There were people in the village who did carpentry work, and the family had nothing. Qi Wanfeng wanted to go to the village to find someone to make a table and a few chairs for the family. The three acres of land allocated to them by the compound were not far from the old house where they lived, so he also went to check on the crops in the fields. The crops in the fields could not be left alone, so he told the family, one big and one small, to wait for him at home, and he went out.
An An was left at home by his mother to accompany his father. Even though his eyes were full of desire to go out and play with his mother, he was sensible and did not make a fuss to go out with his mother.
Cao Xiangnan looked at such a sensible child at such a young age, and felt sorry for him. Wanfeng kept him here to accompany him all day. It would be fine if he was alone at home now, and it was okay for Wanfeng to take the child with him, but he knew that even if he told Wanfeng, he would not listen to him. On this point, his Wanfeng had his principles and persistence.
"An An, Daddy will make you something delicious, okay?" Seeing the child sitting beside him with his head drooping, Cao Xiangnan knew that the child was unhappy, so he touched the child's head and asked.
"Huh?" When he heard that there was food, An An wiped away the gloom just now, and looked at his father with round eyes.
He asked Wanfeng to find him a stick as a crutch, so that he could walk with it under his arm, and at least he didn't have to lie in bed and wait for Wanfeng to serve him everything. Cao Xiangnan felt that his body functions were gradually recovering. He was no longer weak and powerless as when he just woke up, and he still had the strength to get out of bed.
He took the crutches beside him and got out of bed. Although the movement was difficult, he could walk a few steps with the crutches.
"An'an, let's go to the kitchen. Follow Dad." He knew that someone at home had sent a lot of food. Cao Xiangnan walked out of the house with crutches and walked towards the kitchen. After a short distance, his forehead was sweating.
A little tail followed his father on short legs, and his little face was full of worry.
"An'an, you see, Dad is fine, right?" Such a short few steps took all his strength. Although his legs were aching, Cao Xiangnan smiled at the child to show that he was fine.
"Dad." The child called softly, and the soft and cute voice could melt into people's hearts.
Cao Xiangnan reached out and touched the child's head. He saw the basket on the table. He walked over and saw the white flour inside. He remembered that they were going out tomorrow. He could prepare tonight's dinner and tomorrow's dry food. In this way, he would not have to work hard to prepare food for them when the evening breeze came back.
"An An, let's eat noodles tonight, what do you think?" There was also fresh pork next to it. Put some pork in the noodles. He drooled at the thought. The main reason was that he didn't know what he was eating since he came here. Cao Xiangnan missed the food in the past very much.
He practiced the cooking skills since he was a child. At that time, there was no other way. If he didn't learn these, he would be hungry, so he could cook many things by himself. But now he is grateful for the experiences in his previous life, which allowed him to come here without starving himself and his child Wanfeng to death.
"Dad, what is noodle?"
"You'll know in a minute."
Cao Xiangnan was ready to give his child and Wanfeng a surprise, and there was some anticipation in his eyes. Looking at the white flour, an idea flashed through his mind, maybe they could give it a try, maybe it would really work.
"An'an, use a bowl to bring a bowl of water over."
"An'an, can you help Dad watch the fire?"
There was a fire starter next to the stove, and he lit the fire after a few fumbles. He put water on the pot and let An'an sit on a small stool to watch the fire. He kneaded the dough neatly with his hands, preparing one portion for steamed buns and one portion for noodles.
An An, who was sitting there watching the fire, was multitasking. On one hand, he was watching the fire in the stove, and on the other hand, he was watching his father pulling out strips of such things from his hands. The child's eyes widened, thinking that his father was really amazing.
There were too few sauces here, only a small bag of salt that didn't taste very good. If the salt could be purified a little before eating, it would taste better. He also knew the simple purification method, but there was only so little salt now, and if he messed it up again, it would be inedible, so forget it.
"I can make it today and send it to you later." It happened that the carpenter in the village didn't have much work to do recently, and Qi Wanfeng went to him and asked for a table and a few chairs. He said he could make it and send it to him today.
After paying the deposit and waiting for the delivery of the goods, Qi Wanfeng left the carpenter.
Of the three acres of land allocated to him, two acres were low-quality dry land planted with reddish-brown rice. The annual yield was not high. In a good year, 70% could be left after paying taxes, but in a bad year, less than 30% could be left after paying taxes. One acre of high-quality land was planted with rice. Most people would sell the rice for money and would not eat it. Even after paying taxes, more than 50% could be left. Qi Wanfeng remembered that
there was another piece of land in the small yard where he could grow some vegetables for his own consumption. He planned to buy some seeds on his way to Fenshui Town tomorrow.
Turning around and walking around the field, he unexpectedly ran into his father and elder brother. Qi Wanfeng just called out, "Father, elder brother."
"Yeah. Wanfeng, are you and Silang okay over there?" Father Cao asked when he saw Wanfeng coming to the field alone.
"Yes, I'm fine." Qi Wanfeng felt a little uncomfortable, so he said hello and left.
Father Cao sighed as he looked at the person who had left. The eldest brother Cao Fugui who followed him was also a filial son. He knew that his father was upset because of his fourth brother's affairs, but when he thought of his wife at home, he didn't dare to say anything about his fourth brother's affairs.
