Chapter 4 04 Where to put it safely
Yang Chunyan did not answer. She gently cut open the gallbladder. A dozen small stones and a bezoar the size of a pheasant egg rolled out, and a stream of yellow water also flowed out.
"Oh my God~" Li Qiuyue screamed excitedly.
Zhou Huaishan looked around in panic and hit her lightly, "Granny, keep your voice down."
"Yan'er," Zhou Huaian's voice changed with excitement, "So many?"
Father Zhou also asked quietly, "Is it heavy?"
Yang Chunyan smiled and said: "Fresh bezoar is like an egg that has not seen the sun. It is a bit heavy when it is fresh, but becomes hard and light after drying."
This was something she learned in her previous life when she heard the rumor that Ma Changgui had obtained bezoar, and went to Ning'an to sell herbs and asked Doctor Wang about it.
Zhou's mother sighed, "So there's such a big thing stuck in the gallbladder. No wonder the Xiong family's cows are so thin."
Yang Chunyan nodded, used cotton to remove the mucus, blood, bile and dirt on the surface of the bezoar, then removed the outer film, wrapped it with cotton and put it aside.
Then gently clean all the small bezoars in the basin, wrap them with cotton, and finally wrap all the bezoars with soft cloth.
She looked at Father Zhou and said, "Old man, it's too late to go to the city today. Let Mom put it away first and go into the city early tomorrow morning."
Father Zhou nodded and said, "Tell your mother what to do."
Yang Chunyan turned around and looked at Zhou's mother who looked nervous. "Mom, just put it in a cool place."
"Hey!" Zhou's mother took it with shaking hands and weighed it carefully. "It looks like there are quite a few of them. They seem light and fluttery. I think they weigh no more than two taels."
"Two taels is too light for you?" Zhou Huaian looked at his mother with a smug look on his face, "Mom, herbs are all measured by gram. One tael is fifty grams, and two taels is one hundred..."
Now the couple are the great contributors to the Zhou family. Let’s see who dares to call him a prodigal son in the future.
Under the disdainful gazes of Zhou's father and mother, Zhou Huaian lowered his voice to a near whisper by the end of his speech.
Zhou's mother glared at him again and went into the house with the bezoar.
Yang Chunyan glanced at Zhou Huaian, took a pair of scissors and went to the well to clean it. Several sisters-in-law were also busy cleaning up the dirt on the ground.
When Zhou's father saw his wife leaving with the bezoar, he said, "Third son, go to the field and call back the kids. Eldest son, second son, let's quickly clean up the meat, leaving 20 to 30 kilograms of meat, the cow's brain and tripe, and the rest we can quickly send to town to sell."
"Okay." The brothers agreed and acted separately.
Mother Zhou carried the bezoar from the main room into the room on the left, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked around the room. She felt it was not safe anywhere she put it. She was worried that it would be stolen or eaten by rats.
Thinking of Yang Chunyan's instructions to put it in a cool place, he opened the cabinet by the window, took out a small box from it, and took out her dowry, a silver hairpin, from the box and placed it in the corner of the cabinet.
He gently placed the bezoar into the small wooden box, looked around, and placed the box on top of the bunk bed.
He stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, then straightened his back and walked towards the door.
Outside the house, Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law cleaned up the grass ashes soaked in blood in the yard.
Zhou Huaijun and Zhou Huaian fetched several buckets of water to wash away the dirt on the ground, took out two baskets, and began to skin and debone the animals.
The four sisters-in-law began to clean up the food.
Zhao Huifang cleans the large intestine and Zhang Xiuxiang cleans the small intestine.
Yang Chunyan lifted the tripe from the basin to the stone slab, took a pair of scissors and cut the tripe one by one, and spread it flat on the washboard. The tripe had many wrinkles, and she was just about to find a brush.
Li Qiuyue came over with a half-bald hairbrush and looked at her with a smile: "Chunyan, I'll wash it, you go and take a rest."
Ever since she discovered that this quiet sister-in-law was actually a capable person, she became enthusiastic towards her.
