long time on the grassland, surrounded by lush greenery.

Especially in August, when the grass and water are abundant, the sky and clouds are so low they seem you could reach out and touch them. Scattered herders set up yurts, and when they saw her coming to visit, they would pull her into one and pour her milk tea. Inner Mongolian milk tea is very fragrant; it's a salty milk tea, and the table is full of dairy products like milk curds and milk skin, which she can help herself to.

She had barely sat down when a fat-tailed sheep was being slaughtered for her outside.

The lamb is slaughtered fresh, cut into large chunks with bones, and boiled in plain water. They don't even need any seasoning when eating it themselves, but when entertaining Shen Miao, they will prepare salt and dipping sauce.

That was the first time Shen Miao had ever witnessed how delicious freshly slaughtered lamb from Inner Mongolia could be. Holding the lamb in her hand, she cut it with a Mongolian knife and ate it; the taste was so fresh and tender that she still couldn't forget it even now, after arriving in the Song Dynasty.

Taking advantage of the Winter Solstice festival, I splurged on a lamb, determined to eat it again.

Today, Shenmiao followed suit and set up a large pot to boil meat in water, but cut the pieces of meat into smaller pieces than when they ate it in Inner Mongolia. This was mainly to take care of the children in the family, so they wouldn't have to use knives. They could just wash their hands and eat it with their hands, treating it as "hand-grabbed meat".

Each person received a few pieces, and there was still some meat left. Chen Miao simply chopped it up, sautéed it with ginger and scallions, and stir-fried it with offal such as sheep tripe, sheep intestines, and sheep liver until it released oil and shrank. Then, she added the mutton broth that had just been used to cook the mutton and poured it hot into the pot. While the water was bubbling, she cooked a large handful of noodles and mixed them with the chopped mutton and offal to make a big pot of hand-pulled mutton offal noodles. The aroma of the meat was so strong that it hit the nose.

Slice a pickled radish, pour a dish of pickled garlic, and bring out the sweet rice wine she brewed herself. The whole family sat on the veranda, eating with happy faces. Especially since the rice wine had lees, Shenmiao also poured some hot rice wine with lees for the children. The homemade wine had almost no alcohol content, so it was a festival, and she wanted them to break their fast.

Everyone sat together, tucking their legs into the kotatsu (heated floor mat).

As soon as the weather turned cold, Shen Miao asked Old Man Yang to make a kotatsu table, which was a low table with a brazier embedded in it, surrounded by wooden boards, and then covered with a quilt. Eating at such a table, the food wouldn't get cold easily, and the whole family, including their two dogs and a cat, could eat warmly all over.

Old Man Yang also benefited from the kotatsu. Ever since he met Shen Miao, his business has become increasingly prosperous, especially the kotatsu. The order book is so full that it's almost springtime, and he's afraid he won't be able to rest during the New Year, as he and his apprentices will have to work day and night to finish them. But yesterday, he specifically came to Shen Miao to complain that other carpenters were also secretly making kotatsu. He was so angry that he took his apprentices to Shen Miao's house, and the carpenters, being quite valiant, even got into a fight.

One said, "If you can do it, why can't I?"

One person said this is a sinking kotatsu, created by Madam Shen. She only asked me to make it, so who do you think you are?

Unable to reach an agreement, the parties involved brought their apprentices into a chaotic brawl, and it's unclear whether the matter has been resolved yet.

That's right. Because every customer who came to order it said they wanted a kotatsu like the one from the Shen family, it was casually named "Shen-style kotatsu". People who didn't know better might have thought that Shen Miao had switched from the catering industry to the furniture industry.

However, Shen Miao never intended to claim these ideas as her own. From the small stall cart to the kotatsu, they were not originally her inventions. She benefited from the legacy of later generations, so apart from asking Old Man Yang for the lowest possible price, she never asked him for more money for these "patents."

No matter how Old Man Yang wanted to sell it or how much money he wanted from others, she never said no.

Craftsmen work hard these days, and of course she hopes that Old Man Yang and his apprentices can make money. If everyone can make money and live a prosperous and peaceful life, that would be wonderful.

There was also Yu Xun, the fishmonger who caught crayfish and supplied grass carp for her. Shen Miao and her family had just sat down to eat when someone knocked on the courtyard gate. Shen Miao went out to open the door and found it was the fishmonger.

