Jiang Yuwei said slowly and deliberately:
“It’s true that you are my mother-in-law. If we were still living together before we separated the family, I would have to give you every penny of the money from selling the pork, let alone this pork.”
Jiang Yuwei glanced at the greedy look in Chen Guixiang's eyes and continued:
“But now we’ve separated, and you know how hard it is for me, a woman, to raise the whole family. You even deliberately gave me those two acres of barren land in the east of the village that have been abandoned for several years. Now you can’t even stand to see me earning a little money to make ends meet, and you’re coming over to make trouble so I can’t do business.”
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, she seemed extremely angry and stepped forward, staring at Chen Guixiang as she continued:
"Do you know that your son is paralyzed in bed and needs money to buy medicine? Ning Zhao was injured by you a few days ago and has just been able to get out of bed. Ning Wan is also a child, waiting for me to come back and cook for her. You are right, these are all children of your Ning family, but have you ever cared about their lives?"
Chen Guixiang was shocked by Jiang Yuwei's words and took several steps back, her face turning pale and then red.
The villagers who were watching couldn't stand it anymore and started to speak up:
"Old Mrs. Chen, please spare the eldest son's family's life."
"Exactly, exactly, look what you've done to them!"
"Hmph, I was there when the family divided the property. They didn't give any of the good stuff to the eldest son. How dare they ask for this pork now?"
"Old Mrs. Chen, it's not like you can't afford pork. If you really want to eat it, just spend the money to buy it."
Seeing that no one was speaking up for her, Chen Guixiang became so angry that she could hardly breathe. She pointed at Jiang Yuwei and was about to start cursing when Old Man Ning behind her grabbed her arm.
Old Man Ning glared coldly at Chen Guixiang and said:
"Aren't you ashamed enough? Come home with me now!"
Old Man Ning ignored Chen Guixiang's resistance and simply grabbed her arm, pulling her home.
After Chen Guixiang left, Ning Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said to Jiang Yuwei:
"Mom, you're amazing! Let's go home."
Jiang Yuwei patted Ning Zhao's head and smiled:
"Zhao'er, from now on, your mother will protect you. You don't need to rush to the front of everything. You're still young. When you grow up, you can protect your mother."
Ning Zhao looked into Jiang Yuwei's eyes, paused for a moment, then nodded solemnly and said:
"Mother, I will definitely grow up as soon as possible."
Jiang Yuwei smiled helplessly and then took Ning Zhao, pushing the cart home.
After arriving home, Jiang Yuwei asked Ning Zhao to return the cart to Aunt Zhou, while she soaked the pig offal in water to clean it. She then set up a fire in the yard to burn off the pig hair. After cleaning the pig skin, she cut the pork fat with the skin on into small pieces. She filled a pot with water, added some ginger, scallions, and garlic, and then threw all the chopped pork fat into the pot to render lard over low heat.
When Jiang Yuwei saw Ning Zhao return, she asked Ning Zhao to help watch the fire and asked Wan'er to stand on a stool to help flip the pork fat to prevent it from burning.
He then went to the yard to clean the hair off the pig's head and soaked it in cold water.
Only then did she feel at ease and begin cleaning the pig offal. First, she poured water into the pig lungs and washed them clean. Then she turned the large intestine inside out and cleaned it. Jiang Yuwei didn't want to wash it too clean, otherwise the large intestine wouldn't have that pungent smell and wouldn't taste good. After all, in this day and age, everyone likes to eat the little bit of oil on the top of the large intestine.
After cleaning the lard thoroughly, Jiang Yuwei went back inside to check on the rendering process. To her surprise, the two little ones worked very diligently. Ning Zhao kept controlling the heat, while Ning Wan kept stirring it.
Jiang Yuwei smiled and said to the two children:
"You did a great job; this pot of lard was rendered very successfully."
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, she took the large basin she had prepared earlier to hold the lard. After ladling out the lard, she scooped the rendered lard cracklings into a plate, sprinkled some salt on it, and handed it to the two children, saying:
"Here, take it to the kang (heated brick bed) and eat it with your dad. It tastes best when it's fresh out of the pot."
The two children were overjoyed and carefully carried the plates into the inner room. Seeing that they were sweating profusely, Ning Huaizhi quickly took out a towel to wipe their sweat.
Ning Zhao handed the pork cracklings to Ning Huaizhi and smiled:
"Father, try this. This is something Wan'er and I made. Mother said it tastes best when it's hot."
Ning Huaizhi happily picked up a piece with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. The aroma of pork cracklings immediately filled his mouth. He hadn't eaten meat in a long time. Looking at this plate of meat, he suddenly remembered what Jiang Yuwei had said to him on the day they separated the family, and he couldn't help but smile and murmur:
"Now it seems that she is really different from ordinary women. Perhaps she really can make this family's life work."
Seeing that Ning Huaizhi had eaten, Ning Zhao also picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks and fed it to Ning Wan. Ning Wan quickly opened her mouth to take it, but she was so burned that she kept panting and saying:
"Eat! It's delicious, pork cracklings!"
Ning Zhao was overjoyed that her younger sister was finally speaking, and even speaking more and more, so she picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks and put it in her own mouth:
"It smells so good! It tastes delicious! Is it Wan'er?"
Ning Wan didn't even bother using chopsticks anymore, and directly reached out her little hand to grab it, not forgetting to smile and nod at Ning Zhao.
Ning Zhao looked helplessly at Ning Wan, shook her head with a smile, picked up another piece of food with her chopsticks, ran to the kitchen, and fed it to Jiang Yuwei.
Jiang Yuwei was currently braising the cleaned pig offal and pig's head in a pot. The seasonings she had bought at the market earlier were now coming in handy.
Seeing that Jiang Yuwei was busy in the kitchen, Ning Zhao sat down by the stove and started helping her tend the fire.
Jiang Yuwei was very satisfied with the two children. Although they were just children, they had helped her a lot. She wanted to make things easier for them, but in this era, even such young children had to help with chores at home.
Right now, I'm the only one doing the housework, and I definitely can't manage it all. Having two sensible children helping out would give me a break.
After Jiang Yuwei adjusted the seasoning, she said to Ning Zhao:
"Zhao'er, this pot is for making braised food. I'll put the lid on now. First, bring it to a boil over high heat, then simmer it over low heat. That way, the flavors will penetrate, understand?"
Ning Zhao nodded and said:
"Don't worry about leaving Mother to me."
Jiang Yuwei glanced at the firewood outside and saw that it seemed to be running low. She had been cooking and trying new dishes for the past few days, and the firewood she had collected earlier was almost used up. It looked like she would have to go up the mountain tomorrow.
As Jiang Yuwei thought about it, she washed and chopped the spare ribs she had saved. She planned to make sweet and sour pork ribs for dinner, as she hadn't eaten meat in a long time.
Seeing that Ning Zhao's fire was almost done, Jiang Yuwei found a bamboo bucket and scooped out the braising liquid and meat together, soaking them in the bucket to make them more flavorful. Since the weather wasn't hot, they could be stored in a well-ventilated place for a few days without any problem. They could then take them out and boil them again the night before the market.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com