Even though Miao Xiuhua tried her best to persuade them, Dao Dahai, the members of the police station, and those few villagers still left Zhuxi Village.
The chickens and ducks could be kept, but this basket of ribs couldn't be dealt with.
Miao Xiuhua stored some in the refrigerator, and the rest were braised or made into soup. Tang Guihua and Mei Xueyun stayed to help.
There were more than twenty people building the house foundation, plus village cadres like Luo Changsheng. Since they couldn't finish lunch, they let everyone pack some to take home.
The naughty dog realized that it was always the weaker one in front of humans.
Seeing Miao Xiuhua's arrangements, it looked utterly dejected.
It had originally hoped to bathe in rib soup every day, but in the blink of an eye, all its hopes had vanished like drawing water with a bamboo basket.
Not long after, a rich aroma of rib soup wafted from the house.
The dozens of dogs sitting by the door immediately drooled.
"Woof woof!"
Taoxibao barked at them, "Don't drool, I'll get you something to eat later."
As the king of dogs, Taoxibao felt it had to maintain its kingly demeanor in front of them.
If it didn't get these foodies some rib soup at noon, what prestige would it have?
Before long, Taoxibao trotted into the kitchen with a large basin.
Cheng Xiaofan was helping in the kitchen. Seeing the large basin, he immediately understood what this pampered dog meant. No matter what, he had to give it some face.
After all, it was thanks to this pampered dog that they could have rib soup today!
He quickly scooped a large basin of rib soup for it, sprinkled some chopped scallions on top, and carried it to the old osmanthus tree by the gate.
"Woof woof!"
"You guys eat!"
These dogs approached in an orderly fashion in front of Taoxibao.
One ate a few bites, then another, and so on, forming a continuous feast.
Taoxibao originally wanted to ask its owner for a couple of jars of wine to let its little brothers drink to their heart's content.
But it worried that these fellows were too dim-witted and might not recognize each other when drunk, leading to infighting, which would be disastrous.
Seeing that they were eating elegantly and without any squabbling, Taoxibao left.
It individually requested a plate of sweet and sour ribs and enjoyed it under the grape trellis in the backyard.
When it felt the saltiness, it leaped up, plucked a couple of grapes, and chewed them.
Life was truly flowing smoothly and was full of flavor.
...
When Cheng Xiaofan returned from town yesterday, he deliberately bought some high-quality glutinous rice.
Although the Happy Fruit on the back mountain was still two days away from ripening, the fruits on the Happy Fruit trees planted in his space had already matured.
This afternoon, Cheng Xiaofan wanted to try brewing some wine.
At noon, Cheng Xiaofan didn't eat at home. He bought two large steamed buns.
One was filled with rib soup, and the other with braised sweet and sour ribs.
He also got a large basin of white rice and a bottle of wine.
When he arrived at the back mountain, Luo Yang and Feng Xigua were about to knock off and go home for lunch.
"Brother Luo, Brother Feng, don't rush back,"
Cheng Xiaofan waved the food in his hands and said with a smile, "Let's eat here today, I brought food!"
"Okay, then we won't go back!"
Luo Yang and Feng Xigua washed their faces at the pond and came over.
Upon reaching the loft, Cheng Xiaofan prepared two large basins and served the rib soup and sweet and sour ribs in them. Instantly, the entire loft was filled with fragrance.
"Wow, it smells so good!"
"Why is the main dish ribs today?"
Luo Yang and Feng Xigua entered the loft and said with smiles.
Cheng Xiaofan laughed heartily and said, "Today, we can enjoy ribs as the main dish entirely thanks to Taoxibao!"
Then, he briefly recounted the story of Taoxibao being rewarded.
Upon hearing this, Luo Yang burst into laughter and said, "No wonder I heard firecrackers, gongs, and horns from the village earlier!"
"With this Taoxibao around, burglars will definitely not dare to come to Zhuxi Village anymore!" Feng Xigua also couldn't help but laugh.
Cheng Xiaofan took out two large red paper packets from his pocket and handed them to the two men, saying with a smile, "Brothers, you've been working for me for almost half a month. I'm paying you your wages in advance, 15,000 each, please accept it!"
"What, wasn't it 10,000? Why is it 5,000 more?" Feng Xigua said urgently.
Cheng Xiaofan smiled, "You've all worked hard during this period, so an extra 5,000 is normal!"
Luo Yang said, "This won't do, Xiaofan. We were supposed to work full days, but you insisted we work half days. We even have weekends off every week, and the salary increased by 5,000 from 10,000. How can we accept this!"
Cheng Xiaofan said, "Brothers, I know how much work you've done. Don't refuse anymore, just accept it, and let's eat!"
Luo and Feng looked at each other, knowing they couldn't refuse, so they put the red paper packets in their pockets.
The sun outside was scorching, but it was very cool in this loft.
"Come, let's drink!"
Cheng Xiaofan raised his glass and said with a smile, "Brothers, you've worked hard!"
"Xiaofan, you're too polite!"
The three of them tilted their heads back and downed the wine in their cups.
Half an hour later, the bottle was empty, and both basins of ribs were completely finished.
These three were young and in good health, so they could eat a lot. Even the large basin of rice was finished.
After Luo Yang and Feng Xigua left, Cheng Xiaofan took out the glutinous rice he had bought yesterday, washed it by the pond, put it into an electric steamer, added a shallow layer of water, and started cooking the rice.
When the rice was cooked, he uncovered the pot, transferred the rice into a clean basin, and let it cool.
While it was cooling, Cheng Xiaofan used his mental power to pick some ripe Happy Fruits from his space and moved them out.
The fruits picked from the space did not need to be washed; they were very clean.
He put on a pair of disposable film gloves, squeezed all the Happy Fruits, and mixed them with the glutinous rice in the basin.
At the same time, Cheng Xiaofan took out the yeast powder, sprinkled a layer on top, and began to mix it with his hands.
After mixing the yeast, Happy Fruits, and glutinous rice evenly, he pressed it down flat, made a hole in the middle, poured the remaining yeast powder mixed with cool boiled water into the hole.
Once everything was done, Cheng Xiaofan put the lid on the basin, placed it on the bed, and covered it with a quilt to maintain a certain temperature so that the yeast could ferment quickly.
It was hot weather, so a quilt wasn't normally needed.
However, the temperature in the loft in the mountains was relatively low.
Actually, Cheng Xiaofan didn't need to go through so much trouble. He could have directly put the basin into his space and brewed the wine quickly with his mental power.
However, in the future, all the wine he brewed would be done manually. To ensure consistency in the wine production, he decided not to brew wine in his space.
The only difference was the Happy Fruit; one was produced in the space, and the other was produced outside the space.
In the future, any wine brewed using Happy Fruits from his space would be top-tier wine, with a starting price of at least ten million yuan per jin, exclusively targeting foreigners.
Cheng Xiaofan had also thought of a name for this wine: "Happy Wine."
Drinking wine was meant to bring happiness, and this wine contained the essence of Happy Fruit. Drinking it would truly bring happiness!