Chapter 66: The Fallen Nobleman's Lamb Offal Soup, The Past, The Naive Ghost
The turmoil in the shadows of the city lord's mansion did not affect the normal lives of the residents of Eaton City.
Everyone knew that the city lord had lost valuable jewels, which were said to be his mother's heirlooms, hence the unified search of every household in the city. There was a reason for this, and everyone cooperated fully.
Similarly, for the residents of Rosen, what happened in Eaton City had absolutely nothing to do with them and had no impact whatsoever. They didn't even know what had happened and continued living their peaceful lives.
After cooling overnight, the hot pot base in the jars had completely solidified. Lai sealed the jar openings with oil paper before storing them in a well-ventilated and dry storage room.
Only enough broth for one or two hot pot meals was left, and it was left open in a container.
The meat and lamb offal at home have always been stored outside in a shady place. They've frozen solid after being left outside for the past few days.
Lai brought all the food she was going to eat into the house to defrost early in the morning, so as to avoid it being undercooked when she cooked it at noon.
He also used warm water to make some fermented white flour, which he used to make some fermented pancakes as his staple food after it was fermented at noon.
Because when the sheep were first brought home, Lai had already cleaned the internal organs, so now all that's needed is to wait for them to thaw, wash them, blanch them, and cut them up before using them to make lamb offal soup.
It saved a lot of time and a lot of trouble.
"Brother, I'm going out."
Neil had already gotten ready to go out, wearing a thick woolen hat to keep his ears warm on the road.
This was made for him by Linda, and of course, Ray also received a matching gray-black hat.
Remember to come home for lunch today.
Ray handed Neil a small water pouch filled with hot water.
"good!"
Neil opened the door and left, and the cold wind outside, mixed with snowflakes, blew into the room through the crack in the door.
The weather wasn't great today; it started snowing. It melted as soon as it hit the ground, giving it a slightly sleety feel.
Fortunately, the wood that Lai had chopped was all piled up in the outer barn, so there was no need to worry about it getting wet from the snow.
Tata dragged his protruding hind legs around the living room, practicing walking with a clattering sound. The phrase "disabled but determined" perfectly describes him.
Lai did housework and laundry in the background noise.
It was very cold in winter, and he was wearing thick clothes. Since there was no washing machine, he had to wash the clothes by hand, bit by bit. He heated enough hot water, then mixed it with plenty of cold water to keep his hands warm.
The washing took more than two hours. Lai moved the simple clothes rack in the living room to the fireplace and wrung out the washed clothes to hang them temporarily.
Given the current situation outside, it's best not to hang your clothes out to dry yet.
By the time I finished washing the clothes it was almost noon, and most of the lamb offal and meat in the basin had already dissolved.
Lai rinsed the offal with clean water to remove the blood, then put it in a pot of cold water with scallions, ginger, and garlic. Blanch the offal until it was about 70-80% cooked. It was ready to be taken out as long as no more blood was flowing out when cutting it.
After blanching the lamb offal, he took it out and placed it in a basin to cool. During this time, he kneaded the fermented dough into a ball, let it rest for another ten minutes or so, and then cut the dough into small pieces for direct frying.
Because there were children present, Lai also used half sugar and half flour to make a large bowl of sugar-flour mixture. She wrapped it inside the dough while rolling it out and then baked it into sugar pancakes for them.
Once the sheep offal had cooled down enough, he cut it into strips. There were sheep intestines, sheep heart, sheep stomach, and sheep lungs. Lai disliked the smell of the sheep kidneys, so he cooked them and fed them directly to the big yellow dog.
Cilantro, scallions, and all other ingredients are prepared and ready.
Add oil, scallion segments, and ginger slices to the pan and sauté.
First, put in the sheep intestines and stir-fry them briefly before adding the rest of the ingredients to the pot.
Continue stir-frying until the moisture evaporates. Do not add any seasonings; simply pour boiling water into the pot.
Only in this way will the mutton offal soup in the pot have a milky white color that makes it very appetizing.
After adding water, the pot of mutton offal soup could be left alone for the time being, and Lai started to busy herself with other things.
Just then, some rustling sounds came from outside. The door opened, and Lamb carried Luna inside, followed closely by Hagrid and Linda. Linda was carrying a large basket.
"You're here. Come inside quickly, it's cold outside."
Lai was rolling out dough, but his hands were covered in flour, making it difficult for him to move.
"No need to pick us up, just keep doing what you're doing."
Linda stopped Ray and immediately got to work as soon as she entered the house. First, she took off Luna's coat and hat, and then she washed the used basins and bowls.
"Uncle Hagrid, it's been a while. How have you been?"
"Everything's fine, no major problems. How about you? Have you encountered any difficulties?"
