Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 83: Pork Leg on Rice and the Handsome Xiao Zhong

Chapter 77

Pork Leg on Rice and the Handsome Xiao Zhong

Meoww~

Little Xiao Hui, the cat, approached its young mistress, who had just led the three guests into the main hall. It rubbed its head and body against the plump legs of the chubby girl.

The two young boys following her bent down to look at the cat with interest. They had friends who were the children of high-ranking officials in the capital and had heard that cats were expensive and very rare. Only the royal family kept cats, and they had even seen paintings of them. So, why did a family like the Tangs, who were just villagers, have a cat?

"Xiao Hui, where have you been hiding and napping?" Xiaolin bent down to pick up the little cat and walked over to her mother and beautiful aunt, who were sitting around her younger brother.

"Dear," Lian Hua called out to her husband, who had followed the little girl inside. Hui Ning stood up upon seeing him.

"Governor."

"No need for formalities, Miss Tang. Please, be at ease. Is that your youngest nephew?" Zhou Ming sat down next to his wife, looking at the chubby baby lying wide-eyed, clutching a small cloth doll that his mother had sewn for him.

"This is Tang Tianyu. He’ll be three months old soon,"

Hui Ning replied. She noticed the two boys walking in and looked around for her daughter, but the chubby girl and the little cat were nowhere to be seen. Just then, Xiaolin walked in, carrying a basin of water and a clean cloth, making Hui Ning laugh softly.

"Uncle, please wash your hands first," Xiaolin said, placing the wooden basin next to her tall uncle. Zhou Ming complied and then dried his hands with the cloth she handed him.

"By the way, these are my two sons, Zhou Minglu and Zhou Mingwang," Zhou Ming introduced his sons to their hosts. The two boys bowed respectfully to their elders, not minding that they were the sons of an official and the others were commoners.

"Greetings, Miss."

"Young masters, please make yourselves comfortable. I’ll go prepare more tea," Hui Ning said with a smile, then walked to the kitchen.

Xiaolin moved to sit next to her younger brother, while Xiao Hui went to its usual spot at the head of Tianyu’s bed.

"Xiaolin, do you have a pet cat?" Lian Hua asked with interest, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the small animal.

Xiaolin turned to look at Xiao Hui, who was busy licking its front paw, and then nodded.

"I found Xiao Hui in the forest,"

"Is it feral?" Zhou Minglu asked. His teacher had told him that wild animals often have instincts that make them view humans as enemies rather than friends.

"No, it’s not wild. But it’s very lazy. It eats and sleeps, and when it’s hungry, it gets very affectionate. But once it’s full, it ignores everyone," Xiaolin said, looking at Xiao Hui with some exasperation. Xiao Hui, sensing it was being talked about, walked over to nuzzle its little mistress.

"Hmph, you’re hungry, aren’t you?"

Meowww

At that moment, Hui Ning returned with a tray holding a teapot and some snacks. Xiaolin excused herself to prepare lunch for Xiao Hui. Although it wasn’t lunchtime yet, this round-bellied cat demanded food almost every four hours.

Xiaolin flaked some boiled fish and mixed it with rice for Xiao Hui. She only gave it tuna occasionally, as it wasn’t very good for cats despite being tasty. She preferred to feed it boiled freshwater fish daily.

The round-bellied cat circled her feet, meowing impatiently for its meal. Xiaolin felt a headache coming on.

"Alright, I’m making it, see? Why don’t you do it yourself?" she grumbled. Once the fish and rice were mixed, she poured it into Xiao Hui’s bowl.

"Next time, you can mix your own rice," she said, looking at the little cat with annoyance.

Xiao Hui paid no attention to the chubby human and happily devoured its meal. Living with humans was great: food was always provided, and it could sleep comfortably without any worries. No one had such a great life like Xiao Hui.

After washing her hands thoroughly, Xiaolin went to check on the factory. Her little employees were diligently washing the wild green onions, while her aunt and grandmother were drying the green onions and mixing them with pickling brine.

She was contemplating hiring people to make dried tofu curds. During the winter, when people lacked meat as provisions, tofu curds could be a good substitute. But first, she needed to buy a large amount of soybeans, as their own harvest wouldn’t be enough.

"Xiaolin."

"Oh, Father, weren’t you in the room with Uncle?" Xiaolin turned to see her father walking in carrying a wild boar, accompanied by Uncle Wen, one of the first employees to join the factory.

"Your uncle is resting. I can’t sit and watch over him all the time."

"Have you been in the forest long enough to catch such a big wild boar?" Xiaolin walked over to inspect the large wild boar lying lifeless on the ground.

