freenovelworld Chapter 35 Making Pancreatic Soap
Chapter 35 Making Pancreatic Soap
Because offal wasn't expensive, Su Yuning planned to buy some to make braised pork offal after get off work. She was quite lucky this time; she even managed to buy five jin of pork fat and five jin of pork pancreas, and the vendor even gave her a few pork bones as a bonus. Then, she happily carried her basket of ingredients back to her dorm.
When her colleagues saw that she had bought these things, they all gathered around to see what was going on.
"Yu Ning, why did you buy these? They're greasy and don't taste good."
"You don't know this, but pork fat can be rendered into oil, and pork pancreas can be used to make soap. As for pork offal, it can be used to make braised dishes," Su Yuning replied with a smile.
"We'll provide the vegetables and hot pot base, and you can provide the braised pork offal. How about we have hot pot together?" a colleague suggested.
Su Yuning waved her hands repeatedly in refusal, "No, no, no, it's not necessary. Making braised pork offal takes a lot of time. I think it's better to eat it directly with rice. It's not suitable as a hot pot ingredient."
"How stingy! Humph! Let's go out for hot pot!" My colleagues turned and left angrily.
Su Yuning left the pig pancreas in her dorm room and took the other ingredients to a restaurant to be cooked. After all, the dorm wasn't home, and if it was left in a mess, the restaurant owner would be angry. So, she wisely took the ingredients and left.
At the restaurant, Zhao Shouyi saw Su Yuning arrive and felt a strange mix of surprise and joy.
"Yu Ning, what brings you here?"
Su Yuning replied with a smile, "I'd like to borrow your kitchen to make some braised pork offal and pork cracklings."
Zhao Shouyi readily agreed and even volunteered to assist her.
"I'll help you clean the pig offal. You can go make the pork cracklings; that's easier."
“Okay, I happen to have some pork bones, I’ll make you some bone broth.”
"Oh, aren't you working? Where did you get all these ingredients?" Zhao Shouyi asked, turning to her as he cleaned the pig offal.
"I bought them, of course. What else could I have picked them up from the ground? These ingredients aren't expensive. I just bought some to cook something delicious and satisfy my cravings," Su Yuning answered truthfully.
"Yes, being a waiter can earn money, but the food is usually just radishes and cabbage, and you rarely see meat. It must be hard on you, working so hard for the Su family," Zhao Shouyi replied with a look of sympathy.
"You understand me best." Su Yuning smiled brightly at him, then continued making the food.
As luck would have it, Ye Beichen arrived at the restaurant. Before he could even order, he saw his girlfriend and Young Master Zhao chatting and laughing intimately.
"Hey, Mr. Zhao, your wife isn't home, so why did you bring my girlfriend here?" Ye Beichen asked as he walked over with a displeased expression.
"Are you overthinking this? Who brought your girlfriend? She came by herself, okay?" Zhao Shouyi retorted, clearly annoyed, afraid of causing any unnecessary misunderstanding.
Before Ye Beichen could even ask Su Yuning what was going on, Su Yuning had already assigned him tasks.
"Ye Beichen, I bought a lot of pig offal. Even if Young Master Zhao helps, he can't wash it all by himself. Go to the door and clean up the pig intestines and small intestines. They have a strong smell, so don't wash them in the kitchen."
"Why me? I came here to eat, not to be free labor," Ye Beichen complained as he picked up a basin of pig offal and walked towards the door.
"Don't go to the entrance. Go to the backyard and collect the pig offal instead," Young Master Zhao said unhappily.
Ye Beichen stood there dumbfounded, holding a basin of pig offal, wondering why their stories were so different.
“This is a restaurant open for business. If you're washing and cleaning at the entrance and making a terrible stench, no customers will come. So, you should go to the backyard!” Young Master Zhao explained, frowning. Ye Beichen nodded in understanding and then went to the backyard to get busy.
"Young Master Zhao, do you have any baking soda in your shop?" Su Yuning suddenly asked.
Zhao Shouyi nodded in agreement, "Yes, I don't know what you need this for?"
Su Yuning said bluntly, "I want to borrow some baking soda from you. I'll take it to my dorm and make soap by mixing pig pancreas with baking soda. I'll use it to wash my clothes and bed sheets."
"Sodium bicarbonate can be used to make this? This is the first time I've ever heard of it," Young Master Zhao replied curiously.
"Of course! I'm an all-powerful little inventor. I'll send you a few bars of soap once I've finished making them," Su Yuning replied proudly.
"Alright, just bring some baking soda with you when you go back." Young Master Zhao readily agreed.
Coincidents really do happen one after another.
Nangong Xue'er, who hadn't been home for several days, was a little homesick, so she asked the Empress for leave and went to the street to buy two packs of osmanthus cakes to take home.
Just as she was happily preparing to have a reunion dinner with Zhao Shouyi, she discovered that Su Yuning was also there, and the two of them were cooking together, just like a couple deeply in love.
Furious, Nangong Xue'er threw the osmanthus cake on the ground, then turned and left the restaurant in tears.
"Um... Nangong Xue'er seems to have misunderstood us. You should go and explain to her." Su Yuning kindly reminded her.
"Hmm." Young Master Zhao nodded, then quickly ran after his wife.
Afterwards, Zhao Shouyi and Nangong Xueer were seen pulling and tugging at each other on the street, attracting the attention of passersby.
"Xue'er, let me explain, it's not what you think," Zhao Shouyi replied anxiously.
At this moment, Nangong Xue'er immediately covered her ears with both hands, "I won't listen! Explanation is just a cover-up, and a cover-up is the truth!"
"Oh dear, how can you be so unreasonable?" Zhao Shouyi frowned in anger.
