The Little First Grand Secretary in My House

This kind of thing shouldn’t be left to a junior to take the lead. Xue Qingbai and Xue Qinghuai were at a standstill, and the final conclusion was that each family will give five kilograms of meat to make sha zhu cai.

The fat and fragrant pork belly was cut into thin slices. The thin slices are also delicate, not too thick and greasy, and not too thin to eat. The big iron pan has to be heated. Put the cut pork in the pan to make some oil. The meat is yellowish but not charred.

When the pork is finished, add the condiments such as green onion, ginger, garlic, chili, etc. with the oil in the pot. After stir frying for a while, add soy sauce and cooking wine and then add the water so that the meat is just barely submerged. Let it cook at high heat. After it is boiled, change to low heat and simmer for a while. Throw in the frozen pork blood slices and the tofu cubes. Both of these things are resistant to stewing, and the longer they stew, the more delicious they will become.

The outside blood sausage, pig kidneys, pig heart, and pig lungs were also cleaned up and quickly sliced. They were thrown into the pot, and salt was added. It takes about a quarter of an hour to simmer. Then sauerkraut can be put into the pot, and then put the pot there and simmer slowly.

With the passage of time, a smell of meat mixed with the sour fragrance of sauerkraut diffused, and the people in the yard could not help gulping down their saliva when smelling the fragrance.

Mao Badou had been waiting at the door of the stove a long time ago. He had Heizi at his feet, and both were turning in circles in a hurry.

The sha zhu cai was soon taken out of the pot, and it was not placed in the house but was brought to a square table placed in the yard. It was a big pot, steaming hot, and couldn't be moved.

Regardless of seniority, men and women, old and young, they all got a bowl for themselves, just squatting and eating at any place.

Mao Badou was sweating profusely, and he couldn't wait to take all the hats and scarf off, but thinking about the purchase of the mountain before, he still kept his last-minute sobriety.

The same is true for Li Datian, both of whom are suffering.

As for Xue Qingshan, regardless of his usual restraint, he is no better than others at the moment. He really wanted to throw off his manners and eat in big mouthfuls. Recently, he has lost a lot of alcohol and meat.

After finally eating his fill, he was picking his teeth while saying: "Zhao'er, this pig slaughtering and dividing the meat, and you also made a lot of money selling Spring Festival couplets. Don't you have to respect your uncle?"

It became very quiet, and almost everyone was shocked by Xue Qingshan's shamelessness.

Father Xue's face sank immediately, and he reprimanded: "Eldest son, have you lost your head from eating too much meat? Just now, didn't Zhao’er give you wine and meat, and this still can't fill your mouth!"

"Father, how can this be the same? In previous years, our family never lacked meat. If they hadn't robbed me of my job this year, would it really be so difficult to eat some meat today? If she doesn’t make it up for me, who would make up for my loss?" Xue Qingshan had wanted to say this a long time ago, but for the sake of face he didn't say it. It was also recently that Widow Xue was pushing him for money so he said such a thing.

Widow Xue is like a succubus. Xue Qingshan used to dismiss her. He always felt that such a woman was dirty, but since that one time, he fell into the pit and couldn't get out.

The key point is that he is still a domineering man. The woman he has touched, he does not want to be touched by others. Widow Xue also listened to him and stopped dealing with other men. But Widow Xue has to live, so she asked for money. Where can the money come from? Xue Qingshan used to get money from the family, but after dividing the family, he felt tight in his wallet.

"You have become light-headed! You can still argue with a few children! Besides, Zhao'er also shared money with Juncai. Isn't it as good as your wine and meat?!" Old man Xue cursed, hating that iron had not become steel ¹. He felt that the eldest son was too shameful, but also that there are outsiders with the family who have seen such an embarrassing situation.

"Did you allocate money to Juncai?" Xue Qingshan always ran out recently, so he didn't know about this. His eyes flashed, and he smiled and said, "Father, why are you angry? I'm also joking with Zhao'er."

But no one wanted to laugh at this joke. There was no sound from the third and fourth families, and they acted like they hadn’t heard anything. Mao Badou and the others were outsiders and could only pretend they had not heard, but Xue Juncai lowered his head in embarrassment.

After eating pig-killing vegetables, everyone continued to write Spring Festival couplets.

Now they’ve finished going to all the nearby villages. Zhao’er’s plan is to go to three places in the next few days. The county, the town, and the towns of Anyang Township. This means working hard for another three days.

However, with the money in their pockets, no one found it tiring. Everyone methodically did the things at hand.

Xue Juncai went out to go to the bathroom, and as soon as he got out of the bathroom, he was blocked by Xue Qingshan.

"Give me the silver in your hand."

Xue Juncai pursed his lips: "I have no money."

Xue Qingshan looked impatient: "I asked your mother, she didn't ask for your money. You give the money to your father, and I will save it for your tuition next year."

"You have asked for money from your grandmother before, saying that it’s for my tuition next year. Dad, where on earth do you need so much money, can't you save it?"

"You still dare to care about your father’s business.. Give me the money."

"I have no money."

"Are you going to give it or not?"

"Father, tell me, is it because of Widow Xue?"

