Chapter 106 A Busy Family
The last guest paid the bill and left. Sui Yu scooped water to put out the fire in the stove. The four of them worked together to wash the pots and pans and prepared to go back.
The heat in the house had not yet dissipated, and the wind was howling outside. When people walked out of the room, they shivered and half of the heat in their bodies dissipated.
"It's so cold." Zhao Xiaomi walked against the wall with her hands in her pockets, her voice trembling, "I almost want to sleep here. It would be great if we could keep a fire going all night."
"Walk slower and hold Sui Liang." Zhao Xiping picked up the slop and wood ash. He bumped into Sui Liang and said, "Follow Xiaomi. Don't fall."
Tong Huaer was close by, so she walked over and held his hand.
Sui Liang followed her.
Zhao Xiping looked inside the door. Sui Yu was still checking the stove. Two of the three stoves were extinguished, leaving only one stove with a fire. It was stuffed with grass residue to cover the fire, and two pots of dough made from wine lees were placed on the steamer.
The oil lamp was blown out, and Sui Yu brought out a bowl and handed it to Tong Huaer, saying, "There are two braised eggs left. Take them back for Uncle Niu and Ah Shui."
Tong Huaer rubbed her hands, lowered her eyes and said thank you.
The door was locked, and the five people walked back on the frozen snow.
There was no one in sight or voice on the road. The wind was so strong that even the barking of dogs was drowned out by the howling northwest wind.
Walking out of the alley, crossing Nanshui Street and entering Juntun, the wind that was almost cutting off hair was stopped, and people could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
First, send Tong Huaer back to Shiqitun, and wait for Uncle Lao Niu to open the door before Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping turn back.
"This is what Sui Yu asked me to bring to you. Save it for tomorrow morning." Tong Huaer handed over the bowl. She went into the kitchen and saw that there was still hot water in the pot. She hurriedly opened the lid and put her numb hands in.
"Mom..." A Shui was waiting for her to come back and had not gone to bed yet.
Uncle Niu wrapped the man in a mattress and carried him into the kitchen. He pointed at the braised eggs on the stove and said, "Your mother brought you some eggs. Aren't they delicious?"
Ah Shui peeked over, then turned to stare at the person standing in front of the stove.
Tong Huaer ignored her. She fetched some water to wash up and then took the child over while she was soaking her feet.
"Sui Yu provides me with three meals a day and gives me twenty coins. I plan to save up the money for ten days or half a month to buy camel meat and make oil. Sui Yu said that she cured the chilblains on her hands and feet by applying camel oil." Tong Huaer endured the stinging pain in her feet and said, "I won't give you this money."
"I don't want your money. I have my own salary." Uncle Niu picked up Ah Shui and said, "Just think more about the child. She loves you."
"It's the end of the year, I'll buy her some cloth to make her some new clothes." Tong Huaer took the basin out to pour water, then turned back to take the child. Perhaps now that she could support herself, she felt much better. She was a rare talker, lying in bed, recounting her day's events with great interest.
Ah Shui kept calling for his mother in her arms, and she would respond from time to time.
After A Shui fell asleep, Uncle Lao Niu stretched out his hand from under the mattress. Tong Huaer's body stiffened, and the previous relaxation disappeared in an instant.
Not far away in Shisantun, Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping had just sat on the bed when they could clearly hear the sound of pigs eating. The couple lit a lamp and worked hard while silently counting money amid the sound of pigs eating.
The bean dregs were attached to the wick, and the flames burned through it, making a crackling sound. The light and shadows flickered. Sui Yu raised his neck and shook it, saying, "I have three hundred and thirty-six coins here. How much do you have?"
"Two hundred, two hundred and seventy-nine coins, all together is..."
"Six hundred and fifteen coins." This is the evening's income, which is similar to Sui Yu's estimate. There are fewer customers at night, and most of them are home delivery orders. The money is included in the afternoon's account.
Sui Yu got out of bed, took a flat wooden board from under the bed and placed it next to the oil lamp, and used a burnt wooden stick to record the accounts on it. Today's income was three taels, four cents and twenty-four coins, and the expenditure was fifty-three coins, which were the wages of Tong Huaer and Qin Dashun respectively.
