"Why hasn't the Zhang family kid come yet?"
"Didn't the fourth son of the Chen family go and call him? I guess he overslept."
"It's already so late. Even if you overslept, you can't sleep until this hour. It's okay if you overslept, but don't let him fall into the river because he was drunk. I heard the other day that there was a drunkard in the neighboring village who fell into the river when he came back from the city. Fortunately, he was fished out by a passerby, otherwise he would have died long ago. It's freezing cold, and the drunkard is still lying at home now."
"The Zhang family kid is also a spendthrift. His father was a capable man. He must have left him a lot of money, which allowed him to spend his days in the city drinking and having fun."
There were two tables in the Xu family's yard. Several women and men gathered around them, picking vegetables and peeling garlic. Men were sitting or standing nearby, cracking dried pumpkin seeds. Everyone was waiting for the butcher to come, and they talked about the influential people in the village.
"Drinking is nothing, he also went to brothels and followed the young masters in the city to the casino. He did everything he should and shouldn't have done."
"What a sin! Tell my girls and boys to stay away from him. He is a dishonest person. If he gets drunk and does something naughty someday, it won't be the girls and boys who will suffer."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the host Xu Changren shouting, "Zhang the butcher, you're finally here. The water in the pot for scalding pig hair has been boiling for several turns!"
The villagers who were talking excitedly in the yard fell silent when they saw the burly and fierce young man striding in.
Zhang Fangyuan walked into the yard and saw that everyone was looking at him. He had heard a lot of noise over there just now, but as soon as he came in, there was silence. It was obvious who everyone was talking about.
The gossip of the villagers has been going on for a long time. At first, he just couldn't stand these people talking about his parents behind their backs, so he felt depressed and went to the city to drink, and didn't come back to the village for three days. Things got better later on. People stopped talking about his parents and started talking about his idleness and dissoluteness. In short, there was no peace.
After a cursory experience of his life, he looked back and faced it again. He suddenly found it funny. It was really not worth it to suffer from gossip.
"I'm sorry Uncle Xu, we were delayed on the road. I'll just drag the fat pig out."
Xu Changren, a man from the Xu family, did not feel guilty when he heard this. He quickly called the men who came to hold the pig to drag the animal out. The boar was very strong, and it took four men to control it.
Zhang Fangyuan took out a sharp knife that was shining with a cold silver light. His eyes became fierce and he slashed with the knife. Even though he hadn't done this business for many years, his movements were still very skillful.
After the pig had rested and bled, the skin was scalded and the hair removed. The man carried the pig to two long benches, and the scraped white fat was cut into small pieces. The villagers who wanted to buy meat immediately gathered around.
No matter what kind of meat you want and how much weight you want, you can still cut it to about the same weight even if you don’t have a scale far away.
Even if the villagers looked down on him, after seeing this set of skills, some people still couldn't help but say: "Zhang the butcher is really nimble!"
Zhang Fangyuan wiped the blade and said, "It's all acquired through practice."
This is his skill, otherwise, with his temper, no one would ask him to butcher pigs anymore.
Although Zhang Fangyuan could estimate the weight, Liu Xianglan, the plump wife of the Xu family, was still worried. After all, they had worked hard to raise the animals for half a year. If they underestimated the weight, they would lose money. She puffed out her chest and held up the scale, "Come and weigh it if you want meat!"
"Madam Xu, you have raised this animal so well. The meat is so rich."
Liu Xianglan was very proud when she heard this: "That's right, our animals are fattened up with lots of pig food, two or three times a day."
After working for more than half an hour, most of the owner's pig was sold. The pig was fat and everyone was craving for the fishy taste. Pork sold well in the village. Liu Xianglan had a lot of money in her pocket and was very satisfied.
After the meat was sold, the women and boys were busy with work in the kitchen, and the men who came to help had nothing to do, so a few of them gathered together to play dice with small stakes. It was almost the New Year as winter was approaching, and there was another meal of meat, so everyone liked to play for a while.
