Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Lin Zhengrong was surprised again...
When Jiang Qiuyue woke up the next day, Lin Zhengrong had already gone into the mountains.
Lin Beibei said there was hot water in the pot, "Dad told us not to wake you up, we were so quiet when we got up, he said he would be back soon so we don't have to wait for him to eat breakfast."
Jiang Qiuyue lifted the lid of the pot and found hot water inside.
Even though it was summer, she liked to wash her face with warm water. After a simple wash, she steamed sweet potatoes and eggs in the pot, thinking that by the time breakfast was ready, Lin Zhengrong would be back.
As a result, after nine o'clock, Lin Zhengrong still hadn't returned.
She went to the door and looked again and again. Two children were standing by the side, also looking into the distance.
When Auntie Niu came home from picking vegetables and saw this scene, she chuckled and said, "Qiuyue, are you waiting for Dazhu?"
Jiang Qiuyue said, "Yesterday the captain said there were wild boars in the mountains, Dazhu and Beibei said they would be back soon, and it's almost noon now."
"Then you don't have to worry. Others would be scared if they met wild boars, but your Dazhu has such a strong body that you might be able to eat wild boar meat." Aunt Niu said with a smile, "It's true that men are different when they come back. I see that you look rosy and moisturized."
Moisturizing?
It took Jiang Qiuyue a while to realize what Auntie Niu meant, and her face slowly turned red. But if she didn't explain it, it would seem strange, so she could only laugh foolishly.
But it was wild boar meat that made Jiang Qiuyue drool.
But after thinking about it, she decided to give up. What if Lin Zhengrong encountered a particularly strong wild boar and something happened to him? Wouldn't she have to go to the fields to earn work points?
No, no, she could give up eating wild boar, but she didn't want to work in the fields.
After talking to Aunt Niu for a while, Aunt Niu said that the peanuts in the field were ripe and she would cook them and bring them to Jiang Qiuyue later.
"Don't bother. I have nothing to do. I'll go pick peanuts for you." Jiang Qiuyue had just finished speaking when the two children also said they wanted to go.
As soon as she finished speaking, Niu Zhuangzhuang came running over from a distance, "Aunt Jiang, go and have a look... take a look!"
Auntie Niu grabbed her grandson and said, "Why are you running so fast? If you have something to say, please speak slowly!"
"We can't be slow, or someone will snatch us away!" Niu Zhuangzhuang was very anxious, "Grandma, you should hurry up too, come with me!"
The more he urged, the more curious Jiang Qiuyue and Auntie Niu became. When Auntie Niu asked again and again, Niu Zhuangzhuang opened his hands and gestured, "Uncle Lin caught such a big wild boar, and the village committee is killing the pigs. Uncle Lin asked me to come... to call you to get some stuff to pack the pork."
Wild boars in the mountains are public resources. If an individual kills one, he or she must share it with the whole village. If it is a small pheasant, you can hide it and eat it secretly, but a wild boar is so big that you can't hide it even if you want to.
Upon hearing that Lin Zhengrong had really killed a wild boar, Jiang Qiuyue's first reaction was, "Is your Uncle Dazhu okay?"
"It's okay, he's fine." Niu Zhuangzhuang couldn't wait to eat the meat, and pulled his grandma, "Let's go, grandma, or the good meat will be taken away by others."
Aunt Niu smiled and said, "Qiuyue, go get the basket, and we'll go together."
By the time they arrived at the village committee, Lin Zhengrong and a few others had already killed the wild boar and cut it into small pieces.
The villagers heard the news and lined up in a long queue.
The wild boar was caught by Lin Zhengrong. He could take an extra pig head or pig foot. Lin Zhengrong let Jiang Qiuyue choose.
Looking at the wild boar on the ground that was bigger than herself, Jiang Qiuyue was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth. "Did you catch it by yourself?"
"Not really. Jianshe helped me block it for a bit." Lin Zhengrong stretched out his arm. "I did get bumped a bit, and it's a little bruised. But it doesn't matter. I'm not afraid of pain."
