Lin Xiuqing was turning over the dried fish airing by the door when she saw Ye Yaodong come home carrying a piece of pork liver and a pig's stomach. "Where did you buy those?" she asked in surprise.
"I didn't buy them. Fatty gave them to me. His father-in-law sent him a heap of pig offal, so he told me to take some home."
"That stomach must weigh over three pounds, right? How can we finish it? Why don't we take it to your mother and have her stew it?"
"Sure. Let her clean and cook it, and we can go get a couple of bowls once it's done. Saves us the trouble. We'll keep the liver. You should eat more of it."
"All right."
Pig's stomach warmed the stomach. The local way of preparing it was to stuff a young hen inside and stew them together, a dish called pig's stomach chicken.
Another method was to tie both ends shut, crack a few free-range eggs into the stomach, and stew it with medicinal herbs. Once it was cooked, they would cut around it with scissors and share it out.
There was no young hen available, so Mother Ye put eggs inside instead. Ye Yaodong hadn't eaten it that way in many years either. No one had made it.
Their dinner consisted of a bowl of steamed fish, a bowl of stir-fried cabbage, and the pig's stomach soup.
Lin Xiuqing cooked the pork liver and spinach soup, set it aside, and covered it to save for tomorrow's meal. Otherwise, the liver would stink if left overnight. Once cooked and left untouched without stirring, it wouldn't spoil.
After a satisfying meal, Ye Yaodong helped look after the children for a while. Once darkness fell, he planned to go out and stretch