Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Kitchen.
Xu Ai was Feng Da's mother, and according to seniority, Ji Xu should call her "Grandmother".
She had a long face, a flat bun, a half-worn fine cloth skirt, and a piece of blue cloth knee-pad tied around her waist. She looked very neat.
However, he stretched out his hand, revealing his right wrist, which was wrapped in cloth and emitted a faint pungent smell of medicinal wine.
"I sprained my wrist yesterday, so I wasn't very good at cooking. Fortunately, Xingba and Fuzhen both said that your cooking was delicious.
I want to ask you to come home and cook lunch for us today and tomorrow because we are busy with farming.
Mrs. Bao, who insisted on following her, continued to interrupt and persuade her:
“Mother, what good food can she, a young woman from a family of origin, make?
It would be better to invite my fourth brother. He used to work as a cook in a big restaurant in the county for many years. His food is famous far and wide. Every family in Shengchang invites him to any sacrificial banquet."
Feng Fuzhen pouted in dissatisfaction, thinking that the brothers of the Bao family, relying on their home in Shengchang, all looked down on the Feng family. If it were the brothers of the Bao family, not to mention their cooking skills, they would have to spend money and still be ridiculed for nothing.
Although the Feng family is a wealthy family in Benguli, they are nothing compared to the entire township, especially the wealthy Shengchangli.
Furthermore, the ancestors of the Feng family were once servants of a wealthy family named Gan in Shengchangli. Because they had made great contributions in fighting for land, they asked for mercy from their master and were rewarded with land and released from slavery. Gradually, they accumulated their current wealth of land and had no worries about food and clothing.
But every time there was a grand sacrifice in the village and all the villages gathered together, Feng Fuzhen was inevitably ridiculed by the children in Shengchangli as a "house slave surnamed Feng."
Normally, the girls from Shengchangli were unwilling to marry into the Feng family. However, although the Bao family had some wealth, the head of the family had two concubines and many children. Her second aunt, Bao, was the daughter of one of the concubines. Her grandfather coveted the betrothal gift from the Feng family, so he married her off to the Feng family in Benguli.
Feng Fuzhen did not forget that when her second uncle got married at the beginning of the year, her family slaughtered a pig and held a grand banquet to entertain the brothers from the Bao family who came to send the bride.
They roasted meat, drank, and sang songs. When they left with their bellies full, they mocked their ancestors for being slaves and unable to cook decent food. Her third uncle almost quarreled with them because of this.
How could Aunt Xu not know the hidden truth here? The eldest daughter-in-law died of illness at an early age, leaving behind Feng Fuzhen and her sister and brother; the second daughter-in-law could not tell the difference between grains and had no knowledge of cooking. She taught her step by step, but she was able to cook meals that were too salty, as was the case with yesterday's lunch and dinner; the third son had just come of age and had not yet married.
Actually, she was the only one in the Feng family who could cook, but she had sprained her hand and it happened to be the busy farming season, when the men in the family had to work in the fields, so they couldn't be careless about the meals. Moreover, the meals prepared by Mrs. Bao were too salty and hard to swallow, so she came to ask Ji Xu for help.
Facing Mrs. Bao's words, she just turned a deaf ear and continued to speak:
"Don't worry, Grandmother won't let you work in vain. You'll get 20 yuan in commission for cooking one meal a day."
Bao was dissatisfied, thinking that the money should be earned by her fourth brother.
"The two rice-cutting servants we hired were much more tiring than the cooks, and they only earned seven cents a day. How could a young woman like her earn nearly three times that?"
"I know her craftsmanship is excellent." Aunt Xu pulled her hand and said.
She had tasted a piece of salt and pepper ribs that her granddaughter had given her. There was no way she could replicate that flavor, so spending the money was like buying her craftsmanship.
Ji Feng said to Mrs. Bao, "My elder sister's cooking skills are unmatched in the surrounding area. She can sell steamed buns for two coins each."
