Han Chen had told Xuemei before that although he was not good at cooking, he was good at making noodles. He could knead dough, let it ferment, and make buns and steamed buns.
Han Chen learned how to make noodles from Grandma Lin and Aunt Lin. After his mother remarried, he was often taken in by the Lin family to live with them for a period of time during the winter and summer vacations. The Lin family was afraid that his stepfather would treat him badly, so they wanted to improve his food and often made buns, dumplings, etc. for him.
During their time at the Lin family, Han Chen and Lin Hongzhi either spent their days playing around the house with other children, or following Grandma Lin and Aunt Lin around, watching them make various kinds of pasta. Gradually, both of them learned how to make pasta. Xuemei still remembers Han Chen telling her proudly that he made better pasta than Lin Hongzhi, because Lin Hongzhi was not as smart as him and was clumsy.
Therefore, taking advantage of today's free time, Xuemei wanted to let Han Chen show off his skills. Xuemei had tried to make dough before to make dumplings and steamed buns, but the dough was never well-fermented, and the dumplings and steamed buns she made were always not very good.
When she arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, there wasn't much meat left, so Xuemei only managed to buy half a pound of lean meat and two bones. She also used her marriage certificate to buy a pound of fruit candy, a thermos, two pounds of cotton, and a pound of White Rabbit candy. All in all, she spent 10 yuan and 25 cents.
After Xuemei put the things in Han Chen's backpack, the two of them walked towards the photo studio. After arriving at the studio, Xuemei took off her two braids, re-braided them in front of the studio mirror, and adjusted her clothes. Then she asked Han Chen to adjust her collar.
After they were both done, they stood together, smiling at the camera. This time, they were taking two-inch photos, planning to develop two copies. Just as Xuemei was about to pay, Han Chen pulled the book out of his backpack, pulled out his marriage certificate, and handed it to the photographer.
Xuemei looked at Han Chen in confusion, and then she heard Han Chen say, "Master, can you please wax-seal this marriage certificate?"
The master took the wedding photo and said jokingly, "You just got married today. Congratulations, and I wish you a baby soon! This can be waxed."
Xuemei covered her face in embarrassment, and soon her face turned red.
Han Chen was shameless at this time and replied with a smile: "Thank you, Master. How long will it take?"
"Come and get it in an hour, or you can sit here and wait for a while, but it will cost fifty cents?" the chef replied.
"Okay, thank you, master. We'll come get it later! Here's the money for the photos and waxing?" Han Chen took out a twenty-cent coin from his pocket and handed it to the master in the photo studio.
After leaving the photo studio, Han Chen and Xuemei went to the post office to mail a letter and a large package to the Lin family. The package contained some local produce and local specialties. Mother Liu had also stuffed four pounds of cotton into the package, which she had exchanged with the villagers. They only sent a letter to Han Chen's mother this time, planning to send more items closer to the Lunar New Year.
This year the team planted a lot of cotton and had a bumper harvest. The Liu family had a total of 20 kilograms of cotton this year, including the cotton they planted themselves and the cotton shared by the team. This can be said to be the most in the past seven or eight years. Since Liu Xiu settled in Liujia Village, the Liu family's private plots suddenly decreased by almost two mu, so they planted much less cotton. Now most of the private plots are used to plant coarse grains such as corn and sweet potatoes.
In the past few years, the amount of cotton distributed by the team each year was only five or six kilograms. It was far from enough for everyone in the family to make a cotton-padded jacket. Generally, a new cotton-padded jacket was made a year, and each family member took turns. Others also needed new cotton for quilts and old cotton-padded clothes, and cotton shoes had to be made.
The Liu family did not exchange the 20 kilograms of cotton with others, but kept it for their own use. Liu's mother spent 14 kilograms of cotton to make two quilts and a mattress for Xuemei as a dowry. One quilt was two meters long and 1.8 meters wide. Liu's mother was afraid that Han Chen could not cover himself well, so she used one kilogram more cotton than usual to make the quilt longer and wider.
The other quilt was a thin one, two meters long and one and a half meters wide, used for warmer weather, and only used two kilograms of cotton. The mattress, made to order for the bed Xuemei and Han Chen had ordered, used four kilograms of cotton. It was two meters long and one and a half meters wide.
Last year, Xuemei used the rabbits shot by Liu's father to exchange for three pounds of cotton coupons, and bought three pounds of cotton for Liu's mother from the supply and marketing cooperative. She asked Liu's mother to add five pounds of cotton at home and make a new cotton-padded jacket for herself and Liu's father.
At Xuemei's strong request, Liu's mother bought a new cotton-padded jacket for herself and Liu's father after seven or eight years. She used the remaining two kilograms of new cotton to add some new cotton to the cotton-padded jackets of Qingya and her two siblings, and lengthened them by seven or eight centimeters.
Xuemei's cotton-padded coat had just been filled with new cotton two years ago, so it was still quite warm, so she didn't ask Liu's mother to fill it with new cotton.
Everyone in the Liu family has two cotton coats. One is much thinner and is worn when the temperature is around 15 degrees Celsius. It is usually worn in March, April, October and November. The other is thicker and is worn when the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius. It is usually worn for several months in a row.
Liu's father and mother had two cotton-padded jackets that were full of patches and no longer kept them warm. Liu's mother took out all the lumps of cotton from inside. After they were almost dried in June and July this year, Liu's father took the old cotton and their quilts to the cotton mill and re-made them together. The quilt, which had been used for more than ten years, became much warmer again.
The Liu family's cotton-padded jackets are a little different from those of other families. They are made up of two parts: a cotton lining sewn with cotton cloth inside and a coat outside. In this way, when it is very cold in winter and there is no cotton-padded jacket to change into, just change into a coat. In the past, the coat outside the cotton lining was generally made of coarse cloth woven by Liu's mother. Last year, Xuemei got some defective cloth in the supply and marketing city, and Liu's mother used the cotton cloth to make a new coat for each family member.
However, now that the people in Liujia Village have seen Liu's mother making cotton-padded jackets in this way, most families with better conditions have started to make cotton-padded jackets separately like Liu's mother does.
After sending the things, it was almost eleven o'clock. Xuemei and Han Chen went to a state-owned restaurant and each had a bowl of vegetarian noodles. They asked the chef for some traditional noodles before returning to the photo studio to get their marriage certificate.
After getting the things, Han Chen saw that it was only twelve o'clock, so he took Xuemei to the department store, saying that there were a lot of things in the department store, so they should go see if there was anything they wanted to buy.
The driver of the bus back to the commune this afternoon had some family matters, so the station posted a notice delaying the bus until 1:30. So Xuemei and her friend had over an hour to wander around.
When Xuemei arrived at the department store, she only went to the clothing and fabric sections. Liu's mother asked Xuemei to buy some fabric, planning to make a new cotton-padded jacket for Han Chen and Xuemei, to wear when they got married.
Now, Liu's mother is not allowed to weave, fearing it might damage her eyes. After the family added a sewing machine, Liu's mother and Xuemei have become several times faster at mending and making clothes. Things that used to take half a month now take only two or three days.
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