Jiang Ruyu spoke eloquently, and Jiang Jianguo nodded in agreement, thinking that his niece was quite shrewd in handling these matters.
When Jiang Jun and his companion returned, they saw the large pig's head in the yard. Kong Xuefang was startled, but Jiang Jun laughed and said, "Don't be afraid. Let me tell you, Ruyu is a master at making braised dishes. Oh, these are crayfish. Who put them here?"
Jiang Jun turned his head and saw the pot of crayfish again. Jiang Ruyu smiled and said, "I was playing by the river and I happened to see it. I thought it was the crayfish I used to eat at my grandpa's house when I was a child. Later, a group of children came and I learned from them that this thing is called a crayfish. Is there anything different about it?"
“They’re from the same genus, crayfish. As for the taste, crayfish are fresher and have better meat. I haven’t eaten them many times. You really have a good palate, finding these.” Jiang Jun knew that his younger sister liked to eat things that didn’t have much meat. When eating chicken, she liked to eat the wings and feet, and crabs, which were troublesome to eat and didn’t have much meat.
"Hehe, as long as it tastes good, that's all that matters. Uncle, you clean the pig's head, Second Brother, you clean the crayfish, and I'll take charge of cooking." Such good ingredients shouldn't be wasted.
“Okay, we’ll do it your way.” Everyone got busy, and Kong Xuefang helped out.
After Jiang Jianguo, with his son's help, cleaned the pig's head of hair, split it open with an axe, and put it in a large pot to blanch it in water, then added spices and started cooking. This thing would take a while.
"Let's cook first, this pig's head will take several hours to cook." Jiang Ruyu first patted the cleaned cucumbers and made a cold dish, then chopped the ingredients for stir-frying crayfish, and Jiang Jun prepared to cook another small pot.
Kong Xuefang watched from the side, preparing to learn a skill from her sister-in-law.
Heat the iron wok, add lard, then put ginger slices, scallion segments, garlic slices, and chili peppers into the hot oil. Kong Xuefang looked at her sister-in-law who had added so much oil, smacked her lips, and said nothing.
This dish tastes best when it's fried in plenty of oil. After frying until fragrant, the cleaned crayfish are added to the pan and stir-fried. The crayfish quickly change color. Because a lot of chili peppers were added, the kitchen soon filled with a pungent smell of oil. The chili peppers prepared by Kong Xuefang, this Sichuan girl, can be described as biological weapons, which is quite terrifying.
Jiang Ruyu hadn't expected the chili peppers to be so spicy: "Oh dear, I miscalculated. I forgot that the chili peppers in Yanjing are different from the ones at my sister-in-law's house. This is too spicy. Cough cough, I need to go outside and catch my breath."
Jiang Ruyu couldn't help but be blasted out by the biological weapon. Jiang Jun, after starting a relationship with Kong Xuefang, has become able to eat spicy food. He laughed and said, "I forgot to remind you, these chilies were brought from Xuefang's hometown, they're very spicy."
Kong Xuefang said apologetically, "It's so spicy, I'm afraid you'll have to rinse it with boiling water before you can eat it."
"It's okay, the spicier it is, the more appetizing it is." Jiang Ruyu can handle spicy food, but she certainly can't compare to people from Sichuan Province.
The latter half of the dish was cooked by Kong Xuefang. Fortunately, she is very skilled and the saltiness was just right. Because of this unexpected incident, Jiang Ruyu added two or three chili peppers to the river clams and stir-fried them into a dish of spicy stir-fried river clams. There was also a stir-fried mushroom and greens dish, and finally, an egg and greens soup.
The dish was quite lavish, and the aroma of their stir-fried crayfish was so strong that the educated youth in the east and front yards could smell it: "I can tell from this smell that Xuefang is stir-frying chili peppers again."
"Today's isn't just spicy, it's also very fragrant."
"I heard that Jiang Jun's father bought roosters and rabbits in the village, and also went to the commune to buy meat."
"Then we're in for a treat tomorrow."
"Yeah, hey, how much do you think we should give as a gift?"
"We'll go ask around later and discuss it together. We should all produce the same amount, so that some have more and some have less. That wouldn't look good."
Jiang Jun and Kong Xuefang didn't plan to invite many people to their wedding. They only invited the educated youth from the educated youth compound, who were like family to the bride. When Jiang Jianguo came, they also invited several leaders from the production team. This was to ensure that the two children wouldn't be bullied in the future. In addition, they invited their friends from the production team with whom they got along. In total, there were only two tables of people.
These days, gift-giving customs vary widely. In the city, gifts are given according to the closeness of the relationship, ranging from five yuan to one or two yuan, or even two or five mao. In the countryside, it's different. Some people give eggs, some give grain, some give brown sugar, while others don't care and give cheap vegetable leaves.
However, they were sent-down youth, and although they were said to have settled in the countryside, they were still considered outsiders by the villagers. No one said anything when they didn't invite the villagers.
The four of them ate their dinner with great gusto. Jiang Ruyu kept eating even as her mouth watered from the spiciness, while Jiang Jianguo ate a few but dared not eat anymore: "Oh, this stuff is really delicious, but it's too spicy. I can't eat anymore. You guys eat it."
After eating more than twenty pieces, Jiang Ruyu gave up: "Ah, I can't eat anymore, my mouth is swollen from the spiciness, but this meat is really delicious."
"Right? Before you leave, see if you can catch some more and make it less spicy so you can have a good meal."
"No need. Didn't my sister-in-law say she'd take me to the beach tomorrow afternoon after she finished her business? I've never seen the sea before, I want to see what it's like." Jiang Ruyu remembered this.
Kong Xuefang laughed: "Okay, I won't forget. Let's take our baskets and maybe we can find some seafood."
"Really? You can collect seafood? Does the production team allow that?"
"It's okay, we'll just pick them up and eat them ourselves. That's all agreed upon."
Jiang Ruyu was overjoyed and was looking forward to going to see it after she finished her work tomorrow. She felt that this trip was really worthwhile.
The pig's head was stewed for four hours. The pig's ears and tongue were taken out first because they were too mushy and wouldn't taste good. Around nine o'clock, the pig's head was almost done, so it was taken out and placed in a wooden basin. Water was added and placed in the pot, and the wooden basin was placed in the pot to prevent the meat from spoiling due to the high temperature. However, it was already a bit cool in Liaoning Province in early October, so I wasn't worried about the meat spoiling. The main concern was preventing rats and weasels from getting in.
The next morning, no one slept in. Today was a joyous day, and Jiang Jianguo and Jiang Jun went to the village early in the morning to exchange for some cornmeal. They brought some wheat flour, but it was impossible to use all wheat flour. They also exchanged about ten pounds of broken rice, which could be mixed with refined rice to steam rice.
The four of them were busy all morning, steaming rice, steaming buns made from a mixture of wheat and water, killing chickens and rabbits, washing, picking, and chopping vegetables. Jiang Jun also went to the village to borrow plates, bowls, and chopsticks, and borrowed two large tables and chairs from the brigade headquarters. These were all from the communal dining system implemented in the 1950s.
When the bell rang to signal the end of the workday, Kong Xuefang had already changed into a red shirt, black pants, and new leather shoes. Jiang Ruyu combed her hair, styled it into a bun, and put a red hair flower that she had bought especially for her in her hair.
Kong Xuefang was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes: "Thank you, Ruyu, thank you so much." It was such a big event in her life, and her parents and relatives were no longer around. She couldn't say she wasn't regretful, but her in-laws were easy to get along with, treated her very well, and cared a lot about their affairs. She was already very content.
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