Chapter 13: Sweet and sour ribs

Su Yue walked out and walked towards a small forest not far from the door of her house.

This small forest is not a big forest but a small slope in the middle of a large pond not far away. There are many trees on it, which are very lush. It looks like an island in the pond. But there is nothing inside. Usually no one goes there except for children who occasionally sneak in to play hide and seek.

There is a trail beside the pond that leads directly to the forest in the middle, and you can go directly from the shore.

At this time, every household closed their door and went to sleep. There were no lights outside. It was pitch black, and only the moon in the sky could illuminate it. Fortunately, tomorrow was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the moon was bright this night, allowing Su Yue to see clearly what was in front of her on the road.

When she reached the middle of the trail, Su Yue stood still on guard and asked in a low voice toward the forest in front, “Who is there? What do you want from me?”

After a rustling sound, a male voice sounded: “It’s me, Han Aiguo.”

Han Aiguo appeared at the other end of the path, holding a cane and looking at Su Yue, his expression a little unnatural.

Su Yue’s eyes widened, and she was surprised. “Brother Han, why is it you?”

Although she was surprised, Su Yue relaxed her guard in an instant and was completely relieved.

Okay, okay, it was a false alarm.

If she had known it was him, why would she have prepared so many weapons? She would have run out long ago.

Han Aiguo pursed his lips and explained in a low voice, “My mother asked me to invite you to have a meal at my house tomorrow as a thank you for giving my fourth brother the opportunity to make money.”

Su Yue suddenly understood and asked strangely, “Okay, but why didn’t you just come to my house to find me? I was frightened about who was calling me at this time of night.”

Han Aiguo was a little embarrassed and apologized in a low voice, “I’m sorry, I thought if I come to see you late at night, others may gossip about you.”

People in the village like to talk about every family’s shortcomings when they have nothing to do. They especially like to talk about things between men and women such as who is flirting with whom, if there is an affair behind the back, if a wife cuckolds a man, they will always have endless stories to tell.

Many women in the village like to gossip when they get together. Not only that, but many old men in the village also like to get together and chat about these things when they have nothing to do.

Although Han Aiguo was away from home all year round, he was well aware of the tendency of people in the village to gossip. He is not afraid of anything, but he is afraid that Su Yue will be affected due to it. That’s why he didn’t rush to find Su Yue.

Instead, he gave Zhuangzi a piece of candy and asked him to go in and ask Su Yue to come out.

Only then did Su Yue understand why he did this.

After coming here, she naturally understood the gossipy nature of the people in the village. If the people saw Han Aiguo come to her door at night, they might gossip about it.

But she didn’t expect that Han Aiguo, would think of it. He was really considerate.

Smiling secretly, Su Yue continued to walk a few steps forward, walked up to Han Aiguo, stretched out a finger, and lightly poked his arm. “Brother Han, let’s go there and stand on the path and talk.”

Han Aiguo didn’t know why but when she poked so lightly, it seemed as if an electric current passed through that area on his arm. His arm went numb, and body stiffen. He didn’t even think that she had just touched it. He already explained the reason; why did he have to go in and say it again?

When Su Yue saw that he was not moving, she poked him with her finger again. “Brother Han, why don’t you move?”

”Oh.” Han Aiguo hurriedly walked in with a cane, but his steps were too stiff.

After finding a relatively open place, Han Aiguo stopped and explained to Su Yue again.

“Comrade Su Yue, my mother invites you to our house tomorrow to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival as a thank you for giving my fourth brother a chance to make money this time.”

Su Yue stood two steps in front of him, with her hands behind her back, looking up at him, smiling and nodding, “Okay, then I’ll come to disturb you tomorrow.”

“Hmm” Han Aiguo saw that he had said everything he had to say and had nothing more to say, so he said, “Then I will go.”

Su Yue: Why does this person talk so little? Can’t he say a few more sentences?

Since he talks so little, she needs to speak more, so Su Yue took the initiative to ask, “Brother Han, I heard that you are… Soldier?

“Yeah” After finishing speaking, he probably realized that he said too little, so he added, “My leg is injured now, so I came home.”

He said his leg injury in a very calm tone, so calm that people who didn’t know better thought it was a minor injury that would heal after a while. But Su Yue knew that his injury could not be cured by even the doctors in the military hospital. Now the level of medical treatment is basically incurable.

But this person doesn’t seem to be depressed or sad at all, as if he doesn’t care that his beloved military career will be completely ended and he will become disabled.

But how can he not care, such people are too introverted. They keep everything in their hearts and don’t want to show it to others. They don’t want their family to worry about it.

This man really swallows all the pain in his stomach.

Su Yue suppressed it. She looked at him encouragingly and said firmly, “Brother Han, your leg will definitely heal soon, and you will get to return to the army by then.”

Han Aiguo smiled bitterly in his heart. His legs would never recover in the future, and he would never be able to return to the army.

But he didn’t want to let down Su Yue’s kindness, and he didn’t want to make others worry in vain, so he didn’t say that he couldn’t recover; he just said, ”Thank you. I hope so too.”

Su Yue knew that he didn’t believe her words, but she didn’t say much. All she could do was wait until she had accumulated enough points to get a prescription to treat his leg.