He braved the cold, his face red from the chill, and shyly held up the leg of lamb to wish Shen Miao a peaceful winter solstice. Shen Miao immediately understood his intention and quickly returned the gift: "Young Master Yu, please don't be so polite. Take it home and eat it yourself, add some meat to your family's meal."

Selling fish isn't easy. Nowadays, resources are plentiful, and there are fish in rivers and ponds. Many hardworking families choose to catch fish themselves. In fish shops, grass carp, in particular, doesn't sell as well as silver carp or crucian carp.

The demand for fresh fish among the Song people was not as great as that for mutton. Yu Xun was always grateful that Shen Miao's grilled fish had sparked a booming business, and almost all the fish in his fishpond were supplied to Shen Miao this summer and autumn.

He sold over a thousand grass carp, until he sold out all his own fish and didn't have any left that big. So he simply bought more grass carp from his neighbor's unsold pond, catching them fresh every day and picking out the best ones for Chen Miao.

For him, this year was a rare bumper harvest thanks to Shen Niangzi. He earned a lot of money, expanded the pond area, and his three children were able to wear new clothes and shoes. His wife's cough was also cured and she was able to afford medicine every day.

Even the tabby and orange-and-white cats that used to beg for fish at his shop have gotten quite plump and are now well-fed, enough to get them through the winter safely.

As Yu Xun thought about it, his eyes reddened. Seeing that Shen Miao refused to accept it, he grabbed the lamb leg and clung to the door frame, refusing to leave. He stammered, "Please, my wife, accept it. I won't feel at ease if you don't."

With Madam Shen's business as a foundation, his business thrived even more. In the summer, Madam Shen's grilled fish sold extremely well. Other soup noodle shops slandered Madam Shen, even hiring people on the street to say that her fish was bad, made with dead fish. He was even angrier than Madam Shen, his eyes wide with fury. He yelled, "You foul-mouthed scoundrel, stop spouting nonsense!" and charged forward, fists clenched.

How could he not know whether Lady Shen's fish were good or not! How despicable! Anyone who dares to cut off Lady Shen's source of income will have to face his fists and his fish-killing knife!

However, he had only signed a one-year contract with Madam Shen. Other fishmongers, seeing his thriving business, had already become envious. It was rumored that other fishmongers had approached Madam Shen, offering to supply her with fish at a lower price. But Madam Shen politely declined, saying that her contract with the Yu family's fishmonger shop had not yet expired.

When Yu Xun learned of this, he was filled with anxiety, fearing that he would lose this big order next year. Fortunately, his wife was clever and immediately told him to go to the mutton shop and get a large leg of lamb, so that he could take advantage of the winter solstice to maintain his relationship with Shen Miao and not let someone else beat him to it.

Especially this early autumn, he stocked several thousand grass carp fry and prepared for them to overwinter. Fish that have overwintered will taste better, with firmer flesh and less muddy taste, but they are prone to freezing to death if not raised properly. However, Yu Xun is confident that he can raise them well, and he will definitely be able to supply Shen Niangzi with even better fish next year.

He spoke haltingly as he told Shen Miao about it, and then somewhat embarrassedly suggested that he wanted to renew the contract with Shen Miao so that his family could continue to supply fish for the next few years, promising to select the best fish.

Shen Miao hadn't originally planned to change suppliers. The fish raised by this stall owner were very plump and tender, the fishpond was clean, and the wholesale price he offered her was very reasonable. Now, hearing that he was risking losses to supply her with overwintering fish next year, and seeing his sincerity, she agreed without much hesitation.

Although she likes to haggle, she also values ​​quality. The fish shops that had previously approached her for cooperation rejected her offers for two reasons: first, they were careless in cleaning the fish, leaving their stalls filthy and failing to properly remove the scales, requiring her to clean the fish several times herself at home; second, they didn't maintain clean ponds, as grass carp dislike muddy tastes, and fish raised in poor water quality don't taste good. Therefore, no matter how low the supplier's price, she refused them.

The claim that the contract with Yu Xun had not yet expired was merely an excuse.

"Renewing the contract is no problem at all." Shen Miao agreed with a smile, then added, "By the way, Mr. Yu, please wait a moment. I made some fish balls with your fish. Take some home and make soup with them; they're very delicious." Then she turned and went inside.

