Chapter 801: Xiaoshu Roast Lamb

Xiaoshu, the fifth solar term of summer, marks the official beginning of summer.

During this season, the temperature rises significantly, and the hot weather makes people feel suffocated. At the same time, the rain gradually increases, and the humidity intensifies, bringing some inconvenience to people’s lives. However, this climate also provides unique conditions for the growth of various plants, making summer a harvest season.

During the Xiaoshu season, there are many interesting folk activities. The most common is eating Qiaoguo.

Qiaoguo is a small flour snack with various shapes, very exquisite. People carve some auspicious patterns and blessings on the Qiaoguo and give them as gifts to relatives and friends, implying summer blessings and longing. In addition, during the Xiaoshu solar term, people also drink realgar wine, eat dumplings, etc.

On this hot day, Cao Cao Weiguo and his wife Song Song Yulan, as well as his sister-in-law Song Cousin Yujuan, He He Yushui, and Yu Yu Haitang were busy in the courtyard.

Early in the morning, Cao Cao Weiguo prepared barbecue tools and ingredients, and went to the vegetable market to carefully select fat lamb and fresh vegetables.

As the sun gradually rose, the warm sunlight spilled into the small courtyard. Cao Ping'an held a windmill and ran around the courtyard excitedly. Song Song Yulan and Song Cousin Yujuan were carefully preparing various delicacies in the kitchen, Yu Yu Haitang helped set up the barbecue grill and tables and chairs, and He He Yushui was busy washing fruits and vegetables by the sink.

Soon, everything was ready. Cao Cao Weiguo transformed into a barbecue master. The fragrant lamb skewers made people’s mouths water, and after sprinkling cumin, they were even more fragrant and tempting.

Besides roast lamb skewers, Cao Cao Weiguo also roasted grass carp, sesame cakes, garlic, chives, and chili, paired with cold dishes prepared by Song Song Yulan and Song Cousin Yujuan, as well as fresh fruits. Everyone sat in the courtyard enjoying the food while also enjoying comfort and joy.

Xu Daomao and Cui Cui Dake, who were chatting in the alley, smelled the tempting aroma of roast lamb skewers, and saliva couldn't stop flowing in their mouths. The two looked at each other with a tacit understanding and decided to go to Cao Cao Weiguo’s house to sponge a meal.

They seemed to be led by the nose by the aroma, drooling as they arrived at Cao Cao Weiguo’s door.

"Brother Cao Weiguo!"

Thick-skinned, they stepped over the threshold. As soon as they entered, Xu Daomao and Cui Cui Dake saw Cao Cao Weiguo busy roasting lamb skewers. The lamb on the charcoal fire was roasted until it was fragrant and overflowing, the meat was tender and juicy, emitting an irresistible aroma, making them unable to help swallowing their saliva.

"Brother Daomao, Brother Cui Dake, you came just in time. Sit down and eat something, taste how the lamb skewers I roasted are."

Cao Cao Weiguo entertained them enthusiastically and handed them a handful of steaming lamb skewers.

"Fragrant! Delicious! Brother Cao Weiguo, your craftsmanship is simply superb!"

"Woo woo woo! This is the first time I've eaten such delicious lamb skewers since I grew up!"

Xu Daomao and Cui Cui Dake wolfed down the lamb skewers, almost biting off their tongues from how delicious they were.

After eating, Xu Daomao was full of emotion: "Brother Cao Weiguo, the lamb skewers you roasted are truly delicious. If you opened a shop, the business would definitely be booming."

Cui Cui Dake also echoed repeatedly: "Yes, yes, these lamb skewers are too delicious. I will never forget this taste in my life."

Xu Daomao and Cui Cui Dake left satisfied and returned to the Red Star Courtyard to brag, vividly saying that Cao Cao Weiguo was having a barbecue at home, roasting lamb skewers, roast fish, roast chicken wings... delicious enough to fill plate after plate.

In this era of material scarcity, just being full was already a problem for every household. As for roast lamb skewers, roast fish, roast chicken wings, those were things you wouldn't even dare to think about on weekdays.

Hearing the bragging of Xu Daomao and Cui Cui Dake, Yan Yan Fugui, Liu Haizhong, Yi Yi Zhonghai, and others swallowed their saliva. Seeing Shazhu shouted sourly from the side: "Stop showing off there. Isn't it just roast lamb skewers? As if no one has eaten them. Back when I was cooking in the cafeteria, when higher-level leaders came to the factory to inspect, the lamb skewers I roasted were truly fragrant. Those leaders ate them and praised them endlessly. What is Cao Cao Weiguo’s little trick? Letting him roast lamb skewers is just wasting ingredients."