"There's no problem, it's fine."
"Um."
Hagrid nodded.
"Why didn't Brian and Reese come?"
"Ray asked."
Farah couldn't eat anything fishy or gamey due to morning sickness, so Reese stayed home with him; Brian went with Kelly to her parents' house.
Linda answered.
"Ignore them."
"Um."
“You’re close to Lamb, and I’ve heard a lot about you from him. It’s all thanks to young people like you who dare to think and act.”
Hagrid remarked, showering Ray with praise.
"He has the same style as your father back in the day."
Hagrid stopped himself as soon as he blurted out the words, realizing he had said the wrong thing.
Linda glared at him, scolding him for speaking without thinking.
Thinking about it carefully, a year has passed, and the various things about Victor and his wife are still taboo topics that no one dares to mention, for fear of touching on the two children's painful memories.
In fact, Ray didn't feel much about it. He knew in his heart that Hagrid and Linda were taking such good care of his feelings.
People and events from the past remain deeply etched in people's hearts, but they must never become an indelible scar on everyone's soul.
"Can you tell me about your father? I'd like to learn about his past."
Hagrid noticed that Rye's expression was calm, without excessive sadness or agitation. He subtly glanced at his wife and saw Linda nodding gently.
"You really want to hear it?"
"Um."
Ray was very curious. Everyone said that Mr. Victor was once an excellent knight in the main city with a promising future. Why did he stay in this remote mountain village and settle down?
"Okay, but I can only tell you what I know, just some trivial things from the past."
"Okay, it's alright."
"I'll make this pancake. You and your Uncle Hagrid go chat over there."
Linda took the work from Ray and urged him to wash his hands, her face showing Ray the same loving kindness as always.
"The mutton offal soup in the pot has been simmering for almost an hour, but no seasoning has been added yet. Just add some salt."
"Okay, go on over there."
Hagrid rarely took out his pipe and lit a small pinch of tobacco.
"You don't mind, do you?"
"fine."
A wisp of smoke slowly rose and drifted into the air, and through the smoke, Haig was transported back to those vibrant years of youth.
"Your father was born into a fallen noble family. After hundreds of years, although the nobility's prestige had faded, it left a considerable fortune to its descendants."
Although my ancestors were only distant cousins of the Victor family, they were still protected by the family and were able to buy a fairly large piece of land with the family's subsidies, which enabled them to support their family.
When I was in my twenties, old Mr. Victor provided a sum of money to train eligible young men from among his relatives to be his bodyguards. I was fortunate enough to receive his sponsorship and go to the main city.
Your father, Vincent Victor, was just one year old when you were born, and you had jet-black hair like him.
I spent nearly ten years at the Victor family mansion and witnessed a small part of your father's childhood.
He was an exceptionally resilient and hardworking child. As the family declined and lost its voice in mainstream circles, they had no choice but to seek alternative paths, investing their limited resources in the next generation in hopes of reversing the decline.
Vincent was born under such circumstances.
Despite being the direct heir, he lacked the magical talent everyone expected, which greatly disappointed the older generation of the family. Fortunately, his physical attributes were excellent, so old Mr. Victor hired skilled teachers for him to learn various skills and train him to be a knight.
While other children were still begging their parents for candy, he had already picked up wooden weapons.
This story is indeed very long and ancient, and we need to sit down and tell it slowly.
Lai hadn't expected that the original owner of this body was actually a descendant of a fallen noble family. But that didn't matter anymore; since they had been living in the small mountain village for almost twenty years, all the questions were now clear.
The Victor family eventually fell into ruin.
The aura of nobility fades with time. Like now, Ray and Neil are just ordinary villagers in a small mountain village. Apart from Hagrid's family, no one else knows their past.
"About ten years passed like this, and I reached the age to get married. The kind old Mr. Victor gave me some money and let me choose whether to go out and make my way in the world or return to my hometown."
I stayed away for two years before returning here, where I met Linda and we started a family. A long, long time passed, probably seventeen years. Brian, Reese, and Vivian were born one after another, and only then did I receive news from your father. He said he wanted to buy a piece of land here to settle down; by then, your grandfather, old Victor, had already passed away.
I don't know much about what happened during that time, but I do know that Vincent once joined the Silver Knights of the main city church and served the city lord.
Vincent and I corresponded several more times afterward, and at his request, I helped him find craftsmen in town to build this small building.
Then Vincent brought Jennifer, who was already pregnant, to the village. They lived there for a long time and rarely left.
The aroma of mutton offal soup filled the entire house. Linda was busy making pancakes on the stove, while Lamb was playing with little Luna and Tata.
As soon as the little girl entered the room, she saw the little guy practicing walking on the floor. The way he was trying so hard to walk on three legs broke her heart. With tears in her eyes, she asked Lamb what was wrong.
