Song Ning couldn't help but laugh out loud. Oh dear, Xie Linzhou, you've finally met your match.

As soon as Song Ning came downstairs, she saw Zhou Ling'an pacing back and forth anxiously.

Seeing Song Ning come down, he rushed forward anxiously and asked, "How are you?"

Song Ning smiled and said, "I'm fine, let's go back."

Let General Xie calm down by himself; he probably won't want to go out for a while.

On the way back, Song Ning sat alone in the car, struggling to suppress her laughter.

Xie Linzhou is really outrageous. Just one sentence and he conjured up such a huge drama. He's quite the character.

No wonder he was afraid she would get too close before; he was afraid she would become attached to him.

After all, the status of being a member of the imperial family is very tempting.

However, the higher one's status, the more trouble one will encounter, and Song Ning didn't want to get into any trouble for herself.

She's now obsessed with making money.

When the large bucket of pig offal was brought into the kitchen, Liu Yuelan covered her nose; the smell was just too strong.

These were things the shop owner was going to throw away. After slaughtering the pig, they didn't do anything with them, so even the feces inside the intestines were brought back intact.

The shopkeeper charged her two extra coins for such a large bucket, and even gave her the bucket for free.

Their task today is to wash these things.

The arduous task of emptying the manure was assigned to Song Dahai.

On a freezing cold day, Song Dahai sat at the door and started washing himself.

Song Ning helped by scooping and pouring water.

While washing, Song Dahai frowned and asked, "Er Ya, is this really edible?"

The villagers used to eat pig offal, but the taste was... indescribable.

In the past, even if every household ate wild vegetables, no one would want to eat this stuff.

The taste was really no better than that of a toilet; it was practically like eating feces.

"Don't worry, Dad. As long as this is washed clean, I'm sure I can cook it deliciously."

Song Ning isn't very confident in doing other things, but this is something she's really good at.

In the past, in order to enjoy braised food without having to go out to buy it every time, I asked someone and researched how to make braised dishes myself.

She's tried everything from duck tongues and wings to potato chips and seaweed—anything that can be braised.

The whole family pitched in, using everything from flour and alcohol to wood ash.

I washed it many times with clean water before starting a fire to boil water.

When her family built the kitchen, they made it a little bigger, extending two additional stoves next to the main stove where they usually cook.

Once the fire is lit and the pot is set up, the cleaned pig offal, along with some ginger slices and scallions, is blanched in the pot.

She bought these two large pots specifically for this purpose. She had originally planned to take out the cooking pot from her house, but it was too conspicuous, so she gave up the idea.

Looking at the time, Song Ning took the items out and washed them several more times.

Then soak the items in water with a little salt.

Soak for about half an hour, then take it out and set aside.

Then I started frying the ingredients in another pot with oil.

Put the spices that were secretly taken out, along with the chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic, into the pot and stir-fry until fragrant. Then, put the soaked and drained offal into the pot, add soy sauce, salt, and other seasonings, and stir-fry.

If you want a nicer color, you can caramelize the sugar beforehand.

Finally, add two large bowls of water, cover the pot, and simmer.

While Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan weren't paying attention, they also put in some beer.

Song Ning cooked the food in two separate pots, one spicy and one non-spicy, so that people could choose between the two flavors later.

After boiling for a while, put the washed vegetables back into the pot.

Song Ning didn't make a single mistake, leaving Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan completely stunned.

Looking at the jars on the stove, Liu Yuelan asked curiously, "Er Ya, what's in those jars? I don't think I've ever seen them before."

"These are all seasonings I bought in the county. Food made with these tastes really good, but they're expensive. Mom, you have to keep an eye on these things while I'm not around."

Liu Yuelan picked up one of the jars and smelled it, but there was no smell at all.

But Song Ning's words stuck in her mind: "Don't worry, Mother will take care of it."

If this works, it will become their family's secret to making money.

The longer the braised food simmers in the pot, the stronger the aroma becomes in the kitchen.

As dinner time approached, Song Ning lifted the lid of the pot, and a rich aroma filled the entire kitchen.

It was evening, and there were few people outside, but the aroma still attracted the Song Xiu'e and Li Daniu family next door.

Xiaomei and Zhaodi were playing in the yard. They sniffed, swallowed, and hurriedly ran home: "Mom, Uncle's family made something delicious, it smells so good!"

Song Xiu'e smiled helplessly, "You two have such sharp noses. Didn't you just have meat for lunch?"

I've eaten it before, but the aroma is different from this one.

At Li Daniu's house on the other side, Li Xingwang smelled the odor as soon as he stepped out of the yard.

"Mom, is Er Ya making something delicious again? It smells so good."

Aunt Zhao glared at her, annoyed: "All you ever think about is eating. What, are you tired of my cooking? You never think about anything productive. If this keeps up, Er Ya will be snatched away by that Zhou boy."

Li Xingwang shrank back and didn't dare to make a sound. His mother always told him to talk to Er Ya more, and every time she saw Zhou Ling'an and Er Ya together, she would scold him when she came back.

Li Daniu came out of the house and couldn't help but sigh, "Erya is indeed a very resourceful and skilled child."

Aunt Zhao had already smelled it and couldn't help but swallow hard: "Er Ya is really clever. I don't know what she did to make it smell so good. Er Ya is so good. Look at you."

Li Xingwang is innocent, so why is he being dragged into this again?

No sooner had the words been spoken than a sound rang out from the other side.

"Aunt Zhao, Uncle Da Niu, are you there?"

As soon as Aunt Zhao heard the voice, she immediately replied, "Yes, I'm here."

It was dark at night, and there was no courtyard wall, so Song Ning stood at the kitchen door and called out, and they could hear her.

Song Ning's family can now afford kerosene lamps; they are the only family in the whole row with lights on at night.

Song Ning called out again, "Aunt Zhao, we made a lot of dinner tonight, why don't you come and eat with us?"

After saying that, he turned and walked towards Song Xiu'e's house.

"Aunt, Xiaomei, Zhaodi."

The three people who heard the noise rushed out. As soon as Xiaomei ran out, she tried to throw herself at Song Ning, but Song Ning quickly reached out to support her.

She's finally gotten rid of the lice, so she can't do this again.

"Auntie, let's all have dinner here."

Zhu Shun went out with Luo Wenxin to set up the kang (heated brick bed), and they haven't been around lately.

Xiaomei and Zhaodi are not as reserved as before. As soon as they heard that they were going to have dinner, they skipped and jumped as they followed Song Ning home.

Sun Shi and Song Ning also called out, but because she had a large family, Song Ning only called out to Sun Shi and the two children.

And so, the braised food tasting event officially began.