Chapter 31 Is this person being bullied?

The essence of the piglet's blanket is actually a hodgepodge.

It is best to use high-quality pork ribs to make this dish. Simmer it over low heat until the meat and bones are separated. It is best to eat it until the bones fall off.

But the ingredients available at home were limited, so Sang Zhixia simply took out some of the pork soaked in the oil can.

The pork belly is fried once and then soaked in oil for several days. The pork skin is fluffy and soft, which saves the time of stewing.

She simmered rice in a big pot, pulled over a small stool, sat down and started peeling potatoes.

The younger ones couldn't touch the knife, so they grabbed the beans and clumsily peeled the beans as she taught them.

After the selected beans filled half of the basket, Sang Zhixia also cut the round autumn melons.

Add cold water to the pot, then put in the beans that have been broken into finger-lengths and bring to a boil. When the skin of the beans changes color, add the cut autumn melon. Cover and cook until done. You will have a vegetarian melon and bean soup.

The melon and bean soup, which had been rolled several times, was served. Sang Zhixia looked at the green and red peppers left over from yesterday and thought for a while. She simply used a colander to scoop out some of the cooked melons and beans, and put them all on the chopping board and chopped them up with a kitchen knife.

The little kid who helped still got to eat the rice from the pot.

Xu Yanran nibbled at the soft and sweet autumn melon in her hand and asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, is this a piglet blanket?"

Xu Mingyang and Xu Mingxu, whose lips were covered with autumn melon crumbs from chewing on them, looked up at the same time, their three pairs of eyes filled with curiosity.

Sang Zhixia said with a smile: "This is stir-fried melon and beans. I'll make it right away before the little pig covers himself with a blanket."

Three eager eyes followed her movements, but Sang Zhixia's movements remained neither hurried nor slow.

Add a spoonful of lard to the bottom of the heated pot, add the chopped garlic and ginger slices when the oil is hot, sauté until fragrant, then add the chopped and drained potatoes and beans, sprinkle with a little salt and soy sauce and stir-fry evenly. When the oil crackles at the edge of the pot, grab a ladle and add cold water. The water level should just cover the large pieces of potatoes and beans. Put the fried pork belly on the top.

Cover the pot and wait for the ingredients in the pot to boil. At the same time, flatten and evenly spread the dough that has been kneaded in advance, and use a rolling pin to press it into a large pancake like a towel. When you smell the fragrance, spread the large pancake flatly on all the ingredients.

Seeing this, Xu Mingyang suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "So this is the piglet's blanket!"

Xu Mingxu was too small to react and stood on tiptoe anxiously: "Where is it? Where is the piglet?"

Sang Zhixia held him up good-naturedly, pointing to the large pancake covering the pork in the pot and saying, "Does the pancake look like a quilt? Is the pork underneath a piglet?"

Although it seems a bit far-fetched, but when you think about it, it is indeed the piglet covering himself with a blanket.

Xu Mingxu let out a cry of sudden realization, while the shy Xu Yanran covered her mouth and smiled with sparkling eyes.

Sang Zhixia was afraid the oil would splash on them, so she roughly cleaned the stove and said, "It's almost done. You all go play somewhere else. I'll call you for dinner when it's done."

She chased the little one away and turned around to serve the cooked rice. When she heard footsteps behind her, she subconsciously said, "It's hot here. Don't come over here again."

Xu Yu's foot stopped reflexively. "You knew it was hot, but you didn't use a handkerchief to block it. This isn't the way to practice Iron Sand Palm."

Sang Zhixia turned around when she heard the voice: "Be careful!"

Xu Yu rushed over, grabbed her wrist which was almost touching the edge of the pot, and dragged her half a step away. His tone was inexplicably deep: "Why are you cooking again?"

Is this person being bullied?

Sang Zhixia was stunned by the sudden coldness in his words. She rubbed her wrist and said with a smile, "Second Aunt also said she wanted to switch with me. She went to the river to wash clothes. I'll do it."

If conditions permit, she actually doesn't want to eat so many unpalatable foods.

The subtle chill in Xu Yu's eyes faded silently. He stared at the neatly arranged pots and pans and the steaming iron wok on the stove and said, "Is everything ready?"

“Almost.”

"You can come back and clean up and then we can have dinner."

Xu Yu washed his hands and helped bring the hot rice to the table, then turned and went into the west shed.

Uncle Xu gradually adapted to the difficulty of survival. Although he was still covered in mud, he looked better than a few days ago.

The only one who didn't fit in was Uncle Xu, who always had a gloomy face.

There were still marks on his face from the slap he received yesterday, making his face look even more ashen.

However, except for Aunt Xu who came back from washing clothes and was a little nervous, the others didn't pay any attention when they saw it. Even Xu Mingyang ran away out of fear, fearing that he would suffer an unexpected disaster.