"It's not okay if I'm not afraid of the pain. I'll let Doctor Jiang take a look later. I must not leave any root of the disease." Otherwise, I will have to retire from the army and change my career, Jiang Qiuyue thought.
Auntie Niu, who was standing by, smiled and said, "Dazhu, look, Qiuyue cares about you so much. When Zhuangzhuang told her that you caught a wild boar, she didn't even ask how big it was, but asked if you were okay first. Now, your bruise will be healed tomorrow, and she still wanted to take you to see a doctor. What a good daughter-in-law."
Jiang Qiuyue: ...She was just afraid that Lin Zhengrong would get injured and couldn't serve as a soldier, and she couldn't just lie down and live her life.
But judging from the looks of the crowd, everyone seemed to think the same as Aunt Niu.
Forget it, she didn't explain it. It was troublesome to clean the pig's head, so she asked for the pig's feet. In addition to the pig's feet, she could also get three pounds of meat, two pounds of spare ribs and one pound of pork belly. Knowing that no one wanted the large intestine and pig's liver, she hurriedly asked Lin Zhengrong to pack them. These are good things, but everyone's conditions are limited now, and they can't get rid of the peculiar smell, so no one likes to eat them.
On the way home, Jiang Qiuyue still wanted to compliment Lin Zhengrong, "You are really amazing. The wild boar just now must have weighed more than 200 kilograms, right?"
"some."
Lin Zhengrong, who was praised, raised the corner of his mouth slightly. He held up the bamboo basket and looked down at the pig in the bamboo basket. "Can you really do this?"
Lin Beibei stood far away, pinched her nose and kept saying it stinked, and also pulled Lin Nannan to stop her from going to see.
"When I cook it later, you'll say it smells delicious." Jiang Qiuyue was very satisfied with today's harvest. There were offal, ribs and meat to eat tomorrow.
But Auntie Niu didn't understand either, "Qiuyue, Auntie knows you're a good cook, but don't waste the oil, or the pan will stink."
"Don't worry, auntie. I'll send it to you when I'm done cooking." Jiang Qiuyue thought to herself, once they've eaten it, they'll know she wasn't lying.
After returning home, cut the pork liver into thin slices and soak it in water.
Then add the large intestine to the sweet potato flour and take it to the river to wash it. She is lazy about other things, but she never procrastinates when it comes to making food.
After scrubbing and washing several times by the river and discarding all the fat in the large intestine, Jiang Qiuyue went home.
The wild boar's intestines have a stronger smell, so Jiang Qiuyue first blanched them with scallions, ginger and cooking wine, then took out her treasured cinnamon and star anise to stir-fry. Instead of adding water, she added rice wine to cover the large intestines, and then added a bowl of warm water.
Lin Zhengrong watched Jiang Qiuyue add the ingredients fiercely from the side, and finally understood how Jiang Qiuyue could guarantee that the dish would be delicious.
"I got these star anise from the black market... from someone else." Jiang Qiuyue almost let it slip. When she saw them on the black market, she thought about using them to make broth. Unexpectedly, she would use them today. "I used them today. These star anise can cover the mutton smell of the large intestine. I also added chili peppers and angelica. Speaking of which, these star anise are more valuable than the large intestine. How can they not taste good?"
The salinated large intestine in the pot was bubbling with fragrance, and Lin Zhengrong was indeed drooling after smelling the aroma.
Lin Beibei stood at the door, pinching her nose at first, but when she smelled a little fragrance, her eyes lit up instantly, "Mom, is this really the smell of large intestines?"
"Yes, I'll get some taro and put it in and cook it until it's soft. When the taro is soaked in broth, it will taste better than large intestine." The more Jiang Qiuyue spoke, the more she couldn't help swallowing her saliva.
Lin Beibei no longer objected to eating pig intestines, "Mom, let me help you!"
