General, your wife has gone to deliver another calf for your horse.

Chapter 41 is even more entertaining when people are swearing.
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded seriously: "That is indeed a problem, but I haven't figured it out yet. I bought flour, oil, peppercorns, salt, chives, green onions, and other things, and it cost me about six hundred coins in total. I'll see how many portions I can make later and then calculate the cost. You can give me some advice then."

Li Junping nodded, vaguely sensing that something was amiss, but seeing Jiang Nuanzhi busy herself, she ultimately said nothing and helped her with her tasks.

After frying the pancakes, clean out the iron pot.

Place a dozen or so clean wooden sticks on top of a large iron pot, divide the noodles into portions, place them on top, and continue to dry them over a low flame.

Along with the chives and scallions, they were laid out to dry beside the pot. This was because there were really no other tools at home to help dry them; the heat from the iron pot was the only option.

There was also the pheasant that Li Junping brought back. After removing its skin and cleaning its internal organs, it was kept for future use.

Seeing that it was still early, Jiang Nuanzhi got up and went out to buy some pork and medicine wicks.

There's no need to go to the county town to buy these everyday items; you can just buy them in the small town. The town is only seven or eight li away, and you can ride back in no more than 45 minutes.

I bought three catties of fatty pork for 360 coins, a small iron pot for 100 coins. I also bought a dozen or so small porcelain bottles, which cost another 120 coins. A stone mill for grinding medicinal herbs cost 30 coins, and two small earthenware jars cost 20 coins. Two jars of strong liquor cost 50 coins.

When Jiang Nuanzhi got home, she counted on her fingers and realized that nearly a tael of silver was gone.

Back to work.

Neatly stacked rammed earth bricks were laid in the courtyard, presumably made by Li Rong to build a courtyard wall. Perfect timing to use them.

Place three layers of wood on top to support the iron pot, then light a fire underneath to start rendering lard.

Three pounds of fatty pork yielded more than one and a half pounds of lard. There was still a piece of lean meat left, which I planned to stew with dried potatoes for the children at noon.

After rendering the lard, the prepared chicken was blanched and then stewed. Wild pheasant meat is firm, and this type of game, as long as the gamey smell is removed well, doesn't need any additional seasoning. Just stew it over high heat with salt, scallions, and ginger for seasoning, and it will be exceptionally delicious.

The pheasant remained still, so Jiang Nuanzhi began processing the medicinal herbs.

The main problem was that her family's wound medicine was really running out, as everyone in the family except for her and Xiao Baozhu was injured.

Old Master Lü left another bottle for me, which has also been used up completely. I'm thinking of making some, and if there are any left over, I'll sell them.

Actually, the aroma had already filled the yard long before the lard was rendered, and now that the pheasant was simmering, the savory flavor of the meat permeated the entire yard.

Not to mention their own children, Aunt Niu next door has also visited the house several times, unable to resist peeking over the wall to see this way.

The girl from the Lin family, who lived on the right, was perched on the wall, smacking her fingers in her mouth, drool dripping from the corners of her mouth.

Jiang Nuanzhi found the little girl really cute and waved to her.

The little girl, seeing Xiao Baozhu happily eating some pork cracklings in the yard, couldn't resist running over. Jiang Nuanzhi grabbed a small handful of pork cracklings and gave them to her: "Eat."

"What's your name?"

“Mother, she is Sister Lin, she can’t speak,” Baozhu said.

The little girl took the pork cracklings, looked at Jiang Nuanzhi for a while, and then put a piece in her mouth.

Then his eyes widened suddenly, and the next second he ran away with the pork cracklings in his hands.

As soon as she climbed over the wall, she saw a stick coming at her, striking her waist and making the little girl burst into tears.

"Lin Xiaoya, are you slacking off again!" Old Mrs. Lin glanced at her and couldn't help but sniff. "Where did you get the meat? Did you steal the meat I saved for your brother? I'll beat you to death." With that, she snatched the meat and started hitting Lin Xiaoya with the rattan cane.

Lin Xiaoya was hit several times, but she didn't dare to dodge. She just squatted next to the washbasin, not daring to move.