No longer raising the topic, Su Yue asked again, “Brother Han, I saw you weaving a frame that day. You were so good at weaving it. Can you also make me a backpack? Every time I go to the market, I buy so much stuff that I can’t even put it in a basket, and my hands and arms hurt from carrying it. It would be much easier if I had a backpack to carry it.”

Actually, what Su Yue asked was a bit shameless. She didn’t know him very well, but she still asked for a backpack.

Logically speaking, it would be called shameless by others. But Su Yue couldn’t help it as Han Aiguo is different. He is the person she wants to marry; hence, she has to give it a try.

When pursuing someone, your duty is to be honest and polite, but if you haven’t had a chance to interact with him even once in ten and a half months, so how can you talk about dating? Only by constantly creating opportunities can you have more contact with him and develop with him.

Therefore, whether you are a man or a woman, you must be thick-skinned if you have such intentions.

Fortunately, Su Yue is not from this era. Although she has never dated a man before, in the era of information and the internet, she has seen people dating and knows about it. There are still many ways to pursue someone.

Han Aiguo didn’t think Su Yue was shameless, so he agreed without thinking, “Okay, I’ll make one for you, and ask fourth brother to send it to you.”

Su Yue smiled with crooked eyebrows, “Thank you, Brother Han.”

“You’re welcome; a backpack isn’t worth anything.”

Su Yue looked at Han Aiguo’s legs. Although she wanted to chat with him more, she didn’t forget that his legs were still injured and he couldn’t stand for a long time, so she had to point outside the forest, “Brother Han, it’s getting late; you should go back and rest quickly.”

Han Aiguo said, “You go first; I will leave after you leave.”

Su Yue, without being polite to him, turned and left first.

Han Aiguo didn’t leave until he saw Su Yue enter the courtyard and close the door.

The next day is the Mid-Autumn Festival, so no one needs to go to work today.

But Su Yue did not sleep in; she got up early and went to the kitchen to get busy.

Since she is going to someone’s house for dinner today, it’s better not to eat empty-handed. But if she gives something, Old Lady Han will definitely not accept it. After all, they want to thank her.

So, Su Yue planned to make a delicious dish and take it to the Han family to eat together. Since it will already be prepared, Old Lady Han couldn’t do anything and would be forced to accept it.

But before cooking, Su Yue took out the flour again and planned to make a few more cakes to take with her, just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The mooncakes she made a few days ago were all sold out, and she didn’t keep them at home because they won’t be as fresh and as delicious as the freshly made ones.

After spending more than an hour making the mooncakes, Su Yue took out the ribs she asked Han Aimin to buy in the commune with meat stamps.

Everyone is short of oil and water these days, so they only want to eat some meat during the New Year. Hence, it makes people happy to get some meat as a gift, so Su Yue plans to make sweet and sour pork ribs to take with her, and then heat it up in a pot and serve it.

Su Yue first blanched the pork ribs, poured them out, and boiled them in a pot for thirty minutes. This step is very important. If you cook raw ribs directly, the resulting ribs will be very old. However, if you cook them and then fry them, the resulting ribs will be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

After cooking, add various seasonings to the ribs and marinate them. After 20 minutes, take them out, wash them, and drain them. Then fry them in a hot pan until golden.

After that, put the previous broth into the pot again, then add the water used to marinate the ribs, three spoons of sugar, and half a spoon of salt; add the ribs; bring to a boil over high heat; then turn down the heat until the juice is reduced.

At the end of collecting the juice, Su Yue poured a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar into the pot, and the sweet and sour taste came out immediately.

”Wow, it smells so good. Su Yue, are you making something delicious again?” Wu Xiaoxiao sniffed and walked into the kitchen, looking like she was going to be starved to death.

Not only Wu Xiaoxiao, but everyone was attracted by the scent and couldn’t wait any longer and ran into the kitchen after her. They can’t help it; the scent is too tempting.

Su Yue answered them while sprinkling chopped green onions and sesame seeds on the ribs, “Aunt Han asked me to come over for lunch at noon. I thought it wouldn’t be good to go empty-handed, so I made sweet and sour pork ribs to take with me.”

Everyone knows that Su Yue has a good relationship with the Han family, so they didn’t find it strange.

Only Wu Xiaoxiao said reluctantly, “Then we won’t be able to eat your food at noon. I’m so disappointed.”

Su Yue took out the remaining ribs from the pot and sprinkled them with chopped green onion as well, smiled, and said, “Although I won’t eat with you at noon, you can still eat the dishes I cooked; these are the ribs left for you. You can eat them hot at noon.”

“Wow, Su Yue, you are so good!” Wu Xiaoxiao was so moved that she hugged Su Yue. If Su Yue hadn’t stopped her, she would have wanted to kiss Su Yue.

The others were amused by her.

At this time, the system’s voice sounded in Su Yue’s mind again: Congratulations to the host, these sweet and sour pork ribs have reached level B, and twenty points will be awarded.

Su Yue would be surprised at first, but now she has become accustomed to the sound of the system. She only glanced at the points panel and ignored it.

Anyway, it’s still early to reach 800 points.

Translator’s Food Notes:-

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs:-