Looking at the table full of dishes that were even more sumptuous than those served during Chinese New Year, the four village cadres were stunned. The team leader looked at them deeply and said, "You must have earned more than a hundred yuan from your contributions, right?"
"It's only a hundred dollars this time, but the editor-in-chief of the newspaper has booked us for the next series of work. If nothing goes wrong, we'll get another hundred dollars in two months."
Lin Shan answered him that they had already discussed it and would not disclose the actual income from royalties under any circumstances, and only they and the Han family knew about it.
As for the Han family, they certainly wouldn't tell anyone about this.
Lin Shan also knew that he was suspicious because of the dishes on the table, so she explained with a smile: "There are many meat dishes, but in fact, only pork is more expensive. The other things like pig's trotters, ribs, and pig intestines are all very cheap."
Tonight I made pig's trotters and pig's intestines, garlic spare ribs and pork stewed with vermicelli, and used half a pound of pork to make meat buns and sauerkraut meat patties. The rest were all vegetarian dishes, but they were a bit more varied, with some minced meat mixed in with the vegetables, making it look a bit like an all-meat feast.
Jiang Yuan brought out the pickled cabbage meat patties and steamed buns she had made and distributed them directly into their bowls. "This table is a bit small. We didn't cook rice tonight, so let's eat these noodles with the vegetables."
"Mmm, delicious."
Secretary Tian ate the pickled cabbage meat pie first. It was so delicious that he couldn't bear to eat it. Seeing Jiang Yuan give each person three meat patties and two meat buns, he smiled and said, "Actually, these meat patties and meat buns are more than enough. There's no need to prepare a whole table of dishes."
"We can finally make money. The three of us are very happy. We specially made some decent specialties to share the joy with everyone." Jiang Yuan was really happy today, and a smile was always on her face.
Yun Huaying came over with the last dish of shredded potatoes and said, "Jiang Yuan, Lin Shan, sit down and eat."
"Yun Huaying, did you cook all these dishes?" Accountant Li pointed at the dishes on the table.
"Jiang Yuan made the pancakes and buns, and Lin Shan and I worked together to make the dishes. She helped me wash the vegetables and I cooked the accompaniments."
Yun Huaying had been working all day and was hungry. She grabbed the meat pie and started eating. She took a bite and ate it with great satisfaction. "Jiang Yuan, this meat pie is delicious. Your pasta cooking skills are better than any chef in any state-owned restaurant in a county town in the south."
"Hey, I can only make noodles, but I can't cook."
Jiang Yuan was eating a bun with one hand and picking up a pig's trotter with the other. She smiled and greeted the others: "This is Yun Huaying's specialty, braised pig's trotters. It's soft, sticky, fragrant and spicy. Everyone, come and try it."
"It's delicious." Mr. Han loves this dish the most.
Grandma Han also nodded and praised while eating: "Huaying's cooking skills are good. These dishes are beautiful and delicious. No wonder my son Zhengzi often comes to eat here."
Han Zheng ate quickly, chewing non-stop while still talking: "Grandma, you know my mom's cooking skills. All these years when you were at my uncle's place, the six of us, including the four siblings, Junming, and Minmin, had a miserable life. If it weren't for the cafeteria, we would have been poisoned by the food my mom cooked."
Grandma Han chuckled softly and patted his arm. "How can you be so mean to your mother's son?"
"Grandma, I'm not slandering her. I'm telling the truth."
Han Zheng actually respected his mother very much, the only thing he would say was a few bad words about her cooking. "It was our first year in Jinling. My father and aunt both had to work overtime during the Chinese New Year, so they ate in the company cafeteria. My mother took the six of us to cook New Year's Eve dinner at home. She assured us that we didn't need to help and that we just had to sit back and wait for the meal. Then she cooked a big bucket of noodles for us, a real iron bucket. I guess she cooked ten kilograms of dry noodles in one meal..."
"Ha ha..."
As soon as he said this, everyone laughed.
"A bucket of noodles, generously topped with half a pound of lard, a packet of salt, a bowl of soy sauce, and a bowl of vinegar. They also said it was for our health, and they also put a packet of brown sugar in it, along with some other random things."
The seasonings were so complete, salty, sweet, and sour. Yun Huaying couldn't imagine the taste and smiled softly, "Have you finished this bucket of noodles?"
"I only took one bite and threw them away. My mom said we shouldn't waste food. I tried it myself and didn't like it either, saying it was too salty and too sweet. Then I took it back to the kitchen to be processed. I don't know how she processed it, but in the end, the bucket of noodles turned into a pot of salty and sweet sticky porridge."
"We really couldn't eat any more, but because we didn't want to waste food, everyone forced themselves to eat a bowl."
"As a result, on New Year's Eve that year, six of us brothers and sisters all had diarrhea in the middle of the night and were sent to the hospital for IV drips and medication. I still remember that Spring Festival vividly. From then on, she was never allowed to enter the kitchen. We all consciously went to the cafeteria to get our meals."
Grandma Han was amused and distressed. "Your mother can't cook, but she's impeccable in other aspects. After all, no one is perfect; there are always flaws. She can't cook and can't learn. She's very busy with work, and it's been very hard for her to raise and care for you. You, her children, should learn to cook for her."
Because their mother couldn't cook, the four siblings all learned to cook. The food they cooked wasn't particularly delicious, but it was decent enough that they wouldn't get diarrhea and have to go to the hospital after eating it.
The captain had a good relationship with Han Zheng and usually didn't ask much about his family affairs, but now that he brought it up, he asked, "Zhengzi, where does your mother work?"
"Institutional Affairs Bureau."
His mother, Li Suyao, is very capable at work. She originally worked as a senior cadre in the Kyoto Government Affairs Bureau. Later, when the Han family encountered an accident, they applied for a transfer to Jinling. They still work in the same unit, and now she is the head of the Jinling unit.
Their mountainous area is remote and backward, with little information and limited cultural level. No one knows what the Institutional Affairs Bureau is, but they can determine from the literal meaning that it is a national government unit, and his mother is a cadre leader with a golden rice bowl.
Han Zheng didn't want to talk about family matters, so he was cautious and low-key. He took the initiative to change the subject: "This pickled cabbage pig intestine tastes good. I've never eaten pig intestines better than this."
"Pig intestines have a strong smell and are difficult to clean. If they are not cleaned properly, there will always be a smell. When the pigs are slaughtered during the Chinese New Year, no one wants the intestines. Your intestines are well made. I will give you all the leftover intestines from the pig slaughter this year."
Secretary Tian had eaten this dish a long time ago. The pig intestines were stewed very soft and washed very clean, without any unpleasant smell. He was eating it with relish.
"Okay, if others don't want the pig intestines, we'll buy them all."
Although Lin Shan hated washing pig intestines, she also loved eating them. In order to enjoy the delicious dishes, she had to endure the washing process.
There was a lot of food prepared, and everyone had a big appetite. Except for the buns, everything else was eaten up. The men at the table finally experienced the feeling of being full.
With the help of four village cadres, all the neighbors in the team soon knew that they were good at cooking. The old educated youth felt it was a pity that they lived alone outside, otherwise they could have taken advantage of their excellent cooking skills.
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