Heat the oil in a wok until it reaches 60% of its maximum temperature, then add Sichuan peppercorns and star anise. Once the aroma is released, add scallions and ginger and continue to stir-fry. Then, use chopsticks to remove the scallions and ginger.
Pour in the chopped meat chunks and stir-fry until the water evaporates and the meat is about 70-80% cooked. Remove from the pan and let cool. Then you can start marinating the meat by layering salt and meat.
Cuihua instructed Ye Chen'er to coat each piece of meat with salt, and then stack them layer by layer in a new jar. She then took the pork fat that Ye Chen'er had brought, washed it, and put it in a pot to render the oil.
Pour the rendered lard into the cured meat until it's submerged, then seal the jar tightly with oil paper: "Daughter, this jar of meat will last you a year without spoiling."
Cuihua then put the remaining lard and cracklings into two bowls and handed them to Ye Chen'er.
Ye Chen'er didn't know that marinating pork required frying it in oil, and she felt really bad: "Nan Nan's mother, you can have these lard and cracklings."
Cuihua smiled and took out a basket, putting the jar and bowl inside: "Girl, our family has half a pig this year."
Ye Chen'er felt even more embarrassed. Yan Xiaonan came up and said, "Come on, I'll take you home."
Ye Chen'er nodded quickly, feeling extremely embarrassed.
Knowing that Yan Xiaonan wanted to go up the mountain, Cuihua quickly took out a cotton-padded coat for her to wear: "Don't go crazy for too long, come back for dinner early."
Yan Xiaonan hugged Cuihua: "Mom, don't worry."
After dropping Ye Chen'er off at the entrance of the educated youth settlement, Yan Xiaonan turned a few corners and went straight up the mountain.
Zhongnan sensed Yan Xiaonan's presence and quickly brought his wolf cubs over. Yan Xiaonan took one look and thought, "Well, another batch has been born."
The wolf cubs circled around Yan Xiaonan, chattering away, their eagerness for a hug pleasing Yan Xiaonan.
Yan Xiaonan ran straight up the mountain. The wolf cubs got excited and quickly chased after him, thinking that Yan Xiaonan was playing with them.
Yan Xiaonan first took a bath at the hot spring. The sound of the flowing water lulled her to sleep, and she closed her eyes to enjoy the benefits bestowed by nature.
Tiger King howled a few times on the mountaintop, calling for Yan Xiaonan.
Yan Xiaonan laughed. It must be that Tiger King caught another roe deer. Roe deer meat tastes much better than pork.
Seeing Yan Xiaonan running straight up the mountain, Zhong Nan thought for a moment, then turned and left. He needed to catch a few pheasants and rabbits to fill his stomach.
Tiger King lay lazily at the entrance of the cave on the mountaintop. The cotton quilt was just what Tiger King wanted. Apart from filling his stomach, he liked to lie on the cotton quilt all the time.
Once, Yan Xiaonan found that the quilt was too dirty and wanted to take it down the mountain to wash it, but Tiger King just lay on the quilt and wouldn't move, even if it was filthy. Oh well, let it be filthy.
A roe deer lay in front of the Tiger King, its neck wound a gruesome sight. Yan Xiaonan took out a knife and removed the roe deer meat; the internal organs were the Tiger King's favorite.
They took the meat to the stream to wash it clean, picked up some chestnuts and pine cones, started a fire, and began to cook the roe deer meat and white rice.
Make sure to cook plenty of rice. I don't know when the tiger king started to like eating rice. He would mix the rice with meat gravy and chunks of meat, and he would finish the whole pot of rice in just a few big bites. He even licked the pot clean, still wanting more.
Looking at the sky, Yan Xiaonan knew that if he didn't go down the mountain soon, his mother would get anxious, so he hurried home, bringing back a basket of mountain delicacies along the way.
Southeast is back, and he's much darker than before, probably because he's been spending more time in the fields.
When Dongnan saw Yan Xiaonan, he almost didn't recognize her. In just half a year, the girl had grown taller. Her face still had a youthful innocence, but she was truly a great beauty.
Now that he can't pick her up like he used to when she was little, Dongnan misses her a little: "Nannan, how I wish you would never grow up, so I could hold you."
Yan Xiaonan pouted and said, "Big brother will be able to hold your own child in a few months."
Speaking of the child, Dongnan quickly took out two bags of milk powder from his luggage: "Xuemei, keep these safe, in case we run out of milk, the child won't go hungry."
He then pulled out a can of malted milk powder: "Grandma, I told you, when I make money, I'll let you take baths with malted milk powder. It's a pity I don't make much money yet, so let's drink it for now, and take baths when we get tired of it."
Grandma Yan smiled broadly, accepting the malted milk powder and saying, "I don't waste good things. Why don't you use the malted milk powder to bathe your child after it's born?"
Hahaha! Everyone burst into laughter.
On the 29th of the year, the postman delivered two letters, a parcel slip, and two money order slips. The letters were written by Daqiang and Erqiang, and the parcel slip was sent by Daqiang.
Southeast and North South, carrying sausages and dried meat, rode their bicycles to the post office. On the way, North South told Southeast that some local thugs had appeared and were going to steal their bicycles.
Southeast nodded, "Then go get the package. Send these things to your uncle. I'll watch the car."
The North and South are relieved; the Southeast is a strongman who can kill two wild boars in one go.
After Bei Nan finished sending the sausages and took the package, he came out to find several people already surrounding Dong Nan.
When those people saw that it was Bei Nan coming out, their eyes immediately turned red. It turned out that they were the triangular-eyed gang from the last fight.
One of the boys secretly took two steps back, turned around and ran away, probably to call for help.
Southeast tossed the bicycle to North, telling him to watch the bike and his belongings, and took off his thick cotton-padded coat, ready to get to work.
The man with the triangular eyes saw that there were two of them, and he was determined to stall for time until reinforcements arrived before dealing with them.
"Bei Nan, Bei Nan, is that you?" A boy about the same age as Bei Nan ran over.
"Hey kid! What are you doing here?" Bei Nan asked, puzzled, but a quick glance told her what was going on.
"Young man, did they call you here?"
"You were the one who fought with him last time, weren't you?" Mao Tou knew the truth.
"Yeah, this guy tried to steal my bicycle, how could I not fight him?" Yan Beinan said fiercely.
Mao Tou turned around and kicked the triangular-eyed man: "Idiot, you dare to lay a hand on my brother Bei Nan? You've been eating too much shit and it's hurting your brain."
The entire triangular-eyed gang was petrified; their backer turned out to be this kid's friend.
"I'm leaving. Take care of yourself. Call me if anything happens," Yan Beinan said to Maotou.
"Thank you, Brother Bei Nan, I know." Mao Tou was a little touched. It had been so long since anyone had said such a thing to him. The less anyone cared about him, the more restless he became.
When the two returned home, Bei Nan gave the money and package to Grandma Yan: "Grandma, the sausages for Uncle have all been sent out. This is Uncle's retirement money, twenty yuan. This is Second Uncle's retirement money, five yuan. This is the package Uncle sent."
Grandma Yan nodded and opened the package. Inside were two boxes of lotus root powder, a pound of red apricot soft candy, three cans of meat and three cans of fruit, a packet of milk powder, a can of malted milk powder, three boxes of pastries, and a large piece of red corduroy fabric.
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