“Auntie, that meat was for Xiaoya. Why did you hit the child without even asking what happened?” Jiang Nuanzhi frowned and said, unable to bear it any longer.

Old Mrs. Lin glanced at the big pot in Jiang Nuanzhi's yard, swallowed hard, and said with a sneer, "The man is about to die, and you still have the nerve to eat! A gluttonous woman is a jinx, she'll ruin the family sooner or later! If you grow up to be like that, I'll beat you to death!" Old Mrs. Lin pointed a rattan cane at Lin Xiaoya, spitting as she spoke.

Jiang Nuanzhi touched her nose: "Were they coming for me?"

Having said that, she grabbed a handful of pork cracklings, walked to the wall, and chewed them with gusto: "Auntie, you haven't eaten pork cracklings before, have you?" "You're talking nonsense, who hasn't eaten them?"

"Oh. Could it be that your family isn't successful yet because you ate some pork cracklings back then?"

"You! I only ate one or two pieces, unlike you, who eats from whole pots and pans."

Jiang Nuanzhi shrugged: "There's nothing I can do about it. My family is rich, and these pork cracklings are so delicious. I can eat them today, tomorrow, and the day after. I can eat them however I want."

Li Baozhu was a little worried about Jiang Nuanzhi, so she came over and tugged at her clothes.

Jiang Nuanzhi simply picked up the child and fed her a piece of fried pork fat: "Baozhu, you eat too. If you like it, Mother will make it for you again tomorrow. I can't do anything to mistreat the child, it would be a sin."

"You, you, you have the nerve to talk to me like that? You didn't even feed them before, you were much more vicious than me."

"Oh, but my child has no worries about food and drink, while yours gets beaten by you. Do you dare to compare with me? Let's see whose child is better raised."

"Pah! How could I be inferior to you!"

Jiang Nuanzhi raised an eyebrow, helped her daughter tidy her hair, and said with a smile, "Just wait and see."

Old Mrs. Lin paced back and forth in the courtyard in anger, but the aroma of meat kept wafting into her nose, making her feel dizzy and disoriented.

He glanced at his granddaughter, dressed in tattered clothes, sitting there washing clothes, and immediately yelled in exasperation, "Hey, go back and change me into some clean clothes."

Seeing the old woman jumping up and down, Jiang Nuanzhi smiled. "Child, this is all I can do for you."

Little Baozhu stared at Jiang Nuanzhi with bright eyes and said with a laugh, "Mother, are you helping Sister Lin?"

Jiang Nuanzhi asked in surprise, "Does Baozhu think so?"

“It must be.” Little Baozhu nodded firmly, then tilted her head up and stared at Jiang Nuanzhi with almost obsessive eyes: “Mother, you are so beautiful.”

Jiang Nuanzhi: "Huh?"

This is the first time anyone has ever complimented her on her looks since I've been here.

"My mother is most beautiful when she smiles, and even more beautiful when she scolds people. She's especially beautiful."

Jiang Nuanzhi was stunned, momentarily doubting her daughter's aesthetic preferences.

Little Baozhu pointed her little finger at Jiang Nuanzhi's face: "Mother's eyes are big, her eyelashes are long, her nose is pretty, and her mouth is pretty too. Her chubby face is pretty too."

Hearing this, Li Junping and Li Xiaoer exchanged a glance, then almost instinctively looked at Jiang Nuanzhi's face. They then turned their confused gazes back to Xiao Baozhu's face, wondering if they had misheard.

It took Jiang Nuanzhi a while to come to her senses and say, "Baozhu, what do you want? Mother will buy it for you right away."

Baozhu tilted her head thoughtfully, then shook her head: "Baozhu won't buy anything."

"Mother, smile more, Baozhu likes it."

Jiang Nuanzhi's eyes lit up.

Oh my god, she's so cute!

Damn it, I've suddenly forgotten how to laugh.

When Xie Liangchen and Afu returned, they were met with Jiang Nuanzhi's twitching smile.

Xie Liangchen was taken aback, his brows furrowing.

Afu immediately put on a knowing and disdainful look: "Young Master, you see, I told you, this woman really hasn't given up on you yet!"

(End of this chapter)