The taro was sent by the Niu family. Jiang Qiuyue peeled the taro, cut it into pieces slightly larger than a thumb, and put it into the pot to stew together.
They cook taro stewed with large intestines, and the aroma quickly spreads in the wind.
Wang Chunhua and Lin Fugui from next door just came back. They stayed at the Bai family yesterday. They waited until the Bai family said they would come to the village in the afternoon, and then they went home, missing the time for dividing the meat. However, Lin Erzhu and Qian Li went to divide the meat, but they were late and only got some bones and pig neck meat.
"You useless thing. Your father and I have been busy with Sanzhu and his affairs, but you can't even get a share of the good meat at home. You are such a waste."
Wang Chunhua was so angry that she took it out on the second brother and his wife. "Others would run faster if they knew there was meat. Are you lame or have your arms broken? How are you going to eat this little food?"
Qian Li was also feeling resentful because of what happened between San Zhu and Lin Xiao. When they went to the fields today, the villagers either avoided them or started to mock them.
When the meat was distributed, no one called them. When they heard someone talking about meat distribution and ran to the village committee, only the ones that had been picked were left. "Mom, Erzhu and I have to go to the fields and take care of Dabao. There are so many things to do at home, it's normal that we can't handle it."
"Busy, busy, busy, you always say you can't handle it. When Jiang Qiuyue was here, how could she finish everything?" After Wang Chunhua finished cursing, she suddenly smelled something delicious. "Whose family cooked something so delicious?"
Qian Li was scolded and did not dare to talk back to her mother-in-law, so she pinched her husband hard.
Lin Erzhu said hurriedly, "Today we are distributing meat, and everyone in the village will eat pork. Mom, how about you two go to the town?"
"You still have some conscience and care about your brothers and sisters. The Bai family said that they have found a good relationship and will come to see the captain this afternoon." Wang Chunhua sighed, "What's going on? The son doesn't recognize his mother. It's useless if he is not her biological child. If I had known that Lin Dazhu was an ungrateful person, I should not have bought him in the first place."
Lin Fugui looked over and said, "Why are you talking so much? Go and cook." He was hungry.
Wang Chunhua went to see Qian Li and asked, "I'm talking to you. Are you still acting like a spoiled brat?"
"Got it. I'll go cook." Qian Li had just walked to the door when she heard her mother-in-law say, "Don't cook meat at noon. Wait until Erzhu and the others come back."
Thinking of her son and daughter still being held in the village committee, Wang Chunhua began to curse Jiang Qiuyue and Lin Dazhu again, "They will definitely die a miserable death!"
Jiang Qiuyue and Lin Zhengrong, who were cursed, learned that Wang Chunhua and her husband had returned. Lin Zhengrong immediately went to the village committee and called his comrade who was a policeman in the city.
"I have already made an appointment with Qiu Jie, and he has already set off." Lin Zhengrong said after returning, "No matter who the Bai family finds, with my comrade here, Lin Sanzhu and the other two are destined to go to labor reform."
"What if the Bai family doesn't come in the afternoon?" Jiang Qiuyue asked.
Lin Zhengrong snorted, "Then let them go to the farm to pick up people. I want to see who is capable enough to take away the people who are being forced to work on the farm."
Hearing Lin Zhengrong say this, Jiang Qiuyue felt relieved and smiled as she asked Lin Zhengrong to taste the brine-cooked large intestine.
"How is it? Is there any strange smell?" Jiang Qiuyue looked at Lin Zhengrong expectantly.
"No, not at all." Lin Zhengrong praised, "With your cooking skills, you can be a chef in a state-owned hotel."
"I won't be a chef. You don't know how hard it is to be a chef. I can't even lift my hands just to cook. I'd rather stay at home. With you here, we have enough money." It was impossible for her to work. Jiang Qiuyue would rather wear one less new piece of clothing than to work anymore.
To Lin Zhengrong, these words meant that Jiang Qiuyue felt that she could rely on him with him around, and the corners of his lips curled up.
