Chapter 98 Chapter 98-Two-in-one: Get rich by meeting water, dig a well...
"What?!"
Lin Chuntao screamed and rushed out. Yu Meixi also ran to the door. She said, "Old Ma was digging the foundation in the backyard. After a while, he said the soil felt a little damp. Your brother Sun went to check it out, and when he dug a little deeper, he hit a water vein!"
She finished her breathless explanation and without pausing for breath, she said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, water brings wealth. You chose a good homestead!"
Lin Chuntao never thought that there could be groundwater here. If there was groundwater, could she dig a well right there? She wouldn't have to carry water anymore!
It was indeed a happy occasion, so she didn't even bother to cook. She put down the spatula and prepared to go to the homestead to check it out.
Grandma and Aunt Guizhi were all very shocked. They had never seen anyone in the village dig out water from a base, so they were very curious and went to see it together.
My aunt and the others also went. Meng Yun was not familiar with them, so she stayed at home with Lin Chuntao to look after things.
The news that water was found while digging the foundation spread throughout the village in a short time. Many people in the village came to watch. When Lin Chuntao arrived, there were already quite a few people watching.
Seeing her coming, the people gathered in front said, "Chun Tao, there's water coming out from underneath. Can you still build this house?"
Lin Chuntao looked at the pool of water in the pit, which was overflowing from below. She didn't care about the man's intentions and just smiled and said, "Why can't it be covered? I can just dig a well while I'm at it."
After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, some people who were already jealous felt even more jealous. What luck! They would have a well at home in the future and would not have to fetch water in the morning and evening!
"That's not right, is it? You're going to monopolize a well by yourself?"
Lin Chuntao turned around and looked at the man. She was neither annoyed nor angry, but smiled and said, "This homestead was allocated to me. Grandpa even went to the government to register it for me. Now that we've dug out water, I'll pay for a well myself. I don't ask you for money, so how can I monopolize it?"
The woman was choked by her words and paused for breath.
Lin Chuntao looked at Sun Hu beside her and asked, "Brother Sun, should we dig a little deeper?"
Sun Hu said, "There is definitely water here. I'm afraid the water flow below is too strong. If you are sure to dig a well, I will go back to the county and invite the well digger. Once the well is dug, I will build the well."
It would be better to have a professional do it, so she still asked the price out of habit. Sun Hu said, "Look, madam, if you want to use blue bricks to build the well, it will cost about 600 to 700 coins. But in the end, it still depends on the number of bricks used."
"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Brother Sun, to make the trip." Lin Chuntao said, "It's almost lunchtime. How about we go after lunch?"
Sun Hu said, "We had breakfast this morning, so we're not very hungry. I'll go on my mule and come back quickly."
He was about to leave as he spoke hurriedly, but after a few steps he said to the workers, "Start digging foundations in other places and wait for me to come back."
Thinking about this, I can get water anytime from now on, which saves a lot of trouble. There is no problem at all having lunch a little later.
After Sun Hu left, the workers started to work. Many people in the village were still watching nearby, watching the pool of water grow larger and larger. Apart from sighing at Lin Chuntao's good luck, they seemed to have nothing else to say.
Yu Meixi led them to continue digging the foundation. My uncle and his men pulled the yellow clay in a mule cart, and it was busy and lively.
While they were busy, Lin Chuntao also prepared to go back to cook. She stewed the potatoes and meat first, and took the time to wash the mushrooms to have as a dish in the evening.
Pei Ying looked at Lin Chuntao and suddenly felt as if many things were destined.
Lin Chuntao made noodles, and wanted to enrich the taste, so she made sauce.
The sauce she made tasted very good, so she made more to sell. To make the sauce, she needed a large piece of residential land, and she re-demarcated the residential land to include the location she dug today.
This is even better. They dug it up on the first day of construction. They will use it to build a well, which will save time and effort when building the house. It will be convenient for them and the workers as well. When the house is built, there will be a well at home and they can draw water anytime. It’s a great idea just to think about it.
