Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

"Beef offal? They can even get that?"

In the woodshed, Chen Xiangdong and Li Mancang looked at Fatty Qin with surprise and a hint of doubt in their eyes. Although that stuff wasn't as precious as beef or mutton, it wasn't something you could just buy easily in those days of scarcity.

Qin the Fatty craned his neck to peer outside, making sure no one was around, before saying mysteriously, "You know the Muslim Quarter in the south of the county town?"

Li Mancang's eyes lit up: "I know that! Before, when Hua Boyan and his ilk had spare money, they didn't dare to go to the supply and marketing cooperative. They would sneak off to Huimin Street to get some beef and mutton to satisfy their cravings. I don't know where those people got their beef and mutton from."

Chen Xiangdong was surprised: "You can actually connect with people in the Muslim Quarter?"

Fatty Qin chuckled and lowered his voice: "These are all routes that Old Xue introduced to us when we went to Xuejia Village before. Those guys have connections with us in private."

"I was strolling around the Muslim Quarter a couple of days ago when I heard from Ma Lao Er at the street corner that he had recently gotten a batch of beef from outside, along with a lot of offal. Nobody in the county dares to buy it openly. If I want some, he said he'd save some for me."

He looked at Chen Xiangdong and said, "I was just thinking that offal is pretty cheap. It only costs 30 cents a pound if I get it from Ma Lao Er. It's not a bad deal to bring it back to the canteen to make a dish. It's a meat dish, after all."

Li Mancang swallowed hard as he listened, nodding hurriedly: "That stuff smells amazing when it's stewed! Back when Hua Boliyan and his friends brought it back, they'd cook it in a big pot, and the whole house would be filled with its aroma."

Chen Xiangdong asked, "Those Hui people don't eat offal? I heard they only avoid blood, gallbladder, pancreas, and bladder, but they eat the intestines, stomach, and heart?"

Fatty Qin shook his head and said, "Old Ma and his ilk are old-fashioned; they don't eat any offal. That's why it's cheap."

After saying that, he looked at the two of them and said, "Mancangwa and I will go and bring the cow offal back from the water. Can you make some spiced beef offal for us?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mancang was taken aback and glanced at Chen Xiangdong beside him in surprise. Why was Fatty Qin, the head chef, asking Chen Xiangdong to cook the beef offal instead?

But no one at the scene explained any of this to him.

Chen Xiangdong thought for a moment, then asked, "How's Old Xue?"

"It seems like he'll be out soon. That old man is stubborn and will never admit to selling meat and beans. Old Xue's family has some connections, so the police station can't keep him locked up forever, right? I reckon he'll be out in the next day or two."

Fatty Qin waved his hand and said with a sneer, "Last time you made that spiced pork offal, I asked Yu Baoliang for the recipe for the braising packet, but that guy said he lost it and couldn't find it. I think he probably kept it and doesn't want me to know."

Yu Baoliang is a cunning man; once he gets the braised pork recipe, he certainly won't share it.

Chen Xiangdong smiled and said, "It's fine if it's lost. I'll write you another one later. Perfect timing, I'll go to the Muslim Quarter with you and we can buy all the ingredients for braised pork while we're at it."

"That's great!" Fatty Qin's face immediately lit up with a smile. "Shall we set off now?"

.........

The Muslim Quarter in the South District is hidden among old tile-roofed houses and narrow alleys paved with stone slabs. There are not many people on the street, and occasionally you can see a few old men wearing white or black woolen hats walking slowly by.

A barber carrying a shoulder pole walks through the streets and alleys, loudly calling out "Shave, haircut, ear cleaning" as he sways his load as he walks.

Li Mancang pulled the flatbed cart, with Fatty Qin and Chen Xiangdong leading the way, one in front and one behind.

"Turn into the first door, and that's Ma Lao Er's house."

Fatty Qin, carrying the bag of spices he had just bought on the way, led the two men into a narrow alley.

The wheels rolled over the stone pavement with a dull thud.

The courtyard gate was a dark, old wooden door. Fatty Qin stepped forward, knocked twice on the door, and called out into the courtyard, "Old Ma! Open the door, it's me!"

After a short while, an eye peeked out from the crack in the door, looked around a few times, and then opened the door.

A man wearing a white hat, who looked to be in his forties with a dark complexion, stood behind the door. He stepped aside, smiled at Fatty Qin, and said, "Come in."

The three entered the courtyard one after another. As soon as they entered, they smelled a mixture of salt and alkali. Chen Xiangdong looked towards the corner of the wall and saw several old wooden basins on the blue brick floor, filled with reddish cow hearts, lungs and intestines.

Fatty Qin glanced at the pile of cow offal: "Is it all washed?"

Ma Lao Er grinned and said, "Of course! The blood has been soaked away, and the tripe has been rubbed several times with coarse salt and flour. Except for the intestines and fat, which haven't been cut off yet, everything is basically cleaned up."

"How many sets of offal are these?" Chen Xiangdong walked over and looked at the offal in the wooden basin. He reached out and scooped it up a couple of times. It was fairly clean, but a dirty, fishy smell hit his nose.

"Five sets! Heart, liver, lungs, intestines, stomach, and trotters, a total of 120 jin." Ma Lao Er stood to the side and said, "We agreed before that you would just give me 36 yuan."

"Okay!" Fatty Qin readily handed over the money he had prepared in his pocket. Old Ma took it, counted the bills twice to make sure they were correct, and then bent down to help lift the wooden basin onto the car.

Just before the three of them left, he added, "Don't forget to bring the wooden basin back."

Li Mancang pulled the handle and turned the flatbed cart around. The wind lifted a corner of the white cloth covering the cart, revealing the edge of the wet wooden basin underneath.

Fatty Qin waved his hand behind him without turning his head: "I know."

The weight of about 100 pounds was actually quite light on the cart, and Chen Xiangdong and the other two returned to the theater troupe's compound in this way.

"Oh, you're back?"

Yu Baoliang saw Chen Xiangdong and Fatty Qin pulling a flatbed cart outside the kitchen from afar, and hurried over, rubbing his hands together as if to lend a hand to lift the wooden basin.

But Fatty Qin didn't give him a friendly look. He didn't even lift his eyelids, but went straight past the hand that was being offered to him. He picked up a wooden basin, unloaded it from the cart, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Yu Baoliang's hands froze in mid-air, then he awkwardly withdrew them. Seeing that no one responded, he chuckled dryly, "Wow, that's quite a lot..."

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting a bit awkward, Chen Xiangdong smiled and said, "Well, that should be enough to eat."

Immediately afterwards, Fatty Qin came out of the kitchen with several pairs of scissors, followed by Li Qiufen.

Li Qiufen, holding a pair of scissors, glanced at the beef intestines in the wooden basin and her eyes lit up: "So many! Our kitchen is going to be overflowing with food again tonight!"

Fatty Qin handed Chen Xiangdong and Li Mancang each a pair of scissors: "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and turn the intestines inside out and cut off the intestinal fat."

As he spoke, he squatted down to turn over the cow intestines.

Yu Baoliang watched the four of them, each holding a pair of scissors and cutting up the sausage fat, while he himself felt awkward, unsure whether to stay or leave.

"Master Qin, I found the recipe for the braised meat seasoning. I searched for it for ages when I got back, and it turned out it was under the bed. Look at the mess I made..." Yu Baoliang glanced at the small bag of spices on the flatbed cart, rubbed his hands together, and chuckled awkwardly.

But then Fatty Qin glanced at him and said casually, "It's nothing, Dongwazi told me the ingredients."