Lin Beibei and Lin Nannan had been looking up and waiting for a long time, until Lin Beibei's saliva fell to the ground. He couldn't hold it in any longer, "Mom and Dad, when can we have a bite?"
"Oh, I forgot about you." Jiang Qiuyue smiled and served a bowl to the two children. "It's a little spicy. Try it first. It's perfect to eat with rice later."
Lin Beibei was in no hurry to wait, so he picked up a piece of large intestine and quickly stuffed it into his mouth. Lin Nannan next to him was more polite, but both of them blushed because of the spicy taste.
"Delicious!" Although it was spicy, Lin Beibei couldn't help but continue eating.
Lin Nannan drank water in big gulps and continued eating.
Jiang Qiuyue filled a bowl and said, "I'm going to give it to Auntie Niu. She gave me some peanuts today. The vegetables in our garden haven't grown yet, so we've been eating vegetables from her garden lately. Auntie Niu doesn't work in the fields to earn work points, but she's very hardworking. The vegetables from her family's private plot are the most beautiful in the village."
She was very grateful to have such a good neighbor like Aunt Niu. She took the brine and cooked taro and large intestine to Niu's house. Before leaving, she told Lin Zhengrong, "Watch the fire on the stove. I'm cooking rice. Don't let it burn."
When they arrived at the Niu family, Aunt Niu was stewing meat. When she saw Jiang Qiuyue bringing in the large intestines, she subconsciously rejected it, but then she smelled the tempting aroma.
"My goodness, how did you do that? I really can't smell anything bad." Auntie Niu ate a piece. The large intestine was soft and tasty. The spicy taste stimulated her taste buds and instantly whetted her appetite. "It's delicious!"
Jiang Qiuyue explained how it was made, and Auntie Niu opened her mouth wide in admiration, "I was wondering why it was so delicious. The ingredients you used are more expensive than large intestines. You are really generous with the ingredients." Just half a bottle of rice wine could last Auntie Niu's family for two or three months, but Jiang Qiuyue used it up in one meal. She couldn't help but say a few more words, "Auntie knows that your life has been better after the separation, but you should save money and don't spend it lavishly. You have to keep the money to feel at ease."
"Don't worry, Auntie. I know what I'm doing." Jiang Qiuyue had just taken the bowl handed to her by Auntie Niu, and Auntie Niu gave her two green pumpkins.
Auntie Niu asked Jiang Qiuyue if she wanted some leeks. Although Jiang Qiuyue shook her head, she still grabbed a handful and gave it to her. "Don't let too many pumpkins grow in the backyard. You can pick them anytime after you finish eating. When autumn comes, I will dry them into pumpkin slices and give them to Beibei and Nannan as snacks."
Jiang Qiuyue didn't hesitate to say yes. When she returned home, Lin Zhengrong had already set the table.
After the pig liver was soaked in blood, it was marinated with cooking wine and soy sauce for a while. During this time, Jiang Qiuyue cut a handful of green and red peppers and ginger and garlic.
After the pot is heated, add ginger and garlic to release the aroma, then pour in the chili and pork liver. Stir-frying pork liver must be done quickly. Jiang Qiuyue pours the sauce prepared in advance into the pot and stir-frys quickly. When the pork liver is 80% cooked, add starch water and quickly remove from the pot.
There were two spicy dishes, and Jiang Qiuyue cooked egg and loofah soup, which was just right for relieving the greasy feeling. Lin Beibei swallowed his saliva countless times over the simple two dishes and one soup, until Jiang Qiuyue said it was time to eat, he quickly picked up the dishes and shoveled rice into his mouth.
Lin Zhengrong also ate so much that sweat broke out on his forehead. It had not even been three days since he returned home, but he had already been amazed by Jiang Qiuyue's cooking skills several times.
The pork intestines that everyone disliked were made so appetizing, and the stir-fried pork liver was so tender and smooth that he ate an extra bowl of rice than usual.
