Chapter 144

Although the county town was not small, it took Wang An less than ten minutes to reach the house.

The courtyard wall was very high, and the main gate was still tightly shut; anyone standing outside could not see what was happening inside the yard.

Wang An pushed the gate, but it wouldn't budge; it must have been bolted from the inside.

Wang An didn't pay it much mind; although the house was his, since he had lent it out, it belonged to others for the time being.

"Bang, bang, bang," Wang An knocked on the wooden door.

Soon, a shout came from inside: "Who is it? What do you want?" The assimilation power of the Northeast was truly strong; the tone was full of that thick, local accent, making one feel instantly intimate and knowing right away it was one of our own locals!

"It's me, Wang An," Wang An shouted from outside the door.

"Coming, coming," one could hear someone inside shout, though it was unclear if it was Fang Fang Xiue or Fang Fang Xiuying.

Immediately after, the "clatter" of the door bar hitting the ground was heard, and then the door was opened from the inside.

"Are you Fang Fang Xiue or Fang Fang Xiuying?" Wang An asked with some confusion. These sisters looked exactly the same, making them truly hard to distinguish; he had to ask before speaking.

"I am Fang Fang Xiuying," Fang Fang Xiuying replied.

"Oh, then go and call your sister out too, and move these things inside," Wang An ordered directly.

As Wang An spoke, he didn't drive the sled into the yard, but started hauling pig heads from outside into the yard. Before Fang Fang Xiuying could even go to call her sister, Fang Fang Xiue emerged from the house.

Seeing Wang An, Fang Fang Xiue was quite happy, but Wang An didn't look at her, instead continuing to order: "Hurry up, get moving, I'm busy." The blood sausage was waiting at home; he couldn't afford to be busy!

"Oh, I see." Actually, Fang Fang Xiue was still a bit dazed, just walking toward the outside of the yard in a fog.

When she reached the outside, seeing her younger sister also carrying a pig head, she picked up the last pig head.

As Wang An was picking pig trotters off the sled, he noticed Fang Fang Xiue wanted to enter the yard with only one pig head, so he called her back: "Hey, take more, why are you so lazy?"

As he spoke, Wang An stuffed the pig trotters he had just picked up into Fang Fang Xiue's left arm, until she couldn't hold any more, then said: "Alright, you can go in now."

Fang Fang Xiue was seen entering the yard, carrying a pig head in her right hand and a pile of pig trotters in her left, wobbling and stumbling!

Wang An didn't pay any more attention, because Fang Fang Xiuying came out again. Wang An didn't speak, just started piling pig trotters into Fang Fang Xiuying's arms.

Until all the pig trotters were in Fang Fang Xiuying's arms, Wang An placed a lump of frozen-hard pig offal on top of the pile, then waved his hand, signaling Fang Fang Xiuying to enter the yard.

Finally, Wang An took two pieces of normal wild boar meat and entered the yard.

He didn't go into the house, but after handing one piece of meat to each of the sisters, he said: "These things are all for you, you can clean them up and eat them yourselves."

After hearing what Wang An said, the sisters stood there, each holding a piece of meat weighing over five pounds, staring blankly at the five pig heads baring their teeth at the doorway, a huge pile of pig trotters and tails with long black hair, and five huge lumps of pig offal that looked like excrement!

However, the sisters weren't disgusted by these things, nor were they complaining that Wang An had brought so many "magical trinkets"! They were just shocked by the quantity of these items, hearing that they were gifts for them.

So at this moment, the sisters were still quite happy; regardless, even if these things were a bit troublesome to eat, they were all meat!

Besides, for two idle people, the least valuable thing was time! As long as they could get it into their mouths, they weren't afraid of trouble!

After speaking, Wang An didn't care about the sisters' reactions and turned to walk toward the outside of the yard.