The crops in the field were growing well, and now they were planted and there was no need to take care of them. If this year is a good year, they will have a good harvest, Qi Wanfeng thought to himself as he left, and he was looking forward to the days to come.
He touched his belly. The doctor said that he was not in good health. He knew that it was not suitable for him to work in the fields now. He wanted to wait until he felt better after this month before working in the fields. They already had a little boy. He thought that his husband would be very happy if he could give birth to a boy this time.
When he returned home and opened the door, Qi Wanfeng heard the child's cry from the kitchen as soon as he entered the small courtyard. There was a little surprise in his eyes. Seeing the rising smoke and smelling the fragrance of food, Qi Wanfeng's people arrived at the door of the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" Qi Wanfeng asked curiously as he looked at his husband standing in front of the stove.
"Wanfeng, you're back?" Cao Xiangnan was very happy to see someone coming back. He steamed the steamed buns first, and waited for Wanfeng to come back to cook the noodles. When the steamed buns were cooked, it was almost done. "I prepared a surprise for you, I think you will like it." He said with a smile, feeling quite good.
"Oh? Really? Then I'll wait for my husband's surprise." Qi Wanfeng had never seen her husband cook. Since she married into the Cao family, her husband worked in the town every month, and came back once a month and hurried back to the town to do work.
Although she had been married to her husband for several years and her children were already two or three years old, the two of them were rarely together and did not spend much time together.
Smelling the fragrance, Cao Xiangnan felt that the steamed buns inside should be cooked. He lifted the lid and found plump white steamed buns inside. A fragrance filled the air.
"We are not going out tomorrow. I have prepared dry food for us to go out tomorrow." Cao Xiangnan looked at Qi Wanfeng and said.
Seeing the child at his feet stretching his neck to look at the steamed buns in the pot, Cao Xiangnan reached out and pinched one into the bowl and said, "I steamed a few more. Wanfeng, you and An'an can each eat one first."
When Qi Wanfeng saw the plump white steamed buns, he knew that his husband had made them with the white flour in the bag. Usually, the family ate coarse grains. When had they ever eaten something like this? Seeing the child's full appearance and her husband's happy smile, Qi Wanfeng didn't think there was anything wrong with her husband making these white flours, after all, everything is to be eaten.
"No, not one for each, An An and I can each have half, and the rest will be for tomorrow's trip." Qi Wanfeng looked at the plump white steamed buns and was really reluctant to eat them, because they usually ate coarse grain steamed buns.
"That's fine." Cao Xiangnan was very happy when he saw the plump white steamed buns.
He had suffered a lot when he was a child in his previous life, but he didn't go hungry with the old lady. The food was not necessarily that good, but he still had a bowl of rice for every meal. First of all, he was hungry every day here, especially now that his body was getting better day by day and his appetite was up, he wanted to eat something even more.
"Wanfeng, you and An'an wait for a while. I've put the noodles in the pot, and we'll be able to eat them soon. I've cut some meat and cooked it together." Cao Xiangnan didn't care. It was all about eating, so it didn't matter whether it was early or late.
An'an took the small bowl to his mother and handed the small bowl to her.
Qi Wanfeng took the bowl, broke off a little bit, blew it, and fed it into the child's mouth. Seeing the child move his mouth twice and swallow it, he looked at the child with tenderness in his eyes and asked, "An'an, is it delicious?"
"Yeah." The child was at the age of being greedy, and he only cared about eating, and had no idea what his mother was saying.
"Go and feed Dad some." Qi Wanfeng motioned the child to give his father some.
"Okay." An An took a small piece of steamed bun and went
over, "Dad, eat too." Cao Xiangnan put the noodles he had pulled aside into the pot, and when he saw the child taking the steamed bun to feed him, he lowered his head and ate it, telling the child, "It's delicious." Although he was standing here cooking the noodles, he knew that Qi Wanfeng was reluctant to eat it and gave it all to the child, so he looked at him and smiled.
Their eyes met, and there was tenderness for each other in their eyes, which touched that sensitive nerve.
The noodles floated up quickly, and the bottom of the soup was the cooked pork soup. Because there were no other ingredients, the taste of this clear boil was more original. Cao Xiangnan served it in three large bowls. After each person had a bowl, there was still a little left in the pot, which was just the right amount prepared.
"Wanfeng, try it and see if you like it." Seeing Wanfeng staring at the bowl without moving, Cao Xiangnan said with a smile.
An An saw that his father and mother were picking up the chopsticks, and he sucked his saliva but did not eat first.
"An An, eat too." Picking up the chopsticks, Cao Xiangnan picked up a piece of meat for the child. He knew that the child was at the age when he loved to eat meat, but in the past, he could only eat meat a few times a year in the Cao family compound.
Since he came here to take over Qi Wanfeng and the child, he thought that he would never let the two most important people in his life go hungry again in the future.
"An An, eat, and Mom, eat too." Qi Wanfeng finally moved, looked at his husband, and said to the child.
"Slurp..."
"Slurp..."
The sound of slurping noodles was heard. Cao Xiangnan looked at Qi Wanfeng and the child eating noodles, and felt very satisfied. He thought that his first goal was to let his "wife" and the child have a meal and solve the problem of food and nutrition.