Chapter 59: Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens

  Qin Yu helplessly shook his head and left the toilet. The smell here was not good either, Qin Yu didn't have that hobby to stay here.

  Arriving at the study, Qin Yu called over a maid and had her bring back pens, ink, and several books to his bedroom.

  At this time, Cheng Lingyun was lying on the bed, occasionally revealing a sweet smile. When Qin Yu entered the room, Cheng Lingyun suddenly froze, hastily got up and excitedly shouted, "Husband."

  But it was something that Cheng Lingyun had never thought of, Qin Yu would come back so soon.

  "Just lie down and don't move." Qin Yu smiled and said, then came to the bedside and sat down beside Cheng Lingyun, gently putting Cheng Lingyun on the bed.

  Cheng Lingyun smiled sweetly and asked, "Husband, are you done so quickly?"

  "It's early, but there's no rush, we just got married and haven't even had our honeymoon yet, what's the hurry? Besides, it's the same here." Qin Yu gently scratched Cheng Lingyun's small nose and said with a smile.

  The maid put away the books and writing materials and withdrew with a knowing smile, for if she didn't even have this much discernment, she wouldn't be a good maid.

  "Husband, the matter of printing books is a big deal, I don't want to delay you personally." Cheng Lingyun was moved even though she didn't understand what "honeymoon" meant, and immediately opened her mouth to advise.

  "What's the delay, in my opinion, it's only a delay if you've been neglected, and besides, I've already prepared dozens of books, enough to last for a while, no problem." Qin Yu smiled nonchalantly and began to explain.

  Cheng Lingyun heard this and finally felt at ease. After all, Cheng Lingyun still liked Qin Yu to accompany her more often. She then said softly, "Husband, that's great."

  Qin Yu leaned in and kissed Cheng Lingyun's small mouth, then smiled and said, "I have to be good to you, after all, you're my wife."

  "Uh-huh." Cheng Lingyun replied sweetly.

  Qin Yu smiled and took off his shoes, getting into bed beside Cheng Lingyun. He turned sideways and said in a low voice, "I don't know how Second Uncle and Third Uncle are doing? Yesterday they drank quite a bit and got drunk before it was even over."

  Cheng Lingyun's body was very sensitive, and Qin Yu's breath on her face made her tremble. Soon, a faint blush crept up her small cheeks, and she asked in a trembling voice, "Husband, did Third Brother also drink wine?"

  "Yes, I didn't expect it. This young man is quite capable of holding his liquor, far more than my second uncle." Qin Yu said with a sigh.

  "Husband," Cheng Lingyun called out softly, "Father didn't allow Third Brother to drink wine, but yesterday was a special case, so let's just forget about it. In the future, husband, you mustn't give Third Brother any more wine."

  "Alright, I've got it." Qin Yu nodded slightly after a brief moment of stunned silence, but in his heart he was thinking strangely, "Not inviting me to drink? Does that mean this kid doesn't know how to drink at all? I'm afraid this little guy has secretly drunk who-knows-how-much alcohol already."

  Qin Yu was talking about Cheng Lingyi's brothers, while on the other side, Cheng Huiliang and Cheng Huaibing were sleeping soundly in their quarters until noon, due to drinking too much wine for Qin Yu yesterday.

  As soon as Cheng Huaiyi woke up, the first thing he did was to find Cheng Huaimo and Cheng Hualiang. Then he shouted loudly, "Big brother, second brother, you guys have fooled me so badly."

  But it was only yesterday that Cheng Huai Bi knew that Qing Feng Ju's dishes were fragrant and the wine was good to drink, but neither Cheng Hua Liang nor Cheng Hua Mo told him, how could Cheng Huai Bi not be angry?

  Cheng Huai and Cheng Huailiang burst out laughing, one on each side of him, patted Cheng Huaibao's shoulder, and heard Cheng Huai let out a long sigh. "Old three, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but you're too young, and this wine has such a high alcohol content. If old dad finds out you've been drinking, he'll skin you alive."

  Cheng Huaiyi let out a few discontented grunts, saying that Cheng Huaiyi was only fourteen this year. Cheng Yaoguang really didn't make him drink wine, fearing it would harm his body. However, Cheng Huaiyi often secretly drank wine and for this reason hadn't been spared from Cheng Yaoguang's beatings. Even the two of them, Cheng Huaixian and Cheng Huailiang, had been like that since they were young.

  Cheng Huailiang saw Cheng Huaibi was still angry, and explained with a heavy heart, "Old three, don't take it to heart. As your older brother, how could I not think of you? Old dad didn't call you over, if you came, old dad would definitely be suspicious. If old dad found out you came here to drink, then you won't be able to come in the future."

  "It doesn't matter now, Lingyun and Yunfei are already married. You're still afraid of not having an excuse? If you want to drink, just say come see your sister. Are you still worried about not having wine or food? As a brother, it's all for your own good, understand?"

  "This is more like it." Cheng Huaiyi's eyes lit up after hearing Cheng Hualiang's explanation, and he nodded in satisfaction.

  Qin Yu would definitely roll his eyes if he heard these three brothers' conversation, "Damn it, they're treating this place like a free cafeteria."

  At the wedding, Qin Yu finally removed pork from the menu, after all, pork was not yet accepted by people. However, it didn't mean that no pigs were slaughtered in Tianjiazhuang village, some were indeed killed, but they weren't served to others, and Qin Yu never thought of not eating them himself.

  One of the dishes for lunch was made with pork, which is Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens.

  Qin Yu pointed at the Meicai Dong Rou on the kang table and asked, "Madam, do you know what kind of meat this is?"

  "What meat?" Cheng Lingyun had never eaten pork before and didn't know what this meat was.

