"Dad, why did you come back just now? You're all soaked. Hey, why are your bags so bulging today? What's in them?"
Father Liu pulled a wild duck with its beak tied up from a cloth bag, handed it to Mother Liu, and said, "We caught a wild duck in the reeds near the reservoir today. It's quite fat." Father Liu weighed the duck in his hand and continued, "It must have weighed about three pounds. Zhiqing and I were afraid of being discovered, so we waited until everyone had left before we took the small path up the mountain to come back."
"That's great. I'll kill some today to nourish you. You and Zhiqing, go take a shower. There's boiling water in the big iron pot in the kitchen. Remember to add some water. After your shower, remember to drink the brown sugar ginger soup. It's warm on the stove."
After only ten days of repairing the reservoir, Liu's father and Zhiqing had already lost several pounds. Liu's mother even cooked an egg for them every two days, not to mention the other people in the village who were reluctant to eat eggs.
"Xuemei, Qingya, come out and help." As soon as Liu's mother called, Qingya ran out. As soon as Qingya heard her father's voice, she wanted to come out and take a look, but her eldest sister was holding her and her two younger brothers down while they were reading a book, and would not let them come out.
"Mom, I heard Dad say that we caught a wild duck. Let's eat duck today!" Qingya smacked her lips as she looked at the wild duck.
"You have sharp ears, come and lift the duck's feet for me, or I'll kill you."
"Xuemei, go to the main room and take out the brazier from the firebox and put the fire from the stove into it. You'll use it to roast your father's cotton-padded jackets later. Keep the fire burning in the stove. I need water to scald the duck."
After the ducks were killed, Liu's mother and Xuemei began to pluck the duck feathers. The plucked duck feathers had to be well preserved and then dried before being exchanged for money at the purchasing station. Generally, the feathers of a duck could be exchanged for ten cents, while the feathers of a chicken could only be exchanged for five cents.
After cleaning the duck, Liu's mother cut it in half on a cutting board. The duck was quite plump, weighing at least two pounds, excluding the feathers and offal. She rubbed salt on one half, intending to use it as a cured duck. She then cut about half a pound from the other half, placed it in a bowl, and handed it to Xuemei.
"Xuemei, find a basket to put it in." Liu's mother looked out the window and continued, "It's only drizzling now. Tell your father to take a cloak to Grandpa's house. Give it to your father and then come over. I'll teach you how to make blood plasma duck. We haven't eaten duck in years."
…
"Xuemei, this is a wild duck. It has a strong fishy smell, so you need to blanch it. To do this, put the duck meat in a pot and cover it with water. Add some ginger slices and chopped green onions, wait for the water to boil, skim off the foam, and then you can fish the duck meat out. By the way, when stir-frying the duck with blood plasma, don't cut the duck meat into large pieces. Cut it into small pieces so it tastes better. Next, we will start stir-frying the duck. Watch carefully."
Liu's mother put a little water in the iron pot and put the fatty duck meat in to boil the oil. Once the water evaporated, the duck fat was boiled out. It wasn't much, but it was enough to fry the duck. Then she put the remaining duck meat in and stir-fried it for a while. Then she added the duck intestines and offal, stir-frying until there was no moisture left. Then she added the soaked white chili peppers, the pre-soaked dried eggplant slices, shredded ginger, and sliced garlic.
"Xuemei, it's better to add more white chili peppers here. It tastes better with more chili peppers. If you're willing to add white wine, you can add a little white wine, but we can blanch it in water beforehand and just stir-fry it until cooked."
After the duck was cooked, Liu's mother began to pour in the duck blood. The duck blood had been processed. When the duck was killed, it was poured into a bowl of vinegar, salt, and water to prevent the plasma from coagulating. Liu's mother minced the plasma with a spatula and poured it into the pot, stirring as she went. Once the plasma was cooked, it was ready to be served.
"Xuemei, have you learned it? Next time I have duck, I'll ask you to try stir-frying it."
"Mom, I got it. It smells so good. But the sweet potato porridge tonight will definitely not be enough."
Liu's mother had always disapproved of making meals unpalatable just to save food. These days, few people could even get enough to eat every day. Even if the food wasn't tasty, it wouldn't save much. It would be better to make something delicious when you have the time, so the family can enjoy it.
"Then I'll make some boiled cabbage. We've grown a lot of cabbage this year, so we can have more vegetables."
The next morning, Father Liu and his men went back to work on the reservoir. But the weather was getting colder, so Xuemei and Qingya had to bring a firebox to school to warm their hands and warm their sweet potatoes for lunch.
By the time Liu's father and his team finished repairing the reservoir, Xuemei and Qingya were about to take their final exams. During this time, Liu's mother went to the market twice, trading her homemade tofu and pickled cabbage for three yuan. On Sundays, she and Xuemei went up the mountain to chop firewood. Taking advantage of Xuemei's time, they secretly filled the family's firewood shed and piled up a pile of firewood in the yard. Now, the family had enough firewood to last until the next spring plowing season. Liu's father and his team had originally planned to leave for thirty days, but due to weather conditions, they were delayed by ten more days. It was now January 2, 1962, and the lunar calendar was December 15, 1961.
"Xuemei, when will you take the exam?" Father Liu looked at the two sisters sitting in the firebox reading, touched Xuemei's head and asked.
"Dad, I have an exam tomorrow. I'll get the results three days after the exam."
"Then you and Qingya can read for a while, then go to bed. Tomorrow morning, ask your mother to boil an egg for each of you. Come back with good grades."
"Dad, I will definitely do well in the exam this time." Qingya said quickly.
Father Liu tapped Qingya's nose and said, "You clever girl, if you rank in the top three in the class, you will get a reward when you come back."
"What reward?" Qingya's eyes lit up.
"You can make a request that your mother and I can fulfill or give us fifty cents as a reward, so now study hard."
Qing Ya saluted Liu's father with her hand and said, "Got it, sir. Little soldier Qing Ya promises to complete the mission."
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