Chapter Seventy-Eight

Chapter Seventy-Eight

She opened her mouth in surprise; after being here for so long, this was the first time she had seen beef.

In an instant, Xu Yuqing's mind flashed with images of braised beef noodles, sour cabbage beef noodles, and pickled pepper beef noodles...

Suddenly, she felt a surge of excitement!

With an excited heart and trembling hands, Xu Yuqing happily squinted her eyes. However, to prepare these beef dishes, she needed to take care of other things first.

No rush.

She dragged the outermost vegetables to the edge of the truck bed, just as the driver arrived and effortlessly lifted them.

Xu Yuqing hadn't even caught her breath when she hurriedly went back to drag more out.

Among the few people here, apart from her, none were weak. Even Lin Qiqi, the smallest in stature, could easily carry a fifty-pound bag of flour.

Compared to her, who was exhausted just dragging them out... Xu Yuqing clenched her fists; she couldn't rely on physical strength, but she could rely on her skills!

She was determined to win everyone over!

The three of them took turns carrying the load, and soon only the meat was left. Xu Yuqing really couldn't handle the meat anymore, so she jumped off the truck and followed Gao Min inside.

Next to the kitchen, there was a room where two new shelves had been added. At that moment, the perishable flour was stacked on these shelves.

In addition, there were several other vegetables, which surprised Xu Yuqing.

There were fresh carrots, though it was clear they had been stored for some time. Compared to the ones in their cellar at home, these were like fresh young ones.

Not only that, but there were also many tomatoes and onions!

Xu Yuqing was genuinely delighted. She circled around twice, feeling like laughing out loud, but ultimately held back.

She didn't want others to think she was crazy.

"Yuqing!"

Hearing the call, Xu Yuqing snapped back to reality, responded, and quickly walked outside.

"What is it?"

"Captain Zhang has something to say," Gao Min said, delivering the instruction. Xu Yuqing was in charge, so she had to be called.

Even if Sister Hong were here, she would still be called.

Xu Yuqing looked at Captain Zhang, who was the driver. He seemed reserved and distant. "Hello, Captain Zhang, I'm Xu Yuqing."

"Hello, Comrade Xu. The pig organs were difficult to transport and drew attention, so they were all given to the Military District cafeteria, which will deliver them later."

Captain Zhang spoke calmly, received Xu Yuqing's acknowledgment, politely greeted her, and then drove away.

Just then, Zhang Xiuhong and the others returned.

From a distance, they looked like monsters, with uneven bundles of firewood tied together, one in front and one behind, large and thick, almost obscuring their feet. Xu Yuqing turned around and was startled by the strange objects approaching!

Gao Min, however, was familiar with Zhang Xiuhong's style. Seeing the moving pile of firewood, she hurried to help.

Lin Qiqi didn't lag behind either. Together, they helped Zhang Xiuhong carry the load and walked away, leaving the two male soldiers to exchange a pained glance before continuing forward.

Back in the courtyard, Xu Yuqing also lent a hand. "This is too much!" she exclaimed in surprise.

One pile of firewood was tightly packed with some unknown grass, making it extremely dense. One pile alone could last a long time.

However, Xu Yuqing underestimated the amount of firewood needed here.

Every day from then on, they had to go up the mountain to chop wood, causing Liu Daren and Zhang Heping immense pain.

With the firewood ready, they could start working.

Xu Yuqing began by heating up the pot!

She heated the pot over a fierce flame and then cut two whole pigs into pieces, each with a generous layer of fat. With swift movements, she sliced a beautiful piece of pork fat.

Gao Min watched Xu Yuqing curiously. Wasn't she supposed to render the fat? Why did she only cut such a small piece?

Even Liu Daren and the others became curious. With no immediate tasks, they followed Xu Yuqing's actions, approaching the stove. Zhang Xiuhong sighed, hesitated for a moment, and finally joined them.

Xu Yuqing divided the palm-sized piece of pork fat into four roughly equal parts and set them aside. In the crowded kitchen, she asked Liu Daren and Zhang Heping to help stoke the fire.

She cleaned four iron pots, dried them, and placed the fatty pieces in them. Using a spatula, she pressed the fatty pieces against the hot surface, and soon the lard started to render.

Xu Yuqing moved swiftly, even using both spatulas simultaneously due to the proximity of the stoves.

Zhang Xiuhong understood and approached to help with the remaining two pots, mimicking Xu Yuqing's method. However, she couldn't manage two pots at once, and the fatty pieces kept slipping away from the spatula.

At this point, Lin Qiqi also came to help.

With three people handling four pots, Xu Yuqing smiled faintly, spreading the fatty pieces across the pots. The high heat made the pots absorb the oil, making them easier to use later.

As the fatty pieces shrank, Xu Yuqing stopped and called Liu Daren and Zhang Heping to stop the fire.

"That's enough. Let's go deal with the meat. We can clean these pots later."

"Alright!"

Gao Min said excitedly, inhaling deeply. The aroma of the rendered lard was truly captivating.

