53 Long-lost Han County Magistrate
◎Could it be that he was going to look for Chen Jingshan?◎
The huge butcher knife slid across the grindstone, reflecting the sunlight and flashing a bright light. With a few "snapping" sounds, the blade became extremely sharp. The knife sharpener then handed Aunt Hu's knife over.
Aunt Hu smiled as she took her butcher knife and looked at the bound wild boar before her. "County Magistrate Ye, I didn't expect you to have the skill to hunt pigs!"
Ye Yunzhao held her forehead helplessly. How could the rumor spread so widely in just a short while? She hurriedly explained:
"I don't have any pig hunting skills. If I hadn't been lucky enough to have encountered a stupid pig, I'd probably have been beheaded by now."
Before Aunt Hu could speak, County Magistrate Ye said to the crowd, "Everyone, please stop teasing me."
Aunt Hu smiled innocently and threw the butcher knife onto the chopping board: "Okay."
Then he waved to Lu Dayuan who was standing beside him and said, "You guys, carry the wild boar over there."
Aunt Hu patted the howling, struggling wild boar and said, "Go get some buckets! I think this wild boar can hold at least four buckets of blood."
Everyone who received the order immediately got busy. When everything was ready, Aunt Hu cut the wild boar's neck cleanly and efficiently. Bright red pig blood quickly gushed out, and the wild boar, which had been struggling just now, soon died.
Bucket after bucket of pig blood was brought out. Ye Yunzhao was not idle either. He quickly added nearly twice the amount of clean water. Several people stirred it quickly, and it solidified in just half an incense stick of time.
Aunt Hu and a few others poured boiling water on the wild boar. She had brought along her usual butcher's tools. Now, armed with unsharpened flat knives, they laboriously swung their arms up and down, quickly scraping away streaks of stiff hair from the saturated pig's body.
After shaving the pig's hair, it was time for Aunt Hu to show off. Several people carried the plump wild boar to the large table in the courtyard. Aunt Hu took the sharp kitchen knife and gently cut through the wild boar's belly as if cutting vegetables. She ordered someone to hold a wooden barrel nearby and quickly took out the organs from the pig's stomach.
Pig offal was full of fishy smell. Although it didn't contain much oil or water, it was also an extremely precious thing. Several aunts carried the wooden barrel to the well in the yard, drew three or five buckets of well water in one breath, and washed and rubbed the organs in the barrel.
For organs like pig heart, liver, and lungs, simply rinse thoroughly with clean water and add some wild ginger to remove much of the pig smell. However, for things like pig intestines and tripe, it's not that simple.
Domestic pigs have been castrated by the butcher, so the pork and organs only have a slight pig smell. But the wild boar in front of Ye Yunzhao had not been processed. She smelled the strong fishy smell of the pig intestines in the wooden barrel, and she felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. She suppressed her discomfort and said, "Auntie, do we have to cook the pig intestines with it later?"
The woman she called aunt raised her head and said with a smile, "What did County Magistrate Ye say? Of course we have to cook them together. Pig intestines are meat!"
“But…but…”
Ye Yunzhao was worried that the intestines would ruin the whole pot of pig-killing dishes. Seeing that she looked unhappy, Aunt Wang realized something and said with a smile, "Oh, Magistrate Ye, don't worry. I promise to wash them clean and there won't be any strange smell at all."
No strange smell at all?
Under Ye Yunzhao's puzzled gaze, several aunts set up a small iron pot in the yard, threw firewood and straw into the pot, and after it was burned into a large pot full of wood ash, they added it little by little into the turned pig intestine basin.
Like magic, the pig intestines rubbed with wood ash were obviously much cleaner than before. After washing them five times, there was no strange smell in the pig intestines and pig stomach.
Ye Yunzhao was attracted by this scene and was looking at it carefully in amazement.
With a "clang" sound, the pig's head fell down. Aunt Hu quickly split the pig's head and threw it into a wooden barrel full of water.
Then she took the kitchen knife and cut across the pig. Soon, almost in the blink of an eye, the huge wild boar was divided into two large pieces of pork.
Seeing everyone working together, Ye Yunzhao felt like he was redundant. He pondered for a moment and said, "Auntie Wang, what should we put in the pig-killing dishes? I'll go prepare them."
