Chapter 164 Preparation
“Okay, it’s strong enough.”
Shang Wan grabbed the thick hemp rope and shook the newly set up swing. It felt fine, so he picked up Yuanyuan and put it on it.
Yuanyuan sat on the swing for the first time, holding her mother's arm tightly with her little hands, and her two short legs hung down and swayed.
Shang Wan coaxed her to let go, holding the clothes on her back with one hand and gently shaking the swing with the other.
The little guy's eyes widened in surprise at first, his pink and tender cheeks bulged, and his little hands clenched into two small fists nervously, afraid of falling.
After swinging twice and finding that he wouldn't fall, his tight body gradually relaxed, he found the joy of swinging, and clapped his hands happily.
Shang Wan played with her for a while, and when she heard Shitou calling her in the kitchen, she gave the task of playing with her to Chu Xu.
She rubbed the child's head and warned: "When you play with Yuanyuan, be careful not to drop it."
Chu Xu curled his lips. Swings are for children to play with. He will be a general in the future, so he won't play with them.
Yuanyuan was having fun when she suddenly found that the swing had stopped. She quickly waved her little hand towards Chu Xu. Her voice was soft and waxy, "Brother, let's play in autumn - ah autumn!"
It was autumn for a long time, and suddenly he opened his mouth and sneezed. Under the inertia, his small body fell forward.
"Hey, sit still!" Chu Xu stepped forward and supported the little baby.
Looking at him with bright round eyes, "Play!"
"I know, I know, sit still."
Chu Xu wanted to learn from Shang Wan's method, holding Yuanyuan with one hand and pushing the swing with the other. Only when he got started did he realize that it was not as easy as it seemed, and he almost made Yuanyuan fall down.
Look around, no one is paying attention to him anyway. Chu Xu picked up the unused hemp rope next to him, tied Yuanyuan to his chest, and the two of them swung on the swing together.
The swing got higher and higher, and Chu Xu, who was also swinging for the first time, experienced the joy of swinging. When he stopped, Yuanyuan had fallen asleep on his chest, and her clothes were soaked with saliva.
Chu Xu: "..."
Who do you want to play?
·
Supper was served with a stone spoon. After Xiaohuan tasted the dish which had no taste except saltiness, she felt that her injury was not something that had to be healed.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll be cooking."
This proposal was unanimously opposed by the whole family.
"No, you'll have to recover from your injury for two more days." Shitou served her a bowl of carrot soup, "Come and drink more soup, it will heal quickly."
Radish is a radish produced in space, and it is also the only dish on this table that tastes good. After all, this dish only requires adding cut radish, pouring water to boil the radish until soft, and then adding salt.
Xiaohuan took a sip of the radish soup, and her taste buds that had been tortured by the salty taste relaxed again.
She thought for a moment and said to Shi Shi: "I'm watching from the side, and I told you to do it."
It didn't take much effort just to talk, and Shitou agreed.
Shang Wan felt that he could also be this tool man.
Everyone: "No, you can't."
Shang Wan: "..."
Shitou asked: "When you move to a new house in the village, you have to treat guests to dinner. When can we invite them?"
"Let's wait until Xiaohuan recovers from his injury."
The chef is still recovering from his injuries. Who are we going to invite? Shang Wan didn't want to make enemies with the villagers just because of a meal.
·
The days of recuperation were peaceful. Shang Wan drove Lu Chengjing into the city twice and discussed buying a lot of things for his new home.
She also went to a pawn shop and wanted to pawn a jade ornament. She felt that the price offered by the shopkeeper was too low, so she regretted it.
As soon as the bullock cart left the pawn shop, a man dressed as a domestic servant walked in. Within a moment, the man left the pawn shop and hurried through the market to the Lu family.
On the other side, Shang Wan learned from Bao Dawen that Lu Chengyuan had gone to Beijing. He heard that he had brought a lot of things, including three carriages.
After asking Bao about the reward, she went to the escort office and learned from the old man that Sang Qi's escort hadn't come back yet, and it would take about two or three days.
After thanking the old man, Shang Wan drove the ox cart to the county government office to find Shan Dajun and invited him to come to his house for dinner in two days.
She also invited Qiao Yu'an and four people from the He family.
When passing by the market, Shang Wan took a fancy to two piglets, bargained fiercely, and bought them for four cents.
The space in the bullock cart was limited, and it became even more crowded after loading the piglets. Lu Chengjing could only go to the front and sit with Shang Wan.
Fortunately, both of them are thin, so they can still fit in if they squeeze together.
Shang Wan turned around and took stock of the things in the oxcart, "You have bought everything you need to buy. Can you see if there is anything missing?"
Lu Chengjing took out a list from his sleeve and looked at it, "I have bought everything on the list."
"That's good!" Shang Wan waved his whip, "Go home."
·
The preparations for the bustling housewarming party start from the night before.
The two little piglets were raised for the New Year, and the pigs for the housewarming party had to be bought again.
Shang Wan adopted the principle of proximity and bought pigs directly in the village. The prices are affordable for folks from the countryside.
I bought the pig in the morning and brought it back to Shang Wan to kill it myself. The pig blood was collected in two large basins.
The meat was slaughtered in the afternoon, and the parts were separated and piled neatly in the basin.
Clean all the internal organs, along with the pig head, use Xiaohuan's special brine recipe and put it in a large pot.
Keep the fire low, take out the pig head halfway, and keep the rest until tomorrow morning.
The overpowering aroma of braised pork wafted into the village, and many people swallowed their saliva while eating with this aroma, wishing that time could fast forward to tomorrow.
Seeing that the heat was almost done, Xiaohuan took some out and gave them to his family to taste first.
While she was recuperating, she was just thinking about recipes. The braised pork recipe this time is improved on the original basis.
Everyone ate it without saying a word, it was so delicious that their tongues almost swallowed it.
Chu Xu had never eaten offal, especially large intestine, which was so unpalatable that it was never seen on his dining table.
He was reluctant to eat it at first, but when he saw that there was less and less braised meat on the plate, he didn't care about the hesitation and quickly put two pieces into the bowl. He couldn't stop eating it and kept praising how delicious it was.
Seeing that everyone liked it, Xiaohuan went to fish out some and cut them up.
Yuanyuan was so greedy that her mouth watered, but the stewed taste was too strong and not suitable for the little baby. Everyone refused to let her eat it, so the little one could only hold the milk bottle and drink milk in aggrieved manner.
Seeing how pitiful she was, Chu Xu secretly dipped a clean chopstick in the brine and let the little guy lick it to taste it.
The brine is a bit salty, and when Yuanyuan spits it out, it feels like goat milk tastes better.
Chu Xu touched his bulging belly and burped incomprehensibly.
"Sister Xiaohuan, you can go to the capital and open a restaurant. With this taste, it's guaranteed to be full every day."
Xiaohuan shook his head, "Food for nobles is expensive, how can you see something like this? The best thing is to have a fresh taste."
She pointed to the cut braised large intestine, "It takes time and effort to wash this stuff, and the spices are expensive. If you sell it cheaply, you will lose money, but you won't make two cents. If you sell it expensively, no one will buy it. You can eat it at home."
Shang Wan put down his chopsticks and said, "If you open a restaurant, you will definitely need other dishes. Braised pork can be sold with it."
Xiaohuan heard the words and turned to look at Shang Wan. Does her sister want to open a restaurant?