The whole family sat together, practically drooling.
Su Xiangnan and Su Xiangbei ran into the house smelling the aroma, not even putting down their school bags, and immediately sat down at the table.
In the very center of the table was a large basin of braised dishes, filled with all sorts of sliced braised items.
Next to this basin of meat was a plate holding eight eggs, all braised together that afternoon.
Additionally, there was a large plate of stir-fried fatty intestines—it smelled incredibly fragrant!
After everyone was seated, Su Xiangnan looked around: "Where is Eldest Brother?"
Grandma Su smiled and said, "I sent him to deliver a bowl of braised meat to Second Grandfather's and Third Grandfather's houses."
The Second Grandfather Grandma Su mentioned was actually Su Guoan's father.
Second Grandfather is old and usually doesn't go out much; when he does come out occasionally, it's just to sit near his own home.
As for Third Grandfather, he manages the Production Brigade's ox cart and is quite sturdy.
"Wow, this smells so good! This is the first time I realized that pig offal could be made to taste this tempting."
When Su Xiangdong returned, Grandma Su picked up her chopsticks: "Let's eat."
After that, the only sounds in the room were the sounds of people eating heartily.
On the other side, Su Guoan and Second Grandfather looked at the fragrant braised dishes, momentarily stunned.
So fragrant?
This was really made from pig offal?
Grandma Su had sent a bowl of braised dishes to both families, adding two eggs to each. Su Guoan wasn't quite brave enough to try the meat, so he planned to try an egg first.
Little did he know his own father was thinking the exact same thing?
Thus, after glaring at each other, the father and son both gave up on the eggs and turned to the braised intestines instead.
After taking a bite almost simultaneously, their eyes widened, and the look of excitement and astonishment was practically overflowing.
"Heavens, Dad, how did you make this? It's delicious!"
"Mmm, it really is delicious."
The father and son promptly poured two ounces of small wine, alternating bites of food with sips of wine, eating to their hearts' content.
Of course, the two of them hadn't forgotten the others at home; although they ate happily, they didn't actually consume much.
"Call everyone over to eat. The flavor of this dish is superb; I wonder whose skill it is."
Su Guoan didn't look up: "Most likely Auntie made it. In all my years, I've never met anyone who cooks better than Auntie."
Meanwhile, at Third Grandfather's house, everyone was still savoring the taste, feeling like they hadn't eaten much before it was gone.
Ultimately, it was because the dish was made so deliciously fragrant.
In those days, people were barely managing to get enough to eat, and this was considered good; many places were lucky to have two meals a day.
To have meat to eat at a time like this was absolutely a heavenly life!
Zhao Yingzi went to clear the bowls and chopsticks. Su Jianye said with a satisfied look, "Ruan Bao, how did you make this? It's so good. I ate two full large bowls of rice late at night."
"Dad, you undersold yourself. I thought you would eat three large bowls like your three older brothers."
Su Jianye looked hurt: "Ruan Bao, are you making fun of your old dad?"
Su Xiaoruan chuckled lightly: "Dad, you really jump to conclusions! There's still braised dish left; we can eat it again tomorrow at noon."
Grandma Su patted Su Xiaoruan's arm: "The braised dish is delicious, yes, but the smell is too strong. We can't make it often in the future."
Su Xiaoruan paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
Actually, she wasn't worried about not being able to eat braised dishes later.
After all, her Supermarket's cooked food section had quite a few braised dishes, and also braised beef and salted donkey meat—all good things for nourishing the body. Moreover, since they were cold, they didn't have much odor, so she could take some out to try tomorrow.
So, at lunch the next day, there was a small plate of braised beef on the table.
Su Xiaoruan originally wanted to take out more, but she remembered that times were hard, and she didn't want her family to develop the idea of getting something for nothing, so she only took out half a *jin*.
Although it was a small amount, Su Xiaoruan sliced it very thinly, just enough to cover the bottom of the plate in one layer.
Su Xiaoruan then minced garlic, added a small spoonful of soy sauce, two spoonfuls of vinegar, a little bit of sugar, and finally drizzled a few drops of sesame oil to make a small bowl of dipping sauce.
Grandma Su saw that the sauce was made well, so she decided to steam some *kǔ lèi*; dipping this in the sauce made it very appetizing.
'*Kǔ lèi*' was a general term for this type of dish.
Some people would use wild vegetables, or old green beans from autumn, roll them in some cornmeal with a little salt, and then steam them—it could serve as both staple food and a vegetable dish.
It was spring, and there were endless wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain.
Grandma Su used wild vegetables, washed them clean, rolled them in a layer of cornmeal mixed with salt, and then steamed them.
"Grandma, what's the difference between this and vegetable buns?"
"Hehe, this uses even less cornmeal; it's basically all wild vegetables. Most people in the countryside eat like this in the spring; it saves grain and keeps you half-full."
Because salt was added, even if they weren't completely full, they still had energy.
It had to be said, no wonder this thing was called '*kǔ lèi*' in the countryside!
Spring was the season for plowing, and there was plenty of work in the fields, yet they could only eat until they were half-full, and some wild vegetables, if not prepared well, were bitter and astringent.
Wasn't that both bitter and tiring?
However, if this was prepared well, eating it occasionally was still quite delicious.
Su Xiaoruan really enjoyed eating it this way, especially since after she turned fifty in her previous life, she preferred a low-salt, low-oil diet, eating this kind of food two or three times a week.
Su Xiaoruan was lost in thought; Grandma Su called her name several times, but she didn't hear.
In the field, Su Guoan ambled over to Su Jianye and whispered, "How did you make that braised dish at your place? To make pig offal taste better than pork belly, I'm truly impressed."
Su Jianye grinned proudly: "Of course! My daughter is just smart; she learns anything just by looking at it."
Su Guoan's eyes widened: "What? Ruan Bao made it?"
"Yeah! Absolutely!"
Seeing Su Jianye acting so smug, Su Guoan went to kick him.
However, Su Jianye reacted quickly, dodging swiftly and avoiding the kick.
"Get lost, get lost! You think you're the only one with a daughter? I have one too!"
Su Guoan did have a daughter, but she was already grown up and likely to be married off in the next couple of years.
More importantly, Su Xiaoli wasn't as smart as Su Xiaoruan, wasn't as pretty, and her words weren't as sweet as Su Xiaoruan's.
Thinking about it, Su Guoan felt genuinely depressed.
Why did all the good things happen to that fool Su Jianye!
"Alright, I came over to talk to you about something serious."
"Brother, go ahead." Su Jianye immediately became serious, not daring to fool around anymore.
"I heard the Commune is hiring another Clerk. Should your Xiang Dong go try out?"