Chapter 115:
Finally, a summary: “In short, this is a very unique tabby cat. She not only wants to be fed by Jiaojiao as the boss, but she also doesn’t allow anyone else to raise her, and she’s close to Jiaojiao.”
Yun Xiaojiu said proudly: “Our Jiaojiao is different. She not only attracts people’s affection, but also animals.”
To this, the whole family agreed.
“That’s true, our Jiaojiao is beautiful, cute, has a good personality, and is very capable. Who wouldn’t like her? Anyone who doesn’t like her is blind.”
Even as a family, they seemed to have endless things to say when discussing Yun Jiao; the whole family were Yun Jiao fans.
Yun Jiao: I’m used to it, I’m used to it.
She didn’t know what shyness was and naturally accepted the praise and compliments from her family.
That’s right, she was indeed such a capable and popular little merman.
Nowadays, there are few methods for preserving meat; one is to dry it, but this is more suitable for fish, as dried fish can be preserved for a long time.
Or it can be made into smoked meat.
Although smoked meat is not fresh, its unique flavor is also very popular.
Today, the men in the family went out to work, while the women stayed to process the pork.
The meat was cut into strips about the width of a palm, hung with long, thin reed leaves, and simply marinated with some local favorite spices.
Grandpa Yun took Yun Xiaowu and Yun Liuliu to the mountains to find cypress trees. Here, smoked meat is generally smoked using branches from this tree.
Fresh white oak branches produce a lot of smoke when burned, carrying a special fragrance.
The smoke from the smoked meat here couldn’t be hidden once it started. Before long, neighbors who lived nearby ambled over.
“What are you guys doing?”
Granny Yun said with a smile: “Oh, the children went to help the eldest son’s wife’s family harvest corn. They encountered some wild boars in their village, and my in-laws were lucky enough to kill one. So they brought some wild boar meat back. Since they couldn’t eat it all at once, they decided to make it into cured meat. We also have some dried fish, so we made that into cured meat too.”
She didn’t say that Yun Jiao killed the wild boar. Whether others would believe it or not, it would be troublesome to be pestered by her granddaughter with questions.
“Wild boar.”
The neighbor’s eyes and tone immediately became envious.
Hearing that they couldn’t finish it, they must have brought back so much.
Upon entering the courtyard, they saw several strips of meat hanging on the rack.
They became even more envious.
Soon, many people gathered outside their house, and Granny Yun patiently explained to them.
“Your in-laws are truly kind. Why haven’t I met such generous in-laws?”
“Wild boar meat, I’ve never eaten it before.”
“Is this wild boar meat for sale?”
Granny Yun quickly waved her hands: “Not for sale, not for sale. With so many mouths to feed in our family, and you all being from the same village, you know we don’t have that much meat. How long will this meat last our family?”
“But we can’t eat meat every day…”
People living in the fishing village craved pork.
Unfortunately, Granny Yun refused to sell it no matter what.
Yun Linhe and Wang Mei, the couple, returned with their children in the afternoon.
As soon as they returned, they saw the thick white smoke rising from their house.
And people sitting by their doorway mending nets and chatting.
What’s going on? Why has the chatting spot moved to their house?
And what’s with the white smoke?
“Linhe is back. Your family is smoking cured meat.”
“What did you bring back? You didn’t happen to bring back wild boar meat too, did you?”
With the wild boar meat Yun Linhai brought back, they were now very curious about what was in Yun Linhe and Wang Mei’s backpacks.
Yun Linhe wasn’t paying attention when someone suddenly darted behind him and lifted the contents of his backpack.
Yun Linhe and Wang Mei’s faces immediately turned dark.
It’s you again, Cai Jinhua!
Wang Mei directly pushed her away: “What are you doing?”
Cai Jinhua cried out “Aiyo!”: “I just wanted to see what you brought back. You’re so stingy.”
“You guys aren’t doing well. What you brought back are all cheap things. Your eldest brother’s family brought back so much wild boar meat.”
Although Yun Linhe and Wang Mei didn’t quite understand yet, Cai Jinhua truly disgusted them.
Wang Mei put her hands on her hips: “It’s none of your business what we bring back. At least my parents gave me something, unlike you, who returned from your maternal home with nothing.”
Cai Jinhua stuck out her neck: “That’s because my mother gave me money, so I won’t be given these cheap things.”
Wang Mei rolled her eyes and ignored her, wasting time here.
They quickly returned to their home.
Seeing the strips of smoked meat in the courtyard, they were stunned.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
Granny Yun was busy, and seeing them, she calmly greeted them.
“You’re back.”
“You guys go do what you need to do.”
There were too many people around now, so it wasn’t a good time to talk.
Yun Jiao came out with a tabby cat and the family’s chicks and ducklings.
“Grandma, our chicks have hatched!”
She saw the hen in the coop with tiny yellow fluffy balls.
There were also a few chicks with dark brown stripes; those were likely wild chickens.
“Uncle, Aunt, you’re back~”
Yun Linhe immediately picked her up.
“I missed Uncle so much.”
Yun Jiao hugged them: “I missed Uncle and Aunt too.”
Yun Chenxi walked over, squinting his eyes.
“Jiaojiao, look what Third Brother brought you.”
He held a few candies in his hand.
Yun Jiao’s eyes curved into crescents: “Thank you, Third Brother.”
After hugging the family of her uncle, whom she hadn’t seen in a few days, Yun Jiao continued to ask Granny Yun about the chicks.
“Yes, some chicks hatched the day before yesterday, and most of them have come out today.”
“They’re so small.”
Especially when compared to the ones she was raising herself.
Her chickens, ducks, and geese were all raised together, but Yun Jiao raised them well, and they all grew up.
Some were already molting.
“Grandma, I’m taking them out to find food.”
There was nothing to do at home.
Yun Jiao went out of the house with the tabby cat and the chicks she was raising.
It’s no exaggeration to say that as she walked out the door, the gazes of the people at the doorway all fell on her.
Yun Jiao was confident and graceful, holding her head high. Let them look if they wanted; she had nothing to hide.
“Jiaojiao is taking the chicks out to find food again.”
Yun Jiao nodded: “Yes, you have to eat enough to grow big.”
“Aww, so obedient.”
Cai Jinhua sidled over: “Yun Jiao, Aunt will give you one jiao, can you ask your Grandma to sell me a strip of pork?”
Yun Jiao glanced at her disdainfully with her small eyes.
What’s one jiao? She had plenty!
She forgot to distribute money to Grandpa and Grandma.
She counted on her fingers, and after everyone got their share, she didn’t have much left.
Never mind, she could save more money in the future!
“Jiaojiao, wait for me, I’ll go with you.”
Yun Xiaojiu ran out.
The siblings walked forward hand in hand, the tabby cat followed calmly and composedly beside them, with a string of little tails trailing behind.
Yun Xiaowu looked resentful: “Why do I have to guard the meat here? I want to go with Jiaojiao too. These past two days, I’m not even the brother closest to her anymore.”
