4. I dreamed of her
Fan Changyu found a colander to scoop up the fragrant brine from the pig offal and drain the water. The aroma of the seasoning and the meat blended perfectly, and the color of the brine was also very beautiful, much stronger than the brine he had seen in the delicatessen during the day.
Chang Ning looked eagerly at the stove and found that all the fish were in the water. He was a little disappointed: "There are no pig ears..."
She likes to eat pig ears.
Fan Changyu can poke a hole in the pig's large intestine and stomach with chopsticks, and cook it to be extremely soft and tasty.
She said, "Let's have pork intestine noodles tonight, and halved pig ears tomorrow."
Changning's eyes then lit up again.
While the stove was burning brightly, Fan Changyu scooped up the broth, cleaned the pot, re-boiled water, and added enough noodles for five people.
She told Changning: "Go to Aunt Zhao's house and tell them not to cook supper tonight. Let's eat pork intestine noodles together later."
Changning agreed obediently and ran to the next door to pass the message.
It doesn't take much effort to cook noodles. Fan Changyu put seasonings in four large bowls and one small bowl in advance. In order to make it more fragrant, he also scooped a spoonful of boiled lard into the bowls and poured the boiling soup on them. The lard and seasonings melted in the bowls, and the fragrance instantly wafted out.
Fan Changyu made it simple. He just put in some noodles, topped it with a layer of soft and glutinous fatty intestines cut into small pieces, and sprinkled some chopped green onions on top and that was it.
If her mother cooked noodles, she would also boil a pot of soup and use the soup instead of noodle soup, which would make the noodles taste so delicious.
She put her sister's bowl on the table and let her eat first, and she took the three large bowls of pork intestine noodles to the next room.
-
There was a wooden staircase connecting the attic and the ground floor. When he heard steady and light footsteps on the staircase, Xie Zheng opened his eyes.
After a moment, the woman's voice rang out from outside the door: "Are you awake?"
Xie Zheng said: "The door is not bolted."
My voice is still hoarse, but it's much better than yesterday.
Fan Changyu pushed the door open with his arm, and walked in with an oil lamp in one hand and a bowl of steaming noodles in the other. "I just heard from Auntie that a big falcon fell from the sky this morning and flew into the window of the room downstairs, breaking it. How could such a strange thing happen?"
Xie Zheng pursed his lips and remained silent.
He also didn't expect that the Saker Falcon was so stupid. It dived down immediately upon hearing his whistle.
Fan Changyu glanced at his face and found that although it was still pale, his overall complexion was much better than yesterday.
She was used to his silent nature. She put the oil lamp on the table and said, "Fortunately, the bird of prey didn't hurt anyone. I'll have to wait until uncle is free to repair the window of the room downstairs. Although the attic you live in now is a bit narrow, it's also quiet."
Xie Zheng finally uttered a faint "hmm" as a response.
Fan Changyu passed the noodles over and said, "I cooked a bowl of noodles. You can eat it."
Xie Zheng could already smell the fragrance. The layer of something he had never seen before on the bowl of noodles was emitting the same meaty aroma that had filled the entire alley.
The taste made me feel even hungrier. After drinking horribly bitter medicine and porridge for several days in a row, it was no exaggeration to say that the bowl of noodles in front of me was a delicacy.
He thanked him, took the bowl, picked up a piece of noodles and started eating.
The noodles were smooth and mellow, and although they were not made from good flour, he felt that they tasted better than any noodles he had ever eaten. The meat on top of the noodles was soft, glutinous and chewy, and the taste was even more mellow when he took a bite.
Even though he boasted of having eaten many delicacies from land and sea, he couldn't even taste what this was.
Xie Zheng asked, "What is this?"
Fan Changyu was just about to go back to eat his bowl of pork intestine noodles, and when he heard him ask, he answered, "Potato."
Xie Zheng paused as he was picking up the noodles. When he heard the word "intestine", he already had a bad feeling in his heart.
Seeing that he didn't seem to know what pig intestines were, Fan Changyu said more bluntly: "It's pig intestines."
His expression changed instantly.
Fan Changyu had seen people who disliked eating pig offal before, but this person's expression when he ate it just now did not seem like he thought it tasted bad. Now he looked so unhappy, and she really couldn't understand why. She asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"
"It's OK."
This question is a bit difficult to answer.
Xie Zheng took several deep breaths without making a sound before he calmed down the nausea.
Fan Changyu was still thinking about his pork intestine noodles. If he didn't go back to eat them, they would get burnt. So he said, "I'll go back first. When you're done, put the bowl on the cabinet next to you. Auntie will come up to collect it later."
There was a slight knock on the door, followed by the sound of the other person coming down the stairs.