After the quilt warmed up, Zhao Xiping saw that she was still writing and asked, "You haven't finished yet? Write tomorrow. Lie down quickly, you're freezing to death."
Sui Yu snorted, "Why are you rushing me? I'll note the number of deliveries so I can compare them later."
As soon as the wooden stick was thrown down, the person was taken to the mattress. The man quickly covered her. Sui Yu muttered something, but his hand honestly touched the moving Adam's apple.
The weather was cold, and as soon as the cold wind got into the mattress, Sui Yu groaned unhappily. She either tucked the mattress in or huddled down. The two of them huddled closer and closer, forcing the man to sweat profusely.
Zhao Xiping pulled down the mattress to breathe some fresh air, but it was hot and humid under the mattress, and he almost suffocated because he held it too tightly.
After all the tossing and turning, neither of them was cold anymore. Sui Yu lay on the man and took a deep breath. She was like a lazy cat, speaking slowly, with a slightly heavy nasal tone and a soft and thin voice.
"I don't like winter, in every way."
Zhao Xiping chuckled, smoothing his long hair that fell on his chest, and said contentedly, "Winter has its own flavor. I like it."
Sui Yu stopped talking. She yawned, took the man's hand and put it on her shoulder, and whispered, "Give me a massage. I want to sleep."
Her hands were tired from kneading dough, and she had been tense all day. As soon as she relaxed, her bones and flesh felt sore. The man's palms were thick, strong, and hot. He pressed along the bones, and the soreness in the bone joints swelled out. It was painful and pleasurable. Sui Yu gritted her teeth and groaned.
Under the dim candlelight, the man's eyes became dark. He endured it and served the prone woman until she felt comfortable. Then he took the opportunity to do it again.
After eating, the pigs lay down in the haystack. The black pig arched up the hay and curled up to avoid the cold. Just as it fell asleep, it heard the door open. It grunted a few times, and when it saw that its owner was not coming to feed it, it calmed down again.
The night finally fell silent.
Winter dawns come late, but the Sui Yu family rises before dawn. Zhao Xiping rises at the third crow of the rooster to cook porridge. The steamer has been moved, and now an open clay pot sits on the stove. The mouth of the pot is wider than the cauldron, and it's patched with yellow mud. It looks seamless, but smoke billows from the mouth whenever a fire is lit.
The cat officer choked and shook his head, then walked outside the woodshed and meowed.
"What are you yelling about?" Zhao Xiaomi yelled, "It's so noisy so early in the morning."
"Get up as soon as you wake up. The wild rabbits and wild birds I hunted yesterday haven't been cleaned up yet." After being reminded by the cat officer, Zhao Xiping remembered that there were still wild animals in the woodshed.
One sentence woke up the three people who were lying in bed. The frozen rabbit was brought out, and the cat officer smelled blood and screamed even louder.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi worked together to peel the rabbit skin, one tearing and the other pulling. The torn pieces of meat all belonged to the cat. The rabbit head was difficult to deal with, and this also belonged to the cat, enough for it to gnaw on for a whole day.
The taro porridge was cooked, and the rabbit meat and sparrow meat were also prepared. Sui Yu marinated the meat with onions, ginger and garlic, and planned to take it to the shop and fry it for the whole family to eat at noon.
Running a shop means being busy all day long, and you can't compromise on food. If you eat too much just to make money, your body will eventually run out of steam.
There was a knock on the door. It was Tong Huaer coming over. Sui Yu asked her to get the rice from the pot herself.
After breakfast, the sky was getting a little brighter, but there were still a few dim stars in the sky. No one was walking on the road, so Sui Yu took the lead and ran.
The five of them ran to Minxiang, puffing out white mist. Just as they opened the door, the old bald man next door, also wearing a wolfskin, opened the door. With disheveled hair and a dirty face, he poked his head out and asked, "What's for breakfast? Any soup noodles?"
"There's no soup noodles in the morning, we need steamed buns." Sui Yu thought for a moment and said, "If you want something thin, I'll make some porridge. Bring a few people over to eat."
"No breakfast?"