Ji Xu thought that since she had delivered steamed buns to Mr. Tian early in the morning, she came back early. Judging from the sky, it was only noon now, so she would have time to go to Feng's house to make a meal.
But tomorrow, there will be no big orders from the farmer, so she will have to hawk her wares in the fields as usual. She will definitely be back in the afternoon. The steamed buns are the main source of income, so she can't delay any longer. So she said:
"Mother Xu has shown me such kindness. How can I thank you so much? I need not say anything today. I will go with your family to make lunch in a little while. But tomorrow, when I come back from selling the steamed buns, I'm afraid it will be too late for lunch. The farming season is more busy than usual, so I have to go to the fields to sell them so that I can earn a few cents to save for paying taxes."
Seeing that she was sincere in her words, Aunt Xu did not want to force her. Bao was naturally happy and continued to persuade her to ask her fourth brother to come tomorrow.
After hearing this, Aunt Xu's face turned gloomy and she remained silent.
Seeing this, Ji Xu said, "Mother Xu, if you don't mind, you could buy some of my steamed buns tomorrow. They can also be used as lunch. I'll be selling them in the fields somewhere else, and they can buy them to make lunch. This will save my family the trouble of cooking, and we can also fill our stomachs. It's a win-win situation."
"Okay, I'll do as you say. Tomorrow, Erfeng will come to herd the pigs, and she can bring thirty steamed buns to my house."
Mrs. Xu really didn't want to see the Bao family, so she agreed, saying that she had heard from her grandson how delicious the steamed buns were.
"Okay, then, do you need me to buy the ingredients for today's lunch?"
Mrs. Bao's face had already darkened, fearing that she would steal the money, so she interrupted and said:
"You don't have to do all this. Butcher Li came to our house early this morning to slaughter a pig and sell it. We have the freshest pork meat at home, and we have vegetables like sweet potatoes, leeks, shallots, onions, and gourds growing in the fields. We can't finish eating them all, and we won't be short of seasonings."
"Okay." This actually saved Yu Jixu a lot of trouble.
Feng Fuzhen said, "My younger brother asked you to make some of the old red stewed pork and salt and pepper ribs. We have saved these ingredients at home."
"Their children love to eat these. I think they should make a sour and spicy dish that goes well with rice and makes it easier for the adults at home to do their work." Aunt Xu said with a smile.
"Do you have pig intestines?" Ji Xu thought for a moment and asked.
"Pig intestines?" Bao's face was filled with disdain, thinking that this poor woman was truly unworthy of public display. "What kind of good person would eat such a stinking and vile thing?"
Although Xu also felt that large intestines were filthy and cheap, she had invited Ji Xu to her home to cook, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and say:
"Yes, there is. Butcher Li didn't take the large intestine away. He originally planned to use it for composting. So, let's talk while we walk. It's time to cook lunch."
After Ji Xu had given his sister some instructions, he went to the Feng family. Ji Feng also went with him because she had to go back to the mountain to herd pigs, leaving Ji Zhu to look after the house.
It was a house made of green bricks and black tiles, with a courtyard, a main hall and two inner rooms. Even the kitchen was spacious and bright, and it also used a bow-shaped ceramic stove, but the stove surface was engraved with a relief of two mating dragons, which was much more exquisite than the one in my house. Looking again, I saw that the cauldron and tripod on the stove eye were made of iron.
Ji Xu couldn't help but feel happy. The iron pot conducts heat quickly, has a high heat, and is convenient for stir-frying, which is better than the pottery one.
Aunt Xu led her in, pointing first to a horizontal wooden beam in the air and then to two stacked low tables underneath, saying:
"The meat, ribs, and intestines are all hung on the iron hooks on the crossbar, and the fresh vegetables picked from the fields are all on this low table."
Pointing to a row of ceramic jars on the stove, he said, "These are seasonings."
