Chapter 48: Envy and jealousy

Here, Tan Shaoyang cut the sweet potato vines home, spread out the sack, put down the chopping board, picked up the knife and started chopping pig food. His movements were quick and efficient without any hesitation.

On the other side, Grandma Tan cleaned the pig fat, cut it into pieces, put it into the pot, added a small amount of water and started to refine the oil.

The oil refining process cannot be impatient, it has to be done slowly.

After half an hour, the oil seeps out and the lard becomes smaller little by little until it becomes oil residue. When no oil overflows, the oil refining is completed.

The aroma of lard spread, and the whole yard was filled with the smell of meat.

The neighbor next door smelled and swallowed frequently.

"Ever since Mr. Tan started to work hard, the aroma of meat can be smelled from the Tan family every now and then. It's really tempting to smell it."

"I've been eating steamed seafood for a long time. I went to buy two pounds of meat and came back. I haven't tasted the aroma of meat for a long time. My mouth is tasteless and it makes gurgling sounds every now and then."

"Isn't digging sandworms profitable? Let's go to town to buy meat tomorrow. We have to have a meal of meat and let others have some."

Finally I couldn't stay at home anymore and decided to go out to avoid it. But if I continued to smell it, my saliva would drip all over the floor.

Who knew that when I went out, I would run into Tan Shaobei again. My stomach was empty, and my tone was not so smooth.

"Second Tan, it's been a few days since the transportation was completed?"

"Since your third child became diligent, your family has been thriving! Not only did we build a new house, but we can also eat meat every meal. The aroma wafting out makes people unable to stay at home."

Tan Shaobei looked confused and wiped his sweat with a towel. No one knew where the sourness in his tone came from.

"Where do you start talking about this?"

"You don't know how much trouble I had to put in building a new house. Now I'm in debt."

"He asked us to use the money he had originally given to the third son to marry to build a house. We couldn't live in our house any more, but we didn't have enough money on hand, so we scraped together the money and borrowed from everyone we could."

"Besides, I don't eat meat every meal. We are not a landlord, so we can't afford to eat meat every meal. Can't you see that I am getting thinner due to tiredness? If I ate meat every meal, would I be a skeleton?"

"As for the oily aroma you mentioned, I guess it's from buying pig fat to make oil!"

"I haven't had any oil in the house for several days. I've been steaming food every day and eating it with soy sauce. I'm tired from work and I didn't dare to complain because I was afraid that you would think I was talking nonsense."

"I'm very busy. My wife can't help me. My parents are out at sea to make a living. I'm so thirsty that my lips are dry. I won't talk to you anymore."

After hearing his series of words, the neighbor felt much better. "Aren't you just trying to show off your wealth? If you don't have that much money, you can just build a mud house. Who doesn't live in a mud house?"

Tan Shaobei nodded, "I thought so at first, but my third brother said that building a mud house would require a lot of mud to be transported, which would be laborious, so it would be better to spend more money to build a brick house."

"We might as well just build a brick house. It's hard work, but it will pass in a few years."

When the neighbor thought about how miserable he was with all the debts he owed, he felt relieved and strolled to the beach, hoping that he could get lucky and find some valuable goods.

The Tan family knew nothing about this and had no idea that their neighbor next door had become so greedy because of their family's oil refining that he bumped into Tan Shaobei and choked him.

At this moment, Grandma Tan was cleaning the fish, marinating it, crushing some garlic and cutting tomatoes.

Pour the oil in the pot into an oil tank and stir-fry the chili peppers and garlic in the oil. Finally, add the tomatoes and boil until a thick soup is made. Then put the tofu and fish in to stew.

Pour some soy sauce, cover the pot, and simmer until the food is well-seasoned. Then, as soon as you open the pot, the aroma will spread throughout the yard.

Pour it into a porcelain bowl, a big full bowl, so you can have a full meal at noon.

Don’t even think about white rice, there must be a big pot of porridge.

A large pot was placed on the table, and the children gathered around it, staring eagerly, swallowing repeatedly, wishing they could grab the bowls and chopsticks right away. The adults hadn't come back yet, so there was no reason for them to start eating first. Grandma Tan waved her hand and said,

"Daya, go see if your uncle has finished his work. And call your aunt and cousin over."

"Er Ya, go to the village entrance and see if your parents and second uncle are back?"

As he said this, he packed a bowl of fish and a bowl of porridge and sent them to the room of Tan Laoer's wife. After she had a miscarriage, the doctor said that the fetus was in the too low position and to prevent premature birth, she had to stay in bed.

Mrs. Tan got scared the moment she saw Mrs. Tan's second wife. Her husband usually brought her meals, and she was afraid of being called spoiled and raising a child who couldn't even get out of bed, so she felt guilty when she saw her.

"Grandma, I can go downstairs to eat."

Grandma Tan put her on the chair next to the bed and said calmly, "Don't bother. Just eat in bed. If you have a premature birth, it will cost a lot of money."

"The second child has been through enough, and he still has debts. You should stop struggling. Just get through this period and give birth to the child first."

Grandma Tan didn't stay long. She was only happy when she was with Tan Shaoyang. She put down her bowl and chopsticks and left the room.

And now, the whole family is back.

Tan Shaobei looked at the big pot full of fish, which tasted so delicious. No wonder the neighbors were envious!
Although he was extremely hungry, he did not waste any time and just grabbed the bowl and chopsticks to serve himself some porridge.

"Third brother, you are the only one who can enjoy this treatment because you are back. Otherwise, we would just have to use a pot of seafood porridge to get by."

Tan Shaoyang picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks. The fish meat was tender and sweet. "Second brother, this big bowl of food can't stop you from eating. Just know it. There's no need to shout it out."

"Who told you that you are not as pleasing as me! Try to please my old lady. Isn't it you that she is thinking about all the time?"

As he said this, he picked up a piece for Grandma Tan and said, "Grandma, eat more. Your cooking skills are amazing. With such a pot, I can't wait to swallow my tongue."

"If we're talking about cooking, you've got to be the one!"

With just a few words, Grandma Tan was coaxed into a trance, and her eyes were almost closed from laughing.

"If it tastes good, eat more. You've been out for a few days, how come you've lost weight?"

Tan Shaobei, who was listening at the side, was about to cry.

"Grandma, I'm the one who's really dark and thin. You can't just care about the third brother and forget about the rest of us."

"Look, the boss is the same. We are the two who have really lost weight."

Grandma Tan glanced at him, then looked away, "The third child hasn't gotten married yet, he's still a young man. You're all fathers now, isn't it normal for him to work harder?"

"It's not that easy to support a family. Go and see your father. He looks so miserable. Then talk to me. He's the breadwinner, but he still doesn't know what's going on!"

"How can the third brother be the same as you? He's not married yet! He has to take good care of himself and not get too tanned, otherwise he won't be popular with girls who come to see him."

Tan Shaobei: “…” He is a piece of grass that no one pity!
Tan Shaoyang praised Tan A'nai again. He did not win people's favor by saying nice things, but his eyes were full of life.

Everyone rushed to chop the sweet potato vines.

The shoes are broken, so people rush to buy new ones.

There is no oil in the jar, buy some lard.

How can one not like it?

(End of this chapter)

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