Mao Mao heard from his grandfather that the host family would also bring the young master this time, and that the young master was much younger than him, only five years old. He had been secretly looking forward to the young master's arrival.
Because he knew from the elders around him that the family was of very high status, Mao Mao was very curious about what the young master of this wealthy family would look like.
As soon as the confirmed news arrived this morning, the whole family was in a frenzy. Grandpa hurriedly led Dad, Uncle, and others to inspect the inside and outside of the yard, while Grandma led Mom and Aunt into the main yard to clean and wipe everything down. Everyone was both excited and nervous, wishing they could keep working non-stop.
Mao Mao was being called around from one side to bring a basin of water, and from the other side to hold up a ladder. Although he was running around, he was very excited.
Old Li was busy for a while when he suddenly realized that the food at home was too meager to entertain his distinguished guests, so he hurriedly asked his eldest son to take the oxcart out to the nearby market to buy some.
“The noblemen in the family are used to eating meat and fish, and they have plenty of vegetables and wild vegetables from the mountains at home. Just check if there are any fresh wild game at the market, and if so, buy more.”
Old Li's voice was loud and clear. Old Li's wife, who was cleaning the cabinets inside the house, heard it and poked her head out of the window to instruct, "See if there's any fresh pork belly. After autumn, the wild shepherd's purse on the mountain has also grown. It's the first batch of fresh and tender vegetables. Let's go pick some in a bit. It would be perfect for making dumplings."
Old Li slapped his forehead. "I forgot about that. I'll listen to your mother and buy more pork belly. If you don't have pork belly, half-fat and half-lean pork will do. Dumplings taste better with a little fat."
The eldest son of the Li family readily agreed and then called his son to go with him.
After the main courtyard was tidied up inside and out, the father and son who had gone out to buy supplies returned home with a small cart full of things. The cart was mostly filled with meat and game, as well as some seasonings and other items.
Old Li stepped forward, looked at the goods, and chuckled, "Oh, you've bought everything you need today. Did you run into Hunter Liu?"
The eldest son of the Li family was slow-paced, and before he could even speak, his son interrupted him, "Grandpa, you guessed right! We bought quite a lot from Liu the Hunter's stall!"
Li Changsun Dashu pointed excitedly at the animals in the car, "Look, these five rabbits and this roe deer, they were all caught by Hunter Liu yesterday, and the rabbits are still alive!"
Several rabbits were huddled together in a bamboo cage, three white and two gray, looking quite adorable.
Old Li was quite satisfied. The rabbit was alive, so there was no rush to eat it. He could keep it in the yard and cook it whenever he wanted to eat it, which would be both fresh and convenient.
Hearing the commotion outside, Aunt Li came out and her first question was, "Have you bought any good pork belly yet?"
When Da Shu heard Grandma ask, he pointed to the front of the car and said, "Look, Grandma, isn't that a big piece?"
Aunt Li immediately looked at the car and saw that it was indeed a large piece of pork belly. She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "How come we had such a good day? We still have such a big piece of pork belly left over?"
You see, in their area, the most popular cuts of meat at butcher shops, besides fatty pork, are streaky pork, because farmers prefer the fattiest cuts. Logically speaking, they arrived quite late today; usually, the most sought-after cuts should be almost sold out.
This time, the eldest son of the Li family took over the conversation with a happy expression, "It's true that being early is not as good as being lucky. There are two families in town having weddings today, and they almost bought up all the pigs that the butcher slaughtered first. The butcher saw that there were many people at the market today, so he slaughtered an extra one, which was just in time for me. My son immediately asked the butcher to save a large piece of the best pork belly and also asked for half a spare rib. The butcher readily agreed."
Everyone exclaimed that they were indeed lucky today, and they all pitched in to help put away the things they had bought. They even just had a simple lunch.
In the late afternoon, Aunt Li and her daughters-in-law were busy in the kitchen.
As Aunt Li pondered what dishes to make for dinner, she asked her daughters-in-law to bring out the appropriate vegetables and meats. She also had Da Shu fetch a large basin of water, and everyone began washing the vegetables.
The eldest daughter-in-law washed a whole amount of meat that would normally last them about a month, and couldn't help but say, "These rich people are really different; they can eat so much good food in one meal."
Aunt Li, being of a certain age and having seen the world, scoffed, "What's so special about this? When your father was young, he went with the village head to deliver New Year's goods to the master's house. At mealtimes, the maids and old women would line up and serve dishes in a continuous stream. The plates were filled with everything that flies in the sky, runs on the ground, and swims in the sea. There was nothing you couldn't imagine that they didn't have."
The daughters-in-law listened intently, as if to a story, their jaws dropping in astonishment; they truly couldn't have imagined it.
In the nearby villages, their family was considered to be living quite well because they managed the fields and estates for the master. They were very happy to have meat dishes on the table twice a week, while other villagers might not even be able to eat meat dishes once a month.
The group couldn't help but imagine the dining tables of wealthy families. While talking, their hands kept moving, as they were all skilled at working. They finished washing the vegetables while chatting.
Meat dishes take longer to prepare, so Aunt Li plans to cook the stews first. As for the vegetables, she'll stir-fry them fresh later to make them crisp and tender.
The water in the big pot boiled. Aunt Li first blanched the wild deer, took it out, washed away the blood and dirt, cut it into pieces, then poured it into the pot, added scallions, ginger and seasonings, stir-fried it for a few seconds, then added water and brought it to a boil. After that, she let it simmer over low heat. This dish needs to be simmered for a long time to taste good.
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