Chapter 24: Getting a Marriage Certificate

The meat was distributed in the village according to the number of people in each family. In other words, families with more members received more meat, not based on work points.

Today, the village slaughtered three pigs, and the Wen family, with one adult and two children under six, could only get a little over a pound of meat. In memory of the deceased Wen family members, they also received some pig’s internal organs or a couple of bones.

After all, the original owner’s mother was one of the people responsible for raising pigs. Wen Jiajia had seen relevant records in the family’s work points book. People who raised pigs could earn more points.

Wen Jiajia arrived early, and the pigs had not been slaughtered yet.

The two girls ran off to play with their friends. Wen Jiajia, holding a bucket and a basin, stood behind the crowd and slowly queued up.

“Jiajia, who is the boy who often comes to your house?” an aunt asked her, “The one who rides a bicycle.”

It was quite strange. I heard some time ago that Wen Jiajia and Wei Dai from Hegou Township were dating, but now they are broken up?

But it doesn’t matter, because both Wei Dai and the young man who often comes here have bicycles and are in good condition.

Wen Jiajia replied, “…That’s the postman.”

The aunt who asked the question was embarrassed and quickly grabbed a handful of melon seeds from her pocket and gave them to her: “You and Wei Dai are writing letters. When are you two going to make it official?”

Wen Jiajia smiled shyly: “I don’t know.”

The aunt advised her, “You are the only one in your family, and you don’t have many elders to turn to. You have to speak up for yourself. Don’t be shy. I think Wei Dai is capable of going far. Don’t let him slip away because you’re embarrassed.”

To be honest, if her daughter was the same age as Wei Dai, she would probably ask someone to mediate.

In the past, I just thought that he had a heavy burden with such parents at home. But the last time he came back and collected debts vigorously, it really impressed people.

Honest parents never give birth to honest children.

Wen Jiajia just laughed and didn’t reply.

Fortunately, the aunt didn’t just talk to her but soon started chatting with other people around her.

“How many pigs are we going to kill this year?”

“I heard that eight will be killed. Three were killed today, and five more will be killed by the end of the year. Two more than last year.”

“Shall we share the duck?”

“No, she has just started laying eggs. She will have to lay eggs for at least a few more years.”

“Will our village still go to Hegou Township to buy fish this year?”

“Yes, I heard from Qing’an that he has already ordered several hundred kilograms of fish from Hegou Township.”

Wen Jiajia pricked up her ears and remembered it clearly.

No wonder people are so enthusiastic during the Chinese New Year. With such abundant food, how can they not be happy?

The village butcher skillfully slaughtered three pigs. There was a lot of blood from the pigs, and Wen Jiajia was lucky enough to get almost half a basin of it.

“Jiajia, do you know how to handle this?” asked the aunt who was helping to slaughter the pigs.

Wen Jiajia smiled and said confidently, “I know. Dissolve salt in cold water, then pour the pig’s blood in and it will solidify.”

Stir-fried pork blood with garlic sprouts is a dish she really likes.

After dividing the pig blood, they started dividing the meat.

Wen Jiajia got a pound of pork belly and half a pound of pork fat.

Pork fat is undoubtedly the most popular part of the pig in this era. She was able to get it because she arrived early, and everyone in the village wanted leg meat to make bacon.

There is a local custom of worshipping gods and Buddhas during the New Year, and banquets must be prepared for the gods, Buddhas, and ancestors. Even if these customs are no longer officially allowed, they are still done privately.

Among these, bacon is a very important dish at the banquet. It is pickled with salt and smoked, then cooked on New Year’s Eve to offer to the ancestors, gods, and Buddhas.

At night, the bacon is served as a main dish. Cooked green onions are placed on the bacon, and boiled eggs are arranged around it, in the hope that the children in the family will be smart and that there will be more children in the coming year.

If you want to make bacon, you have to pickle it now at the latest. You can’t do it any later.

So even though the villagers were envious of the pork belly, they still fought over the pork legs. Wen Jiajia got a bargain and ended up with a pound of pork belly and half a pound of pork fat, both of which were the best parts.

Finally, she also got half a pig’s tongue and a pigtail bone as long as her forearm. Wen Jiajia could be said to have returned with a full load.

The two girls were reluctant to go home, and Wen Jiajia didn’t bother them.

Recently, the farming season has ended, and the village is full of people. There are also militiamen^[1]refers to a member of a local militia—typically a group of civilians organized to provide security and maintain order within their community. walking around at the entrance of the village, so there is no need to worry about human traffickers coming to take the children.

Wen Jiajia returned home, put down the basin and bucket, went to the backyard, opened the door of the chicken coop, and let the chickens out.

Then she went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables and threw some insect-infested leaves to the chickens and ducks to eat.

Yes, they still had two ducks at home.

Day by day, they were getting fatter. Wen Jiajia was reluctant to kill them, so she planned to do it later to add a big dish to the New Year’s Eve dinner.

The chickens were clucking as they searched for food. Wen Jiajia’s eyes followed them, scanning each one, wondering which one she should kill.

The chickens probably sensed their location and came running over. Wen Jiajia didn’t care since they weren’t going to be killed today anyway.

She went back to the kitchen to solidify the pig’s blood. She then put the bones in a jar outside to be eaten tomorrow. Now that the weather is cold, it wouldn’t be a big deal to leave the bones until tomorrow.

When eating meat today, of course, the pork belly should be made into braised pork.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were amazed by the braised pork that Wen Jiajia made last time. They were so delighted that they danced with joy and twisted their bodies while eating the meat, as if they had needles in their buttocks.

Since they loved it so much, Wen Jiajia decided to make it again.

Well, she likes to eat it too. After all, pigs these days are real food-fed pigs, and they are very delicious.

