Chapter 60: Hot Pot
The night before departure, the educated youth camp held a simple celebratory dinner to echo the first night.
It’s perfect to eat hotpot in the cold winter.
Generally speaking, a fresh soup is enough, but their main ingredients, wild boar meat, wild boar offal, rabbit meat, pheasant meat, etc. have a strong fishy smell and are not suitable for cooking with their original flavor. Following Ye Yu's suggestion, a spicy hot pot was cooked.
Han Jing and Hua Feifei didn't like spicy food in the past, but after staying at the educated youth camp for a while, they were completely influenced by Xu Fei from Xiangjiang and Ye Yu, who was open to all kinds of food.
Hua Feifei started making the hot pot soup base in the afternoon. She poured in relatively more oil, heated the pot, added chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic, soybean oil, rock sugar, and some Sichuan seasonings exchanged from Yang Xiuxiu, and started stir-frying.
The fragrance was really overbearing, so strong that the whole yard was filled with the sound of people choking.
After the aroma is fried out, add water and salt, and a little bit of cooking wine. Because some meat with bones is not easy to be cooked through, add them in and cook together.
As for the knife skills required to cut the meat slices and internal organs, Ye Yu never disappoints. Hua Feifei just mentioned it briefly, and after the flash of swords and sabers, the pots of ingredients were processed cleanly.
Yes, pots and pots.
Considering Ye Yu's appetite, wooden bowls are no longer suitable, and wooden basins are the final destination. You have to pick a few big ones that can hold most of a wild boar.
In order to avoid going hungry when returning home for the Spring Festival, Ye Yu treated her to a hot pot meal and bribed Hua Feifei, Han Jing and Xu Fei to help make a lot of dried meat, meatballs, diced meat, meat sauce and the like. She also got a few roasted wild boars and other roasted meats in the mountains and threw them into the space.
It’s not that Ye Yu has to eat so much, but he has become accustomed to having a full meal every time, so how can he bear to go hungry again?
The main ingredients are meat. There are few types of vegetables but the total amount is quite large, such as potatoes, corn, bean sprouts, tofu, radishes, cabbage, winter wheat, etc.
These were exchanged with local villagers.
The village was well-informed. Ever since Ye Yu, Hua Feifei and Han Jing asked for leave from the team leader, the villagers had known that the three of them would go home for the Spring Festival this year, and even knew the time of their return. This meal was equivalent to an early New Year's Eve dinner for the educated youth, so of course they would not be stingy.
In addition to vegetables and grains, I even exchanged some frozen pears and cooked a big pot of rock sugar and snow pear soup to clear heat and moisten the lungs.
It is not suitable to have a dinner party in the yard in the cold winter. In order to relieve the pressure on the small kitchen, a temporary small living room was expanded next to the kitchen while the bathroom was being repaired.
Why is it temporary? Because it is a pure earthen house, and the thatched roof needs to be replaced at any time. There is also the risk of leaks in heavy rain or even hail.
Fortunately, the living room is mainly used for eating, so not too many things are placed in it. An earthen stove is built in the middle of the living room, the fire is lit, the pot is placed on it, and the table next to it is piled with ingredients. The four of them sit around the hot pot and immediately feel like they are eating New Year's Eve dinner.
And quite rich.
Han Jing asked: "Do you want to say something first?"
Hua Feifei, Han Jing, and Xu Fei all looked at Ye Yu. Before Ye Yu could speak, they all said in unison: "Man is iron and rice is steel. If you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry!"
Elm leaves: 6.
Then they all burst into laughter again. Ye Yu commented that they looked like a bunch of fools, and then he couldn't help but smile. How should I put it? He had just caught the fool virus.
Let’s get started!
Spicy hotpot is really delicious, spicy and numb, you can sweat even in winter. The rock sugar and snow pear soup is icy and sweet, just right to relieve the greasiness after eating meat.
Hua Feifei, Han Jing and Xu Fei never thought that there would be a day when they would need to relieve their boredom.
Hua Feifei has decided that when she gets home she must tell her parents about how she lives in the countryside and eats all she can eat with meat, while having no vegetables to eat is pitiful (Hua's parents:... Is this child crazy?).
This dinner was less strange and awkward than the first day I arrived, and it was much more harmonious and lively.
The next day, the four of them set off together. Xu Fei planned to go to the town to buy New Year's gifts and also give them a ride.
There were villagers who came out to "accidentally" run into them, especially the children, who naively asked if they would go back to the city and never come back.
Han Jing and Hua Feifei reflexively said no, but only realized what they had said after they had said it.
At the beginning, they were eager to go home, but now they are a little reluctant to go home. They are reluctant to leave the green mountains and rivers, the local people, and more importantly, their companions.
When they arrived in town, they went to the post office first. Xu Fei and Hua Feifei had a reply from the newspaper.
Xu Fei still received many reply letters, not only from Yanjing but also from newspapers in other cities. Hua Feifei also made progress. What was surprising was that Han Jing finally broke through zero. He was so happy that he smiled like a silly son of a landlord while holding the letter.
Xu Fei couldn't help but ask Ye Yu:
"You really don't want to write?"
