Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

The pig was slaughtered, and the meat was cut. Zhou Yuren carried a large piece of neck meat into the house.

This piece of meat, well, theoretically speaking, is the worst.

However, it actually tastes the best.

As for why, Zhao Da'e doesn't know either.

"Blood neck" refers to stabbing a pig to bleed it and then taking a piece of meat from it.

Some say that the meat from the neck has an earthy, gamey taste, which makes it especially delicious. Zhao Da'e doesn't know what "earthy" means; perhaps it's just a descriptive term used by country folk.

Anyway, that piece of meat has more fat than lean meat, but the skin is very thin, so it will cook much faster when stewed.

Zhou Chunwen had already cooked the pig's blood in the pot. Then she chopped it into small pieces, kept some for herself, and put the rest in the pot.

Cheng Jinxi had also finished chopping the sauerkraut.

In those days in the countryside, vegetables were scarce, so every household pickled cabbage. Therefore, there was plenty of pickled cabbage, and Cheng Jinxi chopped four or five heads of it.

I washed it several times with water to get rid of the unpleasant smell of the sauerkraut.

Then put it in the pot.

Afterwards, Cheng Jinxi chopped the pork that Zhou Yuren had brought over a few times and threw it directly into the pot.

"Oh dear... Auntie, please cut it properly, don't just throw it in big chunks to cook. How are we supposed to eat that?" Zhao Da'e said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "Slicing it is better."

"Are you going to eat?"

"eat."

Cheng Jinxi nodded, then cut some more pieces: "Those pieces are for your older cousin. He likes to eat meat in big chunks."

Zhao Da'e's cousin, Zhou Tianfu, does like to eat large chunks of meat. Sometimes when Zhao Da'e catches them eating, he sees a huge piece of pork, mostly fat, and he just eats it anyway.

They ate with their mouths dripping with oil.

Zhao Da'e is no good. Let alone eating it, just looking at that big piece of fatty meat makes him feel nauseous.

Cheng Jinxi took some more glass noodles, added a few pieces of scallion, and threw in a few slices of ginger. That was her seasoning. Finally, she poured in a little soy sauce.

In rural areas, especially in northern China, this large-pot stew uses very few seasonings. The stated reason is to preserve the original flavor of the ingredients, but in reality, there aren't any sold...

In the south, pig slaughtering might focus more on ingredients like chili peppers, but in this era, northern dishes do not include chili peppers.

Especially in Northeast China, the cuisine generally emphasizes salt and meat, making it a salty food.

Put the lid on the big pot and start simmering it over high heat.

Zhou Chunwen added firewood with a crackling sound, while Zhao Da'e casually tossed in small wooden sticks. He called it "working too..."

The pigs outside were almost cleaned up, and the meat had been divided. Zhou Yuren and Zhou Tianfu carried half a pig, placed it in a plastic sheet, and then put it in a vat.

This one is for Zhao Da'e.

The other portion only had about 20-30 jin left; most of it had already been sold and was kept in a separate pile. There were also two pig trotters.

Zhao Da'e said, "Uncle, you can have that hoof. I don't eat food without meat."

"Keep it," Zhou Yuren said. "Those trotters are delicious to gnaw on."

"No, I'm losing teeth right now, I can't eat that."

After Zhao Da'e said that, Zhou Yuren stopped talking and put all four pig trotters into his own portion.

Cheng Jinxi complained from the side, "All you do is eat all day..."

Zhou Yuren looked embarrassed: "This wasn't something the goose said it would give me."

"You'll take it if I give it to you?" Cheng Jinxi questioned.

Zhao Da'e quickly said, "Alright, alright, I already said I gave it to you. Auntie, please stop now."

Zhao Da'e actually quite likes to gnaw on pig's trotters, but seeing that Zhou Yuren was under a lot of financial pressure this year, she gave them to him instead.

After all, Zhou Tianfu is getting married next year, and he'll need to spend money everywhere.

How much money can a rural family have?

For ordinary people, getting married and having children has always been difficult, from ancient times to the present. Even in this day and age, there's the bride price, and you have to visit the father-in-law during holidays, which also costs money.

Moreover, another person means another mouth to feed. In this era, families were generally large, food was scarce, productivity was low, crop yields were low, there weren't many factories, and few people could find work in the cities. Therefore, rural incomes were extremely limited.

Money is hard to earn, so the only way is to save it and spend less.

Many people in later generations, influenced by toxic motivational rhetoric, constantly proclaim that money isn't saved, it's earned. How can you become wealthy by saving money? You must earn money.

That's just talking without understanding the situation.

Where can I make money?

If a pie falls from the sky, will you be the first one to get hit? And if it does, will you die...?

Therefore, it was only right for Zhou Yuren to save money in advance.

Furthermore, parents usually work harder to accumulate more wealth for their children. Even if they have to eat less or go hungry themselves, they don't want their children to suffer.

