Chapter 67 Chapter 67-Two-in-one sauce fried pork...
She didn't have time to tell him yesterday, but today she told him everything that Guo Jixiang had talked about with her.
Helan said, "Madam Lin, you have to be careful."
"Yesterday, I hadn't intended to reveal that Xiao Pei was her family's savior, but then Madam Guo asked about your sister's age and marriage. She had asked about you before, and now that you're married, she's asking about your sister again."
"I've known Mrs. Guo for several years, but our relationship wasn't particularly close. She felt her family's livelihood was superior to mine, and secretly looked down on me. But as soon as she needed help, she came to me in person. That's when I realized her motives for wanting to marry you were not pure."
Lin Chuntao understood what Helan meant. How could these poor kids without parents catch the eye of this rich lady?
"Thank you, Shopkeeper He. I know what's going on."
Since they were talking about this matter, Lin Chuntao took the opportunity to inquire about the interpersonal relationships of the Chai family and the personalities of the people in the Chai family, including Chai Xingyu.
There was an important figure in the Chai family, Chai Xingyu's second sister, who married a Tongpan of Hegui Prefecture as his second wife. This person was in charge of taxes.
The Chai family has developed well in recent years, which is somewhat related to this person.
Since Lin Chuntao has made this sauce, she will definitely use it to make money. However, the recipe and the soup powder are first linked together, and Lin Chuntao does not want to be bought out by others.
When the stall was about to close, Lin Chuntao came out of the house. As soon as she walked out of the door, she saw Chai Xingyu and Sanbao walking towards the stall.
Helan jokingly said, "Madam Lin, your brother is here."
Lin Chuntao laughed, narrowed her eyes, and then said with a smile: "I will treat him as my own brother."
Her tone was so gentle that Helan was a little confused. It seemed like she really wanted to be Chai Xingyu's good sister, but thinking about what they had just talked about, Helan smiled and shook her head. She watched Lin Chuntao walk towards Chai Xingyu with a smile.
I was a little impulsive when I recognized my sister yesterday. Although I don’t regret it, Chai Xingyu’s scalp tingles when I think about the embarrassment when we meet again.
But he couldn't just recognize the person and then feel embarrassed and not go to see him, right? Besides, he was angry with the old man yesterday and wanted to go to Lin Chuntao's house.
In fact, he didn't know whether Lin Chuntao would take him home, but he still prepared in advance. He asked Sanbao to go to a famous dim sum shop in the county town to buy two boxes of dim sum, two jars of wine, and two bags of tea and brought them to the stall to look for Lin Chuntao.
Sanbao was carrying the things. He saw Lin Chuntao from a distance. He was so embarrassed and nervous that he was almost sweating. He had no idea how he got to the front of the stall.
When Lin Chuntao saw him, she walked towards him. She neither called him "young master" nor "brother" in a sweet way.
"Ayu."
Lin Chuntao's voice sounded kindly, and Chai Xingyu froze. There was a big age difference between him and his two elder sisters, and they had called him Ayu before they got married.
When Lin Chuntao said this, she sounded as familiar as his own sister, and the embarrassment in his mind just now disappeared instantly with these two words.
"elder sister."
After hearing this, Lin Chuntao smiled and asked, "Have you had lunch?"
Chai Xingyu shook his head slightly, "Not yet, where's my sister? Are you guys going home to eat later?"
After hearing what he said, Lin Chuntao said, "Well, we'll go home and cook after we close the stall." As she spoke, she walked over to help Lin Chunxing, but turned back and asked him, "Would you like some noodle soup? I'll make it for you."
"I won't eat today. Yesterday was too sudden. We have to visit relatives here. I'll go back with my sister today."
After he finished speaking, Lin Chuntao was stunned, but she didn't show it on her face. She smiled and said, "No problem. It's just that my house is simple. Ayu, please don't despise me when you go there."
Chai Xingyu said he didn't mind, but he was still shocked after following Lin Chuntao and the others home.
But after a moment, she realized that if her family was well-off or her parents were still alive, they would not let these young ladies get up early and work late to make money.
He always heard the old man talk about the rise of the Chai family's ancestors.
One of the passages was about how poor the family was at that time. As the eldest sister, our ancestor had to take care of the family and work in a wealthy family to support her younger brothers. Once, the host gave her some bean rice, but she was reluctant to eat it and planned to take it back to her younger brother. After several days, the bean rice became smelly and difficult to swallow. So our ancestor added chili peppers to the bean rice to cover up the smell, and thus made the sauce.
He had always found it hard to imagine what it was like to be from a poor family and need an eldest sister to support the family, but now she had seen it.
