"Look at her, this is a child. Where are so many guests? Which young girl would boldly say she's hungry? Isn't she afraid of being laughed at?" Old Master Tong chuckled as he approached North, playfully tapping her forehead, then turned to awkwardly explain to Old Master Chen, "Forgive her, Uncle Chen, she's just a child. Growing kids are always hungry, and she's especially notorious for her appetite."
"Old Master Tong, you're blessed with good fortune. Miss North is wise and compassionate; she must be destined for something great," praised Old Master Lin, sitting comfortably on a mat.
"A child is a child, no need for excessive praise. This girl usually loves experimenting with new things, especially with my grandson Tong Xi. This time, she got guidance from the wealthy people in town and came up with clever ideas. It's also her misfortune; we adults haven't taken care of things, and this little one had to go out on her own to make a living. In the future, we'll need the help of uncles and brothers," Old Master Tong explained, glancing at North with mixed feelings. Though he observed the changes in the child, her intelligence and courage far exceeded before. Despite his many doubts, she remained affectionate and caring towards her family. He didn't want any unfavorable rumors spreading.
"Old Master Tong is right. Boss Cheng and Master Qiao are indeed benefactors. I heard that..."
As the conversation drifted towards town gossip, North lowered her head, gently swaying her grandfather's hand. She appreciated the protection the old man provided and naturally cherished the wise elder who accepted and cared for her in this unfamiliar world. The grandfather and granddaughter both enjoyed the warmth of understanding each other until the women brought out the evening meal, and the old and young joined everyone to enjoy the hot broth and rice. They then gathered around to watch the pig-blowing spectacle.
At this point, they understood the process of bleeding wild boars and found that the slaughtering techniques in this era were much more advanced than those in the Tang and Song dynasties. Boar blood tends to be too hot, making it unsuitable for consumption. North instructed someone to dig a large pit below the cliff terraces, using cut sections as tubes to make troughs. The blood or blood clots were poured into the pit. The waste and residues from the cleaning process could also be buried in the pit to become natural fertilizer.
Wild boar bristles are excellent natural materials for brushes. Thinking of toothbrushes, paintbrushes, and various brush products, North took out some sulfur and alkali and arranged several sisters to collect pig bristles, back hair, abdominal hair, and the sheep's wool they would handle later. After boiling them with sulfur and alkali, they were rinsed and dried.
Tanning leather with nitrate-infused leather was the expertise of Tong Dingshan and Tong Chen. They had taught the women how to handle internal organs, and the hunters were accustomed to the tasks of slaughtering and cutting. North greeted them briefly and returned to her room. The 14-year-old was truly tired after the day's work. Once in the space, she soaked in the hot spring, closed her eyes, and organized everything in her mind. Tomorrow, she had to list the things to take down the mountain. After a round of her consciousness in the space, she got up and put on clean clothes.
Taking the beehive to the giant old nest, she moved the newly separated small hives next to the three artificial hives. The mud seal of the honey wine barrel was opened, and a sweet aroma wafted out. She poured out the clear honey wine, divided it into three jars, sealed them with oiled paper and yellow clay, and buried them in the stone pile. The opaque sediment at the bottom of the wine barrel was scooped into a pottery jar and brought to her base. Sitting down, she used the fine bamboo strips she brought in yesterday to weave three small baskets. Following the formula from yesterday, she filled each basket with fragrant and spicy pickling ingredients and brought them out of the space.
As she left, her consciousness glanced over a natural hole under the stone stairs to the west. It seemed naturally formed yet looked like it was artificially chiseled. A flash of insight made it seem like something was missed. She promptly entered the hole again. This was a natural pit under the slightly elevated clay slope, over two meters high. Perhaps due to the continuous excavation by the Tong family, it extended inward artificially by five or six meters, resembling a kiln eye. North chuckled to herself. A kiln? Smoking and burning? Did she really want to make ceramics inside? Well, perhaps slowly. Smoking... smoking cured meat! Right, cured meat. If it was smoked in the space, by tomorrow, it would be more than ten days since entering town. They could easily supply it to Fuhai Lou along with the pickled dishes as a new product. First, create some market hype. This way, when this batch of pork is smoked, there will be no worries about it not selling.