Chapter 1127

To be honest, Shi Suo's wife's cooking skills were really not great, only the old vinegar peanuts were okay; mainly because Wang An felt that no matter who made this dish, it tasted the same.

So, after tasting every dish, Wang An stretched his neck and shouted toward the outer room:

"Sister-in-law, what kind of pickles do you have? Give me some of your pickles, and then give me some raw vegetables with dipping sauce, whatever you have is fine, if not, just give me a bowl of sauce and two green onions."

In this season, the vegetable gardens in every household in the Northeast were empty, and it could be said there was nothing left, so starting from the first frost, the people of the Northeast entered the days of having no fresh vegetables.

Of course, it couldn't be said there were none at all, because every household's cellar had stored radishes and cabbage for the winter, and on the roof of the warehouse, there were green onions that had only white parts and no green leaves; these three things were the fresh vegetables.

After Wang An finished shouting, he heard Shi Suo's wife agree outside, but Shi Suo said helplessly:

"Brother, why eat pickles and dipping sauce? What's good about those things?"

Wang An shook his head and made an excuse:

"No, whenever I drink, I want to eat some pickles and dipping sauce, without these things, I feel drinking is boring."

Shi Suo stared at Wang An for a long time, then shook his head and stopped talking.

Soon, Shi Suo's wife brought two kinds of pickles for Wang An, a pickled eggplant and pickled cucumber; and don't say, although Shi Suo's wife's cooking was really not great, these pickles were pickled quite well.

Subsequently, Shi Suo's wife brought Wang An a basket of raw vegetables with dipping sauce and a bowl of soybean paste.

Wang An took the opportunity to say:

"Sister-in-law, don't be busy anymore, come up on the kang and eat."

Unfortunately, Shi Suo's wife said with a smile:

"I don't drink, I'll just eat a bite in the outer room, you eat, you eat, hehehe."

So, Wang An didn't persuade her much; mainly because in the local area, there was indeed such a custom, that when there were guests, women and children didn't sit at the table.

In fact, the root of this custom wasn't that women weren't valued, or that children were ignorant, but because food was too scarce, and it had to be saved for the guests first.

Because even the male host accompanying the guests at the table basically only tasted the dishes and didn't really use his chopsticks.

For the rest of the meal, Wang An basically just ate the peanuts, pickles, and raw vegetables with dipping sauce.

Shi Suo thought Wang An was too shy to eat meat, so he kept putting meat into Wang An's bowl, making Wang An feel very uncomfortable.

Mainly because the host putting food into the guest's bowl was a manifestation of the host being afraid of neglecting the guest and taking the guest seriously, but Wang An really had no interest in the meat Shi Suo's wife made.

So, Wang An said helplessly:

"Brother Shi, don't put meat in my bowl anymore, I've had too much meat these past two days, I just want something light."

"Had too much" is a local dialect, meaning eating too much of something, getting tired of it, and not wanting to eat it anymore.

As soon as Wang An finished speaking, Shi Suo was damn confused.

Mainly because in this era, for ordinary people, meat was a very luxurious item; not only was it rationed, but the price wasn't something ordinary families could afford.

Normal families buying meat only wanted to buy fat, the fatter the better, and then render the meat into oil. When guests came to the house, just before the dish was served, they would use chopsticks to scoop a tiny bit and mix it into the dish.

That's right, putting oil in after the dish was cooked; this way of adding oil was also called "stepmother oil."

The reason for doing this was because if oil was added later, it wouldn't soak into the vegetables, making the whole dish look oily, which gave the guest a better visual effect, and it would taste a bit like lard.

Even then, that was only when guests came; if they were cooking for themselves, there wasn't even so-called "stepmother oil," just plain salted boiled vegetables.

To put it bluntly, it was just damn poverty.

Seeing Shi Suo recover, he said with disbelief:

"Had too much? Can one really get tired of meat?"

As he spoke, Shi Suo put a piece of meat into his mouth, smacked his lips, and said:

"This thing is so delicious, the more you eat, the better it tastes, how can one get tired of it?"

From this point, it could be seen that Shi Suo's family life was truly not great, not much different from rural families at this time.

Wang An laughed and said:

"I remember I told you, I raise a large group of dogs, and before winter, we go into the mountains to hunt. You know my marksmanship, do you think my family lacks meat? Hahahaha!"

Hearing that they didn't lack meat, Shi Suo immediately showed an envious expression and said with great interest:

"I know there are many wild animals in the mountains, but those wild animals are very cunning, and once you go into the mountains, you can't find their shadows. Hearing you say that, why do I feel like those wild animals have become your family's meat? Hahahaha... you aren't bragging, are you?"

Wang An said speechlessly:

"Damn, I see you don't know the trade. How about this, when I bump into a wild boar group, I'll get you two big wild boars to eat. Just like this every day, getting some meat to eat is easy as pie."

Shi Suo picked up the enamel mug, clinked it with Wang An, and said with longing:

"Brother, tell me, when you go into the mountains to hunt, how do you do it?"

Wang An said very casually:

"Hunting isn't difficult, but it's not simple either, there are quite a few tricks to it. Let's talk about hunting; hunting is what outsiders call it, we call it 'beating the perimeter,' and beating the perimeter is divided into big perimeter and small perimeter."

As he spoke, Wang An took two peanuts and threw them into his mouth, then chewed while saying:

"Things like setting traps, setting snares, setting cages, and using slingshots, that belongs to small perimeter. Like me, I do both small and big perimeter..."

Just like that, the two chatted while eating, and a bottle of Beidacang was finished unknowingly.

Wang An was immune to alcohol, so half a jin of white liquor didn't affect him at all, while Shi Suo, except for his face being a bit red, was also clear-headed and spoke clearly, looking like there was no problem at all. It had to be said, Shi Suo's drinking capacity was truly not bad.

Only, the various interesting stories about mountain life that Wang An told made Shi Suo excited and eager to try.

It had to be said, riding horses, carrying guns, and leading a pack of dogs through the mountains and forests was something that would make anyone yearn for it, wishing they could become one of them.

Only the dangers and hardships were automatically ignored by most people.

Just like that, although the food wasn't great, the drinking was quite good. When Wang An left, it was already past two in the afternoon.

When leaving, Wang An left Shi Suo a bag of rice and a bag of flour.

Mainly because when Wang An went out to pee during the meal, he actually saw Shi Suo's wife eating the remaining vegetable soup in the pot with a cornmeal bun, and of course, there were pickles on the stove.

He didn't know why, but this scene once again reminded Wang An of the time he was reborn, the longing eyes of his younger brother and sister for meat, and the scene of Wang Yi scraping the vegetable basin after he brought back the first wild boar.

It was clear that Shi Suo's wife had put all the dishes on the table to entertain Wang An, and she hadn't kept any for herself.

Thanks to "Book Friend" for the tip, thank you, thank you!

(End of chapter)