Ji Xu took a look and found that the seasonings were not rich. There were only oil, salt, sauce, fermented black beans and ginger. There was no Huaixiang peppercorns to make pepper salt powder, and the garlic needed to make large intestine was also missing.
There was some extra at home, so she thought of taking some to make a meal. The amount needed wasn't much, so she didn't say much.
After giving the instructions, Aunt Xu went to the field and used her left hand to help pick out some weeds and barnyard grass in the threshing bucket, or to look for rice grains that had fallen on the ground and pick them back into the threshing bucket.
When Mrs. Bao saw her coming, she immediately asked, "Mother, why aren't you at home watching over that servant? She might steal things from our kitchen."
Things like malt syrup and white honey are extremely precious. How can we trust an outsider if we let him in?
"Don't worry, she and her sister Fengnu are not the kind of people who steal chickens and dogs.
Besides, he has a skill in the kitchen. If I go there and get the word out, what kind of person will I be? I will even covet the skills of a chef. It will only ruin Sanlang's reputation as a scholar."
Aunt Xu also warned them, "When you carry the rice back to the yard later, don't go into the kitchen."
"I understand, mother." Feng Da replied.
Feng Erze hesitated.
Bao curled her lips and thought to herself that she didn't want to go into the kitchen, otherwise she wouldn't have prepared such salty meals.
Those who are capable should do more work. She is a new bride. If she knew how to cook, she would not only have to harvest rice under the scorching sun, but also have to find time to go home and cook for the whole family. She is unwilling to do such tiring work. She would rather be a person who knows nothing about cooking, so that the Feng family can spend some money to invite her fourth brother to come. Unexpectedly, she was snatched away by Xu's daughter.
Feng San frowned. He was the only one in the Feng family, and even in Benguli, who studied in the local scripture school. His scripture teacher named him Feng Yun.
During the busy farming season, the economics department would be closed, and Feng Yun would sometimes help with the work at home.
Without even raising his head, he said, "A gentleman stays away from the kitchen. I will not go near it."
As for Feng Fuzhen and Feng Xingba, they naturally listened to what Aunt Xu said.
However, even if they didn't get close, they could smell the stench, a foul and fishy smell that made people faint.
Take the neighboring Cui family's fields, for example. Cui Si pinched her nose, stopped harvesting rice, and stood up to ask, "Fuzhen, why does your house smell so bad?"
Ji Yuan, who was also standing next to him, smelled it and shook his head in disgust, holding his breath and throwing the rice grains into the bucket.
"What are you cooking? It stinks. Feng Fuzhen, what are you cooking at home? It stinks."
Feng Fuzhen couldn't help but feel nauseous. She knew that it was the smell of pig intestines, but she shook her head and pretended not to know. She didn't want them to know that a wealthy family like the Feng family actually ate such a fishy and cheap thing.
The smell was indeed coming from the Feng family's kitchen, where Ji Xu was processing the large intestines.
Grab three pieces and wash them three times. Grab three pieces with salt, wine and flour respectively, and then rinse them three times; turn the large intestine over and repeat the steps. Finally, tear off the excess lymph and oil film to make it clean.
Bao went to the yard to carry rice to dry, and ran out like a ghost, leaning against a tree and retching.
"My dear aunt, this is not a kitchen, it's clearly a toilet..."
As soon as she returned to the fields, she complained to the Feng family, "Mother really shouldn't have invited my daughter to the kitchen. Just smell this, is it edible?
I'd rather eat some rice to fill my stomach, even if I faint from hunger in this field, than eat a single bite of her stinky food."
As he spoke, he started to retch again.
Xu was also a little embarrassed, but her mouth was sewn tightly.
After Bao finished speaking, he continued to talk for a while.
"Tomorrow is another busy day for farming. I think I should invite my fourth brother, the cook, to come over..."
Her newlywed husband Feng Er couldn't help but chime in, "Mother, I think..."
"Do your work." said Aunt Xu.
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