Yu Xun stood at the door for a moment, then suddenly realized that Madam Shen had agreed to him so easily! He had another half-sentence left unsaid—he was prepared to give Madam Shen a 5% discount, but he didn't expect that Madam Shen didn't care about that at all.

Shen Miao packed a bag of fish balls and stuffed it into his hand, then pushed his hand away from the lamb leg he was carrying: "Young Master Yu, you should go back now. Your family is waiting for you to have dinner. By the way, for the next contract, let's make it a three-year contract. I'll need your help in the future, so please give me your guidance."

She planned to consult with Yu Xun about how to maintain the clean water quality in the ponds of her duck farm. She could take him to her duck farm on the day the contract was renewed to see the situation firsthand. She planned to clean the ponds and cover the duck sheds during the winter so that she could catch a ride on the canal transport next spring and raise her ducks.

From now on, will Beijing ducks be called Kaifeng ducks?

Shen Miao couldn't help but chuckle.

Yu Xun was so struck by this huge pie that he could barely speak, just standing there dumbfounded.

"May you and your family be well and healthy, Mr. Yu. Now, go home." Shen Miao smiled and curtsied to Yu Xun, gesturing for him to return. Yu Xun could only return the greeting blankly, carrying the lamb leg he hadn't given away and the extra fish balls he had collected, and walked home in a daze.

Shen Miao closed the door. Her hands and feet were already freezing cold after standing there for a while. She breathed out white breath and quickly turned back. Finally, she could come back to eat the hand-pulled mutton she had been longing for!

She took off her shoes, and laid out several square reed mats with cotton padding on the front porch to serve as tatami mats. Stepping on them would keep her feet warm. She hunched her shoulders, lifted the kotatsu (heated floor stove), and crawled inside.

She snuggled half her body into the warm kotatsu, squinting and sighing with comfort. It was so cozy. She had been to Anhui and Hunan before, where they had a kind of fire tub that was just like this; once you put your feet in, you never wanted to come out.

Tang Er straightened up and poured her a bowl of hot rice wine. He smiled and raised the bowl, saying, "According to the customs of the Hu people, we must drink wine before eating meat. Today is the winter solstice. Let's all gather around the stove, young and old, and have a bowl of wine to ward off the winter chill!"

"cheers!"

"It's a bowl!" Xiang Jie'er also raised her bowl high.

"After the Winter Solstice, the days will grow longer and longer, and the darkest days of the year will be over. Everyone should be happy and welcome the New Year." Shen Miao raised her bowl.

Everyone tapped their bowls together, wishing each other a happy winter solstice: "May good fortune arrive on the winter solstice!"

She drank a bowl of warm rice wine to warm herself up, then cut off a piece of hand-pulled mutton and put it in her mouth, gently shaking her head with a satisfied look. It was as if she were sitting in that yurt again, eating hand-pulled mutton, where she could only communicate with the herdsmen through gestures, yet felt genuinely happy.

Apart from that one time, this was the best mutton she had ever eaten.

The lamb is plump and tender, hot and delicious. The tender meat has a chewy texture. Cut, dig, and slice along the bone to eat every last bit of meat. Every bite is like the delicate and elastic texture of fresh lamb slaughtered and cooked on the spot. It tastes good even without other spices or seasonings, and the meat has the best original flavor.

Eating this hand-pulled mutton with a sip of wine makes it even more unparalleled, with a rich and mellow flavor.

No wonder people always drink alcohol when they eat meat; this combination of two old partners truly brings a sense of happiness to one's heart during the winter.

It was freezing cold outside, and frost began to form as night fell. The cold wind howled over the courtyard wall. Xiangjie, her face greasy from eating meat, was the first to notice the first snowflakes falling like dust from the sky. With her mouth still full of meat, she pointed and whimpered, "Snow!"

Shen Miao was cutting meat with a knife when she turned her head to examine the scene closely for a while before spotting the swirling snowflakes in the candlelight near the lantern. The snow was so light that it melted into water before even hitting the ground, but it was still the first snow of the year, worthy of people's amazement.

It's snowing!

"It's really snowing!"

"The cold weather came early this year; a timely snowfall promises a bumper harvest!"

After finishing their mutton, everyone picked up hot mutton offal soup and flatbread, snuggled into the warm kotatsu, and gazed at the silent and light winter snow.

The cats and dogs in the house had also tucked themselves into the kotatsu. Two big dog heads and a little cat head peeked out from under the thick quilt under the table, engrossed in eating their share of meat and noodles.