Just when Wen Jiajia finished steaming the rice and was about to scrape the pig skin, someone called her from the door.

“Who is it?” She put down the pork, wiped her hands on her apron, and walked towards the door.

“Excuse me, who are you?” Wen Jiajia asked doubtfully. She didn’t recognize the person at the door.

The man at the door said, “Wen Jiajia, right? I’m Xu Chaoming. The commune has your phone number. It’s from Wei Dai. He asked you to call back at 12 noon.”

Wen Jiajia’s eyes widened in shock.

Wow, it turns out you can still make phone calls. She thought she could only write letters or, at most, send a telegram.

Xu Chaoming left after he finished speaking.

Wen Jiajia frowned and thought about it, but couldn’t think of anything important that required Wei Dai to call and talk about it.

The rice in the wooden barrel was slowly cooking. Wen Jiajia picked it up, put it aside, and started to make the braised pork.

She had scalded the skin of the pork belly and scraped it carefully with a knife, so now there was no peculiar smell at all.

At this moment, she turned on the fire, cut the cleaned pork fat into pieces, and put them into the pot to boil. She boiled the fat residue until it turned yellow and small. After taking it out, she sprinkled some salt on it, making it a delicious dish.

Then she scooped the oil from the pot into the oil can next to the pot. The pork fat was really good, and it could make half a can of oil, which was enough for her family to use until the New Year.

After boiling the lard, she started making the braised pork.

She cut the pork belly into mahjong-sized pieces and poured them into the pot. Because there was still oil in the pot that wasn’t scooped out, the pork wouldn’t stick to the pot.

When the pork belly was fried to release oil, she removed the excess oil and set the meat aside. The remaining base oil was used to stir-fry the sugar color.

Wen Jiajia was a real fan of sweet braised pork, and she liked the local style the best. She chose to settle down in Shanghai in her previous life because the food there suited her taste so well.

After frying the braised pork until it turned sugar-colored, the surface seemed to be covered with caramel. Then she added soy sauce and cooking wine, poured in water and spices, covered the pot, and let it simmer slowly.

If the meat is good, the seasoning is good, and the cooking time is right, it’s hard to make braised pork taste bad.

The pot was bubbling, and the wonderful aroma of meat filled the whole kitchen.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan came back skipping and jumping, and when they reached the entrance of the main room, they exclaimed, “Wow,” then ran all the way to the kitchen and stood by the stove, sniffing with their noses.

“It smells good; it’s braised pork, right?” Wen Chun was a smart child and could still remember the taste of braised pork.

Wen Jiajia was cutting vegetables and nodded, saying, “Yes, it’s better than the braised pork last time.” After all, there wasn’t too much oil in the meat this time.

After being taught a lesson by Wen Jiajia, Wen Xuan stopped sucking her fingers and started sucking her lips. She swallowed her saliva while sucking, which made Wen Jiajia smile.

Soon, the braised pork was thoroughly stewed, and the sauce became extremely thick.

Wen Jiajia put the braised pork on a plate, fried some vegetables, and started to eat lunch.

As soon as the meat entered her mouth, Wen Jiajia, the cook, couldn’t help but admire it again and again.

“Good pork,” she thought.

The meat was soft yet slightly crispy. The skin was glutinous and a little chewy. The thick sauce was sweet at first, and then the rich, meaty aroma bloomed in her mouth.

Wen Jiajia preferred to eat braised pork with rice.

This time she deliberately left a little more sauce, scooped a few spoonfuls onto the white rice, added a piece of pork, mashed it with a spoon, and mixed it with the rice. The taste was absolutely amazing.

For a moment, she almost forgot to return the call.

___

Linhe City, Jiangxi Province.

Wei Dai looked at his watch every few seconds. When there were still 10 minutes left until 12 o’clock, he waited by the phone.

However, it was already 12:02.

Wen Jiajia felt quite guilty and ran all the way to the commune. Before she could even catch her breath, she asked Xu Chaoming to make a call.

“Hello, Wei Dai.”

“Jiajia!” Wei Dai couldn’t wait to answer the phone, and a smile appeared on his face when he heard her voice.

“Wei Dai, I miss you so much. Especially at night, sometimes I even dream about you.” Wen Jiajia, who had eaten for a few minutes, did not hesitate to say sweet words, “I don’t have a watch, so I’m late.”

Xu Zhaoming at the door: “…”

The house was not soundproof, and he got goosebumps when he heard it.

Wei Dai’s face turned red involuntarily. He looked up and saw the calm post office staff, and a rare expression of embarrassment appeared on his face.

“Ahem, I have something serious to discuss this time,” he said.

Wen Jiajia said, “I know, just tell me.” If it’s not a serious matter, who would make a long-distance call?

Wei Dai’s voice was extremely gentle: “Jiajia, can I apply for marriage with you?”

Wen Jiajia was stunned, but she was mentally prepared and reacted in less than a second: “Do we have to get married to have separate rooms?”

“Yes.”

“Well, let’s fight…”

Wei Dai: “Jiajia!”

Wen Jiajia’s voice jumped with joy: “Wei Dai, then please file a marriage report. Then take a few days to come back, and we will get a marriage certificate.”

___

The Great Cold arrives, and frost and snow fall. According to the solar terms, this is the coldest time of the year.

This day was the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, which was the original owner’s birthday and also Wen Jiajia’s birthday in her previous life. Because the birthdays were on the same day, Wen Jiajia remembered it very carefully.

When she got up in the morning, the first thing she did was kill a plump duck for herself and cook it in a casserole to make duck soup.

The second thing was to cook noodles.

Wen Jiajia has always liked mixed noodles, but in this bone-shivering cold weather, it was better to eat noodle soup.

When the weather gets cold, people don’t like to move much.