Starting a new chapter in life

"How much can they sell with just these neighbors? It's not even enough for Jingyan to work hard for," Yuan Xiaoling muttered.

Aunt Yuan was quite confident: "These people are very picky eaters, but as long as the food is delicious, they can eat it every week or two, if not every day. Besides, we don't have much meat available right now. If the quantity is too large, we don't have a source of supply. Let's make a name for ourselves first, and we'll see what happens later."

Jingyan interrupted the mother and daughter's bickering with a smile: "Sister Yuan, Auntie is right. Actually, I didn't plan to do this at this time. After all, the situation is still unclear, and it's not good to rush things."

Everyone has given us a lot of help during this time. This gathering was originally just an excuse for me to treat everyone, but of course, I also really wanted to finalize the recipe.

I never expected my aunt to give me such a big surprise, and she even helped me find a hidden client. This is already much ahead of schedule. By the way, you might not know, but I'm pregnant. The original plan was to start after I weaned my child, but look, it's a year ahead of schedule, which is already great.

Yuan Xiaoling's eyes widened: "You're pregnant? How many months along are you? I didn't realize it. You haven't had a moment's rest lately. Can your body handle it?"

"It's only been a little over three months, and I haven't exhausted myself. I need to find something to do at home, otherwise what am I supposed to do, just sit around and get moldy? If the braised meat is really good, I plan to make some for a few months before production. Anyway, the amount of free meat that can be bought now isn't that much. Twenty pounds a day is about the limit, so it won't be too tiring." Jing Yan said calmly.

"Twenty catties a day? That's about right. Nobody eats meat every day anyway." Yuan Xiaoling nodded. "So, have you decided on the price?"

Jing Yan nodded: "The raw meat will lose 30% of its weight after cooking, which means that out of ten pounds of meat, only seven pounds can be sold for profit. I plan to sell the pork belly for four yuan per pound and the ribs for three yuan and fifty cents per pound. I don't know if this price is considered expensive."

My costs are high; I need a dozen or twenty kinds of spices, none of which are cheap, so I can't lower the price any further. Fortunately, if the braised noodles taste good, even at two cents a bowl, the profit can still be there.

Yuan Xiaoling thought for a moment: "Four yuan a pound of braised meat? I think it's not bad, Mom. You know the prices here better than we do."

Aunt Yuan nodded thoughtfully, "As long as it tastes good, four yuan a pound isn't cheap, but it's not expensive either. I think it's worth a try."

After discussing everything, He Zhijun came out and called everyone to eat. Each person received a large bowl of hand-pulled noodles with two stalks of greens and a little bit of broth. Then, at Jingyan's place, they added some braising sauce, mixed it all together, and took a big bite. Mmm, delicious!

"There's some braised meat on the table. Everyone can try it and see if there's anything that needs improvement in terms of taste," Jing Yan said, pointing to the mesh cover on the dining table in the living room.

Seeing that everyone was too shy to try it, Liu Qiang took off the mesh cover first. There were two plates on the table, one with sliced ​​pork belly and the other with pieces of ribs. Everyone looked at each other, and He Zhijun came out and said that everyone should try the taste. Only then did they begin to eat.

Sure enough, everyone has their own taste. Since it was free and made entirely of meat, everyone was very attentive. Some felt the saltiness was a bit bland. This dish was meant to be eaten with drinks or rice, so if it wasn't salty enough, it wouldn't serve its purpose. Therefore, they suggested making it saltier. Others felt the spices were too strong. However, no one complained about the sweetness. Jingyan thought that if they increased the salt ratio later, they should be able to determine the correct amount of sugar.

Jingyan had prepared a soy sauce and chili oil dipping sauce for herself, but some people dipped slices of meat in it and found that the flavor was enough. Several people thought the dipping sauce was good, which surprised Jingyan: "Didn't you say that people here can't eat spicy food? My dipping sauce is quite spicy."

Yuan Xiaoling shrugged: "You're from the North, yet you can eat just as much chili as people from Hunan."

And so the meal was finished. Each of the grown men had three large bowls of noodles, and they all thought the broth was flavorful enough. Everyone left feeling very satisfied, while Aunt Yuan and her daughter stayed behind to help clean up.

Seeing that there was still half a pot of meat and ribs left, Aunt Yuan took out a piece of pork belly and sliced ​​it into thin slices—literally thin slices. Jingyan was amazed by her knife skills. She prepared a small plate of the slices, poured on some braising sauce, grabbed a handful of toothpicks, and went out the door.