Xue Qingshan was shocked. He didn't expect his son to know about this. How did he know, how long has he known, did he tell Yang shi?

"What about Widow Xue or Widow Li? I'm too lazy to tell you. If you don't give it, then don't give it." After speaking, he hurried away.

Xue Juncai closed his eyes sadly, and it took a long time to cheer up and go back to write the Spring Festival couplets.

This time after all the Spring Festival couplets were sold, everyone had fifteen taels of silver.

Especially in the last two days, the town was going crazy. It wasn't until several stalls selling Spring Festival couplets popped up in the town that business slowly faded.

Seeing this, Zhao'er had cleared the inventory in her hands, and just closed business when she sold out, which was almost the same as she had previously expected. People are like this. Seeing others making money, they will inevitably follow the trend. Especially since as long as you can write, anyone can make Spring Couplets, so you will be robbed of business sooner or later.

Therefore, Zhaoer was not melancholy at all. She divided the money and sent them home.

On the twenty-ninth, Xue TingRang went to give Lin Miao a New Year gift. Once this was done, he was just waiting for the New Year celebration.

The dinner on New Year's Eve was eaten in the main room. After eating, they went back to their rooms to wait for the night. During this period, Xue TingRang and Zhao'er were very tired, and both fell asleep. They didn't know that it was another year until they heard the sound of firecrackers outside.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, it is customary to visit the elders of the same surname in the village, and visit the mother-in-law on the second day. Zhao shi's mother is still alive. Naturally, she and Father Xue will go to Zhao family's house, let alone the other two families. Only Zhaoer and Xue TingRang had nowhere to go, and they stayed at home.

The two of them slept for a long time, and it was very late when they got up.

They ate meals together, and after eating, they nested on the kang and read a book.

Today Xue's house is very quiet, unprecedentedly quiet. Although they are not used to it, it is a good time to read.

Xue TingRang read the book, so Zhaoer didn't bother him. She took a copy of "Mathematics" and looked at it. She is now literate, but she doesn't recognize too many words. There can be several words on a page that she doesn't know, and sometimes she doesn't understand the meaning. If it was before, she would have asked already, but when she saw Xue TingRang reading, she kept it in her mind for the time being and decided to ask later.

As she read, she slowly fell asleep, and she didn't know how long she slept. When she woke up, there was no one on the kang.

Seeing the book held next to her, Zhao'er thought that he must have gone to the latrine. She yawned and took the book over.

TingRang’s books, Zhaoer could never understand, and she didn't think she could understand it this time, but whoever thought this book was different from the little man's books she had read before.

In the past, it's all about this and that--

She turned it over and looked at the book cover, which read "University".

But when she held it in her hand, she always felt that something was wrong, and turned it over again, only to find that the book had two layers of cover. The outer layer is a serious dark blue background with "University" written on it, and the book cover inside is much more fancy. It shows two people hugging each other. Because the paper is of poor quality and the printing is not clear, Zhao'er didn't understand the image. Three characters "Jin X Mei" ²were written on it.

Heh, the little man actually read miscellaneous books! And he still covered a serious book cover on the miscellaneous book.

Although Zhao'er doesn't know what the book "Golden x Plum" is about, it is definitely not a good book if it has to be covered up.

Looking at the page that happened to be the one Xue TingRang turn to, Zhaoer worked hard to identify--

The man was struck on the head by a cross-stick, and stood on his feet. Just when he was about to explode from anger, he turned back to see who it was, but didn't expect to see a beautiful and enchanting woman. The eyebrows bent like crescent moons, the fragrant cherry mouth, the nose straight and long, the cheeks are thick and red, the face is delicate and white, the body is slightly curved like flowers, the hands of jade are slender. The soft and white belly, narrow and pointed feet, plump breasts, white legs, and there was even...

Bah, what are these things!

Xue TingRang never came back, so Zhao'er kept reading and saw that the man named Ximenqing had bought the Wang Po to help him have an affair with the married woman Pan Jinlian.

Then saw that Wang Po said: "Officials, listen to me: The phrase ‘affair’ is the most difficult to comprehend. Why is it 'affiar'? For example, nowadays, it's just a common synonym for to cheat. But there are five things that attract women to men. First, have an appearance as beautiful as Pan An’s; second, have strong sexual ability like a donkey; third, be very wealthy like the tycoon Deng Tong of the Han Dynasty; fourth, take care of women carefully, be considerate to them, and patient; fifth, have leisure time. Five of them together make up the meaning of the phrase 'Pan Lv Deng Xiao Xian' ³. When all conditions are met, this matter will be obtained.

...

Zhao'er read this, blushing. At this moment, she heard movement by the door, and she immediately threw the book away and said with a pretentious expression: "What kind of idle book do you read?!"

1. it is a common chinese idiom meaning to feel resentful towards somebody for failing to meet expectations ↑
2. real title is 金x梅 ↑
3. 潘驴邓小闲: this is such an interesting phrase ↑

These last two chapters were a bit dry, but what's coming up should be more interesting, especially next chapter where we get to see Xue TingRang and Zhaoer's interactions regarding to book.