"Squad leader, what are you going to do with all that meat? It'll go bad if we keep it any longer." Ningxia wasn't lying. There were three chickens, a rabbit, and a large pile of pre-cut pork. Two of the chickens were already a bit smelly, but the others were fine, but not fresh either.
Li Gang waved his hand, "You can do whatever you want. We brought this for you, and we can't take it away."
"Thank you, squad leader. I'll have to trouble you to help me clean up later." Ningxia didn't hesitate. They had already brought it to her, and it would seem hypocritical to push it back. Besides, she had no intention of accepting it. Her mind was racing, thinking of how to make them take it with them and eat it on the road.
"Ningxia, tell me what to do." Old Liao squatted beside the basin attentively, just waiting for Ningxia's order.
Ningxia sighed, went back into the house, and fetched two more basins. She divided the meat into two and put them in. "We have to go to the river to wash it first. It's too dirty."
A few rough men put the goods in a sack and put them wherever they went. Ningxia had to thank them for not dragging them on the ground.
A group of people carried the basin to the river in a mighty manner. With strength in numbers, they cleaned it up and carried it back in no time.
Ningxia went into the house and took out a bag of salt. She carefully selected a few pieces of pork with some fat and some lean meat and handed them to Lao Liao. "Brother Liao, please help me spread the salt evenly."
"Brother Li Gang, could you please go to the stairwell and nail a horizontal bar on the top for me so I can hang the bacon later?"
"Okay! Mu Mu, follow me!"
This wild boar has much more lean meat than fat. There are few pieces of fat left in the basin. Ningxia picked out two large pieces of meat with alternating fat and lean meat and put them aside. He will eat these two pieces of meat in the next two days.
The remaining fat and some hard-to-process scraps are all used to make oil! Eating oil residue is one thing, but life without oil is really hard.
At this time, there were only a few large pieces of fat meat, pheasants, rabbits and the like in the basin. Ningxia called Xiao Chen and Xiao Jie over. It happened that the two remaining children were more attentive and could help her with something.
"You two build a stove for me in the side room. Just remember to do as I say." The two nodded.
In fact, it is a kiln without a stove hole. It is in the shape of a rectangle with a narrow partition on the top. The bottom is used for making fire. The side that contacts the fire should be thicker, and the top layer can be thinner.
The middle compartment can be used to dry things. Ningxia thought about it and decided that it would definitely not be suitable for making complicated food, but it should be fine for drying dried meat.
Lin Yi, Xiao Chen and Xiao Jie moved stones for a long time before they gathered all the materials. By the time the kiln was ready, it was already the next night. Let's not talk about that for now.
After giving instructions to a few people, Ningxia was busy boiling oil. The wok was a little small, so Ningxia had to move out the big steamer again.
Put the chopped meat into the pot, add water and simmer slowly. When the water dries up, the oil will come out.
The oil residue began to produce oil, and everyone's work was almost done, except for three people who were still moving stones in the corner.
"Brother Li Gang, take everyone to sleep." Ningxia sat by the fire, turning the pot from time to time.
"It's okay, wait until you're done before going to sleep."
"I still have a while! It's still early and I can't sleep." It was just getting dark, and it was still very early.
"You've been wandering around in the mountains for several days now. Aren't you tired? I've already made the attic and the children's room. There's room for two on the sofa. You can divide it up as you like."
Li Gang and his friends were indeed tired. Seeing that Ningxia insisted on not having anyone to accompany her, they washed up and went to sleep. The door to the living room was open. Ningxia, Lin Yi, and Sangsang in the yard soon heard snoring coming from the room. The three of them smiled at each other.
"If you're sleepy, take Sangsang in to sleep. Don't wait for me. I'll be there for a while." Ningxia looked at Lin Yi who was holding Sangsang next to her.
Lin Yi shook his head. "I'm not sleepy either. I can't fall asleep even if I go in."
"I want to accompany Xia Xia too!" Sangsang refused to be outdone.
Ningxia smiled faintly, "I'm bored anyway. Take a flashlight or candle and go pick some peppercorns for me. Just a small handful will do. Then hang them up to dry."
Lin Yi nodded and walked over with the flashlight. This flashlight was from Li Gang and his team. It was solar-powered and had extremely strong light, which made Ningxia envious.
The pork was about to release oil, and soon the tempting lard residue floated up. Ningxia took it out, drained the oil and set it aside, and put it in a jar when it cooled.
It looked like a lot when it was boiling, but when it was scooped out, only a small basin was filled. Ningxia estimated that even three one-pound jars might not be enough to fill it.
But looking at the oil in the pot, she felt it was worth it. The steamer, which she couldn't even wrap around by herself, was now about a quarter full.
If you save some, it will be enough for them to eat for a long time.
Ningxia didn't take the pheasants, rabbits and bacon inside, so she left them under the eaves to blow in the wind all night and put them back into the house when the sun came out tomorrow.
The lean meat left in the basin was cut into strips by Ningxia, and lightly sprinkled with salt and hung up. I will wait until the peppercorns are dried and ground into powder tomorrow before making the jerky.
After the three of them finished all these and cleaned up the yard, they planned to go into the house to sleep.
Before going to bed, Ningxia suddenly remembered something. She quickly took a flashlight and went to the stairwell to scoop out half a basin of soybeans and soaked them in cold water before returning to the house peacefully.
"Sister Xia Xia, where have you been?"
Ningxia climbed onto the bed using all her strength. "Isn't there a stone mill in our yard? At first I thought it was just for decoration, but today I tried it out and it works! I'll grind some soy milk tomorrow, just in time to treat Brother Li Gang and the others."
"Soy milk!" Sangsang turned over and sat up. In her memory, soy milk was the sweetest. Eating jam made her happy, but drinking soy milk made her feel sweet in her heart.
Ningxia held her and fell asleep, "You won't be missing out, go to sleep!"
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