What's going on here?
Why is he crying while eating sweet potatoes?
Are they that unpalatable?
"Um... Young Master Xiao, are the sweet potatoes not good?" Madam Gu asked softly, wiping the tears from his eyes.
Little Xi Tian also looked at Xiao Jin Heng blankly.
Could this brat be missing his parents?
After all, he had lived in Da Shui Village for so long, and in the past few years, only his uncle Gu Ming Yan had visited him twice...
He was still young, yet he had to leave his homeland and live in a foreign land for so many years. He must have a lot of sadness buried in his heart!~
Liu Cui Rong held a pig's trotter, her mouth greasy from eating.
She didn't care whether Young Master Xiao cried or laughed; satisfying her cravings was the most important thing...
Xiao Jin Heng forced a smile, "No, no, it's fine. The chili sauce was too spicy. I ate too quickly just now and choked a little!"
Little Xi Tian: "..."
You brat, you didn't eat any chili sauce at all!
Oh well, after being neighbors for so long, I should comfort him!
Little Xi Tian extended his little hand and patted Xiao Jin Heng's shoulder, "Don't cry, it's not manly to cry!~"
Xiao Jin Heng grunted and silently ate the sweet potato in his hand, then drank a bowl of gnocchi soup...
He hadn't eaten so much in a long time.
He felt like his little stomach was about to burst.
Everything the Yun family made was delicious, even the cabbage stewed with tofu, plain and clear, but the taste was different from others'.
"Young Master Xiao, tomorrow my family is going to make dumplings with rendered pork fat. We'll chop it up and wrap them with pickled vegetables. You should come and eat with us..."
Madam Gu rubbed his head and said with a smile.
This child was truly good, handsome, and knew how to behave.
He was always polite whenever he saw her... kuAiδugg
In fact, after so long, Madam Gu had more or less guessed Xiao Jin Heng's identity.
But the Yun family tacitly chose to remain silent, and no one spoke a word about it in front of outsiders.
Even someone like Liu Cui Rong dared not gossip about Xiao Jin Heng...
"Rendered pork fat?" Xiao Jin Heng was slightly taken aback.
What was that?
Zhao Gui Hua smiled and explained, "It's the residue left after rendering pork intestines or back fat. It's delicious in dumplings..."
If all the oil was rendered out, the remaining pieces of rendered pork fat could be eaten directly.
Old Man Yun often ate rendered pork fat as a snack with his wine.
But it depended on the person. Some people couldn't handle animal fat and found it disgusting.
But the Yun family didn't care about that...
Stewing cabbage or pork with animal fat was more fragrant than soybean oil or sunflower oil.
Xiao Jin Heng nodded, "Then I'll trouble all of you!~"
"Oh, it's no trouble, no trouble. We haven't had dumplings with rendered pork fat in a long time anyway. We'll make a few baskets tomorrow to satisfy our cravings..."
Yun Er Man said with a beaming smile.
Kong Xing Zhu, sitting on the side, couldn't help but twitch his lips.
She remembered that Madam Jin had made dumplings with rendered pork fat before, but they were too greasy.
The young master ate one and vomited it all out...
She hoped the dumplings made by the old Yun family wouldn't be a disaster, and the young master could enjoy them.
"Old woman, don't we still have a large piece of pigskin?" Old Man Yun asked, taking a sip of wine.
"Yes!" Madam Gu nodded.
Old Man Yun's face lit up, and he put down his wine cup. "That's great! We'll stew the pigskin tomorrow and make some aspic to dip in garlic sauce. Oh, that stuff is excellent with wine..."
Aspic was made by throwing pigskin or bones into boiling water and heating them at high temperatures for half a day or even a whole day.
Then, after cooling, it would turn into transparent, crystal clear, and very springy aspic.
Besides pigskin and bones, fish like grass carp, silver carp, crucian carp, and common carp could also be made into aspic...
The Yun family always prepared aspic in advance on New Year's Eve.
It was also a substantial dish served on the table!~
"Let's just throw the bones from these four pig trotters in to stew together!" Old Man Yun smacked his lips twice.
He could already imagine the scene of eating the aspic and drinking his small wine...
"Dad, then I'll stew it tonight, and we can eat it tomorrow at noon!" Zhao Gui Hua said with a smile.
"No rush, no rush!" Old Man Yun waved his hand. "What's the harm in not eating it for one meal!~"
Liu Cui Rong glared at her elder sister-in-law, secretly cursing her as a sycophant.
After Xiao Jin Heng had eaten his fill, he stood up and cupped his hands towards the Yun family, "Thank you for the hospitality. I've already instructed the workers to move out the five thousand old bricks!"
"If we work at this pace, the house will be built in another ten days to half a month, and everyone can move in directly..."
"Oh, Young Master Xiao, you've done so much for our family, we don't know how to thank you properly!"
Old Man Yun scratched his face with shame.
Xiao Jin Heng glanced at Little Xi Tian and pursed his lips, smiling, "I'm doing this purely voluntarily. Uncle Yun, you don't need to feel guilty!~"
Old Man Yun followed Xiao Jin Heng's gaze to his little daughter...
His eyes flickered between the two of them.
He was sure that this kid must have taken a liking to his sweet baby.
But his daughter was too young, and Young Master Xiao wasn't much older either. Moreover, he hadn't even figured out the other party's identity.
If he rashly married off his daughter, his wife would probably scratch him to death...
"Goodbye!~" Xiao Jin Heng withdrew his gaze and returned to his room next door with Kong Xing Zhu to sleep.
The Yun family had also finished eating. Jin Huai Hua and Hu Xi Er collected the bowls and chopsticks and then took a broom to start sweeping the floor.
"Dad, Mom, I want to tell you something!~" Zhao Gui Hua poured a cup of tea for the elders and sat down on the edge of the kang.
Since Da Man and Er Man were both present, she wanted to express her thoughts...
Madam Gu asked curiously, "Eldest daughter-in-law, do you have something to say?"
Little Xi Tian also blinked her big eyes and leaned against the quilt pile, looking at her elder sister-in-law.
Her elder sister-in-law rarely spoke at home, only focusing on her work, and had never complained in all these years.
Liu Cui Rong sat on a stool with her legs crossed, took out a handful of melon seeds from her pocket, and cracked them open with a 'crunch crunch' sound...
The floor that Jin Huai Hua had just swept was now covered with her melon seed shells.
Hu Xi Er glared at her fiercely in her heart, cursing her as a lazy pig.
Old Man Yun said, "Gui Hua, just say what you have to say, don't keep it to yourself!~"
Zhao Gui Hua nodded and slowly began, "Dad, Mom, I want to open a restaurant in the county town!"
"Look, at home, Hua and I both know how to cook. Although they are all home-style dishes, we have a wide variety..."
"And I've also heard that the wealthy merchants and noble lords in the county town like this kind of farm cuisine!~"
"Although our family has enough to eat and wear now, opening a restaurant can bring in more income, right?"
Knowing how to cook was also a skill.
In the village, if a family held a banquet, they could earn some money by cooking for it...
Even if they didn't get paid, they could bring back pork hocks or ribs.
If she worked as a chef in a restaurant, she would earn even more.
But most restaurants didn't hire female chefs, so Zhao Gui Hua wanted to do it herself.
Madam Gu grunted and was about to speak when Liu Cui Rong immediately became displeased.