Feng Qingxue urged the elders and children to go to bed early while she and Lu Jiang prepared pork head and large intestines in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Xibao had already fallen sound asleep in a cradle near the stove, covered with his own little quilt.
The glow of the fire illuminated Xibao’s rosy cheeks, making them appear like ripe apples.
Lu Jiang and Feng Qingxue did not feel at ease leaving the child unattended in the bedroom, so they kept him nearby. Fortunately, the fire in the kitchen kept the room warm near the stove, ensuring Xibao would not catch a chill.
"Xibao is so well-behaved when he’s asleep!" Lu Jiang couldn’t resist leaning over the cradle, wishing he could pinch his chubby cheeks affectionately.
After adding a couple logs to the stove, Feng Qingxue removed the lid from the pot to skim off the froth and retrieve the pork. As she scrubbed out the pot she said with a touch of pride: "He called me ’mom’ today, I was the first person he called!"
Hearing the word ’mom’ filled her with a satisfaction that no words could ever do justice to.
This was a connection between a mother and her child that she finally understood; giving birth to him only brought physical pain.
"What? He called you mom? When did that happen? Why didn’t he call me dad?" Jealous, Lu Jiang glared at his sleeping son, vowing, "I’ll make you call me dad tomorrow. I swear it!"
The little guy’s response was to continue snoring peacefully.
"I wish you luck!" If it were that easy to make Xibao cooperate, he wouldn’t be Xibao.
After finishing her sentence with a hearty laugh, Feng Qingxue rinsed off the pork, then fried some rock sugar in oil in the pot before adding water. Into the mixture, she added the pork, soy sauce, salt, cooking wine, and a spice bag.
The spice bag was made of cheesecloth and filled with Sichuan peppercorns, star anises, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, spring onion, ginger, and fennel, among other ingredients.
The concoction was brought to a boil over high heat before being simmered over low heat for a long time.
As night fell and silence surrounded them, the pleasant aroma filled the air without anyone to appreciate it, especially considering the heavy snowfall, there was no one passing by to enjoy it.
"It smells incredible!" Lu Jiang found himself salivating.
Once the meat was tender, Feng Qingxue put out the fire. "Tomorrow at noon, I’ll make several delicious dishes. You can invite your uncles and brother-in-law over for a drink and a chat before you head back to your unit. We also bought two bottles of wine and a couple of packs of cigarettes today. Let’s also invite your aunts and sister-in-law, so you can have a men’s table and we’ll have a women’s table."
After she finished speaking, Feng Qingxue like magic, produced a bag of five-spice peanuts and a chunk of pork belly that she kept in a bucket of ice under the eaves. Nothing they brought was touched or seen by anyone other than the couple, so taking out some supplies now would not raise any suspicions.
"Avoid taking out anything that hasn’t appeared before," Lu Jiang couldn’t help but caution.
"I know, master of the house!" Feng Qingxue was more aware of this than anybody else. To outsiders, almost everything she took from the space was mixed in care packages sent by comrades, or items that could be bought on the market. Like today, the family wouldn’t suspect anything if she just integrated some supplies from her space into the things they bought.
She took out two bananas, one for Lu Jiang and one for herself. While peeling the bananas, she said, "Let’s get up a bit early tomorrow to prepare the pork bone soup for Xibao’s noodles."
"Don’t worry, I won’t forget." After all, Xibao was their little prince; they couldn’t afford to let him down.