Preface: In the 1960s, resources were scarce and many people went up the mountain to hunt because they had no meat to eat. Now we should protect wild animals, not go up the mountain to hunt, and abide by relevant national laws and policies.
After Liu's mother finished dealing with Qingya's matter, she went back to the kitchen, and Liu's father followed her in with a bag on his back.
"Li Niang, I caught three rabbits today, and they're still alive. Should I keep them or trade them?"
"Keep it? I saved tofu pudding for my parents. Take a rabbit over now and come back after you deliver it. We'll have tofu pudding tonight."
After Liu's mother had finished cooking a bowl of tofu dregs, Liu's father returned. The family had to eat tofu dregs, tofu pudding, and chopped peppers tonight.
After dinner, Liu's father killed a rabbit, rubbed salt on the rabbit meat, and then saltpetered the rabbit skin. Liu's mother used the remaining rabbit skins to make hats and insoles for the children, keeping them warm in winter. Liu's mother also took out four pounds of tofu to make moldy tofu, which she placed in a jar.
After making the moldy tofu, in addition to the tofu eaten at home, there are still about 32 pounds of tofu and 20 pounds of tofu dregs at home. Liu's mother plans to use 20 pounds of tofu to make dried tofu tomorrow, 10 pounds to make fermented tofu, and the remaining 2 pounds to eat fresh during the New Year.
The next day, before dawn, Father Liu went up the mountain. He had set several traps and snares on the mountain yesterday to see if he could catch any prey.
Liu's mother also got up at dawn and had just finished steaming the sweet potatoes. Liu's father had just returned from the mountain.
"Dad, how was the harvest?"
"I caught a roe deer and a rabbit. I plan to go to the county town to exchange them after I finish eating."
"It's too late now. There are no cars to the county town. We have to go to the commune to exchange meat. It's Chinese New Year now, and the commune is short of meat. Let's have a rest after dinner and then go."
After Liu's father arrived at the commune, he began making dried tofu. He cut the tofu into slices about 1.5 centimeters thick, sprinkled salt on both sides, and evenly rubbed it with his hands. He added a generous amount of salt, then waited an hour for the salt to dissolve before turning the tofu over and salting the other side. Once the salt had melted, he placed it in a winnowing basket and used a hemp rope to drop it onto the earthen stove. He also used hemp rope or palm leaves to drop bacon onto the stove. This way, as the fire burned, the bacon would slowly smoke, and the tofu would slowly dry out, turning into dried tofu.
While waiting for the salt on the tofu to melt, Liu's mother went to grind the chestnuts into powder using a stone mill. She was going to make two pots of chestnut tofu to buy at the market tomorrow, as tomorrow was the last market of the year.
When Liu's mother was making the first pot of tofu, Liu's father came back.
"Beating tofu again."
"I'll make two pots of chestnut tofu. I don't have much time after the autumn harvest this year, and I didn't pick many chestnuts, so I can only make two pots. I'll sell them at the market tomorrow."
"Is it easy to exchange spore meat and rabbit?"
"I met a few families exchanging items together. They were trading by gross weight, 3 yuan per jin, and there were 25 jin in total. That came to 7 yuan and 50 cents. They also gave me two 5-liang sugar coupons. I went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought 2 liang of brown sugar and 3 liang of white sugar, spending 34 cents in total. Also, one of the buyers worked at the supply and marketing cooperative. He had a defective thermos, so I traded with him. I'd searched for the thermos several times on the black market before, but I was lucky this time. By the way, this one costs 3 yuan, but no coupons. Here's the remaining money and coupons, a total of 4 yuan, 16 cents, and 5 liang of sugar coupons. I don't plan to exchange the rabbit anymore. I plan to give it to my parents-in-law later."
Liu's mother took the ticket and money and went to look at the kettle again. "I was wondering why it was so cheap, it turns out it only has one inner pot."
"It can be used. I can just weave a cover with the leftover bamboo strips at home at night."
"Yeah, I finally have a thermos, and I'll have hot water to drink in the winter."
"Okay, put your things away, I'll go deliver the rabbit."
"Eat something first. I made some steamed bread with the leftover tofu dregs and corn flour. Just steam it and you're good to go."
"Okay, I'll eat before I leave. I'm really hungry now."
At around four o'clock in the afternoon, Liu's father came back after delivering the rabbit.
"Mother, my parents said our village didn't release any fish this year, so they brought me two fish."
"Okay, then you can put them in a bucket and keep them there. Make one for the reunion dinner and one for New Year's Day."
In the evening, after dinner, Liu's father finished weaving the outer shell of the thermos.
"Is it almost the same as the one I bought, Xuemei? Tell me."
"Dad, I think it looks better than the one I bought." Xuemei took a closer look.
"Xuemei, be careful, don't touch the thermos. Qingya, you little ones too, don't bump into it. It's our family's treasure, it was hard to come by. Forget it, I'll just take it to our room. From now on, when you guys want hot water, ask me and your mother to pour it for you, don't make it yourselves, okay?"
Xuemei's siblings and the other two nodded obediently, knowing how rare a thermos was.
The next morning, Liu's father and mother went to the market with chestnut tofu in a basket. They came back at noon, and the family earned another three yuan.
In the afternoon, Liu's father and mother took their children to clean the house inside and out.
On the 28th day of the 12th lunar month in 1961, it was Xuemei's 11th birthday. In the morning, Liu's father and mother got up early and made a bowl of longevity noodles for Xuemei in the kitchen and fried an egg. This is something that everyone in Xuemei's family does on their birthday.
After breakfast, Liu's mother fried tofu and crispy pork in oil. The tofu was the main ingredient. The crispy pork was made by only spending half a day making lean meat. She cut it into forty or fifty pieces, coated each piece with flour, and fried it in oil.
"Dad, chop up the remaining half a pound of lean meat, cut up some cabbage stems, and soak some sweet potato flour. Once I finish frying this pot, I'll make the dumpling filling. We'll have dumplings tonight."
Mother Liu took out a few pieces of fried crispy pork, sprinkled some salt and chili powder on them, and handed them to Xuemei. "Take your brothers and sisters out to eat. Your father and I won't be eating anymore. When you're done, come over and help make dumplings."
Then, Liu's mother mixed the ground meat, chopped cabbage stems, vermicelli noodles, and some chopped green onions, then sprinkled them with salt and mixed them evenly. Meanwhile, Liu's father rolled out the dumpling wrappers. Liu's mother didn't know how to make them, so Liu's father taught her how to make dumplings. He had learned the technique from a fellow soldier from the north.
"Mother, I've taught you for so many years since we got married, but you're still not as good as Xuemei."
"Xuemei is more skilled at making pasta than I am, just like you. Look, mine is right here. Qingya, stop making them. The filling will come out when you cook them. You should take your two younger brothers out to play!"
“1, 2, 3…”
"Mom, I made 120 dumplings in total."
"Okay, dad, I'll take thirty dumplings to mom and dad to try, and you cook the dumplings at home. Xuemei, learn well, and you can cook the dumplings when your dad is busy in the future." Father Liu always managed the time very well when cooking dumplings, and Mother Liu would always overcook some of them until the skin broke.
When Liu's mother returned from delivering the dumplings, they were already cooked. The family ate their first dumplings of the year with vinegar.
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