Qi Liangying rolled up her sleeves and began to prepare to clean the pork belly.
Su Xiaotian also walked in at this time and said to Qi Liangying, "Second Mom, these meats total thirty jin. One packet of seasoning will be enough. We'll strive to sell all thirty jin of meat tomorrow!"
Qi Liangying said cheerfully, "With Xiaotian here, we'll definitely sell it!"
Su Xiaotian: "..."
Was she being treated as a mascot?
Never mind, a mascot was fine. After all, she had been the mascot of the old Su family for many years.
Qi Liangying was very efficient. The pork belly was quickly cleaned. She placed it on the cutting board and, as Su Xiaotian had instructed, cut it into four large pieces and put them in the pot with water to boil.
Next, it was time to wash the eggs. Compared to washing the pork belly, washing the eggs was a much larger task.
Cleaning over three hundred eggs one by one took nearly an hour.
During this time, after the pork belly had been boiled once, Su Lao Er helped to remove it, change the water, add the seasoning packet, and continue boiling.
"It's not easy to clean so many eggs one by one!"
Although Qi Liangying said this, her face was full of smiles.
She placed the eggs into the pot one by one, added water, and began to boil them.
"Second Mom, these eggs need to be cooked and then peeled one by one. It's not an easy task. It's fine while we're here for these couple of days, but once it's just you, you definitely won't be able to manage. You should hire someone to help!" Su Xiaotian advised Qi Liangying.
The women in the family all had the same personality. Su Xiaotian was afraid that Qi Liangying would rather suffer and toil herself than hire someone.
Qi Liangying agreed verbally, but in her heart, she thought that if she worked a little harder herself, there would be no need to hire anyone.
After all, they had lived together for decades. Su Lao Er understood his wife. He said, "Why don't you hire someone? Or I can quit my job at the pig farm and come to the provincial city to help you."
Su Xiaotian was quite surprised to hear Su Lao Er say this.
After all, the easygoing Su Lao Er never gave the impression of being a husband who doted on his wife.
But it was precisely such a person who, at this moment, showed affection for his wife.
"Second Dad, it would be great if you could come to the provincial city. We can't rest easy with Second Mom being alone in the provincial city!" This was said by Su Shouwen.
He had been thinking that Second Mom was unfamiliar with the provincial city, and if anything were to happen, there would be no one to turn to.
"The pig farm is also quite established now. With your father looking after it, and so many people in the brigade, it's my Second Mom that I'm truly worried about!" Su Lao Er said.
"This can be arranged. You can call back to the brigade later." Su Xiaotian hadn't thought this far ahead before.
After all, in later generations, many women lived and did business independently. She had forgotten that this was not decades later.
With the matter settled, Su Xiaotian looked at the simmering braised meat and said, "Second Dad, it's time to switch to a low heat for braising. It should be done in about an hour."
Su Lao Er quickly followed Su Xiaotian's instructions, reduced some of the heat, and switched to a low heat to slowly simmer the braising liquid for the meat.
Soon, a unique savory aroma of braised meat wafted from the pot.
Not to mention others, even Su Xiaotian couldn't help but drool.
The products from the system were indeed high-quality. This recipe produced meat that was much better than many braised meat recipes from later generations.
"This smell is damn good!" Su Lao Er said after licking his lips.
"Second Dad, you need to be careful with your words from now on. We're doing business, so we need to be enthusiastic and polite to people!"
Although Su Lao Er felt that Su Xiaotian's words were a bit exaggerated, upon closer thought, it seemed to make sense.
"Alright, I understand. In the future, I'll just help in the kitchen."
"The kitchen is mainly busy at night. During the day, you still need to keep an eye on things outside," Su Xiaotian said, shaking her head.
While they were talking, the eggs were also cooked. Qi Liangying used a skimmer to scoop out the eggs and place them in a basin of cold water.
Then she washed the pot clean, added water and the seasoning packet, and began to boil the braising liquid.
Su Xiaotian, meanwhile, had already started peeling the eggshells with Su Ciliang.
The most troublesome part of braised eggs was peeling all the shells, as it made the braised eggs taste better.
Peeling three hundred eggs one by one was indeed a huge undertaking.
It took the family of four a long time to finish.
After they had peeled all the eggs, as Su Xiaotian instructed, they placed them in the boiling braising liquid and began to simmer them over low heat.
"Second Mom, fifteen minutes should be enough. To let the flavor penetrate, we can soak them in the braising liquid tonight."
"Xiaotian, I know that. But when will these vegetables be cooked?"
Qi Liangying looked at the basket of vegetables with some melancholy.
It was already close to ten o'clock. If she were to braise all these vegetables, it would likely be midnight.
"We can braise these tomorrow morning. The vegetables absorb flavor easily."
Su Xiaotian looked at the time and indeed it was getting late. It was time to go to bed.
Working continuously like this, even an iron man couldn't endure it, let alone them, who were not iron men.
"Your Second Mom and I will stay here tonight. You two siblings can go to the guesthouse."
Su Lao Er looked at the large quantity of eggs and meat and couldn't rest assured, so he decided to stay there for the night.
"How can we stay here?" Su Ciliang said, "Why don't my mom and Xiaotian stay at the guesthouse?"
"From now on, your mom and I will settle down here. What's not to like about staying here?" Su Lao Er said dismissively.
Su Ciliang thought about it and realized it was indeed the case.
Su Xiaotian gave a few more instructions and returned to the guesthouse with Su Ciliang.
As they walked out, they saw several people standing outside, all sighing at the aroma of braised meat wafting through the air.
"Uncle Zhu, I'm about to drool. Whose house is this, cooking meat so late at night?"
The speaker was a man in his thirties.
Su Xiaotian couldn't help but smile when she heard this. If she dared to say her braised meat flavor was second best, no one would dare to claim the first.
Even she couldn't help but drool.
Moreover, in this era, opportunities to eat meat were scarce.
It was no wonder that the aroma of braised meat, which could be smelled for miles, was so enticing!
"Old man hasn't eaten braised meat for many years. I didn't expect anyone to be able to make such authentic braised meat!"
The man called Uncle Zhu said with emotion, fanning himself with a large fan.
As he spoke, Uncle Zhu couldn't help but sniff. The meat smelled so good.
"Uncle Zhu, who do you think is making people crave meat so late at night?"
The young man said, as if he would immediately go in and beg for some if he knew whose house was cooking the meat.
Making people so hungry they couldn't sleep late at night was too immoral!