"Fang Yuan, would you like to try a few?"
Zhang Fangyuan waved his hand: "I'm going to the toilet, you can play first."
He went into the house. The Xu family was a middle-class family in the village. They could get by with frugality. They didn't have many houses, but the one passed down from their ancestors was relatively spacious and had a different structure from that of the Zhang family. He stepped on the threshold on the left and the right, and somehow he stepped to the side of a small house.
"He'er, cook the meat quickly and prepare the ingredients for the dishes. Once everything is ready, go to the stove and light the fire and take a rest. You've been busy for a long time. Let Second Sister do it."
Zhang Fangyuan laughed when he heard Ruomi's gentle voice. Everything is ready, what are you busy with? Hearing the voice, he tilted his head to see which girl was so talkative. When he looked up, he saw two young people in the room, a girl and a boy.
Without going forward to ask, he immediately knew who the two people were.
It is said that the Xu family has no sons. The eldest son died when he was young, and now there is only a girl and a boy. The second daughter, Xu Shaochun, was fair, pretty and fertile, and was a famous village beauty in the surrounding area. However, the youngest daughter, Xu He, was pale, thin, and had a poor physique. She looked dirty and dusty, and was nothing like her sister.
The villagers always like to gossip after dinner, wondering how the same parents could give birth to two very different children. Compared with his sister, He Ge'er is even more inconspicuous.
Zhang Fangyuan looked at the little girl standing by the stove with her hands on her waist. She had a plump and fair face, black eyes and cherry-like lips. She was wearing a cute royal blue velvet winter coat. She looked like the pampered daughter of a wealthy family. No wonder Chen Si drooled when he mentioned her. She was indeed a good-looking girl.
On the other hand, the young man who was working at the stove nearby had a skinny body wrapped in a cross-collared linen shirt made of small pieces of cloth. There was not a pound of flesh on his yellow face. His two eyes were particularly large, but lifeless. There were dark circles around his eyes. He looked very gray, like a short and skinny little monkey. He was completely different from his sister.
"The radish heart and lung stew has been stewing for more than an incense stick. I have already prepared the soup, and now I just need to stir-fry the vegetables."
The boy spoke in a light tone, his voice mixed with the hoarseness of the winter cold. It was neither as gentle as a girl's nor as clear as a boy's voice. Rather, it sounded more like a wild gull that occasionally called out while foraging for food on the riverbank.
Wearing an apron, he was cooking in front of the stove with a spatula. He was very skillful in adding salt and seasonings to the pot. After just a few shovels, the smell of cooking filled the small kitchen.
Zhang Fangyuan touched his chin. The food was so delicious that it was comparable to the best restaurants in the city.
"Zhang the butcher!"
A sudden shout startled Xu Shaochun in the room and he picked up a clay jar nearby.
Zhang Fangyuan turned his head and saw Liu Xianglan coming hurriedly. He said slowly, "Madam Xu, I'll find the toilet."
"It's on the left. Just go along the eaves and turn the corner."
"good."
Zhang Fangyuan went to the place she said, and Liu Xianglan went into the kitchen only after she saw that the person had gone far away.
Xu Shaochun breathed a sigh of relief, put down the earthen jar, and walked forward to take Liu Xianglan's arm: "You scared me, mother."
Liu Xianglan scolded, "You have to be careful and avoid this guy. He goes to the city to drink and have fun all day. I think he came to see you on purpose and even lied that he was looking for the toilet. You are such a careless girl that you didn't even notice him."
"Mother knew that man had bad character, so why did she invite him home?"
"It wasn't me who called. It was your father who called him to kill the pig. Since the old butcher died, he is the only butcher in our village. If we didn't call him to kill the pig, we would have to call people from other villages. Your father said it was too troublesome and not worth it."
Liu Xianglan stopped talking and glanced at Xu He who had been silent the whole time: "How is the food? Oh, it smells really good."