Xie Zheng looked at the bowl of noodles in his hand, frowning, and hesitated whether to continue eating.
He was not a bashful person. During the difficult marches, he had chewed tree bark and grass roots, but he had never eaten the large intestines of animals.
Pig intestines? Isn't that what they hold pig feces?
Just thinking about it is hard to swallow.
But considering his own injuries, this bowl of noodles was the most lucrative thing he had eaten in the past two days.
Xie Zheng struggled again and again, but finally picked up the noodles again and put them to his mouth stiffly.
When God bestows a great mission upon a person, he must first make his mind suffer and his muscles and bones work hard...
It smells quite good.
-
That night, Xie Zheng, who seldom had dreams, had a strange dream about the woman who saved him. In the dream, the woman was happily chasing a pig. As she was walking, she suddenly pulled out a big knife, cut open the pig's belly, pulled out a long pig intestine, looked at him and said, "This is the fat intestine. I'll cook it for you."
The overlapping sounds of pigs squealing in his dream and outside of his mind suddenly woke Xie Zheng up, and he realized that he was lying in bed.
The pigs next door were still howling. Xie Zheng glanced out the window and saw that it was just getting light.
However, there was some noise coming from downstairs. It seemed that the old couple got up and went to help the woman kill the pig.
Thinking of the dream he just had, Xie Zheng looked extremely unhappy.
Driving pigs, killing pigs, eating pig intestines...everything related to that woman seemed to involve pigs.
He pressed his brows and closed his eyes again, trying to block out the sharp and shrill pig squeals outside.
Just be patient for a few more days. Hai Dongqing has already brought the letter back. His old subordinates will come soon and we will be able to leave here in no time.
He would leave a large sum of money to the woman and the old couple as a reward.
-
In the backyard of the Fan family, Fan Changyu had tied the pig to the pig-killing stool with a thick rope. She inherited her father's extraordinary strength, and she could hold down a pig by herself, which required several men to hold down.
The pig-killing stool at home is not made of wood, but a stone stool that his father specially asked someone to make.
After the pig is tied up, no matter how hard it struggles, it cannot move at all, and you don't have to bother holding down its tail.
The long and sharp bleeding knife was inserted directly into the pig's neck, almost covering the handle. The sharp pig's howl disappeared instantly, and the pig's blood flowed out along the blade, filling the wooden basin under the stone bench.
When killing a pig, it is considered auspicious to kill it with one blow, and the more blood the better.
Aunt Zhao, who came to help, saw the pig's blood basin and immediately laughed: "This basin of pig's blood will be enough to eat for several days."
Fan Changyu didn't respond, but drew out his bloodletting knife. His expression was unusually stern, with some blood foam on his face and sleeves.
Whenever she slaughtered a pig, she seemed like a different person, making people afraid to approach her. It was probably because of the unique viciousness of a killer.
After draining the pig's blood, Fan Changyu untied the rope and dragged the pig to the big pot of hot water. He scooped up the boiling water to boil the pig's hair before starting to shave it with a razor.
Chang Ning was standing at the door, looking out into the yard. Aunt Zhao said, "Mrs. Ning, go play outside. Children, don't look at these things, or you'll have nightmares at night."
Changning whispered, "I'm not afraid," and walked out reluctantly.
After shaving the pig's hair, Fan Changyu rinsed it with water. Without asking Carpenter Zhao and Aunt Zhao for help, he pulled up the pig and hung it on the iron hook of the pillar in the yard. Then he used a knife to split the pig into two halves.
Half of the pork continued to be hung on the iron hook, and the other half was carried by her to the door panel supported by two benches to cut the pork.
The old couple of the Zhao family were stunned and said hesitantly: "This girl really takes after her father..."
After Fan Changyu finished cutting up the pork, he hurriedly used a cart to take it to the meat market to sell. He also asked Carpenter Zhao to help deliver the 20 kilograms of meat that Chef Li of Yixianglou had ordered yesterday.
After thinking about it, she decided to pack some brine for Chef Li. It was not because she was trying to do the brine business for him in the future. He was a restaurant chef, and she didn't want to show off her skills. She just wanted to thank Chef Li for taking care of the business.
When they arrived at the meat market, Fan Changyu was considered to be one of the early ones. Only a few shops were open, and the butchers were placing the pork for sale today in front of the shop doors.
When someone familiar saw her, they were surprised: "Oh, Changyu is going to open your pork shop too?"
Fan Changyu is straightforward and quick-witted.
She opened the door of her shop which had been closed for over a month. The inside was tidy and clean, with all items still in the same place her father used to put them, though covered with a light layer of dust.
