Chapter 51 A Free Bargain

Smoke rises from the cooking stove.

The evening wind is fragrant.

There were waves of meaty aroma.

Blows away the chill of midwinter.

A large pot was placed on the stove, with bear meat stewing in it.

My aunt helped my mother clean up the bear meat and then went back.

Before leaving, her mother put a large piece of meat in her basket.

My aunt was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling, and her crow's feet were showing from laughing.

My aunt should be about the same age as my mother, but she looks very weathered.

My mother cut out a piece of bear meat, smeared it with salt, put it in a jar, and hid it in the cellar.

Jiang Miaomiao was curious. Didn’t her mother say that there wasn’t enough meat? Why did she only hide one jar?

Then her mother put the remaining meat into large chunks into a basket, put it on the carriage, and picked a lot of leaves to cover it.

Jiang Miaomiao lay on her brother's back, covering her nose with her hands and burying her nose in his shoulder.

Hey! This black bear meat smells so strong.

A bit pungent.

I don’t know if it’s related to the black bears’ long-term carnivorous diet.

It is forbidden to hunt this thing in modern times, otherwise you will go to jail.

It was a rare and precious thing in ancient times.

Bear bile, bear skin, bear paws...

Bear paw, in particular, is one of the eight delicacies of ancient times, and I heard it was even a tribute.

Jiang Miaomiao thought that two bears and eight bear paws could be sold for at least five or six hundred taels.

I got rich... I got rich...

But what about bear paw?

Jiang Miaomiao rolled her little head around and looked around, searching every corner of the yard.

But there was no trace of the bear's paw.

County Magistrate...Xu Heng...

Jiang Miaomiao felt that he must have taken it away.

Who else could it be but him?

Fortunately, I thought he was a good official.

The baby's heart and eyes were filled with disappointment.

Her bear paw... woooo...

Lu Qingyao packed the bear meat, bear gall and bear skin and sat down in the carriage.

He told the two brothers, "Feng'er and Yan'er, take good care of your sister, take good care of the house, and take care of the stove..."

"I understand, mother."

Jiang Zifeng watched his mother walk away, then returned to the kitchen and added some firewood to the stove.

The broth in the pot was bubbling and boiling.

After the first round of boiling and removing the foam, the fragrance gradually emerges.

He stared at the meat in the big iron pot, his mouth filled with saliva and about to overflow.

Jiang Miaomiao felt that the meat was not cooked thoroughly, and there was a hint of fishy smell in the aroma.

The worst thing is that even though the meat was so fishy, ​​there were only a few slices of ginger and wild onions floating in the soup.

I can't help but wonder, is this meat edible?

As a food blogger in her previous life, she had a very keen sense of smell.

Especially sensitive to fishy smell.

Does this mean that the ancients did not add spices when stewing meat?

Thinking of this, Jiang Miaomiao felt that the meat was not fragrant at all.

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw my eldest brother approach the big iron pot and sniff it with his nose.

Jiang Miaomiao had a bad feeling.

Could it be that my brother’s nose is different from theirs and he can’t smell it?

The next moment, the eldest brother picked up the chopsticks, picked up the largest and fattest piece of meat and put it in his mouth.

Jiang Miaomiao watched him puff out his cheeks and chew a few times.

Then, his chubby face wrinkled into a ball, and he stuck out his tongue and howled.

"Bah! What does this meat taste like? Why is it so fishy? It's so disgusting!!"

"I'm so disgusted!"

Jiang Miaomiao: “…”

How did this white meat and its taste arouse my brother's appetite?

Jiang Ziyan grinned and said, "Brother, is blind bear meat delicious?"

He had just finished feeding the sheep when he saw his eldest brother stealing food.

I don't know when he will be able to change his greedy habit.

This time, he was beaten because he ate too much candied haws, and he still hasn't learned his lesson.

Jiang Zifeng rolled his eyes at him.

"It's awful! Why is it so fishy? It tastes completely different from the meat we grilled this morning. Is this really the same meat?"

Jiang Zifeng didn't understand why there was such a big difference between roasted bear meat and stewed bear meat.

"Brother, who made you so impatient?"

"Didn't mother tell you before she left that she was going to town to buy spices? This bear meat needs to be stewed with more than a dozen spices to cover up the fishy smell. Who told you to eat it now?"

Seeing that he was about to vomit but couldn't, Jiang Ziyan almost laughed to death.

"You are not allowed to tell mother!" Jiang Zifeng bit his lip. His mother would definitely laugh at him if she knew.

And it is told as a joke every year, and everyone who tells it knows it.

But this thing really doesn’t taste good. I wonder if my mother can sell it?

Lu Qingyao drove the carriage around for a while and arrived at the largest restaurant in Qingshi Town.

"Shopkeeper, do you want bear meat?"

The shopkeeper Qian of Yuelaixuan came out and took a look. He pulled away the leaves covering the roof and looked suspicious.

"Is this black bear meat? Did you catch it?"

Lu Qingyao directly showed him the bear's head and skin. "Don't worry about who caught it, this is bear meat."

Fortunately, Xu Heng didn't like the bear skin.

Otherwise, the bear would be dead and there would be no evidence to prove his identity.

Upon seeing this, Shopkeeper Qian opened the other baskets and a hint of joy appeared on his face.

"Are you selling all of them?"

"Well, the shopkeeper, please name a price."

"Fifty taels of silver, along with the bear skin. Do you want to sell it?"

Shopkeeper Qian stroked his beard, looking determined to get it. Although Qingshi Town is a remote and poor place, there are still some wealthy gentry who like to eat this thing.

"Sell!" Lu Qingyao nodded without hesitation.

Anyway, it's a bargain I found for free, so I might as well sell it. Fifty taels is not a small amount.

Although she didn't know whether it was sold too expensive or too cheap.

After selling the bear meat, she went to Baicaotang to sell bear gall and earned sixty taels.

The total amount is one hundred and ten taels of silver.

Even with the silver in my pocket, I still couldn't believe it. I actually picked up more than one hundred taels for free.

I feel like Miaomiao is the lucky star of the family, who can always turn danger into safety no matter what happens.

What happened that night is a complete mystery.

It's as incredible as a yellow fox sending a chicken to your home.

And the white wolf my son mentioned, could it be related to the little wolf at home?

Although she never believed in supernatural things, there were some things that people just couldn't help but believe.

With the silver in his pocket, he went to the wine shop again[1].

"Boss, I need aniseed, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon, and ginger slices..."

When the owner of the wine shop heard that she wanted to buy so many seasonings, he was very happy.

These days, except for wealthy families, ordinary people don’t have much money to buy these spices that are more expensive than meat.

So they thought she was buying things for some wealthy family.

Trying to get close to her.

After a few casual chats, he asked, "Madam, are you going to stew some meat with these spices?"

Lu Qingyao said calmly, "Well, buy some and stew the blind bear."

The shopkeeper's mouth twitched, "Madam, you must be joking!"

With so many spices, how many blind bears can be stewed?

He must be a big client.

Notes: [1] Zaofang, a workshop that supplied fermented oil and fermented brine, was a place that provided oil, salt, sauce and vinegar to the common people in ancient times. It is equivalent to today’s grocery stores and supermarkets.