Chapter 52: Lamb Rib Stew. How about a male and a female giving birth to a cub?
The weather in the mountains changes every day.
There were just two sunny days, and it started snowing again early in the morning.
Zong Xiao's original promise to take Zong Anji into the mountains had to be postponed for another two days. He had some free time and was sitting alone at the table drinking tea.
Seeing he had nothing to do, Qiu asked him to bring out the rabbit skin he had prepared a few days ago. Since it was snowing and he had nothing to do at home, he might as well make a hand warmer out of the rabbit skin.
"I can't do it today." Zong Xiao took out the rabbit skin and placed it on the table.
After the rabbit skin was cleaned, it looked good at first glance, but it was hard and not soft.
After Qiu Xuan tried it out, she immediately gave up the idea of making it now.
She was puzzled: "It's all taken care of, why is it still so hard? I remember Huaixue's was quite soft."
Zong Xiao turned the rabbit skin over and asked her to look closely at the hairless side. "This side is too hard. We need to soak it in vinegar. Once it softens, we can cook it."
He picked up the rabbit skin and went out of the house. He went to the kitchen and found a wooden basin. He poured some vinegar and added some water into it.
The rabbit skin would have to be soaked for at least half an hour, so he had some free time.
Qiu Yun put aside the fine cloth and cotton she had taken out and said to him, "Why don't we go to the village and see if there are any peddlers around today?"
They lived in the mountains, where shopping was not convenient. In the past, they had to go down the mountain or wait for the peddler to come.
The peddler drove a mule cart filled with things, from pots and pans to needles and thread. He had basically everything a farmer would use.
Qiu Xuan bought it once, when she bought a small red rope for Huai Xue.
Zong Xiao agreed, "Alright, I'll take the money then."
The small village was very quiet early in the morning. Apart from a few children playing in the snow on the roadside, there were no adults to be seen.
Qiu Xuan sighed. It must be because the peddler was not here that the place was so deserted.
It wasn't that she was short of things, she just wanted to see if there was anything new. After all, she hadn't been down the mountain for quite some time since she returned to the village.
Staying at home every day, she misses the days when she set up a stall. Although she had to get up early at that time, she could still make money every day and had hope in life.
Zong Xiao saw that she looked like an eggplant hit by frost, completely withered. He said, "Why don't we go to Butcher Li's house and see if he has any fresh meat today? If he does, we can buy a few pounds and make meatballs."
In the cold winter, a bowl of hot meatball soup is really delicious and warms the body.
Qiu Xuan thought about it and nodded, "Then let's go take a look. If there are any things that can be used in the water, we can buy them too."
On the way, the two of them discussed and decided that since they wanted to make meatballs, they might as well call the clan mother and the others. After all, it would be the same whether they were making meatballs for two people or for the whole family.
"Then I'll go back and call Mom and the others over. I remember there are some vegetables in Mom's yard. I'll pick some and put them in the soup."
"Okay, I'll make the stuffing then."
They had good intentions, but as soon as they entered the alley leading to Li the Butcher's house, it was already crowded with people.
Forget about buying meat, you can't even see what's going on inside.
Qiu Xuan saw that the person in front looked familiar. She reached out and patted him, then called out, "Aunt Liu, why are so many people here buying meat today? Did they just slaughter a pig?"
When Aunt Liu saw her, she smiled and replied, "It was freshly slaughtered, but it's not pork, it's mutton."
"Mutton?" Qiu Xuan was a little surprised. Since she came here, she hadn't seen many sheep, let alone mutton. Most people in this village raised pigs, but she hadn't seen anyone raising sheep.
Seeing that she didn't know, Aunt Liu couldn't help but say a few more words, "San'er and his brother went into the mountains last night and said they caught a few sheep. They brought them to Butcher Li early this morning. I'd like to ask him to slaughter them and sell them. The mutton is very fresh. I need to buy some to take back."
Qiu Xuan looked up at Zong Xiao and opened her mouth, "Should we buy it?"
