What else could I say? I naturally accepted the gifts.
Aunt Jiang put down her things and left in a hurry; she had a lot of work waiting for her at home. Fu Wan was very impressed by the old lady's energetic and efficient manner.
The mother and daughter looked at the kitchen, which they had finally managed to clean up, and saw that there were even more ingredients left. "Mom, are we having this fish for lunch today?"
For lunch, one braised pork dish is enough; adding another fish would be a waste.
Besides, three adults and one child can't possibly eat that much.
Ye Xiaocui glanced at the fish, which had already been cleaned, and took out a salt shaker from the cupboard. "I'll rub some salt on it and marinate it. If we're not going to eat it tonight, I'll just dry it in the sun."
Fu Wan nodded, and as she was speaking, someone knocked on the door again.
This time, Fu San was all smiles.
Fu San made a small fortune today. The larger buckets of abalone were mostly double-headed, while the smaller buckets were of the standard three or four-headed variety.
Several business owners in the town also run restaurants in the county, and they fought tooth and nail over this less than 100-pound shipment.
There's no way around it; wild animals are valuable now. Wild animals are generally smaller because they aren't artificially fed, and the key is that concentrated goodness is the essence.
However, the fact that they are wild, of good quality, and large in size indicates what? It naturally means that they have been around for a long time.
Fu San couldn't stop smiling whenever he thought about how those bosses kept trying to build rapport with him, especially since he was usually the one who had to work so hard to do so.
So the abalone sold for a good price, and he could also get a share of it. Fu San was naturally overjoyed. As soon as he returned from town, he carried the things Ye Xiaocui had asked him to bring today and went straight to Fu Wan's house.
"Sister-in-law, I brought you the things you asked me to buy today!"
Several neighbors who were peeking around lost interest after hearing Fu San's words.
Fu San travels to and from town every day, so the villagers naturally ask him to help them carry things, since they have to pay for transportation to town themselves.
"Why does Fu San have to come personally to deliver something to the neighbor? Every time we ask him to bring something, he always goes to get it himself."
A middle-aged woman diagonally opposite them peeked out and glanced at Fu San, who was smiling as he entered the Fu family home. She looked a little unhappy.
Her eyes darted around, and she nudged the honest-looking man beside her with her elbow, "Did that cripple find anything good at his house last night?"
"What paralyzed man? That's my own nephew!"
"There's nothing there, just two buckets of seaweed!"
"Nephew, humph, then why don't you, as his uncle, go and drink the chicken soup at your nephew and niece's house!" Wang Zhaodi threw down the wild vegetables in her hand in annoyance and went straight into the house.
Fu Wan and the others were unaware of what had happened not far from them. After the courtyard gate was closed, they went to the living room, where Fu San mysteriously pulled out a stack of small bricks and thick 100-yuan bills.
That's right, it's a stack!
Fu San handed it directly to Fu Wan, "Awan, count them. I specially brought you ten-yuan ones, they're more practical! Today, I'll give you the big bucket for 3.5 yuan, and the small one for 2 yuan, a total of 234 yuan. Four doesn't sound good, so I'll give you a discount of one yuan. Forget about the groceries your mother asked me to buy, consider it my treat to your meal!"
"That won't do!"
Fu Wan counted out twenty coins and handed them to Fu San, saying, "Let's keep things separate. I don't care how much you've earned, Uncle, but we still have to give you what's due!"
Fu San was too embarrassed to accept, so he pushed it back, saying, "Don't say things like that if you think I'm your uncle!"
In fact, today, regardless of size, due to bidding among several bosses, the larger ones were sold for a high price of four yuan and fifty cents, while the smaller ones were sold for two yuan and eighty cents. After all, these are much larger than other abalone on the market.
Seeing that she couldn't get him to give in, Fu Wan became anxious. "Mother, please persuade this uncle. How can he do this? If he keeps doing this, I won't dare ask him to bring me anything again."
Ye Xiaocui finally recovered from the shock of the stack of banknotes, took out the twenty and stuffed it into Fu San's hand, "San, listen to your sister-in-law, a favor is a favor, and helping is helping. Your sister-in-law trusts you, that's why she let you accept this abalone, and you trust your sister-in-law, that's why you helped me bring these things."
Keep this money!
Fu San had no choice but to put it away. He turned around and saw Chen Lingling skipping and hopping into the room.
"Mom, Grandma!"
Chen Lingling tilted her head and looked at Fu San, remembering that he was her mother's third uncle who had come to their house for dinner a few days ago.
She patted her small chest and smiled confidently.
"Third Grandfather!"
Fu San was actually only a few years older than Fu Ming, but he was of the same generation as Fu Ming's father. This title of "uncle-grandfather" made Fu San, who hadn't even had a child yet, tremble.
Looking at the little girl in front of him who looked like a boy, he felt his pockets and found that he had no candy except for cigarettes. He then handed over a bill.
"Ring ring, right? Come on, Grandpa's going to buy you some candy!"
Shen Lingling was stunned when she saw the money. She had seen 10-cent coins before, but she didn't think she had ever seen money like this before.
One is different from one cent or one dimes; how much is this?
Chen Lingling's little head was filled with big questions, and she quickly looked to her mother for help.
"Third, quickly put the money away! Who gives a child a dollar to buy candy?"
"Sister-in-law, this is my heartfelt gift. If the child doesn't accept me, I won't dare let her call me 'Grandpa' anymore!"
Third maternal grandfather is still a maternal grandfather!
Fu San insisted on stuffing the money into Chen Lingling's hand. Fu Wan looked down at her bewildered daughter and sighed, "This is one yuan. It can buy lots and lots of candy. Lingling, aren't you going to thank your third grandfather?"
One yuan! Chen Lingling didn't know how many cents that was, so she simply accepted it and thanked her.
"Thank you, Third Grandfather!"
"I can buy so much candy!" Chen Lingling swallowed hard, looking delighted.
After paying the bill, Fu San went back. Fu Wan picked up the pork belly she had bought and examined it. It was a rare combination of fat and lean meat, and she was very satisfied.
You see, people these days prefer to buy pork with more fat, because they can render oil and use it for stir-frying. But you can't render oil from braised pork.
With the ingredients in hand, it was time to start cooking. As noon approached, Fu Wan sped up and showed off her culinary skills.
First, cut the braised pork into small cubes, then blanch it with some ginger slices and wash it. Next, add some rock sugar and simmer it over low heat to make the caramel color. Then, pour the drained pork directly into the pot and stir-fry.
After Fu Wan put in the ginger and garlic, added some star anise and cinnamon, and poured in some rice wine, the aroma immediately lured Chen Lingling into the kitchen.
"Mom, is this meat?"
Shen Lingling stared intently at the meat in the pot; she had never eaten meat cooked like this before.
Fu Wan put the freshly prepared abalone into the pot, added some water, and then covered the pot with the lid.
"Yes, this is braised pork. Mom also added abalone, so Lingling can have a couple more pieces later!"
Braised pork belly!
This is what Tiger's family next door ate for Chinese New Year! Shen Lingling had heard Tiger's brother from Shenjia Village talk about braised pork. When she heard it, her mouth watered, and she thought about when she could have a piece of it.
I can't believe I'll be able to eat it today!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com