Passersby pointed and whispered among themselves.
"It seems this woman has met a rival in love."
"In my opinion, this man is having an affair, which is why this woman is so impatient."
"Oh dear, isn't this the Sixth Prince? He's always been a cold and ruthless person, how could he have someone else outside?" someone else chimed in.
At this moment, a woman quickly pulled the person who interrupted away from the crowd, not forgetting to scold him a few times.
"Are you out of your mind? You dare to interfere in the prince's affairs? Let me tell you, don't get involved in the fun anymore. After you're done at the market, go home and clean up!"
"You're right, let's go home!"
Immediately afterwards, Ye Beichen and Su Yuning squeezed through the crowd and together explained to Nangong Xue'er,
“Miss Nangong, you’ve really misunderstood. It’s not what you think. We were just discussing food together.”
When Nangong Xue'er saw that Ye Beichen had also arrived, she was both amused and exasperated.
"Beichen, you've really changed. You weren't like this before; you wouldn't lie for others. What's wrong with you now? You'd rather accept betrayal in a relationship than not stand up for her, is that it?"
Ye Beichen was speechless for a moment. He never expected that the woman would be so unreasonable.
“Miss Nangong, even if you don’t think about yourself, you should think about the child in your belly. We’ve already said it was a misunderstanding, so please don’t be unreasonable in public. Let’s talk about it when we get back, okay? You’re a well-educated and reasonable girl, you mustn’t be rude!” Su Yuning gently advised.
At this moment, Nangong Xue'er noticed that there were layers upon layers of onlookers around her. She blushed with embarrassment and walked out of the crowd with her head down. The other people hurriedly followed her.
They arrived at the restaurant, and Zhao Shouyi led her to the kitchen. Nangong Xue'er looked at the golden and crispy fried pork cracklings, the steaming hot bone broth, and the braised ingredients that hadn't been prepared yet. Only then did she realize that she had really been judging others by her own petty standards.
"I'm so sorry, I misunderstood you." Nangong Xue'er quickly apologized to Zhao Shouyi. "I missed you, so I asked my mother to let me come back to have dinner with you. But this misunderstanding has caused a whole mess. I'm so sorry."
"Alright, alright, what's past is past, let's not bring it up again," Zhao Shouyi waved his hand in response.
After that, Su Yuning and Ye Beichen cooked in the kitchen, while Young Master Zhao and Nangong Xue'er chatted in the hall.
"What do you think Mother is thinking? Why does she insist on making you move to the palace? Can't she come here to visit you more often? This way, we'll only have a handful of opportunities to see each other," Zhao Shouyi complained unhappily.
Nangong Xue'er quickly comforted him, "Alright, calm down. Mother is doing this for our own good. Besides, we're both still young and don't understand many things. Living in the palace with Father and Mother has really taught us a lot."
Zhao Shouyi crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What knowledge can I possibly learn?"
Nangong Xue'er counted on her fingers for him, "First, there's the issue of prenatal education. Playing soft music for the baby every day can help stabilize the baby's emotions. Second, there's the issue of skincare. After I got stretch marks during pregnancy, my mother had the palace maids apply olive oil to my skin, which effectively inhibited the growth of the lines. Third, there's the issue of sleep. Pregnant women should have a good routine, not only sleeping soundly at night but also taking a nap at noon. Since we moved out, I've been eating well and sleeping soundly every day."
At this point, Zhao Shouyi stopped being angry. "As long as you get enough rest, that's fine. It is indeed quite noisy here, and there is a lot of fumes in the restaurant, which is not suitable for pregnant women and fetuses. If you need anything, just go and buy it. I can also arrange for a palace maid to buy it for you. Take good care of yourself."
"You too, take good care of yourself, don't just focus on making money, eat well, sleep well, and prepare well to be a father," Nangong Xue'er replied with a smile.
At this moment, Zhao Shouyi teased her, "Xue'er used to be a confident and beautiful girl, how come she's become so jealous now?"
Nangong Xue'er retorted unhappily, "Isn't it because I'm pregnant and my figure has become bloated?"
At this moment, Zhao Shouyi pulled Nangong Xue'er into his arms and responded gently.
"I've decided on you for the rest of my life. Whether you're fat or thin, I'll stay with you forever."
Nangong Xue'er was deeply moved. "It's so good to be by your side. Your attitude has made me decide to stay with you for the rest of my life."
"Alright, you two! Time to eat!" Su Yuning smiled as she brought the prepared food to the table.
Crispy and delicious pork cracklings, fragrant bone broth, a visually appealing platter of braised meat, stewed tofu and large intestines, and cold dishes made by Ye Beichen himself, such as cucumber salad with bean curd sheets and tomatoes with white sugar.
“Nangong Xue’er is pregnant now, so drinking some soup will be more nourishing.” Su Yuning said as she ladled a small bowl of soup and placed it in front of Nangong Xue’er.
Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Nangong Xue'er readily picked up the soup and drank it all in one gulp.
"Oh, what delicious bone broth! I'd love to have another bowl!"
Hearing Nangong Xue'er's praise, Su Yuning felt a surge of joy. She quickly served Nangong Xue'er another bowl of soup and then explained,
"The reason why the soup is so delicious is because I added kelp knots to the bone broth. Bone broth is good for calcium, so you can drink more if you like."
“Oh, I remember that braised pork ribs with kelp is also delicious. I must try my mother’s recipe sometime.” Nangong Xue’er replied enthusiastically.
Then, Ye Beichen reached out, picked up the fried grease, dipped it in the seasoning, and put it in his mouth, finishing it in a few bites.
Ye Beichen commented with a smile.
"The cracklings are crunchy and quite tasty. They're just a bit spicy."