Chapter 71 Hongmei is pregnant. I feel like I'm still a child myself, and you...
Ji Yu recalled two cases she had handled before. The curly-haired boy was abducted while accompanying his grandmother to buy groceries, but cleverly ran into the movie theater and hid there.
Ziga's son was only six months old when he went missing; such a small baby could not have been rescued on his own.
Ji Yu flipped through all the files in one go; almost all of them were from boys. He frowned, analyzing the girl's statements word by word, and found that the complainant's words were vague and rather strange.
It's as if they sold the child themselves, only to regret it afterwards.
This is definitely a huge profit chain; some people are responsible for abduction, some for transportation, and others for distribution.
But where is the breakthrough for these people? The portraits of the people left behind are not enough to identify the criminals.
No, a picture suddenly flashed through Ji Yu's mind. He had been limiting himself; how could he have forgotten this person?
Ji Yu got up and strode towards the archives, where she pulled out another batch of case files. Trafficking in women and children has always been a single crime.
Ji Yu's fingertips traced the name on the record: Chen Zhelan.
With her curly hair and red lips, her figure seems to have appeared in more than just one case…
At 11 a.m., Chen Mian and her mother pushed a cart to the construction site to deliver lunch. The house was almost finished, and after the roof was completed in a few days, they could start decorating.
They didn't understand anything about the construction site. Chen Yongliang usually kept an eye on things, while Chen Mian and Lin Huijun were only responsible for cooking two large meals a day. They spent the rest of their time working in the fields.
The food arrived, and the workers came over in twos and threes with their bowls and chopsticks to eat.
Today we made a stew and mung bean soup, with steamed buns as the main dish. Chen Mianmian helped prepare the stew, and Lin Huijun was in charge of ladling the mung bean soup.
There weren't many workers needed to repair the house; the two of them finished getting their food in about ten minutes.
Chen Mian asked in confusion, "Why hasn't my dad come for dinner yet? Is something holding him up?"
"Old Liu accidentally fell off the beam and can't move. Your dad took him to the hospital to get his leg checked," a worker nearby casually replied. "Young lady, your cooking is really delicious, and the steamed buns are very firm."
He had been working on the construction site for several years and had seen many workers injured for various reasons. Lao Liu only broke his leg and would recover after a period of rest; he was already considered lucky.
Those who are truly unlucky will die on the spot.
Chen Mian's heart skipped a beat after hearing this, and she asked, "Then my dad wasn't hurt, was he?"
"No, Brother Chen doesn't do any work, he just helps out a little down there." The worker squatted in the corner eating his lunch and joked, "If you're really worried, go to the hospital to get checked out soon, they might all be back by then."
Chen Mian: "Okay, thank you."
.
Orthopedics Department, Umu City First People's Hospital.
Chen Mian accompanied her mother home first, and then came to the hospital alone. Just as that person said, Lao Liu's injuries were not serious, and he was already waiting to have his cast put on.
Chen Mianmian was still worried, so she pulled her father to check it over.
Chen Yongliang said helplessly, "This child, I'm really fine."
"I was just scared! My mom and I were terrified."
Chen Yongliang: "It's really nothing. Mianmian, you can go back first. I'll stay here with you. We'll be back after the cast is put on."
"Can you bring him back by yourself? Maybe I should stay and help," Chen Mian said.
Chen Yongliang: "No need. Lao Liu only broke one leg, the other one is fine. I brought him here on a cart, and I'll just push it back the way it was."
Seeing her father's insistence, Chen Mian had no choice but to leave. This was her first time visiting such a large hospital, and she had been so tense when she arrived that she hadn't had time to look around.
As she went downstairs, she deliberately slowed down and looked around at the surroundings.
On a bench outside the department, a young woman was also looking around boredly, her expression a mixture of curiosity and a touch of loneliness.
"Kapok, what are you doing here?" a voice asked in surprise.