The old man took Xu Minghui to try it in the backyard for a day. When he came out to wash his hands and prepare to eat, his gray eyebrows were full of smiles.

"The method suggested by Yu'er's wife is feasible. We can make charcoal this way."

When making charcoal blocks, you need to find a way to extinguish the flames when the wood is burning red. Sprinkling water is the most direct way, but the charcoal blocks will become damp and the quality will not be very good after drying.

It can be covered with fine mud.

When the fire is almost burned out, cover it with fine mud. Not only will the fire be quickly extinguished, but the charcoal blocks dug out from the mud pile will be dry and complete, and the quality is also very good.

Sang Zhixia, who had just thrown chopped green and red peppers and sliced ​​garlic into the wok, smiled and replied, "I was just raising the topic. When it comes to practical application, my grandfather is still the best guide."

"You are a sweet-talking girl who can coax people."

The old man sighed with a smile, dried his hands, and sat down at the table, where he smelled the enticing aroma.

It is obviously just a simple vegetarian melon and bean, but when it is put into the pot, it is contaminated with the smell of oil and meat, and then it is stir-fried with chopped green and red peppers and garlic slices. When it is served out of the pot, it becomes a big bowl of red and green, and the aroma is so rich that it goes straight into your nose.

Even the old lady couldn't help swallowing.

"Vegetarian melon and beans are bland, but they taste quite good when stir-fried like this."

As expected, Sang Zhixia’s cooking is still delicious.

Seeing this, Second Aunt Xu secretly felt lucky that she had swapped jobs with Sang Zhixia. Hearing Xu Mingxu and Xu Mingyang repeatedly referring to the quilt as a little pig, she couldn't help but feel curious: "What little pig quilt? What are you mumbling about?"

Xu Mingyang was a chatterbox. He stood up and repeated what Sang Zhixia had said to tease their child, which made Uncle Xu burst out laughing.

"Don't tell me, it's true what my niece-in-law said."

The old lady glanced at Uncle Xu, who was gloomy and silent, and said meaningfully, "She is clever with her hands and her mouth, so the children naturally like to hang out with her."

"Speaking of little pig, I have an idea. Old man, can you give me some advice?"

The old man said calmly: "You say."

The old lady considered it for a moment, then said slowly, "I've noticed these past two days that most people in the village raise livestock. Cows and sheep are large animals that are difficult to move for now, and there's no room at home to raise them. But chickens, ducks, and piglets are something you could try raising first."

The piglets and chicks you buy don’t have to spend any money on food and drink. As long as someone goes out to cut grass for the pigs every day, they can be raised.

After raising them, whether it is eggs or pigs, you can make a profit by selling them for your own consumption, so it is an orthodox way of doing things.

It was rare for the old lady to offer some advice on the family's livelihood, and this suggestion hit the old man right in the heart.

The old man thought for a moment and said, "Raising chickens isn't difficult, but raising pigs requires a pigpen."

This hut was probably used to raise livestock in the early years, and a separate shed was built on the west side next to the outer wall.

But the west shed has been cleaned up now, and Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia are living there. We can't kick them out and let the pigs move in.

The old lady originally wanted to suggest building a pigpen next to the west shed, after all, the original purpose of the west shed was to raise livestock.

If you say you dislike the smell, then why not just endure it? Is there anything you can't get over it?

But just as she was about to say that, Xu Yu said, "A pigpen requires quite a bit of space. Zhizhi and I definitely can't build one here. How about we build a small chicken coop in the vegetable garden out back, with a fence around it, and try raising a few chickens there first?"

The old lady's smile froze slightly, and she silently clenched her chopsticks and said, "That's fine, but it's New Year's Eve and everyone in the village is slaughtering pigs, so our house is quiet and deserted, which makes it less fun."

"Grandma, you don't have to worry about that."

Sang Zhixia smiled and smoothed over Xu Yu's words: "It's already the end of autumn, and the end of the year is not far away."

"Those families waiting to slaughter their pigs at the end of the year have carefully raised their piglets for a year or two. Even if we rush out to buy piglets now, they won't be ready for slaughter before the New Year. It's better to wait until spring, when the ground will be full of edible grass for the piglets and raising them won't be difficult."

"You said yesterday that stewed potatoes tasted good. Would you like to try these today and see if they suit your taste?"

She picked up the spoon in the big bowl and added some soft and crunchy potatoes to the old lady's bowl, thereby blocking the old lady's mouth.

Seeing the old lady eating with her head down and a forced smile on her face, Xu Wenxiu, who had been keeping an eye on everything around him, breathed a sigh of relief without making a sound.

Fortunately, Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia were able to pick up each other's conversation, otherwise if the old lady really wanted to build a pigpen next to the west shed, the eldest house would have completely lost face!