Chapter 42 : Boiled Beef Bones, Scary Kids

Beef bones take a long time to cook.  

Looking at the firewood in the yard, Lu Fangfang was a little worried that there might not be enough.  

She asked Sister Shufen to watch the fire, then grabbed the newly bought sickle and a sack and headed to the wasteland by the riverbank.  

There was a small patch of land near the riverbank with sparse weeds.  

Lu Fangfang carefully observed the area and estimated that it was about half an acre land that her sister-in-law had previously reclaimed.  

Unfortunately, it had been abandoned again. If they wanted to plant anything there, they would have to dig it all up again.  

After looking around for a while, she took the sickle and began cutting hay in the field.  

The most abundant thing on the grassland was grass. In no time, Lu Fangfang had filled a sack and carried it back to the staff quarters.  

In the yard, Wang Shufen was still tending the fire.  

It had been almost half an hour, and the water in the big pot had yet to boil. Lu Fangfang took the freshly cut weeds and stuffed them under the pot.  

The weeds burned quickly and produced strong flames.  

After burning a sack of grass, the big black pot finally started making a “gurgling” sound.  

Lu Fangfang lifted the lid and saw blood foam floating on the water. She took a spoon and scooped it out.  

“What a waste. Such a waste,” Yang Yufen muttered while holding her child nearby.  

She felt distressed watching the oily water being discarded onto the ground by Lu Fangfang.  

Lu Fangfang paused for a moment with the spoon, then said unhappily, “Sister Yufen, if you want it, go get something to collect it. Why do you always complain? This is just blood foam.”  

“Blood foam is still cow’s blood. Don’t scoop it out yet, I’ll go get an enamel basin!”  

Yang Yufen hurriedly left with her child and soon returned with an enamel basin.  

Seeing this, Lu Fangfang had no choice but to scoop the blood foam into the basin.  

“Look, there’s oil in it. Throwing it away would be such a waste! This will be great for stewing cabbage, you won’t even need to add oil.”  

“In our group, each person gets less than 300 grams of oil per month, which is only a little over 3 kilograms per year. If we don’t save it, will it be enough?”  

Lu Fangfang: “…”  

She had thought Yang Yufen wanted the blood foam to feed the chickens, but it turned out she wanted it for herself.  

Her sister-in-law was right saving was important but this blood foam…  

She didn’t understand. The instructor was a battalion-level officer. He shouldn’t be so stingy that even this little bit needed saving, right?  

Watching Yang Yufen walk away with the basin of skimmed blood foam, Lu Fangfang could only admire her persistence.  

Leaving Sister Shufen to tend the fire, she grabbed the sickle and sack again and returned to the riverbank.  

After several trips, she had cut a large pile of hay.  

She also spotted a piece of dead wood by the riverbank and dragged it back to the family compound.  

By now, it was getting dark. Wang Shufen had already gone home. Lu Fangfang sat in front of the big black pot and continued cooking.  

She took in the rich aroma wafting from the pot and felt her stomach growl.  

At this hour, every household in the staff compound was cooking, but none of their meals smelled as fragrant as hers.  

It was no exaggeration to say that the aroma of her boiled beef bones had filled most of the family compound.  

As Lu Fangfang continued simmering the bones over a high flame, the compound suddenly became lively.  

All the little kids who smelled the fragrance started clamoring for meat.  

Not just the kids, even some adults returning from work were salivating, making it tough for the wives at home.  

Luckily, Lu Fangfang’s sister-in-law had gone to the county earlier and bought some meat. She took out the beef and started cooking right away.  

Some of the other wives who hadn’t bought meat could only try to coax their children into patience.  

But before long, even the adults found it unbearable.  

Previously, only Lu Fangfang’s family cooked bones, so the meat aroma was lighter.  

Now, with more families buying beef, the wives all started preparing their specialties.  

Some stir-fried, some deep-fried, some pan-fried combined with Lu Fangfang’s simmering pot, the entire compound was filled with the mouthwatering scent of meat.  

Now, it wasn’t just the kids who were struggling, adults were swallowing their saliva, too.  

Smelling the delicious aromas from other homes and then looking at the bland boiled cabbage on their own plates, some children started crying.  

