Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Back home, Shen Xuan put...
Back home, Shen Xuan washed the ribs and put them on the stove.
This piece of ribs is very big, with a thin layer of skin evenly distributed on it, and elastic lean meat underneath.
Shen Xuan first removed the skin and put it aside, then divided the ribs into four portions. A portion weighs about three pounds, and only one portion is kept. The rest is smeared with salt and placed in a ventilated and cool place in the yard, and hung up to make cured ribs, which can be eaten for several meals.
He skillfully separated the remaining ribs one by one and cut them into small pieces about one finger long.
Because there was no cooking wine, Shen Xuan marinated the ribs with salt, wild onions and ginger. After the ribs were marinated for a while, they became flavorful. Only then did Shen Xuan start to cook.
When Xue Fenglin saw this, he hurried over to help. He went to the back of the house, picked up a pile of firewood, and took it to the kitchen to make a fire.
If you see the fire getting smaller, add a piece of firewood in time. Shen Xuan heated the pot, cut the pig skin that had just been set aside into small pieces, and threw them into the pot.
With a squeak, the pig skin instantly rolled up and shrank into small oil residues, and a fragrant smell of oil wafted into the air.
Shen Xuan slid the spatula, and soon a small bowl of golden lard came out from the bottom of the pot.
Only then did Shen Xuan scoop up the oil residue and put it aside, and added the remaining lard into a small bowl.
At this time, there was still a little oil left at the bottom of the pot, so Shen Xuan threw the marinated ribs in.
With a splash, oil splashed everywhere, and soon both sides of the ribs were fried until slightly browned. Only then did Shen Xuan add them all up and put them into a large earthenware jar.
Shen Xuan took out the radish and cut it into small pieces with a rolling knife. After the radish is cut, put it into the clay pot containing the ribs.
He added some well water into the clay pot and put it on the stove to stew. After finishing all these, he started washing rice.
There was pork ribs and radish soup today, and Shen Xuan didn’t want to drink the thin rice porridge anymore, so he decided to steam some white rice.
He put the washed rice into a steamer and put a linen cloth underneath. After everything was done, I went to the field behind the house to pick a handful of Artemisia selengensis.
The fields in the village are full of wild vegetables such as mugwort, shepherd's purse and purslane, and villagers often pick them to eat.
However, this time Shen Xuan fried the basil leaves with oil residue and added two cloves of garlic.
The Artemisia selengensis fried with oil residue is particularly fragrant and makes people's appetite grow at the mere smell.
The aroma of lard attracted Aunt Tian from next door.
Seeing Shen Xuan coming out of the kitchen with a plate of wild vegetables and rice, he said with some envy: "What wild vegetables smell so good? They are almost as good as meat. I didn't expect that you are quite good at cooking, Brother Shen."
Shen Xuan smiled and said, “It’s fried with oil residue, so it smells very good.”
Auntie Tian heard this and said, "Next time I'll try cooking with oil residue. I didn't realize you were so capable when I was at Wang's house before. Your husband is also a lucky man."
Auntie Tian said this in front of Xue Fenglin. Shen Xuan smiled awkwardly when he heard it, and it was difficult to explain anything to her.
When Xue Fenglin heard others praising Shen Xuan, he was very happy in his heart, and he couldn’t help but smile.
He helped Shen Xuan bring the stewed pork ribs and radish soup out of the kitchen along with the clay pot. The two of them had one dish and one soup. Although it was not very rich, it was delicious.
With this pork ribs soup and rice, Shen Xuan and Xue Fenglin both ate an extra bowl of rice. Shen Xuan brought the remaining pork rib soup back to the kitchen and boiled it.
The weather is still hot now, so the leftover soup will not go bad in the evening and you can have it for another meal.
After eating and drinking, Shen Xuan cleaned up the table and took out the remaining money in his sleeve pocket and counted it.
In the past few days since he came here, he has earned a total of 300 coins by catching snails. After deducting the expenses of the past two days, he is only left with 152 coins, which is almost exactly half.
"Today, there are a lot of people buying meat flowers. I have to go make some money." Shen Xuan put away the 150 coins and said, "Lin Ye, I have to go to the mountains tomorrow. The road is difficult to walk on. I'm afraid I won't be back at noon. There is still some rice and flour at home. Can you eat some at home?"
