Chapter 206 I Want to Be a Matchmaker

Yue Feng, who had successfully completed the task, went back home humming a little tune and smiling. When he entered the courtyard, he saw Xiao Tao and his brothers skinning a badger in the yard.

There were five badgers of different sizes, one big and one small having been dealt with. Each of the three brothers held a small badger in front of them. They were skinning it with a wide-bladed knife in their hands. While working, they were also observing the progress of their companions next to them.

“What are you doing? A competition?” Yue Feng asked curiously.

Although the skin of this badger is somewhat useful, it is not valuable. Normally, even if you want to skin it, there is no need to be so meticulous. Just circumcise the four legs, then break open the inside, step on a stress point, and tear off the skin.

Yue Feng had never seen anyone use their embroidery-like operation to separate the skin and subcutaneous fat on a badger.

“Brother, you’re back. We’re having a competition! Whoever loses gets to go to the store to buy spiced peanuts and drag a sled up the mountain next time!”

Xiao Tao was the one who did most of the work like cutting open the pigs in the mountains before, so he had a slight advantage in terms of skinning speed.

Xiaowu also raised his head: “Last time, Uncle Zhao’s skinning skills amazed us all. Brother, didn’t you say before that practice makes perfect? ​​It just so happens that I have nothing to do at home, so I just want to show it to him! Just treat it as practice!”

Yue Feng nodded: “Okay, you are not bad to have this awareness. Once you have mastered the skills, you can use them even if you kill a fox or other furs in the future!”

Xiaowen also raised his head, looked up and down at Yue Feng’s clothes and asked, “How is it, Brother Feng? Did the trick I gave you work? How’s the progress this time?”

Yue Feng curled his lips and said, “The effect is good. If I hadn’t promised you guys that we would stew badger meat with radish for lunch, I would have stayed at Wang’s house for dinner!”

Xiao Tao: “That’s awesome! This is my first time back, and my father-in-law even provided me with meals!”

Xiaowu: “Why don’t you stay for dinner? It’s just right for you to have a drink with your uncle at noon. Just pour it under the table. Then it will be done! All of us can do it!”

Xiao Tao and Xiao Wu both agreed, but Xiao Wen shook his head: “We can’t just eat randomly. Let alone other things, just the question of seating, there are rules for where to sit! It might even be embarrassing!”

The daughter and son-in-law should sit at the seat of honor, this is not just empty talk. When the son-in-law comes into the family, he is the most honorable guest of the host family and he has to sit at the seat of honor at the dinner table.

But Yue Feng is a junior, and he and Xiao Na haven’t confirmed their relationship yet. If he stays for dinner, where should he sit? Obviously, no matter which choice is made, both parties will be a little awkward.

Of course, this is just one of the problems. If you speak carelessly or do things without paying attention and it causes other consequences, it would be even more serious.

So, in this situation, Xiaowen also felt that staying for dinner would do more harm than good.

Yue Feng nodded at Xiao Wen: “Yes, that’s why I’m back! Don’t worry about me, we don’t have any other plans today, let’s continue!”

Soon, the results of the skinning competition among the three brothers came out.

Xiao Tao took the lead with a slight advantage, Xiao Wen was more than ten seconds slower, and Xiao Wu came in last.

After the skin is peeled off with a skinning knife, the quality of the skin is obviously much better, and the subcutaneous fat on the back is also scraped off. If tanning is required, it only needs to be processed again with some fine processing.

The skin was peeled off, and soon Yue Feng used a knife to accurately disassemble the badger meat, and then soaked it in cold water.

Badgers also have fat. After peeling the skin, the white and slightly yellowish part is its fat reserve. Yue Feng uses a knife to carefully scrape out the fat and put it in a basin for later use as oil.

After Yue Feng’s careful processing, only the red muscle texture of the badger meat remains, which looks very appetizing.

Even if the badger meat is bled immediately after being killed, it will still have an earthy smell when stewed. To solve this problem, it is actually very simple. Just soak the meat as much as possible to remove the blood before putting it in the pot, and the smell will be much lighter.

When it is put into the pot, add some white wine to remove the fishy smell, and add a little cinnamon, star anise and peppercorns. If it is done well, the smell can be completely covered. In terms of meat quality, this badger meat is still good.

When everything was ready, Yue Feng put the badger meat into the big pot, added the side dishes and water, covered the pot, and turned on the high heat.

The badger meat was not too old at that time, and it took less than an hour for the badger meat to be stewed. Yue Feng poked the chopsticks lightly to make sure it was still movable, then stopped adding firewood to the bottom of the pot and simmered it for another 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend further.

When the time came, Yue Feng opened the lid of the pot, and the rich aroma of meat mixed with the smell of spices wafted into his nose.

A large pot of badger meat was served on the table. Xiaowu went to buy some spiced peanuts. Yuefeng took out the white wine from the warehouse, and the whole family sat around the table.

The cold wind was howling outside, and the steaming badger meat in the house was emitting the aroma of meat. A few close friends were drinking and eating meat with big gulps. Life was extremely comfortable.

