The moment they heard, “Lunch is ready,” the workers immediately put down their tools. Two basins of water had already been prepared for them to wash their hands, and the children lined up as well, all impatient to taste the braised pork offal.
On the workers’ large table sat a charcoal stove beneath a basin of pickled vegetables and pork intestines. The coals burned brightly, and although it was summer, nobody minded the bubbling broth or the rising steam. The rich aroma alone made everyone eager to dig in. They each grabbed a piece of pork intestine, and the taste was indescribably delicious. A spoonful of the broth mixed into millet and sweet potato rice tasted better than anything they had ever eaten before.
Even the foreman could not help asking, “How did you make pork intestines taste this good?”
Jiang Xiaoyu casually explained the process. Even when people followed recipes exactly, everyone cooked differently, so she was not worried anyone would copy her methods, especially since so many seasonings were required.
“The main thing is having enough spices. My hubby really treats me well. He never complains no matter how much oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, or spices I buy. Usually I can’t bear to use them, but today thanks to all of you, the children got to taste braised dishes too.”
“You’re too polite, Sister-in-law,” the foreman replied courteously, but he quickly stopped chatting. Every extra sentence meant one less bite of food.
Besides the pickled pork intestines, there was chilled sliced pork liver, stir fried pork stomach with green peppers, and a huge basin of pork liver soup. The worker who had complained earlier about being served pig offal rubbed his stomach so happily he nearly cried.
“I shouldn’t have eaten that corn bun this morning. Otherwise I could’ve had another bowl of soup.”
The foreman laughed and scolded him, “Look at you. Since the hosts treated us so well, everyone worked harder this afternoon. Don’t let this meal go to waste.”
At the family table, everyone was equally satisfied. Aunt Hua had excellent teeth, and she ate just as much of the pickled pork intestines as anyone else. The pickled vegetables she had made turned out perfectly with the dish, which pleased her greatly. She did not care much for the cold pork liver, but the stir fried pork stomach suited her taste perfectly. It was an unbelievably satisfying meal.
Jiang Xiaoyu asked the children, “So? Were the pork dishes alright?”
The children nodded enthusiastically. Xiaojun even felt a little heartbroken. Once the rooms were finished and he moved away, he would not be able to eat such delicious food every day anymore.
“Auntie, can we eat pork intestines again tomorrow?”
Jiang Xiaoyu laughed. “No matter how delicious something is, you’ll get tired of it if you eat it every day. Tomorrow we’ll eat pig trotters instead. I already arranged with the meat processing factory for ten pig trotters, and they don’t require ration tickets. All ten only cost one yuan.”
The children trusted Jiang Xiaoyu’s cooking completely and instantly began looking forward to tomorrow’s pig trotters. Aunt Hua, meanwhile, secretly wondered how pig trotters could possibly taste as good as today’s pork intestines. Unable to imagine it, she decided to learn from today’s lesson and stop questioning Jiang Xiaoyu altogether.
That evening when Mu Chengfeng got off work, the walls of the side rooms had already risen to shoulder height. He was increasingly astonished.
“What’s gotten into the workers? They’re working like each person turned into two.”
Aunt Hua replied, “Your wife cooks too well. That pot of pickled pork intestines gave everyone strength. We saved a bowl for you and Mancang. Whether you’re hungry or not, you should try some.”
Jiang Xiaoyu had already reheated the portion reserved from lunch. Fish and shrimp could be cooked anytime, but cleaning pork intestines was far too troublesome, so she did not want to make them often.
Wei Mancang filled half a bowl with rice and took one bite. His eyes immediately lit up.
“Hurry up and eat, Chengfeng. If I finish it first, don’t blame me for being fast.”
The aroma had already made Mu Chengfeng hungry. He also filled only half a bowl of rice. Forget the pork intestines themselves, even the pickled vegetables soaked in broth were incredibly tasty. No wonder the workers had so much energy in the afternoon after eating such food.
“Dad, there was stir fried pork stomach at lunch too, but we didn’t even have enough for ourselves, so we couldn’t save any for you.” Second Sister still could not help telling her father how delicious it had been.