"Let's take a look first." Zong Xiao felt something was amiss. How could he have brought back so many sheep in just one trip to the mountains? Even if they were from the mountains, it wouldn't have been so easy to bring them down, especially with so many at once. Could it be that the sheep came from an unknown source?
He grabbed Qiu Xuan's wrist and pulled her out of the crowd. He leaned over and whispered, "I'll go ask and see what's going on."
There are not many people in the village who know how to hunt, and everyone knows each other. Since Aunt Liu mentioned San'er, we can just go find him directly.
Zong Xiao knew where he lived, which was separated from Li the Butcher's house by a wall.
There was a knock on the door, and the person inside seemed to have just woken up and asked in a hoarse voice, "Who is it? Can't you let me sleep so early in the morning?"
"It's me, Zong Xiao."
Soon, the door was opened from the inside. Duan Saner stuck his head out and looked around. Seeing that there was no one behind them, he let the two in.
"San'er, what's going on with that sheep?" Zong Xiao asked him directly.
Duan San'er wasn't lying. He plopped down on a stool in the yard and sighed, "You really can't hide anything from Second Brother Zong. We did get that sheep, but we didn't catch it. We raised it."
"Raised?" Zong Xiao was a little skeptical. The village was so small and the sheep were not dumb, so how could they not make any noise?
Duan Saner whispered, "I've been raising those sheep for more than half a year. I caught a male and a female at the time, and I wanted to let them give birth."
For the past six months, the two sheep had been hidden in the mountains. The two brothers would go into the mountains under the pretext of hunting to feed them, and they had been raising them for more than six months. The two sheep had given birth to three lambs, all of which they brought back to the village yesterday.
Seeing that he didn't believe it, Duan Saner shouted into the house again, calling his younger brother out.
"Tell me, second brother from the same clan, whether the sheep are raised by us."
Duan Xiaosi didn't expect his brother to tell others about this. He scratched his chin and had to admit, "Second Brother Zong, I didn't lie. We did raise the sheep, but we couldn't say it at the time. You know we have several branches of brothers. If we had told others, we would have had to share it."
Qiu Xuan was confused by what she heard. She didn't understand why since they had said at that time that they had to share the money, they didn't have to share it now because it was said?
"I understand. I won't tell anyone about this." Zong Xiao glanced at the two brothers and warned them, "It's dangerous in the mountains. Bring them down if you catch them next time."
After they left the hospital and walked to a deserted place, Zong Xiao began to explain to Qiu Yun.
It turned out that Duan San'er's parents were partial to each other. They had a son who was studying in the town. Dalang was a scholar with knowledge and promising future. Over the years, all the money in the Duan family was given to him.
Duan San'er and Duan Si'er were peasants who worked hard to make a living, but their parents took away any money they earned, claiming it was a sign of filial piety. As a result, they were still unmarried even though they were of marriageable age.
"How can someone be so biased?" Qiu Xuan said angrily, "It happened later, but the family was divided later?"
"Well, the Duan family completely split up last month, and Duan San'er's parents moved to town a long time ago." Zong Xiao didn't let go of his hand, and continued to pull them forward. "I guess it's because the Duan family left that these two brothers dared to bring the sheep down the mountain. But they still told others that they caught the sheep yesterday."
Qiu Xuan understood everything completely. The two brothers of the Duan family had a miserable life. Like her, they both had a useless father.
"Shall we still buy mutton?" She slowed down her pace and looked up at him and asked.
Zong Xiao was stared at by her and unconsciously tilted his face. "Buy it! Mutton is rare in our village. If there is any left, let's buy some and take it back."
When the two returned to the alley entrance, there was no one in the alley, only a few shouts could be heard from the yard.
Qiu Xuan took a look and saw that there was not much left on the chopping board in the yard. Good items like lamb legs had been sold out long ago.
"This is all the mutton we have left. Take a look and see if you want any." Butcher Li pointed at the sheep vertebrae and said, "This is a bargain. Only 25 cents a pound."
Mutton is expensive, so twenty-five cents is not expensive in comparison. However, these are all big bones, and few villagers buy them just by looking at them.
It would be better to buy two more pounds of pork with this spare money.
