Chapter 384 Opportunity

Jiang Xia walked into the kitchen.

The whole kitchen was steaming hot.

Tian Caihua is cutting rice noodles, cutting them into strips, just like rice noodles.

"Mom, are you making pho?"

"My mother's side calls it wo zai fen, which is similar to rice noodle, both made with rice milk."

"How can I help you?"

Zhou's mother opened the lid of the large iron pot, and another wave of hot air surged up: "No, there is a lot of steam here, don't come in. Are you tired after going out all day today? If you are tired, go back to the house and rest. You will be fine in a while, no need to help."

"Not tired. I went back to my mother's house and took a nap before going home." Jiang Xia saw a round, holeless winnowing basket in the iron nest, with a thin layer of transparent rice noodles steaming on it.

The hot steam was rising, and the moment the lid of the pot was opened, the rice noodles were blown up into a bag by the steam.

Zhou's mother quickly picked up the dustpan from the iron nest, placed it upright on the large wooden basin on the ground, and leaned it against the edge of the stove to stabilize it.

There were two winnowing baskets leaning against the edge of the stove, all covered with flour.

"We're having seafood noodle soup tonight. Do you want noodle soup, noodle soup, or fried noodles?" There was a wooden bucket filled with almost empty white rice paste at Zhou's mother's feet. She picked up another empty dustpan, scooped some rice paste into it, held the dustpan with both hands and turned it to evenly cover the entire dustpan, and then put it in a large iron pot to steam.

Steam for a minute or two.

Jiang Xia: "Get the noodles! I'll take care of the seafood."

Mother Zhou: "No, it's almost done, I'll do it."

"The seafood noodles my mom made are delicious. You can try it." After cutting three sheets of rice noodles, Tian Caihua picked up a dustpan and carefully peeled off the cooled rice noodles.

After peeling off about a quarter of the dough, she used a rolling pin to hold the dough, and then carefully peeled off the entire dough with the rolling pin.

Place it on an empty round dustpan aside, and fold it into three layers like a quilt to make it easier to cut into strips later.

After that, peel off a piece of rice paper.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked together seamlessly, one steaming the rice noodles while the other peeling them.

Jiang Xia stepped forward to help cut the noodles, and also took the cut vermicelli and hung them on bamboo poles to dry.

Those scraps are very short and difficult to dry in the sun, and they will be tonight’s dinner.

*When Zhou Chenglei arrived at the production team gate to line up for rice dumplings, the villagers gathered around him and asked, "Alei, didn't your mother buy three big bags of rice dumplings? It's not enough?"

"Um."

"Alei, you're using white sugar to make rice noodles? Tsk, you're really willing to do that!"

"Alei is so capable and makes so much money. It's just a little bit of sugar. It's not like he can't afford it. Why can't he bear to give it up?"

A small amount of saccharin is enough. White sugar is not as sweet as saccharin, so more sugar needs to be added. It is also expensive, so no one is willing to buy it to make rice dumplings.

If Jiang Xia hadn’t suggested it, Zhou Chenglei would not have thought of using white sand sugar.

"Alei, how much is your new tractor? Can you lend it to me to plow the fields after the New Year?"

As soon as these words were spoken, a group of people rushed forward to borrow the tractor.

"Alei, lend me the plow when the time comes! My family will be second!"

"Alei, my family also wants to borrow it, I'll be the third one!"

"I'm fourth, Alei, I want to borrow a tractor, too. I'm fourth!"

…

An hour ago, Zhou Chengxin drove back with a new tractor, causing a sensation among everyone at the dock.

Tractor!

Every household would like to have a tractor.

It can be used to carry fish to sell, to carry food, to carry people, and to plow fields. How convenient is that? Who wouldn't want to have one?

For villagers, this is a more practical means of transportation than motorcycles.

The villagers had been surrounding Zhou Chengxin and Tian Caihua and admiring their new tractor for quite some time.

When he learned that it was Zhou Chenglei who bought it, he sighed again.