Wei Mancang clutched his chest dramatically. “Then once the rooms are finished, make it again. My family will pay for it.”
Aunt Hua immediately scolded her son. “Do you know how many seasonings Xiaoyu used today? The soy sauce she used in one meal is enough for me to last a whole month, not to mention all those spices I can’t even name. They cost more than the food itself. No matter how good it tastes, you can’t waste things like this.”
Mu Chengfeng suddenly remembered the large shopping trip they had taken before. Jiang Xiaoyu had squatted in front of the spice stall carefully picking through everything, grimacing at the price while paying. But now he felt it had all been worth it.
That evening Ke Xiu wanted to go to the kindergarten together with Wei Mancang, but Aunt Hua refused.
“It’s not even our family’s turn today. Why are you going again?”
Wei Mancang smiled. “We’re just going to chat a little. Jiang Xiaoyu tells stories really well. Yesterday she told the children about Sun Wukong being born from stone, crossing the seas to find a master, learning the Seventy Two Transformations from Patriarch Subhuti, wreaking havoc in the underworld by erasing names from the Book of Life and Death, declaring himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, stealing peaches from Heaven, fighting celestial soldiers, being forged in the Eight Trigrams Furnace until he gained fiery golden eyes, and finally getting trapped beneath Five Finger Mountain by the Buddha. She said she’d continue the story tonight.”
Ke Xiu instantly regretted missing it. Even with her husband’s poor storytelling ability, the few sentences he summarized already sounded fascinating. She absolutely had to go tonight.
“Mom, it’s still early and I’m not sleepy anyway. I’ll treat it as a walk after dinner. Doctors say walking around more is good for the baby and makes childbirth easier.”
Aunt Hua did not object. Young people loved lively gatherings. If she refused to let her go, Ke Xiu would only sit at home sulking.
She warned her son, “Hold onto your wife and don’t let go. If she trips and falls, I’ll beat you with a stick.”
That evening Jiang Xiaoyu quickly summarized Chapters Nine through Thirteen of Journey to the West, covering Tang Sanzang’s father being murdered, Emperor Taizong entering the underworld and returning to life, Guanyin directing Tang Sanzang westward to seek scriptures, and Tang Sanzang rescuing Sun Wukong from beneath Five Finger Mountain. Then she focused on the White Dragon Horse transforming into a horse, arriving at Guanyin Monastery, and the Black Bear Demon stealing the cassock.
By the time she stopped, it was already eleven at night, and she urged everyone to hurry to sleep.
The children absolutely refused and kept asking what happened after the cassock was stolen.
Jiang Xiaoyu smiled and gave them a preview for tomorrow.
“Tomorrow I’ll tell you how Guanyin subdued the Black Bear Demon, how Zhu Bajie joined them at Gao Village, and what happened at Yellow Wind Ridge. The story only gets more exciting from there.”
…
Early the next morning, Jiang Xiaoyu bought ten pig trotters. She chopped them into pieces and braised them with potatoes in a huge basin, then made another large pot of seaweed egg drop soup. Once again, everyone ate until not even the broth remained.
After walking around for a while, Ke Xiu asked, “Mom, do I look fatter after these two days?”
Aunt Hua laughed. “You’re eating for two now. Of course you should eat more than other people.”
Jiang Xiaoyu came over to take a look and said, “It’s only been two days. You haven’t gained weight. Are you worried eating too much will make childbirth difficult? Eating like this for only half a month won’t make you fat.”
Aunt Hua glanced at the construction progress of the side rooms.
“At this rate, they’ll finish in ten days.”
Jiang Xiaoyu thought so too. The dividing wall inside the renovated room had already been completed, and they were currently smoothing cement over it. Because tung oil fumes could be harmful, she chose old recycled wood from dismantled furniture for the cabinets. After sanding down the edges, there was no need to apply tung oil again, meaning the room would be ready to move into immediately after completion.
That afternoon Qian Chunmei stopped by during work hours, which meant something must have happened.
Sure enough, Qian Chunmei’s expression looked grim.
