Chapter 123

Wang Xiaosong had good intentions, letting Jiang Sheng find paper to record the recipe, afraid that she wouldn't remember it after just hearing it once.

But she didn't have any paper on her, nor could she fluently write down hundreds of characters.

"Brother Wang, I really don't have any paper with me, and can't remember it all. Why don't you come back to the county town with me? I have a brother there who can write." Jiang Sheng said gingerly.

Beside them, Wen Zhiyun remembered that there was paper and writing brush in his medicine box that he used for prescriptions.

But just as he raised his hand, Jiang Sheng pressed it back down.

Wen Zhiyun blinked his eyes, seeming to understand something.

"You two..." Facing Jiang Sheng's suggestion, Wang Xiaosong was somewhat hesitant.

They had just lost their mother, and felt the coldness of their clan. They were prepared to have no home to return to.

Thinking this way, going back just to remember a recipe didn't seem like much.

"Alright then." He grabbed Wang Xiaozhu's hand, "I have to bring my little sister too."

Wang Xiaozhu timidly moved closer to her brother, grasping the only lifeline she had.

Dusk.

The people who had gone out at noon finally made it back home before dark.

Xu Mo and Fang Heng were anxiously waiting for their younger siblings, worried that they might have gotten into trouble.

Seeing the hem of Jiang Sheng's skirt, they finally felt relieved.

After Jiang Sheng, Wen Zhiyun, Chang Yan, Zheng Ruqian jumped down one by one, two more people emerged.

There were four when they left, but now there were six coming back.

"Big brother, third brother, these are the Wang siblings who know how to make sausage," Jiang Sheng said loudly, "Whether the workshop in the town can reopen depends on them!"

Wang Xiaosong was stunned. They were just homeless orphans, how did they become people carrying the honor and disgrace of the workshop in this little girl's mouth?

But no matter what, with an introduction like this, he unconsciously stood up straighter. Xu Mo politely nodded his head in greeting to the Wang siblings.

Turning back, Zheng Ruqian was already holding paper and brush, taking down the recipe as Wang Xiaosong recited it. Before long, the complete recipe was presented.

Wang Xiaosong's mission was finally accomplished. He tidied his uncomfortable clothes, took his sister's hand, and prepared to leave.

But Jiang Sheng stopped him again, "Brother Wang, have you tasted this sausage before?"

Wang Xiaosong was suddenly lost in memories, "I've tried it a few times before. But later after father passed away, our family really couldn't afford to buy meat anymore, and I never saw sausage again after that."

Occasionally when he thought about the sausage, he could only remember the tight, oily meat texture and the splattering oil.

But Jiang Sheng seemed to have discovered a treasure, quietly cheering, "That's great then. The recipe is one thing, but making it well still takes time. After auntie Zhang finishes making it, I'll still need brother Wang to try it and see if the taste matches your memories.

"If it matches, we can sell it. If not, we'll need to adjust it."

The little girl's eyes were wide open. She was even younger than Xiaozhu, but could speak intelligently and cleverly try to keep people around.

She's so smart.

Wang Xiaosong debated internally.

He actually didn't remember the taste of sausage very well anymore, but Jiang Sheng's intention to keep him around was so obvious, she even carefully maintained his dignity and face.

It made it hard to decide in that moment.

If he didn't stay, he preserved all his dignity, but he and his sister might suffer hardship.

If he stayed, lying to himself, but his sister wouldn't become destitute.

Wang Xiaosong was fifteen and had never told a lie, but in this moment, looking at his confused little sister, he grit his teeth and said, "Okay."

If lying was a sin, then let Heaven punish him instead of his innocent little sister.

Wang Xiaosong silently thought.

In the following days, Jiang Sheng pulled along auntie Zhang and the Wang siblings to start trying to make sausage in the yard.

Sausage, dried sausage, sausage.

The name itself meant dried meat, so the making of dried sausage and dried meat was fundamentally similar - cure the meat to the right degree and dry to preserve, giving it a unique flavor.

Sausage used pig intestines, equivalent to the meat fermenting a second time inside, so the flavor was more special compared to dried meat.

Auntie Zhang was skilled, taking just three to five days to finish the first batch of sausage, hanging it under the eaves to dry.

The April weather was sunny and cloudless. After hanging for five or six days, the sausage casing wrinkled.

Zhang Xianglian cut off two links and steamed them like the dried meat before cutting into slices and placing them in front of Jiang Sheng. The whole family knew the little girl had a sweet tooth.

When they first started making dried meat, she loved to steadily munch on slices, drinking three big ladles of water afterwards to quench her thirst.

Now with fresh sausage right out of the pot, the little girl couldn't wait to pop a piece in her mouth.

Then, her eyes widened.

"Not tasty?" Auntie Zhang felt nervous.

Wang Xiaosong also clenched his fists, afraid he had lost his only usefulness.

After a while, Jiang Sheng finally swallowed the sausage, pecking like a chick and nodding her head, "Delicious, so delicious! You all should try it!"

Everyone picked up their chopsticks to sample it.

Good sausage needed a mix of fat and lean, with the lean meat providing texture to make the casing taut and bouncy. The fat provided juice that burst in the mouth when biting, balancing out the blandness of the lean meat, also providing oiliness and aroma that made one insatiable.

There was just one issue - the recipe said Sichuan sausage should be spicy, but this had no spiciness at all.

Jiang Sheng voiced her doubts.

Auntie Zhang slapped her own head, "Oh dear, I forgot to add the chili powder in the first batch, but the meat was already stuffed so I couldn't waste it. I figured I'd just go ahead and finish it."

She didn't expect the taste to be so good without spiciness, it had a fresh, sweet aroma blended with light wine fragrance that made one crave more.

When the second spicy batch was done, it had another kind of feeling.

Sesame fragrance, balanced fat and lean, just a bit too spicy for children - Jiang Sheng cried out from the burning.

Auntie Zhang hurriedly brought Jiang Sheng water to soothe the spiciness, while wondering to herself, "It's just a little less pepper and sichuan pepper, how can there be such a big difference in taste?"

If she changed some other proportions, like sugar or salt, or fat ratio, what would happen?

Previously when Zhang Xianglian's life was hard and she couldn't even eat her fill, she didn't even dare to think about these kinds of questions.

Later after she earned some savings at the workshop in town, and Jiang Sheng would give her silver to buy ingredients to cook, now she didn't need to worry about food and clothing, and had some idle cash.

Auntie Zhang had a bold thought for the first time - she wanted to try making sausage with different proportions to see which tasted the best.

No sooner said than done.

She took out 100 wen of her private savings and bought over 10 jin of pork, some with a bit more sugar, some with more salt, some with more fat, and some even with just lean meat.

She discovered that a ratio of 30% fat to 70% lean was best. All lean meat was too chewy and tough to bite through, while too much fat became greasy.

She also realized that drying the sausages in the sun the first two days and then moving to the shade resulted in better looking sausages. Adding a bit of soy sauce when curing also made the final product more vivid and appealing.

These discoveries delighted Zhang Xianglian. She stopped worrying about growing snap peas and devoted her time to experimenting with sausage.

Finally, she made seven or eight varieties that she was quite satisfied with. After slicing them neatly, she presented them at dinner, "Everyone try these and tell me which tastes the best!"