After getting home, Julie asked Mr. Leng to take Xiao Hei to the stable in the backyard and feed it some hay.
She gave the plum cakes to the three brothers to divide among themselves.
Then she went out again to buy some meat.
She had seen pork being sold in town earlier but didn't buy it at the time since it was almost the New Year and carrying too much while riding a horse would be inconvenient.
Now that she was back, she planned to check with Ma the butcher. If there was still meat left, she would buy it all.
She wanted to stock up so they wouldn't have to buy more before the New Year.
When Julie got to Ma the butcher's place, it was already around 3–5 p.m. The sky wasn't completely dark yet, but it was gloomy.
This time of year, it gets darker earlier, and the cold is stronger.
Ma the butcher saw the village head arrive and greeted her with a smile, "Here to buy meat? Which piece do you want? I'll cut it for you." Her goofy smile looked funny on such a serious face.
Julie nodded and looked over what was left.
"I'll take all of it. Please weigh it for me." She thought to herself that there was still quite a lot left—should be enough.
There was just under half a side of pork left, about fifty jin (around 25 kg). There was also a lamb leg and a few jin of lamb ribs.
The pork was thirteen wen per jin, and the lamb was twenty wen per jin. Prices had gone up one wen since the New Year was near. The total was 882 wen.
Seeing that the village head bought everything, Ma the butcher couldn't stop smiling. She even gave Julie a discount and only charged 880 wen. She also gave her some leftover pork intestines with the basket for free.
Julie thanked her after paying and didn't plan to buy anything else. There were already enough vegetables and eggs at home—only meat was missing.
She carried the ribs, lamb leg, and pork intestines in a basket with her left hand.
The nearly half-side pork and the lamb leg were in her right hand.
From behind, she looked tall and a bit thin.
If someone saw Julie's face, they might find that her cold expression had a bit of unexpected charm.
Even though the meat hadn't bled after being out in the wind all day, it still felt strange to carry it on the shoulder. It wasn't heavy, just awkward.
Julie placed everything in the kitchen and asked Bailee to cook the pork intestines for dinner.
She didn't want to let it sit too long since the smell would get worse.
Most people don't like eating pork intestines because they're hard to clean and get rid of the smell.
But if they're cleaned and cooked properly, they can actually taste really good.
When Ma the butcher gave them to her, Julie caught a strong smell and didn't want them at first.
But since they were free and it was a kind gesture, she decided to accept.
She had never eaten them before and wondered if Bailee might cook them well.
Bailee had never cooked pork intestines before, but since he cooked often, he had a rough idea of how to handle them.
He quickly got to work cleaning and prepping them.
Haven and Lorrie also helped in the kitchen.
Julie saw them all busy and didn't want to get in the way, so she went back to her room.
She didn't give the bracelet to Bailee right away—she wanted to save it for his birthday.
Dinner was ready around 5–7 p.m.
As soon as Julie sat down at the table, she smelled the rich aroma of meat.
The pork intestines, which had smelled awful before, were now delicious thanks to Bailee's skillful cooking.
They were cut into pieces and stir-fried with chili, ginger, and cilantro into a big plate.
Julie sat at the dinner table and, with her first chopsticks move, went straight for the pork intestines.
She had eaten this before, but only the marinated and pre-cooked kind.
This was the first time she tried it cooked fresh from raw.
There was no unpleasant taste, and it was soft with a bit of chewiness. Julie thought it was pretty good.
Especially with chili and plenty of salt—it covered any strong smell well.
She ate a lot of rice with just that one dish.
Lorrie saw her enjoying it and ate quite a bit too.
Haven and Bailee also tried it, but since they couldn't handle much spice, they only had a couple of bites and stopped.
After finishing her meal, Julie put down her chopsticks and didn't compete with Lorrie for anything.
That night, she stayed in her own room.
In the next few days, Bailee and his two brothers divided up the chores.
Bailee sorted out the half-side of pork Julie had bought. He separated the pork belly and cut it into pieces, each weighing around four or five jin.
After rubbing salt on six of the pieces, he left them overnight. The next day, he hung them in the backyard to dry.
Ribs and bone-in cuts were chopped and, along with two fresh pork chunks, placed in a wooden barrel. They tied a rope to the barrel and lowered it into the backyard well for preservation.
Haven cleaned inside and outside of the house twice before New Year. He also wiped all the furniture thoroughly before stopping.
Lorrie helped Mr. Leng clean the backyard. While cleaning, he noticed how fast the rabbits were reproducing. He "suggested" helping them out, so they wouldn't overcrowd.
Julie gave him a glance and agreed.
They ended up having a rabbit dish. The rabbit was fat, weighing over five jin. It took two meals to finish it.
One was braised, the other spicy.
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the three brothers woke up early to make rice cakes.
From mixing rice, washing, grinding, steaming, flipping, pounding, adding red dye, to cutting—the process took more than ten steps.
Lorrie volunteered to handle the pounding.
This step was the most boring and exhausting. It had to be done in an old stone mortar with a wooden mallet. At least a hundred to two hundred hits were needed to get a good-quality rice cake.
Haven thought Lorrie wouldn't last and planned to take over halfway, but Lorrie held on.
After pounding, Lorrie's hands were swollen and slightly shaking.
Bailee felt bad but also proud of him.
Lorrie had really grown up.
Before, he might have shouted complaints or even cried from feeling wronged.
Now, he quietly finished the task without a single complaint, making him seem even more lovable.
He was definitely tired, but when he thought about how much his two older brothers had been doing every day, he realized he hadn't contributed much.
At around the seventieth hit, his hands started hurting. He wanted to ask his brothers for help.
But then he thought about Julie. After hesitating for a few seconds, he decided to stick with it.
He wanted to prove himself.
Bailee took Lorrie to the room, applied ointment to his hands, and gently massaged them for nearly half a cup of tea's time. Then he told him to stop working and rest.
Later, he went to the kitchen, boiled some chestnuts, and brought roasted peanuts—so Lorrie could snack if he got bored.
Bailee and Haven continued working.
That night, they ate the rice cakes—golden, soft, and chewy.
Bailee and his brothers liked them sweet, so they added sugarcane syrup.
Julie didn't like sweets. She ate the plain ones and occasionally picked at the small side dishes—stir-fried shredded potatoes and preserved vegetables with minced pork.
When she felt it was a bit greasy, she'd take a few sips of plain water. It felt nice.
Julie had three pieces and stopped. Each was just slightly smaller than an adult's palm—not exactly small. These filled the stomach quickly.