Chapter Fifty-Three: Tofu Replaces Bone

  Mr. Wang originally stretched out his hand to push it away, but after hearing Qiu Ye's last sentence, he changed his mind and decided to accept it instead. He thought to himself, "It's okay to take it, we haven't had tofu at home for a long time, I'll bring it back to improve my wife and kids' diet." However, he also didn't want to take advantage of the young boy's kindness, after all, nobody's things come from nowhere.

  "Ah, your aunt said just two days ago that she wanted to eat tofu, this is perfect, I don't even need to make a trip. Come, Uncle Wang will give you a cut of meat, take it back and have your parents stew the bean sprouts for you to eat, it's delicious." He was about to give Qiu Ye a catty of meat to bring back, which would be about the same price anyway.

  Qiu Ye saw that Wang Da Shu's intention was very firm, and he couldn't push it away, so he said: "Uncle Wang, I really don't want the meat. How about you give me that big bone instead? I love eating that."

  She mainly looked at Uncle Wang to see which piece of meat he would give her, the fattest one. She knew that when ordinary people buy meat, they like to choose the fatty ones, which are fragrant and can be used to make a sauce. But she didn't like to eat it, she liked to eat lean meat, or even five-layered pork belly was fine. If she had to choose, she would rather have some big bones, take them home and cook them in a pressure cooker, then there would be a fragrant bone soup to drink, which is good for beauty and nutrition.

  Wang Da Shu saw that Qiu Ye wasn't being polite, but really wanted the bones, so he broke both of them into pieces and wrapped them up for her.

  Qiu Ye saw her brother's furrowed brow when he heard she didn't want the meat, but instead wanted the bones, so she said: "Uncle Wang, sell me these two pig intestines and that lung and pork liver too, one yuan, I'll give it to you."

  Qiu Ye doesn't know if people nowadays like to eat pork offal or not. Judging from Uncle Wang's sales for the day, most people still come to buy fatty meat. Places with less meat and more bones, such as ribs and large bones, are basically unpopular. Today, there were two pieces of pork offal on the stall, and only one piece of pork waist and two pieces of pork heart were sold throughout the day. The rest were left over. Qiu Ye estimated that it's probably because people nowadays don't like these things much.

  This was just right for Qiu Ye, because she loved to eat. The pig offal was well-picked and very delicious. Just now when she bought tofu, she saw someone asking at Wang Da Shu's stall, two pig intestines and a pig lung, two pieces of pig liver were sold for one yuan, which was not as expensive as a catty of meat. However, after inquiring, the person ultimately did not buy it. Qiu Ye now took a liking to these things, she planned to show off her skills tonight and satisfy her stomach that had been neglected for over a month.

  "Come on, little girl, hurry up and take the money. Today's considered as Uncle Wang treating you, don't refuse." Just now, Big Uncle Wang felt that Qiu Ye getting only two big bones was too little, now adding this bit of pork intestines made it just right.

  Qiu Ye withdrew the hand that was handing over the money, smiled and said: "That's okay, this time I'll take advantage of Uncle Wang. Next time if I buy again, Uncle Wang, you can't do this, it should be how much money is how much money, or I'll feel embarrassed to buy again." Qiu Ye was planning to give more to his family in the future, so he would often buy meat at Uncle Wang's butcher stall.

  "Alright, alright, just this once, and from now on we'll be clear about who owes what." Wang Shu said with a smile.

  Qiu Ye happily put the pig into the three-wheeled cart and let his brother push it.

  On the way home, Qiu Feng got annoyed with himself. This sister is too stupid, she doesn't want meat but wants bones. She's not a little dog, what's the point of gnawing on bones? And she still wants to spend money buying those smelly intestines, he definitely won't eat that.

  Qiu Ye looked at her brother's pouting mouth and said with a smile: "Brother, don't be angry, I know you want to eat meat, but this is even better than meat, I guarantee it."

  Qiu Feng didn't believe it at all, did his sister think he was a child? He could also believe in such nonsense. That smelly gut and those few ounces of meat on his bones couldn't compare to fragrant meat. He snorted through his nose.

