She first washed the pig skin carefully with coarse salt water several times until there was no odor, and then used a burning firewood to burn it from one end to the other. The hair on the skin disappeared, but the black hair inside the skin was still clearly visible. She was not in a hurry to deal with the hair inside the pig skin, but put the skin in the pot and boiled it.
About half an hour later, she turned off the fire, took the pig skin out of the pot with a strainer, soaked it in cold water, spread the pig skin on the chopping board, and used an awl to pick out the hair inside the hair follicles one by one.
Because the pig skin was boiled and soft, it was easy to pick out the hair. Before long, several pieces of pig skin were picked clean, turning into white pieces with a strong meaty aroma.
"It smells so good, is the eldest sister cooking meat?"
Wen'er and Fei'er followed the smell and found Caiwei scraping the oil stains on the pig skin with the back of a knife. She asked curiously, "Sister, what are you doing?"
"Making crystal jelly."
"What is crystal jelly? Can it be eaten?"
"Of course it can!"
Wen'er sniffed and said, "It smells so good, it must be delicious!"
Caiwei pinched his nose and shook it, saying with a smile, "Don't just think about eating, you have to pay a price if you want to eat it."
Wen'er rubbed his little face against Caiwei's palm and said flatteringly, "Just tell me what you want me to do."
Caiwei pointed to the gray oily water with white foam in the pot and said, "Scoop out the dirty water and pour it out, then clean the pot."
Wen'er was very obedient. After hearing his sister's order, he rolled up his sleeves without saying a word, stepped on a stool beside the stove, and started to work seriously.
Fei'er asked, "Sister, what should I do?"
Caiwei handed over a knife and ordered unceremoniously, "Chop the skin into pieces, the smaller the better, be careful not to cut your hands!"
With two free little laborers, Mu Caiwei was happy to take a break. It's not that she is lazy on purpose, it's just that her current health is not good. After working for a while, she will be exhausted and sweat all over, and she can't breathe. I don't know if it's due to congenital deficiency or acquired malnutrition.
It seems that I have to go to the town tomorrow to find a good clinic. After all, health is the capital of revolution, and this family is still counting on her!
In the big house, the mother is taking clothes for little Wu'er under the candlelight, and Wu'er happily cooperates with her mother's actions.
"Wu'er, let's go out with your sister." Caiwei said.
Hearing that her daughter was going out so late, Mrs. Du asked hurriedly: "Where are you going in the dark?"
Caiwei picked up Wu'er from the kang, put on his shoes, and explained to her mother: "I'm going to send some meat to Aunt Zhou. I'll be back soon."
Mrs. Du said worriedly: "Let's go tomorrow. It's so late, maybe everyone has gone to bed."
"I just went there on purpose to make them go to bed, otherwise Aunt Zhou would hold me back and say some nonsense, which would make people feel annoyed." Thinking of Aunt Zhou's ambiguous joke, Caiwei rolled her eyes. Mrs.
Du lowered her head silently and said nothing.
In fact, in her heart, she liked Jiujin quite a lot. The child was down-to-earth, sincere and kind, without those cunning minds and crooked minds. Most importantly, he really cherished her Wei'er! As a mother, which one doesn't want to find a son-in-law who treats her daughter wholeheartedly?
It's a pity that Wei'er, this girl, has no thoughts about Jiujin. Whenever Aunt Zhou or the villagers tease her about Jiujin, she doesn't refute it, but her calm expression is enough to prove that she doesn't have Jiujin in her heart at all, otherwise how could she not even look shy like a girl!
Alas!
The emperor is not anxious, but the eunuch is anxious. Matters of marriage should be left to God's will!
...
Caiwei carried five pounds of fat pork and pulled Wu'er out. The reason why she took Wu'er with her was that she was afraid that others would see her going to Jiujin's house late at night and spread some words that would damage her reputation. In this era, the reputation of a girl is more important than her life. If there is a slight mistake, she will be ruined and live a life worse than death. With Wu'er by her side, she will not leave room for gossipers to talk about.
Taking advantage of the moonlight, the brother and sister came to the door of Jiujin's house. Jiujin's house was dark, without lights on, and there was no sound. It seemed that he had gone to bed long ago.
Farmers usually go to bed early at night. One reason is that it is too cold and nothing can be as comfortable as sleeping on a warm kang. The other reason is to save lamp oil. If a family does not light a lamp for a whole winter, the money saved from lamp oil is also considerable.
Therefore, as soon as it gets dark, the village blends into the night. Very few families will light oil lamps to do work at night.
Standing at the door, Caiwei asked Wu'er to knock on the door. Wu'er cleared his throat seriously and called out in a baby voice with his little neck straightened: "Jiujin, Jiujin."
After a rustling sound of dressing, Aunt Zhou's dazed voice came from the room: "Who is it?"