Chapter 2 You really know how to make chili powder? An Fusheng slammed the kitchen door shut...
"Grandma, why are you up? Are you feeling better? Are you hungry?" Ao Daiya jumped off the little stool and ran excitedly towards the old woman. "My brother cooked noodles, they smell amazing!"
Grandma Ao looked at the young man in the kitchen with some surprise.
Ao Daiya just told her that he met a friend who had no home today and brought him back to stay for a few days. She thought it would be an injured cat or dog like before, but she didn't expect it to be a person, and a tall young man at that.
"Grandma, hello, I'm An Fusheng. Sorry to bother you," An Fusheng said.
It wasn't Grandma, An Fusheng thought regretfully.
The old man waved his hand: "No need to be polite, just make yourself at home."
The young man in front of me had red eyes and a look of grievance on his face. He was wearing her clothes and didn't even have a change of clothes. He must have encountered some great difficulties.
Ao Daiya was sensible from a young age, and his grandmother always let him be. As long as he didn't hang out with disreputable people, she never interfered.
With Ao Daiya's help, Grandma Ao walked to the table and sat down, asking An Fusheng, "Did you cook these noodles?"
An Fusheng nodded.
Grandma Ao smiled and said, "I could smell the fragrance as soon as I got to my room."
"Please try it." An Fusheng placed the largest bowl of noodles in front of Grandma Ao.
"It smells so good!" Grandma Ao took a deep breath of the aroma.
She had a cold, and even with her nose not being very sensitive, she could still smell the fragrance; she couldn't imagine how fragrant it actually was.
Grandma Ao exclaimed sincerely, "The color is beautiful, and it smells especially good. I never expected that a young man like you could cook."
"Try it and see if it suits your taste." An Fusheng handed the chopsticks to Grandma Ao.
Grandma Ao took the chopsticks, picked up two noodles, and put them in her mouth.
The noodles are coated in a tomato and egg sauce, which is sweet and sour and very appetizing. After chewing a few times, the noodles are smooth and elastic, which is great!
Before she could even swallow what was in her mouth, Grandma Ao eagerly picked up another large mouthful with her chopsticks. The rich aroma spread and exploded in her mouth, and for the first time, Grandma Ao felt the vitality of food.
"You two eat too, it's delicious, so delicious!" Grandma Ao urged the two children as she ate, and for a moment she felt much better.
An Fusheng then brought the other two bowls to the table.
Ao Daiya couldn't wait any longer. He opened his mouth to the rim of the bowl, grabbed a large mouthful of noodles, and stuffed it into his mouth, exclaiming, "Mmm, so delicious..."
An Fusheng had been busy all day and was starving, so he joined in the eating.
Hmm, the taste is alright, but these eggs aren't as fragrant as the free-range eggs from home.
There weren't many noodles, so everyone got a small bowl and wolfed them down, finishing them in no time.
After finishing a bowl of noodles, all three of them still felt they hadn't had enough.
After finishing a bowl of hot noodles, Grandma Ao felt refreshed and full of energy. She rolled up her sleeves and prepared to clear the dishes.
Ao Daiya and An Fusheng quickly stopped her, and the two of them rushed to wash the dishes and scrub the stove, so Grandma Ao had no choice but to obediently go back to sleep.
It was already very late, and Ao Daiya had to get up early for school the next day. An Fusheng and Ao Daiya quickly tidied up the kitchen and went to bed.
...
"elder brother?"
"Brother? Are you awake?"
“Hmm…” An Fusheng responded groggily, rubbing his eyes.
"I'm going to school now. Can you stay home with my grandma today?"
"good…"
Seeing that An Fusheng was still not awake, Ao Daiya didn't disturb him. She quietly got up and went to school.
An Fusheng opened his eyes and saw the unfamiliar surroundings. He was momentarily disoriented, followed by immense disappointment.
It's the same place.
He did not go back.
The person who just spoke to him was the kind little boy who took him in yesterday, not his clingy cousin. He had really traveled to a strange world.
An Fusheng sighed deeply.
The old house wasn't well soundproofed, and the sound of footsteps could be clearly heard in the living room. An Fusheng knew that it was Grandma Ao getting up.
An Fusheng usually likes to sleep in late. At home, his grandmother said that it was okay to sleep in late while he was growing, and he slept in without a care in the world. But now that he was at someone else's house, it was not good to sleep in late. Moreover, the world he didn't want to face could not be avoided forever by hiding under the covers. An Fusheng closed his eyes and resigned himself to getting up.
