Transmigrated Little Farm Girl Bringing Great Fortune

Smoke rises from the chimneys.

The evening breeze smells sweet.

The aroma of meat wafted through the air.

A large pot was set up on the stove, bubbling and stewing bear meat.

My aunt went home after helping my mother prepare the bear meat.

Before leaving, her mother put a large piece of meat in her basket.

My aunt was so happy she couldn't stop smiling, and her crow's feet appeared from her laughter.

My aunt was probably around the same age as my mother, but she looked very old and worn.

My mother cut off a piece of bear meat, rubbed it with salt, put it in a jar, and hid the jar in the cellar.

Jiang Miaomiao was curious. Didn't her mother say there wasn't enough meat to eat? Why was there only one jar?

Then I saw her mother put the remaining meat into a basket in large chunks, put it on the carriage, and then cover it with a lot of leaves.

Jiang Miaomiao lay on her older brother's back, covering her little nose and burying her face in his shoulder.

Ugh! This black bear meat smells too strong.

It smells a bit pungent.

It's unclear whether this is related to the black bear's long-term carnivorous diet.

Hunting this creature is illegal in modern times; otherwise, you'll end up in jail.

In ancient times, it was a rare and precious item.

Bear bile, bear skin, bear paws...

Bear paws, in particular, are one of the eight delicacies passed down through the ages, and it's said they were even a tribute item.

Jiang Miaomiao figured that two bears and eight bear paws could fetch at least five or six hundred taels of silver.

I'm rich... I'm rich...

But what about bear paws?

Jiang Miaomiao rolled her little head around, looking around and searching every corner of the yard.

But there wasn't a trace of bear paws to be seen.

County Magistrate... Xu Heng...

Jiang Miaomiao felt that he must have taken it away.

Who else could it be but him?

I had mistakenly thought he was a good official.

The baby was filled with disappointment.

Her bear paws... Waaah...

Lu Qingyao packed the bear meat, bear bile, and bear skin, then plopped down on the carriage.

He instructed the two brothers, "Feng'er, Yan'er, take good care of your sister, take good care of the house, take good care of the stove..."

"Got it, mother."

After watching his mother walk away, Jiang Zifeng returned to the kitchen and added some firewood to the stove.

The meat broth in the pot was bubbling and churning.

After the first round of boiling and skimming off the foam, the aroma gradually began to emerge.

He stared intently at the meat in the large iron pot, his mouth drooling and about to overflow.

Jiang Miaomiao felt that the meat wasn't fully cooked yet; the aroma was mixed with a faint fishy smell.

The worst part is that, despite stewing such a fishy-smelling meat, the soup only contained a few slices of ginger and wild scallions.

One can't help but wonder, is this meat even edible?

In her previous life, she was a food blogger, so she had a very keen sense of smell.

They are especially sensitive to fishy smells.

Does this mean that people in ancient times did not add spices such as dried tangerine peel, Sichuan peppercorns, and cinnamon when stewing meat?

Thinking this way, Jiang Miaomiao felt that the meat didn't smell good at all.

Just then, I saw my older brother lean closer to the big iron pot and sniff it.

Jiang Miaomiao had a bad feeling.

Could it be that my older brother's nose is different from theirs, and he can't smell it?

The next moment, the eldest brother picked up his chopsticks, took the biggest and fattest piece of meat, and put it in his mouth.

Jiang Miaomiao watched him chew a few times with his cheeks puffed out.

Then, its chubby face scrunched up, and it stuck out its tongue, yelling.

"Pah! What does this meat taste like? It's so fishy and disgusting!!"

"It's disgusting!"

Jiang Miaomiao: "......"

This white, raw meat, and this aroma—how did it whet my brother's appetite?

Jiang Ziyan grinned sheepishly, "Big brother, is bear meat delicious?"

He had just finished feeding the sheep when he saw his older brother stealing food.

I wonder when he'll get rid of this gluttonous habit.

This time, I got slapped because I ate too much candied hawthorn, and I still haven't learned my lesson.

Jiang Zifeng rolled her eyes at him.

"It tastes awful! Why is it so fishy? It tastes completely different from the meat we grilled this morning. Is this even the same meat?"

Jiang Zifeng couldn't understand why there was such a big difference between roasted bear meat and stewed bear meat.

"Brother, why were you in such a hurry?"

"Didn't Mother say before she left that she went to town to buy spices? This bear meat needs to be stewed with more than a dozen spices to mask the fishy smell. Who told you to sneak a bite now?"

Seeing his hesitant expression, Jiang Ziyan almost laughed herself to death.

"You mustn't tell Mother!" Jiang Zifeng bit his lip, knowing his mother would laugh at him if she found out.

And it's brought up as a joke every year, so everyone knows about it.

But this stuff really doesn't taste good, I wonder if Mom will be able to sell it?

Lu Qingyao drove the carriage around a bit and arrived at the largest restaurant in Qingshi Town.

"Shopkeeper, do you want bear meat here?"

When Manager Qian of Yuelaixuan came out and looked at it, he peeled back the leaves covering the top and looked suspicious.

"This is black bear meat? Did you catch it?"

Lu Qingyao directly showed him the bear's head and skin, saying, "Never mind who caught it, this is bear meat."

Fortunately, Xu Heng did not take a liking to the bear skin.

Otherwise, with the bear dead and no one to corroborate the story, there would be no way to prove its identity.

Seeing this, Manager Qian opened the other baskets and a hint of joy appeared on his face.

Are you selling them all?

"Well, shopkeeper, name your price."

"Fifty taels of silver, bear skin and all. Do you want to sell?"

Manager Qian stroked his beard, looking confident. Despite the fact that Qing Shi Town was a poor and remote place, there were still some local gentry and wealthy people who liked to eat this stuff.

“Sell!” Lu Qingyao nodded without hesitation.

Since it's a freebie anyway, why not sell it? Fifty taels isn't a small amount.

It's worth as much as two warhorses at the border.

Although she didn't know whether she had sold it too expensively or too cheaply.

After selling the bear meat, she went to Baicaotang to sell bear bile, earning sixty taels of silver.

The total is one hundred and ten taels of silver.

Holding the silver, he still couldn't quite believe it; he had unexpectedly gained over a hundred taels for free.

I feel like Miaomiao is the family's lucky star; she can always turn danger into safety.

What happened that night is simply a mystery.

It's as unbelievable as a weasel bringing chickens to someone's home.

And the white wolf that the son mentioned, could it be related to the wolf cub in the house?

Although she never believed in supernatural phenomena, there are some things that one cannot help but believe.

With the silver in his pocket, he went to the distillery.[1]

"Shopkeeper, I'd like dried tangerine peel, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon, ginger slices..."

The distillery owner was overjoyed when he heard that she wanted to buy so many seasonings.

These days, apart from wealthy families, ordinary people don't have much money to buy these spices that are more expensive than meat.

They assumed she was there to buy things for some wealthy family.

I wanted to get closer to him.

After a few casual words, he asked, "Wife, are you buying all these spices to make a big stew?"

Lu Qingyao said calmly, "Yes, buy it and stew the bear."

The distillery owner's lips twitched. "My lady, you must be joking!"

With so many spices, how many bears would you have to stew?

They must be a big spender.

Note: [1] A "zaofang" was a workshop that supplied oil and brine to ordinary people in ancient times. It was equivalent to a general store or supermarket today.