"The worker at home got injured, so I came to check on him." Chen Mian paused, then asked, "What are you doing here? You weren't injured too, were you?"
Li Hongmei blushed and said shyly, "No, I'm not that kind of person."
Which one?
"Oh, it's that one, but I'm too embarrassed to tell you." Li Hongmei blushed even more when asked.
Chen Mian: "How could I have guessed if you hadn't told me?"
"Look up and see where you are, and you'll know."
Chen Mian looked up blankly at the name of the department: Gynecology. Turning to her best friend's shy expression, her eyes widened in shock: "You're not pregnant, are you?!"
"Shh, keep your voice down." Li Hongmei, like a thief, leaned close and covered Chen Mian's mouth. "It's only been a month, we can't make too much noise."
Chen Mianmian was still questioning her life. "I feel like I'm still a child. You're going to be a mother? Does that mean I'll have to be a godmother too?"
"Yes, you'll have to be my godmother after my son is born," Li Hongmei teased with a smile.
Chen Mian: "How do you know it's definitely a son? I still prefer a sweet and soft little girl. I want to buy her lots of pretty little dresses and dress her up beautifully."
Li Hongmei: "Pah, pah, pah, you jinx! The doctor already said I'm definitely having a son."
"What did the doctor say?"
“I told the doctor I’ve been craving sour foods lately, and he said it’s fine to eat them in moderation.” Li Hongmei patted her belly with satisfaction. “Sour for a boy, spicy for a girl, so I’m definitely having a son.”
Chen Mian was speechless: "Alright, congratulations then. My mom made some chili sauce a couple of days ago. Do you want some? If so, I'll bring some home for you."
Li Hongmei hesitated for a moment. She used to love Aunt Lin's chili sauce, but people say "sour for a boy, spicy for a girl." What if she ate too much spicy food and her child turned out to be a girl?
Fearing her friend would misunderstand, she explained hesitantly, "It's not that I don't like my daughter, I'm just afraid she'll have a hard life and be bullied. It's different with my son; no one will dare to bully him."
She thought about her past, wondering if her mother would have bullied her so much if she had been a boy.
Chen Mian: "You've been to school, so your gender was determined from the beginning. It has nothing to do with what you ate during your pregnancy."
"Besides, whether you can have a son depends on your husband, it has nothing to do with you."
Li Hongmei: "Are you telling the truth?"
“Of course it’s true. If you don’t believe me, go in and ask the doctor,” Chen Mian said.
Li Hongmei leaned over and affectionately hugged Chen Mian's arm, "No need, I trust you."
Chen Mian asked impatiently, "Do you still want the chili sauce?"
"eat!"
“Okay, I’ll go back and raise a few dozen more chickens for you to help you recover.” Although Chen Mian didn’t agree with her friend’s idea, she was still very concerned about her health.
Pregnancy is not an easy thing for a woman.
Li Hongmei: "I also raise chickens on my own farm. You can come and get them if you want."
“That’s different. Mine is one I raised especially for you,” Chen Mian said proudly.
Chen Mian finally remembered something, "Where's your husband? He didn't even come to be with you for something this big?"
Li Hongmei: "He's busy with his business, so I came alone."
"Okay, then come home with me for dinner. My mom will cook you something delicious to celebrate the arrival of your baby."
"good."
.
The Chen family.
When Lin Huijun heard that Li Hongmei was pregnant, she was very happy for her. "This is a rare happy event. Our Cuiping is going to be a mother."
Li Hongmei leaned back relaxed on the sofa, her right hand occasionally touching her belly. She was still in the early stages of pregnancy, and her belly wasn't showing yet, but she felt she could sense the little life inside her.
"Should we tell Cuiping's mother about this? Maybe she'll want to come and see?" Lin Huijun asked with concern.
Lin Huijun held the mindset of the older generation, always believing that there was no such thing as a grudge that would last overnight between parents and children. Since she didn't know what Cuiping's mother had done, she felt there was nothing that couldn't be said.
