In the front yard of Old Su's house, two oil lamps hung high, and three large iron pots were lined up in the open space. Firewood roared under the pots, and hot water boiled and bubbled inside.
Yesterday, Su Dahu and Su Sanhu spent two taels of silver to buy a pork carcass in Qingshui County, intending to use it for the house-raising banquet today. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, the White Tiger family brought back wild oxen, wild boars, and wild sheep and left them at the gate of the courtyard.
Each one was a different head, and each one was still breathing, looking incredibly fresh.
This time, it was Zhao who opened the door and discovered it again, but having learned from the previous experience, she wasn't too frightened.
Bleeding, skinning, and removing the flesh—the Su brothers were already very skilled at handling wild animals. Su Erhu had also come from the ancestral home early to help, along with Chunhua.
The three Su brothers were getting meat in the yard, while Chunhua and the three siblings, Su Dalang and Su Erlang, were skillfully turning over the large intestines of the three wild animals with tree branches.
Su Baishi and Zhao Shi, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, were making pig's blood. The raw pig's blood filled an entire vegetable washing basin. They mixed one basin of pig's blood with two basins of warm water and two spoonfuls of salt, stirred it well, and waited for a quarter of an hour for it to solidify.
Su Hua picked up cow hooves, pig hooves, and sheep hooves and put them into the pot to braise. There were many dishes for the housewarming banquet, and these hard-to-cook items had to be put into the pot first. Different parts of the animal required different braising times, so braising was time-consuming, in order to avoid being too busy later.
A-Zheng and Su-Sui assisted her, one helping to deal with the wastewater and the other watching the heat.
Old Xue and Xiao Jinhan, one old and one young, used wooden spikes to catch fish in the river in front of their house. They only caught grass carp and bighead carp. Every time they caught one, they would thread a rice stalk through its mouth and hang it on their waist.
The two were skilled in martial arts, and in no time, they had a large string of fish hanging from their waists.
The firewood crackled and popped under the pot, and soon the aroma of meat wafted out through the gaps in the lid. It was the first time A-Zheng had ever heard of braised food, and the smell made her mouth water.
Big Girl, Big White, and Little Black had been watching the pot of braised pork intently, their drool dripping onto the ground, gradually wetting a large area.
Even the horse in the stable was kicking its hooves excitedly, its long tail swaying high with each stroke.
At this moment, the old village chief, Aunt Zhou, Mudfish Girl, and Barley Girl, who had been invited by Su Bai to help, also arrived. When they saw the piles of meat in the yard, they all froze on the spot.
They've never eaten this much meat in their entire lives.
After the initial surprise, she hurriedly tried to persuade Su Bai to use the meat more sparingly, but Su Bai waved her hand and smiled, "We'll use some of this pork, beef, and mutton at today's banquet, and the rest will be made into cured meat to eat slowly."
When you go back, each of you should take some with you to try.
Originally, she planned to use the pork from the purchased carcass for today's feast. Each carcass weighs 100 jin (50 kg), and the feast would be quite impressive. However, with the addition of these wild game dishes, she didn't mind taking out a portion of each to make two extra dishes for the villagers to try.
After all, as her daughter said, the villagers providing vegetables to the restaurant not only benefits the villagers but also their Su family.
Moreover, after years of being suppressed, the Su family is finally able to hold their heads high, so they must make this roof-raising banquet a grand affair.
Wild game is a rare treat. Apart from what is needed for today's meal, half of it is hung in the well to freeze, so it can be eaten for five or six days without spoiling. The other half is cut into strips and smoked into cured beef, cured mutton, cured pork, and cured ribs.
Some of the wild boar meat that wasn't finished before was made into cured beef, which everyone in the family, young and old, loves to eat, especially Hua'er. Every time she eats it, her eyes squint with joy. This time, she wants to make more cured beef so that her daughter can eat it whenever she wants.
Seeing that she had a plan, Su Chengde and the other three breathed a sigh of relief and didn't waste any more time. They rolled up their sleeves and began to help cook, kill chickens, cut meat, and gut fish.
For a moment, the courtyard was filled with the sound of kitchen knives hitting the cutting board.
The stars in the sky gradually disappeared amidst a series of creaking sounds. A thin mist rose from the ground, merging with the gray-white sky. Behind the distant mountains, the golden sun quietly peeked out, revealing half of its face.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao arrived carrying a chicken, a basket of vegetables, and twenty eggs.
The villagers of Shanghe Village also arrived one by one, carrying things in their hands and on their shoulders.
The Su family only had two large square tables. Su Baishi borrowed a large table from the villagers to set up the banquet early on. The villagers either carried the table in pairs or carried a long bench in each hand.
She also brought a little child with her to the banquet.
The child carried a vegetable basket in his hand, which might contain a dozen or so eggs, or a basket of seasonal green beans, eggplants, and peppers.
Although Madam Su had said long ago that no gifts would be accepted at today's roof-raising banquet, not a single person who came arrived empty-handed.
When the adults arrived, they spontaneously helped set up the tables and chairs in the yard, while the children handed over the vegetable baskets they brought to the Su family and then all crowded around the three girls.
Su Hua used a potion to hide the "king" character on Da Niu's forehead, and her long tail and tiger paws were also wrapped with pink cloth strips. Whether viewed up close or from afar, she looked like a big white dog wearing pink clothes.
However, this big white dog was very aloof.
They won't let you touch them, only look at them. If you look at them for too long, your hair will stand on end.
The children didn't mind at all, and squatted down with the three little ones, watching the braised meat in the iron pot and drooling as they ate.
Those who were close to Su Dalang and his two siblings were drooling while flipping over a piece of intestine.
The village children didn't care about the slight stench from the large intestine at all; instead, they rummaged through it with great relish. During this time, adults in the family who were building houses for Old Su would save some food to bring home every day. So, all the little kids knew that this smelly intestine was even more delicious than meat!
Not long after, the clatter of hooves sounded. Those with sharp ears stood on tiptoe and peered down the narrow path, their eyes suddenly lighting up. "Hey, isn't that Doctor Zhou's carriage? Doctor Zhou's come to the Su family for the housewarming feast too..."
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