In September, the temperature can reach as high as 39 degrees Celsius at its hottest. Walking under the sun for a while can turn you into a dried-up corpse.
But Zhang Jizhou had been lying in wait on a barren mountain for a whole day and night in such weather.
The venomous snake was cunning and suspicious. In order to find out his whereabouts before the main force arrived, he could carry out the snake-catching plan.
Zhang Jizhou and his team had to lie in wait and observe where venomous snakes might appear.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the job of infiltration is simply lying there motionless; it's very simple.
However, in reality, this job is not something that can be done without highly intensive and rigorous training by professionals.
Local officials are certainly not as well-trained in this area as the military.
Therefore, this task inevitably fell to Zhang Jizhou.
Just as Fang Yan was enjoying the chicken soup with Xiao Yuzai, Zhang Jizhou, who had been starving for a day and a night, was pretending to lie in the grass, watching a snake slither through the back of his hand. He endured his hunger, forced himself to remain motionless, guarded against the snake in case it suddenly attacked, and kept his eyes fixed on the mission target.
Compared to the lives of Fang Yan and her son, his life at this moment was incredibly miserable.
Fortunately, perseverance pays off. After lying in wait for a day and a night, the target finally made a move...
Fang Yan thought Zhang Jizhou was Fang Yan rushing back to the army and had no idea what he was suffering.
As soon as she woke up, before the sun came out, she quickly planted all the tomato seedlings, pearl vegetable seedlings, eggplant seedlings, and other plants she had bought the day before.
To improve the survival rate of the plants, Fang Yan specially scooped out a large spoonful of spring water from the kitchen, mixed it with ordinary water, and watered the newly planted seedlings.
Then I'll make a shopping list. Yesterday was too rushed, and I didn't have time to buy many things, like clothes for her and Xiaoyuzai. I need to buy one or two more sets, and I also need to buy some farm tools.
Fang Yan is now full of fighting spirit and is single-mindedly focused on making money.
Only when her wallet is bulging can she stand tall, have more confidence to fight for child custody with Zhang Jizhou during the divorce, and have more confidence to help her adoptive mother and adoptive brother live a good life.
Every morning, Fang Yan would take an oxcart with Xiao Yuzai to the county town to sell braised food. In the afternoon, she would cook braised food at home, tend to the vegetables in the yard, and spend time with her children. Her life couldn't be more fulfilling.
In just a few days, she gained a large following of housewives and stay-at-home husbands thanks to her superb culinary skills and enthusiastic and generous sales attitude.
Now, even before she sets up her stall each day, many fans are already waiting to buy her braised food. Her business is booming, and she's making more and more money.
In just over ten days, the value of her fanny pack has increased from less than five yuan to five or six hundred yuan.
The first day of selling braised food was a trial run.
After confirming that her braised dishes suited the local tastes, Fang Yan started selling more from the next day onwards.
On average, I earn about fifty yuan a day.
This amount of money, in later generations, might not even be enough for two cups of milk tea, but in the 1980s, earning this much money in a day was considered quite good.
Considering that Zhang Jizhou only received a little over ninety yuan a month in allowances, Fang Yan earned half a month's allowance in just one day. She was truly content.
She even inquired about housing prices in the county town, and after doing the math, she figured that if she worked hard for another month, she could probably buy a house facing the street in the county town.
In this way, she wouldn't have to carry the iron bucket back and forth between the county town and Gouzi Village every day.
Just as she was happily planning to cook more braised food every day, earn more money, buy a house in the county town as soon as possible, and bring her adoptive mother and adoptive brother to live with her, little did she know that fate was quietly making other arrangements...
On that day, Old Master Wei returned to the compound with the ham pastries Fang Yan had given him and some spring water.
He had drunk most of the bottle of spring water, and he felt refreshed and in great spirits.
From the moment he took his first sip of the spring water, Grandpa Wei felt that this water was somehow different from the others.
So he drank each sip with great care, and in the end, he couldn't bear to waste a single drop of spring water, so he drank it all.
After finishing his drink, Grandpa Wei looked thoughtfully at the ham pastry in his hand.
This time, he couldn't bear to eat it.
Instead, he kept them until his birthday, when several old friends came to celebrate with him, before he was willing to take out the ham pastries to serve them.
Before Grandpa Wei could even ask, "What do you think of this pancake?", Old Shen exclaimed in surprise, "Old Wei, where did you buy this pancake? I want to buy one too!"
"Old Wei, did you buy this pancake here? I haven't heard of any new pancake shops opening in our county recently," Old Gao chimed in.
Grandpa Wei only has three or five old friends in the county town. Like him, they don't have any other hobbies after retirement, except for enjoying good food.
The ham pastries that Grandpa Wei gave them—they had only taken one bite before they knew how delicious they were; they had never tasted anything like them before!
Even Lao Han, who was the least picky eater among them, excitedly exclaimed after finishing his ham pastry, "Lao Wei, this pastry is delicious! Tell me, where did you buy it?"
...
Meanwhile, Fang Yan had just transmigrated and was already busy making a living. The braised food business was better than she expected, and she was so busy that she could only squeeze in time to drink water.
It wasn't until that day that she suddenly remembered that she had been in a "car accident" and hit an old man when she was pushing a cart back to the village from the hospital.
The old woman was very kind; she didn't insist on going to the hospital for a checkup, nor did she ask for compensation. The matter was thus easily resolved.
Fang Yan was thinking that she would definitely visit the old man in a few days.
In the midst of all that busyness, I completely forgot about this matter.
Now that she thought about it, she realized that after selling all the braised food tomorrow, she had to go and check on the old man no matter what.
Since we're going to visit Grandpa Wei, we can't go empty-handed, can we?
Remembering the look of amazement in Grandpa Wei's eyes after drinking spring water and eating ham pastries that day, Fang Yan was certain that he must be a foodie old man, so she thought of making some more pastries for him to take with him.
When she entered the kitchen and saw the pile of taro, she changed her mind again.
It's taro season right now, and almost all the neighbors have planted some. I've given away quite a few, worried they'll spoil if left out for too long.
Fang Yan then moved them all to the storage room in the kitchen, where time stands still and things stored there will never spoil.
Taro paste is a wonderful ingredient; there are so many desserts you can make with it.
Fang Yan quickly came up with a plan: she would make a taro crepe cake, which would be soft, fluffy, and sweet, and the old man would probably like it.
Little did she know that when Grandpa Wei saw the cake, he was not just pleased, he was overjoyed!
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