Chapter 5 Hand-pulled Noodles with Minced Meat Sauce
Qiao Mianmian helped watch the butcher shop for a while. She was sweet-talking and knew how to do business. When someone came to ask about the price, she was very enthusiastic, saying, "It's definitely fresh. You can smell it if you don't believe me. In this hot weather, if it were leftovers from yesterday, it would have gone bad long ago."
"Sister, you seem to know how to manage money. Do you want some fatty or lean meat? I'll cut it for you."
"Oh my, you're such a good talker, young lady. I'm already in my thirties, old enough to be your mother." The woman beamed from ear to ear. "Give me a pound of pork, half lean and half fat, to make wontons today."
"Okay, how about this one?"
Qiao Mianmian swiftly and skillfully wielded her knife, and by the time her father returned, she had already sold a third of the goods.
Qiao Mancang was amazed. "Good girl, you're really talented. Where did you learn such a skill in hawking?"
"I come to the market often and remember what others say. Dad, you've worked hard. I'm going home to help Mom wash the pig offal." Qiao Mianmian jogged back.
The main reason Lin agreed to sell braised pork offal was because the purchase price was cheap, and she could see the money made today.
She and her mother-in-law worked together.
When Zhang heard her daughter-in-law say she was making money, she was also bewildered, "Really made that much?"
“Yes, when I heard Mianmian call out 15 coins a bowl, I thought no one wanted it, but someone actually placed an order today.” Lin was overjoyed at the thought of making money and kept smiling. “If I can really make money, I’ll buy a bigger house so that after my family prospers and I get married, I’ll have a place to live.”
She was a stepmother, but when she married into the family, Jiawang was only six years old, and Jiaxing was even younger. She was raising two children herself, and Xiahe was still breastfeeding. Her in-laws didn't mistreat their two daughters; instead, they helped take care of the children every day. She was grateful to have met such good people and was genuinely kind to Jiawang and Jiaxing.
Zhang has witnessed all of Lin's contributions to the family over the years.
After her eldest son's first wife passed away, she kept an eye out for him. Later, when she passed through Linjia Village, she happened to meet Lin, who had been divorced and returned home. She heard people talking about how Lin was a capable and kind-hearted woman who was very amiable. She was divorced because she had given birth to two daughters in a row.
Zhang had no shortage of grandsons, but no daughters. After making inquiries, she found that even Lin's former sister-in-law was praising Lin. So she decided to arrange a marriage for her eldest son.
As it turned out, Zhang's decision was correct.
“Yes, our family should move to a bigger house.” Zhang had just finished sighing when she saw her granddaughter return and hurriedly said, “There’s some herbal tea that Chun Sheng’s mother brought from the kitchen, go and have a sip.”
The herbal tea is placed in a bamboo tube and steeped in well water. It tastes refreshingly cool and makes you feel much more energetic.
Everyone else in the family had gone out, so Qiao Mianmian sat down to help clean the pig offal.
The water in the courtyard flowed into the ditch in the alley. Not long after, Aunt Wu from next door came over, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan. As soon as she reached the door, she wrinkled her nose and said, "Mianmian's mother, are you washing pig offal again? But you can't do it like this. The dirty water is flowing into the ditch, and the whole alley stinks."
Lin realized that her house was at the end of the alley, but the ditch flowed from the end of the alley to the beginning. She immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't think of that. Thank you for reminding me, Auntie. We've washed most of it today. We'll take it to the river to wash it tomorrow."
Since they were all neighbors, and Aunt Wu's tone was alright, Lin felt guilty and apologized. Aunt Wu simply said it was nothing.
"I'm afraid people will gossip. You know, that widow Wang next door loves to stir up trouble." Aunt Wu and widow Wang don't get along.
Her husband died young, her daughter married far away, and her only son went to serve in the army. She had been living alone for the past two years. Widow Wang's family was large, and seeing that Aunt Wu lived alone, she wanted to rent a room with her. However, Widow Wang only had sons, and Aunt Wu was afraid that it would damage her reputation, so she did not agree. This is how the two became enemies.
Lin didn't like gossiping and didn't respond to Aunt Wu's words. Just then, Zhang asked if the pork offal was delicious, changing the subject.
"Delicious, really delicious!" Thinking of the braised pork offal, Aunt Wu no longer felt that the Qiao family's courtyard smelled bad. "Mianmian's cooking skills are amazing. Mianmian, did you make a lot of money today?"
Before Qiao Mianmian could answer, Lin interrupted, "There aren't many. This is a small business, and Mianmian insists on offering discounts. The total profit is only a few dozen coins, but it's still better than me sewing clothes for others."
Aunt Wu believed this. If it weren't for the fact that sewing clothes was more profitable, Lin wouldn't have brought back so much pig offal to wash. However, Lin was extremely cautious; she wouldn't steal Lin's business, but she refused to tell her the truth.
After Aunt Wu left, Lin whispered a reminder to her daughter, "Don't flaunt your wealth. No matter how much money you earn, you can't tell others. You need to learn to feign poverty, understand?"
Seeing that her daughter just nodded, Madam Lin continued, "Otherwise, if someone knows you have money and comes to borrow it, will you lend it or not? We're all neighbors, and if you don't lend it, it will hurt our relationship; if you do lend it, you might not get it back. You should learn from this; there are many ways to live a good life."
"I'll remember." Qiao Mianmian reluctantly agreed, but Lin's words did make sense. Seeing that the pig offal was almost washed, she clapped her hands and got up to prepare dinner.
Lin said she would do it, but Qiao Mianmian pressed her shoulder down, "No need, Mother. I did a good job yesterday. You got up early to cook and then went to sell pork offal. You also cleaned the whole house. Let me do it."