"Buy it." Qiu Xuan looked at the whole lamb ribs and was delighted. "I want all of them. Please chop them into pieces."
Butcher Li glanced at Qiu Yun, then his gaze fell on Zong Xiao behind her. He raised his voice a little and repeated, "Do you want all of these?"
Seeing Zong Xiao nod, he was convinced that they really wanted it.
"Okay, then I'll chop it up for you." Butcher Li weighed it and found that the whole piece weighed six pounds, and the bones alone were worth one hundred and fifty copper coins.
Qiu Xuan continued to look around the stall. There was a table next to it with pork on it. Naturally, the best parts had been sold out.
She didn't notice the looks from the people around her and continued to ask, "Brother Li, is there any water here?"
"Yes, they are all fresh. I'll give them to you if you want." Butcher Li asked his youngest son to fill a small bucket of offal for her. This stuff is cheap, so it's okay to use it as a gift.
Qiu Xuan didn't plan to braise the fish this time. She wanted to make some sausages. As for the sausage casings, they were naturally made of intestines.
Qiu Xuan walked up to Zong Xiao and pointed at the pork, saying, "Since we're here, why don't we buy another five pounds of pork?"
When the other people in the yard who came to buy meat heard this, they all pricked up their ears. Lamb and pork, how much would it cost? Was Zong Xiao really willing to do that?
"I'll do as you say." Zong Xiao just focused on paying the bill and didn't interrupt.
After seeing this, the people around finally believed what happened yesterday.
It turns out that Zong Xiao really recognizes his wife, really supports her, and is really willing to spend money on her.
When they heard about the incident in the second branch of the Zong family yesterday, they thought it was just rumors spread by others. They never expected that these two people would actually live together without any grudges between them.
Qiu Xuan had no idea what they were thinking. Looking at the whole lamb rib, she had already thought about what to cook for lunch.
After buying the things, the two went straight home.
It was still early, so Qiu Xuan went to the next courtyard to tell her mother and the others.
"Stewed lamb scorpion?" The clan mother didn't know what lamb scorpion was. She frowned and asked in confusion, "Stew lamb and scorpion together?"
Qiu Xuan waved her hands and said, "No, mother, this lamb scorpion has nothing to do with scorpions. It's just the spine of a sheep. It just looks like a scorpion at first glance."
"I'll go and prepare it first. It takes a lot of time to stew and it may not be cooked until after noon." Qiu Xuan was about to leave when Liu Yueyang, who was sitting next to her embroidering a purse, stood up and followed her.
She smiled shyly, "Sister-in-law, can I go over and take a look? I haven't seen this thing before."
When Zong Anji heard that his wife was going over, he followed her and said, "Second sister-in-law, I'll go too. I'll help you."
"I'm coming too, I'm coming too." Huaixue joined in the fun.
It’s just cooking, there’s nothing wrong with watching it.
Qiu Xuan took Liu Yueyang's arm and said softly, "Come on, let's come over and take a look. If you learn it, you can set up a stall in the future."
Several people went to the next yard, and as soon as they entered, they saw Zong Xiao squatting on the ground washing lamb ribs.
Six pounds of lamb ribs filled a whole wooden basin, and there was no room for more.
Liu Yueyang stepped forward, pointed at the bone and asked, "Sister-in-law, is this it?"
"Well, I had it chopped up when I bought it. In fact, this thing looks like a scorpion when put together." Qiu Xuan took the wooden basin from Zong Xiao. She picked and chose and put all the large pieces of meat into another basin.
"We'll have this for lunch and another pot in the evening." Qiu Xuan brought the selected big bones into the kitchen.
She put all the lamb ribs she picked into the pot with cold water.
While the blood foam was boiling, she took out the spices from the wooden rack one by one, including dried chili peppers, star anise, peppercorns and very expensive bay leaves.
As soon as the grandmother came in, she saw a lot of spices placed on the table. It was obvious that they would be used soon. She took a breath and turned to leave the house.
No pain in the heart...
"Sister-in-law, do you need anything else?" Liu Yueyang rolled up his sleeves and placed the chopped onions and ginger next to the spices.