After watching her finish, Jingyan and Yuan Xiaoling started tidying up the house. There were still two kittens, and they didn't dare to feed them salty food. He Zhijun actually boiled eggs for them, fed the yolks to the kittens, and the egg whites went into Jingyan's mouth.

"We can't feed her egg yolks every day, can we?" Jing Yan was a little worried.

"Let's make soup with pork ribs tonight. We'll add salt at the end of the soup, and the ribs won't be too salty. We'll see if they can eat the meat on the ribs then." He Zhijun had never raised cats before, so he could only try feeding them.

“I still have some milk powder at home, why don’t you bring some over and see if the kitten will drink it?” Yuan Xiaoling joined in the fun.

But before everyone could even discuss it, the kittens, who had grown quite bolder, ran to the kitchen to steal some food. There were still some slices of pork belly left on the plate, and they stole two of them.

Fortunately, there weren't many left. Seeing that they were eating heartily, Jingyan simply gave them all the rest. As for whether they would get sick from eating them, she was glad that they could eat them at all, so why be picky?

A few people were playing with two kittens at home, while Aunt Yuan, who had gone out with a plate, returned happily after a long while. Several other aunties came with her. "Jingyan, these are all neighbors. They want to try our braised noodles. We don't have much meat left. How do you think we should sell it?"

The aunties each ordered a large bowl of braised noodles. They were reluctant to buy braised meat, but they were willing to spend money on a bowl of noodles with braised meat. Aunt Yuan told them that a bowl of noodles cost 50 cents and had a few slices of braised meat in it.

Jingyan and He Zhijun exchanged a glance. He went to the kitchen to cook noodles, while Jingyan went to cut the meat. There wasn't much braised pork belly left; after weighing it, a pound of meat would only yield about fifty or sixty slices.

The bowl of noodles cost three cents for the braised pork, which meant there were only four slices of meat in the bowl. When the bowl of noodles was served, Jingyan was a little uneasy. Everyone knew that meat was expensive, but when she actually ate it, she felt that there was not enough meat. But after calculating, she realized that there was really no way to add more.

A bowl of noodles was ready, and everyone gathered around to watch. The aunt who bought the noodles picked up a slice of braised meat with her chopsticks and said, "This slice of meat is quite thick. There are four slices of meat in this bowl of noodles, which is quite a good deal. There are also a lot of noodles. I just don't know how it tastes."

The other women urged, "Then you should try it."

The aunt smiled, ate a piece of meat, and nodded: "Not bad, the taste is quite unique." She then ate a bite of noodles, nodded, picked up the bowl and took a sip of soup. "The noodles are chewy, the soup is delicious, and it's slightly spicy but not overpowering. Even I, who can't handle spicy food very well, can eat it. You'll know once you try it. Anyway, I think it's good."

After the aunt's evaluation, the remaining people were even more eager to try it. When He Zhijun brought out the rest of the noodles, everyone ate them and thought they were quite good.

"Your method of making braised meat is probably not from our area; it's quite different from our usual taste. But the flavor is really good, girl. I don't think you need to change it anymore."

Everyone has their own preferred taste when it comes to food. As long as the flavor is acceptable to most people, that's fine. You can't expect everyone to like it; that would be too ambitious.

Aunt Yuan chatted with them for a while longer. One of the aunties smiled and said, "I heard that your braised pork is four yuan per jin and your braised pork ribs are three yuan and fifty cents per jin. That's not cheap. If I buy two jin of braised pork ribs, could you give me a bowl of this braising sauce for free? That way I can cook noodles at home."

Jing Yan smiled and nodded: "Of course, as long as everyone comes to buy meat, we'll give you a big bowl of this broth for free. The broth has a strong flavor, so you can use it as a topping when you get home, but you can't use it to make soup directly."

"Can we come pick it up tomorrow? What time would be suitable? Do I need to pay a deposit first?" The aunt really wanted to buy it.

"If you only need two pounds of pork ribs, can you come and pick them up tomorrow afternoon?" Jingyan told her.

After they finished eating the noodles, they said goodbye and left.

He Zhijun came out of the kitchen: "Jingyan, there isn't much meat and ribs left at home. If we braise them later, there probably won't be much left. At most, we can get five jin."

Jingyan looked at Aunt Yuan: "Auntie, can we still buy meat at the slaughterhouse?"

Aunt Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Jingyan, come on, I'll take you to find someone and see how much he can spare."

Jingyan glanced at He Zhijun, who quickly packed all the remaining ribs and braised meat from the kitchen into lunchboxes and took them out. The group locked the door and followed Aunt Yuan to find someone.

