The days continued without surprise. And soon the first signs of spring started to pop up. The weather was getting warmer and the yard full of snow was being replaced by mud.
"Dear, this isn't good. We still have a lot of meat frozen in the cold storage shed we built haphazardly this winter. If we don't dry, smoke, or eat it quick it will go to waste." Zimo said at lunch one day.
They hadn't purposefully hunted throughout the winter, but their traps did catch quite a few. The storage shed had at least half a boar, two roe deer, and one goat.
If it was avoidable LongWei would have preferred to keep them alive and raise them until they had a chance to sell them in town. Unfortunately, their injuries were usually too serious to save.
They also couldn't waste the meat either. Between the two men and four carnivorous beasts they made a decent dent. It still could get through it all fast enough.
"I'll set up the smoker early tomorrow morning and we can start smoking them. It's impossible to dry them right now with the weather so cold. They will just freeze instead." LongWei said after considering the problem.
"If we're smoking them I need to prepare the seasoning. They also need time to defrost before gong in the smoker. Dear, is there enough room in the kitchen to hang some of it for tomorrow?" Zimo asked.
They could also hang it in the living room as well. However the smell would fill the room which Zimo wanted to avoid. He may have bad hearing, but his sense of smell was quite sensitive quite good.
"We hang enough for one batch of smoking. However the amount of meat we have is a lot so we'll need to do several batches over the next week or two." LongWei explained.
"Do you think we can get it done in time?" Zimo said a little worried.
"It should be fine. We're up on the mountain, so the weather won't heat up too quickly." LongWei assured him. He also intended to make meat heavy meals to whittle down the amount.
"Those gluttons can also have a bit extra these next few days." LongWei reluctantly added. The wolves and tiger already had large appetites, but LongWei tried to never over feed them. They were according to his words "too fat to be a threat to anything but a piece of already cooked meat."
LongWei had called the four beasts gluttons so much, they had started to react whenever they heard it. The four pairs of eyes stared at LongWei before slumping back down to lazily sleep again. Watching them LongWei felt disappointed. "Seriously can those things even be considered dangerous beasts at this point?"
With the days plans decided LongWei and Zimo started their preparations.
...
Around noon, LongWei and Zimo were at the living area table prepping some roasted boar for dinner. They had just finished eating some spicy and bone broth hot pot using some of the roe deer meat.
"Let's get this cooking before our afternoon walk and nap otherwise it won't have time to fully cook." LongWei said as he leaned over and rubbed Zimo's stomach. Zimo had eaten too much and was feeling a little bloated.
Grrr....
Suddenly all three wolves started growling, ears perked. Even little Bay was on high alert.
"Baby, stay here with Chu and Bay. I'm going to go out with Chen and Chong to take a look." LongWei said decisively as he grabbed his bow and arrows.
Chen and Chong opened the door themselves and ran out the front door before LongWei could even reach it. LongWei nodded satisfied by their action. "It was a good idea to teach them how to open the doors." He thought. LongWei then left behind him little Bay decided to follow along.
YOU ARE READING
Living on a Mountain with my Husband
RomanceZhang Zimo was an orphan. His life was hard, but he later grew up to be a successful author. Then, one day he died. After waking up, he found himself in ancient Chinese society, living as an abused man about to be married off to a comatose husband...
