The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 256: Pork Cracklings

Tong Huaqiong, Mrs. Zhao, and Aunt Qin were busy in the kitchen.

They started by rendering the pig lard.

Mrs. Zhao was very quick with her work, taking the lead in the kitchen.

Aunt Qin sat by the stove, maintaining the fire, and soon the pig lard was sizzling, filling the entire courtyard with a tempting aroma.

Mrs. Zhao sniffed and wondered if it was her imagination, but she felt that her in-law’s pig lard smelled better than what she usually rendered at home.

Mrs. Zhao said, "Pigs that eat corn are indeed different; even the lard smells better than what we usually render."

Aunt Qin nodded and said, "I thought it was just me who felt that way. Since we both noticed, this pig lard is indeed aromatic. But even so, I wouldn’t be willing to use corn to feed pigs."

Mrs. Zhao said, "Isn’t that the truth, only my in-law would be willing."

Tong Huaqiong thought that the pig was castrated successfully, removing any rank odor.

Soon, the pig lard was rendered, and Mrs. Zhao scooped out the cracklings, drained the oil, and placed them into a clean bowl.

In the countryside, pig cracklings were a great treat, used for dumplings, buns, stew, or even as snacks for children in some households.

In these times of scarcity, ordinary families could not resist the allure of pig cracklings.

Man Er, Yaozu, and Liu Yanhong, drawn by the aroma, peeked into the kitchen and drooled over the large bowl of cracklings.

The three children, unable to resist the heat, grabbed the cracklings, blowing on them as they ate.

Tong Huaqiong served two bowls and handed them to Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin.

"I’ll just have a piece to savor."

"Leave it for Taohua and the others."

Aunt Qin and Mrs. Zhao repeatedly refused.

In the village, who would be willing to give away a large bowl of cracklings as a gift?

Such good cracklings should be savored slowly.

Tong Huaqiong said, "You two help me with the cooking, and you can’t even have a bowl of cracklings? There’s plenty here."

Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin accepted the bowls.

Tong Huaqiong then asked Man Er to bring some sugar, pouring it onto a dish for Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin to dip the cracklings in.

Pig cracklings dipped in sugar were something that Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin thought only nobles in Shengjing could enjoy.

Thanks to Tong Huaqiong, they were able to taste it too.

If it were modern times, Tong Huaqiong would not dare let people eat cracklings dipped in sugar, mindful of stable blood sugar and lipids.

Only in these times, when ordinary folks could only eat meat a few times a year, could she let Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin eat like this as a way to supplement their diet.

Tong Huaqiong prepared two more bowls for Yaozu to take to the villagers helping with the pig slaughter.

Tong Huaqiong had one piece but dared not eat more, despite loving cracklings.

Unlike Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin, Tong Huaqiong ate meat every day, had plenty of richness in her diet, and feared developing high blood lipids.

Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin ate half a bowl and stopped, planning to take the rest home for dumplings.

"These cracklings are excellent!"

Mrs. Han followed the aroma of the cracklings into the kitchen.

Startling Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin into standing up.

The mother of the County Magistrate, what status she had, yet she entered a rural earth stove kitchen?

The golden cracklings in the bowl glistened with an oily sheen, looking incredibly tempting.

Mrs. Han couldn’t take her eyes off them.

Now that the household conditions were better, as long as she wanted, her son would get them for her, but she hadn’t tasted cracklings in a long time.

Tong Huaqiong picked up the cracklings and handed them to Mrs. Han, saying, "Try some, fresh from the pot, still hot."

Mrs. Han didn’t stand on ceremony, taking the bowl and sitting on a stool by the stove to eat.

Startling Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin as they exchanged glances.

"Truly delicious." Mrs. Han said, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief as oil dripped from her lips.

"Grandma, if you want, Dad can have someone render plenty for you." Liu Yanhong said.

Mrs. Han smiled and said, "You wouldn’t know the hardships your father faced when he was young. Just having cracklings was a blessing. When you were about two years older, I borrowed money one New Year’s to buy a pound of lard for rendering cracklings for dumplings, but a neighbor’s cat got it, and your dad cried like anything."