On the way back, Pei Ying had a smile on his face. Lin Chuntao looked at him, and both of them couldn't help but feel happy in their hearts.
Sun and her aunt also went back together, and everyone was happy for Lin Chuntao from the bottom of their hearts.
Lin Duo'er ran ahead happily. As soon as she entered the yard, Lin Chunhe asked, "Sister, did you really dig out water?"
Lin Chuntao nodded and said to her, "Go and see." Then she looked at Lin Duoer and said, "Take your third sister to see it."
After hearing what was said, Lin Duoer followed Lin Chunhe.
Lin Chuntao added more firewood, put the pan into hot oil, and started stir-frying the meat dumplings.
The meat was cut into square pieces, neither too big nor too small. After Lin Chuntao had fried the meat until it was almost done, she added the potatoes and stir-fried them together. In a full pot, Lin Chuntao threw in spices, added salt, and added water that just covered the potatoes, covered it with straw, and began to stew.
A lot of water in the big wooden barrel had been used up, so Pei Ying went to fetch some water. Lin Chuntao took out the mushrooms she had picked up in the morning and prepared to start washing them.
Just now they were only looking at the meat and noodles and didn't notice the basket of mushrooms.
Now Lin Chuntao took away the grass on top, and there were purple-skinned and green-skinned tricholoma, as well as a lot of pine fungi, so many... Hu's eyes widened.
"Chun Tao, you picked up so many mushrooms this morning?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I picked up a little more today."
My aunt-in-law and the others were also very surprised. They only knew that she could make a little money by picking mushrooms and selling them, but they didn't know that she could pick so many mushrooms.
Now that I have seen it with my own eyes, it is very tiring to pick mushrooms by bending over in the woods, especially so early in the morning. I even have some respect for Lin Chuntao.
My aunt asked, "Chun Tao, are you going to wash all this and eat it in the evening?"
Lin Chuntao nodded.
"Wash them all out. If you can't finish frying them tonight, boil them and save them for tomorrow morning."
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, her aunt and the others brought small bamboo chairs and sat down to wash together, and put the clean clothes directly into the bucket.
After a while, the potato and meat soup in the iron pot boiled, and the aroma gradually overflowed from the straw cover.
Lin Chuntao uncovered it, stirred it, and added some firewood underneath.
Listening to the gurgling sound of the soup, the aroma becomes more and more intense.
Smelling this fragrance, everyone in the yard's stomachs started to growl.
Lin Chuntao estimated the time, stewed the potatoes, changed the pot, and fried the cucumber and pork slices.
Sun Hu left quickly and returned just as quickly. Three well diggers arrived, still carrying bricks. Lin Chuntao called out to them to eat first. The leader said, "Madam, you guys go eat. We came here after we had already eaten."
Lin Chuntao talked about the size of the well. They often dug wells, so they actually had an idea of the size. They took note of Lin Chuntao's words and started working.
Lin Chuntao asked Duo'er to call back her uncle and Lin Changzong and others. There was still a bunch of pork liver today, but some people didn't eat pork liver, so she didn't want to make it a dish, otherwise those who didn't eat it would have nothing to eat. She planned to fry two bowls at noon, and if everyone liked it, she would fry more in the evening.
Everyone washed their hands and took bowls. Lin Chuntao added green onions, ginger, and garlic and stir-fried half a pot of pork liver.
Grandma and Aunt Guizhi were about to go back, so Lin Chuntao asked them to stay here and eat together.
Sun refused repeatedly, saying that she would go back to get the dishes and chopsticks. When she got back, she only asked the children to bring the dishes and chopsticks to Lin Cunzheng and the others, and they stayed at home to eat.
The same thing happened to Meng Yun and Aunt Guizhi. They said they would come back, but they never came back for dinner.
Lin Chuntao wanted to serve food to everyone, but Lin Chunxing was not at home. She was busy and had no time to call them.
Normally they would only start eating after Lin Chunxing came home, but this person who worked there couldn't wait that long, so Lin Chuntao had to serve some food to her.