After they finished eating, they twitched their ears from time to time, huddled together, and their three pairs of moist and bright almond-shaped eyes seemed to be curiously watching the gently falling snow.

A little bit of white paint had accumulated on the courtyard wall, but it quickly melted away.

Leiting sandwiched Qilin between them. Seeing that Qilin had finished its cat food, there was still some soup left at the bottom of the bowl. Leiting stretched its head over to help Qilin wash the bowl, licking it until it was shiny and clean, before reluctantly raising its head.

After finishing licking the bowl, Thunder started licking its own paws, cleaning itself thoroughly. Turning its head, it saw that Qilin was licking its fur very slowly, and like a worried mother dog, it used its paws to pull Qilin into its arms and lick it frantically.

A beautiful cat that was being licked so nicely has turned into a mango pit that's been sucked clean, making it look as ugly as a mop that's come to life.

When Shen Miao discovered it, the Qilin's head was covered in clumps of fur from being licked, and its whiskers were wet. You could smell the dog's stench even without getting close.

She quickly rescued the cat, dried its fur with a handkerchief, and gently brushed it. But Lei Ting raised its head again, its eyes gleaming, still wanting to lick the cat. Shen Miao said sternly, "You'll lick the Qilin until it gets cold! Stop licking! Being a simp has no future! In the end, you'll only end up with nothing!"

Thunder tilted his big head in confusion.

Qilin seemed unconcerned, yawning as it was being licked, then jumped down from Chenmiao's arms and crawled into the kotatsu.

Seeing this, Thunder immediately turned around, but it was too big. Its head went in and its butt came out. And since dogs have little fur on their butts, the wind made it cold. So after a while, Thunder turned around again and reluctantly chose to stick its head out. Then it yawned and lay down to sleep.

Shen Miao hadn't expected that Lei Ting would like cats so much. It usually didn't like playing with Zhui Feng, but when Qilin came, it liked to hold Qilin by the scruff of its neck and shake it around. Even when Qilin punched it and hissed at it, it wouldn't get angry. It would just stick out its tongue and grin.

Shen Miao lifted the quilt over the kotatsu and peeked inside. Sure enough, the Qilin had been licked again. But the temperature inside was high, and its fur was almost dried out. Now, the plump creature was nestled near Thunder's warmest dog belly, curling up its big tail and slowly squinting its eyes.

It's too cold. Zhui Feng has abandoned the chicken coop and now he's snuggled up to the two dogs and the cat. They've eaten and drunk their fill and are now drowsy in the warm kotatsu.

The night was deep, the cats and dogs were quiet, and it was time for people to sleep. Atao replaced the charcoal in the kotatsu so the cats and dogs wouldn't get cold at night. Shenmiao then brought Xiangjie into the room, watching her wash her face and body, then wash and dry her palms and soles, finally making her apply lard ointment to prevent chapping before she was satisfied.

Before putting her to bed, she put thick socks on her and rolled her up in a quilt into a large towel. Xiangjie only had her head sticking out, and she reminded Chenmiao, "Sister, I want to hear a story."

Shen Miao got used to it, so she told her the stories of the female generals that she liked to hear the most.

Xiangjie was strange; she had a particular fondness for stories like Mulan joining the army and the Women's Army. Shenmiao racked her brains, telling her tales from Fu Hao to Princess Pingyang Zhao, but she couldn't remember which other female generals existed before the Song Dynasty, and she ran out of things to say. Finally, with Xiangjie's big eyes fixed on her, she had no choice but to omit the historical context and the actual dynasty, and instead tell stories about She Taijun, Liang Hongyu, and Qin Liangyu.

Xiang Jie was completely absorbed in it; she loved it so much that she listened to it every night before going to sleep. Sometimes, she even dreamed that she was a female general, kicking and punching in her sleep, and spinning around on the kang (a heated brick bed). Once, she fell off the kang with her blanket on, but luckily she was still wrapped in the blanket. The next day, when Shen Miao opened the door, she saw Xiang Jie curled up on the floor, fast asleep and even snoring softly.

Whenever Ji Ge'er was home, Chen Chuan always loved to sleep with him, because before bed he could read and memorize books together, and then discuss laws. Ji Ge'er would also help Chen Chuan copy down any words he didn't understand. Especially since Ji Ge'er didn't have many days off, Chen Chuan cherished these opportunities.

