Chapter 197: Scallion-Roasted Intestines and Crispy Roast Suckling Pig

Waking from sleep, Lin Heng glanced at Xiulan beside him for a moment before quietly getting out of bed and getting dressed.

Xiulan did the same when she woke up—there were others in the house, so there was no way they could just lounge around in bed.

Lin Heng added a bit of firewood to the fireplace, then fetched some charcoal and lit it, preparing to burn a basin of coals for roasting once Old Man Gao woke up.

Though their bedroom was warm, it wasn’t appropriate to invite guests in there. It would be uncomfortable for everyone.

He opened the door to the backyard, and a gust of icy wind howled in like the roar of a beast, making it hard to step outside.

Whether it was a light snowfall from the night before or just heavy frost, the world outside was blanketed in white. It looked like one of those poetic winter scenes—”not knowing if the snow fell this morning, or if the forest flowers bloomed last night.”

Lin Heng had slept well and felt especially refreshed today. He took Xiulan out into the courtyard for their usual morning workout.

At first, Xiulan had doubted whether the exercise was effective, but after practicing Tai Chi and the Eightfold Vajra Technique with Lin Heng for a while, she had to admit it helped. At the very least, her hands and feet weren’t as cold anymore, and her body felt more balanced and coordinated.

Lin Heng smiled at her and said, “That’s how exercise works—it only pays off if you stick with it.”

Just like those old guys in the parks back in the day—people used to laugh at them, but in the end, you’d realize you couldn’t even keep up with a grandpa.

Whenever he was home, Lin Heng made sure to exercise with Xiulan. He didn’t want to be rich one day but in poor health. Starting with small habits, he was building up his body bit by bit—stronger than most, and less likely to fall ill.

Xiulan nodded. “It really does help. I hardly get cramps anymore.”

She used to have mild menstrual cramps, but now with good food, warm clothes, and daily morning workouts, the problem had all but disappeared.

Lin Heng gave her a smile, and the two of them practiced a full set of the Eightfold Vajra Technique. Just as they were about to move on to Tai Chi, Old Man Gao came out of the house.

Seeing them, he greeted them with a smile. “You two are up early. Practicing Tai Chi, Lin Heng?”

Lin Heng nodded with a grin. “Yes, we do it every morning.”

Old Man Gao looked a bit surprised. “That’s a great habit. Don’t underestimate a bit of morning exercise—it does wonders for your health.”

Young people like Lin Heng were rare. Most scoffed at the idea, only to regret it when sickness caught up with them in old age.

“Haha, I just picked it up from someone else,” Lin Heng said with a chuckle.

“Then count me in.”

Old Man Gao already had a habit of morning workouts himself. After a quick trip to the bathroom, he joined Lin Heng for some exercise.

But instead of Tai Chi, he practiced military boxing and insisted that Lin Heng learn a set with him.

After teaching it twice, Old Man Gao was astonished. “Are you some kind of martial arts prodigy? You picked it up after just two runs?”

Lin Heng waved his hands quickly. “No, no, I just have a good memory.”

“That’s a talent too,” Old Man Gao nodded, liking Lin Heng even more now. They seemed to really hit it off.

After the workout, Lin Heng brought the burning charcoal into the main hall to warm up the room. Xiulan dressed Xiao Xia and handed her to Lin Heng before heading into the kitchen to cook.

While they were warming up by the fire, Old Man Gao said, “Let’s boil some water and start cleaning those little wild boars.”

“Sure,” Lin Heng agreed, getting up to fetch the electric heater and starting to heat water in a bucket.

Once the water was boiling, the two of them dunked the wild boars in to scald them. With the right tools, hot water was the easiest way to remove the hair.

After a few minutes in the hot water, the bristles came off easily.

As they were plucking the pigs, Li Baiquan showed up. He had come to say goodbye—he was heading back to get more people to help carry the meat. There was too much for one person to handle.

Lin Heng didn’t stop him and said with a smile, “At least stay for breakfast, Uncle. Xiulan’s almost done cooking.”

Li Baiquan waved him off. “No need. Your mom made me some pickled cabbage noodles. I’ll head back now.”

With that, he left. Lin Heng walked him out a few steps before returning.

Old Man Gao looked at him and asked, “So what’s your plan for all this pork?”

Lin Heng had already thought it through. “I’m not going to butcher the piglets. I won’t even chop off the heads—I want to roast them whole. As for the organs, I’ll leave them to Xiulan to braise.”

Then he asked Old Man Gao for his opinion.

Old Man Gao nodded. “I was thinking the same thing—roast a whole one. Looks like we’re on the same page.”

Lin Heng quickly said, “Then let’s roast one today. I’ve done it before in the summer.”

“Sounds good,” Old Man Gao agreed. He wasn’t the type to be overly polite.

They had five wild piglets in total. After slaughtering two, Xiulan finished cooking.

With a guest in the house, she made rice for breakfast, along with four dishes and a soup.