Li Hongmei's expression turned somewhat unpleasant: "No need, Aunt Lin, I'm called Li Hongmei now."
"Oh, it's Hongmei, it's Hongmei. Aunt Lin is getting old, I misspoke." Lin Huijun smiled apologetically. "What would you like to eat? Aunt Lin will make it for you."
"I want to eat jiaotuan (a type of porridge), something sour and spicy." Li Hongmei composed herself and said with a smile, "Thank you, Aunt Lin, you're the best to me."
"Sure, this meal is simple. You two chat, I'll go make it."
As Lin Huijun spoke, she went into the kitchen, quickly scooped two bowls of flour into a basin, added water and stirred it into a yogurt-like consistency. Then she poured an appropriate amount of water into a pot, added the batter, and stirred it evenly.
I picked up a few thin pieces of firewood and lit them, making sure the fire wasn't too big, while stirring the pot with a rolling pin.
"Jiaotuan" (錯团), as the name suggests, means to keep stirring until it forms a ball. There's an old saying that goes, "To make good jiaotuan, stir it seventy-two times; to make beautiful jiaotuan, twist the hook round."
The batter in the pot is currently milky. As the temperature rises and the water evaporates, the batter returns to a yogurt-like consistency. At this point, you need to keep stirring in one direction with the rolling pin to get it to take shape.
The air was filled with the fresh scent of grains.
When it becomes too difficult to stir, add an appropriate amount of water, break up the formed dough, boil it again for a few minutes, and stir it into a solid state again.
A layer of crispy rice crust will be left at the bottom of the pot, which is Chen Mian's favorite.
Freshly cooked jiaotuan is very sticky. When scooping it, you need to first spread a layer of oil on the plate, then wet the spoon in cold water before scooping the jiaotuan.
After pouring a large spoonful of gluten into a plate, gently press a dent into it with the back of a spoon. This is where you'll place the dipping sauce when you eat it.
After the porridge was made and left to cool, Lin Huijun began preparing the dipping sauce and soup.
In the world of jiaotuan, this is called "dry eating" and "wet eating". Dry eating means using chopsticks to pick up pieces of jiaotuan and dip them in sauce before eating. Wet eating is like eating soup noodles, except that the noodles are replaced with jiaotuan.
The essence of the dipping sauce for jiaotuan (a type of porridge) lies in two ingredients: garlic water, chili oil, and chive blossoms. Chopped chives are stir-fried and then mixed with the dipping sauce to enhance the flavor.
She made a simple spinach, egg, and tofu soup, but she was out of eggs, so she only had spinach and tofu.
As soon as the meal was ready, Chen Mianmian couldn't wait to eat her crispy rice crust. "Mom, can you soak the crispy rice crust in the soup for me? I want to eat it with the soup!"
Lin Huijun smiled indulgently, "I know, I've already put it in for you."
Chen Mian: "And chili sauce, you should eat it with that too."
While eating, the group chatted about helping Ayili pick chili peppers. Chen Mian remarked, "Farms in Xinjiang really make money. We were just helping with the picking, and the wages were already quite substantial."
Li Hongmei savored the chili sauce in her mouth; it was fragrant but not greasy, and the spiciness was just right, neither too strong nor too weak. "Have you ever thought about trying to make some chili sauce to sell?"
"I think this chili sauce tastes good and can be stored for a long time, so it's perfect for selling."
Chen Mian also thought of it and said excitedly, "That's right, Ayili's family happens to have a lot of chili peppers, and we also have so many people to help us."
“I overheard Ayili complaining quietly a few days ago that the prices offered by buyers this year don’t seem to be ideal,” Lin Huijun added.
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Author's Note: I'm making myself crave this again, but my last attempt at making jiaotuan (a type of porridge) failed, and it exhausted me. [Clown]
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