  Qiu Ye looked at her brother and said, "If you say it's not good to eat tonight, I'll buy a big piece of meat for you tomorrow and make braised pork in soy sauce. Isn't that okay?"

  "What you said, if I say it's not delicious, you'll have to buy meat tomorrow." Qiu Feng was delighted now, he had already made up his mind that no matter what he said today, as long as he didn't say it was delicious, he would get braised pork again tomorrow.

  He didn't think there was anything wrong with letting his sister buy him meat to eat, he knew she had a lot more money than him, although he didn't know exactly how much, but the money for him to have a few more meals of meat should still be available.

  Qiu Ye thought to himself, tonight he would show off his skills. Should the pork intestines be stir-fried or braised in soy sauce? Should the pork liver be served with garlic paste or stir-fried with scallions?

  When Zhao Shuyan returned home in the afternoon, she saw that Xiao Ye had bought back pig intestines and other things, her eyebrows furrowed, how could this thing be eaten, it was all a stinky smell, even after stir-frying, the smell still remained.

  Qiu Ye saw her godmother's expression and knew she wouldn't do it, so she had no choice but to roll up her sleeves and start cleaning the pig intestines and lungs herself.

  She had done such work in her previous life, at that time she escaped from her mother-in-law's claws after getting married, and there was not much money at home, so she often went to the market to buy some pig intestines and other things back to clean up herself. However, later on, everyone knew that these things were delicious, and the price of pig offal rose higher than pork.

  Qiu Ye first took out a pair of scissors and cut off the fatty meat on the outside of the pig's intestines. Then, she used chopsticks to turn the intestines over, added some flour and salt, and water to the bowl, and scrubbed the pig's large intestine vigorously.

  Zhao Shuyan saw Xiaoye, a small person, at the edge of the basin, rubbing hard with effort. Hurry up and let her take over, or do it herself.

  Qiu Ye looked at her godmother's artistic hands, washing the large intestine in a greasy and smelly basin. She felt a sense of guilt in her heart, oh dear, for her own gluttony, she had troubled her godmother so much. Tonight, she must let her godmother eat more.

  Then she instructed Zhao Shuyan, until a large amount of gel was produced in the basin. It wasn't over yet, Qiu Ye also instructed her godmother to wash the pig intestines with vinegar once more.

  The pig intestines were finally cleaned, but Zhao Shuyan was also tortured to death. This smell had suffocated her, and her stomach was churning. In her heart, she secretly sighed that she wouldn't be able to eat these things tonight no matter what.

  But she lost her words, that night under the guidance of her aunt, she stir-fried pig intestines with chili peppers, made a big pot of pork bone soup and pork liver, and stir-fried a large plate of pork lungs and celery. Unexpectedly, when cleaning up, such smelly things, but the taste turned out to be so tempting, at first she didn't dare to eat, being coaxed by Xiaoye to take a bite, afterwards she couldn't put it down.

  Qiu Feng didn't get to eat the braised pork he had been craving for on the second day, because the stir-fried pig intestines from the night before were just too delicious, with a great texture and spiciness. He was drinking water while eating the dish. He ate three bowls of plain white rice, and it's really hard to say anything bad about it.

  And after finishing that meal, my sister also said that as long as they continued to run their small business, they would be able to eat meat frequently in the future.

  Sister didn't lie, this summer vacation, he and his sister went to the market every day to sell vegetables and tofu. Then, his sister would use her own money to buy some delicious food from Uncle Wang next door every other day. It was either stir-fried pig intestines or braised pork belly, or five-layered red-braised meat, as well as bone soup and pig's trotter soup every day. As a result, he grew several centimeters taller in just over a month and gained some weight. His mom even said that if they continued eating like this, the two siblings would be plump enough to be slaughtered by the end of the year.

  This holiday experience made Qiu Feng firmly believe that from now on, he would follow his sister wherever she goes, as long as there's meat to eat.

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