Yu Meixi guessed that Lin Chuntao was generous with her food, but she didn't expect that she would stew so much meat.
Not only does her stew smell delicious, it also looks very appetizing.
Lin Chuntao said, "I don't know if you like pig liver, so I'll make a small amount for you to try. If you like it, I'll make it again tonight."
Pork liver and pig blood are cheap, but pig blood is not so fishy and most people can accept it.
But pig liver is different. They have encountered this before when working for others. The owner would fry a pot of pig liver and say that it was a meat dish with oil and water. It was so fishy that it made them want to vomit after eating a few bites. There was no oil in it.
Lin Chuntao was fine. In addition to the pork liver, she also had two main dishes, and there seemed to be a lot of meat in the big pot of stewed potatoes and meat.
Everyone took their own bowls, and Lin Chunhe helped them fill them with rice. A shallow bowl of rice was filled with two spoonfuls of vegetables.
When they started eating, they found that it was buckwheat rice. It was soft and had the fragrance of buckwheat. It was much better than buckwheat cakes.
Yu Meixi asked in surprise, "Sister Chuntao, are these made of buckwheat noodles?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Yes, the method is very simple. Just sprinkle a little warm water on the raw dough, stir it with chopsticks while sprinkling the water, and make these small lumps. Then steam them."
The workers tasted the meat, sighed, and looked at each other, with joy in their eyes.
Looking at Lin Chuntao again, his eyes were even kinder. This was a lady with good cooking skills. I will have a good meal this month.
Not only is the stewed potatoes and meat delicious, but the stir-fried pork slices with cucumber are also very fragrant. They suddenly want to try the stir-fried pork liver as well.
Lin Chuntao placed a pair of serving chopsticks there, so they didn't dare take too much. In case they were not used to the food, it would be bad to waste food. Each person took one or two pieces.
I plucked up the courage to take a bite and found that there was no disgusting smell. There was still a little taste of pork liver, but the pork liver was fried very tender and full of spicy flavor. After chewing it for a few times, I felt a little drunk.
Oh my god, can pork liver be cooked so deliciously?
After eating two pieces, I picked up another one with chopsticks. It was so delicious and went well with rice.
It was the first time for several uncles and aunts to eat the food cooked by Lin Chuntao. Although they knew that Lin Chuntao could make sauce and that Lin Chuntao and her friends must be good at making soup noodles to sell, they never expected that it would be so delicious.
My aunt-in-law said, "Chun Tao, when there's something going on at home in the future, come and help me cook. Your cooking skills are so delicious."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "That's no problem. I'll be there whenever you call."
Everyone was happy because the food was delicious, but after everyone finished eating, my aunt-in-law suddenly felt a little distressed. That big pot of meat and the small half basin of stir-fried pork liver were all eaten up by everyone, and the buckwheat rice in the steamer was almost gone.
Lin Chuntao felt that since it was made, she could provide it to everyone. It would be a good thing if everyone ate it all, as everyone would have the energy to work after they were full.
As expected, they all went back to work without much rest after eating.
A group of men smacked their lips and praised Lin Chuntao's cooking skills.
Yu Meixi laughed and said, "You guys are making it seem like my cooking is terrible?"
Lao Ma and the others laughed and said, "Sister-in-law's cooking is definitely not bad, but you forgot that one time when we were eating that pork liver fried loofah, you vomited it all."
Yu Meixi: “…”
"Don't say that. I just had something delicious today. Don't think about that disgusting thing."
Lao Ma and the others all laughed when they saw Yu Meixi like this.
Yu Meixi said, "Hurry up and work for Madam Lin. Don't eat her delicious food and eat her meat and eat her food and eat her meat."
Lao Ma and the others laughed and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, we are not the lazy ones."
Yu Meixi naturally knew that they were not lazy people and had worked for many families before, so she would not bring unreliable people with her.
Old Sang and Yu Meixi, who worked digging the well, were old acquaintances. Seeing them return to work so soon after having gone to eat, they laughed and asked, "Eat so quickly?"