After each of them drank half a catty of white wine, they had more topics to talk about. At the dinner table, Yue Lei again asked the question about Yue Feng after he went to send the badger away. After Yue Feng replied that Xiaona was quite enthusiastic about him, the old man felt relieved.

After eating and drinking, Xiao Tao and his two brothers said goodbye and went home. Yue Lei and his wife took their son to the east room. “Xiao Feng, when do you think your mother and I will go to propose marriage?”

“Ah? Don’t worry, just try it out first!” Yue Feng was stunned.

“What do you mean by not in a hurry? It’s better to remember this sooner rather than later! First settle the relationship, and then you can slowly get along with each other later! Otherwise, if you go out together all day long and let people outside see you, it will have a bad influence!”

My father’s consideration does make sense. In this era, the social atmosphere is still relatively conservative. Free love does exist, but even if you are in a relationship, the most they can do is hold hands in public.

You know, at this time point, hooliganism is still a crime. After the millennium, it was common for couples to live together without any engagement or wedding ceremony, but at this point in time, it is absolutely impossible.

“Then I’ll listen to Dad!” Yue Feng didn’t want to dwell on this matter, so he simply followed his father’s arrangements.

Yue Lei nodded and said, “Okay, then your mother and I will go to Wang’s house tomorrow! We will find a matchmaker to arrange the marriage! You and Xiaona are not that old, so if you don’t want to get married early, you can wait for another year or two!”

Just then, Jingjing, with oil drooling from her mouth, came into the east room.

“Dad! Shouldn’t I be the matchmaker between my brother and my sister-in-law?”

“You little girl, what are you doing making trouble for! This is a serious matter, not a game! Do you know how to perform formalities? What are the rules and etiquette?” When Meng Yulan heard Jingjing say this, she gave her a dissatisfied look.

“Why did you mess up? I…”

Jingjing still wanted to fight for it, but her little head was completely blank about all the knowledge and etiquette regarding marriage and engagement.

“Okay, okay, your dad and I will go find Zhang Mazi from the village to be a matchmaker! You are still young, so don’t meddle in your brother’s affairs!” Meng Yulan waved her hand and suppressed Jingjing’s idea of ​​being a matchmaker.

When the little girl heard her mother say this, she felt anxious and helpless, and even the meat she had just eaten lost its flavor.

……

For the next two days, Yue Feng’s team was quiet. They would go to the mountains to release hawks every other day, and stay at home during their off-duty days. When they caught prey, they would ride their bikes into the city to deliver it to the canteen, following the routine.

During this period, Yue Lei and Meng Yulan went to find another matchmaker in the village, Zhang Mazi, to learn about the relevant details in advance, and then took the matchmaker to Wang Jianguo’s home that afternoon.

Originally, it was a good thing that both families were willing to do. This time, it was just a formality and followed all the etiquette and rules.

Just like that, the wife whom Yue Feng had never dared to think about in his previous life, had already decided on a date for their engagement within less than half a year after his rebirth. The eighth day of next month, an auspicious day!

If there is something to say, it will be long; if there is nothing to say, it will be short. In the next few days, there was a new round of snowfall, strong winds and cold weather, and even the falconry activities had to be temporarily suspended.

During this period, Yue Feng spent most of his time at home, fiddling with his eagle and the puppies at home when he had nothing to do, so life was not that difficult.

After his family took the matchmaker to discuss the engagement date, Yue Feng went to the Wang family more frequently. He would take a stroll around Wang Xiaona’s house whenever he had nothing to do. With the help of badger oil, the skin on Wang Xiaona’s feet that were scalded by boiling water quickly shed and new skin with a slightly different color grew.

The impact of a new round of snowfall has temporarily brought the activities of the Yuefeng Hunting Team to a halt, but on the other hand, the card game business of the Xiaowen family has become increasingly prosperous.

Hu Xiaoli gathered people together and played cards and gambled for money at Xiaowen’s house almost every day. It lasted for about ten days. It was always a group of four: Wang Musheng, Hu Xiaoli, Zhou Xiaobao, and Zhu Erhai.

However, after a few days, Zhou Xiaobao and Wang Musheng suddenly stopped coming.

It seemed like Zhu Erhai had suddenly become rich.

This kind of conspiracy to set a trap happens every year. No one can blame it if they are willing to fight or be beaten!

Regardless of winning or losing, it is the customer’s own private matter, so Xiaowen knows the rules and doesn’t ask any questions.

However, one thing is that Zhu Erhai did not sit idle after he became rich. He soon went to Hexi to buy five hunting dogs.

This hunting dog belongs to Sun Paotou’s family in Hexi. It can hunt black pigs and bears, and is quite famous in the surrounding area.

It was said that Sun Paotou had an accident while drinking at home and suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed on one side. The five dogs at home had to help take care of the situation.

Zhu Erhai didn’t know where he heard the news, but he took his friends to Sun Paotou’s house that day. After some bargaining, he packed up the five dogs and took them back.

(End of this chapter)