Chapter 42: Hosting Guests

Cao Xiangnan began to wash the pig intestines, turning the intestines inside out with chopsticks, cleaning out the dirt, and then washing them with clean water before rubbing them with salt.

While cleaning, Cao Xiangnan also explained the steps to Qi Wanfeng, using potato flour he had ground himself in the final step. There was no cornstarch for sale here at all, but starch was excellent for cooking.

“Smell it, is there no smell?” After washing it several times, the pig intestine was clean. Cao Xiangnan handed the cleaned pig intestine to Qi Wanfeng to smell.

“Mm, there really is no smell,” Qi Wanfeng said, lowering his head with some skepticism. He really didn’t smell any odor. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it. He had never thought of using salt to wash things, and he didn’t expect it could be used that way.

The things they were preparing for the guests today were the things they were planning to sell. Because they didn’t have anything, they were preparing everything from scratch.

To be persuasive, it was necessary to show the finished product. Cao Xiangnan was not the kind of person who just talked casually; otherwise, not only would he not believe it himself, but he also wouldn’t be able to convince others. He was now looking for partners to work with in the future, so naturally, he had to come up with effective plans and products to persuade others to work with him.

The place they lived used to be a small bamboo forest, so getting bamboo wasn’t difficult. They could just go and cut it down. Cao Xiangnan had told Qi Wanfeng his ideas last night. Originally, he had been thinking of finding a craftsman in the village who could make bamboo strips to make a few sieves that they would need, but he didn’t expect Qi Wanfeng to be able to do it himself, so they didn’t have to spend the money to hire someone.

In the courtyard, Qi Wanfeng was weaving a sieve, while Cao Xiangnan was busy in the kitchen, putting the bones he had bought back with white radishes into a pot to simmer soup.

Not many people bought bones because the people here simply didn’t know how to eat them. They felt that it wasn’t worth buying bones that didn’t have any meat. People here wouldn’t spend an hour or two just to simmer a soup to drink, but in his era, spending a few hours simmering a soup was a normal thing, and the soup simmered from bones on low heat was also very nutritious.

Cao Xiangnan thought that now that Wanfeng was pregnant, he should simmer more soup for him to drink, which would be good for his body. And the child at home should also drink more to make up for the missing nutrients. Maybe if he supplemented calcium, he himself would be able to grow taller. He was always brooding over the fact that he was half a head shorter than his wife.

The child was playing by himself. The family of three was doing their own things, a scene of peace and quiet.

An unintentional glance upwards would always capture the gaze that was being cast from across the way.

There wasn’t much firewood at home, so Qi Wanfeng said he was going to chop some firewood at the foot of the mountain. It wasn’t too far from here. Cao Xiangnan glanced at his leg. The soup in the kitchen was still simmering on low heat. He could only say “Mm” with frustration and said, “Don’t carry too much at once, do what you can, your health is the most important thing.”

His gaze fell on Qi Wanfeng’s abdomen. He hadn’t forgotten that Qi Wanfeng was pregnant. He suddenly envied that dead fellow, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Qi Wanfeng’s stomach became resentful.

However, Cao Xiangnan’s gaze made Qi Wanfeng misunderstand that he was worried about him and didn’t want him to go, although, in fact, Cao Xiangnan also didn’t want him to go and was worried about him.

“Okay, I know. You stay at home and watch An’an, don’t let him run around. An’an, listen to A-die [Father] at home, okay? A-mu [Father] will be back soon,” Qi Wanfeng smiled. After instructing his husband and child, he took his things and left.

“A-mu come back quickly,” Cao Xiangnan stroked the child’s head, and the child said smartly.

“Okay,” Qi Wanfeng waved, telling the father and son to go back inside.

Cao Xiangnan and An’an stood at the door watching Qi Wanfeng leave. In fact, it wasn’t too far from here to the foot of the mountain. After closing the door of the small courtyard, they returned to the courtyard.

Sitting at the entrance to the small kitchen, Cao Xiangnan held the child in his arms, teaching him arithmetic. He was using modern arithmetic, which was simple and easy to learn. Cao Xiangnan found that his child was very smart. Basically, he could remember everything he taught him once and could also draw inferences from it.

He had decided that he would first teach the child some basic things. When the child was older, if he liked it, he would send him to school. He could decide for himself what he liked to do, and he wouldn’t restrain him.

So, the father and son, one taught enthusiastically and the other learned diligently.

In the afternoon, Qi Wanfeng returned with firewood. The child was sleeping in the house. Cao Xiangnan planned to have the child take a nap from now on, so that he would grow taller. Leaving the Cao family compound wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. At least their lives wouldn’t be governed by others, and they could do whatever they wanted.

“Drink some water,” Cao Xiangnan said, handing a bowl of water to Qi Wanfeng. Seeing Qi Wanfeng look around the courtyard, he told him, “The child is sleeping in the house.”

“Mm,” Qi Wanfeng said. He took the water and drank it all in one gulp. Since the child was sleeping, he would let him sleep. He didn’t want to wake him up. “Do you want more?” Cao Xiangnan asked.

“No, thank you,” Qi Wanfeng shook his head and said.