Most parents are like this, and Zhou Yuren was no exception. Although he had a bad temper, he was particularly good to his children.

Zhao Da'e stayed at her aunt's house for a long time, and Zhou Yuren never showed any disgust or dislike; he was always smiling. Even though Zhao Da'e sometimes felt that she was eating and drinking for free, which was not good and added a lot of burden to her aunt, Zhou Yuren never said a word against it.

According to Zhou Yuren's thinking, how much can a child eat?

This becomes apparent when compared to the Zhao family.

The Zhao family is truly mean to the extreme.

Zhao Da'e gets angry whenever he thinks about the Zhao family. Because they're afraid of having an extra person to feed, Wang Guixiang and Zhao Tingxu are thinking of giving their sister away.

No wonder they both met tragic ends later on.

Deserve it.

After Zhao Da'e said that, Cheng Jinxi stopped grumbling.

After a while, Zhou Chunwen asked Cheng Jinxi, "Mom, shall we make some other dishes?"

Cheng Jinxi looked at it and said, "Cut up that dried tofu. There are still some almonds left, soak them, and bring the drunken dates. That'll make four dishes."

"Where's the wine?" Zhou Chunwen asked cautiously.

"Go get some strong liquor. Drink them all to death..."

"Okay!" Zhou Chunwen happily prepared to go out.

Zhao Da'e followed her out, saying, "Big sister, I'm going too."

So the two sisters went to get some wine.

In Jurenzhangzi Village, there are people who brew alcohol, which is made from pure grains. The first batch is called "Yiguotou" (一锅). The second batch, after filtration, is called "Erguotou" (二锅头).

The first batch of food is usually called "shao daozi".

That liquor tastes almost like drinking pure alcohol. The highest is around 77 or 78 proof, and the average is around 72 proof.

Putting everything else aside, just this alcohol content alone, drinking it feels like being on fire.

It can make a person's esophagus feel like they've swallowed a knife, hence the name "burning knife".

Zhou Chunwen, who made the wine, knew him; he was known in the wine world as Master Kong the Second. Zhou Chunwen had long forgotten his original name, only remembering that Old Kong loved to drink, and he drank most of the wine he brewed himself. After drinking, Old Kong's face would turn extremely red, like a red-faced Guan Yu, hence the name Master Kong the Second.

When they arrived at Master Kong's place, Zhou Chunwen said he wanted to get ten catties of strong liquor.

Master Kong laughed heartily: "What's up, Chunwen? Have some relatives come to visit?"

"We don't have any relatives. It's just that Da'e wanted to slaughter a pig to help my third aunt get some nourishment. The pig was slaughtered at my house, and afterwards we'll treat everyone to lunch."

Zhou Chunwen naturally wouldn't mention that his family also slaughters pigs, otherwise he would feel embarrassed if no one from the village invited him.

So they kept it a secret and claimed that it was Zhao Da'e who killed him.

Master Kong poured him some wine, then smiled but didn't say a word.

After paying for the wine, Zhao Da'e asked with some curiosity, "Why don't you sell this homemade wine?"

Grandpa Kong was taken aback: "We don't have that much grain. My family only harvests a little over three thousand catties of sorghum a year. That's enough to make a little over one thousand catties of liquor. Besides, I'm getting old and don't want to make too much. Going out to sell liquor is too hard. There are places to buy and sell, but no one buys. So I just drink it myself."

"You're certainly living life to the fullest," Zhao Da'e chuckled. "By the way, Master Kong, do you have a secret recipe?"

Master Kong shook his head: "No. This stuff is simple, anyone can do it. But every family's brewing tastes different, it all depends on how they make the yeast. It's hard to say. Yeast is easy to make, it just depends on the timing. Half a month is enough. Some people are too hasty and make it in a few days, but it doesn't taste right. Mine has been aged for almost half a year, so it tastes good."

Zhao Da'e nodded in agreement, and then went back with Zhou Chunwen.

Zhao Da'e didn't actually want to brew wine, but he wanted to inquire about it more; he might need it in the future.

Zhao Da'e always felt that you can't put all your eggs in one basket. You need to develop a secondary industry, or what you might call a side business.

Selling water can be profitable now, but it doesn't require much technical skill. It relies entirely on service, and if it doesn't work out in the future, it'll be too late to come up with a new idea.

However, Zhao Da'e is a rather cautious person; he usually thinks things through first and then acts on them later. At least he wants the opportunity to be more ripe.

When I got back to my aunt's house, it was already full of people.

The room was filled with people smoking, and the smell of those old-fashioned pipes almost made Zhao Da'e cry.

"My god, these people, really."

Zhou Chunwen pouted: "Look at your older cousin, he's not learning good things either, he's starting to smoke. Let me tell you, Da'e, when you find a husband in the future, you can't marry someone who smokes."

Zhao Da'e's lips twitched: "Big sister, this question is a bit too early. I haven't even started school yet..."