Hagrid took a few puffs of his cigarette, calmed himself down, and continued his story.
"Although we are only distant cousins, old Mr. Victor has always treated us very kindly. Your father did not have the arrogance that other nobles had. He was very friendly and kind to everyone."
The mayor once wanted him to be the captain of the town's knights, but he refused. He said he only wanted to stay with Jennifer and you.
I thought life would continue peacefully like this, until what happened last year, sigh..."
Hagrid let out a long sigh, everything unspoken.
"I understand, Uncle Hagrid."
"It's alright, my good child. They will be watching over you from the Lord God's side; you have always been their pride."
"thank you."
The living room door was opened from the outside, and a sudden gust of cold wind rushed in. Neil had returned with a crossbody bag on his back. His wool hat was covered in a layer of ice and snow.
"Brother, I'm back!"
"Uncle Neil is back! Let me help you with your bag."
Luna skipped over to help Neil with his handbag, but Neil refused.
"Luna, the bag is a bit heavy, you can't carry it."
"All right."
Why are you carrying a bag back?
"Ray asked."
"The weather is bad today, so the school gave us a day off."
"Go change your clothes quickly, we can eat soon."
Linda brought the freshly baked flatbread to the dining table and urged Neil to go back to his room to change his clothes.
"good!"
Neil changed his shoes and returned to his room, secretly wiping away tears as he took off his coat.
He missed Jennifer a little, really, just a tiny bit.
Neil composed himself and went downstairs. Lai was helping Linda serve everyone lamb offal soup. Tata also got a small bowl, and no one complained.
A generous base of mutton offal, interspersed with translucent glass noodles, is topped with two spoonfuls of milky white mutton broth. Bright green scallions and large pieces of cilantro float on top.
"Luna, don't eat cilantro!"
Little Luna protested.
"Would you like some chopped green onions?"
Luna thought for a moment.
"eat!"
Lai served Luna a bowl of lamb offal soup without cilantro.
"Are there any people who don't eat cilantro?"
"Brother, that's all. Only Luna in the family doesn't eat cilantro."
"good."
Lai then chopped up various side dishes and placed them on the table.
Six people sat around the table eating hot mutton offal soup, while light snow drifted outside the window.
"Uncle, what is this?"
Luna, holding a piece of vermicelli, asked Laiyi.
"It's rice noodles."
"Vermicelli?"
Luna picked up a few pieces and slurped them into her mouth. They were smooth and soft, and she was soaking up the broth from the mutton offal soup, which was full of the flavor of mutton offal soup.
"I love glass noodles! I declare them to be the best food after meat!"
Little Luna loudly announced her decision at the dinner table.
"Little Luna, you've forgotten your table manners again. Don't you want to be a good little lady?"
Lamb deliberately teased Luna.
"But, but being a lady is too tiring. You can't eat big bites, you can't make 'rude' noises while eating, but what counts as rude noises? You can't run too fast, you have to sit very straight, and you also have to know how to sew..."
Luna forgot all about eating and started listing the various requirements and shortcomings of becoming a lady, finally drawing a very solemn conclusion.
"Luna, stop being a lady, let your brother do it! Luna wants to eat meat heartily and run with big strides!"
Luna's innocent remarks amused everyone at the table.
"Alright, alright, hurry up and eat your meat. Nobody's forcing you to be a lady. I don't know where you heard that from. You're more like a boy than a girl."
Linda fed Luna a big bite of meat, afraid that little Luna would say something strange again.
Luna chewed the meat in her mouth and let out a soft hum.
She still had so much to say!
"You little chatterbox!"
Lamb continued to tease the children.
"You naughty Susu!"
Luna, with something stuffed in her mouth, retorted unclearly.
"You little chatterbox!"
"You naughty Susu!"
...
How childish!
After finishing her small bowl of mutton offal soup, Tata 'elegantly' licked the fur off her lips.
Well, his current state is absolutely not related to the word "elegance" at all.
Luna ruffled all his fur, and it took him a lot of effort to tidy it up. But what Tata didn't know was that there were still many hairs sticking out on his back, which he couldn't see, making his fur look incredibly messy.
Human babies are really noisy.
Unless a cub that makes so much noise in the forest has a powerful father and mother to protect it, it would have been eaten long ago and there would be no bones left!
Tata licked her fur, lay down in her little nest, and listened to Lamb and Luna's childish and repetitive conversation before gradually drifting off to sleep.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 00:08:47 on August 22, 2023 and 19:03:47 on August 23, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Hamtaro, 49264096 (20 bottles); Nanmiao, Yunshuyunjuan (10 bottles); 58165567 (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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