In winter, it gets dark early. It starts to get dark around four or five o'clock. If you cook early, you can rest early at night. After all, there is no electricity and no entertainment. It's pitch black at night, so what else is there to do but sleep?
Wenxi had previously signed for 50 jin of rice, enough for the three of them to eat for two months. With some whole grains, 50 jin of rice should last for three months. So now Wenxi is being more generous with her cooking. Before, she used half sweet potatoes and half rice, but now she only uses two sweet potatoes.
Since we have this opportunity, we should naturally treat ourselves better.
With Shen Jiaojiao helping to stoke the fire, Wen Xi no longer needed to run around the stove; she could just focus on cooking.
Wenxi had previously signed for two large barrels of cooking oil, weighing nearly 70 or 80 kilograms in total, which would last for more than half a year. Therefore, Wenxi was quite generous when cooking, unlike other families who would just dip a few drops into the pot with chopsticks.
Once the pot is hot, Wenxi adds a large spoonful of oil. After the oil is hot, she adds the cleaned paisley and fries them until golden brown on both sides. She then sets them aside. Next, she adds seasonings and stir-fries them until fragrant. She then adds the washed and chopped pickled vegetables to the pot and stir-fries them evenly. She adds half a pot of water, then adds all ten of the previously fried paisley to the pot. She then covers the pot and simmers it.
Half an hour later, Wenxi lifted the lid of the pot. The pot was bubbling and the aroma was so strong that even she couldn't help but drool.
Wenxi poured the potato and radish chunks she had prepared into the pot and cooked them with the fish. Eating fish alone wasn't enough to satisfy her appetite; she needed some side dishes.
In Heyuan City, there's no shortage of vegetables in winter, so you can eat as much as you want.
Even if all else fails, there's always shepherd's purse growing all over the mountains. Every April after the New Year, the mountains are covered with the white flowers of old shepherd's purse, showing just how lush and abundant the shepherd's purse grows here.
After simmering for another half hour, Wenxi poked the potato and radish chunks with her chopsticks and found they were tender. She then said to Shen Jiaojiao, "Jiaojiao, we don't need to add any more firewood. We can eat them after simmering for a few more minutes."
"It smells so good!" Shen Jiaojiao sniffed hard. "Xiaoxi, I've never smelled anything so good before. You're amazing!"
Seeing Shen Jiaojiao's exaggerated expression, Wen Xi smiled helplessly. Her excellent cooking skills were the result of more than ten years of hard work in her previous life!
That man had a high position, a high salary, and was wealthy. After the 1980s, wealthy families started hiring nannies to take care of their children, but this family not only didn't hire a nanny, they actually treated her like one.
Because she was given to him by his older sister and brother-in-law, in their eyes she was not even as good as a nanny, so how could they possibly hire a nanny to take care of her!
When she finally died, that old geezer was still alive and well, proving the saying that evil lives on for a thousand years.
"I'll write down how to make it when I have time, okay?" Wen Xi looked at Shen Jiaojiao.
Shen Jiaojiao nodded happily, "Okay!"
Although the three of them live together now, they will definitely separate when they grow up. If I learn how to cook these dishes, I can make such delicious food no matter where I am in the future, so it will be as if they have never separated.
Wenxi brought over a large soup bowl for kneading dough, scooped out four fish from the pot, then scooped out two spoonfuls each of potato chunks and radish chunks, and then added a few spoonfuls of soup. "Jiaojiao, I'll go and deliver the fish to the sister next door first."
“Okay.” Shen Jiaojiao understood that relationships between people require interaction, and the family next door had indeed been very helpful to them, so it was only right that they repay them. She wouldn’t cause a conflict over a few fish.
Wenxi carefully carried the pickled fish to the next house. Holding the fish in both hands, she couldn't knock on the door, so she gently touched Chang Qingqing's gate with her toe. Soon she heard a voice from inside, "Coming, coming."
Then Chang Qingqing opened the door and saw Wen Xi standing in the twilight, holding a fragrant package in her hands.
"Xiaoxi, what's wrong with you...?"
"Sister, I cooked fish today and brought four over for you," Wenxi said.
"Xiaoxi, thank you!" Chang Qingqing took the pickled fish from Wenxi's hand, feeling embarrassed. Although she couldn't see how much was inside, the heavy feeling told her that there must be a lot of fish in it. "Xiaoxi, you're too kind. Why did you give us so many fish? Just one for us to try would have been enough. This is too much!"
“Sister, you’ve helped us so much since we came here from the countryside. We don’t have jobs or ration coupons, so we have no way to repay you. We can only repay you with this free gift. We hope you won’t mind!” Wen Xi said with a smile.
Chang Qingqing's family is very kind, which is why she wanted to continue their relationship. After all, the three girls were isolated and helpless in the village, and were easily bullied. Making more friends with kind people would not be a bad thing for them.
Take vegetables, for example. They can't plant vegetables until March after the New Year. What will they eat in the next few months? Besides digging for wild vegetables, they can only go to Chang Qingqing's house to exchange for vegetables!
"Xiaoxi, you're too kind." Chang Qingqing felt that her standard of living had improved a lot since Wenxi came. She had braised pork and potatoes yesterday, and today she could eat fish.
"Sister, I'll head back now. You can give me the basin tomorrow." Wenxi said, then turned and left. She needed to hurry home to eat pickled fish; this kind of wild stream fish must be especially delicious.
As she reached the alley entrance, Wen Xi saw a tall, imposing figure leaning against the wall of her own courtyard. Startled, she stopped abruptly and carefully examined the man before recognizing him as Jin Changfeng.
Wen Xi walked over in confusion. "Comrade Jin, what are you doing here?"
Jin Changfeng didn't say anything, but instead stuffed a note into Wen Xi's hand and then turned to leave. Wen Xi had wanted to invite him to her home for fish, but she didn't expect him to just run away like that.
Wenxi put the note in her pocket and went home. After locking the gate, she went straight to the kitchen, eager to try the sauerkraut fish.
It's just that they used pickled vegetables instead of sauerkraut, so I don't know what the difference in taste is.
Today, we cooked a total of ten fish. We gave four to Chang Qingqing, leaving six fish. The three sisters each got two fish. Wenxi brought three plates and scooped all the fish and vegetables out of the pot, placing them on the dining table. Afterward, the three of them served their dinner and sat around the table.
"Jiaojiao, Xiaoyue, the fish has bones, so be careful when you eat it," Wenxi reminded them before picking up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and eagerly eating it.
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