"Then use less oil when you cook today!" Lin thought the dishes yesterday were delicious, but the bowls were full of oil, and the thought of it made her feel bad.
Qiao Mianmian verbally agreed, but in reality, she did what she was supposed to do.
The Qiao family only eats two meals a day. They eat a simple breakfast and a larger meal in the evening.
Qiao Mianmian was exhausted and hungry after a long day. She put the large pork bone in a pot to blanch, then added two slices of ginger and cooking wine, and slowly simmered it in the pot.
While the bone broth was simmering, Qiao Mianmian started kneading dough. The family used a mixture of coarse and fine noodles, and after kneading it into a dough, it had a black, granular texture on it.
After the dough was kneaded and the bone broth was cooked until it was clear, she put the bone broth into an earthenware pot and then started cooking the mushrooms.
When she came back just now, Qiao Mianmian asked her father to cut a small piece of pork belly into small cubes and set it aside for later use.
After cooking the mushrooms, dice them. Sauté minced garlic and ginger in a pan until fragrant, then add pork belly and stir-fry until the fat renders. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry. Drizzle soy sauce around the edge of the pan and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add a spoonful of bone broth and a suitable amount of cornstarch slurry. The topping for the hand-pulled noodles is now ready.
While Qiao Mianmian was cooking the noodles, the Qiao family members returned one after another.
Qiao Jiaxing was the first to run to the kitchen. "Fifth Sister, it smells so good! What are we having for dinner today?"
He went to the dock to carry goods today, and worked up a sweat. When he smelled the delicious aroma from the kitchen, his stomach started growling.
"Let's have pork bone soup and hand-pulled noodles. Second brother, go wash up first, the noodles aren't cooked yet." Qiao Mianmian pushed her second brother to the kitchen door. Seeing that her fourth sister and eldest brother had also returned, she told her eldest brother to take the pork bone soup out.
Qiao Jiawang was also hungry, but unlike Qiao Jiaxing, he was not greedy. He suppressed his drool, put the earthenware pot on the table, and offered to help clean the yard. "Mom, let me sweep."
Lin handed over a broom, saying, "Jiawang, go wash your hands after you've swept. Your sister has been busy all afternoon; she's a glutton too."
Zhang doted on her eldest grandson and told Qiao Jiawang to just sweep the area casually. Qiao Jiawang was a diligent person who never slacked off; he did everything conscientiously and never tried to cheat. Because of this, Qiao Mancang had worried that he might be cheated when selling meat in the future.
When Qiao Mianmian brought out the noodles, Qiao Jiawang was still cleaning the cracks in the floor. "Big brother, eat first, or the noodles will get soggy."
After the family sat down, Qiao Mianmian first served noodles to her grandparents, then added a spoonful of meat sauce. The hand-pulled noodles, of just the right thickness, were distinct and coated with a thick sauce, looking very tempting.
Qiao Mianmian sighed inwardly, "If there were more chili peppers, the taste would be even more amazing."
Lin used to make hand-pulled noodles, and her noodle-pulling skills were quite good, but her stir-fried meat sauce didn't taste good. Seeing that there were still diced meat in the sauce, she immediately said with concern, "We just had braised fish yesterday, why are we eating meat again today?"
She mentally calculated the cost; if she put in half a pound of meat, it would cost twenty coins. "Mianmian, if you keep doing this, you're not allowed to cook tomorrow."
"Mother, Fifth Sister's cooking is delicious." Qiao Jiaxing looked at the noodles in his grandparents' bowls, his saliva almost dripping onto the table.
"She's so generous with the ingredients, of course it tastes good." Looking at the noodles in her bowl, Mrs. Lin felt like she'd made money for nothing today.
Qiao Mianmian served noodles to everyone, then sat down next to her mother. "Oh, Mom, I'm just worried about everyone. Think about it, we made money today, isn't that a good start? It's worth celebrating!"
Lin: ...That's the idea.
Qiao Mianmian: "Besides, how can we have the energy to work if we don't eat our fill? There are only a few major things in life, and food and clothing are the most important things in our daily lives. Don't worry, I will definitely earn back twice as much as we eat today!"
"You're just bragging." Faced with her youngest daughter's coquettishness, Madam Lin softened. Since she had already done it, she could only make sure it was eaten cleanly and absolutely could not be wasted.
The hand-pulled noodles were served with a generous amount of pork bone broth, more than usual, and the whole family was very satisfied.
Before it got dark, Qiao Mianmian started braising the pork offal. She worked until 7:45 PM before she finished braising it and served it all out.
Actually, this wasn't too late for Qiao Mianmian; it wasn't even eight o'clock yet, but in ancient times it would have been considered late.
Lin kept yawning. She told Qiao Mianmian to go to sleep first, but Qiao Mianmian refused, "Alright, everything's done now. Go wash up and go to sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow."
"Mother, after you finish delivering the pork offal to the Pei family tomorrow, you can go home." Seeing Lin open her mouth, Qiao Mianmian knew what Lin wanted to say without guessing, and quickly said, "You see, I was enough when I was selling braised pork offal today. Why don't you go home first to process the fresh pork offal? If we divide the work, we can earn more money."
The mention of earning more money made Lin's eyes light up instantly. Thinking of how her daughter had been selling goods today, she took a deep breath. "Even if I'm not there, your older brother has to stay with you. Tomorrow your father won't be selling meat, and without a man by your side, you're a young girl who's easily bullied."
Qiao Mianmian thought it made sense and nodded in agreement.
After a long day, Qiao Mianmian slept soundly until dawn. She then ladled out the pork offal for Luo Da and had her mother take it to him.
She went to set up her stall with her older brother, but before they even got there, they saw yesterday's customers waiting for them.
"Little girl, you've finally come to sell your goods! I've been waiting for you for ages! Quick, quick, give me a bowl first, I want to eat now!"
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