She still remembers that the year she married into the Su family, a sheep trader from out of town was selling lambs at the entrance of Shanghe Village. The lambs were not cheap, costing two hundred copper coins each.
The money you spend on one lamb could buy a hundred eggs.
However, there's a reason why it's expensive; mutton is also expensive, almost three times the price of pork.
If a sheep is raised well, it can yield seventy or eighty catties of meat, which is more than two taels of silver in profit.
Su Bai thought that since her family lived at the end of the village, it would be convenient to herd sheep. If she raised a few sheep, as long as the lambs grew into adult sheep, they could have lambs. Year after year, she could earn some money.
After all, the harvest from the family's fields was getting worse year by year, not enough to feed the whole family.
We have to find another way to make a living.
Su Bai gritted her teeth and bought eight.
From then on, the whole family poured their hearts and souls into this little lamb, treating it like royalty.
Unexpectedly, the lambs still didn't survive. Half of them died and the other half ran away. Usually, when you go to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables, you can still see one or two of them, but the wild goats are very wary. Before you even get close, they have already disappeared into the woods.
How can a two-legged human compare to a four-legged sheep?
They fled, they chased, and they sprouted wings and flew away.
Later on, they didn't even see a trace of those four goats anymore.
Su Hua was already aware of the Su family's bad luck, and she also knew that ever since the lambs were all wiped out, Su Bai had been cursing the sheep in her dreams for a long time.
She licked her lips and smiled slightly. "Mother, are you planning to raise this sheep, or slaughter it for meat?"
"You little rascal, your eyes practically scream 'I want to slaughter a sheep and eat meat,' and you still dare to ask me!" Su Baishi looked at her greedy little face and flicked her forehead with her finger. "Besides, our family can't raise sheep. It's a waste of effort and we'd end up giving them all away to Fuhu Mountain."
The girl smiled upon hearing the sound.
He remained silent.
If you want to raise sheep, of course you can.
However, let's eat this birthday gift from Xiao Jinhan first...
She hadn't had fish and mutton for a long time and was really craving it. A few days ago, she was thinking about buying some mutton, but unfortunately, it was too late when she went to the market in Qingshui County, and all the mutton stalls had already closed.
It just so happens that Xiao Jinhan has sent some over now. How can I not make a delicious fish and mutton dish to satisfy my restless taste buds?
Moreover, based on the usual format of Su Bai's birthday celebrations, it is preliminarily estimated that people from the Zhao family, the Qian family, the Wang family, and the old village chief's family will all be coming today, so a big feast might not be enough.
When Su Sanhu heard that Su Hua wanted to eat mutton, he instinctively wanted to grab a knife and butcher a sheep.
Before he could take two steps, Su Baishi pushed him into the side room, saying, "With your big, dark eyes, if you were to slaughter sheep, you'd probably be the one slaughtered. Go back to sleep before you come out to work."
Goats have tempers too, and it's not easy for one person to control them.
Anyway, the Su brothers should be back soon after they finished tending to the remaining rice seedlings in the field.
Su Hua couldn't help but chuckle. Whether it was because she had taken a nap on the roof earlier or because she often drank water droplets from the space, she was full of energy compared to Su Sanhu's listlessness. The only discomfort was that the sweat from last night was still sticking to her clothes.
In my previous life, I lived in the south, where I would take a bath even in winter. Now, if I sweat and don't take a bath, I feel like I've soiled my pants without changing them.
She glanced at the kitchen; the firewood in the stove was still burning, and a pot of water was boiling in the large iron pot.
It must have been prepared by Subais long ago for giving the goats a hot bath.
After a short while, she finished her bath, and the goats in the yard also finished their baths.
Su Dahu was scraping the goat's wool with a knife. The wool, which had been soaked in boiling water, was easy to scrape. He just rubbed the knife lightly on the skin and scraped it clean. Su Erhu, on the other hand, was carefully collecting the goat's blood in a deep jar.
Ever since they tried Maoxuewang (a spicy Sichuan dish), the Su family has never wasted a single drop of pig's blood or sheep's blood.
Of course, the sheep offal was also kept.
Su Dalang and his three little radish heads sat in a row on a small wooden stool washing sheep offal.
This goat is very fat, with about eighty pounds of meat after removing the fur and internal organs. Su Baishi plans to set aside some of the mutton, and each of the in-laws will take two or three pounds back with them. After all, mutton is a rare delicacy that is not easily obtained on ordinary days.
Just as the Su family was busily tending to their goats, there was a loud knock on the gate.
"My dear in-law, what are you busy with so early in the morning?"
Su Hua looked over at the sound and saw a couple in their forties carrying a chicken and a large basket of vegetables at the gate of the courtyard.
"Oh my, I was just wondering when my brother and sister-in-law would arrive!" Madam Su quickly got up and greeted them with a smile. "It's good that you're here. Why bring all this stuff?"
Su Dahu and Zhao Shi paused in their work and went to greet them, "Father, Mother."
"Grandma, Grandpa!" The two brothers, Da Lang and Er Lang, jumped into the water and rushed into the arms of the two men.
The two elders were so happy they couldn't stop smiling.
Su Hua smiled slightly. So, these two were Zhao's parents.
She greeted them with a smile, then carried the mutton and fish into the kitchen. Today was Su Bai's birthday, and she didn't intend to let her interfere with the kitchen matters. However, as soon as she entered the kitchen, Zhao and Qian followed her in.
"Hua'er, how should we prepare this fish and mutton soup? Should the mutton be cut into chunks?"
"Second sister-in-law's cooking skills aren't great, what else can she do?"
Su Hua smiled upon hearing this and asked Zhao to help out, while Qian was tasked with watching the fire in the stove.
This dish, "Fish and Lamb Stew," is a fusion of "fish" and "lamb."
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