Chapter 30: Chapter 30 Harvest
The pig was plump, and although a fair amount of blood had been lost earlier, Su Yunjin still caught a full basin of it. So much pig blood could make half a pot of pig’s blood soup.
Su Yunjin looked delightedly at the pig blood in the wooden basin and hastily thanked the butcher, “Thank you so much for the pig blood, Uncle Yu!” The butcher waved his hand, “What’s there to thank? If you don’t take it, I have no use for it! Just take it.”
Picking up the half-section of pig intestine from the ground, the butcher offered it to Su Yunjin again, “Daughter-in-law of the Gu Family, take this pig intestine. Your Gu Family is having a tough time right now. Although it’s not worth much, you can take it home and let everyone have a taste of meat, can’t you?”
In this place, because of the strong smell and unpalatability, restaurants did not take pig intestines. Only peasant families who couldn’t afford meat would buy them to sate their craving for flesh. They were incredibly cheap, just a few copper coins could buy a set, and village butchers often sold the pig intestines at half price or even gave them away.
Customers who bought a lot of meat often received a piece of pig intestine from the butcher. Although pig intestine wasn’t coveted, it was still a kind of meat.
If the butcher was offering, everyone was happy to accept it.
Unable to refuse the butcher’s kindness after repeated attempts, Su Yunjin accepted it, “Then I must thank you for your generosity, Uncle.”
“What’s to thank?” The butcher was good-hearted and straightforward, saying without concern, “The Gu Family has lived in the same village as me for many years. Now that you’re in a tight spot, it’s nothing for me to give you half a piece of pig intestine. Daughter-in-law, don’t take it to heart.”
Pig blood needed salt to be added quickly, otherwise it wouldn’t set. After taking the pig intestine, Su Yunjin hurriedly carried the pig blood and intestines back home.
The basket of wild vegetables she had dug up on the mountain was temporarily left at the butcher Yu’s house. As soon as Su Yunjin quickly returned to the Gu Family, she went straight to the kitchen and found the salt jar, adding salt with a spoon.
Using a wooden spoon typically used to scoop soup, two spoonfuls of salt were about right. Shen Wan added salt to the basin and then poured in cold water.
After adding plenty of cold water, the pig blood gradually set into a mass. After preparing the pig blood, Su Yunjin went back to Yu the butcher’s house to retrieve the wild vegetables and sickle she had gathered on the mountain.
Back at the Gu Family’s home, after washing the wild vegetables in the basket, Su Yunjin began preparing lunch for everyone. For today’s noon meal, Su Yunjin planned to make half a pot of pig’s blood, then a cold salad with Houttuynia Cordata, and stir-fried tender water celery—three dishes, combining meat and vegetables, enough for everyone.
As for the pig intestine given by Butcher Yu, Su Yunjin decided to save it for dinner; otherwise, they would run out of things to eat in one meal, and what would they eat next time?
No sooner said than done, Su Yunjin went to the stove to find the flint and start a fire, then washed a pan. She had never used a flint before.
Fortunately, the original owner of this body knew how to use it, and Su Yunjin had all the memories of the body’s original owner in her head. Using these memories, Su Yunjin quickly got the fire going. To prevent the fire from going out, Su Yunjin added several logs to it.
Squatting by the stove and watching the flames for a while to make sure they wouldn’t go out, Su Yunjin then started to prepare the pig blood for cooking. The previously set pig blood required further processing before being cooked; if not, it would break apart easily while boiling.