Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Zhang Shi'an breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the approval. Seeing that Zhang Sanlang had no intention of letting him in, he made an excuse that his children were waiting for the family reunion dinner and quickly took his leave with his wife.

Back inside, Ximei was still staring at the doorway, poking the ground with her fire poker. "Father. Last time he went to report us, and this time he's come to apologize. Why are you still letting him farm our fields?"

Knowing happy Mei'er was unhappy, Zhang Sanlang patiently asked with a smile, "If the fields are taken back, who will farm them?"

happy Mei pursed her lips and remained silent.

She knew Zhang Sanlang was right, but she still felt a tightness in her chest.

After a long pause, she muttered, "If he informs on us again, we'll take the land back."

Zhang Sanlang couldn't help but laugh. "Alright. If he betrays us again, we'll grow it ourselves."

Xi Mei'er habitually rolled up her sleeves to prepare the ingredients, but Zhang Sanlang stopped her, "Don't lift a finger today. Usually, your father goes to the yamen before dawn, and you have to do all the housework by yourself. It's a holiday, so you can rest. Your father will do it."

happy Mei stood there, still clutching the fire poker in her hand.

Qingge'er called out from the side, "Dad, are you cooking? Dad, can you cook?"

"Give it a try." Zhang Sanlang took the fire poker from her hand and plunged it into the stove to stir it. Sparks flew up, turning the entire stove glowing red.

Zhang Sanlang placed the fatty meat on the cutting board. Two pounds of fatty meat, white and glistening, still steaming cold.

happy Mei stood by the stove, holding a fire poker in her hand, her eyes fixed on her father.

Zhang Sanlang cut the fatty meat into small pieces, each about the size of a thumb, and arranged them in a bowl.

Qingge'er was lying on the low table, his chin resting on the edge, drool almost dripping onto the table. Ximei'er reached out and lifted his chin up slightly.

Zhang Sanlang placed the stove on the iron pot, scooped half a ladle of water into the pot, and poured in the chunks of fatty meat.

happy Mei opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

She originally wanted to say that water shouldn't be added when rendering lard, but then she felt that Zhang Sanlang might have other plans.

The water boiled, and the chunks of fatty meat tumbled and turned in the boiling water, gradually changing color.

The moisture evaporated little by little, leaving only a layer of clear liquid at the bottom of the pot, which accumulated more and more.

The fatty meat sizzled in the oil, the skin slowly tightened, and the color changed from white to yellow, and then from yellow to gold.

The aroma of cooking oil wafted from the stove and spread along the eaves into the courtyard.

Qingge sniffed, slid off the low table, squatted down beside the stove, and warmed his hands by the stove door. "Dad, when can we eat? It smells so good!"

"Soon."

The small pieces of fatty meat in the iron pot had shrunk into golden, crispy bits, floating on the oil noodles and sizzling.

Zhang Sanlang picked up a grain with his chopsticks, blew on it, and put it into Qingge'er's mouth.

Qing-ge took a bite, his eyes widened, and he mumbled, "Sister, you have to try it, it's so delicious!"

happy Mei also tried one. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The fatty part melted into a mouthful of oil, while the lean part was crunchy.

Zhang Sanlang smiled slightly, scooped out the pork cracklings and drained them into a bowl. After the pork fat in the pot cooled down a bit, he slowly poured it into a coarse porcelain jar and placed it by the stove to dry.

Steam rose from the mouth of the can, carrying a fragrant, slightly burnt aroma.

"Dad, are we just going to eat these pork cracklings like this?" Qing Ge wanted to eat more pork cracklings, but happy Mei stopped him.

"It can also be used to mix with rice or stir-fry vegetables." Zhang Sanlang put the bowl of fried pork rinds on the cutting board and turned to get the jar of eight-treasure vegetables that Mother He had given him.

The iron pot was placed back on the stove, and a spoonful of freshly rendered lard was poured into it, immediately producing a wisp of smoke.

Half a bowl of fried pork cracklings was poured in, and the iron pot sizzled as the cracklings rolled and bubbled in the hot oil.

