The rice paddy fish that everyone caught together in the rice paddies last winter were dried by Tian Shengnan and the others. They then divided the dried fish into three equal portions and sent them home.

During the spring planting season, you can still catch rice paddy fish in the paddy fields, but you're too busy with work to catch them. You can only wait until after the spring planting season when you're less busy to consider whether to continue catching rice paddy fish.

To be honest, rice paddy fish taste better when they're fresh. Once they're dried, they're basically just a shell with not much meat left. But it's hard to make meat at home, so dried salted fish is a dish, which is better than nothing.

Wenxi knew that Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue were going to pick bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest during their lunch break, so she went back to the canteen and put the lard into a mixing basin. She then had Jiang Yue carry it back in a basket, leaving only the lard cracklings and the oil for the evening. She told them to bring a little lard with them each day when they came to the canteen, as leaving it all here would attract rats.

Afterwards, Wenxi let Shen Jiaojiao go back. She went to the river alone to wash pig offal and catch fish. She cleaned the small fish she caught and put them into the system warehouse so that she could dry the small fish tomorrow and make them into spicy dried fish to go with rice.

By the time Wenxi finished washing the pig offal, she was exhausted and her back ached. It was really not easy for her to find something to eat!

Wenxi carried the pig offal back to the canteen in two trips and started blanching it. She put all the pig offal into a pot of cold water, then added scallions, ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns, and started cooking it over a fire.

Bring the water to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam that rises to the surface, then remove all the offal and rinse it again. Once it's no longer too hot, cut the offal into bite-sized pieces.

Next, heat oil in a wok. Once the oil is hot, add scallions, ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns. Stir-fry until fragrant, then add one-third of the pork offal. If you add too much, it won't stir-fry properly.

After stir-frying for a while, Wenxi added a pot of water and started stewing it. Then, she did the same thing, using three large iron pots to stew the offal at the same time.

Once the firewood was set up, there was no need to keep an eye on it. Just check the size of the fire occasionally. Wenxi then cut the radishes and potatoes into chunks, filling three large basins. They would stew them with the offal in three large pots so that everyone could enjoy a good meal.

Wang Xiaoju and Sun Mei watched from the stove where the rice was being cooked. No one came to help, and neither of them wanted to do any extra work. They both pursed their lips as they watched Wen Xi put all sorts of seasonings into the pot as if they were free.

If they had so many good things, the food they made would taste delicious.

Pork offal needs to be stewed for several hours to absorb the flavor, so Wenxi found a seat to rest afterward since there wasn't much else to do. Cooking itself isn't tiring, but cooking for hundreds of people is quite tiring. You don't even know how many times you have to stir-fry vegetables, so Wenxi prefers to just stew a big mixed stew.

Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue didn't go back for long. They each picked a basket of bamboo shoots and came back. After all, their job was cooking, and if they kept doing personal things, it would definitely cause public outrage.

However, there's no need to cook dinner; a mixed stew will be enough for everyone.

Half an hour before the first group of people arrived for dinner, Wenxi put the food tray into the pot, covered it, and then just waited. Wang Xiaoju and Sun Mei were so tempted by the aroma of the mixed stew that they almost swallowed their saliva, because it smelled so good.

Twenty minutes before dinner, the five women in charge of cooking ate their own dinner, but they only took the standard amount of food and didn't take more than the recommended amount.

Wang Xiaoju and Sun Mei finally got to eat the mixed stew that made their mouths water. It was so fragrant and delicious that they almost swallowed their tongues.

As everyone walked towards the main canteen after work, they could initially smell a faint aroma, but the closer they got to the canteen, the stronger the aroma became, and many people couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

After getting their food and sitting down, they first took a sip of the mixed soup, and then closed their eyes in satisfaction. This soup was just too delicious!

Then we ate the offal. I didn’t expect the offal to taste so good. It was very soft and tender. It looked quite bland, but I couldn’t smell any stench. It tasted even better than the pork stew I ate at the end of the year. I didn’t expect Wenxi’s cooking skills to be better than those of a veteran who has been making pork stew for many years.

After dinner, everyone went home satisfied, talking about how delicious the food was. They said that the food they cooked at home was just edible, but definitely not tasty.

Wenxi and the others cleaned up the cafeteria and went home.

Wenxi filled the large iron pot with water, lit a fire, set up the firewood, and sat down against the wall. While resting, she took out the money. "Jiaojiao, your bamboo shoots weigh 320 jin, which is 16 yuan in total."

Shen Jiaojiao stared wide-eyed in shock, asking incredulously, "How much?"

"Why don't you count it yourself and you'll know how much it is?" Wen Xi stuffed the money into Shen Jiaojiao's hand, and then started counting Jiang Yue's money. "Xiao Yue, your bamboo shoots weighed 340 jin, and you got 17 yuan back."

Shen Jiaojiao took the money Wen Xi handed her, her hands trembling as she counted it, utterly shocked. "Sixteen yuan, it really is sixteen yuan! I've exchanged sixteen yuan in just a few days, which is several yuan more than a temporary worker's wage!"

"Shh!" Wen Xi made a shushing gesture. "Keep your voice down, it's not good if the people in front hear you."

They live in the last row, near the foot of the mountain, but there are several rows of houses in front of them. At this time, everyone is at home. What if they hear the noise from their side and think that they are undermining socialism?

That bamboo grove is densely packed with bamboo shoots. If no one goes to pick them, what does it have to do with them?

Jiang Yue started crying as she counted her money. She had finally earned her first money with her own hands. You see, when she went to the countryside, her family only gave her thirty yuan. If it weren't for Wen Xi and Shen Jiaojiao helping her, she wouldn't have been able to make ends meet for long.

Seeing Jiang Yue hand the money back to her, Wen Xi asked in surprise, "Xiao Yue, what are you doing?"

“Xiaoxi, ever since I came to the countryside, I’ve been eating, drinking, and using all of your things…” Oil, salt, soy sauce, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, skincare products, and snacks – all of these were provided by Wenxi. She felt bad about it and just wanted to repay Wenxi properly.

“Xiaoyue, didn’t I agree when we settled down that those with money would contribute money, and those with strength would contribute strength? Since you chose to contribute strength, you don’t need to contribute money anymore!” Wenxi said. “However, starting next month, each of you can contribute five yuan for living expenses, how about that?”