While the at was cooking, Wang Zhenguo began presiding over the at distribution.
After so calculations, it was determined that excluding the innards, each person could get a pound of lean at. at was distributed by household, and the fat content could not exceed twenty percent of the total; otherwise, one household would get all the fat, leaving none for others.
A pig has only so much fat, and who wouldn’t want it? The fat from the two pigs that went into the pot was set aside and distributed separately among the families.
The at was categorized into three grades: first-grade fat at ninety cents, second-grade belly at eighty cents, and third-grade lean at at seventy cents.
It’s cheaper than in the grocery store, equivalent to giving back to the commune mbers.
For the Lu Family, with ten people, they received ten pounds of at: two pounds of snowy white fat, three pounds of belly, and five pounds of lean at consisting of two pounds of loin and three pounds of foreleg. Additionally, Xibao wanted so pig bones and a few pounds of ribs, the forr costing five cents per pound, the latter thirty cents. These parts weren’t popular as they were costly and had little at. The pig leg bones were so cleanly scraped that it felt wasteful to even cook them at ho using precious firewood.
In the countryside, firewood was also very precious.
Zhang Yuejin was partial to the Lu Family, giving them rib ribs and marrow-filled long bones.
All the families received their share of the at, with several pounds and nurous pig innards and bones left. As an expert butcher, Zhang Yuejin could pay for a set of innards; the rest was beyond his reach. About a dozen families with better living conditions eagerly took the remaining bits, dividing it up cleanly within monts, leaving only the pig bones.
The Lu Family did not join in the hustle.
At this mont, the big pot of at was ready, and when the lid was lifted, the aroma filled the air.
Everyone, young and old, held a large bowl, lining up.
Wang Zhenguo appointed twenty fair and well-respected mbers to serve food, but they all coincidentally served the Lu Family children generously, with more at than vegetables, and mainly thick slices of fat at.
The big pot dish wasn’t particularly tasty; although there was no shortage of fat from the pork, it lacked salt and soy sauce.
Looking at the pale fat at in their bowls, the children surprisingly had no appetite. They noticed only a few took a bite of at imdiately, mostly taking it ho. Soone said, "We have twelve people in our family and got twelve bowls of at. With the cold weather preserving it well, mixing it with potatoes and cabbage will last twelve days, and there’ll still be leftovers after New Year."
Those nearby echoed the sentint, evidently having the sa idea.
The entire Wanglou Brigade was as joyful as if celebrating the lunar New Year.
Wang Cuilan had not been picky about food over the years, yet found this dish hard to swallow, let alone the children.
After a mont’s thought, she called the children to bring the at and vegetables ho, picking out the fat slices to re-fry, adding so peppercorns, star anise, garlic cloves, ginger strips, and a bit of dried chili, then soy sauce for color. Finally, she added cut potato chunks. After cooking thoroughly, she poured half of the remaining pig blood and mixed vegetables in, saving the rest for the evening. Once re-boiled, it was served on the table.
The children ate heartily, their mouths shiny with oil, all complinting, "Third Granny is amazing!"
That day, every household was filled with the fragrant sll of at. After the Lu Family’s al, they rendered lard, boiled pig heads, and processed pig bones and innards without much thought.
The rendered lard didn’t produce much residue, thwarting Wang Cuilan’s plan to make cabbage dumpling fillings. Instead, she mixed a big spoonful of white sugar into the freshly rendered lard residue and asked Xibao to distribute it among his younger siblings.
When Cheng Baoguo ca in, he saw this scene and pulled out a large piece of belly at from under the straw in the manure basket, showing it to them.
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