That piece of pork had just the right amount of fat, and it must have weighed about ten pounds.
The butcher was dumbfounded. "Young lady, why are you buying so much pork?"
Gu An'an smiled mysteriously, "Making an enema."
The rosa-sinensis on the mountain will eventually be harvested, and at most two or three more baskets of persimmons can be picked.
With four little ones to raise, she has to find a way to earn money to support her family.
Pork is cheap now, so of course I should buy more.
The fat can be rendered into oil for stir-frying, and the excess meat can be used to make sausages. Even if it can't be sold, we can keep it for our own consumption.
Gu An'an had a good plan, but she had no intention of sharing it with the butcher. "There are many people in my family, and I promised to buy meat for the children, but we can't afford mutton."
The butcher thought so too, and he kindly shared his secret to cooking pork, saying, "Young lady, you can buy some sauce to cook with it later, it tastes pretty good."
The large piece of meat weighed about thirteen pounds, but the owner only charged her for ten pounds and gave her all the pork bones from the meat stall.
Gu An'an was shameless enough to take the pig intestines and stuff them into the basket, making the bamboo basket on her back suddenly quite heavy.
When she came out of the rice shop, carrying more than 30 kilograms of rice, flour, and meat, she could no longer lift Jiang Mingxu.
The little boy wasn't interested in meat; after all, raw meat didn't look appetizing. Right now, he was being stubborn and tugged at Gu An'an's arm, refusing to move.
"Mom, you haven't bought me any snacks yet."
The pastry shop next door smells so good and tastes so sweet, I can't resist going there!
Gu An'an felt that this kid was just opportunistic, and that he used to be at odds with her a million times over.
Now, the moment she turns her head, she keeps calling out "Mother, Mother!" and she even knows how to act cute.
This child is teachable.
Gu An'an couldn't help but laugh, "Then let's go buy some snacks now."
It was late afternoon, and there weren't many pastries left in the pastry shop.
Gu An'an spent twenty coins to pack everything up and take it away. "I'm going to cook meat tonight, so be careful you don't eat too much now and won't be able to eat at night."
The child had crumbs of snacks on his lips. "How could that be? I can still eat it."
It smells so good; he has never eaten such delicious snacks before.
Remembering that Gu An'an had bought these snacks, Jiang Mingxu hesitated for a moment, "Mother, would you like some?"
Gu An'an was deeply moved by this gesture of sharing the food. "What a good boy. Mingxu, just eat by yourself. Eat slowly so you don't choke."
Today I earned a total of five taels of silver and forty-three copper coins. I spent eight copper coins on candied hawthorns, sixty copper coins on pork, one hundred and five copper coins on rice, flour, sugar, salt, soy sauce and some spices, and twenty copper coins on pastries.
She still has four taels and eight hundred and fifty coins.
They're very wealthy.
It's a pity her body is a bit weak, otherwise Gu An'an felt she could buy more pork and grain.
Carrying heavy loads of rice, flour, and meat, Gu An'an led Jiang Mingxu to the agreed-upon place to wait for the oxcart to go home.
The uncle who drove the oxcart was from Liujiawa. He was quite familiar with Gu An'an because he often took villagers from several nearby villages to the county.
Earlier, they would watch over An'an while she ate, deliberately tempting the children and whetting their appetites.
Seeing the little boy eating so heartily, Gu An'an now resembled a loving mother.
Uncle Liu didn't say much.
The woman who went back with them couldn't help but ask, "Oh, sister, you bought so much stuff, did you strike it rich?"
Don't flaunt your wealth.
Gu An'an kept the wisdom passed down from her ancestors firmly in mind, after all, there is no contradiction between the simple folk customs and the fact that bad people come from poor and remote places.
"I've already emptied my savings on this little bit of stuff. I'm worried about how I'll make a living in the future. Do you have any ways to make money, sister? Call me if you can."
These words made the woman smile sullenly and stop talking.
Why can't she earn her own money? Besides, what ways does she even know to make money?
After getting off the oxcart at the entrance of Jiangjia Village, the oxcart continued along the mountain road.
Gu An'an carried a bamboo basket on her back and held Jiang Mingxu's hand as they headed home.
Along the way, we encountered several villagers who were all astonished by what they saw.
Is this still Jiang Laosan's house?
"Third son, did your mother hit you?"
After finishing the last bite of osmanthus cake, Jiang Mingxu's mouth was parched. "My name is Jiang Mingxu!"
He's not called "Third Boy".
The villagers couldn't help but laugh when they heard this, and casually asked, "Oh, you have a name now?"
"Yeah, my mother named me that." Jiang Mingxu said with a hint of pride; he was someone who had a mother who doted on him.
The villagers were amazed by the children's appearance. Had Gu An'an changed her ways, or was she planning to discipline these kids again?
If they truly reform and turn over a new leaf, that would be wonderful.
The worst-case scenario is that she'll offer you sweet treats, only to slap you hard later.
This is a despicable thing that Gu An'an did.
Amid the villagers' confusion, Gu An'an took Jiang Mingxu home.
As soon as they got home, Jiang Mingyi pulled the person over and examined him carefully, then discovered that his younger brother's belly seemed a bit big.
"Brother, I'm thirsty, I want to drink water."
Gu An'an glared at him upon hearing this, "I told you not to eat so much, but you didn't listen to me. Now your stomach is bloated from drinking water, what if it bursts later? Go lie down on the bed first, boss, keep an eye on him, don't give him any water."
Jiang Mingyi was a little confused and asked in a low voice, "What did she give you to eat?"
Are we going to be eating dirt?
Jiang Mingxu chuckled upon hearing this, counting on his fingers as he said, "Mom bought me candied hawthorns, and she bought some for you too. Oh, and some desserts, the osmanthus cake was delicious."
His mother's backstage area is going to the city, and he will go with her then.
The third brother has always disliked his stepmother the most, but now he calls her affectionately.
Does this woman really want to be a good person?
Gu An'an was tidying up her things. "Zhu'er, come here for a moment."
She handed over the candied hawthorns wrapped in oil paper, along with a packet of pastries, saying, "Have some to satisfy your cravings first, and Mom will stew some meat for you later."
More than ten kilograms of pork—Gu An'an had already arranged it all on her way back.
Render oil from one pound of fatty pork, cut off two pounds to make braised pork, and mince the rest to make pork sausage.
She also got some pig intestines from the butcher's stall, which she would process and use as casings later.
If all else fails, making cured meat would be a good option.
“Pearl”.
Jiang Mingzhu, who was delicately eating a candied hawthorn, shuddered upon hearing the voice.
What's wrong?
"After we finish eating, let's start a fire. I'll go prepare the meat first; we'll stew it for dinner tonight."
Jiang Mingzhu watched the person leave carrying meat and bones, and then she came to her senses in a daze.
Jiang Mingxu had already moved closer to her. "Sister, are the candied hawthorns delicious?"
There were still two candied hawthorns left on the bamboo skewer. Seeing the person looking so hungry, Jiang Mingzhu handed the candied hawthorns to her younger brother. "She really didn't hit you?"
"No, but sister, mother has earned a lot of money."
Jiang Mingxu quickly betrayed Gu An'an, saying, "From now on, we won't have to worry about food."
Looking at her younger brother's satisfied expression, the girl's face showed a hint of worry. She had to actually give them food.
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