"Sure." Xue Fenglin nodded, feeling a little guilty.
He didn't know how many days it had been since Shen Xuan came here, but he knew that Shen Xuan's life was very difficult. After all these years, he only had less than 300 coins on him.
With just this little money, I bought myself some pork ribs today!
The next morning, Shen Xuan got up early and started busying himself in the kitchen.
He mixed the batter, spread a few pancakes with lard, ate one himself, and took one away for lunch. The rest was left for Xue Fenglin to eat.
Xue Fenglin couldn’t finish so many pancakes in the morning, and he could heat them up and eat them himself when he was hungry at noon.
After going up the mountain, Shen Xuan first went in the direction of the bamboo forest.
It is still early, and although some villagers can be vaguely seen on the road, the bamboo shoots should not have been dug up so quickly. He wants to eat pork ribs stewed with fresh bamboo shoots.
Arriving at the bamboo forest, Shen Xuan indeed saw the familiar figures of Zhong Ge'er and his sister inside, and it seemed that they had just arrived.
Seeing Shen Xuan, Zhong Xiaomei greeted him. Shen Xuan nodded at them and squatted down to dig bamboo shoots.
After a while, Shen Xuan dug a dozen bamboo shoots, peeled them and put them in the backpack. Then he saw Zhong Xiaomei skipping towards him. The basket behind her was already half full, which meant she had probably finished digging.
"Chen Xuan, how does your man treat you?" Zhong Xiaomei asked.
Shen Xuan was no longer stupid, and she didn’t dare to bully him anymore. Yesterday, seeing Shen Xuan spend so much money on ribs at once, Zhong Xiaomei felt curious.
Because they had to pretend to be a couple in the village, Shen Xuan had no choice but to nod and say to Zhong Xiaomei, “It’s okay.”
"It must be very good." Zhong Xiaomei said after hearing this: "Otherwise, I wouldn't give you so much money? The money you gave you yesterday was given by him, right?"
Shen Xuan nodded perfunctorily, not wanting to explain more.
When Zhong Xiaomei saw him, she asked again: "What does your man do? Where does he get so much money?"
In fact, Shen Xuan didn't know what Xue Fenglin was doing, so he simply stopped talking. He just stood up, put on his backpack and said, "I'm done digging, I'm leaving first."
Before Xiaomei Zhong asked for the answer she wanted, she stomped her feet with regret when she saw Shen Xuan leave like that.
At this time, Brother Zhong, who was not far away, came over and said, "Look at that man, he was covered in blood when he came here. Maybe he is not a legitimate businessman. You should stop asking questions."
Besides, Nanny Wang asked a matchmaker to help find a suitable man for Wang Xiaolian. Because of the dowry of three acres of land, things went more smoothly than before.
Not long after, the matchmaker came back with a report: "It is said that there is a scholar named Sun in the neighboring village a mile away. He is also quite good-looking. I heard that your family is willing to give three mu of land as a dowry, so I agreed to marry him."
"He's actually a scholar?" Nanny Wang was delighted, but then she asked with some concern, "Such a scholar should have no trouble finding a wife, so why would he fall in love with our boy?"
The matchmaker said, "There is a reason for that. Let me tell you."
It turned out that Mr. Sun was nearly thirty years old and had been studying for the imperial examinations at home, supported by his widowed mother. He had only just passed the examination this year.
Moreover, his family only had a widowed mother, so they didn't have much money and couldn't afford the bride price, so they could only hold a banquet in the village.
"You are a widowed mother and the only son? You can't even afford the bride price!" Nanny Wang frowned when she heard this: "You can afford to go to school, why are you still so poor? I have to think about it again."
The matchmaker laughed mockingly when he heard this: "If everything about her is good, she would have started a family long ago. How could it be your turn to choose?"
When Wang Xiaolian heard this, she became a little anxious. He took Nanny Wang's arm and said, "After all, I have passed the imperial examination and made money. Isn't it only a matter of time? Besides, I have land as a dowry. Can I still be bullied?"
When Nanny Wang heard this, she knew that Wang Xiaolian might have fallen in love with that scholar.