The adults coaxed them while secretly cursing their own bad luck.  

Dinner was eaten in frustration.  

—

Lu Fangfang was unaware of all this. She was still tending the fire.  

After simmering for a while, she lifted the lid and checked the pot. Seeing that the water level had dropped, she took a ladle and refilled it again.

The next step is to continue cooking. The beef bones have only been cooked for three or four hours, so it’s still too early for them to be ready.  

“Sister Fangfang, are the bones done cooking?”  

Yang Yufen walked into the yard, holding her child in her arms, swallowing her saliva.  

This time, it wasn’t just her and her daughter. Behind Yang Yufen were two little kids a boy and a girl.  

When Lu Fangfang saw this, she immediately understood.  

She couldn’t say too much in front of the children, so she just responded unhappily, “No, the bones won’t be done until tomorrow morning.”  

“Tomorrow morning?”  

Yang Yufen clearly didn’t believe her.  

She carried the child straight to the large black pot and reached out to lift the lid.  

The two children behind her immediately followed and ran over.  

As soon as the older little girl saw the big bones in the pot, she reached her hand directly into it.  

“Oh my god!” Lu Fangfang shuddered in fear.  

She quickly grabbed the little girl’s clothes from behind and pulled her back.  

Just as the girl’s hand touched the water, Lu Fangfang yanked her away.  

Fortunately, she had just added some cold water to the pot. Otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous.  

Lu Fangfang’s heart pounded, and a layer of cold sweat formed on her forehead.  

Still gripping the little girl’s hand, she turned angrily to Yang Yufen, “Sister-in-law…”  

“Yang Yufen! How can you take care of a child like this? Are you even a mother? You…”  

Lu Fangfang was so furious that she didn’t even know how to scold her.  

At that moment, Yang Yufen was still holding the pot lid, standing there dumbfounded.  

‘Clang.’  

The pot lid slipped from Yang Yufen’s hand. She shuddered and finally came to her senses.  

She bent down and slapped her daughter across the face. “You damn girl! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Don’t you want your hands anymore? Do you want to burn them off, you ungrateful thing?”  

The more Lu Fangfang listened, the uglier her expression became.  

Finally, she couldn’t hold back anymore and asked, “Is this how you educate your children?”  

She looked down at the little girl and saw that her face was swollen.  

But the child didn’t cry. Her eyes remained fixed on the beef bones in the pot as she mumbled something.  

“I want to eat meat. I want to eat meat…”  

Lu Fangfang listened carefully and felt helpless. “Girl, if you want to eat meat, just tell me. You can’t just reach into the pot.”  

“I want to eat meat. I want to eat meat.”  

The little girl looked up at Lu Fangfang and kept repeating the same words.  

Lu Fangfang: “…”  

Turning around, she picked up a spoon, reached into the large iron pot, and fished out a piece of beef rib.  

After simmering for three or four hours, the bones had already softened, and the marrow inside had melted out.  

“Mm.”  

The little girl grabbed it, put it in her mouth, and sucked on it.  

When Yang Yufen saw this, she didn’t even bother scolding the child anymore and immediately turned to look at Lu Fangfang.  

“Alright, alright, it’s getting late. I won’t keep you any longer.”  

Lu Fangfang rolled her eyes and started ushering them out.  

At that moment, the little girl was sucking on a bone as she obediently walked out, but Yang Yufen was not happy about it.  

“Sister Fangfang, I’ve been at your house all afternoon. You can’t do this to me. You have so much, you won’t even finish it all. At least give me a few bones.”  

“Pfft.”  

When Lu Fangfang heard Yang Yufen say that, she became even angrier.  

“How dare you say that? You’ve been here all afternoon, just watching the whole time, not even helping, and now you want to gnaw on bones? How can you be so shameless? Get out!”  

‘Bang!’  

Lu Fangfang slammed the door shut and stormed back inside, fuming.  

Ugh, just thinking about what had just happened made her terrified.  

“How can someone be a mother like that? No sense of responsibility at all. It’s just disgraceful. Ugh, I’m so mad.”  

When she returned to the yard and saw the pot lid on the ground, Lu Fangfang got even angrier and nearly fell backward in frustration.  

She cursed her neighbor across the wall.