The Butcher's Little Husband - Chapter 97

After dinner, the two went to the grocery store. If they wanted to make these bamboo shoots on a larger scale, then spices, peppers, and salt were indispensable—they had to stock up.

The owner of the grocery store was from their village. Seeing that Tian Xiaoman and Li Wenxuan were buying so much, he took the initiative to round down the price.

The two carried a load of goods back. 

Li Amu had already guessed that the bamboo shoots made by Tian Xiaoman had sold well. In fact, he and Father Li had gone to dig more bamboo shoots in the back mountain and were now piling them up in the yard.

After resting for a bit, Li Wenxuan took a hoe and headed back up the mountain. 

Tian Xiaoman also pulled out a kitchen knife and started peeling bamboo shoots.

Soon, with the teamwork of Tian Xiaoman and Li Amu, white bamboo shoots began to pile up in the basin. As they peeled, they chatted, and before they knew it, the topic turned to Li Yiran.

Li Amu said worriedly, “I don’t know where Yiran is now. It’s been over ten days… I wonder if everything’s going smoothly.”

Li Yiran had left on March 14. Now it was March 28. The capital wasn’t far, so he could afford to leave in mid-March. People from farther away might need to leave half a year in advance. That’s why people say studying is tough. The road is long and uncertain—you never know what could happen. It’s really not easy to stand out.

Tian Xiaoman comforted him, “Don’t worry, big brother is traveling with the county’s juren scholars. They all have guards with them. Nothing will happen.”

They were so close to the capital, ordinary bandits wouldn’t dare cause trouble. If they did, the court’s army would’ve already been called in to deal with them.

Li Amu felt better hearing that. He just needed someone to put his mind at ease.

After a while, the bamboo shoots were all peeled. Before they could rest too long, Li Wenxuan came back carrying even more bamboo shoots. The two had no choice but to keep working.

Luckily, seeing how much work they’d done, Li Wenxuan rolled up his sleeves to help. Without him, who knew how long it would have taken?

Looking at the big pile of bamboo shoots in the yard, Tian Xiaoman decided—tonight, they’d eat bamboo shoots fried with bacon.

They still had the bacon cured during the New Year. They hadn’t touched it much since Li Wenxuan often brought home fresh meat. With fresh cuts, who wanted to eat preserved ones?

Tian Xiaoman loved it, but Li Wenxuan wouldn’t let him eat too much, saying Doctor Zhou warned against it. 

Tian Xiaoman didn’t agree—Doctor Zhou and Doctor Tang had never married a ger, nor had they raised children. How could they know what was good or bad to eat?

But Li Wenxuan was firm on the matter, so Tian Xiaoman could only obey. 

Today, though, he had an excuse—he was eating vegetables with it!

Li Wenxuan actually still didn’t want him eating bacon, but then remembered what Doctor Tang had said: it was important to keep a cheerful mood during pregnancy. Xiaoman had been moody lately, so if this small indulgence made him happy, so be it.

With that unspoken permission, Tian Xiaoman happily entered the kitchen. He opened the jar of bacon and pulled out a piece. The meat was dark, especially the lean parts, almost black in color.

But what Tian Xiaoman cared about wasn’t how it looked, but how it tasted. As he picked up the meat, he couldn’t help but remember how good the salted ribs with radish stew had tasted last month.

He put the bacon on the chopping board and quickly sliced it up. Then he grabbed a cleaned bamboo shoot and cut it into thin slices too.

He poured oil into the pan and let it heat up. Then the bacon went in first. The meat sizzled in the hot oil, and as the fat melted, the slices turned slightly translucent.

Tian Xiaoman took a deep breath, stirred it a few more times to release more oil, then pushed the bacon to one side and tossed in the bamboo shoots. He stir-fried quickly. When the bamboo shoots turned yellow, he mixed them back in with the meat.

This dish didn’t need any extra salt—the bacon was salty enough on its own. But chili had to go in. Without it, Tian Xiaoman would find the whole dish bland.

With the bamboo shoots fried with bacon, Tian Xiaoman ended up eating two big bowls of rice. The way he devoured it made Li Wenxuan feel a little guilty. Was he usually too strict? Was Xiaoman starving under his care?

The rest of the family also enjoyed the dish. The fatty meat was fragrant and not greasy, the lean meat chewy, the bamboo shoots crisp and juicy, with just the right amount of spice. It was delicious.

After dinner, they boiled another pot of water to cook the bamboo shoots. If they didn’t start preserving them now, they’d get old by morning, and the edible part would shrink. There was no room for laziness tonight.

There were too many bamboo shoots—they ended up cooking four big pots. Thankfully, they had bought a lot of spices earlier. If they had to rely on what was in the house, it wouldn’t have been enough.

By the time the bamboo shoots were cooked, it was almost Hai hour. 

Everyone quickly washed up and fell into bed. The village wasn’t like the outside world—they went to bed early and woke up even earlier.

After Tian Xiaoman fell asleep, he had a dream. He dreamed that he took the bamboo shoots to the county to sell, and people scrambled to buy them. The silver coins grew legs and leapt into his pocket one by one.

But his purse was too small. He watched helplessly as the overflowing coins fell to the ground and were snatched up by others. He cried out in frustration, “Stop jumping! There’s no room left!”

Beside him, Li Wenxuan looked at Tian Xiaoman in surprise, holding onto his waist as he muttered in his sleep with an anxious face.

What kind of dream is this? he thought. I’ll have to ask him tomorrow.

With that thought, Li Wenxuan drifted off to sleep too.