But she was still hesitant in her heart, fearing that Wang Xiaolian would suffer a loss if she married him.
Wang Xiaolian kept trying to persuade her, and said that if that didn't work, she could just secretly go to the neighboring village to take a look at what the scholar looked like.
Wang Xiaolian was very picky before and stayed at home until she was 18 years old without getting married.
After being laughed at by the villagers for not being able to get married, she wanted to marry someone of higher status and position so that she could have face when she told others about it.
Although Mr. Sun was older, he still had the title of a scholar, so after she got married, she would be the wife of a scholar.
In addition, those who have achieved the title of scholar or above can enjoy many benefits such as tax exemption, so Wang Xiaolian felt that if she missed this opportunity, she would miss it forever, and she couldn't wait to marry Mr. Sun.
Nanny Wang was helpless because of his pestering, so she had to agree to accompany him to take a look.
The two men arrived at the neighboring village and secretly peeked inside the scholar's house. They found that Scholar Sun was studying in the yard. He was wearing a scholar's outfit, looked gentle and fair-skinned. He was indeed different from those farmers in the village.
Wang Xiaolian blushed immediately, and she fell in love with him secretly, feeling extremely satisfied.
When Nanny Wang saw him, she also thought that the scholar looked quite handsome. So they went to find a matchmaker to mediate, and the two families decided on the marriage together, and planned to hold the wedding banquet at the end of next month.
Wang Xiaolian got a good marriage, and she became famous in the village.
She had long been fed up with the villagers' ridicule, and now wished that everyone knew that she was going to marry a scholar. He just ran to the village to show off.
He still resented what Zhong Ge'er and his sister had said to him that day, so he ran to the market at the entrance of the village and went to show off in front of Zhong Ge'er's stall selling insoles.
"So I say, good things are worth waiting for." Wang Xiaolian deliberately said in front of Zhong Ge'er in a sarcastic tone: "For example, if I wait until this age, won't I marry a scholar? Unlike some people, who are ordinary looking and have no family background, they gossip about this and that all day long, and don't know if they can get married in the future."
Zhong Ge'er was so angry at Wang Xiaolian that he was hurt inside, but he had no way to refute.
Who made Wang Xiaolian bring a large dowry, including three acres of land!
Not to mention the dowry, his family was also counting on him and his sister to marry with a large gift so that they could use it to find a wife for their youngest son!
Zhong Ge'er's family gave birth to a boy as the third child, and his parents have always only loved his younger brother.
He and Zhong Xiaomei went out to work at dawn every day, digging bamboo shoots and selling insoles. They were too busy to handle everything. But his younger brother enjoyed a good life at home and didn't even have to work in the fields.
However, when it came time to eat, they had to follow their younger brother first, and they could only eat what he left over.
Brother Zhong only sold two pairs of insoles this morning. After he closed his stall and went home, he was scolded by his mother and father in turn.
After lunch, Aunt Zhong came to Brother Zhong's bed and said that she had found a family for him.
"It's in this village, very close, and the family has five acres of land. They said they think you are hardworking and capable, and are willing to pay five taels of silver as a dowry and let you marry into the family and be their stepmother." Aunt Zhong said.
The family that the Zhong family asked a matchmaker to introduce Zhong Ge'er to was a widower who was already thirty-two years old, had a big beard, and had two sons.
When Zhong Ge'er heard this, his heart sank. He was only sixteen years old, and this guy was twice as old as him! The eldest son in the family is twelve years old, only four years younger than me.
Seeing that Zhong was very reluctant, Aunt Zhong said with a frown: "What do you know? You will know how to love others when you are older. Apart from him, who else would be willing to give five taels of silver to a boy like you?"
"Chen Xuan knows that he has to find someone who can afford to buy ribs. Why are you so useless? You have to be a boy. If you were a girl, you could get married better. Do you have to wait until you are 18 years old like Wang Xiaolian, and your family will pay you to marry her off?"
Brother Zhong was very sad, but there was nothing he could do. His family liked the man's gift and would definitely agree to it. After all, he was a boy.
But he thought of Shen Xuan for a moment, and he felt a little comforted.
The man Shen Xuan married was an ugly freak. Compared to him, the old widower at least had a flat head and a straight face, so it wasn't that ugly.
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