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping exchanged a glance. She thought for a moment and said, "Breakfast won't be delivered, and there won't be much porridge. We can only provide for the dozen or so families living nearby."
"Forget it then." The old bald man gave up. "Instead of going out to buy food, it's better for me to light a fire and cook a pot myself."
Sui Yu didn't force it. It was convenient for her not to cook porridge. Not having porridge in the pot made it convenient for her to stew bone soup.
Zhao Xiaomi and Tong Huaer had already lit the stove and added water to the steamer. Sui Liang sat aside watching the fire, while Tong Huaer went to dig radishes from the sand pile in the corner.
The water in the pot was heated. Zhao Xiping rolled up his sleeves to scoop water to wash his hands. He, Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Yu were responsible for kneading the dough.
He kneaded the dough, rolled out the bread and buns, and then, sixty buns in a steamer, placed them in the pot. As daylight dawned outside, the room also became brighter. Zhao Xiping quickened his pace. He kneaded two bowls of dough, set them aside, and went out to the butcher's shop to buy bones.
As the sky brightened, people began to move in the alley. The old man who collected night incense knocked on every door. The man who opened the door with a dung bucket yawned and waved to Zhao Xiping when he saw him passing by.
"Is the shop open?"
Zhao Xiping nodded, "In another incense stick's time, the buns will be ready."
"What else do you have in the morning besides steamed buns?" someone else asked, "Do you have it delivered to your door?"
"No, I only have buns. You can eat in the shop. It's warm in the shop." After saying that, Zhao Xiping quickened his pace. He was thinking about whether he could add another stove and clay pot to cook porridge, but the porridge would not sell for a high price. Another thing is that people don't work in winter, and many people only eat two meals a day. Few people come to drink porridge early in the morning. Thinking of this, he gave up.
After buying bones in the cold wind, the first pot of lard and radish dumplings was already out of the pot. Zhao Xiping used a wet rag to pour out the water in the steamer.
After the steam in the pot dried up, Sui Yu first stir-fried the fermented black beans with dry heat, then the soybean paste with oil. Once fragrant, he added water and chopped large bones. He then placed the steamer on top, stewing the bone soup at the bottom while steaming the buns on top.
Zhao Xiping looked around. Tong Huaer was peeling and cutting radishes, Sui Liang was lighting a fire and boiling eggs, Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Yu were rolling out noodles and wrapping stuffing respectively. There was nothing he could interfere with.
"Wooden sign, get some water to wash off the marks on it, dry it, and then hang it on the wall," Sui Yu reminded. "And there are eggs and tofu. In another hour, everyone in every household will be up. Go back and ask Sister Lamei to collect about 300 eggs for us."
Zhao Xiping became busy again.
"Nanshi, send over a basket of buns." The merchant shouted across the wall.
"You're so lazy! I'll go take it." Zhao Xiping stood up, picked up the steaming steamer, and asked, "What does Nanshi mean?"
"It's just a nickname given by some boring people, let them call it what they want." Sui Yu didn't care.
Zhao Xiping went out and the buns were delivered to him. He took the money and went back to continue painting the wooden signs.
When customers come and see that the shop is warm, they buy a plate of buns and sit there for most of the day.
After the bone soup was ready, Sui Yu scooped the soup into a ceramic pot. She freed up the pot to fry rabbit meat and stew bird meat for lunch. The aroma burst out and the people in the shop could no longer sit still, so they left one after another.
After everyone left, Sui Yu said to Zhao Xiping, "When you go buy tofu this afternoon, bring back the bones we'll need tomorrow. I'll make the bone soup tonight and cook it in the pottery pot in the morning so no one can see us making the stew."
Zhao Xiping obeyed the orders.
Rabbit meat and bird meat were stir-fried in a pot. As soon as the meat came out of the pot, Qin Dashun came and Zhao Xiping asked him to sit down and eat together.
"I'm taking advantage of you again." Qin Dashun was a little embarrassed. He came early because he was afraid of being late, but he just happened to catch up with people having dinner. The food was so delicious that he couldn't say no. He had to sit down shamelessly and said, "Brother Zhao, when you go to chop wood again, call me and I'll help you."
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