Chapter 95: Making Sausages

Xiaoguo looked at Zhuang Zhuang, who did not dare to go near her, and felt a little amused. She divided the seasoned meat into two portions. One portion was left as it is. The other portion was added with chili to make it spicy.

Coincidentally, there was still half a jar of white wine at home. This was just the right time to use it. She drizzled the white wine onto the meat and mixed everything evenly.

Using two pieces of clean cloth, she covered up the meat and left them to marinate overnight.

Xiaoguo washed her hands using the water that Zhuang Zhuang had fetched early in the morning. Xiaoguo praised Zhuang Zhuang for his efforts and he carried the basin out when she was done.

Xiaoguo poured the intestines into a basin. She had bought them because she saw that there were small intestines inside. They were perfect as casing for the sausages.

Xiaoguo soaked the intestines in water and planned to clean them up the next day.

When Zhuang Zhuang returned, he wanted to help Xiaoguo with her work, but she told him that she would do it tomorrow.

“It’s getting late. We can do it tomorrow.”

Xiaoguo washed her hands thoroughly as she had just touched the intestines. They definitely didn’t smell very good.

After washing her hands, it was time to prepare dinner. Zhuang Zhuang was already sitting obediently at the stove, waiting for Xiaoguo’s order to light the stove.

Zhuang Zhuang had planned to continue studying at night, but Xiaoguo stopped him. This child seemed to have fallen into a study trap. It was good enough for him to study in the morning. To think that he still wanted to study at night.

There were no lights in ancient times, and the light emitted by candles was very dim. Xiaoguo discussed with Zhuang Zhuang to refrain from studying at night because she wanted to protect his eyes.

Zhuang Zhuang was a sensible child. He would listen to whatever Xiaoguo said. Hence, he obediently put away his books and took off his shoes to get into bed.

But it was still early, so he couldn’t fall asleep. Xiaoguo then proceeded to tell him a bedtime story.

It wasn’t a problem for Xiaoguo to tell him stories every day. She had always liked to read fairy tales and had many fairy tales books in her possession.

Moreover, she had a good memory and could basically remember all the stories. Even when she had to tell Zhuang Zhuang a story every day she never had to repeat any one of them so far.

“Well, let’s tell the story of the Frog Prince this time.”

Zhuang Zhuang found this novel. How could a frog become a prince?

His attention was drawn into the storyline bit by bit. Xiaoguo was telling the story animatedly and Zhuang Zhuang gave her his full attention.

The more Xiaoguo spoke, the softer her voice became. Zhuang Zhuang could not help but close his eyes.

At the end of the story, Zhuang Zhuang was completely asleep.

Xiaoguo covered him with the blanket and kissed him gently on the cheek.

“Good night, baby…”

The next day, Xiaoguo slept in for once and stayed in bed with Zhuang Zhuang.

Zhuang Zhuang tossed and turned on the bed. His antics brought out the child in Xiaoguo and she started rolling around on the bed with him.

Their laughter filled each and every corner of the house.

After waking up and having a simple meal, Xiaoguo brought out the basin of intestines and sat down with Zhuang Zhuang.

While Zhuang Zhuang was reading, Xiaoguo took care of the small intestines.

Fortunately, the intestines had been soaking in the water for the entire night, so the pungent smell was almost gone. Otherwise, Xiaoguo was worried about Zhuang Zhuang vomiting from the smell.

Listening to Zhuang Zhuang reading aloud, Xiaoguo was filled with joy. This was better than listening to a song. “Listen to my son’s crisp voice! Listen to my son’s tender but powerful voice! Ah! Listen!!”

Xiaoguo really felt that her son was the best. “Perfect!”

Xiaoguo happily cleaned up the intestines. Accompanied by the sound of Zhuang Zhuang reading, she quickly finished washing the intestines.

Xiaoguo returned to the kitchen and washed the intestines with water and flour a few more times. After making sure that the smell was gone, she poured away the water and drained the intestines.

Then, she took out the marinated pork. Xiaoguo did not have a sausage stuffing tool, so she could only use chopsticks to do the job.

Before getting ready to stuff the sausages, Xiaoguo sighed. She wasn’t blind.

“Zhuang Zhuang! Stop reading. Let’s stuff the sausages together!”