"Ah, County Magistrate Ye, just sit down and rest. I'll ask Erya to pour you a bowl of sugar water..."
Before she could finish, Ye Yunzhao interrupted her and pretended to be angry, "Just give me some work, otherwise I won't eat this pig-killing dish."
Aunt Wang was helpless and called to Erya, "You've already done a great job hunting the wild boar... Come on, Erya, go to the backyard with County Magistrate Ye and get some radishes."
Aunt Wang's yard is much larger than that of ordinary people in Xixiang. Through the small path beside the main house, you can see the backyard which is a different world.
To the east of the backyard was a bamboo fence with three or five hens inside, and to the west were several medium-sized pits dug in the ground. Ye Yunzhao followed behind Erya, looking at the small piles of earth with long rice stalks inserted in them, somewhat confused.
Ever since Erya entered the county school, she rarely met Ye Yunzhao outside the school. When she came today, she felt a little uncomfortable. She whispered:
"Master Ye, the radish is inside..."
Ye Yunzhao squatted down like her and found that these small mounds must have been formed recently. The soil was loose and seemed to be lightly covering them.
She asked curiously, "Are there processed radishes underneath?"
Erya nodded, and as the two of them moved, the white and green radishes gradually emerged. Long rice stalks were stuck in the middle of the pit, and a dozen plump radishes were arranged in a circle. The leaves and the ends of the radishes had been cut off, so the soil covered them and it was impossible to tell what was buried inside.
Ye Yunzhao finally realized that the earthen pit before her was a simple northern version of a cellar. This way, the radish could remain fresh until next spring. She couldn't help but marvel at the wisdom of these people.
Erya secretly raised her eyes and saw that the man she admired, Master Ye, was smiling. She said in a cute way, "Master Ye, I buried all these."
"You buried it?" Ye Yunzhao said in surprise, "That's amazing."
When Erya heard the answer she wanted, she smiled shyly and her movements of picking radishes became much faster.
By the time the two emerged from the backyard, Aunt Hu had already chopped the massive pig into pieces. Since the pig had been slaughtered at Aunt Wang's house, and she had also dug up a dozen radish and cabbage plants from her property, the Xixiang village chief had paid for a large block of tofu from town. So, two-thirds of the lard from the wild boar went to Aunt Wang, and one-third went to the village chief.
Later, Ye Yunzhao took the initiative and gave the pig's tail to Aunt Wang as a gift. After all, today's pig-killing banquet used a lot of things from Aunt Wang's family. Everyone was sensible and naturally had no objection. Aunt Wang was surprised and happy, and was in a good mood for a long time.
More than a dozen people cut and chopped the pork, and it took a full hour to prepare the pork, pig offal and vegetables. Even more than a dozen wild gingers were prepared.
After waiting for more than half an hour, the pig-killing dish was finally put into Ye Yunzhao's mouth. After being carefully cleaned by his aunt and added with plenty of wild ginger, the fishy smell was not obvious. In addition, wild boars hunt all year round, so their meat is firm, not as oily as domestic pork. The texture is also a bit rough, and it is very difficult to chew.
If she were to judge, she felt that the wild boar meat tasted just average, far inferior to the pork sold in the butcher shop. But after all, it was free meat, and Ye Yunzhao was content watching everyone eat.
After she made an appointment with Aunt Wang to open the mushroom shed again tomorrow, she carried her small bamboo basket and hurried to the county government office.
*
Perhaps it was because she had been leaving early and returning late recently, but Ye Yunzhao realized belatedly that she hadn't seen County Magistrate Han for five or six days.
She walked to the backyard of the county government office and turned into the courtyard of County Magistrate Han. "County Magistrate Han? County Magistrate Han?"
There was just silence, no one answered.
Ye Yunzhao originally wanted to discuss with him about leading the people to grow mushrooms, but he came three times in a row and didn't see him three times.
She walked towards her courtyard with a frown on her face. Seeing Li Xianjiang carrying a medicine box not far away, Ye Yunzhao stepped forward quickly and asked, "Doctor Li, have you seen County Magistrate Han?"