Xu Daomao mocked: "Seeing Shazhu, what are you bragging about? Are you worthy of comparing with Cao Weiguo? Cao Weiguo already passed the third-level cook assessment at the beginning of the year. What about you? Aren't you still just an eighth-level cook? Still an eighth-level cook who digs excrement. You are truly a donkey that doesn't know its own ugliness, a monkey that doesn't dislike its own thin face. You aren't even ashamed to say that."

Cui Cui Dake echoed: "Exactly, Seeing Shazhu, do you want any face? You, a digger of excrement, what are you bragging about? You roast lamb skewers? You can only roast dung balls, and after roasting them, eat them yourself to satisfy your craving."

"Grandson! You're looking for a beating, aren't you!"

Seeing Shazhu was so angry his face turned red and his neck thick, and he rolled up his sleeves wanting to explode.

Xu Daomao was scared and hid behind Cui Cui Dake: "Seeing Shazhu, just try hitting me once. Do you believe I'll make you sit in prison until the bottom rots!"

Seeing Shazhu pointed at Xu Daomao and mocked: "Xu Daomao, you green-hatted turtle, your wife has run off with someone else, how do you still have the face to live in this world."

This sentence made Xu Daomao’s face turn green, and he felt as if his heart had been stabbed with a knife.

He He Wenjie divorced him last week and turned around to marry the station master of the Dongzhi Sect Grain Station, climbing high and becoming an official’s wife, while he, the ex-husband, became the joke of the courtyard.

Everyone said Xu Daomao was not only not good-looking but also not useful, marrying two wives in a row and unable to keep either, especially Seeing Shazhu, who told everyone he saw that Xu Daomao couldn't have children and was a eunuch in the new era.

The naked personal attack made Xu Daomao hate him so much he gritted his teeth, wishing he could spend money to hire someone to cut off Seeing Shazhu’s tongue.

But at the moment, he was also poor in ambition and thin in spirit, having emptied his family fortune to manage relationships for his political future, and was about to be unable to open the pot. Otherwise, He He Wenjie wouldn't have divorced him so readily. Without money, he couldn't beat Seeing Shazhu, so he could only endure Seeing Shazhu again and again.

"Seeing Shazhu, you are a bastard, a stirrer of shit. I am divorced, but at least I have married a wife. What about you? At such an old age, have you tasted a woman’s flavor? Have you held a woman’s hand? You spend your days around a widow like a pug, and you still have the face to talk about me. Aren't you ashamed? Aren't you embarrassed?"

Seeing Shazhu stabbed Xu Daomao’s heart, and Xu Daomao’s mouth was also unforgiving.

For a time, the two started a war of words in the courtyard, the more they scolded, the more excessive they became, the more they scolded, the more hurtful they became, and they even dragged Qin Qin Huairu into it.

Mainly because Xu Daomao kept saying "widow" one after another, and even if he didn't say it clearly, everyone knew who Xu Daomao was talking about.

Who else could it be besides Qin Qin Huairu?

Seeing Shazhu hadn't been licking Qin Qin Huairu for just a year or two; everyone’s eyes were bright.

After hearing this, Jia Jia Zhangshi was so angry she gave Qin Qin Huairu two big slaps, grabbed Qin Qin Huairu’s hair, and scolded her. When Seeing Shazhu saw it, he felt heartbroken and went up to persuade them with a red face.

This time Xu Daomao got excited and jumped up and down shouting: "Everyone, look, Qin Qin Huairu got hit and Seeing Shazhu is anxious. He’s heartbroken."

"You two shameless people, I'll beat you to death."

Jia Jia Zhangshi was ferocious, waving her claws and kicking Qin Qin Huairu and Seeing Shazhu.

Qin Qin Huairu was tearful and explained bitterly, and Seeing Shazhu was beaten until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen.

Seeing Shazhu shouted anxiously: "Jia Jia Zhangshi, that's enough. Qin Qin Huairu and I are innocent. Don't be unreasonable. You believe whatever Xu Daomao says. You are as stupid as a pig. Even a pig has more brains than you."

"Seeing Shazhu! You shameless thing, it's one thing to kick a widow’s door, but you dare to call me a pig! I'll fight you to the death!"

When He He Yushui and Yu Yu Haitang returned to the Red Star Courtyard, they only saw Jia Jia Zhangshi holding a shovel and chasing Seeing Shazhu around the courtyard. Qin Qin Huairu was anxious and ashamed, and Xu Daomao and the neighbors were laughing at the joke.