Nearby cities lacked various things, and they were very clear about what was missing, so they started to resell those items.
"This meat shouldn’t be smoked anymore, otherwise it’ll all dry up," Mrs. Zhao came over to inspect the meat Yun Xiaoxiao and the others were smoking, glancing at the situation.
Yun Xiaoxiao didn’t know what it was supposed to look like when done.
But the mother-in-law was experienced, having been through this before.
"This sauce meat of yours still needs to hang for a few days," Mrs. Zhao remarked as she looked at the several pieces of sauce meat, the color looking good.
Yun Xiaoxiao and Mrs. Zhao together tidied up the smoked meats and even cut a large piece off to taste.
"Mom, call Dad over for dinner; let’s taste..."
Yun Xiaoxiao saw her mother-in-law use the water from boiling cured meat to stew radishes.
The sausages, cured meat, and sauce meat all tasted delicious.
This was cured meat she had made herself; how could it taste so good?
"This year’s cured meat tastes good."
The cured meat stir-fried with dried vegetables was indeed very nice.
Team Leader Zhao noticed an unfamiliar scent in the cured meat and found the sausages were also particularly flavorful.
"Is this the sauce meat you were talking about, Mom?"
Yun Xiaoxiao nodded, "Dad, try it and see. I’ve heard from others how to do it, and this is my first time making it."
The sauce meat didn’t have a smoky flavor, but it did have a taste of soy sauce, which was quite good as well.
Mrs. Zhao also tried a piece and immediately sensed a strong soy flavor. She had initially thought her son would ruin the meat by following his wife’s suggestions, but unexpectedly, the sauce meat turned out to be even tastier than the cured meat and left a lingering fragrance in the mouth.
"It’s very tasty." It was not a waste of good ingredients.
Yun Xiaoxiao originally wanted to offer two pieces of cured meat to Mrs. Zhao, but Mrs. Zhao refused.
"Laosan brought several pieces of meat to the old house the other day."
As for the other two sons, they had already separated households and couldn’t possibly take things from Laosan’s home to support the others.
"That’s fine then, next time we have meat, we’ll invite Mom and Dad."
Team Leader Zhao glanced at her and his wife, "I’m heading back first."
He left after having his fill.
"I’m going back too."
The in-laws were not biased.
"Mom, have you finished your malted milk?"
The container of malted milk they were drinking was still partially full, initially Mrs. Zhao planned to give it to Da Bao.
But Da Bao’s wife had a stern face and not a single smile, as if it was their fault as parents that something went wrong with Da Bao, so they decided not to offer warmth in response to the cold treatment.
So they kept it for themselves.
As parents, they had provided a wife for their son, helped take care of the grandchildren, and even helped build houses when they separated households, but how much would it take to satisfy them?
"There’s some left, but I’ll head back now."
There’s no need for you to leave so quickly, why the rush, as if you’re scared of giving something away?
"Mom, can we give some meat to Xiao Mao’s family?"
Yun Xiaoxiao looked at Xiao Bao, somewhat shocked.
She quickly started advising him, telling the story of gratefulness and vengeance over rice.
"When we’re out, we need to keep a low profile and not show off what good food we have at home, otherwise people might come to steal, and if they take our stuff, we’ll just end up starving," she explained.
She shouldn’t be giving meat away unasked.
Otherwise, it might cause greater resentment and trouble.
Da Bao and Xiao Bao looked terrified, clearly the two kids were scared.
Yun Xiaoxiao pressed on with the story of the Farmer and the Snake.
We must not raise overly compassionate, naive children.
Be patriotic, treat people sincerely, but also keep your own interests in mind and be vigilant about those around you; don’t assume that everyone nearby is good and there are no bad people.