For the past two weeks, Li Xianjiang had been carrying his medicine box daily to the East and West Townships for free medical treatment, treating numerous patients suffering from colds and coughs, and even those suffering from chronic fatigue. Ye Yunzhao had found him a small, secluded shop in the county town to run his own medicine shop, which, it turned out, had some connection to his original self.
Ye Yunzhao could only gather from her original body's memories that she had bought the shop on her own initiative, but she couldn't recall where the money came from. Furthermore, the original body had unexpectedly died the day after purchasing the shop, and she had taken over, managing both winning people's hearts and handling government affairs. It wasn't until a few days ago, while strolling the streets with some free time, that she remembered the incident.
Empty anyway, so Ye Yunzhao returned to the county government office and gave the shop's title deed to Li Xianjiang. While Li Xianjiang had found a place to stay thanks to Ye Yunzhao, he had, after all, treated many people for free, spending a considerable amount of precious medicinal herbs. This shop was his betrothal gift.
Now that he had a proper pharmacy, he no longer needed Ye Yunzhao's help in finding herbs. Li Xianjiang personally drew a picture of three or five herbs for treating colds and posted it outside the clinic, offering a free consultation for anyone who found a certain number of herbs. Ye Yunzhao didn't know much about what happened next, but even that was information Zhuang Xue had gathered and shared with her.
But for some reason, he did not move out and still lived in the empty house in the county government office.
Li Xianjiang was about to go to the pharmacy. He looked thoughtful and said, "County Magistrate Han...seems he went to Ruyi Tower these past two days."
Ruyi Tower? Ye Yunzhao was stunned.
Everyone in Lingnan County knows that Ruyi Tower is Chen Jingshan's place. The items sold in Ruyi Tower are expensive. Not to mention that ordinary people cannot afford them, even a small official like Ye Yunzhao cannot afford them.
She tried hard to recall that when she went to Yuezhou City to collect her salary, what County Magistrate Han received was not much different from what she received. How could he be able to enter Ruyi Tower?
Could it be that he was going to find Chen Jingshan?
But what had happened that made him go to Chen Jingshan in person? After all, Chen Jingshan was just a businessman, so it was more accurate to say that he had taken the initiative to ask Han County Magistrate for help...
Ye Yunzhao was filled with doubts, but before she could come up with an answer, Li Xianjiang said, "County Magistrate Ye, if there's nothing else, I'll go to the pharmacy first."
Ye Yunzhao suddenly realized, nodded quickly, and went in the opposite direction of him.
After she returned to her yard, Ye Yunzhao quickly put this strange thing behind him and was now busy processing the freshly picked mushroom stems.
She followed the method she had tried before, scattering the processed mushroom stems into a wooden barrel filled with humus and dead leaves, gently covering them with a thin layer of soil with her hands, covered them with a rice mat, and carried them into the corner room where groceries were stored.
The next morning, Ye Yunzhao took out the eggs from the chicken coop and looked at the dewdrops on the fence. He realized belatedly that the chicken coop he had built for the hens could not be demolished.
After breakfast, she hurried to the gate of the county government office, but stopped when she passed by County Magistrate Han's courtyard. She poked her head in and asked, "County Magistrate Han? County Magistrate Han?"
No one answered. Ye Yunzhao took two steps inside and asked, "County Magistrate Han? Is he home?"
There was a rustling sound in the room, and a voice that was both familiar and unfamiliar came out: "County Magistrate Ye... ahem... is there something wrong?"
Ye Yunzhao quickly stepped forward and said to the inside of the house, "A few days ago, I came up with a good way to make money. I wanted to discuss it with you..."
"Ahem... County Magistrate Ye is very knowledgeable and talented... ahem... I can make my own decision... ahem... ahem..."
A burst of intermittent coughing sounded from the room, and she hurriedly said, "Han County Magistrate, are you okay? I'll go find Doctor Li to take a look!"
"No!" The person in the room refused flatly and coughed a few times. "I've already made some medicine. I think I'll be fine after a few hours of sleep... cough cough..."
Suddenly a breeze blew, and Ye Yunzhao suddenly remembered that there was licorice in the prescription for treating cough. When Li Xianjiang didn't have a pharmacy, he often boiled medicine in the county government office. Whenever he came across licorice, the strong smell of the medicine rushed straight into his nasal cavity.
But now…
There wasn't a trace of medicinal smell in the autumn wind...
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