The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 572 Whole Pig Feast

The next morning, Qin Huai and his two companions went to Liu Er's noodle shop again and ate three bowls of vegetarian noodles (Qin Huai borrowed some noodles from Liu Er and made a bowl of hand-rubbed noodles for Shi Dadan). Without Jiang Weiguo's braised meat, the vegetarian noodles that had tasted quite good the day before suddenly seemed bland and tasteless.

After finishing their vegetarian noodles, Qin Huai and his two companions returned to their hotel to play on their phones. They had originally planned to explore the town, but it was rather small and lacked any worthwhile attractions. Their initially enjoyable phone games quickly became less appealing due to their anticipation of the pork stew they would have for lunch.

After a painful hour of playing on her phone, An Youyou made a bold decision—she would go to the supermarket to buy two cartons of milk so that everyone could go to Jiang Wei's house early to watch the pig slaughter.

Watching a pig being slaughtered is much more interesting than lying in a hotel playing on your phone.

Qin Huai and Shi Dadan thought it was a good idea.

Normally, the visit would involve the three of them going to Jiang Weiguo's house early in the morning to talk about the past. However, Jiang Weiguo is a taciturn old man who doesn't follow the rules and doesn't talk about his own affairs at all. An Youyou couldn't say much even after talking until her mouth was dry.

Not to mention, there are many things An Youyou doesn't dare to say, for fear that she'll be exposed if she does. Jiang Weiguo is also very alert; if he catches a loophole in her words and asks, "How do you know this?", An Youyou will be finished if she can't answer.

Watching pig slaughtering is a safer option; at least you have something to do and don't have to talk.

Qin Huai immediately called the van driver he had contacted the day before. The driver said he had a fare to the village and a few seats available to pick up Qin Huai and his two companions.

At 7:54, Qin Huai and his two companions, each carrying a box of milk, got into the van. Two of the boxes of milk were bought by An Youyou, and one by Shi Dadan. Shi Dadan felt that he had a large appetite and it would be impolite to just freeload, so he thought it would be more polite to bring something over.

A family of three was sitting in the van.

My husband is a bald, muscular man who is over 180cm tall and weighs over 200kg. It doesn't matter whether the flesh on his body is fat or muscle. He's the kind of big brother who would kneel down and beg for mercy if I punched him.

His wife was slightly slimmer but still quite attractive, with well-defined features. She looked prosperous and kind. When Qin Huai got into the car, his wife moved to the side to make room for him in the back. When she smiled at him, her double chin became a triple chin.

As for the son sitting in the passenger seat of the van, he looked to be about the same age as Zhang Zhiyun, probably a student. He was thin and small, but not short. It's school time now, and he's running back to the village instead of going to school. I wonder if something happened at home.

Qin Huai and his two companions cautiously squeezed into the back of the van, not daring to speak.

"Dad, I have my monthly exam tomorrow. Why did I call my teacher to ask for leave and go to Grandpa's house today?" The son in the passenger seat asked, his voice filled with a love for reading.

An Youyou was stunned. Her eyes as she looked at Qin Huai were filled with disbelief that there were students in the world who didn't like to ask for leave.

The bald, burly man chuckled and said, "Son, your grandma called yesterday and said that your grandpa's friend's granddaughter is coming to visit him. She's slaughtering a pig today and making a pig-killing feast, so she asked us to come back and help."

"Your parents have already arranged for you to take three days off. You don't need to take the monthly exam!"

"Son, you'd better seize the opportunity to eat more today and make a good impression on your grandfather. Your uncle and the others will get the news by tomorrow at the latest, and then we won't be able to eat whatever we want anymore. Da Hua only has four trotters in total, so you'd better cook all four trotters today!"

Hearing the burly man's words, the driver chuckled and joked, "Oh, there are still months until the New Year. If you slaughter your Da Hua now, what will you eat for the New Year?"

"Erhua is delicious too," the burly man said cheerfully.

Listening to the conversation, Qin Huai had a pretty good idea of ​​who the family of three was.

It should be the family of Jiang Jiankang, the third son of Jiang Weiguo. According to the private investigator's information, Jiang Jiankang is the only son who inherited Jiang Weiguo's skills. He worked as a chef for a short period before the state-run restaurant closed down, so his cooking skills should be quite good.

