Ideals and Youth: I Too Had a Youth (Part 9)...

Ye Xiqing rarely shows off her culinary skills, and this was the first time she had so enthusiastically demonstrated them, which shocked everyone.

After tearing open the two seasoning packets and sprinkling them into the pot, the unique aroma of instant noodles, along with the steam, filled everyone's noses.

Everyone put down their things and crowded around the pot. Even Fu Chou Xiao Ya forgot about Fu Chou and turned her eyes to it.

Wang Cuigu picked up the flour sack and brought it close to her eyes to examine it closely: "What is this?"

Ye Xiqing said with a smile, "It's delicious, eat up. I'm treating everyone to something good for the New Year."

Wu Guiyun sensed something was off about the exquisite packaging: "How much does this cost?"

Ye Xiqing smiled but remained silent. "Eat first, don't ask. I'm afraid you won't be able to eat if you ask."

Seeing her like this, others were even more eager to ask, otherwise they wouldn't feel at ease eating.

Ye Xiqing originally wanted them to eat properly, but they insisted on asking, so she had no choice but to tell them honestly: five cents a bag.

As soon as she finished speaking, the old lady and Wu Guiyun jumped up like balloons that had been poked in the face.

Five cents a bag! Five cents a bag!

Just one flatbread! Two pounds of flour!

Originally, Grandma Wang and Wu Guiyun thought the noodles smelled good, but when the price came out, their worldviews were shattered.

Eight pounds of flour and one pound of meat, all gone in one pot!

The two were stunned, as if struck by lightning, unable to believe what they had just heard, while Ye Xiqing calmly scooped up the noodles.

"What's the big deal? If you buy firecrackers with this money, you can only hear the noise. But if you buy instant noodles, you actually eat them. Just think of it as buying firecrackers and set them off."

Grandma Wang and Wu Guiyun: How can those be the same thing!

Firecrackers are about creating a grand spectacle and saving face. Even just hearing the bang is worth it. What's valuable isn't the bangs themselves, but the self-esteem and emotional value they represent.

As for food, as long as there's something to eat and we don't starve, isn't that enough?

Why care about a bite or two?

Ye Xiqing understood their mentality. It was like playing a game and buying skins for your character. It had no practical value, but it made them happy.

However, Ye Xiqing, who traveled from the future, couldn't find any emotional value in a few firecrackers; delicious food was much more likely to make her happy.

It's a child who spends money recklessly; she's an adult, and she can spend her money however she wants.

So when she said she wanted to buy instant noodles, she bought instant noodles.

Grandma Wang and Wu Guiyun were heartbroken, but the little girl's heart was racing, and she peered longingly into the pot.

Instant noodles cook really fast; they fall apart in no time after being put in the pot. Ye Xiqing told Wu Guiyun to turn off the heat and stop cooking, as they were already done.

Using chopsticks, I scooped out a bowlful and poured soup over it. These days, there are no delicate little bowls; they're all large, wide-mouthed bowls where the soup can completely cover the noodles.

According to custom, the lights should be kept on all night during the New Year so that the face can be seen clearly. Ye Xiqing then handed the face to the little boy.

"The first bowl is for our little girl. You were so brave and strong when you got the shot. You deserve so much credit. Please have this bowl first."

Xiao Ya had been giving Ye Xiqing the cold shoulder for a long time because of the injection in her buttocks. Now that it was finally over, she snorted and reluctantly forgave her cold-hearted mother.

She skipped along behind Ye Xiqing, who helped her hold the bowl and told her to eat on the kang (heated brick bed).

After taking her first bite of the flavorful soup noodles, Xiaoya became completely obedient, slurping the noodles into her mouth and finishing the whole bowl.

After finishing eating, she turned to Ye Xiqing and asked, "Then next time I need an injection, can you make this for me too?"

Ye Xiqing replied without hesitation, "No, whether or not I can do this doesn't depend on when you get the injection, but on when I have the money."

Xiaoya: ……

Waaah! When will you have money? Our family is so poor! Will we never have any money in our lives?!

Kids really do act on a whim; she just finished eating something good, and now the little sad girl is sad again.

