The firewood was burning fiercely in the stove, and the water in the iron pot was boiling again and again.

A wild buffalo, a wild boar, and a goat—it took more than a dozen pots of boiling water just to remove their hair. The three Su brothers, each carrying a knife, removed the hair from the three animals. The hair was easy to remove after being rinsed with boiling water; you only needed to gently rub the blade across the skin to scrape it clean.

Su Dalang and his three sons each took a deep jar and diligently collected the blood.

Ever since they tried Maoxuewang (a spicy Sichuan dish), the Su family has never wasted a single drop of beef blood, pig blood, or sheep blood.

The offal of three large animals was also left behind. Among them, the offal of the bison was the largest. The four stomachs of the bison—rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum—occupied a large wooden basin.

Both wild boar and dairy goat were plucked, their hair removed, and their offal was taken out before the meat was processed.

The bison under Su Dahu's command had their hair removed before Su Baishi cut them off from the neck and peeled off the hide completely. The bison hide was very tough, with some minor damage to the belly and back, but after removing the damaged parts, it was just right to make a pair of small leather boots for Hua'er.

With more rain in spring and summer, Hua'er no longer has to worry about her cloth shoes getting wet when she wears leather boots.

The bison, wild boar, and wild sheep were all very fat. The bison alone, after removing the hide, internal organs, and fat, still had about 300 pounds of pure beef. Compared to draft cattle, wild beef was not only unregulated but also a rare delicacy that was hard to come by on ordinary days.

Su Baishi asked Su Dahu to cut out six pieces of beef, intending to distribute ten jin to Zhao Shi's family, ten jin to Su Chengde's family, ten jin to Qin Yucheng's family, and five jin to each of Da Mai Niang, Aunt Zhou, and Ni Qiu Niang's families.

Su Sanhu was sent to deliver the goods to the four families in the village. As for Zhao Family Village, after delivering the goods to the families in the village, Su Dahu was sent to deliver them by carriage. The carriage was fast and the round trip would only take the time it takes to burn an incense stick, so it wouldn't take too much time.

As for Qin Yucheng's family, they can take it with them when they go to Qingshui County.

After listening for a while without hearing anything about her own family's contribution, Mrs. Qian became displeased.

He stepped forward and said with an embarrassed smile, "Mother, actually, my mother, my brother and sister-in-law also like to eat this beef."

"Heh, what does it have to do with me if your mother, brother, and sister-in-law like to eat it?" Su Bai handed the cut beef to Su Sanhu without even glancing at Qian Shi.

All this meat was given to Hua'er by Da Bai and his family. Zhao's family and Su Chengde are relatives. Qin Yucheng has given Hua'er so many generous gifts time and time again. Meanwhile, Da Mai Niang, Aunt Zhou, and Mudfish Niang have been supplying vegetables to their families every day. The key point is that they are all good to Hua'er. It is perfectly acceptable to share some of this fresh beef with them to try.

But the Qian family, from the very beginning, had designs on Hua'er's business. They haven't even offered an apology in all these days. They don't intend to acknowledge this marriage, so she would never shamelessly send them meat. Of course, even if she were to go to Hua'er's door to apologize, it would only be acceptable if Hua'er herself forgave her.

Looking at Su Bai's expression, Madam Qian knew that she was still angry with her mother and brother about what happened at the birthday banquet.

She didn't dare say anything more, so she walked over to Su Erhu and quickly gave him a few meaningful glances.

However, Su Erhu just shook his head at her and continued to pick the pork bones with his knife. In his opinion, his mother-in-law and the others had gone too far. It was fine for his brother-in-law to want to make money, but he absolutely could not have designs on Hua'er.

Su Hua ignored the subtle dispute between Su Erhu and his wife.

Preparing these three ingredients takes time, and the hot pot business can't be delayed either. It's already quite late, and stringing together pork, offal, fish balls, tofu puffs, wood ear mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and over 100 kilograms of vegetables is no easy task.

Just then, there was a loud knocking on the courtyard gate.

Hearing the sound, the Su family looked over and saw two slender figures standing at the entrance of the courtyard. One had a delicate, baby-faced appearance, while the other had a cold and hard expression. Both of them smiled and bowed to Madam Su and Miss Su, saying, "Madam Su, Miss Su, our master sent us to see if there is anything we can help you with?"

Su Bai was taken aback by the formal bow and subconsciously took a step to the side.

Moreover, this was the second time she had been called Old Madam Su. The first time was when she was called Ah Cai from the Qin family. Although it wasn't the first time she had heard it, it still felt awkward.

Turning to look at her daughter, she lowered her voice, "Is this also someone from Yu Cheng's family?"

Su Hua was also somewhat surprised by the appearance of the two, and shook her head, "They are Young Master Xiao's friends in the military camp."