Qin Huai couldn't help but secretly glance at Jiang Jiankang, but Jiang Jiankang noticed.

Jiang Jiankang didn't think much of it and asked cheerfully, "Young man, which village are you going to?"

“We should be from the same village,” Qin Huai said cautiously, pointing to An Youyou. “She should be the granddaughter of Grandpa Jiang’s friend that you were just talking about.”

Jiang Jiankang: !!!

Jiang Jiankang's eyes lit up as he looked at An Youyou. When he discovered that An Youyou and Qin Huai were both skinny, and Shi Dadan was just an ordinary fat man whose appetite was not to be feared, he became even more enthusiastic.

"You are..." Jiang Jiankang was so excited that he almost wanted to hold An Youyou's hand. Because he was moving around so much, the car was shaking a bit, and his wife slapped him hard.

“An Youyou,” An Youyou said, her voice trembling.

As a former leader of beggars who had roamed all over Shanghai, An Youyou's greatest strength was her ability to adapt to changing circumstances. From the moment she saw Jiang Jiankang, she knew she was no match for him.

"Xiao An," Jiang Jiankang forced a very kind smile, "Do you like braised pork knuckle?"

"Would you like to eat four pork knuckles in one go today?"

An Youyou hadn't expected Jiang Jiankang to be like her, and nodded emphatically: "I love to eat!"

"I love braised pork knuckle the most!"

Everyone:...

20 minutes later--

Butcher Zhang arrived in the village early in the morning. Before 7 o'clock, Da Hua, the most agile, succulent, and best-fed pig in the sty, died under Butcher Zhang's knife amidst screams. When Qin Huai and the others arrived, the meat was almost all gone, and Grandma Jiang (Zhao Lanhua) was distributing pig's blood with the neighbors next door.

There's too much pig's blood to eat at once, and it'll spoil and go to waste if left out too long. It's better to share it with the neighbors.

"Third brother, you said Youyou especially loves braised pork knuckle and wants to eat four pork knuckles at once today. It would be best to make four different kinds of pork knuckles."

"Dongpo Pork Knuckle, Fengjing Dingti (a type of braised pork knuckle), Crystal Pork Knuckle, and Braised Pork Knuckle."

"Youyou also loves to eat braised pork with preserved mustard greens, four-happiness meatballs, braised pork ribs, sweet and sour pork ribs, pork stew with vermicelli, pickled cabbage and pork bone soup, and braised pork intestines."

"Nine-Turned Intestines is best made from the end of the intestine."

“Dahua only has one intestine. Where can we find the intestine head to piece together a plate of Nine-Turned Intestines?” Jiang Weiguo looked at his third son, who was all smiles. His face was expressionless, and his voice became more and more serious, even carrying a hint of a half-smile. Unfortunately, Jiang Jiankang did not notice at all.

"Dad, that's easy. I'll go to town to buy them now, and I'm sure I can gather enough," Jiang Jiankang said excitedly.

Jiang Weiguo sneered: "That's easy. Go to town tomorrow and buy 200 pig intestines. I'll cook 20 plates for you, so you can have them even in your dreams. Now get to the backyard and wash the pig intestines!"

“You’re in charge of handling all the offal today. If anything goes wrong, you won’t even get to eat pig intestines. Your mom cooked dozens of kilograms of sweet potatoes for Erhua, Sanhua, and Sihua. You’ll eat the boiled sweet potatoes with them.”

Jiang Jiankang: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

"dad!"

"Get inside and wash the pig intestines!"

Jiang Jiankang didn't dare say another word and ran away like a gust of wind.

Jiang Weiguo turned his gaze to Jiang Jiankang's wife, Wang Xiulian, who immediately smiled broadly and said, "Dad, I just saw Mom washing vegetables. I'll go help her!"

After saying that, Wang Xiulian ran away, leaving her own son Jiang Feng standing there trembling.

Jiang Feng: ...

Jiang Feng could only bite the bullet and call out, "Grandpa, I... what am I going to do?" "What are you going to do? Aren't you too busy studying to learn to cook? Of course you should go back to your studies."

"Grandpa... my dad gave me three days off."

