Chapter 155 The aroma of braised meat and my wife's love
"I'll go and take a look."
Throwing the rice under the eaves, Lin Heng walked out and opened the gate of the yard.
After opening it, a middle-aged man was standing outside, with tools for slaughtering pigs on his back.
This person was Li Niu, the village butcher. He looked at Lin Heng with a smile on his face and said, "I heard that you also killed a wild boar. Do you need help killing it?"
Lin Heng understood that this person had heard the news and came to take the job on his own initiative. He smiled and shook his head and said, "The wild boar weighed only 70 to 80 kilograms. We killed it ourselves. Sorry, Uncle Li."
"It's okay, I'm just asking, I won't bother you anymore." Li Niu smiled and waved his hand.
"Uncle Li, come in and have some tea."
Lin Heng was polite, but there was no way the other person would come in, so he quickly left with his things on his back.
When he returned to the house, Xiulan had already brought him hot water and soap.
"Are you okay?" Xiulan looked at him and asked.
"No, this is all wild boar blood." Lin Heng grinned.
"That's good. Wash your hands and face, then go into the house and change your clothes. I'm afraid the blood will dry for too long and won't be washable." Xiulan winked at him and said.
"good."
Lin Heng nodded, washed his face and hands, and also washed his hair.
When he walked into the bedroom, Xiulan had already prepared some clean clothes for him and placed them neatly on the bed.
Xiulan took out the clothes she had changed into and threw them into the wooden tub to soak.
"Come and eat quickly." Lin's father shouted, and they had already sat down to eat.
"Okay."
Lin Heng nodded. Xiulan cooked rice, three dishes and a soup.
Lin Heng first drank half a bowl of spinach and egg soup before eating.
The women and children sat in the room and asked curiously about the process, especially Lin Tao and his brother Lin Wei, who were also very curious.
Father Lin and the other man explained the whole process, and they couldn't hide the smiles on their faces.
Lin Heng also had a great time today. It was quite fulfilling to face off against a little wild boar head-on. It made him feel excited and thrilled.
After chatting for a while, the sister-in-law went back to boil water, and Xiulan filled the two pots at home with water and boiled them.
After they finished their meal, they began to process the prey.
Lin Heng took the white rice and peeled it, while his second nephew Lin Tao helped him.
Lin's father and his partner were responsible for making soup and slaughtering the pigs.
After a while, Lin Heng peeled off the white rice husk and stretched it on a wooden frame to dry it. The fur could be sold for more than 20 yuan.
Looking at the delicate white rice meat, Lin Heng felt a little nostalgic. He hadn't eaten it for many years. He scraped open the belly and took out the internal organs and cleaned them all. Xiongba drank a bellyful of pig blood, so he didn't need to be fed for the time being.
The braised small intestines and stomach were also very delicious. I couldn’t bear to feed them to Xiongba, so I left the lungs for him and continued to feed him pork for the next meal.
Lin Heng killed and cleaned up the pig. Lin's father had just plucked the pig hair when he went to make soup for the pheasant. The poor pheasant's internal organs were all crushed by the sharp arrow.
After Lin Heng took out the chicken gizzards that he liked to eat, he could only wash the rest and feed them to Jinbao. The little guy was a little shocked to see such a large pile of meat, and he ate it for a long time without panting.
After finishing the pheasant, Lin Heng came over to help kill the pig. After plucking the hair, he weighed it and found it weighed only 75 kilograms, which was about the same as they expected.
Liu Juan smiled and said, "It is these small wild boars that are the most beautiful and tender. The ones that weigh several hundred kilograms are all six or seven years old."
"Yes, this little pig is the best." Father Lin also nodded.
The three men chopped off the wild boar's head and took out its internal organs bit by bit. The wild boar was shot in the hind legs, and its internal organs were not damaged.
After taking out the internal organs, the pure meat was a little over 50 kilograms. The pig was not thin, mainly because it was young. After taking out the head, the pure meat was only 40 kilograms.
After the meat was divided, Lin Heng looked at his father and eldest brother and said, "Pick some for yourselves. A dozen pounds per person is enough. Even if I divide it among you, I don't know what part you want to eat."
Seeing that the two wanted to talk, Lin Heng added: "Don't refuse. It's annoying to do this every time. We are all family. Just take it and eat it."
Father Lin looked at his eldest son Lin Yue and said with a smile: "Take it, take it. He doesn't need this little bit of meat. Don't be so hypocritical."
As Father Lin spoke, he handed him a ten-pound pork front leg and also gave him three or four pounds of white rice meat.
"That's right, don't be embarrassed." Lin Heng waved his hand. He couldn't finish all the meat at home. There was still a lot of wild boar meat left, and some dried deer meat.
"Haha, then I'll just shamelessly take it." Lin Yue smiled shyly and didn't refuse anymore. His three sons were big meat eaters.
Father Lin also took a pig's front leg and a pig's liver which he liked to eat.
"We can dry sausages in autumn. Let's dry these pig intestines into sausages." Xiulan suggested.