The ancestor of the Chai family was already quite old when he made the sauce, but Lin Chuntao was still very young.
He didn't know why, but he felt inexplicably excited in his heart.
Of course, Lin Chuntao did not miss his subtle changes. She smiled and opened the bamboo fence door to invite him into the yard.
Chai Xingyu followed her into the house. The yard was tidy, with two chicken coops neatly placed beside a bamboo fence. There were two bamboo racks in the yard, on which sat a number of dustpans, some empty, one covered with gauze. He also noticed the jar on the stove, leaning against the chimney.
Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer ran out of the house when they heard the door open, and were stunned when they saw a strange face.
Lin Chuntao looked at her sisters and introduced them with a smile: "This is Chai Xingyu. He has recognized me as his sister. I will also be your brother in the future." After that, Lin Chuntao introduced Chai Xingyu: "My third sister is Lin Chunhe, my fourth sister is Lin Duoer, and my second sister is Chunxing. You have met her."
Chai Xingyu said, "Hello, sisters." He turned around and found Sanbao, took the snacks and handed them to Lin Chunhe, "This is a snack for the sisters."
Lin Chunhe looked at Lin Chuntao, and only after seeing Lin Chuntao nod did she take it and said with a smile, "Thank you, brother."
Chai Xingyu has no biological sister, but he has two cousins who are a little naughty and rarely call him brother so obediently. After hearing what Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer said, he was very happy.
The two sisters brought snacks into the house and brought out two stools for Chai Xingyu and Sanbao.
Pei Ying went back to the house to change clothes. He took off his dirty clothes and prepared to go to the river to wash them. Chai Xingyu and Sanbao followed him.
Lin Chunxing hadn't had the chance just now, so she finally asked Lin Chuntao, "Sister, what does this guy mean? Does he really want to be your brother, our brother?"
Lin Chuntao chuckled, looked at her steadily and said, "What are you thinking about? We four sisters are the real family."
"It's up to you whether you want to be polite or cold, like it or not, it all depends on your mood. I will take care of it."
Lin Chunxing nodded. Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer were still looking at the dim sum in the room. Lin Chuntao said, "You know, this person is thinking about our sauce recipe. You should do whatever you need to do. I'll take care of this matter."
Lin Chuntao glanced inside the house and said, "Duo'er can't keep secrets, so I won't tell them for now. Just think of it as having more people to buy snacks for them."
Lin Chunxing smiled helplessly.
Lin Chuntao said, "See if the meal is almost ready? If it is, we can start cooking."
After hearing the words, Lin Chunxing left. Lin Chuntao went back to the house and got out chopsticks. She wanted to see if the jar of pickled vegetables she made yesterday had become sour.
The two sisters worked together to take the jar down from the stove. A lot of sour water had already overflowed from the mouth of the jar. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It should be fine." There was no rush to eat it this time, and no special fire was lit to roast it like last time. She just wanted to use some of the heat from the stove while cooking.
She opened the lid, picked up one, tore off a piece and tasted it. It was so sour that her facial features frowned.
Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "Is it sourer than last time?"
Lin Chuntao pulled some and fed it to her: "Try it."
Lin Chunxing opened her mouth to eat, but soon she wrinkled up into a ball and shivered.
“So sour.”
Chai Xingyu came with us today, and there was sauerkraut at home. Lin Chuntao bought some pig blood, pig hearts and livers, and half a pig's head from the butcher shop.
The pig's head was to be cooked in the afternoon and eaten in the evening. At noon, she would stir-fry some sauerkraut and pig's blood, stir-fry pig's heart and liver. The main dish would be braised pork belly with potatoes. But today Chai Xingyu came, so of course she had to let him taste the sauce she made.
She separated out a piece of the pork belly and used it to make twice-cooked pork, adding sauce to it. The pork was deep red in color and had a strong aroma.
Chai Xingyu brought Sanbao with him to follow Pei Ying. When the villagers saw him, they would ask him who he was. Pei Ying would answer directly, "He is my younger brother."
Everyone in the village was surprised. Where did Pei Ying get this brother? Chai Xingyu was still wearing his bamboo hat, so his face couldn't be seen, but they could tell the fabric he was wearing was quite expensive. When they pressed him, Pei Ying explained, "My sworn brother."
These people understood it and said "oh".
After walking through the village to the river, washing clothes and returning, Pei Ying smiled and said, "Ayu, you've never been to the countryside, right?"
"I have been here." However, he hadn't been to anyone's house. He had just passed by the village on his way to the mountains. He kept this to himself and didn't tell Pei Ying.
