Chapter 245 - 137: Secret
"That’s part of the reason. The main thing is that snakes have a keen sense of smell. The king ratsnake can secrete a foul-smelling liquid that other venomous snakes will avoid. Plus, even though it’s non-venomous, it’s very aggressive and other snakes can’t beat it. That’s why it has the reputation of being the ’King of a Hundred Snakes’."
As he spoke, Uncle Qin picked up the skinned king ratsnake and said with a grin, "This snake meat has to be paired with one of Aunt Gao’s homegrown black-boned chickens. The dish is called Dragon and Phoenix Soup, and only then is the flavor truly exceptional."
Su Ran understood immediately.
"Alright! I’ll go get it... Aunt Gao, I’d like to buy a black-boned chicken from you..."
Su Ran went into Aunt Gao’s courtyard to catch a black-boned chicken.
He bought the chicken, brought it back, and handed it to Uncle Qin to handle. Then he returned to his own kitchen, planning to make a couple more dishes.
Su Ran was born and raised in Linxi Village. He loved this land and enjoyed the rich atmosphere of rural life.
Linxi Village didn’t have many people left. The village household register listed 183 people, but the permanent residents numbered only 62, all of whom were elderly people over 60 and children. The young people were either still working out of town or had moved their families to the city; to them, a spacious and bright courtyard in the village couldn’t compare to a shoebox apartment.
They liked living in their city shoeboxes but couldn’t bear to give up the village’s potential benefits. Thus, a large portion of the 183 registered residents had moved to Linxi Village before marriage or along with their children because of rumors that the village was slated for demolition. This rumor had been circulating for years, and during that time, it had become very easy for the young men in the village to find wives.
The character for "demolition," after all, was like the character for "fortune"—it represented happiness and the path to a better life.
「Noon.」
A bottle of Maotai, a pot of snake soup, a basin of fish with pickled vegetables, and a basin of twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts filled the air with a rich aroma.
He tried a small bowl of the snake soup. The flavor was incredibly fresh. He gave a thumbs-up, repeatedly praising Uncle Qin’s skill. His normal cooking was so-so, but when it came to these exotic dishes, he was on another level.
As they ate, more and more people gathered. Some of the old aunties came by, took a piece of snake meat with their chopsticks, and left. Some didn’t dare to try it. For the most part, it was the old uncles who sat down to eat, some even bringing over their own sausages and cured bacon to share.
Seeing the sausages and cured bacon, Su Ran had a sudden realization. He’d completely forgotten! Winter break was here, and the New Year was approaching. How could he not have prepared any New Year’s goods?
Su Ran was a very traditional man, influenced by the Shan Family, so he took our traditional festivals very seriously. Of course, it wasn’t about celebrating for the sake of celebrating; it was about living a life with flavor, even when alone. After his parents passed away two years ago, he still celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and New Year’s Eve with a sense of ceremony, despite being by himself. Mooncakes, zongzi, New Year’s Eve dinner—he would never just make do.
’If you have money, you live a little better. If you don’t, you live a little more simply. Life gets better day by day.’ That was what Su Ran believed. And because of that, wasn’t that why the Divine Wealth System appeared? And hadn’t his life become comfortable because of it?
"...Uncle Zhou, your family’s sausage and cured bacon taste amazing. If I hadn’t seen them, I would have almost forgotten that I haven’t made any myself this year. I’ll go buy some meat tomorrow morning to make some."
Although, Su Ran did raise chickens and ducks in his yard. ’In the future, if someone gets pregnant, I can stew one for them.’
But he didn’t raise pigs.
’A pigsty stinks so much, and pork prices are low right now. It’s not worth the trouble.’
The poultry, on the other hand, didn’t matter as much. Just feeding the free-range chickens and ducks a little something resulted in a chewy, flavorful meat that was much tastier than the factory-farmed kind.
Plus, he could even pick up a couple of eggs every morning to have with his noodles.
Life was good.
"Why buy meat from outside? That’s all from factory farms, and the meat doesn’t taste good. I’ve still got a big, 200-jin fat pig in my sty. If you want it, I’ll butcher it for you later."
Hearing Uncle Zhou’s offer, Su Ran nodded with a smile. The pigs he raised were fed with fodder he grew himself. In the countryside, the grains planted throughout the year—corn, fava beans, wheat, and so on—were almost all used to feed livestock. The people ate very little of it. Even households that didn’t raise livestock would still plant the appropriate crops when the season came. They would then harvest them and store them in granaries, rarely selling them, as they wouldn’t fetch a good price anyway. Wheat was an exception, of course, as it could be traded for dried noodles.
Mm, Su Ran’s family also had a granary. It was still full of corn, rice paddies, and wheat. All of it had been harvested and stored by Mr. and Mrs. Su two years ago, before they passed away, with every last grain accounted for.
Of course, after his beloved parents were gone, Su Ran had bought several large jars to seal and store these grains. He had never eaten any of it, always buying rice from outside to eat.
It was, simply put, the young man’s last memento of them.
...
After lunch, with the taste still lingering on their tongues, a few of the uncles rolled up their sleeves and went to Uncle Zhou’s pigsty. With a tragic squeal, their porcine friend was sacrificed.
Su Ran wanted to go up and help carry it out, but the uncles told him to stand outside, saying it was dirty inside.
Of course, since Su Ran was buying it, there was no need to weigh it alive. Killing it first and then weighing it was fine.
The uncles dragged the big pig out and weighed it on a hanging scale: 238 jin. At the market price of 8 yuan per jin for live weight, the total came to 1904 yuan. Su Ran wanted to give him 2000, but Uncle Zhou insisted on the exact 1904. A man of simple honesty.
Uncle Zhou told his wife to boil some water, preparing to butcher the big pig right there on the spot.
Su Ran stopped him. "Wait, Uncle Zhou, aren’t there rules against slaughtering pigs privately now? Even if it’s your own pig, you can’t. It has to be taken to a designated slaughterhouse to meet standards. Otherwise, you can get fined if they find out. It was on the news; some villager got fined 400 yuan for butchering his own New Year’s pig."
"What? What are you saying? It’s against the law to butcher your own pig to eat now?"
"That’s right."
"Pah! What kind of bullshit is that? I, Zhou Dazhu, don’t believe in this crap. I’ll slaughter my own pig. Let them try and fine me! Su Ran, don’t you worry about it. This is just them messing things up for no reason. Every household in the countryside butchers a pig for the New Year. Let’s see them try to fine even one of us!"