Yu Meixi said, "We were delayed for a while this morning. If we delay any longer, the day will be gone." As she spoke, she walked to the side of the puddle. Lao Sang and the others had widened the previous puddle and dug it six or seven feet deeper.
The bottom of the pit was filled with slowly overflowing water, mixed with mud and somewhat turbid.
"Old Sang, how is the water?" Sun Hu asked.
Lao Sang replied, "I think this water volume is good. The well can be made a little bigger to store more water."
Hearing what Old Sang said, Sun Hu asked with a smile, "Can we dig it out today?"
Old Sang hissed coldly, then shook his head: "Maybe. I should be able to dig out most of it, but I don't think we can finish the building today."
Several people chatted while working. Because the line of the foundation in the backyard touched water, Sun Hu readjusted the line.
As soon as Lin Chunxing entered the village, she saw that people were busy working on the homestead. She wanted to go over and take a look, but when she remembered that she was still carrying things, she simply went home.
As soon as she entered the yard, Lin Duoer told her excitedly.
"Second sister, our family will have a well from now on!"
"Well? What well?"
Lin Chunhe smiled and said, "When we were digging the foundation this morning, we found water. My sister has hired someone to dig a well!"
Lin Chunxing widened her eyes in surprise.
"Is this true?"
Lin Duoer said, "Of course it's true. Come on, I'll take you to see it."
Lin Chuntao was working on something in the house and only came out when she heard voices.
"I'll go check it out later. Let's eat first. The food is still hot."
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Lin Chunxing came into the house and put down the backpack. Lin Chuntao looked at her and said, "Aren't you tired of standing and chatting with the backpack on your back?"
Lin Chunxing smiled. The fact that a well was dug was such a pleasant surprise. It was something she had never thought of, but it happened suddenly, just like gold falling from the sky, and it landed in her yard with a plop.
Having a well at home makes everything convenient, even washing clothes doesn’t require going to the river.
Lin Chuntao kept the rice and vegetables separately. Lin Chunxing also liked stir-fried spicy pork liver, so Lin Chuntao left her half a bowl.
She sat in the yard and ate her meal in a hurry, and couldn't wait to go and see the well.
Lin Chuntao also wanted to go over and take a look. Lin Chunhe was preparing to steam beans, so she left Lin Duoer behind. Lin Chuntao and her friends had just left when Meng Yun, Aunt Guizhi, and the other grandmothers all returned. Lin Chuntao looked at them and said, "You old ladies, you lied to a little girl like me. You said you would come back to eat, but now you don't come back."
The grandmother smiled and said, "Your aunt has prepared our meal. She has already served it up when she got home. Besides, there are so many people eating here, and we can't burden you when you are busy. When your house is finished, we will stay here to eat."
Lin Chuntao said, "We must come over to eat once the house is built. Tell your aunt tomorrow not to cook and just come over to eat."
A hint of doubt flashed across Sun's eyes. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Pei Ying just brought back that pig. We'll kill it tomorrow morning."
"We were in a hurry to build the house, and we were both so busy that we didn't know what to do. It's a bit expensive to buy meat to eat, so it's a bit cheaper to just kill the pig. We can also save the leftovers after the house is built."
If they needed a lot of meat, it would definitely be more cost-effective to kill a pig. However, they had not thought about using so much meat before, so they did not tell her about buying a pig and killing it.
Today, when I saw the stewed meat made by Lin Chuntao, I realized that she uses a lot of it every day. It is definitely not cost-effective to buy it and eat it.
Sun laughed and said, "Let's wait until the New Year to slaughter the pig and then come over to eat. There are already a lot of people these days, and there are too many naughty monkeys at home. If they all come over, I don't know how noisy it will be!"
Sun refused, and Lin Chuntao and Aunt Guizhi also talked about it, but Aunt Guizhi also directly refused.
Their refusal was so firm that Lin Chuntao didn't hesitate. She planned to treat everyone to a meal when the house was built, so she just let them do as they pleased.
