Chapter 94: Marinating Meat

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Xiaoguo followed Zhuang Zhuang’s gaze. Indeed!

The two cows, who were originally thin and small, were now much sturdier and taller. They looked like they could carry the weight of the donkey beside them.

“We should be able to drink milk next year.”

After dinner that night, Xiaoguo helped Zhuang Zhuang with his studies. After learning a portion of the chapter, Xiaoguo tried testing him to see how much he had memorized.

Unexpectedly, Zhuang Zhuang could already memorize several paragraphs. Xiaoguo put down the Three Character Classics that she had bought previously. Zhuang Zhuang had already memorized the first few books that she bought, so Xiaoguo had gone to the bookstore to buy more books.

The new books were much more advanced than the previous introductory books. According to the shop assistant, the contents in these books were all taught in school.

From the looks of it, Zhuang Zhuang was going to finish all the books before he starts school.

“How is it, Mother? Is there anything wrong?”

After Zhuang Zhuang finished reciting the last part, he looked at Xiaoguo with sparkling eyes. He wanted to ask her if he had memorized everything correctly.

Xiaoguo gave Zhuang Zhuang a thumbs-up. Curious, Zhuang Zhuang followed Xiaoguo’s gesture and gave a thumbs-up. “What does this mean?”

Xiaoguo gave him a thumbs-up with both hands. “That’s a compliment. Two means you’re twice as good!”

Zhuang Zhuang followed suit. He raised both thumbs up and said to Xiaoguo, “Mother is also twice as awesome!”

Xiaoguo was instantly touched and rewarded him with a big kiss.

The next day, after Xiaoguo finished her lunch, she couldn’t fall asleep. Zhuang Zhuang, on the other hand, was sleeping soundly in his room. Children did sleep a lot. Didn’t the elderly say that children grow in their sleep?

When she came out from the room, Xiaoguo looked up at the sky. It was late August, so it wasn’t too hot. Looking at the climate in the village, she wondered if it was because of the abundance of trees. It wasn’t very hot even in the hottest months of June and July.

In any case, she couldn’t bear to sit around and do nothing. So she thought of making sausages. In this weather, the sausages wouldn’t go bad even if they were left outside.

Xiaoguo got to work immediately. She went into the space and took out half of the intestines from the fridge.

Xiaoguo was not going to cook everything. The remaining intestines could be grilled during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

At the same time, she brought out the pork she had bought.

As soon as she came out of the space, Xiaoguo was shocked to see Zhuang Zhuang leaving.

Xiaoguo quickly squatted down and secretly observed if Zhuang Zhuang had gone far. When she saw him return to the house, Xiaoguo quickly put down the meat and intestines and ran into the house.

When she stepped into the house, she bumped into Zhuang Zhuang.

“Mother? Where have you been?”

Zhuang Zhuang asked in between sobs. He had just woken up and called for his mother, but no one answered. He then came out to look for her, but when he reached the kitchen, he didn’t see her. That was when he got anxious.

Xiaoguo picked him up and patted him gently to comfort him. “Mother went to look for Mrs. Yang.”

Xiaoguo remained calm and told the lie. In fact, she wasn’t exactly very calm. After all, she was under immense pressure to lie to such an innocent and cute little boy!

Zhuang Zhuang lay on Xiaoguo’s shoulder, rubbing his eyes with his little hands. His little nose was sniffling—it sounded like he was whimpering after a bout of crying.

Xiaoguo’s heart ached for Zhuang Zhuang. How did he end up like this after a short nap?

“Zhuang Zhuang, what’s wrong?”

Zhuang Zhuang slowly raised his head, revealing his slightly red eyes. He looked at Xiaoguo pitifully.

“I’m fine. I slept too much…”

Xiaoguo only found out later why Zhuang Zhuang was acting so strangely.

It turned out that Zhuang Zhuang had a dream. When he woke up and didn’t see Xiaoguo, he thought that he had returned to that period of time when Xiaoguo had to forage for food. He got scared and started to cry.

Xiaoguo’s heart ached as she hugged Zhuang Zhuang. This child was really too insecure. It seemed like she had to spend more time by his side.

“It’s okay, Zhuang Zhuang. I won’t leave you. I’ll bring you wherever I go in the future, okay?”

Xiaoguo comforted Zhuang Zhuang gently. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Xiaoguo. “Zhuang Zhuang will follow you closely in the future. You can go anywhere you want.”

Zhuang Zhuang was afraid that Xiaoguo would find him too clingy and dislike him.

“Zhuang Zhuang, you’re my son. Of course I’ll bring you along at all times. I’ll bring you wherever I go…”

Xiaoguo suppressed the sadness in her heart and repeated over and over again how much Zhuang Zhuang meant to her!

Zhuang Zhuang slowly stopped feeling sad. Then, he began to feel a little embarrassed. He had previously said that he would be a man for his mother’s sake, but now, his mother had to carry him and he was even crying. It was too embarrassing.

Looking at Zhuang Zhuang’s red face, Xiaoguo knew that he was fine. She hugged him and teased him for a while. When he finally opened his mouth and laughed, she put him down and led him to the kitchen.

There was no time to make the sausages now. It was better to cut and marinate the meat first. The rest could wait until tomorrow.

Zhuang Zhuang knew that Xiaoguo was going to make sausages, and he knew that he had caused some delay. He hugged Xiaoguo’s leg and stood by the side obediently. Although he seemed to be in the way, Zhuang Zhuang agreed with his mother’s words. He was her baby. Even if he hung around her, she would not be angry.

Although he was thinking that, Zhuang Zhuang let go of Xiaoguo after a while. He decided to let his mother focus on cutting the meat. He was still a little sad, that’s why he wanted to hug his mother more. Now that everything was fine, he shouldn’t trouble his mother anymore.

As Xiaoguo cut the meat, she didn’t forget to talk to Zhuang Zhuang. During this time, she also made him help her out. She got him to get the spices so that he would stop thinking about his dreams and feel involved in the sausage making process.

Zhuang Zhuang had completely forgotten about his dream. He nodded happily and ran to get the spices for Xiaoguo.

Xiaoguo removed the fats from the piece of hind hock. This cut of pork was 30 percent fats and 70 percent lean meat. It was perfect for making sausages.

After removing the fatty portion, Xiaoguo cut the lean meat into thin slices. After all the lean meat was cut and placed in a basin, she began to chop the fats. She wanted to mince it up completely.

At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang came over with the spices. Xiaoguo took them and placed them on the table. She turned around and placed the minced meat into a basin.

Zhuang Zhuang carried the stool to the side of the table and stepped on it.

Due to the height of the table, Zhuang Zhuang could not see anything. Now that he was standing on the stool, he could see everything.

The spices that Xiaoguo had bought were in their raw form and not the powdered type. She had to grind them herself.

Xiaoguo did not use a millstone for these. She just used the garlic mortar for mincing garlic. She put all the spices into the mortar and pounded them. Although they were not grounded into fine bits, Xiaoguo felt that it was okay. THe coarse bits would add some texture to the marinated meat.

Zhuang Zhuang became a curious baby again. Everytime Xiaoguo added something, he would ask her something. “What was this?” and “What was that…?”

Xiaoguo answered him patiently. She knew that he was just curious. She even let him smell the individual spices. Zhuang Zhuang used his little nose to explore the scents.

When he smelled the chili, he sneezed several times. Xiaoguo quickly rinsed his nose with cold water and stopped sneezing.

“I know that. This is chili!”

Zhuang Zhuang leaned on the table, keeping a distance from the red chili.

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