“Throw it out! Now! Immediately!”
Lu Huaizhou’s voice was thick with barely contained anger and disgust—the kind of battlefield aura that could make an ordinary person’s legs go weak.
If it were the original owner, she would have been scared senseless by now.
But who was Su Hongxia? She had seen the high-stakes world of national banquet kitchens.
She looked at Lu Huaizhou’s black-as-a-pot-face and, instead of fear, felt a little amused.
Just wait… later you’ll be crying and begging for this.
Her expression remained innocent and clueless as she pointed at the pile of pig intestines.“Can’t throw it… for Da Huang to eat… Da Huang will be hungry…”
“We don’t have a dog!” Lu Huaizhou’s temple throbbed.
Reasoning with a fool was like playing a lute to a cow.
“There is one!” Su Hongxia insisted, pointing seriously toward a corner of the yard.“Da Huang… lives there.”
Lu Huaizhou followed her gesture. The corner was empty, just a pile of firewood.
He felt like his leg injury was about to flare up from pure frustration.
“I don’t care about your Da Huang or Xiao Huang—get rid of it and don’t let me see it in the yard!” he barked, giving the final ultimatum. Then he rolled his wheelchair inside and slammed the door shut.
Su Hongxia looked at the closed door, a triumphant smile curling her lips.
Not letting her see it in the yard? Fine. She’d just make it appear on the dining table instead.
Rolling up her sleeves, she got to work on the pile of ingredients that smelled unbearable to anyone else.
Cleaning pig intestines was a task that required both patience and skill.
She first gathered some wood ash from the home fire—nature’s most effective cleaning agent.
Mixing it with salt, she scrubbed the intestines inside and out, immediately reducing the stench.
Then she turned them over, carefully removing the attached white fat—the main source of odor.
The process was tedious and precise, yet Su Hongxia worked methodically, completely focused. Her previously vacant eyes now sparkled with professional confidence, as if she were sculpting a work of art rather than washing pig guts.
Next door, Wang Saozi, having finished lunch and bored, grabbed a small stool and perched under her wall like a rabbit, eager to eavesdrop on the newlyweds.
But a vile stench wafted over from the Lu household.
“Ugh! What is that smell? So disgusting!” she pinched her nose. Curious, she climbed a little higher to peek over the wall.
What she saw made her jump.
The new “foolish wife” was squatting in the yard, handling a multicolored, stinking pile—what else could it be if not pig offal?
“Oh my heavens! Is the Lu family so poor they’re eating pig intestines?” Wang Saozi’s eyes practically gleamed with the thrill of a scandal.“This fool… really dares to bring anything into the house! Now this is going to be entertaining. With Commander Lu’s obsession with cleanliness, she won’t last a day!”
She withdrew, eager to gossip with the other neighbors.
But Su Hongxia, oblivious to the spying, had already cleaned the intestines until they were white and shiny, completely odorless.
Next step: blanching to remove the remaining smell.
She filled a pot with cold water, added a few pieces of wild ginger she’d dug from the yard, and a splash of the cheapest inferior liquor from town. The intestines went in, and she simmered them slowly.
As the water heated, the last traces of stink were expelled, replaced by a subtle aroma of ginger and wine.
Inside, Lu Huaizhou, reading a book, grimaced, trying to use the printed words to resist the “biochemical attack” from outside.
But slowly, he realized the stench had vanished, replaced by an oddly pleasant scent.
Frowning, he wondered—what was that fool up to?
He resolved: even if he starved tonight, he would never eat anything that woman cooked.
In the kitchen, Su Hongxia moved to the most critical step—caramelizing sugar.
She cut a small piece of fat, rendered it into clear lard, then added sugar, stirring over low heat.
As the temperature rose, the sugar melted, bubbled, then turned a beautiful reddish-brown. Her control over the process was flawless.
At the right moment, she added the blanched intestines, tossing quickly so every piece glistened with the caramelized coating.
Then she added soy sauce, aromatic vinegar, cooking wine, and her secret blend of a dozen or so spices.
“Shhhhk—!” The high heat released an almost explosive aroma.
The scent seemed to have legs, slipping through the kitchen windows, wafting into the yard, into Lu Huaizhou’s room, and even over the wall to Wang Saozi next door.
Lu Huaizhou’s book fell to the floor with a “clatter.”
He shot up, nostrils flaring uncontrollably.
What… what is that smell?
How could it smell so good?!
It was bold, alluring, impossible to resist, as if a thousand little hands were tickling his heart and stomach, rousing the hunger he thought he had under control.
He had just decided to starve rather than eat, yet his mouth watered against his will.
Next door, Wang Saozi and the other women were recounting the “foolish wife” messing with pig guts, only to be overwhelmed by this incredible aroma, nearly choking.
“Oh my God! What’s that smell?” one sniffed, astounded.“It smells even better than braised pork!”
Wang Saozi’s mouth watered uncontrollably.
Inside, Su Hongxia carried the finished dish—a plate of red, glossy, aromatic Nine-Turn Intestines—and placed it before Lu Huaizhou.
“Brother, eat.”
He stared at it. The intestines glistened with rich sauce, each piece perfectly coated, exuding a soul-stirring fragrance.
This… could these really be the same pig intestines?
Logic screamed: this is filthy, don’t eat.
But his body, stomach, and tongue demanded: Eat it! Now!
Desire won over reason.
He picked up his chopsticks with a “do-or-die” expression, hesitated, and put a piece in his mouth.
The moment it touched his tongue, his eyes widened.
Sour, sweet, fragrant, spicy, salty—five flavors in perfect harmony.
The intestines were soft and tender, melting instantly, fatty but not greasy, with just a hint of chewiness.
The rich sauce exploded layer by layer, a cascading assault on the senses.
Delicious!
So delicious!
Never in his life had he tasted anything so divine.
All his prejudices, his disgust, his defenses—shattered in that one bite.
He abandoned all concern for cleanliness or restraint, devouring the entire plate of Nine-Turn Intestines, even soaking up every drop of sauce with bread.
Finished, he looked up at the woman smiling at him. His heart was in turmoil.
A woman who could take reviled pig intestines and make them taste better than any delicacy—could she really be a fool?