"Then I'll help you." Lin's mother said with a smile.
Xiulan nodded, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to the kitchen with pig intestines and a few pounds of pork.
Lin Hengze marinated the pork with salt and fennel seeds. The autumn weather was perfect for drying bacon, so he left a piece of pork hind leg uncut and prepared to use it to dry into ham.
After preparing the pork, Lin Heng did not go to rest. It was already past five o'clock, and he was afraid that he would not be able to sleep at night if he went to sleep again.
After cleaning his hunting arrows, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia to watch Xiulan and the others making sausages, while Lin's father and eldest brother were peeling a pig's head.
The production of sausage is very simple. Just cut the meat into small pieces, marinate it with salt, soy sauce, five-spice powder and other spices, add white wine and pour it into the pig's small intestine and it's almost done.
After blanching it in boiling water, you can hang it in the yard to dry. The autumn wind is dry and cold, and the sausage can be completely dried in about a week.
After the sausages were dried in the sun, Xiulan fried some sugar color, added the previous marinade, and started to braise the meat.
"It's just like Chinese New Year. We made a big pot of stew." Mother Lin said with a smile as she looked at the pot of meat.
"That's nothing. Let's get some beef back for the New Year and braise it. Enjoy it, Mom." Lin Heng said with a smile.
The aroma of the braised meat wafted out, and not only did the children run into the kitchen from time to time to watch, but people passing by outside the yard were even more miserable, drooling at the aroma of the braised meat.
Mother Lin glared at him and said, "Don't waste your money. Just have meat to eat. Pork and beef are the same."
"But we won't be short of meat when we go for a barbecue in a few days." Father Lin said with a smile.
They found a deck of cards and chatted while playing. Father Lin was going to dig some fern roots and kudzu roots in a few days, and he would probably dig a lot.
Lin Heng said that he could only wait to eat, and asked him and his elder brother to go. Digging kudzu root and yam was similar, and it was not easy at all.
When it was almost evening, someone knocked on the door again. Lin Heng opened the door and saw that it was Wang Kaidian. He smiled and said, "Uncle Wang, what can I do for you?"
"Are you stewing meat at home? Can you stew some pork head for me? I'll pay you." Wang Kaidian said with a smile.
He liked to eat braised pig's head, but there was no ingredients for the braise at home. He heard that the aroma of Lin's braised meat wafted from far away, so he came here shamelessly.
"It's free, Uncle Wang, you can go back and get it. I have just finished braising the meat." Lin Heng said with a smile.
When Lin's father saw that it was Wang Kaidian, he also came out to chat with him. The two of them started telling dirty jokes. After a few words, Wang Kaidian ran back to get the meat.
Soon, he took out a peeled pig's head weighing more than 20 kilograms, as well as pig liver, small intestines and pig stomach.
"Sorry to bother you, Xiulan." He put down the meat and said with a smile.
"It's okay, it doesn't take much effort." Xiulan shook her head and took the meat into the kitchen.
Lin Heng and his father invited Wang Kaidian to stay for the meal. They were able to hunt the wild boar thanks to Wang Kaidian.
Wang Kaidian was a little flattered when he saw the long table of sumptuous dishes laid out by the Lin family. He smiled and said, "The food in your house is so good that I drool when I pass by your door."
"Then come in and eat, don't sneak away." Father Lin looked at him and said.
After a few drinks, Lin Heng asked with a smile, "Uncle Wang, how many wild boars did you encounter last night?"
Wang Kaidian replied: "There were three of us guarding the place, and there were six or seven wild boars. My hunting rifle was good, and I could knock down the big ones with one shot.
Two people shot and injured several wild boars. They found the most seriously injured wild boar in the afternoon. It weighed more than 60 kilograms. The rest were completely missing. "
Father Lin smiled and said, "It seems that we have your luck. We found bloodstains in Tongshugou and chased it across several mountains before encountering this one. Its hind legs were slightly injured."
Wang Kaidian waved his hands and said with a smile: "This is your ability. Whoever kills it will own it. It is a wild thing. To be honest, I got there first. If you encounter it, you can kill it with one arrow from Lin Heng's compound bow."
After taking a sip of wine, Wang Kaidian said, "It's just that your tracking skills are amazing. You were able to catch him. They chased him half to death for an entire afternoon."
"Haha, my dog has a very sensitive nose." Lin Heng said after taking a bite of braised pork belly.
Among the braised meats, Lin Heng’s favorites are pig stomach, small intestines, pig ears and pig tails.
Although there is no meat in the pig's tail, it tastes better the more you eat it. The bones are still crispy and you can't stop eating once you have a little.
Therefore, Xiulan was reluctant to cut the pig's tail, and only cut the pig's belly, ears, and heart.
After the meal, everyone was full and satisfied.
The pork head braised for Wang Kaidian in the pot was ready, and Xiulan took it out and put it in a bucket.
"This small intestine is given to you as a gift. You don't want any money, so take it and try it."
Wang Kaidian took out the small intestine and placed it on the chopping board.
