Chapter 131 Apple Factory
Starting from home, it took an hour to walk to the outside of the Apple factory.
The factory occupies a large area, but the buildings are very simple, with rows of bungalows inside a low wall.
It's called a factory, but it's really just a place where workers pick and store sand fruit.
Even the easternmost part doesn't have a wall; it's just a bare wasteland that connects directly to the inner courtyard.
After observing from outside the factory for a while, I confirmed that there was no noise inside and that no one should be there.
After looking around the factory again and finding no trace of human activity, I confidently led the four dogs inside.
The first two rows of houses are on the outside, and you can see inside the windows. They are all empty, and they must have been used to store crabapples before.
The third row of houses is starting to have some things.
The first two rooms, each with a stove, were probably the kitchen. The eight rooms behind them all had heated brick beds (kang). Some tables were scattered haphazardly on the floor, which were likely the temporary accommodations and meals for the workers.
This place is really nice. If anyone doesn't have a place to live right now, they could survive here.
The house was nice, but it was useless to me. There was nothing in it that I liked, except for the dirty old sheets and blankets, and the broken tables and chairs.
I could only walk to the last row. This row of buildings was different from the others; it was a large, spacious factory building, and there were quite a few things to see inside through the windows.
Several windows had broken glass. I chose one that was easy to climb, used a stone to knock off all the broken glass around me, and then crawled inside.
There were seven or eight handcarts parked inside, with lots of cardboard boxes, plastic boxes, and bundles of cable ties.
These things were all useful to me, so I chose the best quality, still usable cart.
I checked the brand-new cardboard boxes and plastic crates, and they were surprisingly sturdy.
A large number of plastic crates were loaded onto a cart, which can be used as baskets to dry or store things when they get back.
I picked out some good quality cardboard boxes and also put bundles of cable ties on the car.
Cable ties are actually more useful than boxes; they can be used for many farm chores.
The cart was piled high with goods, and I looked around to see if there was anything else of value.
There are two heavy scales, but I don't plan to take them with me. They're too heavy, and I don't know when I'll need them.
There were a few desks in the corner of the factory, with some paper documents of contracts and two computers on them, but none of them were useful to me.
I opened the drawer and found two boxes of ballpoint pens. I scribbled on some paper and they actually wrote something. I put them directly into my cotton-padded coat pocket.
He opened the gate from the inside and pulled the cart to go home.
The path down the mountain was easy to walk on, but because the cart was quite heavy, it would slide down the slope, so it was very difficult for me to walk. I had to hold onto the cart at all times to prevent it from sliding down.
But it still overturned. On the next steep slope, I fell and the cart hit my thigh. I felt a sharp pain the moment I fell.
I didn't pay any attention to it, tidied up the things in the car, and continued walking home.
After arriving home, all the boxes and cable ties were placed in the room where the furniture was stored, and the newly acquired cart was properly parked in the yard.
After going out for a workout, I came back covered in sweat, so I quickly changed out of my outdoor clothes as soon as I got into the warm house.
When I changed my pants, I noticed a large bruise on my thigh, and it was throbbing with pain.
However, I had often bumped and scraped myself before, but I still didn't pay much attention to it.
When I woke up the next day and tried to get out of bed, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my thigh. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the area around it was swollen.
It seems the injury is quite serious. I tried my best not to aggravate my injured leg and limped around while tending the stove and feeding the pigs and chickens.
After finishing these tasks, I went to the kitchen to find some thick wooden sticks to make myself a crutch. Even with a leg injury, I still had to cook and feed the pigs, so a crutch would at least reduce the risk of leg strain.
I gathered the chainsaw and other tools together and sat on the ground, carefully using my cane.
Making a cane is not easy; it took half a day to finish just one, but one is enough.
I stood up and tried it out. It was a bit uncomfortable in my armpits, so I found some scraps of cloth and wrapped the top part of the armpits together. It's much more comfortable now.
I tried walking a couple of steps with the cane, and it was definitely much better than limping without any support.
I don't know why, but my leg swelled up so badly just from being bumped. I took some anti-inflammatory and swelling-reducing medicine and hope it will get better soon.
My legs hurt and I didn't want to move much. I ate biscuits and bread all day to fill my stomach. By evening, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I cooked a big pot of noodles with eggs on the stove. I ate it myself and shared some with the dogs.
My leg didn't get any better the next day, but thanks to the crutches I made the day before, my life wasn't too affected.
The meals I cook every day are quite simple, but I secretly vowed that once my leg injury heals, I will definitely cook some delicious food.
I ate nothing but plain water for seven days, and the swelling in my leg went down. I could walk without crutches and only felt a slight pain.
Finally, he discarded his crutches and resumed his brisk walking life.
After being cooped up at home for seven days, I stepped out of the yard to feel nature and suddenly realized that the weather seemed to be getting warmer. There were some slightly damp patches on the snow, so it seems that spring is coming.
We've already eaten most of the vegetables we stocked up on in the fall; it's time to use them up a bit more.
We killed a chicken at home, but haven't eaten it yet. I'm planning to make a stew with dried potatoes and chicken.
Rinse the dried potatoes several times with clean water, soak them in hot water for two hours, and thaw the chicken and chop it into small pieces.
Seeing that it was almost time to eat, I added water to the iron pot, blanched the chicken to remove the blood foam, and then scooped it out.
Heat oil in a small iron pot on the stove, add chopped green onions and minced garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the blanched chicken to the pot and stir-fry until fragrant. Add a little soybean paste and continue to stir-fry.
When it looks about right, add water to the pot, along with rock sugar, thirteen-spice powder, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, and other seasonings.
Add the soaked potato slices and stir well with a spatula.
Now prepare a softer dough and set it aside.
When the chicken has been stewing for over an hour and is almost done, roll out the dough into a thin pancake and place it on top of the dish; this is the legendary "chicken blanket".
As the stewed chicken loses more and more moisture, you can hear a sizzling sound coming from the side of the pot.
Remove the flatbread from the pot, stir-fry the stewed chicken with potatoes, and serve.
The freshly cooked chicken and potato stew has a sticky, brown sauce clinging to every piece of chicken and potato, emitting an enticing aroma.
The dishes were served, and after several days of bland food, it was finally time to have something good to eat.
I haven't had freshly killed chicken, especially home-raised chicken, in a long time.
I picked up a chicken thigh and stuffed it into my mouth. The rich, oily skin and tender meat gave me an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
It was so delicious that I ate five or six pieces of chicken before I could stop craving it.
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