Sure enough, Zhuang Zhuang arrived in front of Xiaoguo in less than a second.

Judging by his speed, he must have packed up long ago and was just waiting for her to call him.

Zhuang Zhuang had a small habit of putting back whatever he had taken out.

It was impossible for Zhuang Zhuang to leave the books without packing them. He definitely would have packed up before coming over. However, judging from the speed he got there, Zhuang Zhuang must have packed up the books long ago and was waiting for her to call him.

The most important thing was,right from the beginning, he had been peeking out from the kitchen door frequently.

How could Xiaoguo not see that? How could a curious cat like him miss the sausage stuffing process?

Zhuang Zhuang did not know that his little trick had been seen through by Xiaoguo. At this moment, he was happily carrying a small stool over to stand on.

Xiaoguo was not going to harp on such a small matter. After all, Zhuang Zhuang was only three years old. Studying was not a top priority now. As long as a good foundation had been laid, he would be able to catch up with his studies when he entered school.

The books that he was reading now were considered as extracurricular reading. There was no need to overdo it. He could just read a portion every day. In any case, when he goes to school later on, the teacher would be teaching those subjects again.

Xiaoguo took out a piece of intestinal casing and handed it to Zhuang Zhuang. Zhuang Zhuang nodded and watched her hands closely.

She also picked up a piece and leaned sideways so that Zhuang Zhuang could see what she was doing.

First, tie a knot at one end of the intestines.

Although Zhuang Zhuang was small, his hand-eye coordination was well-developed. He was able to follow Xiaoguo’s steps bit by bit.

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang had successfully tied the knot, Xiaoguo stretched open the other end and picked up the meat with her chopsticks. She then pushed the meat in using the chopsticks.

Xiaoguo handed him the basin of meat and let him handle the sausages without chili. Those with chili would be stuffed by her.

Xiaoguo was afraid that he would accidentally touch his eyes or other parts of his body after he touched the chili. The chili was very spicy.

As the intestines were slippery and difficult to hold, Zhuang Zhuang would occasionally lose his grip and the stuffing would fall out as a result.

Zhuang Zhuang couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Xiaoguo gave him lots of encouragement on the side. Zhuang Zhuang didn’t want to disappoint Xiaoguo either, so he picked things up again whenever he slipped up. When the stuffing fell out, he would push it back in.

With patience, he quickly became proficient and completed stuffing one full length of intestines.

Following Xiaoguo’s instructions to stuff the sausages up to 80 percent of its capacity, Zhuang Zhuang tied up the piece of intestine that he had finished filling.

Zhuang Zhuang felt a sense of accomplishment. He kept asking Xiaoguo to look at him. Of course, Xiaoguo was very supportive and praised him to the moon.

When Zhuang Zhuang was satisfied with what he had done, Xiaoguo handed him the hemp threads that she had cut out. She taught him to tie the threads at regular intervals. Zhuang Zhuang followed her methods and finished tying up one length of intestines. After that, Xiaoguo took a needle and showed Zhuang Zhuang how to make holes in the casing so that steam can escape during the cooking process.

Zhuang Zhuang followed Xiaoguo and went on to make the holes. At first, Xiaoguo was afraid that Zhuang Zhuang would prick himself. Later on, she realized that he was quite reliable. He was able to pierce the holes accordingly, and when the holes were made, he would arrange the sausages neatly in a corner. Looking at the way he worked, Xiaoguo felt very relieved.

With such a good start, Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang finished stuffing all the sausages by the end of morning.

It so happened that the amount of meat was just enough to fill up all the intestines. There was no excess at all.

Xiaoguo planned to leave the stuffed sausages in the shade to air dry. Chinese sausages were also processed in this manner. In the current climate, the temperatures during the day is not too hot and there is always a light breeze.

Xiaoguo hung all the intestines in the shade. There was a section of the clothes line that was perpetually shaded.

Xiaoguo left the intestines there. They had stuffed a total of six intestinal casings, and after dividing them with the threads, there were a total of 36 individual sausages.

Xiaoguo thought that she should leave only three lengths of sausages to air dry. She was thinking of grilling fresh sausages during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Grilling Chinese sausages did not feel quite right.