Chapter 63: Second Update: Dried Seafood Fruits

Early the next morning, Ye Yu was awakened by the smell of food. He sniffed his nose first, then rolled around in the warm quilt, got up and stretched himself.

Carry the wooden basin to the yard to wash.

There were many people washing up in the courtyard at this time. In the cold winter, everyone used hot water. The courtyard was filled with mist. Ye Yu was lazy and didn't pour the water from the thermos. He poured the icy water directly on his face. He was absolutely unique.

Familiar neighbors would greet each other when they met. Some people murmured, "Is it the countryside that nourishes people, or is it cold water that nourishes your face? How come the third daughter of the Ye family has become more and more beautiful since her trip to the countryside?"

There are also a few unfamiliar faces.

The next-door neighbor, the Mao family, has been replaced by a family named Chen. The only one who can be allocated such a nice house nowadays is a young leader in the steel plant and an old technician.

The entire Mao family had gone to build the Northwest together. In fact, because the head of the Mao family severed ties with the eldest son of the Mao family in a timely manner after the eldest son was arrested, although their family was inevitably affected, they did not have to move out of Yanjing.

It’s a pity that Old Lady Mao was so good at offending people, especially after their family had “no single-line inheritance for generations”. She was always jumping around, arguing with this and that, making the entire courtyard filled with smoke and miasma.

Some people understood her loss of her grandson and did not hold it against her, but some people were not used to her, so the Mao family, which was still in the observation period, was caught in the storm again.

In order to avoid being forced to work on the farm, aid construction is indeed the best option. I just hope that the head of the Mao family will learn from the lesson, stop being a mama's boy, and be better to his only daughter in his life.

The Chen family also moved in with a large family and there was a lot of excitement. Their children's clothes didn't have many patches, and their family conditions seemed quite good. Old Mrs. Chen had a kind face and was said to be very enthusiastic. Even the eldest aunt was a little worried that she would compete with her for the position of the compound manager.

When Damao, a little Red Soldier, got into trouble, all the little Red Soldiers in their alley were grabbed by the ears by their parents and forced to take off their red armbands. Although there were inevitably some minor quarrels among the neighbors, the situation was generally peaceful and they were not involved in the storm outside.

Ye Yu looked around and listened carefully. After washing up, he went to the kitchen.

Wang Lai Di was frying cabbage, and Ye Baoguo was lighting a fire and adding firewood in front of the stove. When he saw his second sister come in, he straightened his back quickly, making it clear that he was not eating for free.

“There is progress.”

Ye Yu gave him a look of praise, then sighed that her father still couldn't lose his so-called male dignity.

What Wang Lai Di didn't say was that Ye Weiguo implemented Ye Yu's words before he went to the countryside most thoroughly, from opening his mouth whenever he was asked to eat to learning a lot of home-cooked dishes, followed by Ye Hongjun.

After all, seeing Ye Weiguo was so positive, he couldn't bear it any longer and usually would do some housework to the best of his ability. But after Ye Yu came back, Ye Hongjun took it back for some reason. Maybe he wanted to save face as a father and was embarrassed to admit that he was wrong in the past.

Ye Zhongguo did not change because of Ye Yu's words. He was not persistent enough and had relapsed into his old ways. However, he just followed Ye Hongjun's lead after being reprimanded twice.

Ye Hongjun must have been feeling restless in the main hall. Wang Laidie did not expose his stubbornness in saving face. She was secretly happy and thought that both father and daughter were very interesting.

Breakfast was simple.

Once the lard is heated, a large amount of cabbage leaves are stir-fried, salt is added, and a lot of meat is piled in. The salty flavor is even stronger, and you can eat a lot of it when paired with sweet potato buns.

Wang Lai Di felt a little regretful that she had stir-fried the meat so early in the morning, but she soon had no time to think about it.

Maybe because it had snowed for days and finally cleared up in the past two days, the postman came very early today. I hadn't even finished my breakfast when I heard the postman calling outside.

Ye Yu volunteered to go and get them. She was so enthusiastic because she smelled a fishy smell from a distance, which was even stronger outside the yard. The onlookers couldn't help but look at the two big sacks.

The eldest sister saw her and teased her with a smile: "You are indeed sisters. You sent several large bags of things home a while ago, and now your second sister has done the same. She sent so many things back from a long distance. I don't know how much the postage cost."

Ye Yu smiled and said nothing.

As for the sour remarks from some onlookers such as "It stinks worse than pork water, how can this meat be eaten?" and "It's all worthless smell of the sea", he simply filtered them out, letting them go in one ear and out the other, and no one said anything dirtier in front of him.

"Dad, Mom, my second sister sent a lot of seafood."

Ye Yu went back to the house with a bag in one hand. There was no need to worry about Wang Lai Di as mentioned earlier. The main reason was that with the fishy smell of the sea, any smell of meat could be covered up. They could eat meat every meal without closing the doors and windows.

Seafood may be very valuable and expensive in the future, but it is not the case now. There is not much to eat inland, and it is so delicious near the sea that you will feel like vomiting.

There is also the difference in taste between those who know how to cook seafood and those who don’t, and between fresh seafood and non-fresh seafood.

What Ye Lan sent back was definitely not fresh. The main method of making it was to expose dried seafood to the sun, including dried shrimps, wind-dried eels, black wolf fish, dried cuttlefish, dried anchovies, etc. The most numerous were various types of salted fish. How long they could be stored depended on the craftsmanship.