When they arrived at the slaughterhouse, they couldn't get in either, so they waited at the gate for the guard to help them find someone. After a while, a plump woman ran out from inside: "Aunt Qingcao, what brings you here to find me? Is something urgent?"

Aunt Yuan smiled and introduced them: "This is Jingyan, whom I told you before about wanting to buy meat. This is Zhang Xiaofen. Her father used to be a pig butcher. Later, when it was collectivized, he went to work at the slaughterhouse because of his skills. Now she works here on her own. If you want to buy meat in the future, just look for her. She's a junior manager now."

Zhang Xiaofen waved her hand: "What little leader? I'm just a team leader. Sister Jingyan, how much meat do you need every day? The discounts here are for internal employees. You saw the meat that Aunt Qingcao took from me before. It was all good meat, so the price won't be cheap, even if you have a large quantity."

Jingyan smiled at Xiaofen's worried expression, "Hello Xiaofen, my name is Zhang Jingyan. I won't try to lower the price of the meat. It's already not easy to get meat without ration coupons."

If it weren't for Aunt Yuan's connection, I probably wouldn't have found a way in. Right now, I'm just testing the waters, and the quantity isn't large yet. I just want to know the maximum amount you can give me each day. Of course, I might not actually get the maximum amount, I just want to have a general idea.

Zhang Xiaofen thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be a problem to eat about 30 kilograms a day, but can you come and get the meat every day?"

Seeing her skeptical look, He Zhijun opened the lunchbox and handed her a toothpick: "You can try it, my wife is planning to sell this."

Zhang Xiaofen glanced at He Zhijun, a hint of amazement flashing in her eyes: "You're really good-looking." She casually complimented him, then picked up a piece of braised meat and put it in her mouth. "Hmm, it tastes pretty good, but it's a little lacking in saltiness. It would taste even better if it were a bit saltier."

Jing Yan nodded: "I will increase the amount of salt later. I plan to make this at home and sell it, so I need a stable source of meat."

"Do you only want pork belly and ribs? Other parts won't do?" Zhang Xiaofen asked.

Jingyan thought for a moment: "I haven't tried other parts yet, what do you mean?"

“We have pig ears and trotters left over almost every day. We don’t cook them well at home. Except for the occasional new mother who needs to make lactation soup and buys a few trotters, most of the rest are thrown away. It would be best if you could also buy these two items.”

Zhang Xiaofen looks chubby and doesn't seem very shrewd, but she is actually quite clever. If she can turn the discarded items into money, she will be more valuable in the eyes of the slaughterhouse leaders. At the very least, it will be extra income.

Jingyan neither agreed nor refused: "I really don't know if I can do it. How about this, take two or three of each item back with me today, and I'll try braising them tomorrow. If they taste good, I'll come back for more. If they don't taste good, I can't ruin my own reputation, right?"

Zhang Xiaofen didn't plan to finalize the matter today. It was just a matter of a word, and saying more wouldn't cost much. "So you want meat today? But it's already late. We only have some unsold offal today. We slaughter pigs every day at dawn. Why don't you come and pick it up after six o'clock tomorrow morning, and I'll set aside the amount you need?"

"What do you have left? I'm thinking of making a pot of braised meat tonight. A neighbor ordered it from me for tomorrow afternoon. If I make it tomorrow, the meat won't be flavorful enough when they come to pick it up," Jingyan asked.

Zhang Xiaofen thought for a moment and said, "Then come in with me and take a look." As she spoke, she walked inside. When Jing Yan lifted her leg to follow, He Zhijun grabbed her and asked with some concern, "You're pregnant. The slaughterhouse smells so bloody. Can you handle it?"

Jingyan patted his hand: "It's okay. I haven't felt unwell lately. If I can't stand it, I'll come out quickly. Besides, you're here with me."

Everyone went inside together. Fortunately, they didn't need to go to the innermost slaughtering area. The remaining meat was stored in a building on the outer side, which was relatively clean and didn't smell too bloody. Looking at the meat in the basin, Jingyan sighed: "Even the tenderest lean meat like tenderloin is left over. Sure enough, we live in an era of oil shortage. This meat would be perfect for making sweet and sour pork."

Thinking of the crispy texture and sweet and sour taste of Guo Bao Rou (sweet and sour pork), she felt her mouth watering. Pointing to the pork tenderloin, she said to He Zhijun, "I want to take two of these to make Guo Bao Rou when I get back."