“Pan Mengping’s wife passed away. These past few days Director Jiang and I haven’t had time to check on the children’s situation, so you two families will have to take extra care.”
Jiang Xiaoyu quickly nodded in agreement.
After the adoption meeting, Pan Mengping had said some unpleasant things, and afterward Aunt Hua had mentioned his family situation. His wife had been a very gentle woman, but she suffered from heart disease. She had given birth to a son and a daughter, and over the past two years her condition had worsened considerably. She could not endure emotional stress, fortunately both children were obedient and rarely upset her.
This latest attack had been triggered by the surgery Pan Mengping performed the other day. Today the patient’s condition had suddenly deteriorated, and despite emergency treatment, the patient died. The family refused to accept it and demanded the hospital take responsibility.
After investigation, every procedure and treatment plan had followed regulations perfectly, but the family still would not accept the outcome. They even demanded Pan Mengping repay the life with his own. Pan Mengping’s wife happened to be at the hospital at the time, and the shock caused her illness to flare up. She could not be saved.
Pan Mengping’s family blamed the patient’s relatives. Now that both sides had lost someone, the other family had become less aggressive, but Pan Mengping’s wife was still gone forever.
Aunt Hua sighed sympathetically. “Doctor Pan’s eldest son is the same age as Damei, and the younger one is only four, right? Those poor children.”
Suddenly remembering something, Jiang Xiaoyu asked Qian Chunmei, “Wasn’t that surgery originally assigned to Mu Chengfeng? His treatment plan was judged too risky, so they switched to Doctor Pan instead. Won’t the family take their anger out on him too?”
Qian Chunmei reassured her. “No, but don’t bring that matter up again. Otherwise the furious family members might drag all of you into it.”
That evening when the boss returned home, Jiang Xiaoyu worried aloud, “I heard Doctor Pan and his wife had been deeply in love for ten years. I’m afraid he’ll irrationally blame you.”
Mu Chengfeng understood Pan Mengping well. “He used to pursue Damei’s mother but failed.”
Jiang Xiaoyu froze. “…How do you know that?”
“Before we entered our contract marriage, Damei’s mother told me herself. She wasn’t interested in Pan Mengping and wanted to reject him, but it was 1948 at the time, and she needed a family as cover for her true identity, so she proposed a contract marriage to me. I happened to need an excuse to refuse my family’s arranged marriage too, so our goals aligned and I agreed. Pan Mengping was furious back then and still hasn’t let it go. His mind is narrower than the tip of a needle.”
Jiang Xiaoyu thought about it for a moment. A first love truly was difficult to forget. No wonder Doctor Pan still could not move on and treated Mu Chengfeng like an imaginary rival.
A few days later the hospital finally mediated the dispute between Doctor Pan and the patient’s family. Doctor Pan’s household held a funeral, and Jiang Xiaoyu accompanied Aunt Hua to buy funeral paper and wrap condolence money in white paper before going to pay respects.
Doctor Pan cried so hard he nearly fainted.
Jiang Xiaoyu herself felt nothing much. Back in her previous life, one of her students’ fathers had also seemed devastated after his wife died, yet less than three months later a young new wife was already picking the child up from school. Doctor Pan had two children. Even if he did not think of remarrying himself, friends and relatives would eventually persuade him to find another wife.
After all this, nine days had passed. The newly added side rooms were finally completed, with cement walls and cement floors both inside and outside.
There was no environmentally friendly latex paint these days. Whitewash required slaked lime, which shed powder and smelled too strongly to move in immediately, so they simply left the cement walls as they were. Later they could hammer in a few nails and hang some handmade decorations, which would still look nice enough.
The leftover bricks and cement were used to pave a cement path from the courtyard gate all the way to the main house entrance, making it much easier to walk through on rainy days.
On the day construction finished, Jiang Xiaoyu prepared a lavish feast for the workers, recreating everyone’s favorite dishes from the past nine days. There was grilled fish, braised pork intestines, small abalones cooked with pork belly, plus several vegetable dishes and cold appetizers. The completion banquet left everyone completely satisfied.
Tomorrow was an auspicious day. At eight in the morning, they would officially bring the children back to their respective new homes.