No matter how Lin Heng persuaded him, he insisted on doing so. In the end, he just ran away with the bucket. This man had been a soldier, and they couldn't catch up with him.
Lin Heng felt quite embarrassed because he had already taken advantage of the situation by giving someone else the braised meat and still had a pair of pig intestines left over.
"Take it. He is like that. He is always polite in everything he does." Father Lin said with a smile.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded helplessly.
After cleaning up the dishes and washing up, Lin Heng was so tired and sleepy that he almost fell asleep while telling Xiaoxia a story.
After much effort, he finally managed to go to bed and rest, and he fell asleep immediately.
The next day, he slept until the sun was shining on his butt. When he came out to wash his face, Xiulan was drying sausages and bacon in the backyard.
After breakfast, Lin Heng lay in the backyard to bask in the sun for a while. The sun at the end of October was not as bright as before.
For lunch, we had stir-fried Bai Mi Zi's meat. The meat was very delicate and had no fishy smell, which might be because Bai Mi Zi likes to eat fruit.
After lunch, Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and said, "We have nothing to do this afternoon, so let's go to Hongfeng Mountain to catch shrimps. They're delicious."
Lin Heng nodded: "Okay, I'll go catch shrimp with you guys for a while, and I'll go finish the unfinished work on the wooden house."
The two of them packed up and went to Hongfeng Mountain with their daughter and the dog. Lin's mother happened to be herding cattle there, so she came to help.
This time, Lin Heng took two small earth dragons he made and threw them into the pond full of shrimps. After catching them for a while, he continued to build the cabin.
Last time, all the wooden blocks were buried. This time, we just need to use wooden boards to build crossbeams and then nail the other boards on.
The process of nailing the wooden boards was quite quick. Lin Heng installed wooden floors all around the cabin. There were the most in front of the cabin, extending out for fifteen meters.
Standing at the outermost point, you can see the scenery on both sides of the river, and the fish ponds at the foot of the mountain are also in full view. It is an excellent viewing platform.
After laying the floor, Lin Heng got some tree trunks to make railings. Although the wooden floor was not very high from the ground, children could still easily bump into it.
He gave up after working on it for a while. This required mortise and tenon structure, which he couldn't do. He decided to find time to ask his father to come and help.
Back at the creek, Xiulan was fishing in a pond, and Xiaoxia was clapping beside her.
"How is it? Fishing is fun, right?" Lin Heng asked his wife. When he came, he not only brought a ground trap, but also a small fishing rod.
Xiulan nodded: "It's fun. I caught forty or fifty brook groupers."
"Now you believe that the fish I caught before was real, right?" Lin Heng asked with his hands on his hips.
Xiulan nodded obediently, satisfying his strange psychology: "Yes, yes, I was wrong."
"That's good. You're so good." Lin Heng grinned and went to collect his trap.
He put down three small traps in total, each containing meat cut from home. He took up the first trap and was immediately delighted: "It's bursting. There are half a pound of small shrimps and seven or eight groupers."
Lin Heng excitedly went to look for the remaining two cages. As expected, he had a good harvest in both cages. The three cages contained about two kilograms of shrimps in total.
"Wife, look at my catch, it's more than what you caught in the whole afternoon!" Lin Heng smiled and ran to Xiulan to show off.
"Great!" Xiulan nodded and praised her husband, making him feel happy.
Lin Heng happily poured the dried shrimps into the small fish basket made of fine net. Together with the one pound of dried shrimps caught by Xiulan and the others, there were already three pounds, and there were also two or three pounds of stream grouper.
After pouring out the shrimps, Lin Heng found a pond and threw the cage into it. He would come again tomorrow and would just collect them then.
I went home and made some dried shrimp fried rice, it was so delicious.
In the evening, Lin Heng and Xiulan discussed the meaning of life, because her relatives would be coming soon, and Lin Heng would have to endure it on his own for several days.
So he had to release his energy in advance, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to sleep when Xiulan held him in her arms to rest.
Early in the morning on the 22nd, Lin Heng asked his father and elder brother to carry white lime and go to Hongfeng Mountain to spread the lines, nail wooden stakes to find the level, and spread out the specific topographic map so that they could start working directly when the workers arrived tomorrow.
The construction of fish ponds here is still in accordance with the previous plan. It is sufficient for each row of fish ponds to be level. The cost of leveling all of them is too high.
Starting from the roadside at the bottom of Hongfeng Mountain, three rows of fish ponds are built upwards. Each row is about 400 meters long and 16 meters wide. Seven fish ponds can be built in one row, with a road in the middle.
Lin Heng and his team's task today is to lay out the lines and find the level. Lin Heng worked on construction sites a lot in his previous life, so he is very familiar with these things.
"Lin Heng, look, someone is coming!" Father Lin said, pointing to a place not far away.
Lin Heng looked up and immediately smiled: "You finally have time to come down!"
* * * ps: 4,000 words, 10,000 a day is a bit difficult, I haven't had much inspiration recently, and I'm not feeling well. But I will still try my best to fulfill my promise.
(End of this chapter)
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