When Pei Ying came back with Chai Xingyu and Sanbao, Lin Chuntao was standing by the stove cooking. There was also a fire in the yard with a clay pot on it where something was stewing.
They brought the table to the yard, where fried pork liver and heart were already placed, and Lin Chuntao was cooking sauerkraut and pig blood.
Seeing Pei Ying and the others return, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You're here so soon! The meal isn't ready yet. Are you all hungry?"
This question was definitely not directed at Pei Ying. Chai Xingyu walked closer and replied with a smile that she was not hungry yet. Lin Chuntao smiled and saw that the pig blood and sauerkraut in the pot were cooked, so she poured it into a bowl and asked Lin Chunxing to take it over.
Looking at the three dishes on the table, Chai Xingyu and Sanbao sniffed.
Although the Chai family wouldn't serve these heart, liver, lung, intestines, and stomachs, Chai Xingyu often went out and about, so he'd eaten a lot of that stewed food. It tasted okay, but it wasn't exactly delicious. He'd especially eaten the pig's liver; he'd never seen anyone make good pig's liver in his life. Pig's heart was even worse. He remembered when he was a kid, the cook would make soup with it for him. A single sip would make him vomit, and he never wanted to touch pig's heart again.
Under the sun, the three dishes were still steaming. Chai Xingyu found it hard to imagine that the lingering aroma actually came from these three dishes. This seemed very different from what he had felt before.
Sanbao stood behind Chai Xingyu and whispered, "Master, it smells so good."
His voice was very low. Chai Xingyu turned around and glanced at him after hearing it. Sanbao pursed his lips and looked serious. Seeing Sanbao's expression, Chai Xingyu smiled. He turned around and said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, how did you make this? Why does it smell so good?"
Sanbao: “…”
Lin Chuntao said, "Ayu, stop complimenting me. Isn't this just home-cooked food?"
As she spoke, she did not stop moving her hands. After the oil in the wok was heated, she poured in the green onions, ginger and garlic and stir-fried them. After a sizzling sound, the fragrance wafted from the wok. Lin Chuntao quickly poured in the prepared pork belly slices and began to stir-fry.
After frying the fat until it turned transparent, Lin Chuntao added some firewood to the stove. When the fire was strong, she poured in the sauce. In an instant, the aroma of meat, sauce and garlic blended together, and the fragrance of the twice-cooked pork wafted out.
The air drifted into the noses of the master and servant, and they both took a deep breath at the same time.
Sanbao was so excited that he tugged at Chai Xingyu's sleeve. He wanted to say something but was afraid of embarrassing Chai Xingyu.
Chai Xingyu licked his lips and walked uncontrollably to the stove. Looking at the red meat in the pot, he swallowed and looked at Lin Chuntao with some restraint and asked, "Sister, this sauce can be used to stir-fry meat like this?"
Lin Chuntao turned around and looked at him and smiled, "Of course, this sauce can be used in many ways. It can be used to make soup, stir-fry, dip, or as a dressing. You can eat it any way you want."
As she spoke, she poured the fried twice-cooked pork into a bowl and handed it directly to Chai Xingyu: "Bring it to the table."
Chai Xingyu was stunned for a moment, and Sanbao was actually stunned too. Why would he ask Chai Xingyu to work? But when he reacted, Chai Xingyu had already taken the bowl from Lin Chuntao's hand. When he was about to tell Chai Xingyu that he was here, Lin Chuntao had already called him: "Sanbao, help me scoop a bucket of water."
Sanbao nodded hurriedly and ran to fetch water.
Lin Chuntao looked at the master and servant with a smile. The weather was really nice today.
It was the first time that Chai Xingyu was asked to do something, and it was to serve dishes. The main reason was that Lin Chuntao did it very naturally, which made him feel that it was his job to do.
Lin Chuntao rinsed the pot and made scrambled eggs with tomatoes and stir-fried cabbage.
While waiting for the dishes to be fried, she went to look at the potatoes and meat stewing in the clay pot, opened the lid, and the hot steam hit her face.
Lin Chuntao gently fanned away the hot air. The soup in the pot had become thicker and was bubbling and could hardly come to the boil.
She stirred it with a spatula, and a lot of potato starch had already been incorporated into the soup.
It’s cooked, but I still have to taste it to see how salty it is. I turned around and called Lin Chunxing.
"Chun Xing, bring me a pair of chopsticks."
Lin Chunxing agreed and quickly took the chopsticks. Lin Chuntao picked up a piece of meat and tasted it. It was already very soft and the saltiness was just right. She felt that this new potato was even more delicious than the previous one.