"Quite a while. And you, were you out checking on the factory?"

"Yes, Father. By the way, Uncle Zhou is inside the house now."

"In that case, I’ll go greet our guest. A’Shui, could you start preparing the boar for roasting?"

"Sure," Wen Shui nodded.

"I’ll help you carry the straw, uncle," Xiaolin said with a cheerful smile.

Wen Shui chuckled softly, looking fondly at the little girl who not only hired him and his wife but also found small jobs for their son.

"Good girl, thank you."

The uncle and niece walked over to the side of the pigsty to gather straw. They then lit a fire to roast the boar, causing flames to engulf it. The children, having finished washing the wild green onions, ran over to watch with excitement.

"Father, why do you have to burn the boar?" A seven-year-old boy clinging to Wen Shui’s sleeve asked curiously.

"Wild boars have thick, tough bristles. Before we can cook them, we need to burn off the bristles," Wen Shui explained to his son. The other children nodded in understanding.

"Let’s make pork leg on rice!!" Xiaolin exclaimed, looking at the plump boar. It suddenly struck her that she’d been here for a year and had never thought of making it before.

"Pork leg on rice sounds delicious,"

Then came a deepening voice from behind. Xiaolin turned to see the Zhou brothers approaching. The children stepped back a bit, intimidated by the well-dressed boys, afraid they might be scolded as their parents had told them stories about nobles.

"Young Masters Zhou," Xiaolin blinked at the two brothers.

"Why so formal? You call our parents Uncle and Auntie, don’t you?" Zhou Mingwang said, his eyes fixed on Xiaolin’s chubby cheeks, which looked like steamed buns.

"But I’m not close with you."

"Call us big brothers, so we can become close quickly," Zhou Minglu added.

Xiaolin frowned. Were these people really trying to dictate how she should address them just because they felt like it? Hmph.

"Xiaolin, can we join you for the meal? The food at your house is always so good," a girl said softly.

"Of course! I’ll cook enough for everyone. By the way, have you seen my grandmother?" Xiaolin looked around. She hadn’t seen her grandmother since she got home.

"I heard she went to visit Granny Zhang Ren at the beach," Wen Shui said.

"Thank you, Uncle. I’ll go fetch her then."

"Are you going alone? Ask your father to go with you."

"I’ll go with her," Zhou Ming Lu offered, addressing Wen Shui. The older man looked at the young master, then turned to his niece, silently asking her. Xiaolin sighed softly and nodded.

"Alright, let’s go then," Xiaolin then led the way with the Zhou brothers following closely behind.

Xiaolin felt frustrated with her short legs; no matter how fast she walked, they could easily keep up. She didn’t like the strange looks they were giving her.

The chubby girl walked with a scowl until they reached the beach, where she saw her grandmother sitting and shelling mussels with her great-grandmother. She ran and hugged her grandmother from behind so tightly that Zhang Ruo nearly fell over.

"Ah! You little rascal, you scared me!" Zhang Ruo exclaimed, clutching her chest, thinking she had been hit by a plump little pig.

"I came to take you home, Grandmother," Xiaolin said, resting her chin on her grandmother’s shoulder, her round cheeks squishing against her.

"Why take me home? I was bored, so I came to find something to do. I wanted to help at the factory and Yao chased me away," Zhang Ruo replied.

"I want pork leg on rice. Can you come home and make it for me, Grandmother?"

"Pork leg on rice?" Zhang Ren, the great-grandmother, asked. Xiaolin nodded eagerly.

"It’s braised pork leg, served with boiled kale and pickled vegetables. It’s very delicious. Would Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandfather like some?" Zhang Ren chuckled softly.

"If Xiaolin shares some with me, I will eat it. And who are these young gentlemen?" Zhang Ren squinted, her vision not very clear, seeing the well-dressed boys approaching her shelter.

"Greetings, Elder," the two brothers said, bowing.

"Make yourselves at home, young masters. Did you come with Xiaolin?"

"Yes, ma’am," they replied.

Zhang Ruo bid farewell to Zhang Ren and took Xiaolin’s hand to lead her back home, with the Zhou brothers quietly following behind.

When they arrived home, they saw the men starting to butcher the boar, with Zhou Ming watching. The children were told to go play elsewhere as it wasn’t a sight for them. Xiaolin asked her father for a pork leg and then headed to the kitchen to prepare the aromatic spices for braising.

The pork leg was cut in half and fried to dry the skin, which would make the meat tender during braising. Next, she caramelized sugar to a deep color, then added water, the pork leg, and the aromatic spices. Xiaolin also added shiitake mushrooms.