Grandma Ao was cleaning the living room when she saw An Fusheng come out. She stopped what she was doing, smiled and said, "Little Fu, you're up. Are you hungry? There are steamed buns in the kitchen. Go and eat after you've washed up."
An Fusheng nodded: "Okay, thank you, Grandma Ao."
"You're welcome," Grandma Ao said, continuing to sweep the floor.
Although Grandma Ao's house is old, it is clean and tidy, and looks very comfortable.
An Fusheng went to the bathroom to wash his face quickly. He didn't have toothpaste or a toothbrush, so he could only rinse his mouth with water.
After washing up and coming out of the bathroom, An Fusheng looked up and saw his clothes hanging in clumps on the clothesline, and he was struck dumb!
He forgot to hang the clothes out to dry last night!
What is he wearing today?
Grandma Ao saw An Fusheng standing blankly in the yard, still looking angry, and assumed he hadn't slept enough, so she asked, "What's wrong?"
"No...it's nothing."
An Fusheng was indeed angry; he was angry at himself for being so absent-minded as to forget to hang the clothes out to dry.
An Fusheng walked over and touched the underwear hanging on top. Luckily, it was dry.
After taking his underwear back to his room to change, An Fusheng came out of the room and said to Grandma Ao somewhat embarrassedly, "Grandma Ao, could I borrow your clothes for another day? My clothes aren't dry yet."
Grandma Ao laughed and said, "It's nothing. If you don't mind, you can wear whatever you want."
If he were at home, An Fusheng would never wear this outfit; he has always been particular about his clothes since he was a child.
Although he lived in a remote rural village in the mountains and didn't have much money, his ethnic minority group had hardworking hands that could weave cloth and make clothes themselves. Moreover, his grandmother, An Fusheng, doted on him. Since she wasn't good at needlework herself, she would ask the village's best seamstress to make him clothes. An Fusheng's clothes were always the most exquisite in the village.
But this wasn't his home, and there was no Grandma here. He was already very grateful that Grandma Ao was willing to take him in and even lend him clothes, so why would he complain?
"Anyway, nobody here knows me," An Fusheng consoled himself.
Grandma Ao had already eaten breakfast. An Fusheng went to the kitchen, got some steamed buns, and sat down at the table to eat alone, while also thinking about what to do next.
When he woke up, he didn't even have a cell phone on him. He didn't know if the original owner's cell phone had fallen into the river or if he didn't have one. In any case, he had nothing but his clothes. He knew nothing about the original owner's identity. Even if he went to the police station, it probably wouldn't be of any use. But he couldn't stay at Grandma Ao's house forever. What should he do?
After finishing the steamed buns, An Fusheng didn't plan to offer anything else.
Let's wait until the clothes are dry before we talk about it.
An Fusheng came out of the kitchen and saw Grandma Ao dragging a small cart, preparing to go out.
"Are you going out?" An Fusheng asked.
"Yes, I'll go buy groceries, some potatoes, and make some snacks to sell at the school gate after school in the afternoon."
"Aren't you still sick?" An Fusheng asked worriedly, "Can you still set up a stall?"
"Hey, it's all better now. I have to thank you for that bowl of noodles last night. It was so warm and comforting, I slept really well last night, and I felt so refreshed this morning."
"You must be buying a lot of things. I'll go with you."
"That's great!"
Grandma Ao likes these eye-catching young people.
An Fusheng took the stroller from Grandma Ao and followed her out the door.
The old town looked dilapidated, but it was well-equipped. The two walked for about ten minutes and arrived at a large farmers' market.
Grandma Ao has lived in this area for decades and knows almost everyone in the market.
As soon as they arrived at the market, Grandma Ao dragged An Fusheng to the clothing stall to buy him clothes. Despite An Fusheng's firm refusal, they didn't end up buying clothes, but they did manage to buy two pairs of underwear for a friendly price of five yuan.
The next scene shows Grandma Ao greeting customers and picking out vegetables in front, while An Fusheng pulls a small shopping cart with one hand and carries a red plastic bag containing two pairs of underwear in the other, smiling shyly.
An Fusheng was tall and good-looking, so it was hard not to notice him. So someone asked Grandma Ao, "Oh, where did this young man come from? He's really good-looking."
