The Spirited Daughter-in-law and the Mountain Man

He nodded and picked up the large foot basin instead.

She took the now empty basket, which previously held the unwashed offal. The offal had now been transferred to the big foot basin.

After rinsing the basket with water, she took it back to the storage room in the front yard and then went to Aunt Zhang’s house to buy ten jin of garlic.

When she entered the Xiao family’s kitchen, she saw a big bowl of vegetables, three bowls of fried minced meat, and a large bowl of pig bone soup on the table. Even the rice was already prepared.

“Qingyue, it’s time for dinner,” Xiao Qinghe said to her with a gentle and pure smile.

She was momentarily captivated by his smile.

He looked at the bundle of garlic she had brought, “This is…”

“From the hundred jin, there were twenty jin of pig bones and eighty jin of pig intestines,” she said. “I plan to get up early tomorrow and fry all eighty jin of pig intestines, using the ten jin of garlic as a condiment. Then I’ll sell them at the town.”

“Oh.”

She walked to the stove, “Tonight, let’s have a plate of fried pig intestines for ourselves.”

Xiao Yuchuan, who was sitting in a chair by the table, said, “Wife, just because the pig offal has been washed and cleaned doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll taste good. There’s already so much fried pork tonight…”

“If I fry the pig intestines, you don’t have to eat them,” she said, picking up a cleaned piece of pig’s large intestine and starting to cut it on the cutting board.

“I’ll eat it even if it doesn’t taste good,” Xiao Yuchuan chuckled.

“You better not eat it,” she snorted. “Who cares if you eat it or not.”

“A good man doesn’t argue with a woman,” he said cheerfully, then glanced at the three big bowls of fried minced meat on the table and asked, “Wife, is all of this minced meat scraped off the pig bones?”

“Yes,” she nodded as she continued cutting the pig intestines. “These three bowls of meat add up to more than two jin, which is worth twenty-seven or eight cents. With the bones costing twenty cents, and getting a big pot of bone soup as well, it’s a good deal.”

Xiao Yuchuan was amazed, “So many scraps of meat can come off those bones after they’re boiled… Wife, you really know how to live frugally.”

“Nowhere near as thrifty as Third Brother,” she said casually. “Trying to extort even my five cents.”

“That’s because the money has your warmth on it, so I want it,” he said playfully. “One day, I’ll even ‘eat’ you alive without frying you first!”

She glared at him, “Fourth Brother is here, don’t talk nonsense.”

With his wife’s attitude, it seemed like Fourth Brother was of purer thoughts. Xiao Yuchuan saw Fourth Brother’s eyes glued to his wife, and he felt uncomfortable, “Fourth Brother isn’t necessarily a saint either.”

“He’s much better than you.”

“Don’t keep saying Fourth Brother is better than me,” Xiao Yuchuan said irritably, “I’m getting angry even without any fire.”

She agreed, “That’s what petty men are like.”

He immediately snapped, “Wife, who are you calling petty?”

“You!”

“Hmph, I’m not talking to you anymore!” He wanted to strangle her, to hug her tightly, but he had no strength in his arms and legs, so he just sat there glowering at her.

“You wish.” She cut the pig intestines into roughly 1.5 cm wide pieces and sliced some ginger.

Xiao Qinghe took the initiative to pull a few stalks of garlic from the bundle she had placed in the kitchen, washed them, and handed them to her.

After cutting the garlic as well, her ingredients were ready.