Among the sisters-in-law in the Zhou family, the eldest sister-in-law is kind-hearted, the second sister-in-law is straightforward, and the third sister-in-law is sharp-tongued. Although everyone has some small thoughts and there are disputes and conflicts among the sisters-in-law, they are generally harmonious.
Yang Chunyan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to the kitchen and get the rabbit. I'll ask the youngest to skin it and the eldest brother and the others to take it to town to sell for money."
"Yan'er, I'll get it." Zhou Laoya threw down the beef bones in his hand and ran towards the kitchen.
Father Zhou took a look at the bones he had casually thrown into the basket and shook his head.
Li Qiuyue grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, her eyes curved into crescents, "Today's meal is better than during Chinese New Year. We have beef, offal, and beef bone soup."
Zhou's mother came out of the house and saw how happy she was. She hurried forward and said to her, "Qiuyue, go outside and carry some. Don't let the old Xiong family notice."
Li Qiuyue stuck out her tongue, "Mom, I know."
Mother Zhou took a look at the tripe and said, "The tripe is very dirty, especially the folds inside. You need to open them and scrub them. Let Chunyan get a bucket of water to rinse and scrub. I'll get some alkaline noodles and vinegar. After washing, you need to soak them."
Zhao Huifang, who was cleaning the cow intestines, smiled and said, "Mom, take out more. We need to rub the cow intestines, too."
Having just obtained the bezoar which was more valuable than gold, Zhou's mother also became generous and responded readily: "What else do you want? Tell me once and I'll get it for you!"
Yang Chunyan looked at the cow's hooves and skull. "I remember the youngest one brought back some rosin. The hair on the cow's hooves and skull needs rosin to be cleaned."
"It's under the cupboard. I'll get it for you." Mother Zhou walked towards the kitchen with brisk steps.
Zhou Huaishan carried a load of potatoes and walked into the yard with a group of children. The youngest, Zhou Xiaolin, sat in a basket, holding the basket rope tightly with both hands.
Zhou Huaishan put down the basket and took the little girl out of the basket. The little girl ran towards her brother and sister with her short legs.
Yang Chunyan looked at these children and remembered that when she left, some of them had already become grandfathers.
Generally speaking, these children are nice and take good care of her as their aunt.
"Wow, so much meat!" The little ones rushed to the beef excitedly, their saliva even flowing out.
Father Zhou looked at the skinny, pale-faced children and felt a little sad. "Tonight we're having beef and potatoes, and oxtail stewed with radish."
Zhou Xiaolin poked the beef on the ground with her hand and said in a baby voice, "Grandpa, what does beef and potatoes taste like? Is it delicious?"
Father Zhou nodded lovingly, "It's delicious. I'll let your grandma make it for you later."
"I want to eat that much." Zhou Xiaolin spread out her short arms and gestured in a circle.
Father Zhou nodded happily, "Okay, eat as much as you want."
Zhou Huairong's eldest son, Zhou Jiaming, was eight or nine years old and already knew some things. He went back and squatted in front of his mother, Zhao Huifang.
He whispered, "Mom, I heard from Sanwazi that Yaoba killed Laoxiong's cow and that Grandpa paid a lot of money to Laoxiong's family. Is that true?"
Zhao Huifang glanced at her son, who was so smart, and said, "Don't interfere in adult matters."
Zhou Jiaming, a smart little boy, sighed, "Ah, my father is so disappointing."
Zhao Huifang was amused, but she scolded him, "You have no respect for your elders. You can't say anything about them!"
"I'm more obedient than my dad!" Zhou Jiaming shook his head, stood up and left.
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan glanced at Zhou Huaian, who had not finished skinning a rabbit for a long time: Do you know that even a child of a few years old looks down on you?
There are three brothers, Zhou Lao Da, Zhou Lao Er and Zhou Lao San, and they have a total of seven children.
The eldest Zhou has two sons and one daughter, the second Zhou has one son and one daughter, the third Zhou has two girls, and Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian have been married for just half a year and have no children yet.
Zhou Huaian has an older sister named Zhou Yumei, who married into the He family in Baima Town in early spring last year and became pregnant last month.
(End of this chapter)
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