Wang Lai Di was shocked again: "Ye Lan, this girl, sent so much money, it won't affect Zhao Qinggang's military service, right? He is still in the army!"

"Mom, since it's all been sent, there will definitely be no impact." Ye Yu explained that it was reasonable to say that the mountains and rivers were social public property, but what about the sea?

Even if there are sea, land and air territories, the sea and air territories are more complicated than those of the mainland, especially when it comes to border waters, and things caught in the sea are often ignored.

Plus, seafood is not expensive right now, and it won’t attract as much attention as pork.

Not only was Ye Yu not afraid, she also suggested: "Why don't we have two seafood dinners today?"

Artificially dried seafood is definitely not as effective as those dehydrated by machines. If you are afraid of them going bad, of course you have to get rid of them as soon as possible before they go bad, so as not to waste them.

In addition to seafood, there are also some sun-dried kelp and seaweed, as well as a variety of fruits, such as dried coconut, dried pineapple, dried mango, dried noni fruit, etc. Some are grown by local production teams, and some are wild, so it is impossible to name all of them.

Ye Yu threw a piece of dried coconut into her mouth. It was not very sweet, but soft, sweet and refreshing, making it a perfect snack. She wished she could fly south.

Why didn’t we choose to rely on the sea production team at the beginning? What a mistake.

Of course, Ye Yu also remembered that some people would be allergic to mangoes after eating seafood, so he asked Ye Hongjun, Wang Laidi, and Ye Zhongguo to try a small amount first to make sure it was safe.

Fortunately, none of the three showed obvious allergy symptoms. However, unlike Ye Yu, it took them some time to adapt to the seafood they tasted for the first time, whether it was salted fish or dried tropical fruits.

Along with the two bags of stuff, there was also a letter that announced a piece of great news: Ye Lan was pregnant. Because of this, her return to Beijing would be delayed. Transportation was poor now, and they were not fit for long journeys.

Now, Wang Lai Di was both happy and worried about one more thing. Ye Yu also moved away from the center of her follow list, and Ye Hongjun also got involved.

The couple kept talking about what they wanted to send to Ye Lan and her husband, including their unborn grandchildren: "Pregnant women need more nutrition, but they can't eat everything. The rabbit meat I sent last time didn't work. I don't know if you remember it?" "I definitely remember it. Please write back and tell me more about your experience."

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and Ye Hongjun is still at work today. Wang Laidie, who is on duty, Ye Baoguo, who has his winter vacation early, and Ye Yu, who is free, are also going to the state-owned store to buy New Year's goods. They can buy some things for pregnant women and babies for Ye Lan on the way.

"I have milk powder coupons." Ye Yu took out three from his pocket.

Wang Lai-di:

"Where did this come from?"

Milk powder coupons were scarce in that era, even rarer than malted milk. Generally speaking, babies did not have enough milk, so they had to borrow milk from others or feed them with rice soup. Therefore, the infant loss rate was also very high.

"It was originally prepared for my eldest sister, but now it seems more suitable for my second sister. I'll change the gift to books and homework for my eldest sister." Ye Yu often lies when showing courtesy, but she also adds half the truth. "There was a sweet girl among the educated youth who went to the countryside. Her mother worked at the White Rabbit Milk Candy Factory, so it was more convenient for her to buy malted milk and milk powder. When the post office checked the telegram, they sent her a letter. I gave my second sister's address and asked her to help buy some. We'll exchange it for meat later."

Wang Lai Di told her not to let others suffer losses.

After dinner, Ye Hongjun went to work, Ye Baoguo washed the dishes, and Ye Yu helped Wang Laidie sort out things. In the meantime, they secretly ate a lot of dried fruits, and then the three of them went out together.

"It's the Spring Festival."

In the future world, the Spring Festival has completely degenerated into a symbol. Ye Yu dug out his childhood memories from decades ago. Except for the three-year famine period, the Spring Festival was really lively and the liveliness lasted for a long time, from New Year's Eve to Lantern Festival.

People put up window decorations, write Spring Festival couplets, and set off firecrackers. There are also temple fairs and the Lantern Festival on the streets. As the capital, Beijing also has very grand open-air parties.

There are lights and decorations everywhere, and everyone is smiling.

But now, due to the policy of destroying the four olds, many things have been banned either explicitly or implicitly, such as temple fairs, dragon and lion dances, ancestor worship, Spring Festival parties, etc. Currently, only some minor things remain. Cutting window flowers, pasting couplets, and setting off firecrackers that are still allowed this year may not be allowed next year.

But the festive atmosphere has not diminished much.

Because the essence of the New Year lies in people. Every Chinese person looks forward to this day. They are happy to reunite with their family, to put on new clothes, to eat meat, and to look forward to the future. Everyone you meet on the street is in high spirits, and children are chasing each other and shouting, "It's New Year, it's New Year."

The several state-owned stores in downtown Beijing were extremely crowded, with people being unable to get in, and unable to get out. Although they were bustling, they also had their flaws, such as the lack of the concept of queuing.

“…”

Ye Yu didn't want to stay too long in the crowd of people with all kinds of smells, so she volunteered to buy the mission. Before Wang Lai Di understood what she meant, she saw Ye Yu walking towards the crowd, like a drop of water merging into a river, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"How did you do that?"

After waiting for about half an hour, when Ye Yu came out again, he was already holding two large sacks in his hands.