Su Caier found a kitchen knife at home but had not yet sharpened it. After hanging the laundry together, Su Caier cooked the porridge while Zhao Ce continued making sugar.
They had lunch together, and the rice they used was new rice that Zhao Youcai brought over, without any moldy smell.
After finishing the rice soup, there was still a layer of rice at the bottom, which Su Caier cherished and ate slowly. Zhao Ce drank the porridge, which had a slightly salty taste because Su Caier added salt to it.
After lunch, they cleaned the kitchen and Zhao Ce continued making sugar using the charcoal method, which was not a sustainable solution as there was a limited amount of charcoal.
Zhao Ce needed to find a way to implement the yellow mud water sprinkling method for sugar production and buy land to grow sugarcane or sugar beets to ensure a steady supply of raw materials.
While stirring the sugar water, Zhao Ce dreamed of the future. Meanwhile, Su Caier sharpened the kitchen knife and prepared to cut the pork. After Zhao Ce added the charcoal, Su Caier brought in a large bowl of well-cut fat pork.
The sweet smell in the kitchen was even stronger than yesterday. Zhao Ce praised Su Caier for cutting the pork well, while Su Caier was a bit shy and said she was afraid of cutting it wrongly.
She hadn't cut meat for many years and was afraid of ruining it. While cutting the meat, Su Caier thought that thin slices would cook faster and save on firewood.
Zhao Ce joked that even if the meat was cut poorly, they would still eat it. He also pointed out that some pieces were too thin and might burn easily when frying in lard.
He suggested Su Caier pay more attention when pressing oil later. Su Caier nodded seriously and agreed to watch carefully. Zhao Ce couldn't help but salivate at the thought of fragrant pork fat.
He waved his hand and said, "Light the fire and fry the pork lard!" Then he got up and sat in front of the stove. Using the small fire on the stove, he quickly raised the flame in the big pot.
He added half a spoonful of water to the pot and then poured in the raw pork fat.
Slowly, smoke began to rise from the pot, and the unique popping sound of frying pork lard could be heard. The fragrance of the pork lard also gradually filled the air.
Su Cai'er, who was closest to the pot, couldn't stop her mouth from watering. She stared at the pot, constantly swallowing her saliva. Zhao Ce also leaned over from time to time to watch, completely forgetting about his appearance.
Suppressing the urge to sneak a piece of pork lard to eat, Zhao Ce processed the syrup and went to the courtyard to wash his sticky hands. When the pork fat was almost done, he reduced the fire in the stove and slowly simmered it.
Even in the courtyard, Zhao Ce could still feel the fragrance of the frying pork lard permeating his nose. "This fragrance is too deadly... I haven't had meat for two days, I feel like I can eat a whole pig." Zhao Ce was thinking to himself when he suddenly heard the fence door outside his house being knocked on.
He thought it was Zhao Youcai coming to find him. He went out to take a look and found that the fence of his house was surrounded by children from the village, mostly attracted by the fragrance of the pork lard.
Some of them became afraid when they saw Zhao Ce and quickly ran away, while others smelled the fragrance in the air but did not want to leave. "Zhao, Master Zhao, have you eaten meat at home?" a slightly older child asked bravely, then shrank back in fear of being scolded by Zhao Ce.
Zhao Ce couldn't help but laugh when he saw the children outside the fence. There were seven or eight of them in total. He raised his voice and said, "Wait here for me." After speaking, he went back into the house.
Most of these children had received Zhao Ce's scolding before and did not know why he wanted them to stay. But the fragrance in the air was too tempting. Although the children next door didn't cry because of their cravings, they all eagerly sniffed the air.
People from the neighboring house also poked their heads out to watch Zhao Ce's house. When Zhao Ce returned to the kitchen, he saw that the little girl had already started filling the pork lard scraps into a bowl. He took out a small bowl and said to Su Cai'er, "Cai'er, pick out a few pieces and bring them over here." Su Cai'er nodded and took the chopsticks to pick out some pieces.
"A lot of children have come outside, I'm going to give them each a small piece," Zhao Ce said, holding the pork lard scraps in his hands and walking out of the gate again.
After Zhao Ce finished speaking, he walked out of the gate with the pork lard scraps in his eyes and saw two or three children still there.
He opened the fence gate and said, "I fried some pork lard today, but not much. I'll give each of you a piece." Saying that he let the children reach out their hands.
Zhao Ce picked up the freshly fried pork lard scraps from the bowl and put them in the hands of the first child.
The group of children who stayed behind didn't expect that the gentleman who usually only scolded them would actually give them meat to eat. For a while, those who didn't get any meat also gathered around.
Zhao Ce didn't dislike their dirtiness like he used to and gave each of them a small piece of pork lard scraps. Altogether, the five children each received a finger-sized piece. "Thank you very much, Master Zhao!" The leading child said first.
Zhao Ce used to always have a stern face, and if they got too close by accident, they would be scolded. But today, Zhao Ce didn't scold them. He even gave them meat to eat.
Looking at it this way, Zhao Ce didn't seem as scary as before. After giving each of them their share, Zhao Ce smiled and said, "Okay, go back now." The group of children took their meat and left noisily.
Zhao Ce carried the bowl and went back to the kitchen. Su Caier had already cleaned up everything in the pot. There was still a lot of oil left in the large pot, and she looked a bit regretful.
She thought about cooking a pot of rice for her husband tonight and using the rice to soak up all the pork lard in it.
Just then, she was handed a piece of fried pork lard. By the time Su Caier came back to her senses, she had already eaten the delicious piece.
Chewing and chewing, her mouth was full of fragrance. Her eyes lit up, and she blurted out, "It's so delicious!" Zhao Ce also chewed a few pieces and finally satisfied his hunger a little.
He handed her the chopsticks. "Eat a few pieces first, and save the rest for later. By the way, don't waste the pork lard in the pot. Cook a pot of white rice tonight and use this pork lard to stir-fry the vegetables."