night.
Xie Tingyu leaned against the desk, tinkering with his radio. It had been in disrepair for a long time, and the sound quality was not as good as before. There was often noise, and the occasional crackling sound of electricity coming out of the speaker would make people irritated. But Xie Tingyu was in a good mood now.
Because after dinner, he saw there were still four crabs left in the crab bucket, which meant he could taste the delicious crabs again tomorrow.
When Xie Tingyu was forced to move out of the educated youth dormitory and live in the Ye family, he was not in a good mood.
But now he has adapted. Although Ye Qingshui's house is not big, it is still spacious. One person occupies half of the house, and the rest of the space is more than enough. The little girl is usually not noisy; the food in the Ye family is much better than the food without oil in the canteen of the educated youth. And, this nominal "daughter-in-law" seems to no longer pester him.
So, Xie Tingyu felt very good.
Xie Tingyu saw Ye Qingshui fetch a basin of water and come in to wash her feet. At a glance, the thin girl hung her head, bent over and fluttered her feet. She was still wearing the mask, with the thin string tucked over her small ears. After tying up her heavy bangs, she looked much fresher.
Xie Tingyu couldn't help but frown, "Are you addicted to wearing a mask?"
Ye Qingshui still remembered his words "your hair hasn't even grown out yet" during the day, and rolled his eyes silently in his heart. Only then did he not get addicted to wearing it. Ye Qingshui applied some herbal medicine to his face while taking a bath, and then put on a mask to keep out dust.
"Go to bed. It's late."
Ye Qingshui poured out the foot washing water and quickly got into bed.
If Ye Qingshui was bold enough, she could see Xie Tingyu sleeping on the ground by glancing over. She secretly made up her mind that when she had money, she would buy a piece of cloth to make a screen to cover her shame.
Not to mention that Xie Tingyu avoided her like a monster, Ye Qingshui herself also admitted that young men and women always have endless enthusiasm and energy.
If too much hormone is released, it is easy to get sick.
She was waiting for an opportunity, enduring a little longer, until next year's college entrance examination, when Xie Tingyu was gone and everything would be over.
…
In the middle of the night, the night was as cold as water.
Ye Qingshui climbed out of bed carefully and went to the pond with a fishing net to fish for crabs.
This time she was lucky and caught a fat loach. She was a bit confused about whether to take it home to eat or to catch crabs.
When Ye Qingshui came up with this thought, he swallowed hard.
"When I make money, I'll eat as much as I want."
She fished for half an hour and then lifted the net to weigh it. It was more than last time and it felt heavy in her hand.
She thought to herself: After I make some money from selling buns today, I must go to the store to buy some pig's trotters.
Pig's trotters are 20 cents per pound, and no meat coupons are required. Although not as solid as pure meat, it is inexpensive and high in protein. It is rich in nutrition and can be used to make soup or stew, which can replenish blood and body. She is now seventeen years old and has not had her period yet. I think she is too lacking in nutrition. She needs to be supplemented urgently.
Ye Qingshui's mind flashed with the image of steaming pork trotter soup, and he couldn't help but drool. Life was so poor, there was a lack of everything, and there were so many things he wanted to buy, that Ye Qingshui couldn't help but sigh like a poor man.
When she returned to the woodshed with the crabs, she saw a half-pound piece of meat soaking in the water tank that was usually used to hold water. Under the dim moonlight, the fat meat glowed with a white light. It was really beautiful.
Ye Qingshui recalled a little bit, Xie Tingyu didn't have time to buy meat today, and grandma and mother wouldn't buy meat to eat at all. That could only be left by Shen Weimin.
"He still has some conscience."
Although his mouth smells a bit bad, at least he still has some self-awareness that he is just eating for free.
Ye Qingshui originally didn't plan to make soup dumplings because she couldn't afford pork. Without pork, she definitely couldn't make soup dumplings well. Now that she had pork, it would be a waste if she didn't make soup dumplings. She took the meat, sharpened the knife, and separated the pig skin from the meat.
After the two crabs are processed, they are thrown into boiling water to make the soup base. The pig skin is also chopped and put into the soup. After it is boiled and melted, it is cooled down. The crab soup becomes crab skin jelly. The reason why soup dumplings are delicious is that the soup is wonderful.
In less than an hour, she had finished making two large baskets of soup dumplings. She rolled up the straw mat in the basket and wrapped it in a clean cloth, because there was too much soup in the soup dumplings, which rubbed the skin and ruined the dumplings. After she packed them tightly, she rode her bike to the county.
After Ye Qingshui found the black market, she saw the little boy from last time standing at her stall, looking dejected, as if he had been waiting for her.
He raised his head and saw her. At that moment, his eyes sparkled and bright as if stars were falling.
He said, "Sister, I'm helping you sell buns, can you...can you give me some food?"
After only two days of not seeing him, he looked even shabbier. His eyes were big and hungry, his lips were pale, and he looked like he was about to faint from malnutrition.
When Ye Qingshui saw this, he felt a surge of compassion in his heart.
She had never had luck with children in her life, probably because God punished her for not taking good care of her own child. The child who never opened his eyes to see the world became a regret in her heart. After thinking about it for a long time, Ye Qingshui couldn't help but feel soft-hearted when she saw a child.
