Chapter 11: Stir-fried Fatty Intestines

Shao Qixuan didn't stay idle after stepping out of the crowd. Seeing the pig offal that had been cleaned and set aside, he gathered it all into a large basin.

This stuff was a delicacy; if prepared properly, it was delicious. In his past life, he had been a master chef.

In that past life, he had the good fortune to befriend an old man and learn culinary arts from him. He mastered exquisite cooking skills, and because his food was so good, he opened over a dozen restaurants—not just in the town and county, but even several in the city.

But as his business grew, so did his workload, and by the time he found out he was ill, he was already beyond saving.

Setting everything else aside, his cooking skills were truly top-notch!

Today, he was determined to show everyone what he could do.

Pig intestines were the most delicious part, but also the most disgusting. Shao Qixuan took them to a corner, squeezed out the filth inside bit by bit, and washed them several times before putting them back into the large basin.

"Siwen, do you like eating pig intestines?" Shao Qixuan asked as he saw Li Siwen passing by. In his past life, Siwen had taken care of him without a hint of disgust, and in this life, he was determined to treat her well.

"You're the one who likes intestines! They’re stinky and full of poop, keep them for yourself!" As soon as Li Siyu heard Qixuan ask her sister about intestines, she got angry. Everyone knew that stuff tasted terrible; asking her sister like that was clearly meant to gross her out, wasn't it?

Men really were all the same; her mother was absolutely right.

"Intestines?" Li Siwen, however, was intrigued. Stir-fried intestines, braised intestines, intestines wrapped in pancakes—all these images flooded her mind. She couldn't help but swallow her saliva. In truth, she didn't hold much hostility toward Shao Qixuan; he was actually a decent person. He had previously told the original owner that he didn't like her, but the original owner couldn't let go of the relationship and even went to commit suicide. Shao Qixuan had jumped into the river to save her, but the original owner didn't make it, which was how she ended up here.

"What, you know how to cook them?"

"I do, definitely. And they taste especially good." Shao Qixuan became interested, and the two began chatting, brought together by their love for food.

Forget it, her sister still liked Qixuan. She was actually talking about stinky intestines just to chat with him.

Li Siyu looked at the two of them speechlessly, turned around, and ran off.

"Do you have any white liquor?" Shao Qixuan asked her.

Li Siwen thought for a moment, nodded, and snuck into Old Man Li's room to steal half a bottle of liquor.

With the liquor, Shao Qixuan began cleaning the intestines. He put them in a basin, added water, and scrubbed them a few times. He added a splash of liquor to the water, scrubbed the smooth side, then turned the intestines inside out. After removing the fatty membranes, he put them back in the basin with water, a little salt, and white vinegar, scrubbing for about ten minutes before finally rinsing them clean with fresh water.

Li Siwen was a foodie. In her past life, her only hobby was eating; she would eat a big meal when happy, and eat alone in silence when sad.

So, she loved food more than anything. The thin, watery soups at the Li house these past few days had been enough to make her want to vomit.

Although she had food in her space, it was all semi-finished or cold, pre-made meals. While she loved to eat, she wasn't very good at cooking.

Watching the man carefully washing the intestines, Li Siwen didn't feel disgusted; instead, she felt less repulsed by him.

Shao Qixuan also washed the pig liver, lungs, heart, and stomach.

Entering the kitchen, he searched for seasonings, washed some chili peppers, and chopped green onions, ginger, and garlic to have ready.

Li Siwen lit the fire, and once Shao Qixuan was ready, he cleaned the wok and placed it over the flame.

When the wok was hot, he poured in the oil, sautéed the ginger and garlic until fragrant, added the green and red peppers, a splash of cooking wine, and salt, stir-frying for a moment before adding the pig intestines.

After stir-frying for a while longer, he added a suitable amount of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar, tossed it evenly, then sprinkled in the green onion segments and stir-fried until everything was well-incorporated.

