Free Web NovelChapter 645: Delivering Meat
Xu Mumu was grateful to the old blind man. If it weren’t for him, her days after crossing over wouldn’t have been so good, and whatever she wanted to do, her family supported her.
When she returned home, Xu Mumu asked her mother about the old blind man.
"Mom, what’s the deal with that old blind man?" Xu Mumu asked curiously, peeling an apple in her hand.
It’s convenient to have fruit trees in Uncle’s place; you can eat whatever fruit you want.
"The old blind man, how come you suddenly thought of him?" Li Caixia took the apple from her daughter’s hand.
Xu Xue sat on the side and listened attentively. Truth be told, she was also extremely curious about this old blind man full of legendary tales.
"Just curious. Is his fortune-telling really that good?" Xu Mumu looked at Li Caixia with eyes sparkling.
"Definitely, I’ve heard that even leaders came to him for fortune-telling." Li Caixia slowly recounted the things she knew. She didn’t wander aimlessly around the village all these years; she knew quite a few secretive things.
"When the old blind man first came to the village, was he already blind?" Xu Mumu asked. After reading a bunch of ridiculous novels in the modern world, it was said that fortune-tellers had five losses and three deficiencies. Could his blindness be due to that?
"He really was blind when he came, but he had skills. He lived at an orphan’s home, had the orphan serve him, and he gave that person money every month, which was enough. That person was your Uncle Practical. When he first arrived, your Uncle Practical was just eight years old..."
Xu Mumu listened with great interest to the old blind man’s glorious tales. The old blind man not only did fortune-telling for leaders, but also for the families of several nearby brigades, predicting whether they’d have a son and how many sons they’d have with startling accuracy.
Xu Mumu thought it was simply miraculous—this old blind man was truly amazing.
She wondered how the old blind man predicted the connection between the original host and herself.
"Mom, when you went to the old blind man for fortune-telling, what did he say to you?" Xu Mumu asked her mother.
"He said so much, I didn’t understand a word, but I understood the last part—he said you were a lucky star and we should treat you well and listen to you in the future." Li Caixia said, headache evident at the thought of the incomprehensible things the old blind man said, nearly lulling her to sleep. But at least she heard her daughter was a lucky star, and the family was sure to prosper following her.
Xu Mumu twitched her mouth, looking at her mother’s expression; she just knew she was telling the truth. Perhaps the old blind man’s words were cryptic, and her mother, being a barely literate farmer, couldn’t make sense of it. She could already imagine the scene.
"By the way, that old blind man also gave me a peace charm, saying it would protect you as you grew up. I stored it in a cabinet at home over in the provincial city, along with things you used as a child and clothes you wore." Li Caixia said with a smile.
The old blind man said the peace charm could protect Xu Mumu until she was seven years old. After she turned seven, the charm was stored at the bottom of the cabinet, hidden away. If others discovered it, it would surely be taken for criticism again.
"I’ll take a look when I go back." Xu Mumu said curiously.
"No problem, you can wear it if you want, no issue. Things given by the old blind man are surely not simple." Li Caixia immediately said.
Xu Mumu gave a speechless glance at her mother, thinking to herself, enough, let’s not talk about this.
The courtyard was bustling with activity, busy with pig slaughtering. At home, Xu Xue and Jiang Yuxiu, both pregnant women, had gone to the side room as the smell here was not pleasant. Wild boars eat all sorts of things, so the smell in the courtyard was indeed quite unpleasant.
Xu Mumu wrinkled her nose as well; the smell was certainly unpleasant.
By this time, several kids playing outside had returned.
As soon as Doudou returned, he threw himself into his father’s embrace to hide: "Daddy, it stinks." The little guy frowned.
"Be good. Do you want to go out and play? I’ll take you outside." Yin Yang said gently, not wanting the little one to see the bloody scene in the courtyard.
"No, everyone outside says Mom killed a wild boar; I want to see it too." The little boy looked with big eyes at the wild boar being dissected, filled with curiosity.
"Is this the wild boar? It’s so ugly and big. How did Mom kill it?" The little boy was curious to no end, his curiosity making him forget the unpleasant smell in the courtyard.
"You, from Old Second’s and Old Third’s, take these innards to the river outside the village to wash; they stink too much." Madam Chen said disdainfully, seeing Fengfeng and the other kids pinching their noses with disgust, and immediately instructed.
"Got it, Mom." Qian Ying nodded, having seen her own son pinching his nose.
Once the pig innards were taken away, the smell at home gradually dispersed a bit, and Xu Mumu felt slightly more comfortable.
"Mumu, how would you like to eat? Want to stew some pig’s trotters? It’s still early, and if we stew them now, it’ll be tender by evening." Li Caixia pulled Xu Mumu over to look at the wild boar slaughtered. After removing the hair, there were several hundred pounds of meat left, enough to last for a long time.
The pig’s trotters were indeed large; with so many people, two would be enough.
"Sure, let’s directly stew them. I’ll light the fire." Xu Mumu nodded with a smile; she liked pig’s trotters very much, especially the tendons. Thinking of the delicious tendons, Xu Mumu swallowed.
In the courtyard, with Li Caixia’s words, Xu Hai swiftly cut down two pig hind legs with a knife, each carrying plenty of meat, ensuring everyone could eat their fill if stewed.
There’s so much meat left that everyone could eat heartily.
Pig ears, head, tail, and those, Xu Mumu suggested having them as braised dishes, along with the intestines, braising everything together later.
Li Caixia naturally highly agreed with her daughter’s suggestions; braised dishes were also tasty.
This free meat, even though wild boar meat wasn’t as tasty as domesticated pig meat, she didn’t mind at all. A few years back, they couldn’t even get enough to eat.
The two pigs were divided into various sizes of pieces.
Madam Chen and Old Xu called Xu Minghui and his brothers over and went out with a basket full of meat on their backs.
This meat was to be given to some close people in the village, the brigade leader, village cadres, and those of higher seniority.
When they returned, their baskets were filled with candy, vegetables, and chicken and duck eggs, packed full, ensuring fresh vegetables wouldn’t be an issue for a while.
When the brothers returned, their faces were nearly tired from smiling too much. The brothers were more promising now; when interacting with people in the village, they had praised them even more.