Old Man Gao and Lin Heng both had a soft spot for stir-fried cabbage and cold-dressed bracken noodles. They weren’t particularly interested in the meat, having eaten plenty of it during their time in the mountains.

While eating the bracken noodles, Old Man Gao praised, “Xiao Lin, you’ve got a good life here. Your wife’s cooking is amazing.”

Lin Heng chuckled. “Haha, I’m just lucky to have married such a great wife.”

Xiulan blushed at the compliment and smiled shyly without saying a word.

After breakfast, Lin Heng asked Xiulan to prepare the spices for braising the meat while he and Old Man Gao continued processing the remaining four piglets.

Since it was a lot of work, Lin Heng went to get his parents to help out.

He and Old Man Gao handled the hair removal, while Father Lin and Mother Lin took care of the organs.

“You guys really outdid yourselves this time. The more I look at it, the more amazed I am,” Mother Lin said, gazing at the mountain of meat on the table.

She’d only ever seen this much pork in her dreams—never imagined it would actually come true one day.

Father Lin was equally overjoyed and stunned. The results of this winter hunt had far exceeded his expectations.

Old Man Gao grinned. “If we’d tracked down that takin herd, this would’ve been nothing. Just one of those beasts weighs five or six hundred jin.”

Lin Heng sighed. “What a shame. If we’d found them, it could’ve been a whole herd.”

Old Man Gao looked at him and said, “You should keep an eye out around here. In winter, takins come down to lower elevations to overwinter. You might just run into them.”

“Got it.”

Lin Heng nodded. He’d been thinking the same thing.

By around one in the afternoon, the five adults had finally finished processing all the pork. Every piglet was cleaned, dehaired, and the organs were all ready.

Old Man Gao saw Lin Heng dividing things up and immediately stopped him. “It’s fine to braise everything together—what are you splitting it up for?”

Lin Heng shook his head. “We’ve got to divide it properly. I can’t let you take a loss.”

Old Man Gao gave him a look of mock reproach. “What kind of talk is that? I can’t even finish that much! If you’re really going to insist on splitting it like this, I’m heading back. I won’t hang around your place anymore.”

Seeing Old Man Gao like that, Lin Heng let out a helpless laugh and had no choice but to agree to hold off on dividing things for now.

Old Man Gao grinned. “That’s more like it. Let’s get started on roasting that suckling pig!”

“Alright.”

Lin Heng first handed a portion of the innards to Xiulan to braise, then grabbed half a basket of charcoal and dumped it onto the ground in the courtyard, setting it alight. He tied the piglet to a bamboo pole and set it up over the charcoal fire to roast.

Old Man Gao was quite interested and personally took charge of the roasting.

Meanwhile, Lin Heng set up a clay stove for burning charcoal, placed a wire rack on top, cut the pig intestines into segments, and threaded them with thick scallions he’d dug up, laying them out on the rack to grill.

Before long, a rich, mouthwatering aroma began wafting through the air.

At first, Father Lin had no idea what Lin Heng was up to, but once the smell hit him, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “That grilled intestine smells pretty good.”

Lin Heng grinned. “This is called scallion-grilled pig intestine. It’s delicious.” As he spoke, he took the first batch off the grill, cut it into bite-sized pieces, and served it up in bowls for his parents and Old Man Gao.

He was using intestines from the piglet, which were tender and delicate—just a quick grill and they were ready to eat.

Everyone took a bite out of curiosity. The flavor of the scallions and the chewy, savory intestines burst in their mouths. The more they chewed, the better it tasted—it was the kind of snack that grew more fragrant with every bite.

“Not bad at all,” Father Lin said in surprise.

Old Man Gao added a bit of barbecue seasoning. “Add some chili and it’s absolutely perfect.”

“I’ll grill some more—we’ve got plenty,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

This time, Mother Lin came over on her own to help skewer the intestines. Clearly, she’d been won over by the scallion-grilled intestines too.

Little Xiao Xia had been playing in the courtyard, tossing things around. When she saw everyone eating, she ran over, wanting some too. Lin Heng didn’t dare give her the intestines, so he grilled a couple of vegetables for her instead.

But Xiao Xia, clever as she was, quickly noticed that what she had was different from the adults’. She pointed at the intestines and chirped, “I want that one!”

“Here you go,” Lin Heng said, handing her a small piece of grilled scallion with just a bit of intestine.

“Pfft!”

After just a couple of bites, Xiao Xia spat out the intestine with a “pfft,” but happily munched on the scallion.

“I want this one, Daddy~” she said while chewing.

“Okay,” Lin Heng replied with a grin. He knew it was because the grilled scallion had turned sweet.

Once the batch of intestines was done, Lin Heng not only shared it with everyone but also brought a bowl into the kitchen to share with Xiulan.

Xiulan had been busy braising dishes in the kitchen and hadn’t stepped out. Her forehead was glistening with sweat from the heat.

Lin Heng picked up a piece of scallion-grilled intestine and fed it to her. “I grilled this—try it!”

Xiulan already liked pig intestine, and the added aroma of scallion made it even more irresistible. One bite and her eyes lit up.