The Niu family next door also tried Qiuyue’s cooking. At first, Niu Jianshe and his family didn’t dare to eat it. Niu Zhuangzhuang ate it first. After Niu Zhuangzhuang took a few pieces, Niu Jianshe finally tasted it.
As a result, after others started eating, they even mixed the soup with their rice.
Niu Zhuangzhuang burped, "I told you, anything made by Aunt Jiang will taste good. Beibei and Nannan are so lucky, I wish I were Aunt Jiang's son."
Niu Jianshe held his son's ears and said, "You want beauty, but you are such a naughty monkey, no one wants it even if you give it to them."
"It hurts, Dad!" After being released, Niu Zhuangzhuang was afraid of being abandoned at home again, so he ran to call Lin Beibei and the others to play.
Lin Zhengrong began to assemble the new bed. Since he was in a hurry to sleep, he didn't care whether it looked good or not, so he worked quickly.
When the new bed was almost ready, Lin Zhengrong fetched water to rinse. The muscles in his arms were strong and powerful. Jiang Qiuyue was moved again and wanted to ask if she could touch them.
But before she could ask, Lin Beibei came back and said that several people from the village committee had gone there to take Lin Xiao and Lin Sanzhu away.
After hearing this, Jiang Qiuyue and Lin Zhengrong knew that it was someone sent by the Bai family. Lin Zhengrong wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Let's go and take a look."
When they arrived at the village committee, several men stood in front of Lin Sanzhu and Lin Xiao. One of them was talking to Hu Haizhi, "Someone reported to us that you abused your power. I am taking them away now."
Lin Zhengrong had greeted Hu Haizhi before, so when Hu Haizhi learned that the other party was a policeman from the city, he was not afraid. "You said you are a policeman, you must show proof. You said I abused my power, but I was doing my job according to the rules. You wronged me, and I can't let you take the person away easily."
Bai Shengli frowned when he saw that Hu Haizhi was getting difficult to deal with. His cousin gave him some money and asked him to pretend to be a policeman and just take the two men away.
Most people would get scared immediately when they hear that it’s the police, so why is Hu Haizhi different?
When he was in the city, Bai Shengli was a second-rate person, and everyone in the factory was afraid of him. But this was the first time he pretended to be a policeman. Seeing that Hu Haizhi was still unwilling to let him go, he panicked and pulled his cousin Bai Yongquan aside, "Uncle, let's forget it. If this thing is exposed, we will all die."
"Now that you're here, don't you want fifty bucks?"
Bai Yongquan tried to find connections, but none of the people he knew were powerful enough to get a captain to release the man. Wang Chunhua and Lin Fugui refused to leave their home, saying that if he didn't help solve the problem, they would send his son to labor reform as well.
He only has one son, how could he bear to let him go to labor reform? After thinking it over, he could only think of this solution.
When it came to fifty yuan, Bai Shengli was tempted again, but Hu Haizhi was not willing to give him any more. He raised two fingers and said, "Add another twenty yuan, or I can't do it. Uncle, you can see that people with the surname Hu are not easy to mess with."
He raised the price, but Bai Yongquan had no choice but to accept it and nodded in agreement.
Bai Shengli walked straight to Hu Haizhi and lifted his collar. "I'm talking to you, but you don't understand. Do you want me to take you to the police station?"
Seeing Bai Shengli being so tough, Hu Haizhi hesitated. If he was really a policeman, wouldn’t he be in trouble?
Seeing Jiang Qiuyue and her family approaching the door, they hurriedly shouted, "Dazhu, come quickly! This man said he is a policeman."
Lin Zhengrong walked towards Bai Shengli with a sullen face, "You said you were a policeman. Which district in the city are you from? What's the name of your leader?"
"What's it got to do with you?" Bai Shengli let go of Hu Haizhi and tried to grab Lin Zhengrong's collar, but Lin Zhengrong suddenly flipped his wrist. He felt dizzy and was thrown to the ground over his shoulder.