They went in to work. Lin Chuntao took Lin Chunxing to the homestead. There was a large pile of yellow clay next to it, and people were busy digging the foundation and the well.
Lin Chunxing went to see the well they were digging. A small well was gradually taking shape, and Lin Chunxing was very excited.
Looking at the excavated foundation veins, it seems as if you can see what the house will look like when it is completed.
After watching for a while, Lin Chuntao came back with a bucket of warm water and asked Pei Ying to take it over. She put some tea in it, which had a little flavor. Everyone scooped some water and drank it when they were thirsty.
After finishing all these, my aunts and uncles had nothing else to do, so they helped them steam the beans. They were usually busy all day, but today they only took more than an hour to get everything ready and drain, and they were just waiting to be steamed.
We are going to slaughter a pig tomorrow, so we need to dig a pot hole outside. When the time comes, we can boil water to scald the pig bristles, and everything can be done outside, which is more convenient.
Everyone was busy with their own things for most of the day.
In the afternoon, Lin Chuntao went over to take a look and asked everyone if they wanted to have lunch. If they did, she would cook potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Lin Chuntao was very generous with the oil when cooking, and the meat for lunch was cooked so well that everyone was actually very full. The meat and rice were enough to satisfy their hunger, so there was no need to cook for lunch.
Sun Hu asked the workers, and they all said they were not hungry, so Lin Chuntao was no longer in trouble.
Since we don’t eat lunch, we can have dinner a little earlier.
In the evening, we had stir-fried mushrooms with green peppers and meat. The green-headed mushrooms looked very pleasing to the eye.
Lin Chuntao cut the green peppers and meat and placed them in a bowl, and broke the mushrooms into small pieces and placed them in a winnowing basket.
The two dishes for dinner were stir-fried meat with mushrooms and pig's blood cooked with sauerkraut. I also cut up the remaining pig's liver and continued to stir-fry it in the evening.
One fire is for steaming rice, and the other fire is for stir-frying vegetables.
Lin Chuntao was cooking herself, and her aunt and others were watching.
Stir-fried meat with mushrooms is relatively simple. Lin Chuntao first puts the ingredients in and stir-fries the peppers and meat. Because the pot is too big, if you put the meat with mushrooms directly in, you have to stir-fry it for a long time, and the meat slices will become tough. So after the meat is stir-fried, Lin Chuntao takes out the meat first, then puts in garlic and starts to stir-fry the mushrooms. After a while, the mushrooms release some juice and the color changes slightly. Lin Chuntao then pours the meat back in, sprinkles in salt, and continues to stir-fry evenly.
A pot of fresh fried mushrooms is ready.
In fact, mushrooms are very fragrant even if they are stir-fried without meat, let alone with meat. The fragrance will make you drool just looking at them.
Lin Chuntao tasted two pieces and found them to be just the right saltiness, so she put them into a wooden basin.
After she had prepared the mushrooms, she started to stir-fry the sauerkraut and pig's blood. She cut half a bowl of dried chili segments and a lot of garlic, and put them all into the pot and stir-fried them. After they were fragrant, she added the chopped sauerkraut. After the sauerkraut was fragrant, she added water to the pot.
Scoop the pig blood into a bowl, quickly cut it into pieces with a knife, and pour it into the soup.
This is also very simple to make, but it is just sauerkraut and pig's blood, two things that my aunt and the others think don't go together, but Lin Chuntao actually cooked them together.
Deep down, I have full faith in Lin Chuntao's cooking skills.
When the sauerkraut and pig's blood were cooked, Lin Chuntao scooped a piece of pig's blood and some sauerkraut into a bowl for her aunt to taste.
The second and third aunts beside her stared at her while she ate. They found it hard to imagine what the two things would taste like if they were cooked together.
But the eldest aunt took a bite, her pupils dilated, and she looked at the second and third aunts beside her and said, "It's delicious."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Does it taste just right?"
My aunt nodded and said, "It tastes just right!"
