The cauldron that Zhou Wulang brought was quite large. It was originally placed at home to boil water for bathing.
The other one for making soup is smaller.
Zhou Wulang lit a fire, knowing that it would take a long time to cook the bones, but it was still early and there was still a long time before dinner, so he was not in a hurry.
So as soon as the fire started, he asked Lao Liu to watch the fire while he went across the street to find firewood.
Making soup consumes a lot of firewood, and if they find too much, they can keep some here for tomorrow, or take it home directly. Anyway, it’s never too much.
Manbao was curious about this and that, and because of Koko's urging, he followed Zhou Wulang to the woods and dug up a lot of plants that were not familiar to him and gave them to Koko, regardless of whether they had already been included in the system.
Boil the water, roll the bones, and slowly boil out the oil and water inside.
Zhou Wulang cut the pound of fat with a little lean meat into thin slices and threw them into the pot until the fragrance came out and the faint meaty aroma floated in the air. Then he threw the chopped radish in, covered the lid and continued to simmer.
The laborers who had slowly cleared the way out smelled the meat wafting over, their stomachs growling, their hands and feet feeling weak, and they couldn't think straight.
The officer whipped his whip and shouted, "Hurry up and get to work! There's still a long time before dinner. Hurry up!"
In fact, it is not long. Everyone only eats two meals a day, but the work required for military service is very heavy, so three time periods are given every day for eating.
Breakfast basically depends on the dry food brought from home. Lunch and dinner are provided by the government office, but the portions are very small, so most people still have to eat the dry food brought from home.
Some people cannot carry so much at one time. Every ten days, the government office will give half a day off to allow people to go home and get dry food. The county government does not want the working people to die on the road.
The decline in local population will also affect the performance evaluation of the county magistrate.
The workers tried their best and finally, the person delivering the meal arrived. The official was also hungry, so he rang the gong and asked people to bring their own bowls and chopsticks to receive the steamed buns.
Everyone dispersed, running a little faster than usual.
After receiving the steamed buns, everyone went back and headed towards Zhou Wulang's stove. Regardless of whether they would buy or not, at least they wanted to enjoy the delicious smell of the cold steamed buns while eating them.
Zhou Sanlang also wanted to leave, but he ran a little slowly. When it was his turn to get the steamed bun, his fellow workers had already run ahead of him.
After receiving a steamed bun, he ran over there.
The official stood by with a stern face, supervising everyone as they received their steamed buns. After each person received his or her steamed buns, he or she would tick the name of that person. Only in this way would there be no mixing up of the steamed buns, and the remaining steamed buns would be theirs.
The messenger who came to deliver the food also smelled the meat in the air and asked, "Where is this coming from?"
The official said, "A family member of Lao Ding was worried that he would suffer, so they made this on purpose."
The official sneered, "You have too much money and nowhere to spend it? You might as well pay for the service instead."
"Five taels of silver? Who can afford this except a rich family?" The official said, "That family is also poor, but the family members are more compassionate."
The officer who was questioning him stopped asking questions and just warned them, "Keep a close eye on them and don't let them cause any trouble. It is said that some soldiers from the neighboring county couldn't stand the hard work and wanted to escape. Humph, they are all people with names and surnames written in the book. If they can escape the monks, how can they escape the temple as well? As a result, two yamen runners were injured. Don't let your men rebel."
"Don't worry, they won't. They are all very honest."
After the official gave his instructions, he watched the man who delivered the meal leave. Then he took the remaining cold steamed bun and reached for his own bowl.
Even though they were clerks, they actually ate the same food as the laborers. The only difference was that the laborers had to bring dry food from their homes to barely fill their stomachs, but they did not have to, and basically survived on the steamed buns sent by the yamen.
Same thing with cold steamed buns and cold water.
Only the two groups of officials assigned to the county town and the town were treated better, and some colleagues from wealthier families would bring their own meat buns.
Manbao had been waiting there. As soon as the gong sounded, she asked Zhou Wulang to make a bowl of the thickest soup with several slices of meat and radish in it.
Then she took it and put it aside, intending to keep it for her favorite third brother.
As soon as she put the bowl on the donkey cart, Lao Ding came over very quickly, but when they got to the stove, they just stretched their necks to look around and didn't buy anything.
Zhou Wulang had sold things in the county town after all, so he greeted them shamelessly, "Big brothers, do you want to buy a bowl to try?"
One of the laudins shouted, "Is it real meat or fake meat? Don't tell us you are lying."
But his nose inhaled the strong smell of meat in the air and he couldn't help swallowing.
One of them even squeezed forward, wanting to see the meat in the pot with his own eyes. His movements were so rough that Zhou Liulang, who was standing next to him, staggered and almost fell to the ground.
Manbao looked at this scene and suddenly felt a little scared for some reason.
Koko also made a clang in her mind and warned, "Host, you have to calm people down."
The group of hungry laborers behind the man saw that he had knocked the man down, with his hand about to touch the spoon, and they also took two steps forward agitatedly and squeezed forward.
Zhou Wulang's face changed slightly. He didn't bother to help his brother. He grabbed the big spoon held by Lao Ding and stopped him from doing anything.
Manbao had already rushed over from the donkey cart like a calf. After only a few steps, she rushed to the legs of Laoding and looked up at him. "Brother Lu, do you want to buy some meat soup? Two cents a bowl, it's hot."
Bai Shanbao, who had just learned how to make fire and was squatting in front of the cauldron to make fire, stood at Zhou Wulang's feet without knowing when. He raised his cat-like face to look at Lao Ding, revealing a row of small teeth, "Brother Lu, this broth is cooked by us. It is so delicious. You must have never tasted such delicious broth before. When you return home from military service, you can bring a bowl back for your son."
Manbao said: "And your father and your mother."
The two children happened to have interviewed him, and they had good memories, so they remembered his name and his family situation.
Lu Da lowered his head to look at the two children. The two children looked at him with pure eyes, their eyeballs were round and round. He suddenly felt a little nervous. He subconsciously reached into his pocket and took out two coins and said, "Well, I'll buy a bowl to try."
Yes, he originally wanted to buy soup. It would be great to have a sip of hot soup in such a cold day, and two cents is not expensive.
Manbao took the money, looked up and smiled sweetly at him, then asked his fifth brother to serve him some soup.
Zhou Wulang's palms were sweating a little, but he took Lu Da's bowl with a smile on his face, stirred the soup, and poured him a bowl.
As soon as everyone saw someone had bought something, they stopped pushing forward. Of course, they were not in a hurry to buy. Instead, they looked at Lu Da eagerly, wanting to hear his opinion.
Although two cents is not a lot of money and everyone can afford it, it still has to be worth it.
Lu Xiao took a sip carefully, his eyes slightly brightened, and he smiled and said, "It tastes quite good."
Those who were familiar with him crowded around him to watch, and when they saw the oil and a piece of meat in the soup, their eyes suddenly lit up and they all crowded over to fight.