"Ah...right. You have to go to school, but if you're too stupid halfway through your studies and fail to get into junior high, you'll have to get married."

Zhao Da'e was too lazy to pay attention to Zhou Chunwen: This is too heartbreaking... What if I could get into junior high school?!

After a while, a table was set up, and everyone sat around it to eat.

There's a particularly bad custom in this rural area: women generally don't sit at the table.

Even in later generations, eating in the countryside is still the same.

Customs are one aspect, and another is that men generally drink alcohol, and once they start, it never ends.

They often play drinking games, and after drinking, they still want to play dominoes.

Zhao Da'e was very annoyed.

But she's still a child, so if she doesn't want to participate, then so be it.

Zhao Da'e squatted on a small stool, watching the pot.

Cheng Jinxi sighed, filled a large basin with meat and pig's blood, then took it to the west room and called Zhao Da'e and Cheng Jinxiang over for dinner.

Cheng Jinxiang was a little embarrassed: "Big sister, I'd better eat later."

"Mom, you eat. They don't have time to finish. We'll talk after you finish eating."

So the group set up a small kang table in the west room, and Cheng Jinxiang, Zhao Da'e, the Zhou Chunwen sisters, and Cheng Jinxi ate together.

The rice was millet porridge, and the dish was sauerkraut stewed with pork.

Zhao Da'e picked up a piece of pork and put it in his mouth: It's delicious.

Even though it has a little bit of fat, it tastes really good.

In Northeast China, perhaps the most joyful thing is eating "pig-killing feast".

Otherwise, in this icy and snowy world, it would be hard to find anything happier than this.

Cheng Jinxi also served food to Cheng Jinxiang, who was holding Zhao Xiaojuan, who was half asleep. Cheng Jinxiang ate a few pieces of meat by herself.

Cheng Jinxi picked up a large piece of fatty meat and handed it to Cheng Jinxiang: "Eat some fatty meat. Fatty meat is nutritious."

Putting everything else aside, this era was actually marked by scarcity of resources. There was no milk or milk powder; the only source of nutrition was probably pork.

In the past, people often said that drinking chicken soup was very nutritious.

Actually, it was forced upon them.

For impoverished families, having even one chicken to eat is a great blessing.

If you have ginseng and deer antler, and plenty of meat and fish, you probably don't need chicken soup.

Zhao Da'e ate very quickly, finishing one bowl after another.

"If you give me two ounces of this, I'll feel much better."

Cheng Jinxiang scolded, "Zhao Da'e, don't be so unserious."

Cheng Jinxi stopped her, saying, "The child only said one thing, why are you interfering in everything?"

"No, big sister. How old is she? Does she want to drink?" Cheng Jinxiang glanced at Zhao Dage and then lowered her head to eat.

Zhao Da'e didn't care. He ran to the east room and found Zhao Tiegang: "Third Uncle, give me a bite."

Zhao Tiegang was enjoying his drink when he laughed loudly, "What's wrong? You want to drink too? This won't do, it's too strong, you can't handle it."

But Zhao Da'e wouldn't give up, and in the end, he heated up a pot of wine himself and took it to the west room.

Cheng Jinxiang was angry at first sight, but Cheng Jinxi pulled her hand, so Cheng Jinxiang didn't know what to say.

Zhao Da'e, holding a small wine cup, asked, "Big sister, would you like a wine cup?"

“No, I can’t drink it. You’re superfluous, Big Goose. You’ve never even drunk anything before. If you drink it, you’ll just collapse on the kang (heated brick bed), right?” Zhou Chunwen said with utter contempt.

Zhao Da'e poured himself a wine cup and took a sip.

It felt like the wine was burning hot coals, sizzling as it passed down my esophagus.

Zhao Da'e's eyes almost rolled back: Holy crap! That's intense!

Once it reached my stomach, it felt hot and warm.

It wasn't particularly delicious, nor was it something I liked. But Zhao Da'e still said, "It's good wine."

Then, imitating the tiger-slaying hero Wu Song, he said, "This wine is really powerful."

Cheng Jinxiang finally couldn't take it anymore: "Zhao Da'e, if you have the strength, I'll go outside to work."

"I dont go."

"Then go fight with your grandma."

"This works."

Zhao Da'e gave a sinister smile and actually went out.

Zhou Chunwen quickly chased after Zhao Dage and pulled him back: "Dage, you've had too much to drink. You've only had one cup of wine and you're already acting crazy. You should at least drink more."

Zhao Da'e: ...

Zhou Chunwen is right. But the drunken outburst...

Good idea.

Zhao Da'e is young. If he goes out and fights Wang Guixiang, as long as he doesn't curse, Wang Guixiang won't be able to do anything to Zhao Da'e.

Zhao Da'e was thinking about how to cause some trouble.

So he went back inside and drank the remaining half-cup of wine.