Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

After driving the oxcart back home and putting everything away, Liu and Xia Yu couldn't wait to soak the black beans. Since they weren't sure if they'd work, they decided to test it with two jin of beans first. As for Zhang Youtie, he took Changyun to the river to wash pig intestines. He didn't think much of it or try to hide it; he simply carried the intestines in a basin, their aroma wafting through the air, to the usual spot where villagers washed them. However, most people were taking a nap at this hour, and the riverbank was deserted. But they ran into Da Ya's great-grandmother—Old Lady Wang. The old lady, being elderly, needed less sleep and was strolling around the village after lunch to digest when she happened to encounter Zhang Youtie carrying pig intestines.

"Hey, Sanwazi, what are you carrying? I can smell the stench from far away."

"Grandma Wang, it's nothing, the kids were craving it, so I bought some pig intestines." Although Zhang Youtie was almost thirty years old, Grandma Wang had called him that since he was a child, so he didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

"Pig intestines? You can eat that stinky stuff? You child, if the child is craving meat, you can buy half a pound of it, but you can't eat that smelly stuff!" The old lady said, fanning her nose with her hand, muttering and shaking her head as she walked away.

Zhang Youtie thought to himself that it was because they didn't know how to cook it properly; if it were cooked well, it would be even more delicious than meat. However, he didn't explain. He led Changyun to the riverbank and found a flat spot to start cleaning the feces from their large intestine with the river water. He didn't ask Changyun for help, but only asked him how they had cleaned it last time. After his son explained it to him, he told Changyun to wait for him up there.

Following Chang Yun's instructions, Zhang Youtie first turned the large intestine inside out, rinsed away the pig manure, and then grabbed a handful of wood ash and rubbed it vigorously with his hands. He repeated this process, scrubbing and washing bit by bit, for almost half an hour before the large intestine was almost clean. Massaging his slightly aching lower back, Zhang Youtie couldn't help but sigh to himself, "It's delicious, but cleaning it is really troublesome."

After returning home, Xia Yu scrubbed the intestines several times with corn flour and salt until all the mucus was removed, making them look much brighter. Having plenty of time today, Xia Yu decided to braise the intestines, pig stomach, and the leftover intestines from last time, making a braised dish. Any leftovers could be stored in her space; she could eat them with a hot flatbread when she went out to sell watermelons in a couple of days—delicious! Just thinking about it made Xia Yu's mouth water.

Before Xia Yu could even finish cooking her large intestine, which was still soaking in water, Chun Yu arrived at their house. "Third Uncle, Third Aunt, my grandfather wants you to come back to the old house for dinner tonight!"

"Chunyu, is something wrong at the old house? Why are we being called back for dinner now?" Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi were both confused. Didn't they just have drinks with the old man last night? He even came this morning. Why are they being called back for dinner tonight?

When they asked, Chunyu seemed a little embarrassed and didn't know how to broach the subject.

"Chunyu, tell your third aunt what happened?" Liu asked her gently and patiently.

"Third Aunt, it's just that Old Lady Wang saw my grandfather and told him... told him..." Chunyu stammered, unable to continue. The people standing nearby watched with growing anxiety.

"Big sister, what did you say? Just say it. What's so hard to say?" Changyun was getting anxious because she had been stammering for so long without getting anything out of her.

"Grandma Wang said that after buying the cow, Uncle, your family didn't have any money left to eat meat, so when the children were craving it, they bought some smelly pig intestines to eat." Chunyu seemed to have gone all out and told her everything she had heard in one breath.

"My grandfather felt bad when he heard what she said, so he asked my brother to buy two catties of meat, saying that we would be having meat dumplings at the old house tonight. My grandmother also said that you should go over early, so that my third aunt and Xiaxia could help make them." Now that the hardest thing to say has been said, the rest is easy to say.

After hearing Chunyu's words, Zhang Youtie and Changyun both remembered running into Old Lady Wang when they went to wash pig intestines at noon. They didn't expect that she actually thought that Xia Yu's family had spent all their money on buying an oxcart and could only buy pig intestines if they wanted to eat meat. She even went to tell Grandpa Zhang about this.

"Okay, Chunyu, your third aunt and I understand. We'll go help out at the party," Zhang Youtie said to his niece.

"Okay, Uncle and Aunt, I'll head back now."

After saying that, Chunyu didn't linger and turned back.

After she left, Zhang Youtie told her about meeting Old Lady Wang at noon. He thought that the old house had misunderstood. Although the old man knew that they had watermelons, he also knew that the watermelons were still in the backyard and had not been sold. He really thought that they were out of money, so he thought the old house would pay for everyone to have a better meal.

"Her mother, what do you suggest we do?"

“If Mom and Dad call us home for dinner, we should go. It’s their way of showing love and care for us younger generations. Just accept it. How can we not be filial to our parents when we have money in our hands?” Liu Shi didn’t know what Zhang Youtie was struggling with.

"Yes, I know, honey, you're right."

Hearing him call her "wife" again, Liu knew that this man was up to his old tricks again. She glanced at him sideways and went to the kitchen to talk to her son and daughter.

At that moment, Changyun was in the kitchen explaining to Xia Yu where the misunderstanding came from when Liu Shi came in.

"mother……"

"Mother..." The two children called out in unison. Liu gently patted their heads and looked at the pig intestines soaking in the basin, asking her daughter, "Xiaxia, your grandparents told us to go back to the old house to eat dumplings. Are you making these intestines again today?"

"Mom, I think we should still make it. I'm going to make braised pork offal so that my grandparents can have a taste."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. Can you and your brother make this at home? Mom is going to the old house to help make dumplings."

“Okay, no problem, Mom. My brother and I were just talking about this. You and Dad go first. My brother will help me start the fire at home. Once it’s ready, we’ll take it over to Grandpa and the others as a snack with their drinks.”

Upon hearing her daughter's reply, Madam Liu gave her son a few more instructions before heading to the old house with Zhang Youtie.

After his parents left, Xia Yu looked at the sky and decided it was time to start cooking. As before, he first put the pig intestines and pig stomach into a pot of cold water with scallions and ginger to blanch them, then took them out and set them aside.

Then she put water from the space well into a pot and had her brother boil it. While the water was boiling, she prepared a spice packet: Sichuan peppercorns, bay leaves, star anise, cinnamon, and dried chilies, all wrapped in a cloth. She also sliced ​​ginger and cut scallions. Once the water boiled, she put these ingredients, along with the blanched pig intestines and stomach, into the pot, added salt and soy sauce for color, and scooped a spoonful of sugar from the sugar jar. She left the pot uncovered and cooked it over high heat. After boiling for ten minutes, she covered the pot, reduced the flame in the stove, and continued cooking.

Changyun couldn't understand why his sister always liked to leave the lid off while cooking meat before covering it. Wasn't that a waste of firewood? Hearing her brother ask her this.

Xia Yu said, "I feel that meat has a bit of a fishy smell. I always feel that when cooking with the lid off, the fishy smell can escape with the steam."

"Hmm, it sounds like it makes a lot of sense to me." Changyun didn't understand, but what his sister said seemed to make some sense, and he learned something from it.