Chapter 370 - 364_1
At noon, there was a bustling pig-slaughtering feast. Quite a few families from the village came to weigh out some pork. No one took a lot; some got a pound or two, and others took three or four pounds. Lin Yue was thinking about buying pork for the New Year, so she asked Zhao Erhu to reserve sixty pounds from the village chief. She wanted to make cured meat and sausages, though that might not be enough, but the village chief’s pig weighed only a bit over two hundred pounds. After the scattered purchases by the villagers and what the chief’s family kept for themselves, only so much was left.
Zhao Erhu saw Lin Yue buying so much meat to take home. He initially thought it was unnecessary, but then he worried it might disappoint his young wife, so he simply agreed with her. He paid the Silver and carried the sixty pounds of pork back home. Lin Yue also bought the offal to make sausages, with the pig’s large intestine being essential.
Once the pork was bought home, Lin Yue was busy for two more days, making sausages and cured meat, both of which were her favorites, especially the sausages, which she loved the most. However, since her grandfather’s passing, she hadn’t eaten authentic sausages; the ones sold in the market just couldn’t compare to the ones made at home. Plus, giving sausages as gifts during festivals was not bad either.
"Dalang, go to the doorway and see if your father hasn’t come back yet?" said Lin Yue, seeing that it was getting late and Zhao Erhu still had not returned. She felt a bit worried. Every so often, she would go to the doorway to look for Zhao Erhu. Winter nights fell early, and with the heavy snow outside, she wondered what urgent matter could compel Erhu to go out without telling her. Wasn’t he just making her worry on purpose?
It was already dark outside, and Lin Yue had all the meals ready and placed on the table, but Zhao Erhu was still nowhere to be seen.
"Mom, why isn’t Dad back yet?" asked Sanlang, unable to hold back his question, as the other children also looked expectantly at Lin Yue.
Lin Yue was very worried, but she didn’t want the children to worry with her, so she replied, "Maybe the snowy weather has made the roads difficult to travel. Let’s wait a bit longer; your father might be back soon. Why don’t you go ahead and eat? I’ll set aside a portion for your father."
Lin Yue saw the food cooling and evening approaching. It didn’t matter much to her, but the children shouldn’t be kept hungry, especially when they were growing. She then reserved a bowl of food for Zhao Erhu and let the children eat first.
They waited up until midnight, but Zhao Erhu still hadn’t returned. Could something have held him up that he couldn’t make it back before the city gates closed? Lin Yue didn’t know what Erhu was up to and could only speculate. Besides, there was nowhere to look for someone at this late hour. With the city gates shut, there was no getting in, so the only option was to plan the next move at daybreak.