Forget it, no one cares about her. Even if Old Lady Wang and Wu Guiyun are driven to desperation by money, they've already bought it, so they'll definitely have to eat it.

At that time, instant noodles did not have oil packets, vinegar packets, vegetable packets, or various other packets. The ultimate flavor of just one seasoning packet was enough to conquer everyone's taste buds.

Grandma Wang ate noodles with the hot soup. Her tongue had never tasted such a stimulating flavor that was full of all five aromas before. She quietly drank every mouthful of soup down her throat.

The room was filled with the sound of slurping noodles. They finished a big bowl of noodles in no time, and the noodles and soup slid down their stomachs together.

Ye Xiqing likes to drink soup when she eats noodles, so she cooked a large pot of water, tore off two packets of ingredients, and there was still a lot of soup left. She ladled out a bowl for each of them and instructed Xiaoya to use the soup to drink her medicine.

With the soup making her mouth water, Xiaoya finally agreed to drink her medicine and swallowed it down with the soup.

Grandma Wang immediately tried to stop her, asking, "Will the medicine still be effective if you take it like this?!"

Ye Xiqing drank the soup in her own bowl. It was fine; eating it was better than not eating it.

There's also the character Xiaoya in the later part of the story, so she'll definitely live a long and healthy life until she grows up.

Anyway, she'll grow up, so don't worry too much about these details.

Ye Xiqing's casualness earned her a severe beating from Old Lady Wang. "You, as a mother, have such a big heart! That's your own daughter!"

Grandma Wang poured a bowl of plain water, wanting Xiaoya to rinse her stomach, but Xiaoya ran away and refused, saying the taste would be gone as soon as it was rinsed!

Wu Guiyun stood to the side, holding a bowl and watching them. She sipped the hot soup slowly, wishing it would never be finished.

Such delicious noodles, such delicious soup, how did you make them?

The instant noodle cakes are small and don't have much flour. During the Lunar New Year, the days are short, and it gets completely dark around five or six o'clock.

It seems like I ate a meal in the evening, but when it was time to cook dumplings, I got hungry again.

Even after eating a bite, the body felt energized and hungry, making them even hungrier.

When Wu Guiyun got home and cooked dumplings, she kept thinking about the taste of that bowl of noodles. The aroma of the dumplings made her even more hungry, and she really wanted to eat a whole dumpling.

But Cheng's family was large, with many members: three young children, two elderly people, and the couple themselves. Every mouth was waiting to be fed.

Even if a lot of dumplings are made, everyone has a limited number. Wu Guiyun has to serve the portions for the elderly and children first, and then serve herself last.

What ended up in the bowl were only overcooked dumplings, not enough filling, and the dough was used as a base for the soup.

The more you can't get something, the more you want it. Wu Guiyun was obsessed with wanting to eat a whole dumpling.

I wonder how the Bao family eats dumplings. Although they only have two jin of flour, there are only three people in their family, so each person should be able to get a lot.

Suddenly I realized that living like her is quite comfortable.

...

As firecrackers went off, Ye Xiqing's family started making dumplings.

Their family was so poor that they didn't even have a water vat, let alone a clock. They could only guess the time by the sound of other people's firecrackers.

Boiling dumplings is also an art. While putting the dumplings in the pot, Grandma Wang taught Ye Xiqing how to do it.

Actually, she taught Bao Xiangqiao at home, but as she got older, that was all she had to say, so she would teach her again and again.

Once the dumplings were cooked, Grandma Wang took a strainer to scoop them out. This family had plenty of things, but plenty of strainers, so she could use them as much as she wanted.

Grandma Wang scooped up the spoiled dumplings and habitually put them into her own bowl.

Seeing this, Ye Xiqing took the strainer from her hand, put the bad dumpling wrappers back into the pot, and divided the good dumplings first.

"Eat the good stuff first, and whoever isn't full can eat the rest."

Grandma Wang wanted to retrieve the spoiled filling, as she didn't like the filling but preferred the wrapper, but Ye Xiqing stopped her.

"Good things will go bad if you don't eat them first; eat the good things first."

Although Grandma Wang was groaning again, she was happy that someone cared about her, watching the dumplings fall into her bowl.