“This is amazing. It’s all mine now.”

With a mischievous smile, Xiulan snatched the bowl from Lin Heng, fed him a piece, and then shooed him out so she could enjoy the rest by herself.

Lin Heng wasn’t the least bit annoyed. In fact, he was delighted. He grabbed a towel, wiped the sweat from his wife’s brow, and went back out to grill more for the others.

By 5:30 in the afternoon, Old Man Gao had finally finished roasting the suckling pig. He was a patient man, and the little piglet had been roasted to a perfect golden brown.

Unlike last time, Lin Heng had brushed the pig’s skin with white vinegar, turning it into a crispy-skinned roast suckling pig.

Old Man Gao pointed at the pig and asked with a smile, “Not bad, huh?”

Everyone, including Lin Heng, gave him a thumbs-up.

Lin Heng grinned. “Not just ‘not bad’—you could open a restaurant with this.”

Father Lin chimed in with praise. “The old man’s got real patience. I could never roast a pig this good.”

Xiao Xia sniffed the air and exclaimed in her crisp little voice, “So pretty, so yummy~ such a big piggy~”

Old Man Gao beamed with pride at all the compliments, grinning ear to ear. “Alright, let’s head inside and eat before it gets too cold.”

“Sounds good,” Lin Heng said with a nod. Inside, Xiulan had just finished braising the rest of the meat—perfect timing.

They called over the elder brother and sister-in-law from next door, and Caiyun had just come back as well.

Lin Heng chopped up the roasted suckling pig and arranged it on a platter in the center of the table. The wild piglet weighed just over ten pounds, clearly no more than three months old, so the meat was exceptionally tender.

Around the roast pig, Xiulan had laid out braised pig offal—small intestines, pig’s feet, liver—and three cold side dishes.

Father Lin smiled and said, “This is even more lavish than New Year’s.”

Lin Heng grinned. “Let’s dig in before it gets cold.”

He started by serving everyone a portion of the crispy-skinned roast pig. The skin was crackling and fragrant, while the meat underneath was tender and juicy—not greasy or dry at all.

Dipped in a bit of barbecue seasoning, it was so delicious it made you want to swallow your tongue along with it.

Caiyun’s lips were glistening with oil as she looked at Lin Heng and asked, “Second Brother, how’d you make this? It smells even better than last time!”

Everyone at the table was curious—this was their first time trying crispy-skinned roast pig.

Lin Heng didn’t keep it a secret. He smiled and said, “Just brush some white vinegar on the skin, that’s all.”

“So that’s the trick…”

Everyone nodded in sudden understanding.

“Come on, let’s have a drink!” Lin Heng raised his glass with a smile.

The food was so good that no one paid much attention to the alcohol—they were all too busy eating.

After a sip of wine, Xiulan picked up a slice of small intestine and placed it in Lin Heng’s bowl.

She knew how to caramelize sugar for braising, so her dishes had a beautiful, glossy orange-red hue.

The flavor was incredible too—rich with the aroma of the braise. Dipped in a bit of vinegar sauce, it filled your mouth with warmth and happiness.

*Knock knock knock!*

Just as everyone was enjoying the feast, someone suddenly knocked on the courtyard gate.

“I’ll go check.”

Lin Heng got up, opened the half-closed main room door, and walked out into the courtyard.

When he opened the front gate, he saw someone he recognized—Wang Jin, the village beekeeper. Lin Heng still remembered how sour-faced the guy had been earlier this year when he’d asked him to help with the bees.

So his tone was neutral. “What can I do for you?”

Wang Jin glanced at Lin Heng and gave a faint smile. “My lightbulb burned out. Do you have a spare? I’d like to buy one.”

Lin Heng nodded. “Yeah, eight mao each.”

Wang Jin’s face stiffened. “Weren’t they seven mao before?”

“That was a group discount. The Village Party Secretary asked me to give that price. In town, they’re all eight mao.”

Lin Heng spoke in a flat, indifferent tone. He didn’t care about a dime, but he wasn’t about to give a discount to someone he didn’t like.

Wang Jin gritted his teeth, shot Lin Heng an annoyed glance, and pulled out eighty cents. “Fine, I’ll buy one.”

Lin Heng glanced at the money and nodded. “Wait here. I’ll go get it.”

He turned and headed into the house to fetch the lightbulb. He really did have quite a few bulbs and wires left over at home.

Seeing Lin Heng go inside, Wang Jin—who had never set foot in Lin Heng’s courtyard before—followed him in.

As his eyes swept over the neatly laid bluestone tiles and the snow-white plastered walls, they filled with envy and jealousy.

Just half a year ago, this guy was a poor nobody. How the hell did he get so rich all of a sudden?

Then his eyes caught sight of the massive string of pork hanging under the eaves, and they nearly popped out of his head. “Wh-what the hell? That’s a lot of meat!!”

For a moment, he felt like he was dreaming. The scene before him was just too unreal. Just the pig heads alone—there were three or four of them hanging there!

(End of Chapter)