"Season it with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and a little salt, Grandmother," Xiaolin instructed.

"And how long does it need to braise?" Zhang Ruo asked, picking up the seasonings and adding them to the pot.

"Almost six hours."

"What!? So we won’t get to eat until the evening?" Zhang Ruo turned to look at her chubby granddaughter, who was covering her mouth and giggling behind her.

"If you want it to be more flavorful, you can leave it overnight and eat it tomorrow morning."

"You little rascal, why does this braised pork take so long? People are waiting to eat, and your braised pork leg takes almost half a day," the elderly woman sighed. There were plenty of people waiting outside, but the braised pork leg would take until evening to be ready.

"Good things take time, Grandmother. In the meantime, we can eat sticky rice with grilled pork, how about that?"

"I haven’t soaked any sticky rice."

"We can have it with steamed rice then," the chubby girl said, grabbing a bowl and mixing soy sauce with oyster sauce, then crushing some garlic, coriander roots, and pepper into it before taking it outside.

"Father, marinate the pork neck and then grill it," she said, handing the bowl of marinade to her father. Tianrong accepted it with a nod.

"And the braised pork leg?"

"It’ll be ready by evening."

The young man nodded, marinating the pork and setting it aside before starting a fire to grill it. He then shooed his daughter away to play. Xiaolin, not knowing what else to do, walked over to Xiao Zhong, who was lying under a large tree chewing on grass.

"Xiao Zhonggg!"

The long-haired cow looked up at the sound of its name and snorted, thinking to itself that its little mistress had come to bother it again. Xiaolin laughed at the cow’s reaction and lay down to hug it, scratching its neck.

"The cool Xiao Zhong does nothing but sleep. Can you take me on a walk so I can have muscles and all that? Come on!" The chubby girl climbed onto the cow’s back. If Xiao Zhong could speak, it would probably complain until it was hoarse.

"Xiao Zhong, get up!"

PUFF!

Snorting, the cow slowly stood up and began to walk. Xiaolin squealed in excitement but enjoyed the ride. The other children, hearing her, ran over to see. They shouted in amazement when they saw Xiaolin riding the long-haired cow, attracting the attention of the Zhou brothers, who came over to watch.

"What kind of cow is that? Why does it have such long hair?" Zhou Minglu asked, frowning as he looked at the cow.

"Big brother, he looks amazing! I like him a lot!" Zhou Mingwang tugged at his brother’s sleeve excitedly.

Xiaolin laughed cheerfully, continuously praising Xiao Zhong. The cow, proud of the compliments, walked with its head held high. Encouraged by the children’s cheers and applause, it paraded around tirelessly.

"Handsome Xiao Zhong, hehe," Xiaolin said, patting the cow’s neck.

Moooo

I’m the most handsome!

"Xiao Zhong, can you take me home?" The intelligent cow changed direction, heading toward the small house with smoke rising from its chimney.

The proud cow strutted past the Zhou brothers without glancing at them. Zhou Ming also turned to watch, eyes wide at the sight of the long-haired cow with beautiful horns carrying its plump little owner.

"Does Xiao Zhong really let you ride on his back?" Tianrong asked his daughter, seeing her beaming from the cow’s back.

"Of course, good Xiao Zhong always lets me ride on his back. Right, Xiao Zhong?"

Moooo

"Hehe, you’re the best,"

Xiaolin said, laying down and hugging the cow’s neck. The cow stood contentedly, licking its nose, oblivious to the three Zhou men watching it.

"What kind of cow is this, Tianrong? It’s so majestic and unique," Zhou Ming asked, wanting to pet the long hair but afraid of being gored, so he kept his distance with his sons.

"Xiaolin found him in the forest last year. He seems to be a wild cow that wandered out. It’s the first time I’ve seen a long-haired cow myself," Tianrong explained.

"May I pet him, Xiaolin?"

"Of course, Uncle. Xiao Zhong, be good and let Uncle pet you," Xiaolin said, scratching the cow’s chin, which it loved.

The cow raised its head in pleasure. The chubby girl nodded at her tall uncle. Zhou Ming approached slowly and reached out to stroke the cow’s back. Its long hair was as soft and smooth as Xiao Hui’s fur, the little cat that had previously snuggled up to him.

"His fur is very soft," Zhou Ming remarked.

"Of course! It’s not only soft but also smells really nice because Xiao Zhong is a clean cow who gets bathed every week," Xiaolin said, smiling brightly at her tall uncle.

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