Add the eight-treasure vegetables, and the shredded radish, mustard greens, ginger, and cucumber strips are quickly fried in the oil, releasing the aroma of soy sauce mixed with the fragrance of oil.

Zhang Sanlang stirred the oil in the pan with a spatula, the golden color of the pork cracklings and the dark brown color of the eight-treasure vegetables mixing together, the steam rising directly onto his face.

Qingge stood by the stove, his hands gripping the edge, his nostrils flaring, and drool was already dripping onto the stove.

happy Mei stood on the other side, still holding a fire poker in her hand, her eyes following Zhang Sanlang's spatula as it moved around in the pot, and she secretly swallowed.

"Father, why have I never seen you do these things before?" Xi Mei'er's voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of startling the fire in the stove.

"I was busy before." Zhang Sanlang scooped the stir-fried pork cracklings and eight-treasure vegetables into a plate, placing the spatula on the edge of the plate. "I won't be so busy anymore, so Dad will cook more delicious food for you and your siblings."

Qingge couldn't resist reaching for the fried pork cracklings in the plate, but Ximei slapped her hand on the back of her hand, saying, "They're fresh out of the pot, be careful not to burn yourself!"

After stir-frying the eight-treasure dish, Zhang Sanlang took the pig skin out of the bamboo basket.

Two large pieces of pigskin, with a few pig hairs still stuck to them.

happy Mei watched as he soaked the pigskin in a basin of water, scraped off the hair with a cleaver, and then flipped it over to scrape the other side.

The blade scraped back and forth across the pigskin a few times, removing the excess grease and leaving only the translucent skin, which gleamed bluish-white in the sunlight.

Zhang Sanlang cut the scraped pig skin into thin strips, poured it into an iron pot, filled it with water, placed the stove on top, and covered it with the lid of the earthenware steamer.

The firewood burned brightly, and the water in the pot slowly boiled, bubbling and churning. The pigskin curled up in the boiling water and gradually became transparent.

Just let it simmer like that, without touching it anymore. Wait until the soup turns white and all the collagen is extracted.

While the pig skin was being boiled, Zhang Sanlang moved the basin of small crabs to the cutting board and began to dismantle them.

Once the crab shell is broken open, the crab roe is still glistening with oil. Zhang Sanlang then explains to Xi Meier, who is offering to help, "Keep the crab roe in the bowl, keep the crab meat in the dish, and don't throw away the shells; keep them to make soup."

His fingers flew between the crab shells, dismantling them extremely quickly, leaving happy Mei'er somewhat stunned.

This is a bit time-consuming; by the time the crab roe and meat are removed, the pork skin will have already been cooked.

Zhang Sanlang took out two autumn oranges, cut off a lid at the stem with a kitchen knife, scooped out the orange flesh, stuffed it with crab meat and crab roe, drizzled a small spoonful of lard, put the orange lid back on, and placed it in a bamboo steamer.

The steamer was placed on the iron pot, where the water was already boiling. Steam rose upwards, and the aroma of oranges mixed with the freshness of crab wafted out from the gaps in the steamer.

People were already standing in the courtyard.

Zhou Chenshi came out of the main room, leaned against the door frame, and looked towards the stove while eating melon seeds.

He Liu peeked out from the back room, holding a basket of wild vegetables in her hands.

Aunt Sun was making river lanterns inside the house. Her nostrils twitched, and she glanced towards the stove. "Ah Yun," she said, "go see what the post office is up to. The smell's got all the mice in the yard awake!"

The bamboo steamer lid was lifted, revealing orange peels that had wrinkled slightly from steaming, their color changing from orange-yellow to deep gold. The aromas of orange and crab roe intertwined, so intense it seemed to permeate the entire old house.

When Sister Sun came out attracted by the aroma, Zhang Sanlang was pouring the leftover crab meat and crab roe scraps from dismantling the crabs into an iron pot, scooping out a spoonful of lard, simmering it over a low flame, and stirring it slowly with chopsticks.

The chopped crab meat slowly melts in the lard, and the oil from the crab roe seeps out, turning the oil from milky white to golden yellow.