Having seen Ye Yu's handwriting and heard strange but unexpectedly sensible words coming out of her mouth from time to time, he didn't think she was someone who couldn't write.
On the contrary, if Ye Yu wrote an article, he would definitely sign up to be the first reader.
"No."
Ye Yu refused rationally and firmly. She didn't need the royalties, and she had no interest in becoming a literary giant. She wished them more prosperity in the new year.
Several people paid attention to other articles in the newspaper.
As expected, there were indeed other educated youth authors from the same group, especially in the Youth Daily, where the articles written by educated youths together almost occupied half of the space.
Most of the content of the article is positive and praises the motherland and the people, but there are also a few critical contents, which is actually related to Xu Fei's article about the current situation of the supply and marketing cooperatives.
Because Xu Fei's first submission was of very high quality, the newspaper editors were looking forward to receiving the second submission. The main reason was that at this moment the big guys were either reported or were hiding and dared not come forward, and they were really in urgent need of articles!
At first glance at the content, every article is good, but the most memorable one is a critical article.
"Should this be published?" The editor was inclined to publish it, but he had to consider the entire newspaper and even his own family, and submit the article to his leadership for review.
The leaders were also unsure, so the newspaper held a meeting overnight regarding the article, where many editors had heated discussions.
The result was an advertisement in the newspaper.
First, the supply and marketing cooperatives have nothing to do with Z; second, although Xu Fei's article is a criticism of reality, the language is not sharp, and he still expresses good wishes for the future of state-owned stores. His words overflow with the patriotic heart of an aspiring person; third, of course, is Xu Fei's identity as an educated youth who went to the countryside.
After the newspaper published it, it indeed sparked heated discussion.
In this era of suppressed commodity economy, everyone would go to state-owned stores to buy things. The salesperson described in the article seemed to be right next to them, even the eye-rolling gestures and tone of voice were exactly the same.
This is really lifelike, anyone who can speak can join in the conversation.
The intensity of the spread suddenly increased.
The results are encouraging. State-owned stores across the country have made adjustments as a result. Regardless of whether they are temporary or not, many people have reported that the attitudes of salespeople or waiters are much better when they go to state-owned stores or even state-owned restaurants. At least they are no longer all bossy.
The discussion and changes sparked by this article allowed the educated youth to see that rural development could be this far! And to be honest, the countryside was indeed poor, and earning some extra royalties could improve their lives.
As a result, both articles of praise and articles of criticism emerged one after another.
Putting aside the articles praising them, it is definitely a good thing if the educated youth get along well with the local villagers, or if they accomplish great things in the countryside.
The criticized chaos is not limited to the salespersons in the supply and marketing cooperative. An article describing how local evil forces joined forces with local cadres to bully and humiliate educated youth has become a new hot topic.
This actually happened in the 1970s, when the "educated youth going to the countryside" program was nearing its end. As a result, countless educated youth were forced to stay in certain rural areas forever, and some even lost their lives.
Especially young women from vulnerable groups.
However, due to the enthusiasm for article submissions, it was exposed in advance and attracted the attention of many people. After all, documents about the educated youth going to the countryside came out one after another, and the difficulties encountered by the educated youth who went to the countryside could be ignored by the authorities because they also had children.
Even though Ye Yu was mentally prepared, he didn't expect the butterfly effect to come so quickly.
But how to say it?
This is not a bad thing.
Of course, there were also some educated youth who wanted to take advantage of the situation, but the more educated youth submitted their works, the more intense the competition became. Not every work could be submitted, and the editors would also review it, so sensitive topics would still be blocked.
"It's getting late. You should get in the car. Feifei, remember to send us a safe telegram when you get home."
After leaving the post office, they went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. Finally, it was time to say goodbye. Xu Fei promised Ye Yu that he would take good care of Chicks No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and the reserve food.
There is no train station in Pingquan Town.
The nearest train station is in the county, and the next closest is Jibei City. However, in terms of distance, Jibei City is farther than Yanjing City. Therefore, Hua Feifei decided to go to Yanjing City with Ye Yu, Xu Fei and others first, and then take the train back to Shanghai.
Because the population mobility is very low nowadays, factory positions in cities are very limited, and it is normal for distant relatives not to visit for ten or eight years these days. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the embarrassment of not being able to buy tickets for the Spring Festival.
The three of them got on the same bus.
The minibus drove into Yanjing City. Hua Feifei looked around curiously through the window in the car, and was especially excited when she saw some ancient buildings.
As for the people, I don’t see much difference between Yanjing City and Shanghai. Maybe the dialects are different?
Finally arriving in Yanjing City, Ye Yuhan Jing had told their families that they would go home for the Spring Festival, but they did not telegraph the date in advance, so no one came to pick them up.
After getting off the bus, they first took her to the train station opposite to buy a train ticket.
Ye Yu didn't want to see any of her younger brothers and sisters disappear this year, so she reminded her before she got on the bus: "Talk less, sleep less, drink less water, and go to the bathroom less."
Han Jing also replied: "If you have any problems, find the conductor."
"knew."
Apart from anything else, Hua Feifei, who had just read about the unfortunate experiences of some educated youth in the newspaper, had witnessed the evil of human nature and she might not forget it for a long time.
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