Chapter 41: Rendering Lard

Xiaoguo urged Zhuang Zhuang to bring the donkey to graze on the side. She then harnessed all her strength to cut the trees. As it was her first time felling trees, it took her a lot of effort since she still wasn’t familiar with the process. Having tried a few more times, Xiaoguo eventually got the hang of it and it became much easier. After a while, she had managed to chop enough of the trees. Worried that there may not be enough wood, Xiaoguo cut down a dozen more branches to keep as spare. She then tied up all the wood with a rope and called Zhuang Zhuang to bring the donkey over. With all the bundles loaded onto the donkey cart, they headed for home.

Xiaoguo thought about building the fence this afternoon. She wouldn’t have time tomorrow. She still had to prepare the ingredients for the potato starch noodles.

Xiaoguo drove the cart home and quickly unloaded everything. Using a shovel, she dug out a trench starting from one corner of the wall, creating a slight arch as she went along. She stopped digging when she reached the latrine. The trench was quite deep. Zhuang Zhuang was following closely behind Xiaoguo and sticking tree branches into the trench. After Xiaoguo was done digging, she began to fill the soil back into the ground. WIth Zhuang Zhuang’s help, the work was quickly done.

The tree branches were just long enough to reach Xiaoguo’s thighs. She could cross over the branches easily. Zhuang Zhuang had to stand on tiptoes to look over the fence. With the fence at this height, the chickens and ducks wouldn’t be able to get out. Zhuang Zhuang placed one basket into a corner, and laid some hay at the bottom. With that, the nest for laying eggs was completed. There was ample space inside—the ducks and chickens could all lay eggs at the same time. Even if the ducks and chickens came in all together at night, there would be enough space for them to sleep.

Zhuang Zhuang took out a spare, large basin and used it as their water basin. Xiaoguo threw a pile of fresh grass into the enclosure and moved the chickens and ducks individually into their new home.

Next, Xiaoguo got ready to make lard. It was about time for dinner.

Xiaoguo quickly cut the lard into smaller pieces. She filled a large pot with water and blanched the lard after the water began to boil. Then, she refilled the pot with fresh water and put in the lard that was blanched earlier. The pot was put on high heat. When the water had completely evaporated, the lard would turn into oil. At this moment, Xiaoguo threw in a few star anise and salt to add some fragrance. She removed a few pieces of wood and let the mixture simmer over a small flame.<

Zhuang Zhuang did not leave the kitchen when he smelled the fragrance. He would ask his mother what this was, how to eat it, and how to start a fire for her.

Xiaoguo knew that he wanted to eat it. She told him that it would take a while more and got him to play outside while waiting. Once she saw that Zhuang Zhuang was busy feeding the cows, Xiaoguo turned around and transmigrated through the ring. She took out a pork trotter from the fridge so that she could make a pork trotter stew. This pork trotter was big enough to feed two people. In a while, she would stir-fry a plate of vegetables in lard to go with steam rice.

After deciding on the dishes for dinner, Xiaoguo began to remove the pig’s hair. She used a flame and burnt off the hair on the pig’s trotters. She then rinsed them and chopped them into smaller pieces before placing them in a claypot. Water and other condiments were added and everything was put over a small flame to cook. When the lard had been completely rendered, Xiaoguo scooped everything out and poured the oil into a ceramic jar. The jar was then set aside and left to cool. She added some salt so that the oil would last longer. She scooped out some cracklings and summoned Zhuang Zhuang to come and eat.

As soon as he heard Xiaoguo’s voice, Zhuang Zhuang threw down the grass in his hands and ran into the kitchen. He had wanted to come in for a long time. The smell was too fragrant. Xiaoguo took out an empty bowl and filled it with the fried lard. She then went to her room to get two taels of silver before heading out to Mrs. Yang’s house. It was dark when she came out and no one would see her. She went to the door and knocked. After a while, the door opened.

“Come in quickly.”

When Mrs. Yang saw that it was Xiaoguo, she quickly invited her in. Xiaoguo pushed her aside and said, “Zhuang Zhuang is still waiting at home. I’m here to bring you some cracklings.”

After hearing that, Mrs. Yang saw what was in Xiaoguo’s hand. “Oh my, I was still wondering why there was such a fragrant smell.”

Xiaoguo laughed. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Hurry up and bring this in.”

With that, Xiaoguo handed her the bowl and turned to leave. Speaking of which, Mrs. Yang had used this bowl when she brought them food the last time. It was a good opportunity to return it.

Mrs. Yang called out to Xiaoguo, but she did not turn back and ran back home in a flash.

Mrs. Yang had no choice but to carry the bowl back into the house. As soon as she entered the house, she saw a glint from the bowl of cracklings. By the light of the fire, she could see that it was a silver coin. Mrs. Yang was shocked. “This, this… ” She couldn’t see it when she was outside. She saw the money clearly only when she entered the house. Mrs. Yang sighed, “This girl… shouldn’t she keep this for herself?”

Hearing the sound, Grandma Yang came out of the back room. She was curious about what the matter was. “Daughter-in-law, what’s wrong?”

Mrs. Yang explained the situation to her. Grandma Yang was touched and said, “This child is so considerate. We are so grateful for this.”

“That’s right.” Mrs. Yang and her mother-in-law were full of praise for Xiaoguo. Over at Xiaoguo’s house, when she got home, the rice was almost cooked. All she had to do was to stir-fry the vegetables. She scooped a small amount of lard into the pot. Once the oil was heated up, she began to cook the vegetables. When the greens began to soften, she added the cracklings and a pinch of salt. It was now time for dinner.