Grandma Ao: "My grandson is someone I gained for free."
The man feigned a sour tone: "That's really lucky! Where did you find it? I'll go find one too tomorrow."
Grandma Ao said proudly, "That's all, just this one."
Grandma Ao is seventy years old this year. Apart from her legs a little sore on rainy days, she is in good health. Although she was a little sick yesterday, it did not affect her walking briskly today.
The two of them bought all the groceries in no time.
"Are you tired?" Grandma Ao asked.
She originally wanted to pull it herself, but Anfu insisted on taking it from her. He's such a sensible young man.
The grocery cart was small, but it was packed full, with a large bag of potatoes piled on top. It wasn't heavy for An Fusheng, just a little difficult to pull. An Fusheng shook his head: "Not tiring."
"Let's go ahead and buy some more chili powder before heading home."
"good."
Grandma Ao went straight to the dried goods shop where she usually bought chili powder.
The dried goods shop owner smiled when he saw Grandma Ao and said, "You're here to buy chili powder again? Is it the same kind as last time?"
Grandma Ao said, "The last one was a bit too spicy for the kids. Do you have any that aren't spicy?"
Grandma Ao sells wolf tooth potatoes outside the elementary school. Most of her customers are parents picking up their children, but some children also eat them, as they can't handle spicy food.
The shopkeeper said, "You said last time you wanted it to be a little more fragrant, so this is the most fragrant one."
Grandma Ao looked at the various chili powders on the stall and said, "They smell really good, but they're too spicy. Even adults find them a bit too spicy, so how could children possibly eat them?"
The owner pointed to the last row of chili powder and said, "Why don't you take a look at these? They're not spicy, but they're not as fragrant either."
Making snacks is actually very easy; everyone knows how to do it. However, some people make them taste better than others, and the secret lies in some of the ingredients.
Grandma Ao wanted chili powder that was fragrant, not too spicy, and had a nice color. It's not easy to find chili powder that meets all these criteria at the same time.
Grandma Ao looked at the area designated by the boss again and again, but still felt it was not quite right.
An Fusheng was also carefully examining the chili peppers.
People in Chenzhou love spicy food. An Fusheng ate more chili peppers than vegetables when he was a child. He is very familiar with chili peppers. He can tell the spiciness and taste of chili peppers with just one glance.
An Fusheng walked to the place in the shop where whole chili peppers were kept, picked up a dark red, wrinkled chili pepper from an open nylon bag, smelled it, examined it carefully against the light, and said, "This one is good."
The owner walked over with a smile, "Oh my, this young man knows his stuff. This is a genuine high-mountain chili pepper, grown by my relative. It's an old variety. It looks a bit ugly, but it tastes delicious and isn't spicy at all."
Grandma Ao also came over, "Did you grind this chili pepper into powder?"
"No, it was delivered yesterday afternoon. I haven't had time to process it yet. How much do you want? I'll process some for you since there are no customers right now."
An Fusheng knew about those chili powder grinders; they could grind chili powder very quickly. His grandmother used to take chilies to town to have them ground, and she exclaimed how convenient and easy it was. However, the chili powder that came back had a much weaker aroma, which was completely soulless for someone who loved chili!
An Fusheng tugged at Grandma Ao's sleeve, "Shall we go home and make it ourselves?"
Grandma Ao thought he was afraid of troubling the shop owner, so she said, "It's alright, we buy chili powder here, we don't have a machine at home."
"Machine-made doesn't taste as good, we make it by hand."
"Pound by hand? Do you know how to do it?" Grandma Ao knew that handmade peppers were more fragrant, but roasting peppers required a lot of skill. She had tried a few times, but they were either burnt or not crispy enough, and she couldn't pound them properly.
An Fusheng replied decisively, "I will."
On the way home, Grandma Ao asked, still a little uncertain, "You really know how to make chili powder?"
An Fusheng replied confidently, "Yes."
When I got home, it was still early, and it wasn't time to make lunch yet.
Grandma Ao needed to prepare the potatoes for her afternoon stall in advance, while An Fusheng was preparing the chili powder first.
To make chili powder from dried chilies, you need to first roast the chilies until they are crisp, and then pound them into powder.
Grandma Ao was peeling potatoes in the yard, while An Fusheng closed the kitchen door and started making chili powder!
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