Seeing Xia Liang's generous spending and seemingly carefree attitude, the other villagers approached to inquire. One woman, around fifty years old, asked, "Comrade, do you need any more pork belly and pig's trotters? We're slaughtering a pig today too, and ours is even fatter, no worse than Wang Qiang's." Wang Qiang, the young man who had just sold meat to Xia Liang, nearly fainted from anger upon hearing the woman's words. Luckily, he had already sold his meat; otherwise, this old hag would have ruined everything!
With so many people wanting to sell meat, Xia Liang naturally accepted all offers, since pork was incredibly delicious these days! There were eight slaughterhouses today, and Xia Liang bought all the pork belly and trotters. Pork belly was delicious whether braised or grilled, and the trotters, braised and then roasted with garlic and chili powder, made Xia Liang's mouth water just thinking about it. The pork belly weighed about 250 jin (approximately 125 kg). Some families had larger pigs, so they had more pork belly, and smaller pigs had less. Xia Liang also bought two hind legs, a set of offal, and a pig's head from the fattest pig seller. After weighing and paying for everything, Xia Liang asked, "Does anyone have sheep or chickens? I'd like to buy a few chickens and a sheep." She finally bought the chickens and sheep from the aunt who had spoken first. Lamb was more expensive than pork, but Xia Liang bought the whole sheep, so the price was a little cheaper than in the market—two yuan per jin (approximately 0.5 kg). The sheep cost a little over 100 yuan, and the five chickens cost nearly 30 yuan.
The able-bodied men in the village helped Xia Liang load the meat onto the tricycle. An older woman even brought her own dry straw to line the bottom of the tricycle: "This way you won't get your vehicle dirty." Xia Liang looked at the woman gratefully: "Thank you so much, Auntie!" The woman waved her hand: "No need to thank me! It's nothing valuable. If you need to buy meat again, come to my house first." Xia Liang agreed, said goodbye to the villagers, and got into the tricycle to go back with Chen Yanling.
Upon arriving at her doorstep, Xia Liang jumped out of the car first and called them out to help unload the things. She then went outside to call Ji Xiao. The phone rang for a while before being answered. Ji Xiao's voice came through: "Sister-in-law, what's up?" Xia Liang replied, "Nothing much. I went to the village today and bought some meat and chicken. I was thinking we could all get together since we're not busy these days." Ji Xiao had indeed been staying home recently. He had been robbed in Guangzhou a while ago; there were many of them, and he was slightly injured. Although the goods were stolen, he was alright. He had been resting at home lately and, finding himself bored, agreed to the call. Xia Liang continued, "Call Xiao Die and the brothers who helped unload the goods earlier." Ji Xiao agreed, and Xia Liang hung up.
Back home, she gave Zhou Xiong money to buy some drinks, while she went inside to direct everyone's work. The sheep had already been prepared in the village; all they needed to do was wash it and marinate it for half an hour. She then directed the children to peel potatoes, while Xia Liang went to the kitchen to cut pork belly with Aunt Liu. Chen Yanling and her junior, Duan Wenchun, were outside killing chickens. Xia Liang asked Tian Longhui to go to the secondhand market to buy a roasting rack for lamb and to order some barbecue tables. With the money, Tian Longhui got on his bicycle and went out.
Xia Liang braised the pig's trotters, planning to roast them for dinner. With many hands making light work, all the ingredients were quickly prepared; the meats were marinated and ready for roasting that evening. Tian Longhui, following Xia Liang's instructions, first returned the roasting rack for the lamb, as lamb takes a long time to roast and needed to be prepared in advance to avoid going hungry that night. Xia Liang skewered the lamb on the rack, and together with Chen Yanling, they lifted it onto the makeshift stove Zhou Xiong had just set up. The rack was rectangular, with burning charcoal underneath, and the whole lamb was placed on top. Zhou Xiong sat on a stool beside it, turning the rack to prevent the lamb from burning.
As evening fell, those who were supposed to leave work went home, and those who had run errands returned. Xia Liang set up three barbecue tables in the yard, the ones she had just made that day. There were Xia Liang's mother and her two children, plus Liu Ma, and Chen Yanling and her three apprentice brothers; Xia Rong's family, including Xia Dahe and Zhao Danxiang, plus Xia Rong and his wife, and their two children; and Ji Xiao with his sister and the five brothers who had helped earlier. The adults sat at two tables, and the children at one. Xia Liang used a damp towel to hold a basin of charcoal and stuffed it under the tables. Instantly, the children sitting around the tables exclaimed, "It's so warm!" Xia Liang smiled and said, "Don't play around, be careful not to get burned!" The four children nodded obediently.
The moment the pork belly was placed on the grill, it sizzled, which sounded very appealing. Xia Liang flipped the pork belly over and grilled it until both sides were golden brown. Xia Liang put some pork belly into her two daughters' bowls, and the two little ones blew on it and put it in their mouths, praising, "Mom, it's so delicious! Can we eat it often?" Xia Liang nodded, "You should eat it in moderation. Eating too much can cause internal heat."
Just then, the sound of the front door opening came from the main entrance. Xia Liang glanced around and saw everyone was already there. Why would anyone come at this hour? Without thinking much, she walked towards the door to see who it was. A tall figure emerged from the darkness, and Xia Liang's eyes instantly welled up with tears. The person pulled Xia Liang into a tight embrace, as if trying to meld her into their body. Xia Liang hugged him back tightly, and they held each other for a long time, neither wanting to let go. Xia Dahe, seeing his daughter had been gone for so long to open the door, asked, "Ah Liang, who is it? Why haven't you come back yet?" The two, still tightly embracing, immediately separated. If they continued hugging, her father might come out.
Gu Yanxiao wiped Xia Liang's eyes, and seeing that everything was alright, the two walked inside hand in hand. Gu Yanxiao asked Xia Liang with a puzzled look, "Why is the house so lively?" Xia Liang replied, "Since the children are on holiday, I went to the countryside today to buy some meat to make them some barbecue. I also invited Ji Xiao and his friends. He helped me with the supplies I brought back from Yangcheng." Hearing this, a pang of guilt gripped Gu Yanxiao's heart, causing him a sharp pain. He wasn't by his wife's side, and when she needed help, she could only rely on others. Xia Liang knew what her husband was thinking and understood his guilt. She gently squeezed his hand, saying, "Don't think too much. You've come all this way, and I don't want you to feel unhappy." Xia Liang looked at him with a firm but gentle gaze, "Can you let go of all your negative emotions?" Gu Yanxiao obediently nodded, composed himself, and followed his wife inside.
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