After leaving the butcher shop, Shen Wenhe went to the general store—not an ordinary retail shop, but one that also handled wholesale.
He purchased a wide range of necessities: salt, soy sauce, various sauces, spices, needles and threads, oil, and other daily essentials.
Next, he went to the money exchange, not to shop but to convert silver notes. Shen Wenhe had hundreds of thousands of taels in notes. Exchanging them all at once wasn’t possible; he had to visit several banks.
Luckily, the Shen family was well-known in the city, so the bankers recognized him. After going to three banks, he finally exchanged several tens of thousands of taels into silver coins. This was already the limit; the remaining notes would have to wait until tomorrow.
The silver coins were too heavy for Shen Wenhe to carry alone, so the bank guards would deliver them to his home later.
Shen Wenhe also ordered a batch of steamed buns, stuffed buns, and baked flatbreads to be delivered home. He bought iron pots, knives, cleavers, and various farming tools from the blacksmith. Finally, he returned to the butcher to collect the cleaned pig offal and brought it home.
At home, Bai Nianqing had just returned. On the kang (heated bed), there were still stacks of cotton and a couple of large bundles.
Bai Nianqing sat drinking water and looked up as Shen Wenhe entered. “You’re back? Have you finished everything?”
“Half done, I’d say. Pork, salt, buns, and steamed bread have been ordered. They’ll be delivered soon. Half of the silver notes have been exchanged; I’ll go for the rest tomorrow,” Shen Wenhe explained, pouring himself a cup of water.
“I bought some more necessities today, but I still feel it’s not enough. I’ll check another general store this afternoon. We need to buy carefully too, so as not to cause panic,” Bai Nianqing said.
“Understood. This afternoon, besides exchanging the remaining silver notes, I’ll visit a couple more stores to buy extra salt. I only bought about eighty catties this morning; more might draw attention,” Shen Wenhe replied.
“You ordered over one hundred pigs to be slaughtered and delivered. I also instructed them to clean the offal before sending it. By the way, your pig offal was left outside; I told the butcher to clean it,” Shen Wenhe added.
“It’s brought back? Then I’ll cook it for you, and you come light the fire, okay?” Bai Nianqing stood.
“Me… light the fire?” Shen Wenhe asked in disbelief, pointing at himself. He hadn’t expected his wife to ask him to tend the fire.
“Yes, you. There are only the two of us at home. If you don’t help, should I do it alone?” Bai Nianqing said. She wasn’t going to do the hard work herself; she liked to eat prepared food.
Thinking about it, Shen Wenhe agreed. Neither Qichun nor Chang’an would do it, so if he didn’t, Bai Nianqing would have to.
“Alright, but I’ve never done it before. Will you guide me?” Shen Wenhe asked uncertainly.
“Of course. I’ve cooked often before,” Bai Nianqing said proudly. She enjoyed cooking and studying food. While she hadn’t formally trained, she had learned from watching modern cooking videos and could handle dishes from all regional cuisines.
But Shen Wenhe heard this as something else entirely. In the Bai household, there were servants and a cook; she didn’t really need to cook herself. The fact she was doing it now implied she had endured hardships.
“You’ve suffered, my wife. Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of you from now on,” Shen Wenhe said, pulling her into his arms.
Bai Nianqing didn’t understand why he suddenly acted as if she had suffered hardships. But a man caring for her was a good thing, so she didn’t question it.
“Hmm, then you better follow through, or I won’t forgive you,” she said, a little pout in her voice.
“And what if you don’t forgive me, hmm?” Shen Wenhe pressed his forehead against hers.
His intimate tone made Bai Nianqing’s face flush instantly. She pushed him away: “I’m not talking to you! I’m going to cook.”
Shen Wenhe was unbothered and leisurely followed her. “Wife, take your time; I’ll light the fire for you.”
“First, light the fire, then loosen the leaves. When the flames catch, add branches. Don’t press them down, or the fire won’t start,” Bai Nianqing instructed Shen Wenhe.
Then she rinsed the pig offal twice more. She blanched it in cold water with green onions, ginger, and cooking wine. Once the water boiled, she skimmed off the foam, removed the offal, and rinsed it with hot water.
She discarded the dirty water, replaced it with fresh water, added the blanched offal, then seasonings: soy sauce, salt, rock sugar, green onions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, various spices, cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom, fennel, and chili.
“All done. Bring it to a boil, then simmer slowly,” Bai Nianqing said, adjusting the wood in the stove for Shen Wenhe.
“But we can’t just eat braised offal. Let’s stir-fry some garlic greens too,” she added, realizing they needed more vegetables. During a drought, having only grains but no vegetables wouldn’t suffice.
“Right, we should prepare more vegetables. If a drought occurs, we need them,” she said.
“Got it. That’s easy. Villagers all have vegetable plots. I’ll ask Chang’an to gather them,” Shen Wenhe agreed.
“Yes. Since we have space in our storage, gather extra. Especially cucumbers and tomatoes—they can be both vegetables and fruit. And chives, have them picked,” Bai Nianqing instructed.
“Understood,” Shen Wenhe promised.
“Also, cook some rice. Braised meat goes best with rice,” Bai Nianqing added.
“I’ll light the fire for you,” Shen Wenhe immediately said.
By midday, they had rice with a platter of braised meat and garlic greens.
“I didn’t expect the pig offal to taste this good! The pig ears are crispy, and the pig head meat is soft and flavorful. Wife, your cooking is amazing. If I had known offal could taste this good, I would’ve had it prepared sooner,” Shen Wenhe exclaimed.