Chapter 39: Pig Skin Jelly. Yeah, yeah, I won’t hide it from you.
After returning home, the grandmother worked alone in the kitchen, preparing a table full of delicious dishes.
First, such a bad thing happened today, and second, I learned about Qiu Xuan’s even more tragic past. My grandmother also grew up as a girl, so she can understand her difficulties better than anyone else in the family.
"I asked you to go call someone, why did you take so long?" The clan mother set the table and asked everyone to sit down quickly.
As the weather is cool, everyone eats indoors at night. The tables and chairs in the room are high and much more comfortable to sit on than the small stools in the yard.
Qiu Xuan walked to Huai Xue and sat down next to her. The little girl had said when she came that she wanted to sit next to her.
"Mom, how did you cook so much today?" Qiu Xuan looked at the six bowls of meat dishes in front of her and said to her mother with a smile, "They smell so good. Mom's cooking skills are really good."
Zong's mother loved to be praised. She waved her hand, pointed at Zong Anji and said, "Go, go and get the jar of Tusu wine from my mother's room."
Tusu wine, also known as New Year wine, is usually drunk on New Year's Eve to ward off evil spirits and avoid epidemics.
My grandmother bought this wine early, originally planning to drink it during the Chinese New Year, but today is a special day, so it’s better to drink it today and buy some more later to make up for it.
"Mom, you're really generous today." Zong Anji had been longing for this Tusu wine. It was strong, completely different from the green plum wine he used to drink. It was a pity it was also expensive, so he couldn't bear to drink it normally.
Zong Anji brought the wine and poured a full cup for everyone except Huaixue.
"I'm old now, and my only wish is for you all to be safe and sound." The clan mother drank half a glass of wine in one gulp, her face full of motherly worry. "Don't keep anything in your heart in the future. We are a family, and we must work together."
The Zong mother looked at Zong Xiao and warned him, "You are already married, so you must treat your wife well in the future. There is no precedent in our Zong family for treating wives badly."
"Mom, my third uncle just beats my third aunt." As soon as Zong Anji said this, his mother glared at him fiercely.
I don’t know who this kid takes after, he can’t speak.
"Mom, I will." Zong Xiao raised his glass and drank the wine. He glanced at Qiu Xuan, a smile on his lips: "We will live a good life."
Life is for oneself, and only Zong Xiao knows how happy he is now. There are people who care about him and worry about him, and are even willing to make money to support the family with him.
It was his fortune to marry Qiu Yun.
Qiu Xuan doesn't like alcohol and her alcohol tolerance is very poor. Her face turns red after just one sip.
The clan mother thought that she was feeling wronged because of the Qiu family's affairs, so she swallowed her words and did not mention the Qiu family.
The meal lasted until late at night, and except for Qiu Xuan and Huai Xue, everyone else was drunk.
Fortunately, the grandmother was conscious. She held Huaixue's hand and slowly returned to the house.
Zong Anji was in a bad state. He had drunk too much and had already passed out. Qiu Xuan couldn't even help him up, so in the end, Zong Xiao had to grab him by the collar and chase him back into the house.
"Let's go back and take a day off tomorrow." Qiu Xuan felt that Zong Xiao was not drunk, otherwise how could he send his third brother back to the house.
But after I put away the tables and chairs and turned around, I saw the man leaning against the door, not knowing what he was thinking.
Qiu Xuan stepped forward and waved her hand in front of his eyes, "Are you drunk?"
"A little bit." Zong Xiao responded.
"Then I'll help you go back." Qiu Xuan held his arm, and the two of them slowly returned home under the moonlight.
Qiu Xuan helped him to the edge of the kang and didn't let him lie down directly.
"Don't go to sleep yet. I'll get some water so you can wipe your face." Qiu Xiushou had to wash up and go to bed, even if she was drunk!
Zong Xiao sat obediently on the kang, waiting for Qiu Xuan to come back.
Fortunately, when I went to eat, there was a pot of water boiled in the kitchen. Although it is not as hot now, it can be used.
Qiu Yu wet the cloth and handed it to Zong Xiao, "Wipe it."
Zong Xiao's eyes fell on the slender white wrist. Not knowing what he was thinking, he reached out and held it.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Xuan felt that his hands were a little hot, and thought he had a fever. She couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Is it because of the cold wind today?"
"Don't tell me anything from now on. Don't bear it all by yourself." Zong Xiao was really drunk. He looked up at Qiu Xuan who was standing in front of him, as if begging, "You and I are husband and wife, we are a family. Don't hide it from me anymore."
It seemed that he was really delirious due to the fever. Qiu Xuan touched his forehead with the back of her hand and it was indeed hot.