She asked Pei Ying to bring the clay pot to the stove. While she was serving the dishes, she called Lin Chunhe and the others to take bowls and chopsticks and prepare to eat.
Lin Chunhe took Lin Duoer to get the dishes and chopsticks. Lin Chunxing and Pei Ying put the stools at the table and invited Chai Xingyu and Sanbao to take a seat.
Sanbao watched Chai Xingyu sit down before sitting down next to him. This felt a bit strange.
Although Chai Xingyu would let him sit down and eat at the same table when he followed him outside, it was because the master gave the order and there were no outsiders around, so he could sit down and eat with them.
If Chai Xingyu were to have dinner with his brothers and friends, they would never ask him to sit down and eat with them.
But today, in this shabby farmyard, he seemed to be treated as a human being, not a slave.
On ordinary days they serve their own food, but today they have guests and they can’t let the guests leave their own food, so they serve everyone’s food together.
Chai Xingyu looked at the dishes on the table. Except for scrambled eggs with tomatoes and cabbage, he had never eaten these dishes before. Or to be more precise, he had never eaten them cooked in this way before.
There were pig hearts and pig livers on the braised pork stall, one was braised and the other was served cold. The taste was really average and he didn't like either of them.
He had also eaten pig blood cold slices, and the taste was not very good.
Today, Lin Chuntao cooked the pig blood in a soup with pickled cabbage in it. The color and appearance were not good, but the smell was magical. The pig heart and liver were stir-fried with chili peppers, and he was not sure whether they tasted good or not. The stewed meat and potatoes were mixed together. The food on Lin Chuntao's table was a bit strange to Chai Xingyu.
What he wanted to eat most was the meat fried in sauce. It was so fragrant that it made him swallow his saliva like crazy. He really wanted to taste what it tasted like.
Lin Chuntao took the serving chopsticks and picked up some food for Chai Xingyu and Sanbao first.
Chai Xingyu looked at the twice-cooked pork in the bowl and thanked Lin Chuntao. Sanbao was flattered and said, "Thank you, Madam Lin."
Lin Chuntao said, "Don't be polite, Sanbao. Just treat it as you are at home."
Sanbao thought that he didn't get such treatment in the Chai family. He looked at Lin Chuntao gratefully and nodded.
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, she said to Chai Xingyu, "Ayu, try it and see if it suits your taste. My cooking skills are average, so I just made up my mind."
Chai Xingyu said: "It smells delicious, sister, don't worry about me, just eat it quickly."
Lin Chuntao smiled and nodded, calling Duoer and the others to eat.
As soon as they picked up their chopsticks, the sisters all reached for the pickled cabbage and pig's blood, much to the surprise of the master and servant at the table. Lin Duoer took a bite and said, "Sister, the pickled cabbage this time is sourer than last time, and the pig's blood is delicious too."
Lin Chuntao said, "It's delicious, eat more."
Chai Xingyu has already eaten the twice-cooked pork. He doesn't know how the cooking temperature was mastered. The meat has a crispy texture and is coated with the rich aroma of spicy sauce. He simply doesn't know how to describe the taste of this dish.
It’s just pork...how can it taste like this?
After tasting the food, Sanbao looked at Chai Xingyu with surprise. The master and servant exchanged glances and exclaimed in unison, "This cooking skill is amazing!"
Lin Chuntao smiled helplessly and said, "You two are exaggerating. Eat more."
Chai Xingyu was still wearing his bamboo hat, which made it a little inconvenient for him to eat. Lin Chuntao said, "Ayu, please take it off. We are all family."
Chai Xingyu was stunned for a moment. He took a deep breath and then took off his hat.
Lin Chuntao and the others had seen it before, so they were not surprised, but it was the first time for Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer to see it. Children don't know how to hide their emotions, so the two sisters widened their eyes.
Chai Xingyu was a little embarrassed. He looked at his two sisters and said, "Did I scare you?"
The two sisters hurriedly shook their heads, "No."
This was a lie. Lin Chunxing was so scared by him that she fell down that day.
Lin Duoer looked at the scars on his face and hissed coldly. Anyone would feel pain just thinking about it.
"Brother, how did you get hurt? It hurts, right?"
Her pair of dark eyes were filled with worry, and Chai Xingyu suddenly felt a little sore in his eyes. The sun was really dazzling today.
He pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile, but the smile was actually a bit scary.
"I got hurt when I fell off a horse. It doesn't hurt now."
After Chai Xingyu finished speaking, Lin Duoer took a spoon and scooped him a spoonful of potato stew. "Brother, eat more. You will grow better when you gain weight."
Chai Xingyu's heart swelled, "Thank you, Fourth Sister."
