Xiao Yunsong stopped the oxcart: "I smell it, the smell of mutton. Did Mother and the others stew it?"

Although my family had never bought sheep before, we had caught wild goats in the mountains. When we went to sell the game, we kept a leg of goat and ate it. The smell was so strong that the pot of stewed goat meat was filled with it and it took a long time for the smell to dissipate.

"Why didn't your mother wait for you to come back so she could cook it? They don't know how to cook mutton. They used to cook wild goat, and it had a strong gamey smell."

Xiao Yunying got off the oxcart: "The broth for mutton soup needs to be simmered with chicken bones, pork bones and mutton bones for one or two hours to taste good. I don't have time to simmer it when I get back, so I can only drink it tonight."

Moreover, the wild goats my brother mentioned are wild animals, and their muttony smell is naturally stronger than that of domesticated livestock. I told my mother this morning how to cook mutton to reduce the muttony smell; the spice packet was made by me personally, and it's no worse than if I cooked it myself.”

The cloak was too long for Xiao Yunying and dragged on the ground, so she quickly rolled it up and hugged it to her arms, patting off the dirt underneath.

"It smells much better than the one Mom made before. Alright, you go in now, your older brother will help you carry your things in."

"Then help me move it to the living room, brother. I'll go in first and see how the mutton stew is going."

Cheng Yue had prepared quite a few New Year's gifts for her, which she couldn't carry. She pushed open the courtyard gate to make way for her older brother, and went into the kitchen first with her cloak in her arms.

"Mom, I'm back. Aunt Fang Rou and Aunt Yang, you're here too."

Fang Rou said, "Aunt Mu invited us to eat mutton, so my mother and I came early to see if we could help with anything."

Mu Lianrong was preparing two large carp: "Your Aunt Yang just came to deliver the fish, so I took it upon myself to invite her family over for mutton."