"How do you want to help me sell buns?"
The child blinked and said in a crisp voice, "My name is Zhou Ke, Zhou means thorough and Ke means faithful. My father gave me this name because he hopes that I will be a person who keeps his promises and is trustworthy throughout my life."
"I'll help you sell the buns. I'm sure I can sell all your buns. Can you give me two buns like last time?"
Ye Qingshui made a lot of buns this time. She had plenty of flour in stock, and with the rich soup, her bag of buns weighed a full five kilograms.
She said, "Okay, I'll give you two buns."
The child carefully took two buns, put them in his arms and ran away. The hot buns seemed to be fresh out of the oven, and the delicate skin was a little broken. The juice flowed down and burned his bony chest, causing a stinging pain. The joy in his eyes could not be concealed.
"Slow down, I'm not in a hurry. Are you burned?" Ye Qingshui said.
He didn't even stop and ran away like a whirlwind.
The young trader who has been squatting in one place selling eggs for years said coldly, "Hey," "You gave him the buns, and they must have been thrown away without return. His grandfather, who depended on him for survival, fell ill and had no food or water for several days. He came here to guard you several times... Hey, the smell you smelled today was a meat bun, it's incredible, comrade."
Ye Qingshui straightened his own package and said nonchalantly, "It's okay, just two buns."
She began to calm down and wait for her first customer.
After waiting for a while, one, two, three, four or five guests appeared one after another. They asked kindly:
“How much are the buns?”
They were not dressed very decently, at least not as decently as the last customer who bought vegetarian buns, but their attitude was very enthusiastic.
"Four for a dime, because they are filled with meat."
She paused and said, "You can bring 1 liang of meat coupons or 3 liang of grain coupons. Other coupons are fine, too. I'll take whatever you have."
The "poor" customer frowned, "Too expensive...too expensive, hey, can it be cheaper?"
It turned out that they were all Zhou Ke's neighbors. They felt sorry for his grandfather who had been sick for a while, so Zhou Ke asked them to buy buns, and they came. But they were not rich people...
But when the first customer ate the bun, the sound disappeared. The person eating the bun soon exclaimed "Wow", bit into the bun, and accidentally splashed the juice all over the person next to him. He didn't expect the bun to be so juicy and so hot.
The bun skin is very tough, and when you pick up the bun, it's like pinching a big-bellied Maitreya Buddha. You need to use the right technique and quick movements to grab the bun, otherwise there will be too much juice wrapped in the skin and the skin will break. The crab roe in the stuffing is fat, sweet and fresh, the juice is light and very fresh, the meat stuffing is lean and juicy, and it's really worth it to buy four buns for one cent.
It tasted like the expensive dim sum at a state-owned restaurant. After finishing the meal, the customers were still not satisfied and paid ten cents more for it.
Soon, a group of returning customers came to the alley. They all asked, "Girl, why didn't we see you yesterday? Do you come here to set up your stall every day?"
Ye Qingshui was too busy to look up. Out of caution, she spoke to the customers in a subtle tone:
"You never know. Don't wait for me or hope for me to come. The more you hope, the more reluctant I will be to come out and sell buns."
What's with this smug, narcissistic tone?
The returning customers who were enjoying the soup dumplings were almost choked, with a mouthful of hot soup stuck in their throats. This dealer deserves to be beaten. Others are eager to attract regular customers, but she fishes for three days and rests for two days. Why would she not come when they expect her to come to earn money?
But she really whetted people's appetite. After eating, they think about it every day. Isn't it infuriating?
Ye Qingshui's soup dumplings were quickly sold out. She was so nervous that her palms were sweating. This time the soup dumplings were twice as expensive as last time, but the cost did not increase much. Except for the half pound of meat, the crab meat, crab roe, and crab soup were free.
The hard banknotes and receipts gave her a sense of security. Ye Qingshui closed her stall, pocketed the money, and walked happily towards the store.
She changed the white mask on her face into a black mask and put on a straw hat on her head. I think she won't be unlucky enough to run into Zhang Yuanchao again this time.
Ye Qingshui queued up and bought pig's trotters smoothly, because people of that era felt that it was not cost-effective, as it was expensive and did not have much meat, and it was more cost-effective to buy pure meat.
Ye Qingshui left a soup dumpling to fill her stomach. When she passed by a used bookstore on her bike, she couldn't help but stop and walk in. She shamelessly read the books with relish for a while, and picked up a math book to pay for.
But she forgot the saying that excessive joy leads to sorrow.
As soon as she raised her head, she saw Xie Tingyu's clear and refreshing face. The dim morning light shone on him, stretching his tall figure. He didn't know how long he stood there, just standing there staring at her without saying a word. The expression on his face was dimly illuminated by the backlight, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
The man's voice had the hoarseness that was unique to the early morning. It was husky and low, like the bass of a chime, mellow and pleasant to the ear.
He said calmly, "Why did you go to the county in the middle of the night without sleeping?"
The author has something to say:
Repeat customers are angry: It’s all because you didn’t set up the stall on time!
See it!
Retribution has come!
So, be a good person!
Shui Ya: “…”
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