Thinking of her father, Fan Changyu felt a pang of pain in her heart, but she knew that now was not the time to be sad, so she quickly calmed down, fetched some water and wiped the shop inside and out before she began to put the pork that she had killed this morning on the chopping board. She also put the offal that she had salted last night on the chopping board.
It was not until six quarters past three in the morning that only a few people came to the market to buy vegetables.
Fan Changyu's butcher shop was in a good location. The shops next to her were all occupied by well-built men and women. She was a girl standing there alone. Some women buying vegetables seemed to think she was easier to bargain with, and would ask her how much the meat was when they passed by.
Fan Changyu told the other party the price with a smile, and also said that the shop was reopening today, and if you bought a pound of pork, you would get one or two ounces of offal for free, just to celebrate.
When the ladies heard that they could get brine for free when they bought fresh meat, they couldn't help but be tempted, and most of them would buy a piece of pork from Fan Changyu.
As soon as the market opened, it received several orders of business. Among the nearby pork shops, only Fan Changyu's was involved.
The butcher in the butcher shop across the street was jealous and shouted, "Ms. Fan, you can't break the rules when doing business. All the meat sellers in this market are selling meat at the same price. What's the meaning of giving extra money when you sell meat?"
Fan Changyu knew that this man had been at odds with her father in the past, so she was not afraid of him and said eloquently, "Uncle Guo, you are wrongly accusing me. Isn't the price of the meat sold in my shop the same as that of everyone else? How is it against the rules? Giving gifts is because my shop has just reopened today, and it's for good luck. What business rules say that this is not allowed? Uncle Guo, do you think that I am an orphan and easy to bully because I have no parents?"
The other party couldn't win the argument with Fan Changyu, and his yellow face turned red: "What a sharp tongue you have, I can't beat you!"
The butcher who was close to the Fan family said, "Okay, Old Guo, Changyu girl will only sell one pig today, why are you so fussy with a junior?"
It was not good to be called a bully, so Guo the butcher shouted, "Okay, you can continue to give me this gift today, but I won't allow you to do so tomorrow!"
Fan Changyu originally only intended to give it as a gift for one day, as she was going to sell the salty food tomorrow. She said, "Of course."
Only then did Butcher Guo stop.
The meat was selling quite slowly as he was just waiting for people to come up and ask. Even though the butcher Guo across the street was so angry that his face was almost twisted, those who wanted to go to his butcher shop to ask about the price did not dare to ask because of his ferocious look.
It was just a one-day gift, and Fan Changyu wanted to spread the fame as much as possible.
When more people came and went in the market, she immediately started to shout: "Selling meat - buy a pound of pork and get a pound of offal for free!"
This shouting was very effective. Immediately, many people gathered around and asked how the pork was sold.
While bargaining with people, Fan Changyu skillfully chopped pieces of meat and made an appropriate expression of pain to give up a few coins. Before the morning market was halfway through, the pork in her shop was almost sold out. The result was better than Fan Changyu expected.
The face of Guo the butcher opposite was as stinky as the toilet floor in his house.
Fan Changyu turned a blind eye, tidied up his butcher shop, stuffed the knives into his backpack and carried it on his back, closed the shop door, and planned to go to the city of Washi with his bulging money bag to buy two more pigs.
When passing by the butcher Guo's shop, the butcher said ferociously: "Give me something as a reward tomorrow, but don't say that I bullied an orphan like you!"
Fan Changyu snorted coldly and ignored him.
She won’t send it tomorrow, she’ll sell it!
While walking on the road, Fan Changyu did a rough calculation. This 90-jin pig, excluding the pig's head and offal, had meat accounting for about 70 jin. It was all sold at the price of fresh meat. Today's gross profit would be over 20,000 yuan.
The pig heads and offal will be sold tomorrow, and there will be some profit!
After deducting the cost of buying the pig, this pig made a lot of money!
Feeling the heavy weight of the money bag in her arms, Fan Changyu's steps became lighter, and all the unhappiness that Guo the butcher was finding fault with her was thrown out of her mind.
But just as she walked out of the meat market and before entering the tile market, she heard someone behind her calling her name urgently: "Changyu! Changyu!"
Fan Changyu looked back and saw that it was Carpenter Zhao, who was running towards him with an anxious look on his face.
Fan Changyu asked hurriedly, "What happened, Uncle Zhao?"
Carpenter Zhao was almost out of breath. "Go home and take a look. Your uncle brought people from the casino to smash your door and search through your boxes and cabinets for the land deed. Your aunt and I, old bones, are not going to stand by it!"
The author has something to say:
Xie Zheng: For the first time in my life, I dreamed of a girl, but it was not about love, but about pigs...
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