Carrying the rice and flour out of the grain shop, Ye Mengyi wiped the light sweat from her forehead and said to the two men, “The oil jar at home is almost empty too. Let’s go to the butcher’s shop. If we can buy some pork fat, it’d be best—we can render oil and use it for a long time.”
Lu Qingshan and Lu Qinghai naturally had no objections. The three of them turned toward the only butcher shop in town. Just as they arrived at the entrance, they saw the shopkeeper already packing up his stall—only a few items remained on the iron cutting table.
“Boss, do you still have meat?” Ye Mengyi asked.
The butcher was a burly man with a beard. Seeing customers, he straightened up. “Only these are left—three jin of lean meat, two jin of pork belly, two big bones, and some offal. If you take it all, I’ll throw in the bones for free.”
Ye Mengyi examined the meat. The lean meat was bright red, and the pork belly had a good balance of fat and lean—quite fresh-looking.
Her eyes flicked, then she pointed at the offal. “If you don’t want the offal, can you give it to me as well?”
“You want that?” The butcher froze. Most people avoided it, considering it dirty and throwing it away or feeding it to animals. “Take it if you want—no charge.”
“That’s great!” Ye Mengyi said happily. “I’ll take all the meat. Please calculate the price.”
The butcher quickly added it up. “Lean meat is eight coins per jin, three jin makes twenty-four coins. Pork belly is eighteen coins per jin, two jin makes thirty-six coins. Total sixty coins. Bones and offal are free.”
The price was fair. Ye Mengyi paid without hesitation.
Lu Qingshan took the wrapped meat and bones, while Lu Qinghai carried the bag of offal.
“The lean meat is cheap, but it has no fat. Hard to cook with,” Lu Qinghai muttered.
Ye Mengyi smiled. “It can be minced for meat sauce to mix into porridge for the kids, or used as dumpling filling. The pork belly can be rendered into oil for cooking, and the bones can make soup—everything has its use.”
After that, they went to the general store. Inside were all kinds of goods—oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, needles, thread, everything imaginable.
“Shopkeeper, one jar of soy sauce and one jar of vinegar,” Ye Mengyi said, pointing at the shelves. “Also five jin of salt and two jin of sugar.”
The shopkeeper quickly packed them up. Salt cost ten coins per jin; soy sauce and vinegar were twenty coins per jar each; sugar was the most expensive at thirty-five coins per jin.
Altogether, the seasonings cost another one hundred and sixty coins.
Watching Ye Mengyi pay without hesitation, Lu Qingshan felt warmth in his heart. Their family had never been able to buy things so freely before. With her in charge, life suddenly felt brighter.
With everything purchased, they didn’t linger.
Lu Qingshan carried the rice and flour, Lu Qinghai carried the meat and offal, and Ye Mengyi carried the seasonings. The heavy loads made their arms ache, but their steps were light.
As they left town, the wind from the fields carried the scent of earth.
Ye Mengyi glanced back at the fading town gate, already planning in her mind. With these supplies, the family could live peacefully for at least a month. Tomorrow, after selling the mushrooms, they could earn more money. Life would slowly get better.
The path along the field ridges was bumpy. Lu Qinghai, holding the bag of offal, frowned at the sticky feeling and couldn’t help but ask Ye Mengyi, “Sister-in-law, this stuff smells so fishy and disgusting. Why keep it? People in town usually just throw it to the dogs.”
Ye Mengyi smiled back. “That’s because they don’t know how to prepare it. Cleaned properly, it’s even more delicious than meat. I’ll cook it tonight and let you taste it.”
“Really edible?” Lu Qinghai’s eyes widened in disbelief. “My mother used to avoid it completely, saying it was unlucky.”
Lu Qingshan also slowed down, frowning slightly. “Mengyi, this stuff might not be clean. What if it makes us sick…”
“Don’t worry, Brother Qingshan,” Ye Mengyi said, patting his arm confidently. “I have a way to clean it thoroughly. There’s actually a lot of fat in it, especially in the intestines. Once cleaned, it can yield more oil than buying pork fat—it’s more cost-effective.”
“It can produce oil?” Lu Qinghai stared in shock. “How much?”
“Quite a lot,” Ye Mengyi said. “First scrub it with wood ash to remove impurities, then wash with salt and vinegar, then blanch it in hot water. The smell will mostly be gone. The rendered oil is very fragrant for cooking. The cleaned intestines can also be braised or stewed—very good with rice.”
Seeing how confidently she spoke, Lu Qingshan nodded. “Alright. Do as you say. I’ll handle it. You’re not fully recovered yet—don’t touch cold water. Just direct us.”
“Right! Sister-in-law, just give orders. We’ll do the work!” Lu Qinghai added quickly, his earlier disgust gone, now replaced with anticipation. “If we can really get oil and tasty dishes out of this, it’ll be amazing!”
Ye Mengyi laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll surprise you. But it’ll take some effort—we’ll need hot water and some wood ash when we get home.”
“We have wood ash at home, and we just bought salt and vinegar. Perfect,” Lu Qingshan said, walking faster. “If we hurry, we might even eat it before dark.”
Lu Qinghai also got excited. “I’ll boil the water right away! Sister-in-law, you better make more—I want to see how delicious this ‘smelly stuff’ can be.”
Sunlight filtered through the trees, falling on the three of them. Even the bag of offal—once disliked—now seemed filled with anticipation.
In the wind along the field path, there was not only the scent of earth, but also the warmth of upcoming meals.
By the time the sun tilted westward, their shadows stretched long across the field path as they finally reached home.
Lu Qingshan pushed open the creaking wooden door. Lu Qinghai shouted first, “Grandma! Father! Mother! We’re back!”
In the courtyard, Xu Ru, Sun Yanfeng, and Granny Lu looked up from picking wild vegetables. Seeing the bags in their hands—especially the glistening pork—Xu Ru immediately raised her voice, “Good heavens! Did you buy all this? Did selling mushrooms bring in that much money?”
Her voice was so loud it could scare sparrows off the wall. Sun Yanfeng quickly tugged her sleeve. “Second sister-in-law, lower your voice! We live in a quiet area—don’t let the neighbors hear and start gossiping.”
Xu Ru quickly slapped her own mouth. “Right, right, my mistake! Keep it down, keep it down.”
Ye Mengyi smiled as she stepped forward. “Second Aunt, Third Aunt, don’t be so reserved. We did earn some money today, so it was time to buy what we needed.”