Jiang Weiguo said sternly, "Go chop the meat."

Jiang Feng also ran away, and his running style was quite similar to Jiang Jiankang's.

After scolding his son and grandson, Jiang Weiguo's expression softened considerably when he turned his gaze to An Youyou. He said, "We're having a whole pig feast today."

"Oh, oh." An Youyou nodded quickly, then asked with some confusion, "What is a whole pig feast?"

"It was a banquet at Taifenglou Restaurant before, with a total of 36 dishes including cold dishes, hot dishes, soups, and staple foods. However, my cooking skills are not good enough to make all 36 dishes, so I can only make a simplified version of 18 dishes. Back when your grandmother and I were begging for food, she said that when we became rich, we would buy a pig for the New Year and everyone would eat together."

"I thought to myself, if that day ever comes, I'll make a whole pig feast for everyone during Chinese New Year."

"Now that you're here, you'll have to eat a meal for your grandma."

An Youyou was surprised that Jiang Weiguo actually remembered what she had said back then. Looking at the two boxes of milk she had bought, she regretted not buying the most expensive milk because she couldn't bear to spend the money.

Thirteen is so thoughtful; I should have bought those two boxes of organic milk earlier.

"Does the 18 dishes in the whole pig feast include braised pork knuckle and braised pork belly?" An Youyou asked with longing.

Jiang Weiguo was taken aback when he heard An Youyou say that. He probably didn't expect that An Youyou's taste was so similar to his boss's. She asked him about the dishes that his boss always ate for New Year's Eve dinner.

"Yes," Jiang Weiguo nodded affirmatively. "If you want to eat, we can make four braised pork knuckles today."

"But don't listen to my third son's nonsense. He wants to eat crystal pork knuckle, but I'm not very good at it. I can make two servings of Dongpo pork knuckle and two servings of Fengjing braised pork hock."

"It will take a long time to process the pork, and the backyard smells too bloody, so please go watch TV in the front room. Everyone in the family is busy and doesn't have time to make tea for you. If you want tea, please boil some water yourself. There's a kettle in the house, and the tea leaves are in the cupboard, as are the peanuts, melon seeds, and some snacks. Please help yourselves if you want to eat."

After finishing his sentence, Jiang Weiguo went to the backyard to process the pork, as efficient and decisive as ever, without saying a word.

Qin Huai and the other two could only obediently go to the front room to sit and watch TV, chatting and eating melon seeds.

"Qin Huai, I noticed you were staring at Jiang Feng the whole time. What's wrong?" Shi Dadan asked as soon as he sat down.

"Huh? Did I?" Qin Huai was taken aback; he hadn't even realized it himself.

“Yes.” An Youyou nodded. “You stared at him as soon as you got out of the car, for at least a minute or two.”

"Oh." Qin Huai looked for tea in the cabinet. The tea in the cabinet was of good quality and not cheap. Qin Huai was a little embarrassed to drink expensive tea, so he rummaged through the cabinet and chose a bag of black tea. "I think he looks a bit like Jiang Chengde."

"Jiang Chengde?" Shi Dadan was not familiar with this name and didn't even realize who it was.

"He's Grandpa Jiang's father, so he should be considered Jiang Feng's great-grandfather," Qin Huai said. "I've seen him in Zhao Cheng'an's memory. To be honest, whether it's Master Jing, Jiang Weiming, or Grandpa Jiang when he was young, or even Master Jiang Jiankang whom we see today, none of them look much like Jiang Chengde. Only Jiang Feng looks remarkably like him."

"He looks at least 7% like him, and if he were a little stronger, he would probably look 8% like him."

"I don't know why, but looking at his face, I feel it's a bit of a waste that he didn't study cooking and just focused on his studies."

"You know, even the locust flower steamed buns that Jiang Chengde casually made to coax children in the recipes I found were S-grade. I just felt that Jiang Feng had a face that looked like he was a great cook, and I probably couldn't help but take a few more glances."

"It feels so familiar."

An Youyou said she didn't quite understand what it meant to have a face that was particularly good at cooking.

Shi Dadan started eating sunflower seeds silently without saying a word.

Qin Huai and the others watched TV in the front room until after 10 o'clock, when Grandma Jiang and Wang Xiulian came over to greet the guests after finishing their work.

