Translator: Flying Lines

  The smell of meat soon came from the shabby kitchen. The reason why people in the village did not eat the pig’s offal was probably that they didn’t want to use up much oil. Ye Xiaoxian also only put a few drops of vegetable oil in. She asked Baozhu to burn the minimum amount of firewood in the oven, just enough to bake the iron wok. Then she placed the pig’s offal into the wok and fried it slowly, just like making guokui (a crispy pancake).

  Baozhu smelled the stronger and stronger fragrance emanating from the wok. She could not help her mouth watering and from time to time she walked out to check if it was ready.

  She had stopped complaining already but only asked Ye Xiaoxian, “How long will it be before it’s ready to eat?”


  “Not long. Just when the two sides are fried crispy,” said Ye Xiaoxian smilingly.

  “Sister-in-law, how do you know this way of cooking it?” asked Baozhu.

  “I……I had a dream in which an old immortal told me this method.” Ye Xiaoxian joked.

  She didn’t expect that Baozhu would take it seriously and said sulkily, “Why did no old immortal visit my dream and tell me this?”


  Ye Xiaoxian: “.……”


  When the pig’s offal was all done, Ye Xiaoxian then asked the whole family to have dinner together. A plate of “legendary tofu”, a huge plate of pig’s offal, a bowl of wild mushrooms and, last but not least, the herbal soup cooked by Li Hongmei. The whole household enjoyed their dinner very much.

  Baozhu and Baofeng couldn’t possibly stop eating and constantly said at the same time, “Yum, yum!”


  Ye Xiaoxian smiled. “It’s a shame that we are lacking rice. It’d be perfect if we had two bowls of rice to be served.”
……

  The smell of meat made next door’s Mrs. Xiao nee Wang walk out to have a look as well. The maiden name of Mrs. Xiao née Wang, was Wang Peony. Her name did not really match her figure since she was born dark-rough-skinned and with a large figure. When she smelled the meat from next door, she couldn’t help but go to check what was going on.

  The light was dim in the earth house, so when Wang Peony saw that there was some pig’s offal left, which was fried to a golden crisp, she thought it must be meat.

  She then asked, “Alas, you have some goodies today, eh?”


  Li Hongmei said proudly, “Yes, Baoshan brought it from the town.”


  Only the other two sons of old Mr. Xiao usually brought things back home and it was the first time that this happened to Li Hongmei’s household, so it was no wonder that she was so happy.

  Wang Peony saw that all of them had greasy lips from enjoying the food and she began to feel jealous.

  She then shouted at the top of her lungs, “I wondered why you were in such a hurry to live apart. Turns out you got something good and no longer wanted to share it with us the poor relatives!”


  Wang Peony’s shouting brought old Mr. Xiao and Mrs. Xiao née Chen, out as well.

  “What’s this ‘something good’?” asked old Mr. Xiao leaning on walking stick.

  “Pa, the Hongmei’s are eating something nice, something brought by Baoshan from the town; a huge bowl of pork fried golden-crispy, alas, no wonder they were in a rush to live apart. They just want to eat these goodies alone.”


  The maiden name of Mrs. Xiao née Chen, is Chen Ju. She was surprised at first and then sneered. “The Hongmei’s were always taking advantage of us before Baoshan came home. As soon as Baoshan returned, they couldn’t wait to live apart. It turns out that they’re trying to hide away their fancy food without sharing it with us.”


  “.……”


  Wang Peony and Chen Ju were acting like a duo, plus a furious old Mr. Xiao was about to let out his anger.

  At that moment, Li Hongmei suddenly shouted in a high-pitched voice. “Elder Sister-In-Law, was the dog meat you brought from the town the day before yesterday tasty?”


  Wang Peony was stunned and started to feign ignorance, “Dog meat? What do you mean?”


  Li Hongmei pointed to the gate of the yard. “Don’t act dumb, Elder Sister-in-law. It’s three jin of dog meat. You ate it secretly at night. The dog bone was buried under the second plum tree at the gate of the yard. Pa, if you don’t believe me, you can go and look yourself. I heard that dog meat was the best tonic. It benefits a man’s kidneys, a woman’s waist, and an elder’s legs and feet. They didn’t even leave a dog hair for you. Pa, if you don’t believe me, you can dig it up. ”


  Hearing this, everybody’s eyes were aiming at Wang Peony like gun barrels.