After a long while, Bai Shengli finally came to his senses and cried out in pain, "Fuck you, you dare to hit a police officer?"
"Haha, are you really a policeman?" From the first moment Lin Zhengrong saw Bai Shengli, he knew that Bai Shengli was lying. A policeman would not be so nonchalant. If there really was such a policeman, he would have to find Bai Shengli's leader to find out how he recruited people.
"I'm not a policeman, are you?" Bai Shengli was helped up by the two younger brothers who brought him here. "You are looking for death, kid. If I don't beat you until you are scared, I am not Bai!"
"Come on, let's kill him together!"
Hearing that Bai Shengli's last name was Bai, Lin Zhengrong sneered, "Then let's go together."
He asked Jiang Qiuyue to take the child back and watched Bai Shengli and his two men rushing over. He kicked them one by one. After hearing a few "crackling" sounds, he quickly broke their arms and put them back.
The screams of Bai Shengli and his companions echoed in the yard. They fell to the ground and couldn't get up. Bai Shengli regretted it. He shouldn't have been greedy for money. Who knew that in such a broken mountain village, there would be such a capable fighter.
If I can't take away the person my cousin wants, and I'm still stuck here, wouldn't that mean I'm losing both my wife and my army?
Lin Zhengrong saw Bai Shengli's guilty conscience and kicked the three people on the ground, "You are still stubborn and say you are police officers?"
Bai Shengli: "I..."
"Comrade, are you going too far?" Bai Yongquan saw that something was wrong and spoke first, "Who dares to pretend to be a policeman these days? We are just doing our job according to the law, but you are so brutal. Aren't you afraid of being arrested and sent to labor camp? We are just taking Lin Sanzhu and two others to investigate, you are so unreasonable!"
"You ask me, and I want to ask you, why are you so brave?"
Lin Zhengrong is half a head taller than Bai Yongquan and has an overwhelming aura.
Lin Sanzhu and Lin Xiao, whose hands were tied, thought that their savior had come. When they saw Lin Dazhu coming, Lin Xiao cried and shouted, "Uncle Bai, don't pay attention to him, just take us away!"
"Shut up!" Bai Yongquan yelled. If it weren't for that idiot Lin Xiao, would he have taken such a big risk?
Bai Shengli's men were useless. They couldn't even defeat the three against one. Fortunately, he was prepared. He took out his fake ID and said, "Look, are they fake police officers?"
Bai Yongquan knew that Wang Chunhua and her husband were rogues. If he didn't help them solve this problem, his son's life would be ruined.
Just in case, he forged his ID in advance.
At this time, Wang Chunhua and his wife hurried over. They saw Bai Shengli and three others on the ground. Lin Fugui asked Bai Yongquan what was going on.
When Wang Chunhua learned that it was Lin Dazhu who hit her, she said she wanted to slap Lin Dazhu, but Lin Dazhu grabbed her hand and threw her away.
"Lin Dazhu, do you want to die? You even dare to hit the police?" Wang Chunhua glared at Lin Dazhu. She now wished that Lin Dazhu would die.
Lin Fugui's face was dark. "Dazhu, even if you break off the relationship with us, you have to be reasonable. The police are investigating a case, why are you standing in the way? Do you really think that you can do whatever you want in the village just because you have been a soldier for a few years?"
When Hu Haizhi saw the ID in Bai Yongquan's hand, he panicked. Although Lin Dazhu was reliable, what if he was real?
When he was hesitating whether to let Bai Shengli take the people away, Jiang Qiuyue stood up and said, "Uncle Lin, your idea is too crude. I knew their documents were fake at first glance."
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. What makes you say it's false?" Bai Yongquan asked loudly. Now that things have come to this, what was false must become true. There is no turning back.
At this time, four more people came to the door. Qiu Jie took out his ID and said, "Compare it with mine to see who is real and who is fake?"