The butcher room was clean and orderly. There was no bad smell and the tools we"re well-maintained. To ensure hygiene and quality, Lu Rianli made sure that the room was cleaned after every use. Xiao Musheng put the One-horned Bull"s parts on the butchering table while the still intact but bald Gudol Birds carca.s.ses were hung upside down by a hook attached to their feet. Looking at the marvelous sight of quality meat, Lu Rianli were itching to show his skills.
He grabbed a long knife and splashed it with water before sharpened it a little on a whetstone. Without looking at Xiao Musheng he said.
"So, how do you want to cut it?" (RL)
This was how it usually goes. The hunter was neither a cook or a butcher. They could bleed and butcher their prey on the field. But it was too much to demand them to cut the meat too. They could do simple cuts like steak cuts but anything more was not part of their training or duty.
So they usually asked a butcher to cut the meat for them or butcher some prey they could not butcher themselves. There were a few butchers in the village and Lu Rianli was the best butcher. So the hunter usually went to Lu Rianli first for butchering work and only went to the other butchers when Lu Rianli was busy or unavailable.
"Keep one of each for distribution later. Just keep the bulls for now. The cooks will come for it later, I"ll leave it to them on how to cut it. As for the birds, debone one of them and cut the feet and head for the other. I want to make it a stuffed chicken." (XM)
In the village, every two weeks the hunters would distribute free meat to every family. The hunters we"re, after all, a villager too. They wanted to help the village, now that they had the ability too. Although not much, it was a very much appreciated help.
Because of this, Lu Rianli also tried to help too by providing his best service. The villagers returned the favor by helping the hunters or their families as best as they could. For example, the villagers all pitch in to help make the feast to welcome the hunter team a success. Some help decorating and some help cooking for the feast.
"Stuffed chicken, it"s Xiao Long"s favorite, isn"t it? Got it, leave it to me." (LR)
Xiao Long was the name of Xiao Musheng"s only son.
Lu Rianli started getting busy, he first moved the meat and other parts of the bulls into the freezer. In terms of keeping the quality of meat, the spatial ring of Xiao Musheng which stopped the time of everything in it was better. But it was more than enough to have a freezer for a village butcher. After storing one of the Gudol birds inside the freezer, Lu Rianli grabbed his knife and started deboning one of the chicken. It was already being bleed and their organs were taken out, making the process much easier for Lu Rianli.
It was not that different from deboning a chicken, it was just a matter of size. He first cut the head and feet off before starting. When he"s done, chicken bones with bits of meat still clinging on it laid on the right while bone-free fowl meat on the left. The meat didn"t differ much in appearance from when there was still bone in them, a proof of Lu Rianli good skill. As for the other one, it was even easier. He just needed to cut the head and feet and done.
Looking at the chicken heads and feet, Lu Rianli couldn"t help but recalling delicious dishes using them.
"Brother, can I have the chicken heads and feet?"(LR)
"Hm? Sure, what are you gonna make with it?" (XM)
"I want to make a dish little Xiu"s mother taught me once, it was called Phoenix Claw using the feet. For the head, I"m just gonna fry it and eat it with some homemade chili. It"s simple but delicious." (LR)
Just imagining the glistening red chicken feet almost made him drool. Hearing the keyword little Xiu"s parent coming out from Lu Rianli"s mouth, Xiao Musheng couldn"t help but ask.
"Brother Rianli, are you close with Yan Xiu"s parent? How come I never met them or heard you mention them before?" (XM)
"Ah… about that…." (LR)
Lu Rianli stumped, in his mind, he slapped his loose mouth. Looking at Lu Rianli"s expression, Xiao Musheng thought that Lu Rianli was deliberately hiding the info about Yan Xiu"s parent, the question was why. A family that has the power and resources to build such a seal, why were they staying in this small village. Not long after, Lu Rianli sighed.
"It"s been a year and you might be able to help little Xiu search for his parents. Brother Yan came to this part just a few years ago and made his house outside the village. He was an easygoing person with vast knowledge. The person himself said he was just a farmer but what kind of farmer can make seals and has such wit?
With his knowledge, he helps around the village and quickly adapt to the village. His wife, sister Yan, was beautiful and gentle. She was a genius cook too. Most of the recipes Shan"er knew were taught by her.
They were good people, all the villagers like them." (LR)
Xiao Musheng soon found something wrong in the story.
"Wait, if the villagers all know them, how come I never met or heard them?" (XM)
Lu Rianli mentioned that the couple was known by all the villagers but it was weird that Xiao Musheng never met them.
"It"s because brother Yan explicitly said to never mention him or anything related to him to you and the hunters." (LR)
"Did he ever say why?" (XM)
"Yeah, he said he didn"t want you, an ex-disciple, or anyone related to you to know about him. Do you use to learn from someone, brother Musheng? Maybe he knows your master." (LR)
"How could that be? I was just a stray cultivator, who would want to teach me?" (XM)
Despite him saying that Xiao Musheng was shocked inside. Ex-disciple. To others, the word didn"t have any meaning but to Xiao Musheng and his son, the word has other meanings.
Xiao Musheng shuddered, how did he know? he thought. The mystery of Yan Xiu"s parent deepened.
"Bother Musheng, what"s wrong?" (LR)
Lu Rianli"s voice surprised the pondering Xiao Musheng. He quickly changed the conversation without showing anything on his face.
"It"s nothing. Oh another thing, I have another carca.s.s that needs to be butchered. But it"s a little too big, let"s go outside." (XM)
"Oh, what is it?" (LR)
"You"ll see." (XM)
Xiao Musheng walked out of the room with Lu Rianli following from behind. Lu Rianli was interested in the carca.s.s and quickly forget about the last conversation.