These words brought Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin closer.

Mrs. Zhao couldn’t help asking, "Lord Liu came from tough times too?"

Mrs. Han opened up and said, "His father died young, and I raised him in the village. Our land was taken by the clan, so I survived by washing clothes and doing housework to support him, times were hard."

Aunt Qin tutted and sighed, surprised that Lord Liu came from such hardship, she remarked, "Coming from such tough origins, it’s not easy that Lord Liu could study so well."

Speaking of her son’s studies, Mrs. Han was very proud.

Among the Liu family, only her son had made it in studies.

Mrs. Zhao took the opportunity to say, "No wonder Lord Liu is so concerned about our crops. He often comes to the fields to check on farming matters, and sometimes he chats with us about farm work. Turns out Lord Liu came from a farming family too."

Tong Huaqiong said, "That’s because his mother educated him well."

Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin nodded, praising Mrs. Han’s good education.

Praise never goes out of style, and Mrs. Han’s stern face broke into a smile at these words.

As she thought of her County Magistrate son, Mrs. Han’s thoughts turned to Gu Jingzhe in the courtyard, thinking that with Tong Dajiao’s nature, the young son of the Gu family would surely achieve similar success.

Mrs. Han looked over into the courtyard.

Gu Jingzhe had finished cutting intestines and meat and continued to chop vegetables.

Lu Zhaozhao stood at the cutting board, smiling brightly at Gu Jingzhe.

Gu Jingzhe was quite embarrassed by the smile.

"My brother gave you a box of books, I’ve brought it for you." Lu Zhaozhao said.

Gu Jingzhe thanked her.

"Brother asked me to tell you that Wanliu Academy is enrolling students and waiving part of the tuition. Do you want to apply? Wanliu Academy’s credentials are better than the private school in town." Lu Zhaozhao said.

Gu Jingzhe politely declined, "I’ll consider it after I pass the next year’s Scholar exam."

"Do you want these vegetables washed?" Lu Zhaozhao pointed to the vegetables beside Gu Jingzhe, rolling up her sleeves to help.

"I’ll do it, you don’t have to." Gu Jingzhe pulled the bowl of vegetables towards himself.

Gu Jingzhe thought, how could the young lady of the Lu family do chores in the Gu family?

Mrs. Han watched Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao chat, her face full of an aunt’s grin.

They were such a fitting pair!

Tong Huaqiong straightened up, naturally seeing the two people in the courtyard.

Ah, fate cannot be blocked, it simply cannot!

Happy, Mrs. Han rolled up her sleeves to help with cooking.

Mrs. Zhao and Aunt Qin waved their hands repeatedly.

Mrs. Han said, "What’s the big deal, it’s not like I haven’t done this before."

So she sat beside Tong Huaqiong, kneading dough to make steamed buns.

Even though so many years had passed since she’d last dipped her fingers in water, Mrs. Han’s prior skills remained, deftly shaping buns, placing them in the steamer once the water boiled.

With an extra pair of hands at work, the kitchen’s pace quickened.

Very soon, two large pots of stew made with pig’s blood and offal were prepared.

Tong Huaqiong also made buns with the pig cracklings as filling.

With large bowls of meat stew and buns, everyone ate joyously.

"The pork from Dashi’s household tastes better than what we usually eat, did you notice?" The village chief asked contentedly while eating a large bowl filled with meat stew.

"Indeed, it tastes better, and look at Aunt Tong’s skills, even her pastries are tastier than those from the Crispy Food Garden, let alone her cooking." remarked a young laborer.

"No, when Aunt Tong hosted the plaque ceremony, we had the same large pot dish, but the store-bought pork didn’t taste this good." The village chief didn’t think this could be explained by just attributing it to Tong Huaqiong’s skills.

Hearing the village chief’s words, everyone carefully tasted it and indeed found it to be so.

Today, the Gu family’s large-pot dish was distinctly more aromatic and flavorful.

Thus, everyone concluded that Tong Huaqiong’s pigs were better, a result of being fed corn.