"Almost done. Once the water boils here, we can light the other stove."
This kind of rough work naturally fell into the hands of Zong Anji. He sat on a small bamboo stool and lit a fire.
After the lamb ribs are boiled until blood foam comes out, Qiu Xuan takes them out and washes them again with clean water. No blood foam can be left in this step, otherwise the lamb ribs will have a fishy smell.
"Sister-in-law, the pot is hot. Can we put the bones in it?" Zong Anji asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Put in the lard, and when the oil is hot, pour in all the spices. Remember to add two spoonfuls of fermented black beans from the jar next to it." Qiu Xuan didn't do anything else. It was not difficult to stew the lamb ribs. As she spoke, the rest of the work fell on Zong Anji.
He followed Qiu Yu's instructions step by step, and soon the fragrance came out.
"Just add some rice wine, salt and soy sauce." Seeing that he had stir-fried it evenly, Qiu Yu scooped some bone broth and poured it in.
At this stage, the only thing left to do with the lamb ribs is stewing them.
"Is it ready?" It was the first time for Zong Anji to cook such a delicious dish. He asked with a silly grin.
"Cook it for more than an hour and then we'll be ready to eat." The kitchen was stuffy and hot. Seeing that Zong Anji was willing to watch over the pot, Qiu Xuan and Liu Yueyang left the house first.
As soon as the two arrived in the yard, they saw Zong Xiao using a knife to cut the soaked rabbit skin.
Qiu Xuan looked at the rabbit skin, which had obviously softened a lot. She reached out and poked Zong Xiao's shoulder, "Is it done now?"
"We can use it directly after drying it." Zong Xiao sorted it out very carefully, and not a single piece of rabbit skin was wasted.
There are two of them, just enough to make two hand warmers, one for Qiu Xuan and one for Liu Yueyang.
"Sister-in-law, are you going to make a collar with rabbit fur?" Liu Yueyang, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but ask when he saw it.
Qiu Xuan did not hide the fact that she would be giving it away as a gift sooner or later.
She pointed to one of the pieces and said, "I'll make a hand warmer for you."
"Give it to me?" Liu Yueyang was surprised.
Zong Xiao hung the divided rabbit skins on the bamboo pole again and said, "One for each of you two."
Liu Yueyang looked at Qiu Xuan, who felt a little embarrassed: "Sister-in-law, this is too expensive."
Qiu Xuan patted her hand and said with a smile, "Don't get too excited. I've never done this before, so it might not look good."
Everyone laughed out loud when they heard this.
At noon, the family had lunch at Zong Xiao's house. The pot of stewed lamb ribs was super tasty.
Zong Anji originally wondered how delicious the bones would be, but when he tried to eat them, he realized that the bones with meat attached were really delicious.
Seeing that everyone was enjoying the meal, Qiu Xuan said, "Let's make another pot tonight for the remaining small pieces that haven't been stewed yet."
Zong Anji nodded in agreement, "I'll do it. I've learned it. I'll do it tonight."
"Can your cooking be delicious?" Liu Yueyang muttered softly, "This one is delicious today thanks to my sister-in-law's guidance."
"I haven't eaten it yet, how do you know if it's delicious?" Zong Anji raised his head and said confidently, "Wait, I'll show you the chef's skills tonight."
Looking at the family having a happy meal together, the grandmother felt both sad and warm in her heart.
Although she was confused, the children were not. Right now, it was more important for the family to live a good life than anything else.
At night, Qiu Xuan was lying on the kang, rubbing her belly and chatting with Zong Xiao.
After eating two meals of lamb ribs today, Qiu Xuan started to like lamb again.
"What do you think about us raising some sheep at home?"
"Raising sheep?" Zong Xiao took advantage of her inattention and moved the quilt to the middle. Although the two of them were not right next to each other, they were much closer than usual.
"Yes, after listening to Duan San'er's advice today, I think their method is good. We can also go into the mountains and catch sheep or rabbits, catch a male and a female, raise them and let them have pups. That would also be a source of income. What do you think?"
"I'll listen to you. I'll go into the mountains and take a look in a few days." Zong Xiao said.
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