As he lifted the lid, a wave of fragrance wafted out. Shao Qixuan quickly grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up a piece of intestine, blew on it gently, and held it to Li Siwen's lips. "Taste it and see how it is."

Li Siwen didn't stand on ceremony. The aroma was so rich that she was already salivating. She opened her mouth and took the intestine in one bite.

"Mmm, delicious, it's so good!" Li Siwen praised as she chewed. The fishy, stinky smell was gone; it was fatty but not greasy, and had a perfect chew.

"Yo, what are you making? It smells so good." Old Man Li couldn't help but enter the kitchen. Like Li Siwen, he was a glutton with no other hobbies than eating good food. Smelling the fragrance, he couldn't resist coming over.

He arrived just in time to see Shao Qixuan feeding his granddaughter with a pair of chopsticks. Old Man Li couldn't bear to watch; this kid was a fox spirit reincarnated, only knowing how to seduce his granddaughter. Now the girl couldn't resist his temptation again—sigh!

"Grandpa, why did you come in? This is... this is stir-fried intestines made by Qixuan. It's delicious." Li Siwen said, picking up the plate of intestines and handing a pair of chopsticks to Old Man Li.

"Grandpa, try it, it's really good."

Old Man Li looked at the glistening intestines, took the chopsticks, and picked up a piece. Within seconds of it entering his mouth, his eyes lit up. It really was delicious.

"Hey, this stinky stuff actually tastes pretty good! I'll take it out and let my buddies have a taste." With that, Old Man Li slipped away with the plate of intestines.

"Grandpa, I haven't even finished eating!" Li Siwen was unhappy to see the intestines gone.

Seeing her about to leave, Shao Qixuan grabbed her wrist. "Siwen, there's still some left here."

"When did you set this aside?" Li Siwen asked curiously as she turned around to see another plate of intestines.

Shao Qixuan raised an eyebrow but didn't speak. He knew the intestines would be snatched away; Old Man Li had no other hobby but gluttony. He just wondered when Siwen had become such a foodie too.

Shao Qixuan found himself increasingly interested in the person before him. Beyond the gratitude for her saving his life in the past life, he discovered she was somewhat different from the person he remembered.

Perhaps it was because the memories were from so long ago.

Outside the courtyard, the two wild boars had been cut into pieces and hung up. Outside the gate stood everyone waiting to buy meat.

Old Lady Li did the math: the family definitely needed to eat, so she kept one pig leg and set aside some pork to air-dry for later.

She would send a leg and some meat to her maiden home, and another leg to the third daughter-in-law's family. After all, it was Siwen who had hunted the boars; the eldest and second daughters-in-law wouldn't dare complain if she gave a leg to her maternal grandmother.

She would send one more to her daughter in the county, and the rest of the pork would go to the eldest and second daughters-in-law's families, with everything else being sold.

"Line up, everyone! One by one! Old Man Li said that since we're all from the same village, we'll sell it cheap: one yuan per jin, no meat coupons needed!" the village chief shouted at the top of his lungs.

The people below cheered and applauded. "Great, thank you, Uncle Li!"

"Thank you, Uncle Li!"

Everyone expressed their gratitude.

But there were always a few discordant voices. "Pfft, 'same village,' they're still charging money. They're just looking for ways to take advantage. If we didn't buy it, it would just rot, and they wouldn't earn a cent."

"Exactly, they get the benefit and still act like they're doing us a favor."

"Sister-in-law Li, if you feel like you're losing out, then don't buy it. Village Chief, you heard them—it's not that I won't sell to her, it's that she thinks she's being cheated." Old Man Li was fuming. He wasn't the type to be bullied, so he spoke up to everyone.

"Today, whoever wants to buy, buy. If you think it's a bad deal, then get lost. I won't sell to you anyway."

"Old man, why are you getting worked up over people who love to take advantage? Calm down." Old Lady Li, seeing her husband angry, walked over and patted his back to soothe him.