"Okay, okay, you wipe it first." Qiu Xuan stuffed the cloth into his hands and coaxed him to let go. "I won't hide anything from you from now on. This will work out, right?"
"Yeah. I won't hide it from you either." Zong Xiao said as he leaned back and fell to the ground. Fortunately, there was a bed and blanket behind him, so he didn't hit his head.
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The next day, Qiu Xuan was the first one to wake up in the family.
She put on her clothes and moved directly to the end of the kang. She touched Zong Xiao's forehead and felt relieved when she saw that it was no longer hot.
She got up several times last night to check on him, fearing that he would have a fever. She remembered how uncomfortable Aunt Feng's little baby looked after having a fever. In today's world, no disease can be underestimated. If you are not careful, a person may die.
Qiu Xuan got off the kang and tiptoed out of the house with her purse.
Since she is not going to set up a stall at the foot of the mountain today, she has some free time. She thought she might as well research some more food. Since it is so popular these days and there are many people coming to the stall, she might be able to make more money by preparing one more item.
Silver and money are the most secure things nowadays. Only with silver and money can they have a good winter.
Qiu Xuan took a bamboo basket and went to the butcher's house in the same village to buy a lot of pig skin. It was a good time to make pig skin jelly because it was cold today.
She has already figured out how to make it. This thing has low cost, so even if it is sold for three or four cents a piece, she can still make a lot of money.
"Isn't this the daughter-in-law of the Zong family?" The villagers woke up early, and some people were already sitting in front of their doors picking vegetables and chatting.
"That's right. It was such a big commotion yesterday. I didn't expect that this daughter-in-law came here to pay off a debt. I was wondering which family would be willing to marry their daughter here." The daughter-in-law of the Wang family looked at Qiu Xuan with teasing in her eyes. She had been jealous of Qiu Xuan a few days ago, but now she felt that she was very pitiful.
She is not loved by her father and mother. After she married into the Zong family, she has to work every day. Look at her, they asked her to come out alone to buy things so early in the morning. If this is not torture, what is it?
Qiu Xuan didn't expect that yesterday's incident would spread so quickly, but it was also a good thing. The faster it spread, the more people in Datun Village would know about it. Qiu Shitou would probably be too embarrassed to come out again, and she would be able to have some peace and quiet.
"The Zong family." The Wang family's wife greeted her and deliberately asked her in front of the villagers: "Don't hide it from your sister-in-law. Your sister-in-law is a sincere person and can't bear to see a girl being wronged. Tell your sister-in-law, do the Zong family always bully you in private?"
"?" Qiu Yu felt confused and puzzled.
The Wang family's wife felt that her guess was right. How could a wife who married into a family to pay off debts possibly have a good life? She said with a wicked smile, "The Zong family is very bad. You are such a miserable girl. Your father doesn't love you, and your mother doesn't care about you. Your husband's family is even more cruel."
Qiu Xuan didn't know why she said that about the Zong family, but Qiu Xuan knew that if this person was really a good person, he would never poke her sore spot in front of so many people.
"Cao Mo?" Qiu Xuan's eyes turned and she pretended to be confused: "Sister-in-law, what is Cao Mo?"
The wife of the Wang family choked and looked at Qiu Yun suspiciously. She didn't know whether this girl was really stupid or pretending to be stupid. She didn't even know what "Cao Mo" meant.
"Ahem. I just let you work all the time, and your hands are covered with chilblains and calluses."
Qiu Xuan continued to play dumb. She squatted down and placed her hand next to Wang's wife's hand. "Sister-in-law, look, I don't have as many calluses on my hands as you do."
Several women around laughed out loud, and Wang's daughter-in-law blushed with embarrassment.
She glared at Qiu Yun, thinking that this person must have done it on purpose!
Qiu Xuan was in a good mood and went home humming a little tune.
She lit a fire and boiled water, put the newly bought pig skin into the pot with cold water, and added some green onion, ginger and yellow wine to suppress the fishy smell.
The pig skin is soft and elastic and cooks quickly. Qiu Xuan takes the pig skin out of the water, scrapes off the fat on the back of the skin with the back of a knife, and then cuts the pig skin into thin strips.
If you want to make delicious pig skin jelly, it must be clean and flavorful.
Qiu Xuan rinsed it several times with clean water, and only put it into the pot after making sure there was no residue left.
She poured several bowls of water into the pot and put in a small packet of clean marinade that she usually used.
All that was left was to simmer the food in the large iron pot, which would take at least an hour. Qiu Yu took advantage of this break to go to the backyard and feed the chickens.
The five chicks we bought at that time not only survived, but can now lay eggs.
However, the weather was cold, and it took several days for them to find an egg in the chicken coop.
Qiu Xuan put the precious egg in her arms and was about to get up and leave.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from behind, "Why are you here?"
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