The soup in the pot had simmered for more than an hour, emitting a strong fragrance. He only put salt in it and nothing else. Cao Xiangnan scooped a bowl and brought it up, asking Qi Wanfeng to sit down and rest for a while, handing him the soup and saying, “Try it, is it good?” Qi Wanfeng lowered his head to smell the soup and found that it was very fragrant. He glanced at his husband, took a breath, and slowly took a sip, nodding and saying, “Mm, very fragrant.” One sip at a time, after drinking a large bowl of soup, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his body. His stomach felt warm, and his whole body felt comfortable.

“Knock, knock—” “Wanfeng.” Sun Bailian called out outside the courtyard.

While the two of them were busy in the kitchen, Sun Bailian’s family arrived. Qi Wanfeng heard the sound and ran out of the kitchen. Cao Xiangnan was still busy in the kitchen, peeling off the sheets of river noodles that he had made.

When he was a child, the family next door in the village made river noodles to sell. He wanted to eat them but didn’t have the money to buy them, so he had to go to their courtyard every day to help them with work, and they would give him a bowl of river noodles to eat. At that time, he thought river noodles were simply the most delicious food in the world, so Cao Xiangnan still remembered how to make river noodles.

There was no such thing as river noodles in this era. One of the reasons he considered making them was that the cost was low, and another reason was that they were new to people here. Snacks were all about freshness and taste. If the food was delicious, there was no fear of no one buying it, but making snacks was not a simple matter.

“Bailian, Brother Cao Gang, you’re here,” Qi Wanfeng said, going to open the door. He saw the arriving family, reaching out to touch the head of the older child. “Come in, come in quickly.”

Sun Bailian had two sons, the older one was six years old, and the younger one was the same age as Qi Wanfeng’s An’an. Both of her sons were naughty, giving Sun Bailian headaches every day, making her want to beat them.

“Wanfeng, I brought two rabbits for you,” Sun Bailian said, handing over a cage she was carrying as soon as she entered the door.

“Didn’t I tell you not to bring anything?” Qi Wanfeng said, taking the cage from Sun Bailian’s hand, feeling helpless. Why did she bring him rabbits again?

“We didn’t buy them. Cao Gang went hunting in the mountains today and caught them. We’ll keep the big rabbits to sell for money, and we’ll give the small rabbits to you to raise,” Sun Bailian said. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she smelled a fragrance, sniffing her nose and asking, “What are you cooking? It smells so good.”

“You’ll know in a while. Sit down first, it’ll be ready soon,” Qi Wanfeng said, carrying the rabbits over to the chicken coop to put them away, casually grabbing a handful of wild vegetables and putting them in the cage. The two red-eyed rabbits came over and started eating.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Sun Bailian asked.

“No, thank you,” Qi Wanfeng said. “Just sit here.”

Cao Gang sat down on the stool, looking around the tidy courtyard. Smelling the fragrance, he felt a bit restless, but there was no expression on the man’s face.

An’an woke up in the house. The little fellow sat on the bed, rubbing his eyes. He looked around the room and saw that no one was there, so he got off the bed by himself. He came out and saw that there were other people in the courtyard. Not seeing his A-mu, he pouted his little mouth and called out with a sob, “A-mu.”

“An’an, how did you come out of there?” Sun Bailian wanted to say that Qi Wanfeng’s family was missing something, and it turned out to be this little fellow. Before he could pull the child, his two sons ran towards An’an, who was standing there. The children from the two families knew each other.

An’an was pulled by his two older cousins, and the pout on his little mouth disappeared. He opened his wet, black eyes and looked at his two cousins.

“An’an, An’an,” the second son, Cao Yi Jing, was the same age as An’an. The two little fellows played best together. He wasn’t an honest kid either, a little fellow who fought with his older cousin and younger brother in less than two seconds. He would get a beating from his A-mu later, but he pulled An’an, who was a few months younger than him, and pointed to the rabbits in the cage, saying, “I brought you rabbits.”

“The rabbits are over there, let’s go see the rabbits,” Cao Yi Jing said, pulling An’an away.

The eldest son, Cao Yi Kang, was a little older and sensible. He followed the two younger ones to play.

Qi Wanfeng heard the sound and came out of the kitchen. He saw his An’an and Sun Bailian’s two sons playing there, smiled, put the things he was holding, which his husband called “river noodles,” on the table, met Sun Bailian’s curious gaze, simply smiled, and turned to call out, “You guys come over and eat too. An’an, bring your cousins to eat.”

“A-mu…” As soon as An’an heard his A-mu’s voice, he turned around and saw him. He stood up and ran over, not even caring about the cute rabbits behind him.

Qi Wanfeng caught the child who was running towards him and stroked his little face, his eyes full of tenderness.

Cao Xiangnan also came out of the kitchen, nodded to greet the guests who had come, sat down on a stool, and sighed in relief. Sun Bailian got up and went into the kitchen to help Qi Wanfeng bring out the dishes, leaving the two men sitting here face to face, their eyes assessing each other.

After not seeing each other for a few days, Cao Gang found that Cao Family’s Fourth Son had changed a lot. As for where this change came from, he couldn’t say himself, but his eyes fell on the smile on his lips.

“Brother Cao Gang, I invited you over for dinner today because I have something to discuss with you,” Cao Xiangnan said with a smile, getting straight to the point.

Cao Gang raised an eyebrow, waiting for Cao Xiangnan to continue.

“Let’s have dinner first, and I’ll tell you later,” Cao Xiangnan didn’t continue, but left the words for later.