But Xiaoya was not convinced. She looked at each bowl and wondered why, even though it was supposed to be divided equally, she received so little!

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiqing immediately ladled dumplings into her bowl, saying, "If you don't finish them, I'll beat you up."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ya pouted and resolved to finish the food; she was determined not to leave any uneaten!

Ideals are lofty, but reality is cruel. Looking at the leftover dumplings at the bottom of the bowl, I don't want to eat anymore...

Looking up at her grandmother: "Grandma..."

Ye Xiqing turned her head: Hmm?

Xiaoya: ……

"Grandma!"

The old lady still spoiled the child. Wang Laotai immediately glared at her daughter, took the dumplings, and put a few in Ye Xiqing's bowl. "Why are you arguing with a child?"

Ye Xiqing worked hard every day, and her appetite grew. There was never enough food, so she readily handed over the bowl to him, but still couldn't help but say sarcastically, "I can eat, I can eat."

Xiaoya: ……

This is so unfair! Just because I'm small, I get bullied for eating less!

Let's see if she can eat it when she grows up!

The little girl was sad for a while, until her grandmother took out money from her purse and gave her New Year's money, which made her feel better: "Thank you, Grandma!"

Since her grandmother gave it to her, she refused to give it to her anymore. Ye Xiqing turned off the light and went to bed.

Seeing this, Old Lady Wang immediately exclaimed, "It's only New Year's Eve, why don't you open for one day? If your house is dark, the poverty of other people's houses will have nowhere to go, so it will come to your house!"

If lighting lamps could drive away poverty, then becoming rich in this world would be quite easy.

Let's stop with these feudal superstitions in the new century. Turning off the lights early won't bring you poverty, but it will definitely save on electricity bills.

On New Year's Eve, every household had their lights on, but their family went to bed early with the lights off.

Old Mrs. Wang and her second daughter spent the New Year together, and they were upset every day.

But when her family picked her up and asked how she had been at her daughter's house, the old lady immediately beamed with joy.

Great! Great! Absolutely great!

Not only did they make dumplings for us, they also gave us instant noodles. Do you know what instant noodles are?

Good stuff for only 50 cents a pack!

She never mentions how much stuff she sent to her daughter.

I was happy before the New Year, but broke afterward. I felt at ease because I spent all my money during the New Year.

Wu Guiyun's family is doing well; they have several acres of land, and as long as they are frugal, they will definitely have enough food to eat.

Ye Xiqing has no ability to withstand risks; any extra expense could bankrupt her.

Seeing her at her limit, Wu Guiyun couldn't help but complain, "I told you before, don't spend every penny you have. Leave yourself a way out."

Her advice, all stemming from her past life experiences, is actually quite reasonable, but the times have played a cruel joke on her.

In an era where the gap between people is as vast as the difference between an airplane and a handcart, it is impossible to escape poverty by relying on any past experience.

But in this era when people still had to pay grain taxes, there really wasn't much of a good life outside of farming.

Ye Xiqing diligently farmed for three years. In the third year, when he was taking his daughter to school, the village chief rode his bicycle from house to house to announce: No more grain taxes! No more grain taxes! Now we pay agricultural tax instead!

Upon hearing this, Wu Guiyun jumped up with joy. "No more grain taxes?"

But then he heard the words "agricultural tax" and turned to ask Ye Xiqing, "What is agricultural tax? Do we have to pay this grain tax or not?"

Wu Guiyun, a country woman, was completely confused when she first heard this, but Ye Xiqing understood instantly.

"It means not to pay in kind, but to convert the grain into money and pay taxes."

Wu Guiyun was initially very happy, but upon hearing this, she sat down listlessly again: "Then you still have to pay, why say you won't pay? It's like taking off your pants to fart."

Ye Xiqing couldn't help but smile and explained to her, "That's different. There's a big difference between handing over physical goods and handing over money."

"Only when there is not enough food will goods be delivered."

"The fact that it's changed to a monetary tax means that money can almost buy anything now."

"So next year, I won't plant corn."

Wu Guiyun: ...

How did you come to the conclusion that corn shouldn't be planted from such a piece of news?