Back To The 80s-Chapter 414 - 424: Preparation_1

Gu Xiaobei and her sisters-in-law hadn’t been shopping for long, but they bought a lot of items, both big and small.

Women’s zeal for shopping doesn’t change with time or region. Even though Fang Jing kept saying during their shopping spree that the clothes styles were far less abundant than in Capital City, and the styles they found there were already popular in Capital City last year, she still didn’t hesitate to spend generously. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Gu Xiaobei bought herself a coarse woolen skirt, a large woolen coat for Wen Xiuqing, a red set for the two children, and a sweater for Lu Zhanguo.

Bai Xiaolan bought a white fluffy sweater. Fang Jing said the color was too plain for New Year, so she bought another one in red. She also bought a navy blue coat for Ji Xiangdong, and a sweater and leather shoes for Wen Xiuqing.

Fang Jing bought the most, purchasing clothes, pants, and shoes for herself. She also bought a full set of clothes for Yueyue, and even bought Lu Aiguo and Lu Songyuan each a set of woolen suits. These suits cost nearly a hundred yuan per set, quite a significant amount.

After finishing the preparation of the mutton, Lu Aiguo washed his hands and came in. Seeing his new clothes, he commented: "My wife really knows my heart. I said I wanted to buy a suit and look authoritative." He then tried his clothes on.

"Put it down right now. Your hands stink and will make the clothes smell," Fang Jing said, somewhat disgusted.

Lu Aiguo shook his head: "See, you treat me well, but as soon as you open your mouth, we’re like class enemies. Comrade Fang Jing, this isn’t good. Look at my sister-in-law. Despite being less feminine, she’s very thoughtful to my brother."

As Lu Aiguo spoke, he pointed towards the window. Bai Xiaolan was happily holding a coat behind Ji Xiangdong, measuring the shoulder width. Ji Xiangdong was raising his greasy hands and bending his legs to cooperate.

Fang Jing took a look and her face fell. She snatched the clothes from Lu Aiguo’s hands and said: "Go find whoever you think is good."

Lu Aiguo saw Gu Xiaobei sitting on the side and said with a smile that he couldn’t hide: "Fang Jing, you’re too much. Can’t you just take a joke?" After speaking, he turned around and left the room.

Fang Jing started folding clothes in front of the brick bed without another word.

Gu Xiaobei helped her fold the clothes and comforted: "Why get mad? New Year is coming, don’t make yourself unhappy."

Fang Jing’s eyes reddened, and she sniffled: "Every time he says something, he’s like ’look at so-and-so from so-and-so’s family.’ If he thinks others are better, he can go find them. Why bother with me?"

Gu Xiaobei sighed: "Aiguo just loves to talk. When he says good things about others, he’s just talking. In his heart, he still thinks you’re the best."

"Even so, who can stand it if he says it every day?" Fang Jing was angry, throwing the clothes onto the brick bed without folding them, and sat at the edge sulking.

Gu Xiaobei pulled the clothes over and folded them one by one, then said: "Don’t be angry anymore. We all know Aiguo’s character, so don’t be too picky. It harms the relationship between you two."

By lunchtime, these two were still at odds. Wen Xiuqing noticed something was off and reprimanded Lu Aiguo: "Can’t you act decent for a single day?"

Lu Aiguo ate quietly without retorting.

Lu Songyuan also chimed in: "Lu Aiguo, let me tell you, don’t go looking for trouble for no reason."

Lu Aiguo looked wronged, glanced at Fang Jing, and muttered: "I don’t even know what I did wrong?"

Lu Songyuan snorted: "Then you’re wrong in every way." He turned to Fang Jing and said: "Don’t stoop to this jackass’s level. If he dares to bully you, I’ll break his legs."

Lu Aiguo quietly ate his food without speaking, feeling pent up.

Fang Jing felt a little embarrassed. Thinking about how she might have been too emotional earlier, she smiled and said to Old Lu: "Dad, we’re fine."

Wen Xiuqing quickly added: "Aiguo just likes to joke around. Fang Jing, you should learn to put up with him more in the future. As a couple, it’s normal to have minor disagreements. And Aiguo, stop making sarcastic remarks all the time. You should be more considerate of Fang Jing."

Lu Aiguo glanced at Fang Jing: "Did you hear that? Be more considerate of me."

Fang Jing ignored him and busied herself with picking up food for Yueyue.

After eating, Ji Xiangdong butchered the lamb, portioning it out and hanging it on the rafters in the bathroom adjoining the kitchen. In winter, the bathroom turned into a storage room.

Wen Xiuqing cut the lamb tail fat into cubes and rendered it into tallow in a pot. Eventually, it would be poured into a jar. Taking out a piece while cooking would make the dish taste as if it had meat in it.

She threw some lamb fat to Dahuang and Dabing, the dogs. Just then, Ji Xiangdong saw her and quickly scooped up the fat into the trash bin with a shovel, cautioning: "Mom, dogs can’t eat lamb fat. If they do, they might get diarrhea, and it can be fatal."

Wen Xiuqing was startled. She had originally wanted to give the dogs something better for the New Year, but upon hearing this, she quickly cut off a piece of liver to compensate Dahuang and Dabing, lest she almost killed them.

Ji Xiangdong had Lu Aiguo wash the lungs’ blood in the yard, constantly rinsing them with clean water until the lungs turned white and had no color.

He entered the kitchen and mixed a piece of dough, then put it in water and washed it until the gluten came out. He then took the gluten out, let the dough water clear, poured off the top layer of clear water, and stirred the remaining dough into a batter. This was poured into the lung tube, where he slowly squeezed it into each lung leaf. After filling it up, he mixed a sauce of salt, oil, and chili powder, poured it in, and slowly squeezed it into each lung leaf. Finally, he tied the lung tube tightly with rope and put it in a pot to boil.

Lu Aiguo, Fang Jing, and Wen Xiuqing all curiously watched Ji Xiangdong’s novel cooking method. Wen Xiuqing said: "We usually just eat these lamb lungs when cooking mutton soup. We’ve never had it this way before."

Bai Xiaolan explained with a smile: "This dish is called flour lungs in Shule River area. There’s also another one called rice intestines; both are very delicious."

Gu Xiaobei had seen this before during her travels in her previous life. In the markets and night markets of X Province’s city, flour lungs and rice intestines were as famous as mutton skewers, and they tasted really good. Even those from inland who didn’t like mutton could eat a bowl of authentic flour lungs there.

Ji Xiangdong also cleaned the lamb skin in the snow in the middle of the yard, vigorously shaking it off. He used the snow to wash both sides of the lamb skin, then nailed it to the south-facing wall with large steel nails. He told Wen Xiuqing: "Once it dries, you can get someone to make it into a lamb skin mattress."

Lu Aiguo saw that Ji Xiangdong had single-handedly cleaned up an entire sheep in a very orderly manner. He clapped his hands and said to Fang Jing: "Fang Jing, go heat up the water. I’ll slaughter the chicken." He had completely forgotten the spat they had before lunch.

Fang Jing didn’t make a sound. Because the pot in the kitchen was boiling flour lungs, she carried two water pots into the west room to heat up the water.

The four roosters that Lu Songyuan bought were all adult roosters weighing over ten pounds.

Lu Aiguo confidently held the dagger that Ji Xiangdong used to slaughter the lamb and elegantly slit the chicken’s throat. He then casually threw the rooster onto the snowy ground. The rooster, with its last bit of consciousness, flapped and ran around in the snow, splattering blood everywhere.