The pig blood could still be cooked for a while longer. Lin Chuntao went back to the house and got two large bowls, scooping out some of the mushroom and meat stir-fry. Her aunt and her family were all here today, and her cousins were all at home, so she asked her aunt to bring some back for them later.
After the sauerkraut and pig blood were cooked, she scooped some up and put it away.
The second time she cooked the pig liver, it didn't taste good, so she didn't pretend to eat it again.
In the evening, smoke rose from the chimneys of every household in the village and the food was ready. Only then did Lin Chuntao go to the homestead to call people back for dinner.
They worked very quickly. In just one day, the foundation was almost dug, the molds were put in place, and they were mixing yellow clay to tamp the walls.
The well dug by Lao Sang and his team has also taken shape. Lin Chuntao estimated that its diameter is about two meters and its depth is about four or five meters. They often have tools for digging wells. They set up a rack on top, and the soil inside can be dug up quickly.
Although it hasn't been built yet, Lin Chuntao is very satisfied with the result.
She called Lao Sang and others to come and have dinner together.
Sun Hu and the others had agreed to provide meals, but Lao Sang and the others didn't say anything, so they refused when Lin Chuntao called them.
"No, no, Madam Lin, we'll go back and eat tonight."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It will take more than half an hour to get back to the county town. Let's go back after we finish eating."
"Come up and get ready to eat. I've prepared it all."
Lin Chuntao shouted very sincerely, and they stopped being shy. They washed their hands with Sun Hu and the others, and then went home to eat.
Looking at the full pot of fried mushrooms, everyone's eyes lit up.
They were in the city and often had to work so they had no time to go into the mountains to pick mushrooms. If they bought them, it would cost more than ten cents per pound, which was not cheap, but they were reluctant to spend the money. Summer was almost over, and they still had a chance to eat mushrooms.
What's more, the mushrooms are fried with meat, so this job is really worth it.
Given their trust in the stir-fried pork liver at noon, everyone was willing to try the pot of pickled cabbage and pig blood.
The cooked pig blood has a tender and smooth texture, and because of the addition of dried chilies, it is also a bit sour and spicy, which is very appetizing.
Yu Meixi even scooped some soup and soaked the rice. As she ate, she asked Lin Chuntao, "Chuntao, how did you come up with the idea of putting these two things together? And how could you make it taste so good?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I feel embarrassed by what my sister-in-law said. I just randomly think of it and make random dishes together. I keep the ones that taste good and won't make the ones that don't taste good again."
Yu Meixi laughed when she heard this, "Sister Chuntao is just too modest."
The mushrooms are crisp and refreshing, the meat slices are mellow, and the sauerkraut and pig blood are appetizing. Lin Chuntao steamed a lot of rice. Not only does she have a big appetite because of the heavy work, but with this dish as a pairing, she really wants to eat another bowl after finishing one.
Everyone had a full stomach by the end of the meal, and felt a little embarrassed when they realized how much they had eaten.
After dinner, the sun had not yet set, so Sun Hu and his colleagues sat down to rest for about a quarter of an hour and then went back to work.
My uncle and Lin Changzong also went to dig some yellow clay and hauled it several times.
Everyone continued to work until dusk.
Sun Hu and his friends went back in a mule cart, and along the way, they called their uncle and his friends to go with them.
Lin Chuntao put the vegetables she scooped out into a bamboo basket and handed it to her aunt-in-law.
"Aunt, I just scooped up some mushrooms. Take them back and feed them to your brothers and sisters. We're going to kill the pig tomorrow morning and bring them all here for dinner."
They had seen Lin Chuntao serving dishes separately before, and they thought she felt she had cooked too much so she served some, but they didn't expect that she was serving them specially for her cousins.
My aunt said, "No, no, they can cook for themselves at home. You are so busy, and you still have to worry about them."
Lin Chuntao said, "It's all my fault for not thinking it through. I'll definitely call them over tomorrow."
"We are all family, don't worry so much, the important things are important."
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