The group returned to the courtyard.

The gate was tightly shut. In the center of the yard stood two pigs and half a cow, which was quite shocking. Even though they no longer lacked meat after joining the military, they had never seen so much at once!

And there was even beef.

Several people present had never tasted beef before.

Xu Yuqing stepped forward. To avoid getting muddy, Commander Zhang laid down a layer of dry straw underneath before carrying the pig inside.

She held the knife and began skillfully maneuvering it around the pig.

First, she made sausages, leaving the rest of the meat for later processing. She cut off the hind legs, separating the hooves. With two pigs, four legs were neatly stacked in an enamel basin, trembling slightly.

Besides sausages, there was also pork belly, which would be used for making cured meat.

With a sharp knife, she swiftly sliced the pork belly into strips, dropping them into the enamel basin as easily as cutting tofu.

Zhang Heping watched Xu Yuqing's movements in amazement. "Goodness! How did you manage that? It’s like cutting tofu!" Usually, she didn’t seem very strong, but with a knife in hand, her demeanor changed entirely.

Xu Yuqing didn't respond, only giving a mysterious smile. The two pigs were easy to handle; she finished cutting them in no time. "Min Min, could you help by boiling some water and letting it cool for washing the meat?"

Min Min quickly agreed and hurried to boil the water. Lin Qiqi, curious, asked, "Yuqing, why do we need to boil water and let it cool? Can't we just use cold water?"

Xu Yuqing shook her head. "There's a lot of meat, and we can only air-dry it. Washing it with raw water might cause mold. It's safer to use boiled water."

Lin Qiqi nodded in understanding, admiring Xu Yuqing.

After cutting the meat, Xu Yuqing divided the remaining pieces into large chunks. Together, they moved everything inside, including the straw, which she didn't want to discard as it could be used to clean the racks.

To prevent the racks from becoming greasy and smelly in hot weather, they carefully arranged the meat. They then began preparing for the next step. It was already nearly eleven o'clock, yet the intestines hadn't arrived. Xu Yuqing frowned and started handling the meat instead.

The water heated up quickly, and the drying room was already warm. A few more logs brought it to a boil. Min Min poured out the hot water, which cooled rapidly due to the cold wind.

The girls began washing the meat while Liu Daren and Zhang Heping each took a knife to start slicing.

For the sausages, the meat needed to maintain its texture, so it couldn't be minced entirely. Instead, it was cut into strips and small pieces, mixed with minced meat.

As for the cured meat, Xu Yuqing took the cleaned pork belly and, with everyone's help, hung it on a bamboo pole mounted on the wall, using straw to secure it, allowing it to dry.

Fortunately, it wasn't too cold today; otherwise, the moisture would have frozen before evaporating.

Once done, Xu Yuqing prepared the marinade.

She went to the small room beside the kitchen and fetched the seasonings from the shelves: two bags of salt, two bags of vinegar, soy sauce, rice wine, pepper, and more.

She placed the seasonings near the stove, keeping the extras on the shelves.

Pouring soy sauce and dark soy sauce into a basin, she added salt and sugar, mixing thoroughly. Satisfied with the aroma, she nodded.

Adding star anise, she carried the enamel basin outside, holding a bottle of liquor in her other hand, which she had specifically instructed Old Fang to get.

The meat was almost dry. Xu Yuqing took it down, poured liquor over it, rubbed it all over, and placed it in the enamel basin to marinate.

Zhang Xiuhong silently observed Xu Yuqing's actions, helping quietly behind. Seeing Xu Yuqing's skilled movements, she lowered her eyes, feeling a wave of guilt.

Xu Yuqing didn't notice her, focused on massaging the meat. In the biting cold, her hands felt numb from touching the icy meat.

Enduring the pain, she mixed everything evenly. When finished, she breathed a sigh of relief.

But there was still the sausage meat to mix. She sighed, glancing at her red fingers, longing for a world with electric heaters.

Zhang Xiuhong noticed this and approached eagerly. "I've learned how to do it! Let me take over from here!"

Xu Yuqing was slightly startled, seeing the serious expression but eager eyes of Zhang Xiuhong. Her heart warmed. "Sure."

Meanwhile, after cleaning the meat, Min Min and Lin Qiqi joined in, helping to slice the meat. With four people working together, they finished quickly.

Xu Yuqing walked over and nodded approvingly. "You all did a great job; it will definitely taste delicious!"

Her generous praise surprised the others, who blushed despite their thoughts that slicing meat wasn't something worth praising. Nonetheless, their faces turned red.

Xu Yuqing squatted down with Zhang Xiuhong. "This meat is three parts fat and seven parts lean. Wait a moment, I'll get the seasonings!"

She ran inside to fetch the seasonings.

This time, she first brought out sugar, found the minced fat, and poured the sugar in. "Alright! Mix it well!"

The others looked shocked at the amount of sugar. So much sugar with this meat... Could it be edible?

Only Zhang Xiuhong remained silent, nodding seriously and extending her clean hands to mix it thoroughly.