Chapter 106: Su Jing's Thoughts
I have already promised Wanwan. If I break the appointment, my image as her elder brother will be greatly damaged in her heart.
After so many years of hard preparation for the exam, he had already learned everything he could. Rote memorization was useless, and applying what he learned was the real solution.
Su Jing felt helpless about the academy's old-fashioned essays. He wanted to reunite with his family, but he couldn't go against his teacher's words.
Just when he was lost in thought, Su Chen came and said that a relative at home was not feeling well and asked him to go back and see him.
Now that we have this excuse, there is no reason not to let him go!
But Su Jing really thought that his parents were not feeling well, so he hurriedly packed up his things and went back with Su Chen. Su Mu was also there, waiting at the entrance of the academy with a bag on his back. He was wearing new clothes made by Su Wan, which was very warm. Su Chen also asked him to go back with him today.
It was only after Su Jing left the academy that he realized that it was just an excuse. Su Wan guessed that he couldn't get away, so she asked Su Chen to say that.
Today is the 28th. My family is already making shaqi ma to sell in the provincial capital. We will finish it overnight and the whole family will go to the provincial capital early tomorrow morning.
Jiang Yu has already arranged the carriage and they can set off as soon as their elder brother comes back.
Hearing that it was a false alarm, Su Jing finally breathed a sigh of relief. He packed all his clothes and books, and did not plan to go to the academy to continue studying after the New Year.
Knowing that his elder and second brothers were coming back, Su Wan specially asked Su Yun and Su Yi to go to the county to buy mutton yesterday. They bought five kilograms of mutton. When they saw wild black fish, they also bought a few. This thing is very nutritious when stewed into soup.
After so long, good news finally came from the trap dug by Su Chen and Jiang Yu. When they went up the mountain to check, they saw a wild boar had fallen into the trap and was dying.
After the snowfall, a layer of white blanket was added to the trap to better cover the hole. The wild boar also learned to be smart. After being fooled so many times, it actually learned to avoid the trap.
As a result, a snowfall blinded it and it accidentally fell down.
Su Chen has followed his master for so many years and has always gone hunting with him, so he has some experience. When it snowed, he couldn't wait to ask Jiang Yu to go up the mountain to take a look.
Having failed several times in a row, I didn't have much hope, so I hoped to catch a few rabbits in the fields at the foot of the mountain while there was still snow.
Oh, there is also a pregnant wild rabbit. It has given birth to nine cubs. Father Su made a nest for it with straw. It is very warm and there is no need to worry about it freezing to death.
He looked at these livestock every day and felt that the days were getting more and more hopeful and lively. He even fed them fresh white radishes every day. Rabbits are immoral and can continue to breed when they grow up. In the future, there will be more and more rabbits, and the family will not lack meat to eat, and they can also sell the meat for money.
The wild boar in the trap weighed more than 200 pounds. Uncle Jiang carried it down with them. When the time comes, they will cut off 10 pounds of meat for him and give him a pig's trotter as a reward.
The 240-pound wild boar was caught just before the New Year, so the Su family can have a good year with plenty of meat to eat.
Father Su thought that their family couldn't eat so much, so he used fifty or sixty kilograms to smoke bacon, and kept a few dozen kilograms to eat fresh while it was cold in winter, for fear that the more would go bad.
The pig's stomach, trotters, liver, large intestine and other offal had to be kept, which totaled several dozen kilograms. His two good friends came to help kill the pig, and he treated them to a pig-killing meal. He also cut a few kilograms of meat for each of them to take back, and gave Uncle Jiang his share. The wild boar was almost done.
The pig's blood is boiled in a pot and eaten. Su Wan is going to braise the pig's head to make braised pig's face and ears. There is ready-made soy sauce, which can be used to make the braising liquid.
When Su Jin and Su Mu returned home, they were surprised to find it so lively. There were chickens, rabbits, and a plate of pork hanging above the stove.
The mutton is sliced into pieces, the pig blood is in pieces, and there is also braised pig face meat.
Su Wan braised it overnight last night and the taste was widely praised. Su's father said that it was another great dish to go with wine.
But it would be even better with chili oil.
As soon as Su Jing and Su Mu stepped into the house, Su Wan came to pick them up.
"Big Brother, Second Brother, you are finally back!"
"Slow down, the ground is slippery." Su Jing held her arm, afraid that she would fall.
"Are you cold? There's a stove in the house, it's quite warm. Come in and warm yourself by the fire."
The two brothers put their things back into the room and then gathered around the fire in the house to warm themselves.
When Su Jing saw Jiang Yu when he entered the room, he greeted him.
"Ayu, long time no see, how are you?"
He hasn't come back since he left. It's been several months since we last saw each other.
"Brother Su, I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern." Jiang Yu politely clasped his fists towards him.
Sitting together and talking about recent events at home, Su Mu realized that so many things had happened when he was not at home.
Of course, he heard about the trip to the provincial capital from Su Chen on the way. Even his elder brother in the academy knew about it, but he didn't know. Su Wan didn't tell him in person. He thought it was strange, but he didn't say anything in the end.
The food on the table is all hard dishes, basically all meat, and you can eat as much rice as you want at home without worrying about not having money to buy more after you finish eating.
The whole family finally got together and had a good meal.
Father Su was so happy that he drank a few more glasses of wine.
In the evening, Su Wan asked Su Jing how his study of the policy paper on flood control was going.
Su Jing nodded, adopted Su Wan's suggestions, and added some of his own ideas.
During this period, he kept looking for books that recorded this subject, learning from their strengths and making up for his own weaknesses, constantly improving himself, and even drew a blueprint himself about dam construction.
After watching it, Su Wan thought it was pretty good and had a bit of the flavor of Dujiangyan.
"Brother is really smart and knows how to convert. The design of this blueprint is pretty good, but I don't quite understand it. I'll have to see the results after practice!"
Su Wan said as he returned the drawings to him.
"I hope I can have the opportunity to put it into practice. This is just a casual sketch I made. It can't be used. It needs to be improved. I can't figure it out by just thinking on my own. Only by visiting the disaster area in person can I find the right solution. Actually, I have another idea, but I don't know whether it should be included in the policy paper."
"Brother, tell me what you think." Su Wan was very interested.
"If the palace examination is indeed a policy essay, I will include this proposal in the essay. I understand that the Xuanhe River Basin is extremely barren due to floods, mainly because taxes have not been reduced. The people's lives are already difficult, and they have to pay the same taxes as other places. At the same time, they have to endure the impact of floods. As a result, many places have no harvest, and many refugees have abandoned their hometowns and poured into other towns, bringing a lot of trouble to these cities.
But if taxes in the Xuan River basin can be reduced, it will certainly lighten the burden on the local people. They will be willing to return to their hometowns, continue farming, and plant trees. Once the flooding is resolved, their lives will get better and better, and the Xuan River will become increasingly prosperous."
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