Boss Zhu instructed his employees to slaughter a pig, while he led Lu Qiqi to the front yard to drink tea and wait.

He was overjoyed that the pig was dealt with; now he wouldn't have to be chased away by his wife to sleep with their youngest son because of the pig's stench that wafted into every room.

He felt a surge of joy at the thought of being able to cuddle with his wife and warm the bed at night.

Upon arriving at the front yard, the family's maidservant served two cups of tea to Boss Zhu and Lu Qiqi.

Boss Zhu then took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Lu Qiqi.

He said, "This was also entrusted to me by Manager Chen. He said he wanted to deliver it to you personally so you could open it and read it when you get home."

Lu Qiqi took the envelope, which was sealed with a wax seal and had a scroll pattern on it, with the words "Chen Shi" written below it.

This is done to prevent the email from being switched and to make it easier for the recipient to notice immediately.

Lu Qiqi put away the envelope and said, "Then I'll trouble Boss Zhu to tell Manager Chen that I have received everything and I am very grateful."

Boss Zhu waved his hand and said, "I still have to thank you. You don't know, but a few years ago there was a very wealthy village where every household raised pigs."

"But for some reason, one day, all the pigs in a pigsty got sick, and then it spread to all the pigs in the village. At first, everyone thought it was swine fever."

"But no one from the last village survived."

"Everyone said it was because I offended the Pig God. Nobody ate pork during that period, and I had to close my business for a long time. I almost had to go back to my hometown to farm."

Lu Qiqi sighed after hearing this; it was obvious that the swine fever virus had infected people as well.

In ancient times, medical equipment was incomplete, and doctors' prescriptions were closely guarded secrets that were not passed on to outsiders.

It's not uncommon for a cold to be fatal. If only a medical book could be written down, like the "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" or the "Huangdi Neijing," and widely circulated.

People who get sick in this way can receive better treatment and will not lose their lives due to a lack of information.

After the two pigs were slaughtered, Lu Qiqi asked the butcher to take a clean tarpaulin, wrap the four pieces of pork, and put them into the carriage.

The remaining head, tail, and internal organs were all sent to the noodle shop for Liu Tong to make braised dishes.

It was a lot of effort to stuff a large bag of salt in.

Looking at the small carriage loaded with such heavy things, Boss Zhu was a little worried about Lu Qiqi.

He said, "Miss Lu, are you sure there's no problem? Should I have my waiter take you home?"

Lu Qiqi smiled and said, "No need to trouble Boss Zhu, it's really no problem, don't worry."

After saying that, Lu Qiqi got into the carriage and instantly put the pork into her spatial storage, so that the carriage could move without much effort.

As Boss Zhu watched Lu Qiqi walk further and further away, and saw that the horse-drawn carriage in front of him was moving effortlessly, he scratched his head, completely puzzled, and returned to his shop.

Lu Qiqi drove the carriage back to the veterans' village before nightfall.

As soon as she got home, Lu Qiqi called for people outside.

Lu Dahai and Li Qingshan led the Zhou brothers out. Lu Qiqi jumped off the carriage and said, "Everyone, quickly help unload everything from the carriage."

After listening to Lu Qiqi's words, Lu Dahai and Li Qingshan boarded the carriage and watched as the four large items, wrapped in tarpaulins, were carried out by the two under the gray-blue sky.

It was so dark that I couldn't see what it was at all.

Lu Dahai asked, "Seventh Girl, what is this thing? It's heavy and soft."

Lu Qiqi said, "Let's make this pork into cured pork, so we'll have cured pork to eat this winter."

Lu Qiqi's mouth watered just thinking about the piece of pork the pawnshop owner had given her; she couldn't forget the taste.

Standing next to Li, when Lu Qiqi said it was pork, she quickly said, "So much pork, how much salt would that take!"

Li also said, "Qiqi, we've never made cured meat before, and we don't know how to cook it properly."

In the past, they were considered to be living a relatively good life if they could eat fatty meat a few times a month. Now, looking at so much pork, they don't know where to start.

Li Qingshan dragged the last piece of pork off the carriage and said, "Back in Yushan Town, I never saw any wealthy family make cured pork. I really don't know how to make this."

The north is cold, and with the snow-covered landscape in winter, it's not suitable for making cured meat.

Lu Qiqi laughed and said, "It's okay, we'll learn if we don't know how. If we learn this year, we'll have experience next year. There's still salt in the car, let's take the salt down with us."

The Zhou brothers, Lu Dahai, and Li Qingshan carried all four pork patties into the house.

Li Changlong then carried the dark, lumpy iron object back into the house.

Mrs. Lu, carrying the salt, followed closely behind into the house.

Inside the main room, the whole family gathered around the tarpaulin on the table. Lu Dahai opened the tarpaulin and looked at the fresh pork, feeling very happy.

Mrs. Lu clicked her tongue repeatedly, "Good heavens, these two pigs are even bigger than the wild boars in the forest. We have to marinate them tonight, otherwise they won't taste as good by tomorrow."

After dinner, the family got busy making cured meat together.

Lu Qiqi directed the others in the kitchen, and they followed her instructions, since none of them knew how to make cured meat properly.

"Uncle, Third Uncle, to make cured pork, you need to cut the pork into thick strips so that it's easier to hang it up to marinate."

"Third Aunt, Auntie, make sure to coat the pork evenly with salt. Don't be stingy with it, or it will lose its flavor if it's not marinated properly."

When Lu heard that the flavor might be off, he dared not skimp on the salt. If the flavor really went bad, it would be a loss, so he might as well go all the way and marinate the meat directly.

They worked until midnight before finally finishing marinating the pork, stringing it up with rope, and hanging it on the kitchen stove with a bamboo pole. This way, they could smoke the pork every time they lit a fire to cook.

The best way is to go up the mountain and cut some fruitwood. Once the cured meat has air-dried to a certain extent, you can smoke and store it directly with the fruitwood.

The weather has been drizzling all the time, and the mountain roads are slippery and unsafe. The firewood we cut needs to be dried before it can be lit. We can wait until the weather clears up later.

Looking at the pile of pork hanging above her head, Mrs. Lu imagined that when the cured pork was made, she would have cured pork to eat.

I can't think about it, it makes my mouth water.

Li said with deep emotion, "Who would have thought that one day we would have so much pork hanging in our house?"

Who can argue with that? For the two years before the famine, there was no rain, and the crops failed completely. It was no easy feat to escape safely to Luzhou Prefecture, let alone dream of eating meat every meal.

After hearing what Li said, Madam Lu pinched Li Qingshan's arm hard.

"Hiss!" Li Qingshan asked, puzzled. "Why are you pinching me?"

Mrs. Lu pursed her lips and said, "I feel like I'm dreaming. Let me pinch you and see if it hurts!"

After hearing what Madam Lu said, Li Qingshan was both amused and exasperated. This was truly his wife, making him suffer the pain alone. For a moment, he didn't know what to do with her.

Unbeknownst to them, Lu Qiqi watched with a sly smile as Madam Lu and Li Qingshan playfully bickered, feeling that she was living a truly comfortable life.

After working until midnight, Lu Qiqi was a little sleepy. She yawned, greeted everyone, went back to her room, washed up in her space, and went to sleep.