Chapter 32: This Culinary Skill is Astonishing!

Today, Li Ergou came over because he wanted Gu Nan to handle a big matter at the back mountain.

The glass factory in the county city wanted to secretly buy some wild boar meat or pheasant meat.

After Su Niannian left, Li Ergou called out to Gu Nan twice.

Gu Nan seemed to not hear him, sitting dazedly.

Finally, at Li Ergou’s calling, Gu Nan snapped back to his senses.

Gu Nan told Li Ergou that he would head up the mountain to try his luck in the evening.

Li Ergou wanted to go along, but Gu Nan said the visibility would be poor at night. Once he had caught something, he would call Li Ergou to join him.

Li Ergou knew that Gu Nan was skilled and that going along with him late at night would only slow him down. After finishing their meal and chatting for a while, he left.

Meanwhile, Su Niannian had already returned to the Educated Youth point.

It was a bit later than yesterday, and by the time she got back, most of the other educated youth had already finished their meals.

Since Su Niannian had already spoken to Song Zhaodi in the morning, telling her that she would bring food for her in the evening and that there was no need for Song Zhaodi to cook, Song Zhaodi did not prepare dinner. She was now chopping firewood.

“Zhaodi, I’m back,” Su Niannian called out to Song Zhaodi, who was chopping firewood.

“Niannian,” Song Zhaodi put down her axe and came over to greet her.

“I brought you some delicious food,” Su Niannian said, motioning for Song Zhaodi to come over to the table.

When Zhao Sulan heard that Su Niannian had returned, she called over the two other female Educated Youth to join them.

“Su Niannian is back. She bought a huge pile of pig offal in the county city today. It’s disgusting.”

“Who knows if she got it from some rural family’s pig offal for cooking? Come on, let’s go take a look.”

Zhao Sulan had returned to the Educated Youth point by herself this afternoon, and she hadn’t seen Su Niannian come back.

She remembered that Su Niannian had mentioned yesterday that she was asking a fellow villager to help her buy a cheap cabinet. She probably went to that villager’s house to cook again.

Just thinking about all that pig offal and how disgusting it must look, Zhao Sulan found it amusing.

She had purposely called over two other educated female youth to come and watch Su Niannian’s joke unfold.

Just as the group of people walked over to the table outside the kitchen, they were hit by an incredibly strong, fragrant smell.

The scent was so powerful it seemed to penetrate everything.

Even the educated youth who were still inside the house came out to take a look.

The smell was so pleasant; it could easily rival the braised pork from a state-run restaurant.

None of them had ever smelled anything so delicious before.

What Su Niannian brought back today was a lunchbox full of braised pig offal.

The lunchbox was quite large, and inside it, there was at least a little over one kilogram of pig offal.

“Niannian, you’re amazing! How can you make pig offal taste so delicious?!” Song Zhaodi was in shock.

What kind of heavenly food was this? How could it be so tasty?

This pig offal was even better than pork itself, both in texture and flavor—truly exceptional.

Su Niannian had also brought Song Zhaodi two meat buns and a yellow steamed bun.

Song Zhaodi ate with great enjoyment.

“Zhao, is this the… disgusting pig offal you were talking about? Why does it smell so good?”

“…” Zhao Sulan didn’t know what to say.

How could something so disgusting and lowly like pig offal be made to taste so delicious?

She had never smelled anything so fragrant before.

It felt like with this smell, she could eat three steamed buns in a row!

“Su, is this really pig offal?”

“It looks like it, but it seems so delicious.”

“It smells so good!! If such cheap pig offal can taste like this, that truly is the work of a master.”

“…”

The educated youth were all talking about why Su Niannian’s cooking smelled so delicious.

Zhao Sulan’s expression grew darker and darker because ever since she returned, she had been constantly belittling Su Niannian, saying she was greedy.

She also called her foolish, claiming that she had been tricked into buying a bunch of pig offal.

She also said that the pig offal, when placed on a cart, smelled so foul that it nearly made her vomit.

She claimed that Su Niannian had never seen real food, going on and on with her criticisms.

But now, the pig offal Su Niannian made smelled so fragrant.

It was as if Zhao Sulan had been slapped hard in the face.

“If you don’t mind, you can each have a piece,” Su Niannian said. She had brought back plenty today.

So, giving each person a piece wasn’t a big deal, since there were only around ten or so people in the Educated Youth group.

Song Zhaodi naturally had no objections, as without Su Niannian, how would she have tasted such delicious food?

Moreover, even after giving out a piece to everyone, there was still half of the food left in her lunchbox.

Not to mention, she still had two meat buns.

The educated youth, seeing how Su Niannian offered, also became quite generous.

Having a piece was a treat, after all. The smell alone was more appetizing than meat.

In this era of scarcity, being able to offer ten or more pieces of meat to others was already quite impressive.

The little bit of pork they received yesterday had mostly been turned into preserved meat, and stews or dishes were made just to add flavor.

“My goodness, is this pig intestine? It’s so delicious!”

“Su Niannian, you’re amazing. My mother also made pig liver before, but it always had this rusty taste.”

“This must be pig stomach, right? It’s so chewy, and the flavor is absolutely heavenly!”

“Su Niannian, you’re really incredible.”

Huang Yingying came out to watch the commotion but didn’t plan on eating any of the pig offal. She found the sight of it disgusting, though it did smell quite nice. However, she had no intention of eating it.

Lu Xingguang hadn’t planned on eating it either. After all, it was pig offal, and he had never eaten such things before. But then, Qian Jun, who had come with him, forced a piece into his mouth.

It was as if Lu Xingguang had opened the door to a whole new world.

He had eaten plenty of exquisite dishes in Shanghai, thanks to his father’s wealth. He had grown accustomed to spending money lavishly.

He had even had steak, a Western dish, on several occasions.

But this braised pig offal in his mouth was simply more delicious than anything, even better than red-braised pork or any meat dishes he had ever tried.

And there was a subtle hint of sweetness in it, not greasy at all. The seasoning was perfectly balanced, enhancing the flavor.

The deliciousness of it made Lu Xingguang unconsciously squint his eyes in enjoyment.

Huang Yingying looked at Lu Xingguang’s expression from afar, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“Yes! Just like that, Lu Xingguang, fall for Su Niannian. In this lifetime, you two can go to hell together!” Huang Yingying couldn’t help but think to herself. She turned around and went back to her books.

She needed to focus on her studies, get into a good university, and marry Gu Nan.

Thinking about it, though, she realized that getting close to Gu Nan would be quite difficult. The places they were assigned to after work were so far apart.

There was absolutely no opportunity to interact with Gu Nan during the day.

As the evening deepened, Huang Yingying found herself annoyed. Although she couldn’t get close to Gu Nan for now, making sure Su Niannian and Lu Xingguang became a couple would eliminate a major obstacle, and it was definitely satisfying!

Meanwhile, those who had tasted the pig offal Su Niannian made were all envious of Song Zhaodi. After all, eating with Su Niannian was undeniably a blessing.

As nightfall approached, the young intellectuals headed back to their rooms to sleep.

Under the cover of darkness, Su Niannian quietly grabbed a flashlight and made her way to the back mountain.