So rich!

Zhou Chenglei knew that the villagers would gather around him, so he was worried about letting Jiang Xia queue up to get rice dumplings.

He just replied: "Sure, two dollars for one acre of land."

Many villagers stopped talking about borrowing money immediately, and some petty gossipers couldn't help but say:

"You want more money?"

"Two yuan per acre, this is too expensive!"

"Alei, can you make it cheaper? Two yuan per mu is too expensive. How about two yuan per day?"

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…

Zhou Chenglei: "It costs 20 yuan a day to rent a tractor for ploughing, eight hours, and the fuel is not included. You have to pay for the fuel yourself."

Zhou Chenglei didn't plan to earn the money himself, and he didn't have the time.

When the eldest brother is free, let him do it. If he is not free, find someone else to do it.

He bought this tractor to make it easier for his family to deliver dried fish to the city, not to make money.

Someone heard this and whispered, "The richer you are, the stingier you are. We are all surnamed Zhou, we are all brothers, but you are asking for money just to borrow a tractor."

"It's expensive! Two yuan an acre. It's better to queue up and work for the production team."

…

Zhou Li walked out of the production team and heard a few women in the village who were notoriously lazy and gossipy gathered together to gossip about Zhou Chenglei. She said, "Isn't it normal to charge money? They spent three or four thousand yuan to buy the tractor, and they are lending it to you for free? Of course they bought it to make money."

"It doesn't cost money. Everyone has to borrow money. They will lose money on gas! And if it breaks down, who will be responsible? Tractor repairs and maintenance cost money! Who will pay for the repairs?"

After Zhou Li finished speaking, she walked towards Zhou Chenglei and said with a smile: "Alei, thank you for calling an ambulance to take Xiaowan to the hospital. Guohua originally wanted to take Wenwan away when he arrived at the hospital, but he didn't expect that she almost fainted as soon as she walked out of the hospital."

"She just called and said she has to stay in the hospital for one night. The doctor said she is severely malnourished. The child vomited so much, and she dared to go to the city alone, causing trouble for others. What if she fainted on the way? Luckily I met you today. Sorry to bother you!"

Zhou Chenglei: "As long as he's okay, that's good."

"The child has been suffering from severe morning sickness recently. She throws up after eating and can't eat anything, which leads to malnutrition. Guohua and my sister-in-law have tried every way to get her food."

Zhou Chenglei said nothing and turned his head to look at the sea.

Seeing Zhou Chenglei didn't say anything, Zhou Li immediately changed the subject: "I heard Xiaoxia is pregnant too. Is she feeling well? Are you having morning sickness?"

"It's OK, not yet."

"That's good. Pregnancy is very hard for women. In the early stages, they vomit a lot. As their belly gets bigger, they have trouble bending over, walking, and breathing. In the later stages, their feet swell up, and they have trouble sleeping and eating."

Zhou Chenglei didn't say anything, hoping in his heart that Jiang Xia wouldn't encounter these things.

Zhou Li is good at observing people's expressions. Seeing that Zhou Chenglei seemed to be listening, she immediately continued to share: "The closer you get to giving birth, the more difficult it is. After finally giving birth, it's excruciatingly painful! The cramping pain can almost kill you. When I gave birth to my first child, I was in pain for two days and one night before I gave birth! Even if it hurts a lot, you can't shout loudly. You have to conserve your energy. If you shout too much, you won't have the strength to give birth later..."

"After giving birth, the confinement period is even worse. The baby cries and makes me sleep poorly. If I don't get enough rest, my body will be in poor condition and I will easily develop confinement diseases..."

…

Zhou Li kept talking and only stopped when Zhou Chenglei finished beating Mi Tong and left.

Zhou Li watched Zhou Chenglei leave with two large bags of rice, and thought about bringing some fruits or something to thank Jiang Xia tomorrow.

She was originally worried about not having the chance to talk to Jiang Xia, but it just so happened that they helped Wen Wan today, so she had the chance.