The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 492 - 481: The Aroma of Meat

Chapter 492: Chapter 481: The Aroma of Meat

Zhou Silang eventually agreed, mainly because Manbao wouldn’t leave unless he bought it.

After tying the iron pot on his back, Zhou Silang was still worried, "If Dad asks, shall we say it was you who insisted on buying it?"

"Silang, I’ve already offended Dad quite a bit recently. Why don’t you take the blame this time?"

Zhou Silang was disgruntled, "Dad will beat me up."

"Dad will beat me up too."

"No, he won’t."

"I feel like he will."

The siblings couldn’t convince each other, and when they drove the ox cart home, Old Zhou was surprisingly not there!

Zhou Silang, acting like a thief, carried the pot into the kitchen, deciding to keep it a secret for as long as possible until dinner when his sister-in-law could use it to prepare delicious dishes.

Zhou Erlang shook his head with a smile and had the children unload everything from the ox cart.

Manbao had already run off with the bundle of jewelry to find her mother and sisters-in-law.

The women of the house were all gathered in the main room. The fifth and sixth were being held in their arms, sitting opposite each other, playing and murmuring indistinctively.

Ms.Qian was pulling at the hemp threads, with Zhou Xi helping her out.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, they would have to pay their taxes, and while they had enough hemp fabric for that purpose, they didn’t have much for personal use. This year they had some surplus hemp, so since they were idle anyway, they decided to prepare these hemp threads. After spinning them into fabric, they could make new clothes for the kids next year.

When Manbao took out the boxes one by one to show them, everyone, including Ms.Qian, smiled slightly, knowing that the child had bought gifts in town.

They were still wondering what it was until they opened the boxes and everyone was astonished.

Ms.Feng and the others did not expect Manbao to be so generous as to buy them silver bracelets. Instinctively, they turned their heads to look at their mother-in-law and saw bright orange objects in her box, clearly different from theirs.

Ms.Feng and the others gaped and then turned to look at Junior Ms.Qian, only to see that she too had gold bracelets in her box.

The sisters-in-law couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Xi and discovered that her box contained the same silver bracelets as theirs. Ms.Feng and Ms.He were convinced, thinking that their father-in-law wouldn’t confiscate their bracelets when he returned, would he?

Ms.Feng swallowed hard and asked Manbao in a low voice, "Manbao, did you buy anything for Dad?"

Thinking of the large piece of meat already taken to the kitchen, Manbao nodded confidently, "Yes, I did."

Everyone sighed in relief, even Ms.Qian smiled and closed her box, asking cheerfully, "What did you buy for your dad?"

"I bought meat, lots and lots of meat. Sister-in-law, make some braised pork for dinner. Dad will surely love it."

Ms.Qian fell silent, and so did the daughters-in-law.

Manbao scratched her face, "What’s wrong?"

Ms.Qian sighed worriedly and, reaching out to stroke Manbao’s head, she asked, "Did you buy anything for your brothers?"

Manbao looked anxious, "Do I need to buy for my brothers too? That would cost a lot of money. Why don’t I wait until I make a big sum and then buy for my brothers?"

Ms.Qian tapped her forehead gently, "Now you’re acting just like your father."

Ms.Qian thought for a moment and said to Junior Ms.Qian, "Go take a look in the kitchen, how is the braised pork being prepared?"

Manbao raised her hand eagerly, "I know, I know, I even took notes."

Manbao rushed back to her room to find her notebook. Many delicious dishes she ate at the Bai Family were all recorded, and she would sometimes specifically ask the cooks how they were made.

The cook didn’t withhold anything and would tell her whenever she asked.

Because the cook, who had always been cooking meals and had trained many apprentices, knew that culinary skills couldn’t just be acquired by listening. Sometimes, even when taught hand in hand, the taste of the dish could still turn out different.

Junior Ms.Qian had never used an iron pot before, but she was naturally skilled at cooking. With just a few gestures from Manbao, she placed the pot on the stove and heated it until it was red-hot. Ms.Feng watched anxiously by the side, but Junior Ms.Qian remained calm, using two wooden sticks like chopsticks to render the pot with the fat Manbao had brought back.

While rendering, she expressed her regret, "This is meat, this is fat. Manbao, did the book really say to prepare the pot this way?"

"Yes, yes, yes, render it for a bit longer, and later, when frying, it won’t stick to the pot. That’s what the book says."

Junior Ms.Qian continued to mournfully move the piece of meat that was turning blacker and blacker. To her surprise, after rendering that piece, Manbao opened another lotus leaf and took out another chunk of fat for her.

Junior Ms.Qian: ...

Manbao said, "Sister-in-law, this is ’Sharpening the axe will not delay the chopping of firewood.’"

Ms.Feng, also feeling pained, asked, "Manbao, what should we do with this fat?"

"Give it to the chickens?"

Ms.Feng couldn’t help but feel envious of the household chickens, but upon seeing the blackened piece of meat, she didn’t dare suggest it was fit for humans to eat.

Even though they were just seasoning the pot, the aroma of meat filled the house, and it was richer than ever before.

Not to mention the members of the Zhou Family, even neighbors some distance from the Zhou home caught the scent.

They couldn’t help but sniff the air and step outside, following the aroma, which seemed to drift from the Zhou household.

The neighbors couldn’t help but exclaim, "How much meat must have been cooked, is Uncle Jin not living frugally anymore?"

"What kind of meat is this? We’ve never smelled such a fragrant meat before."

Just then, Old Zhou strolled by with clasped hands behind his back, not showing where he’d come from.

The neighbors immediately stopped him and asked, "Uncle Jin, is there a happy occasion at your house, why have you cooked so much meat?"

"Not just that," someone passing by stopped and said, "I just saw under the big banyan tree that your family’s Zhou Er brought back a cartload of stuff. Hey, don’t know what good things he bought, Uncle Jin, is your family coming into a fortune?"

Old Zhou also smelled the meat in the air and narrowed his eyes to ask, "Coming out of my house?"

The neighbors nodded together, "The scent seems to come from your place, if not your house, could it be Zhou Dayuan’s? That stingy woman of his would be willing to spend money on meat?"

However, as they spoke, everyone also looked at Old Zhou with doubt, "Uncle Jin, can you bear to buy so much meat?"

"Suddenly I remember, Manbao was also in the ox cart, couldn’t she have asked to buy the meat?"

Old Zhou had already taken his smoking pipe and was rushing back home. The neighbors watched his figure receding into the distance, gossiping, "Maybe Zhou Er couldn’t resist Manbao’s pestering, so he went ahead and bought a lot of meat, right?"

"Those brothers in the Zhou Family really spoil Manbao too much. Uncle Jin is probably going to be heartbroken."

Actually, Old Zhou wasn’t heartbroken at all. As for the money in his daughter’s hands, as long as it was spent on food, he wouldn’t mind; this was still honest, wasn’t it?

If it had been spent on other things, like toys or some miscellaneous stuff, he really would have been upset.

So, he ran back home cheerfully, eager to see what delicious things Manbao had bought. This smell, it was truly fragrant, and he could tell it was Eldest’s cooking with just a sniff.

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