Seeing that even her mother praised the food, Xu Shaochun couldn't help but say, "The meat dishes are delicious. He'er's cooking is good, but the smell is a little too strong. Mother wants me to learn in the kitchen, but it's a pity that the new clothes she made for me in the city are full of smell."
"Silly girl, I know you don't like smoke and fire, but there are many guests outside today, so I have to bring out something to entertain them."
The mother and daughter talked for a long time before they remembered that there was someone in the side kitchen. They turned to Xu He and said, "He'er, when the dishes are ready, don't go out. There are people to set the table and serve the dishes. Go back to the house and eat. It's not that mother doesn't want you to go out, but there are a lot of gossipers from the village here today, and they will use you and Shao Chun as a pretext."
Xu He didn't even bat an eyelid, just nodded. No matter whether it was for other companies or his own business, he would arrange it in the same way. The villagers can only have a few good meals throughout the year. Today, there are a few meat dishes. He and others have gone out to eat. He just adds a big bowl of rice and two big spoonfuls of vegetables to eat in the house, which makes him more comfortable.
Zhang Fangyuan came back from the toilet and played a few rounds of dice with the men in the village. He was lucky and won several times in a row. However, he was not very happy when he lost. Fortunately, the host said it was time for dinner and the dice on the table were taken away.
Everyone started to set up the meal and eat happily again.
"This fried pork liver is so tender, so delicious."
Chen Si took a sip of wine and praised the fried pork liver with scallion slices. Upon hearing this, the men at the table all started to eat with their chopsticks.
"You're really inexperienced. You need some skills to do this."
At this time, Liu Xianglan heard the news and came over. While refilling the wine, she pointed at her daughter in the room with her chin and said, "The child is not very good at cooking. Don't laugh at her."
Zhang Fangyuan was eating with his head down, but when he heard this he couldn't help but look up at Liu Xianglan who was smiling. This dish was clearly cooked by Xu He in the side kitchen, but how come it sounded like Xu Shaochun's when it was served?
"I've heard that the second daughter of Madam Xu's family is very pretty, but I didn't expect her cooking skills to be so good. Whoever marries her will be blessed."
Soon several women followed suit. Liu Xianglan laughed so hard that she couldn't stop, saying, "Everyone knows how to joke."
Zhang Fangyuan saw through it but didn't say anything. He just threw a few pieces of radish into his mouth. This Xu family is really interesting. He raised his neck and shamelessly teased Liu Xianglan: "Mrs. Xu, today is such a nice day, why don't you call your daughter and son out to eat? You have been busy around the stove all morning, and you are still hiding something at this hour."
"Hahahahahaha, only Zhang Fangyuan can say that."
The men at the table picked up Zhang Fangyuan and started joking.
Without her mother calling her, Xu Shaochun actually came out in response to the conversation and laughter of a group of men, and said leisurely that he wanted to pour wine for the elders who came to dinner. When they saw Xu Shaochun coming out with a rosy and delicate face, all the men at the table stopped picking up food. She was such a filial son.
Zhang Fangyuan curled up the corners of his mouth and took advantage of this opportunity to pick up some pork lung slices into his bowl with his chopsticks. The Xu family is a good cook, but they are a bit stingy. There are only a few pieces of meat in the big bowl of radish and lung soup.
By the time the man at the table took his eyes off Xu Shaochun, Zhang Fangyuan had eaten all the meat.
After the meal, Zhang Fangyuan, as a butcher, not only got a meal of pork soup and rice, but the host also gave him a piece of pork as a reward.
Xu Changren was quite generous and gave Zhang Fangyuan two pounds of pork with both fat and lean meat. After taking the food, Zhang Fangyuan didn't stay for long and left immediately.
Those who stayed here were all people who had their eyes on the second daughter of the Xu family. If he had not run into the two children of the Xu family in the side kitchen today, and seen how good Xu Shaochun looked, and with her mother's bragging, they would definitely have been fascinated.
He shook his head and said that more should be done.
He didn't go home directly with the meat, but turned around and went to the village first.
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