Today's dishes are all to their taste. As for Chai Xingyu and Sanbao, they can't stop eating every dish after tasting it.
Because of these dishes, both of them ate three full bowls of rice.
After they finished eating, they both realized their awkwardness. But Lin Chuntao remained calm. Pei Ying cleaned up and washed the dishes, and Sanbao also came to help. After they finished cleaning up, Lin Chuntao washed a few peaches, and everyone sat in the yard to rest and eat peaches.
After they had rested for a while, Lin Chuntao washed and cooked the pig's head, then took them to the fields to pull weeds. Chai Xingyu and Sanbao also went with them.
Chai Xingyu brought his bamboo hat. Neither the master nor the servant had ever done farm work, so Lin Chuntao asked them to watch out and make sure they didn't step on the bean sprouts.
After watching for a while, the two of them started working together.
Although their work was a bit rough, they were only fifteen or sixteen years old after all, and they could still pull out a lot of weeds.
After they had gathered enough pig grass from the backpack, Lin Chuntao took them back. There was still pig head cooking on the fire, and the smell filled the yard when they came back.
Lin Chuntao opened it and took a look. It was still a little hard, so she added some firewood and continued to cook.
She bought some black sugar today and planned to put the bitter herbs into jars.
She went to check on the bitter herbs. Lin Chunhe had turned them over in the morning, and there was no water stain on them anymore. They seemed a little wilted from the sun.
Lin Chuntao chopped the vegetables, put them into a bowl, sprinkled salt on them and started kneading them.
Chai Xingyu watched Lin Chuntao making something and asked curiously, "Sister, what are you doing?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Pickled vegetables."
Chai Xingyu nodded. This was the first time for Lin Chuntao to do this, and the sisters were also curious, so they stood in a circle around the table.
Lin Chuntao rubbed the bitter herbs for almost a quarter of an hour. Seeing that water had been rubbed out of the bitter herbs, she asked Lin Chunxing to bring a colander and squeeze out the water from the bitter herbs in the basin and put them into the colander.
She didn't have glutinous rice flour, so Lin Chuntao directly scooped a small bowl of rice and mashed it into a rice paste, mixed it with chopped dried chili peppers and brown sugar, added a little water, and beat it like beating eggs, stirring it wildly to make a paste.
The bitter herbs that had just been squeezed were still releasing water, so Lin Chuntao squeezed them again, poured them into a basin, and mixed in the seasoned ingredients. After stirring evenly, Lin Chuntao took out a small jar, put the vegetables in, pressed them down with her hands, poured half a bowl of wine on them, and then sealed the jar.
Pei Ying asked, "Carry it to the stove?"
Lin Chuntao said, "You don't need this. Just carry it in the room."
Chai Xingyu asked curiously, "Sister, how long does it take before I can eat this?"
"It will be ready in about five days. Then I'll use it to make noodles and share them with you."
When Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Chai Xingyu's eyes lit up, filled with anticipation. He watched Lin Chuntao making the pickles with such skill and dexterity, like the masters in the pickle factory. Thinking of the boasts he and the old man had made, he felt uneasy.
He was willing to pay Lin Chuntao, but the problem was that he had no idea how much to pay. He felt that Lin Chuntao's recipe could make countless money in the future. She might not agree to sell it. If she didn't sell the house, how could he get Lin Chuntao's sauce into their shop?
She makes sauce and sells it to them?
But in this place, in this house, she can’t make so many sauces by herself!
Besides, today was the first day, and he had agreed to come to the house to recognize his relatives, so he definitely couldn't bring up this matter. Let's wait a little longer.
Chai Xingyu and Sanbao had to go back home in the evening. After Lin Chuntao finished pickling the vegetables, she went to check on the meat. It was almost ready. She called Lin Chunxing to soak the rice and prepare the dinner.
Have dinner early and let these two go back after dinner.
The pork head for dinner was the same as before. The two of them had said privately at noon that they should eat less at night, which was too embarrassing. But after eating in the evening, they completely forgot what they had said at noon and ate voraciously until their stomachs were full.
After eating, Chai Xingyu felt so ashamed. He said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, I'll pay for your meal. Come to my house for dinner from now on."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Don't you recognize me as your sister? Why should my brother pay for dinner at our house? As long as it's not too far for you, you can come anytime you're free. You can also tell me what you want to eat."
Lin Chuntao spoke very sincerely, as if Chai Xingyu would be alienating her if he mentioned money again.
Chai Xingyu said: "Then I won't be polite to my sister."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You're welcome. Since it's inconvenient at home, I won't let you stay. I'll ask your brother-in-law to borrow a mule cart to take you back."
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