Chapter 49: Met Everyone
Zhang Wenliang rode back on horseback, with a large cloth bag slung across the horse's back – both ends bulging out, clearly filled with plenty of things.
Besides him, three other people were following behind.
Chen Fan looked up and saw a woman in her twenties pedaling hard on a bicycle. She'd unbuttoned the front of her padded jacket, and there was a gray-haired man in his fifties riding on the back rack.
The third person was riding a bicycle by himself – someone Chen Fan recognized, no less than Master Zhu, whom he'd just met that morning.
The three of them parked their two bicycles and hurried over excitedly.
But they still fell behind Zhang Wenliang, who'd already led his horse over, his face beaming with excitement. "I got the pig offal, and Master Zhu even gave us a big bag of pig blood!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Master Zhu walked over from behind, swinging his arms and laughing heartily. "Old Zhang, Old Xiao, Old Ye – I'm here to crash your meal!"
Though he was speaking to the three brigade leaders, his eyes were fixed on the two stoves in front of Chen Fan. "Wow, that smells amazing – is that turtle meat?"
Zhang Changjiang burst out laughing and strode over, extending both hands well in advance. "You're a guest we can never seem to invite – welcome, welcome! We'll have a couple of bowls of wine with dinner later, make sure you have a good time."
Along with him, Xiao Liewen and Ye Shubao also went over to greet Master Zhu.
Even many of the surrounding production team members called out "Uncle" or "Grandpa" to him voluntarily.
That was the status of the head butcher at the food station!
Chen Fan picked up a rag to wipe his hands and stepped out from behind the stoves.
Zhang Wenliang quickly came forward and set the cloth bag down in front of him. "Master Chen, how should we handle this?"
Chen Fan squatted down to look at it. "Alright – soak the heart, liver, and lungs in clean water, wash the pig intestines thoroughly with plant ash, pour the pig blood out right away, then get some scallions, ginger, and garlic ready, and boil a pot of hot water."
As soon as he finished speaking, Master Zhu leaned over and said, "I knew you'd be making blood sausage, so I specially saved two marrow bones to make broth."
He then turned to look at Zhang Changjiang. "I didn't come empty-handed – brought some good stuff with me!"
Zhang Changjiang laughed heartily. "That really is good stuff – we wouldn't have had any if you hadn't brought it."
Chen Fan moved the pig offal aside and sure enough saw two marrow bones. He chuckled. "Perfect – broth is the best for this."
Then he spotted a slab of pork belly and couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. Looking up at Master Zhu, he said, "Did you not get enough of the pork feast this morning and want to have it again?"
Master Zhu pretended to look stern. "Pork feast? I just want to have that twice-cooked pork you made again!"
Chen Fan had no objection. "Sure, that's easy – I'll make it along with the rest later."
Seeing this scene, Zhang Changjiang and the others standing behind him exchanged glances, all unable to hide their delight.
So many people wanted to invite Master Zhu to dinner, but he ate meat and fish every day – what good food hadn't he tried? Yet here he was, obsessed with twice-cooked pork. It seemed Lujiawan would have a way to sell their pigs from now on!
After the bag of ingredients was taken away, Zhang Changjiang led Chen Fan over to the other two people and smiled. "This is the pillar of our Lujiawan – Party Secretary Yang."
Chen Fan immediately greeted him politely. "Hello, Secretary Yang."
Secretary Yang extended his hand. "Thank you for all your hard work, Master Chen."
Chen Fan replied, "It's my pleasure."
Zhang Changjiang continued with the introductions. "This is our Women's Director Yang Xingxiu – she's Secretary Yang's eldest daughter."
Yang Xingxiu shook hands with Chen Fan in a straightforward manner. "You've worked hard, Master Chen."
Chen Fan went through the formalities again. "It's my pleasure."
He thought to himself – the production brigade Party secretary, brigade chief, two deputy chiefs, militia company commander, and women's director. He should have now met everyone on the brigade leadership team, right?
After exchanging pleasantries, Xiao Liewen looked at Chen Fan and asked quietly, "Master Chen, when will you make the blood sausage?"
Chen Fan smiled. "These two pots of turtle still need twenty minutes to braise. Once they're done and served, we can start making the broth, and then make the blood sausage once the broth is ready."
He then glanced at the other ingredients and turned back to ask, "Captain Xiao – would you like to have our local pork feast today, or should I make a Sichuan-Hunan style feast with pig offal?"
Xiao Liewen didn't even hesitate. "Let's skip the local pork feast for now. Once you're done with things these next few days, could you make another trip over? I'll prepare plenty of Chinese cabbage, and you can help me make two vats of pickled cabbage. Then we can have the Northeast-style pork feast later."
Pausing for a moment, he asked, "How long does it take for the pickled cabbage to be ready?"
Chen Fan replied, "About half a month should do it."
Xiao Liewen nodded. "So that'll be before the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month – just in time for Little New Year."
Master Zhu, who'd been standing nearby, was already swallowing hard. "Northeast pork feast too? Oh, Old Xiao – when you butcher your pig, you have to call me over!"
Xiao Liewen laughed loudly. "I'd call you even if you didn't say anything – I wouldn't trust anyone else to do the butchering."
After that, the group chatted among themselves while Chen Fan kept an eye on the pots. He also called over a few of the watch dogs and chatted with them about local gossip, which made the whole village keep glancing over at them curiously.
Some families who'd been thinking of finding him as a son-in-law immediately abandoned the idea. Several young girls also sighed quietly – such a nice person, why did he have to be a bit "off"?
But there were a few girls who were willing to make a sacrifice, thinking that if Officer Zhu couldn't find Chen Fan's family, they'd ask someone to propose a match. Even though he liked chatting with dogs, he was really good-looking and could cook. At the very least, he could become a cook in the future – they'd never go hungry.
Where else would they find a husband like that?!
After chatting with the dogs for a while, his "Animal Language" skill finally leveled up to 2 – now at LV2 (1/50). Chen Fan felt like he understood the dogs even better now.
But just then, the two pots of turtle were done braising. He quickly stood up and lifted the lids – in an instant, a rich aroma spread out in all directions. The noisy crowd by the pond fell completely silent, their eyes all fixed on the two large pots, their gazes shining with excitement.
After several seconds, Zhang Changjiang finally came to his senses and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, "Sanhu! Organize everyone – one bowl per household, time to distribute the meat..."
No sooner had he spoken than everyone rushed off in two directions – some running home, others lining up here. No one needed to direct them; everything was perfectly orderly.
In just over ten minutes, both large pots were spotlessly clean. The team members had all taken their bowls and basins home to make dinner.
The children couldn't help but cling to their parents, their eyes full of longing. The older ones could hold themselves back, just swallowing their saliva as they smelled the meat, while the younger ones had already started crying from craving it. The cheerful adults weren't being stingy today – they'd take a piece of meat and pop it into their youngest child's mouth, setting off rounds of cheers.
Chen Fan chuckled and got ready to handle the next batch of dishes.
After another round of busy work, he butchered another slightly smaller turtle and started boiling the blood sausage.
Once all the prep work was done, following Zhang Changjiang's suggestion, he moved the cooking to the kitchen in the brigade headquarters office upstairs.
Though it was sunny today, winter had already set in, and food cooked outside would cool down quickly. In the back courtyard kitchen, the dining hall was just steps away, so everyone could eat while it was hot.
(End of Chapter)
Comments
Post a Comment