Because their cooking skills were only at the level of ordinary housewives, they could only help with some simple side dishes. The focus of a whole pig feast is the pig itself, and the preparation of pork is relatively difficult, which is beyond the capabilities of just the two of them. They were more suited to being companions and conversation partners than to being helpers.

The two brought news of a delayed meal as soon as they entered the house—the 18 dishes definitely couldn't be made in a short time, and the meal wouldn't be served until 7 p.m. at the latest.

Wang Xiulian, with her extensive experience, advised the three that it was better to eat at 7 p.m., as they would be hungrier then and would eat more and enjoy it more. She specifically instructed Qin Huai and the other two that no matter how hungry they were, they should only drink tea and eat as few melon seeds as possible, otherwise it would be a waste if they ate too many melon seeds and couldn't eat the whole pig feast that night.

As professional chat partners, Wang Xiulian and Grandma Jiang brought up fascinating gossip about the Jiang family.

Grandma Jiang was in charge of talking about her husband and son, and Wang Xiulian was also in charge of talking about her husband and son.

Grandma Jiang recounted how she and Jiang Weiguo had raised their five chubby sons over the years, feeding them bit by bit until they became the strong men they are today. Unfortunately, none of these five children, except for Jiang Jiankang, inherited Jiang Weiguo's skills. Even Jiang Jiankang, the only one who did inherit the skills, wasn't the most talented, which greatly frustrated and upset Grandpa Jiang Weiguo.

In addition to his five good-for-nothing sons, Grandpa Jiang also has four good-for-nothing grandsons and two good-for-nothing granddaughters.

If the five sons had some knowledge and skills, then the four unfortunate grandsons and two unfortunate granddaughters didn't even qualify as having any knowledge.

One person who could be considered is Jiang Feng, who came to help out today. He has decent basic skills, his knife skills are alright, and his talent is passable, but he just doesn't want to learn to cook.

These four unfortunate grandsons all love reading, and their grades are better than the last.

Over the years, villagers have often asked Jiang Weiguo for tips on raising his grandchildren, inquiring about how he managed to cultivate four such studious grandchildren with such excellent academic performance, which has left Jiang Weiguo feeling frustrated and exasperated.

Jiang Weiguo used to love taking on banquets because he couldn't stay idle, but in recent years, he's been angry and depressed and doesn't like taking on banquets anymore. He just stays at home raising pigs every day.

The pigs are raised exceptionally well. Grandma Jiang said that when Qin Huai and the other two have a whole pig feast tonight, they will be able to see the true value of Da Hua's pigs.

Compared to Grandma Jiang's engaging storytelling, Wang Xiulian's account was rather bland, serving only as a supplementary explanation.

Wang Xiulian enthusiastically told Qin Huai and the other two that her family ran a healthy snack shop in Z City, which was considered a hidden gem in the city. She told them that if they ever had time to visit Z City, they could eat there as much as they wanted for free.

The claim that Yunzhong Canteen, a hidden gem in the city, has been open for 10 years, is false; its healthy snacks are real.

At least the healthy snack shop has been open for more than ten years.

From Wang Xiulian's account, Qin Huai could tell that although Jiang Jiankang had inherited Jiang Weiguo's skills, he certainly hadn't surpassed them, which explained why Jiang Weiguo had become increasingly depressed in recent years.

Not to mention saving enough money to return to Beiping and buy Taifenglou, Jiang Weiguo couldn't even raise a few outstanding sons and grandsons to inherit his mantle and carry forward the Jiang family's craft. It's hard not to be depressed.

Qin Huai felt that Xia Murui's thoughts made a lot of sense. Given Jiang Weiguo's current situation, Xia Murui coming to him and taking him to see the Li family to retrieve Taifeng Restaurant might only make Jiang Weiguo more depressed.

What's the use of taking back an empty restaurant if there's no one to carry it on?

Wang Xiulian and Grandma Jiang talked non-stop from day to night, drinking countless pots of tea, until Jiang Feng ran into the front room.

"Mom, Grandma, Uncle Shi, Brother Qin, Sister An, the whole pig feast is ready. Grandpa asked me to call you over for dinner."

(End of this chapter)