Erhua's eyes lit up for a moment when she saw the money, but she quickly concealed it.

"After Wanzi's mother passed away, there was still a vacancy for a cook in the mine..." Erhua's mother looked at Widow Zhang and pretended to frown as she said, "But not just anyone can do the job of a cook in the mine. You have to be skilled, observant, and able to endure hardship."

“I have them all, I have them all!” Widow Zhang nodded quickly. “Second Aunt, I won’t lie to you, my cooking skills are quite good. I learned them at the restaurant in town.”

In fact, Widow Zhang was observing what dishes the customers ordered in Rouge Alley and silently memorizing them.

Erhua's mother looked Zhang the widow up and down, somewhat incredulous. "Really?"

"How could it be fake! You can rest assured!"

"Alright then, but I can't guarantee that this matter will definitely be accomplished. I'll mention it to Director Song when I go to work tomorrow and see what he says." Erhua Niang put the ten coins into her pocket.

After Widow Zhang left the house, she took out the money again and carefully examined each and every one of them.

After confirming that they were all copper coins, they put them away.

Suddenly, Erhua Niang remembered that Widow Zhang had brought a bag of pastries.

"Oh no!" Erhua's mother slapped her thigh and hurried out to find Zhao Erhua.

He Tiantian has been craving white noodles lately and doesn't want to eat those dark buckwheat noodles anymore. They're unappetizing, prickly in the mouth, and hard to digest.

Moreover, wheat flour was much cheaper than buckwheat flour in the mall, so He Tiantian gritted her teeth and bought fifty kilograms of wheat flour.

Seeing that the flour and rice containers were full, she felt a great sense of accomplishment.

I happened to buy a bunch of chives in the county, so I'll make chive pancakes for dinner. I'll also cook a pot of corn and rice porridge; just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Seeing that it was getting late, Sister Yulan put down her embroidery and prepared to start preparing dinner.

He Tiantian picked and cleaned the chives she bought, then chopped them into sections. She also scooped several large spoonfuls of flour from the rice container and kneaded it into dough.

She had just finished her work when Sister Yulan had already started cooking the corn and sorghum.

"Wanzi's mother, what's this called?" Sister-in-law Yulan was very curious, as she had never seen it made like this before.

He Tiantian's hands were covered in flour as she divided the dough into small portions. She made twelve portions in total, enough to make twelve chive boxes.

"Let's call it chive boxes for now? It was just a sudden idea of ​​mine, let's see if it tastes good," He Tiantian explained with a smile.

It's a pity there were no eggs or glass noodles...

He Tiantian wanted to buy them from the mall, but it was common knowledge that her family didn't have eggs, and vermicelli didn't exist in this era at all.

So, in order to avoid arousing suspicion from her family, she had no choice but to reluctantly not buy it.

However, she was already very grateful to be able to eat any green vegetables other than cabbage.

Perhaps because of the previous winter's shortage of firewood, the four children had to go out to collect firewood every day after spring arrived.

The firewood at home is piled up so high that it can't possibly burn out, and there's firewood piled up everywhere outside too.

Firewood was burning under the pot, and oil was released after the pot heated up. Today, He Tiantian was personally in charge of making the chive dumplings.

The four pig trotters and ten pounds of pork I bought won't last long, since the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and without a refrigerator, the meat will spoil if left out for too long.

He Tiantian planned to make dumplings with all the meat after dinner, and stew two pig trotters and braise two pig trotters.

Just now, Sister Yulan said that she will start planting sweet potatoes tomorrow. He Tiantian will plant two mu of sweet potatoes, and Sister Yulan's family will also plant sweet potatoes on two mu of dry land.

These tasks will take at least three or four days to complete. If you don't eat enough while doing this kind of physical labor, your body won't be able to handle it.

She stewed the meat until it was almost done, so that she could deliver meals to Sister Yulan and the children on time tomorrow.

During the time He Tiantian worked in the mine, she did indeed hone her cooking skills to a considerable degree.

She fried the twelve chive boxes in oil until they were golden brown on both sides, and the aroma alone could be smelled from afar.

Zhao Denglong, Zhao Wanzi, Liu Yulan, and Liu Shuixian were playing in the small bamboo grove in the afternoon. They originally wanted to dig up some bamboo shoots to take home, but unfortunately, it was only early spring and bamboo shoots were still scarce.

After searching for most of the day, the four children only found three bamboo shoots.

Just as they were about to go home, they ran into Zhao Erhua and Zhao Xiaocao.

The children really were destined to meet again. Zhao Denglong pulled his sister to take a detour, while Liu Yulan and Liu Shuixian also decided to ignore the two troublesome children.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Erhua and Zhao Xiaocao were not only annoying but also a nuisance. Zhao Erhua was holding a bag of pastries and deliberately left the paper bag open.

She picked up a piece of pastry, put it in her mouth, and chewed it, with crumbs still sticking to her lips.

"Zhao Lantern, Zhao Wanzi, what are you holding in your hands?" Zhao Erhua blocked the path through the bamboo forest with her plump body.

Zhao Denglong didn't intend to pay any attention to Zhao Erhua and pulled his sister to try to walk around her.

But to their surprise, Zhao Erhua blocked their way no matter which way they went, showing no intention of letting them pass.

"You..." Zhao Wanzi's inner turmoil was about to explode; she couldn't take it anymore. "Zhao Erhua, are you deliberately asking for a beating?"

"Hey!" Zhao Erhua looked like she was asking for a beating. Hearing Zhao Wanzi threaten her seemed like she'd heard the funniest joke in the world. "Did I hear that right, Xiaocao? What did Zhao Wanzi say?"

Zhao Xiaocao also found it somewhat amusing and deliberately reminded her, "She wants to fight you, huh... we don't even know who'll beat whom yet."

Zhao Xiaocao stood to the side, looking completely unconcerned, and rolled her eyes.

The reason why Zhao Erhua is targeting Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi goes back to their last fight. It all started when Erhua's mother dragged Zhao Erhua to He Tiantian's house and made her apologize to Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi.

Under the tyranny of her own mother, Zhao Erhua had no choice but to temporarily compromise, but she harbored deep resentment towards the matter.

She received a bag of pastries today, and first went to find Zhao Xiaocao and gave her two pieces. Then she saw Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi, and she definitely wanted to show them off too.

"See the snacks in my hand? They're so delicious!" Zhao Erhua said, picking up another piece and popping it into her mouth.

Then he deliberately smacked his lips, making a loud smacking sound.

"It's just peach shortbread, right? Who hasn't eaten it before?" Zhao Wanzi curled her lip, looking disdainful.

The aroma of chive boxes wafted all the way to the bamboo grove behind the house. Zhao Denglong sniffed it and smiled at Liu Yulan and Liu Shuixian behind him, saying, "Can you smell the fragrance? Mother has made us something delicious again."

Liu Yulan and Liu Shuixian nodded vigorously, "It smells so good!"

[Author's note]: Zhao Erhua, you're going to get a beating in the next episode!