When Lin Qiuru heard that her son's illness could be cured, she couldn't stop her tears from flowing. She never dared to dream of such a good thing.
She said, "I'll listen to you. Once we've settled things at home, we'll take your brother to the hospital for a checkup. I'll even borrow money to get him that CT scan!"
Cheng Xiao Kui said, "You eat first, and then we'll leave!"
After talking to her mother, she went back to the front yard to have dinner with her mother-in-law.
The soup was at the perfect temperature by then, and the two children had already finished eating.
Lin Qiuru deliberately changed into a clean and tidy set of clothes because she was going to the cooperative to buy things, and she couldn't dress too poorly!
In this day and age, going to a cooperative or shopping mall feels much like going shopping decades from now.
Cheng Xiaokui locked the gate to the courtyard and took her mother, mother-in-law, and two children to the cooperative to buy things.
The family of several people bought all the pots and pans they needed for the house, as well as the fabrics and cotton for making curtains, sheets, and quilts.
Cheng Xiao Kui also bought half a sack of processed potatoes and sweet potatoes. City people are particular about their food, and those potatoes and sweet potatoes that don't look good are considered processed.
Cheng Xiao Kui smiled broadly as she looked at the half-sack of potatoes and sweet potatoes; these didn't require any money.
Today is the day to officially start cooking. According to the customs of their city, noodles are eaten whenever there is a happy occasion in the family.
She asked her mother for half a pound of sliced meat, bought a beautiful piece of pork belly, and used the pork belly to make fried sauce.
This kind of meat-filled fried noodles with soybean paste is so delicious, you'll eat it without making a sound!
While buying pork, she suddenly noticed a counter selling chicken frames, chicken necks, and chicken feet.
There's very little meat on this chicken carcass; it's not the kind of chicken carcass sold 20 years later.
However, she really didn't expect that chicken frames would be sold in this day and age.
But in those days, ordinary people bought chickens whole; they didn't buy half a chicken, much less parts.
Curious, she asked the saleswoman where these chicken frames came from, and where the chicken legs, wings, and breast meat went.
The saleswoman told Cheng Xiaokui that all the parts on the chicken were exported. People abroad are very particular about eating chicken; they buy it by the parts. If you buy a chicken leg, you buy a chicken leg; if you buy a chicken wing, you buy a chicken wing.
However, foreigners don't eat chicken necks, heads, or feet, which have little meat.
The saleswoman said, "Young lady, aren't you going to buy some? This kind doesn't require coupons! And it tastes like meat when stewed in a dish, which can save your family some meat coupons, so it counts as eating meat."
Cheng Xiao Kui blinked as she looked at the chicken neck and chicken feet. Leaving aside the chicken head, these two things would become expensive and even more expensive than chicken breast in a decade or so!
She immediately nodded her little head and said, "Okay, then I'll buy some chicken necks and chicken feet. And two chicken frames too!"
The saleswoman immediately weighed out chicken carcasses, chicken necks, and chicken feet for Cheng Xiao Kui.
These things are very cheap. Chicken frames cost one cent per pound, so buying two chicken frames only costs one cent. There are also chicken necks and chicken feet that cost one cent per pound.
Cheng Xiao Kui spent 50 cents to buy a lot of things. To go with the chicken feet and chicken necks, she went to the condiment counter and bought dried chili peppers, chili powder, cumin powder, soy sauce, and sweet bean sauce. She bought all the essential condiments.
After she delivered everything home, she told her mother and mother-in-law to wait until she returned to prepare these things.
She borrowed a tricycle from her neighbor, rode it to the brick factory, and bought more than 100 bricks.
Logically, you don't need so many bricks to build an oven, but she had her own ideas.
This time, back in the capital, she's not only going to make potato chips, but also the chicken carcasses, chicken feet, and chicken necks she bought today.
After she returned home, Lin Qiuru helped her build a wall around the oven.
As Lin Qiuru built the oven, she lamented that she had personally smashed the oven in her hometown.
Because he was afraid his neighbors would find out, he smashed it thoroughly, so that even if others saw it, they would just think it was a pile of dirt and bricks.
Cheng Xiao Kui stuffed firewood into the oven, and as the fire blazed, a smile spread across her face. It was as if she could see lots and lots of money flying towards her.
Song Wenhui was washing chicken carcasses, necks, and feet in the kitchen.
She asked, "Xiao Kui, why did you buy so many chicken necks and feet? These things may be cheap, but they don't have much meat on them, and nobody likes to eat them!"
Cheng Xiaokui said, "Mom, how do you know no one will want to eat it after I make it? I promise you'll want two after you eat one!"
Song Wenhui said, "There's hardly any meat in this stuff. Do you think we'll want more after we finish this? Who doesn't like chicken legs?!"
Cheng Xiaokui said, "Mom, once I've made it, I promise you it'll taste even better than chicken legs!"
She watched as her mother washed the chicken necks and feet clean, and then she asked her mother to boil the water in the pot.
To make these foods taste good, you need to blanch them first to remove the fishy smell.
She sautéed scallions, ginger, star anise, and cinnamon in oil, then added soy sauce and sweet bean sauce to the pot and stir-fried them.
Only after all the sauces are stir-fried until fragrant should you add the chicken necks and feet.
Chickens from this era were not broiler chickens; they were different breeds, so there was less meat on the necks and feet.
But as long as the food tastes good, Cheng Xiao Kui doesn't think these things will stop selling!
Because there was little meat, the food cooked quickly. Cheng Xiao Kui stewed it for 20 minutes and then transferred everything in the pot, including the broth, into a large aluminum basin.
These things need to be soaked in broth; the longer they soak, the more fragrant they become.
She also asked her mother to boil more eggs, peel the hard-boiled eggs, and then soak them in the broth to make braised eggs.
Lin Qiuru made noodles with soybean paste, and when Cheng Qiuqiu came back, the whole family sat together and happily ate together.
That evening, Cheng Xiaokui watched as the oven was heated up, and she put the dough that her mother-in-law had prepared earlier into the oven.
Soon the oven was filled with the aroma of bread.
Although this bread doesn't contain sugar, milk, or salt, it has a wonderful wheat flavor.
After the bread was baked, Cheng Xiaokui cut it into thin slices and put it back into the oven to bake until each slice was crispy. She then used a rolling pin to crush the bread slices into bread crumbs.
It was already dark, and the family looked at what Cheng Xiao Kui had made, but they couldn't understand it at all.
Song Wenhui couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Kui, what are you doing? How did the perfectly good bread turn into crumbs? And what are you going to do with those two chicken frames? Are you going to leave them here forever?"
Cheng Xiao Kui said, "Mom, don't worry, I'll show you what it means to turn something rotten into something magical!"
She lightly tossed the chicken carcass with chili powder and cumin powder; there wasn't much meat on the carcass, so she didn't need to add too much.
She rolled the chicken carcass in eggs, then in breadcrumbs twice. She told her sister to start the fire while she poured the oil!
Watching Cheng Xiaokui chugging oil from a large oil bottle, Song Wenhui shouted, "Stop! This oil is enough for our family to eat for a year! Don't do this anymore, our family can't afford to waste oil like this!"
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