Xiao Jinfeng and Magistrate Chen exchanged glances, both sitting up straight, their eyes gleaming. They were about to come to blows over some game meat...
"You are Magistrate Chen, aren't you?" Xiao Jinfeng narrowed his eyes and sneered, sizing up Magistrate Chen from head to toe. "Hmph, as a county magistrate, you not only fail to think for the people, but you also dare to eat and drink extravagantly and spend money carelessly. Aren't you afraid I'll report you to His Majesty?"
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Chen chuckled. "Oh, young man, you're not old, but you have a big mouth. I, this official, am buying game meat from Old Yun's family to help them earn more money. Isn't this thinking for the people? On the other hand, you speak like an official, your attitude is arrogant and rude, and you're as proud as a peacock. Whose child are you, and who gave you the courage to show off like this?"
Little Xi Tian: "..."
Uncle Magistrate, you should say less, otherwise, you might not even be the magistrate anymore.
Xiao Jinfeng tucked his sleeves in, his expression indifferent. "With your rank, you're not worthy of knowing my name. If you know what's good for you, hand over this game meat to me, or I'll beat you up!~"
Magistrate Chen: "..."
He wants to fight at the slightest disagreement?
He was, after all, a county magistrate. If he were beaten up by this young man, where would he put his old face?
Just as the two were about to wrestle, Little Xi Tian quickly ran over and stood between them. "Don't argue..."
Sigh, they just wanted to buy game meat, why the fuss?
She had as much wild game in her space as they wanted, she was just afraid they couldn't afford it.
Magistrate Chen looked down at Little Xi Tian and was slightly taken aback. "Hey, Sweet Baby, you seem to have grown taller! Haha!~"
Little Xi Tian: "..."
Here's a big eye-roll, figure it out yourself!
"Uncle Magistrate, Young Master Xiao, can't you talk things over properly!~" Little Xi Tian put her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks. "You just want to eat game meat, right? Look, you can pick any of the wild boars, sika deer, roe deer, or Mongolian gazelles in this shed. You can split them half and half, but no arguing at my house!"
When Xiao Jinfeng heard this, his gloomy handsome face instantly bloomed into a smile. "Miss Yun is the most clear-sighted in her thinking. Unlike some petty official who bullies others with his authority and abuses his power for personal gain, thinking I'll be afraid of him. Hmph, what a joke!~"
Magistrate Chen: "..."
So young, why are your words so harsh?
Did your parents not teach you how to behave?
Thus, with Little Xi Tian's distribution, all the wild game in the cowshed was sold. Xiao Jinfeng and Magistrate Chen each took half, and the villagers who didn't get any left with regret...
"Miss Yun, please help me keep these live animals for now. When I want to eat them, you can slaughter one for me, and I'll give you money!~" Xiao Jinfeng said with a smile.
Little Xi Tian pouted upon hearing this. "Alright, since Young Master Xiao is so sincere, I'll help you keep them for a few days. But slaughtering, skinning, and stewing them will all incur extra fees..."
As a little money-grubber, she naturally wanted to fleece Xiao Jinfeng.
"Okay, it's a deal!~" Xiao Jinfeng nodded in agreement.
Magistrate Chen hired two carriages to load the fresh meat and sent it back to the county town, while he himself stayed at Old Yun's house to feast...
Jin Huaihua and Du Tieshan were busy cooking in the kitchen. The family had slaughtered a pig and a sheep today, so meat was naturally not lacking.
The lunch was also prepared to be extremely sumptuous.
"Sister-in-law, have you blanched the pork ribs? Remember to add two slices of ginger when blanching!" Du Tieshan instructed while busy.
Zhao Guihua smiled and said, "I did, I did! I also added a few drops of sorghum wine to remove the fishy smell..."
The sisters-in-law chatted and laughed as they prepared the meal, while Jin Huaihua stood by the chopping board, acting as a helper.
The family had kept a lot of meat, and the sisters-in-law planned to make a dish out of each type.
Deer meat stewed with red dates could whet the appetite, replenish blood, and nourish the body. Especially the delicious deer meat soup, it was mild and palatable, benefiting the spleen and qi. Even in the Xiangding Pavilion in the county town, you couldn't get such fresh deer meat soup...
As for wild boar meat, it was no different from the usual preparation. It could be stewed with pickled vegetables, made into sweet and sour ribs, or sliced and stir-fried.
Roe deer and Mongolian gazelle meat were even simpler. The large bones were chopped into small pieces, thrown directly into the pot to cook, seasoned with a little salt, and eaten after stewing until tender.
A large plate of hand-grabbed meat in restaurants or taverns would cost at least thirty to fifty copper coins, but at Old Yun's house, such a wild game feast might become a regular dish on the table in the future...
"It's not even the New Year yet, and it already feels like the New Year!~" Zhao Guihua tied up her stray hair, her eyes crinkling into slits with joy.
Du Tieshan hummed in response, her face unable to hide her pride. "Before, father and mother said that Sweet Baby was a lucky charm, and I didn't believe it. Now, I realize I was thinking too shallowly!~"
With such a little daughter, how could anyone not become rich...
Zhao Guihua lifted the pot lid and poked the lamb with chopsticks. "Shanshan, do you know how much Sweet Baby took care of us when we were fleeing famine? Not to mention anything else, but the cornmeal and millet, we had as much as we wanted!"
"You also know that on the road during the famine, we ate whatever we could find, and if there was nothing to eat, we drank more water. Oh, the refugees who starved to death along the way were almost piled up like mountains, but our family, blessed by Sweet Baby's fortune, actually managed to get through it. At that time, Sweet Baby had just been born, she was just a milk baby, she couldn't even speak, and her cherry-like mouth was always bubbling with saliva..."
Zhao Guihua finished speaking, casually put the lid back on the pot, and the memories flooded back into her mind.
She still remembered when she was cooking for the whole family on the road during the famine, the rice bag, which was clearly empty, inexplicably became full after a night's sleep.
During the disaster year, the road was filled with dust and dry riverbeds. Forget wild vegetables, even grass roots had been dug up by people.
But their family could somehow find eggplants, chili peppers, and even wild onions, which they ate with millet porridge to ensure they wouldn't starve...
Du Tieshan sighed after hearing this. "So, we must treat Sweet Baby well from now on and never let her be bullied or wronged!~"
Zhao Guihua nodded. Their parents had said these words tens of thousands of times, like completing a task. If they weren't brainwashed daily, they felt uncomfortable all over...
Jin Xiaolou carried a water bucket and washed away the bloodstains around the cowshed, then scrubbed it vigorously with a large broom.
The weather was too cold, and as soon as he washed away the bloodstains, a thin layer of ice formed on the ground.
While he was working, he suddenly heard bursts of laughter from inside the house...