Inside the house, they were dissecting the laws of the Song Dynasty's Criminal Code, one after the other: "Brother, does this law mean that if a person dies without a male heir (the family line ends), his shops, residences, assets, and money must be sold by his close relatives (family members). After using the money for funeral and Buddhist rites, the remaining property goes to his daughters; if there are no daughters, the property is divided equally among other close blood relatives... [Note]"

After reading it, Chen Chuan was still somewhat indignant: "Why can't the daughter inherit that family fortune? Can't the family fortune be given to the daughter for the funeral? After giving it to relatives to sell, will they still give that extinct family member a proper burial? They might even line their own pockets. As a daughter, she wouldn't treat her parents like that. Besides, what if all the relatives die out?"

Ji Ge'er thought of himself. Fortunately, he was not dead. If he had died, all the family's wealth would have gone to his uncle's family. Even if his sister came back, she probably wouldn't have inherited a single string of cash.

He suppressed the bitterness in his heart, looked at Chen Chuan's inquisitive eyes, and tried his best to explain fairly: "Perhaps his daughter is already married, and he has no other unmarried daughters. If the married daughter inherits, wouldn't this estate become the son-in-law's? That wouldn't be reasonable..."

Shen Miao stood outside the door listening for a while before yawning. They always chatted before going to sleep, and listening to them seriously discussing the distribution of their inheritance, Shen Miao shook her head with amusement, reminding them through the door to remember to brush their teeth, wipe their bodies, and apply some lard ointment so that their faces wouldn't be chapped from the cold the next day.

I'll leave the rest to it and just raise the boy roughly.

Atao had finished washing up and was lying on the bed, counting her money with her bottom sticking out. She had asked Chen Miao for a large earthenware jar for pickling vegetables, and she would put her monthly salary into it, counting it every night before going to sleep. She even slept with this pickled vegetable piggy bank, not minding the cold.

Fuxing and Tang Er were even more uncouth. It was only after they came to the Shen family that Shen Miao forced them to brush their teeth, wash their faces, and wash their feet before bed. Otherwise, they would wear their socks so long they could stand up on their own before washing them, which was simply unbearable. Shen Miao later set rules for them: otherwise, they would not be allowed to touch roast duck or kitchen knives, nor would they be allowed to enter the kitchen.

After about half a month, I finally developed good habits.

They had all gone back inside by now. The lights were still on, and their shadows were reflected on the window paper. The tall, thin one was Tang Er, who looked like he was obediently folding clothes. The shorter, stouter one was Fu Xing, who was bending over to make the bed.

Like a dormitory supervisor, Shen Miao checked every door and window in the courtyard. Seeing that the door bolts and thresholds were all in place, she hooked down the lantern and turned off the light. Then she took the small candlestick and ran back to her room, snuggling into the warm kang (heated brick bed).

The next day, when she got up, she found that the sky was exceptionally bright, and the windows, which were covered with three or four layers of mulberry paper, were shining brightly. She was reluctant to get out of her warm bed, so she wrapped herself in the quilt and lifted half of her body up, first slightly opening the window a crack to look outside.

In the depths of winter, the courtyard is covered in silver, a blanket of white snow.

The branches of the old osmanthus tree were bent slightly by the weight of the snow. A layer of white blanket covered the water vat, and it seemed that the Qilin had walked over it. There was a clear trail of cat paw prints in the yard that led all the way to the water vat and then jumped down.

The sky was misty, and the clouds were grayish-white. The snow was still falling, fine as dust, and without strong winds, it fell quietly and beautifully.

Shen Miao gazed out the window for a long time.

However, as she peered out the window at the snow scene, she felt no melancholy; only a restless thought stirred within her:

Snow fell outside the window. After she made an appointment with Aunt Li and He Daizhao to go to the duck farm to plan the layout today, when she came back... shouldn't she have a proper "Bo Xia Gong" (a type of hot pot)? Hmm, copper pot hot pot.

However, copper was the currency at the time, and eating from a copper pot was too expensive, while earthenware pots didn't seem to conduct heat very well. Thinking about it, Shen Miao remembered that when Bai Laosan asked her to prepare a banquet, he had given her a goose, which she had killed and frozen in the cellar. So, it would have been better to—

A large ladle can stir-fry everything, and an iron pot can stew a goose.