On the road, Wang An sat on the sled, puffing on a cigarette, checking his watch from time to time, wishing he could grow wings and be a bird-man to fly straight home! His heart was set on the blood sausage! He hoped it wouldn't all be eaten!

The big stallion seemed to sense its master's mood, running fast without needing a whip.

Finally, after a swift journey, Wang An arrived home. He checked his watch—very good, very good! It wasn't even 12 o'clock yet!

In the yard, around the temporary stove, there was ice everywhere, and clumps of wild boar hair were frozen inside the ice. On the stove, the large iron pot had already been moved back into the house, and the wood fire had been extinguished.

These all indicated that the pig had been completely processed!

A large group of children were running around the yard, but Wang An ignored them. After tethering the big stallion, he dashed into the house in one stride.

In the Northeast, pig slaughtering is usually done by setting up a temporary stove in the yard, boiling water in the pot on this stove to remove the pig hair.

A door panel is placed on the stove, with the other end resting on a stool, then the pig is lifted onto the panel, with its rear facing the pot, the pig head sticking out, and a basin placed under the pig's neck to catch the blood.

Before catching the pig blood, salt and water must be put in the basin, and as the blood flows out, it must be constantly stirred with a long rolling pin or a spoon so that the pig blood won't coagulate.

Stuffing blood sausage is very simple; what must be added is chopped lard or intestinal fat. Of course, lard soaked in boiling water also works.

If conditions allow, add a few raw eggs, though it doesn't matter if you don't! Then, according to taste, add chopped green onions, chopped dried cilantro, prickly ash powder, etc., to the blood. Finally, add salt; the specific amount depends on your taste.

For pig blood sausage, you must use thin intestines; fat intestines won't work. The reason is simple: it's not the right taste!

After Wang An ran into the house, the cooked pig blood sausage was just sitting on top of the sauerkraut in the big iron pot. Wang An had been craving it for a long time; he pulled out a section, blew on it twice, and put it into his mouth!

After tearing off a piece with his teeth and chewing gently, the fragrance filled his mouth, making Wang An instantly lose his bearings! This authentic, fresh-out-of-the-pot blood sausage was truly fragrant! Especially delicious!

Soon, this section of blood sausage was eaten by Wang An. He looked at the people in the room and gave up the idea of eating another piece.

Actually, although blood sausage is delicious and very popular in the Northeast, not everyone likes to eat it; a considerable number of people don't like it at all!

To put it bluntly, this stuff is eating pig blood! And it's fresh red pig blood that trembles like bean curd!

At the dining table, everyone naturally praised and envied Wang An. Ever since Wang An started hunting in the mountains, the life of Wang An's family had undergone a earth-shaking change.

The relatives in the room had all eaten plenty of the various mountain game meat sent by Wang Wang Dazhu. Since they were relatives, they naturally didn't skimp on praise.

But as they talked, the second aunt, Yao Ping, who had drunk a little wine, took advantage of the tipsiness to say to Wang An: "Little An, the second aunt has something she wants to ask of you."

Wang An was startled, thinking to himself that it wasn't anything good! But he still smiled and said: "Second aunt, what are you saying? If you have something to say, just say it, no need for asking."

Only then did Yao Ping say with some embarrassment: "I was thinking of letting your younger brother Wang Li go hunting in the mountains with you, what do you think?"

As soon as Yao Ping finished speaking, Wang Li stopped picking up food and looked at his fourth brother, Wang An, a bit nervously.

The relatives in the room also stopped talking, wanting to hear what Wang An would say.

When Wang An heard this, he started to mutter in his heart. Wang Li was 16 this year, a bit too young, but in the countryside, it wasn't considered small anymore; some were already married at 16, and there were no shortage of those who were engaged!

Although the two were brothers and their relationship was quite good!

But for Wang Li to go hunting in the mountains with Wang An, for Wang An, it was basically useless, and could even be said to be a burden!

Follow-up depends on requests, tickets depend on rewards.

(End of chapter)