Chapter 9: Li Rui is Back

Three maternal aunts and their cousins rushed off, leaving only the four nephews and their uncle in the main hall.

“What is it?” the eldest uncle spoke.

“Was your mother bullied by that family?” the youngest uncle anxiously asked.

Su Yin quickly spoke, lest her uncles misunderstand, “No. Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, Youngest Uncle, I went to the county town the day before yesterday and met a merchant from Yuzhou. The merchant said that the Yunzhou area is in chaos, and many refugees are heading towards our Meizhou. These refugees rob and kill anyone they see; they’re starving mad, and several villages have reportedly been massacred.”

“From what the merchant said, they’re likely to soon reach our Dongtu County. We need to prepare.”

“What did your grandfather and grandmother say?” Eldest Uncle Yang Dashan asked.

Su Yin lowered her head dejectedly, “Grandfather and Grandmother don’t believe me. They never believe me.”

The three uncles, thinking of the Su family’s behavior, didn’t doubt her at all.

“Mother was afraid that the uncles didn’t know, so she asked me to inform you and prepare.”

The news was so sudden that the three uncles were at a loss.

Su Yin continued, “This matter is too serious, and I can’t guarantee that the merchant’s words are true. Uncles, if you have time, you can go to the town and ask those traveling merchants; perhaps you can find out more clearly.”

“This is too sudden; we haven’t heard anything about it,” the second uncle said solemnly.

“Yes, it’s too sudden.”

The eldest uncle spoke, “What did your mother say?”

“She’ll follow the uncles’ decision,” Su Yin added. “The refugees haven’t arrived yet; we still have time. Seven days from now, regardless of the uncles’ decision, please send someone to inform me.”

The purpose of her visit today was to let her uncles’ family digest the news and gradually accept it.

Once Li Rui’s family returned and corroborated her story, her uncles’ family would likely make a decision.

“Mm.”

The third aunt asked Su Yin to stay for dinner, but she refused; she had to go back.

After she left, the three uncles called their wives and told them what Su Yin had said.

The three aunts’ faces changed drastically.

“It can’t be that serious! Maybe Xiaoyin heard wrong.”

If what their niece said was true, they would have to leave.

Leaving their home and land was something no one wanted to do in this era, unless absolutely necessary.

“Yes! If the refugees are really that fierce, why haven’t we heard anything outside?”

Everyone in the main hall was unwilling to believe the news.

The second aunt spoke, “Even if the refugees come, if our village unites, we can just block them outside. They wouldn’t dare to force their way in.”

The eldest uncle disagreed. He had heard of the brutality of people driven to desperation by hunger; they would do anything.

On her way back from her uncles’ house, since it was still early, she went to town and headed straight for the pork stall.

She couldn’t afford meat that day, but now she had the money.

Su Yin felt happy.

The stall owner didn’t recognize Su Yin and asked as usual, “Miss, would you like some meat? Our pork is the most reasonably priced in town.”

Su Yin looked at the meat on the chopping block; most of it was lean, with very little fat. In this era, fatty meat was the most popular, and lean meat was less favored.

“Sir, how much is it?”

“Thirty-five wen per jin.”

“Would you like some?”

“I’ll take all of it. Can you give me a discount?”

The stall owner was surprised, “You want all of it?”

“Yes.”

The stall owner happily weighed it, “Fifty-six jin, a total of one tael, eight qian, and forty-eight wen.”

Su Yin paid promptly and put the meat on her cart.

“Sir, I also need two front legs and thirty jin of fatty meat.”

“I’ll save them for you; you can come and get them tomorrow. But since I’m saving the meat for you, you’ll need to pay a deposit, not much, just two or three qian.” The stall owner seemed afraid she would mind and spoke cautiously.

“No problem.” Su Yin gave two qian as a deposit and took the pork home.

The next morning, Su Yin, carrying a backpack and shredded silver, went to town early.

The stall owner greeted her with a smile upon seeing her.

“I’ve saved the meat for you, two front legs, and the best fatty meat.”

The stall owner took the meat from the basket behind the stall and neatly placed it in her backpack.

Su Yin paid, and as she turned, she saw her uncle Su Xiaoyong and aunt Lu Shi standing across the street.

She quickly hid behind a camphor tree behind the stall owner to avoid them.

Su Xiaoyong noticed his wife’s gaze and casually asked, “What are you looking at?”

Lu Shi peered into the alley across the street, “I just thought I saw Su Yin.”

Su Xiaoyong followed her gaze but saw nothing.

“You must have been mistaken. That girl is still recovering at her uncle’s house; she wouldn’t be at the market. Let’s hurry up and buy things. Whether or not you can pass the exam this time depends on this.”

Mentioning the important matter, Lu Shi forgot about the person who looked like Su Yin.

After her uncle and aunt left, Su Yin came out from behind the tree and quickly left the market, lest she encounter the Su family again.

Back on the mountain, Su Yin’s first priority was rendering lard. She cut the thirty jin of fatty meat into uniform pieces and began to render the fat.

In a short time, the forest was filled with the aroma of lard.

After rendering all the fatty meat, she divided it into two earthenware jars, adding a little salt to prevent spoilage.

The leftover cracklings, which Su Yin would have avoided in the past, were irresistible to this body.

At noon, she ate stir-fried cracklings with greens and a bowl of millet rice. It was delicious, and Su Yin was very satisfied.

After fifteen years of being reborn in the Great Yong Dynasty, this was the first time Su Yin had eaten so satisfyingly.

In the afternoon, Su Yin didn’t rest; she started making jerky.

She cut the meat into uniform finger-sized strips, blanched it once to remove blood and impurities, rinsed it again to further remove blood, and then marinated it with salt and other seasonings for an hour.

Next was frying and drying. She didn’t have enough oil to fry it.

Oil was precious. Even though she unexpectedly obtained two hundred taels of silver, she had spent a lot buying supplies these days, leaving only sixty taels as a reserve, just in case.

Without frying, she could only air-dry it, but she had limited time, so she had to artificially speed up the drying process by smoking it over a fire.

Two days later, Li Rui would return to the village to deliver the news.

Su Yin began making flatbreads. Flatbreads were easy to make: mix the flour, add some salt, spread the dough, and bake it until dry. One flatbread was complete.

These flatbreads were easy to eat and store well.

In the Great Yong Dynasty, these flatbreads were often eaten by travelers, with variations in ingredients and flour.

Su Yin found a patch of wild chives in a secluded spot, washed them, chopped them, and kneaded them into the dough, making fragrant chive flatbreads.

Su Baozhu, under her mother’s protection, often came up the mountain to help.

That day, Su Baozhu came up the mountain with news.

Li Rui was back!