  "Try it." Qin Yu said with a hint of temptation.

  Cheng Lingyun took a piece of braised pork belly, put it in her mouth, and as soon as it entered, she was surprised to say, "Husband, try some, this dish is really delicious."

  "Delicious, hehe." Qin Yu smiled and immediately picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing for a few seconds before swallowing.

  "Hmm, delicious! Husband, what kind of meat is this made of?" Cheng Lingyun asked curiously.

  Qin Yu's big mouth opened and he said, "Pork."

  "Ugh." Cheng Lingyun immediately felt nauseous upon hearing Qin Yu's answer and directly threw up.

  "No way." Qin Yu stared at Cheng Lingyun's performance with a dumbfounded expression, shocked to think, "So fast?".

  A moment later, Qin Yu came back to his senses. "No, it shouldn't be. It's just that I heard pork is disgusting." He shook his head helplessly and turned around to order, "Pack up."

  "Yes, sir." The maid hastily came forward and swept away the thing that Cheng Lingyu had spat out on the ground.

  "Husband." Cheng Lingyun looked at Qin Yu with tears in her eyes, and Qin Yu saw this and quickly comforted her, "Madam, this pig isn't as dirty as you imagined. When handling the pig, we need to wash it with water, scald it with boiling water, scrape off its hair, and process it several times before cooking. It's actually not that dirty."

  Qin Yu finished speaking and picked up another piece of braised pork to eat, "Madam, this pig has been castrated, the pork doesn't have that weird taste, and the meat is all handled by ourselves, it's very clean. If Madam doesn't like it, then we won't use pork for dishes in the future."

  Cheng Lingyun saw that Qin Yu liked to eat, hesitated for a moment, and then picked up a piece of braised pork and ate it. The sweet and savory flavor came again, and there was no disgusting taste as imagined. After swallowing it in one gulp, Qin Yu was slightly stunned. At this time, Cheng Lingyun spoke up, "Husband, this braised pork is really delicious."

  "Madam, don't force yourself," Qin Yu said with some concern.

  Cheng Lingyun smiled sweetly after hearing this, "Husband, I'm fine, it's just that I didn't react immediately when I heard about the pork. This meat is indeed as you said, it seems people have misunderstood."

  Qin Yu saw that Cheng Lingyi didn't seem to be pretending, and he finally let out a sigh of relief. "Yes."

  "Husband, what's going on with this castrated pig?" Cheng Lingyun thought of Qin Yu's explanation and felt puzzled, so she asked.

  Qin Yu smiled and then briefly explained the reason why the pig needed to be castrated.

  Cheng Lingyun listened and thought for a moment before suddenly speaking up, "Husband, it's better to spread the word about this matter. This way, the common people won't be forced to buy pork meat like they are now, and as a result, the people of Great Tang will be blessed."

  Qin Yuzhen didn't expect that Cheng Lingyun would think so far ahead and care about the common people. After being surprised for a moment, he nodded and said, "This is not a difficult task, I will send someone to spread the news later."

  After lunch, Cheng Lingyun refused to let Qin Yu accompany her anymore. In Cheng Lingyun's view, as long as Qin Yu had her in his heart, she was contented. Besides, he had already accompanied her for a whole morning, and Cheng Lingyun did not want to affect Qin Yu because of her.

  Qin Yu saw this and didn't insist, even if he didn't speak, Cheng Lingyun wouldn't feel too lonely with him here.

  As for Cheng Huai's three brothers' lunch, Qin Yu naturally didn't need to worry about it. Da Niu's cooking skills were not bad, and the three of them could just tell him what they wanted to eat directly.

  After lunch, Cheng Huailiang and Cheng Huaibi returned to the Cheng Mansion. After all, there was no more excuse for staying behind. Unlike Cheng Huaimo, this guy had to take care of sweet potatoes and potatoes. Cheng Huailiang and Cheng Huaibi were so envious and resentful about it.

  Qin Yu was busy adding punctuation to the book, but he also didn't forget to spread the benefits of castrating pigs as promised to Cheng Lingyun. With the successful example from Tianjia Village, he believed it would soon be accepted by people.

  The housekeeper who received Qin Yu's instructions quickly left Qingfeng House and ran to Chang'an to spread rumors everywhere.

  "I've heard that the pork from Tianjiazhuang is exceptionally delicious and doesn't have any gamey smell at all."

  "What's going on?"

  "It's like saying that pigs are castrated, after castration, the pork doesn't have a strong smell and is very delicious."

  "Tianjiazhuang?"

  "That's right, Tianjiazhuang, they castrate pigs there."

  "Hurry up and take me there, if it's really like that, then what's there to worry about the pork not being delicious?"

  One after another, there were people loudly discussing and debating, overheard by passersby, and some even joined in to ask questions. Before long, the benefits of castrating pigs spread throughout Chang'an, and some busybodies rushed to Tianjia Village without being summoned.

  As for the villagers of Tianjiazhuang, they had already been reminded by Qingfengju. When someone came to ask, they would give them some pork to taste. The villagers of Tianjiazhuang wouldn't refuse, after all, these pigs were from Qingfengju and their superiors had nodded in agreement, so they had no reason to refuse either.

  Most of the people who came were poor ordinary folks, but even more so were those pork merchants. As soon as they arrived at Tianjia Village, they couldn't wait to buy some pork and take it back to see if it was really true that there was no foul smell.

  As Qin Yu had expected, the power of rumors was enough to attract a steady stream of people to Tianjiazhuang, wave after wave, and even until nightfall, there were still people coming to ask questions. The price was that less than 100 of the several hundred pigs Qin Yu bought were left, after all, Qin Yu had not set any restrictions on the number of pigs sold.