After walking around the village, Shuiqing and Fanjin started heading home.
Shui Qing lowered her head, her heart heavy.
Aunt Zhang's family lived the hardest life. They ate a gruel of dark flour and wild vegetables. The children and Aunt Zhang herself were thin and bony. To put it bluntly, even beggars in China looked more prosperous than them.
The village chief's family was the best off; they owned a lot of land, their son and daughter-in-law were capable, and their house was one of only two brick and tile houses in the village.
Even so, the food they ate was not oily at all. However, unlike the thick porridge at Aunt Zhang's house that was so thick you could see your reflection in it, the village chief's family ate cornbread.
It's much better than the black bread from Lao Fan's family—at least it doesn't irritate your throat.
The other families ate much the same food as the Fan family, with vegetable porridge served with dark flour pancakes or dark flour steamed buns.
It's not the busy farming season, so there's no heavy physical labor involved. Every household eats meals that are completely devoid of oil or meat, consisting of a mixture of dry and liquid foods...
"Shuiqing, what are we having for dinner?" Fan Jin asked expectantly, his dark eyes shining as he carried a large bamboo basket of glistening, round water chestnuts in his right hand and a basket of vegetables and fruits that had been delivered to him in his left.
This big bamboo basket contains at least twenty catties of water chestnuts; with a harvest, I'm not worried.
Thinking of his father-in-law and brother-in-law who had made a rare trip, and especially since he was helping them build a house, he suggested, "This morning, the butcher gave me some pork bones as a gift. How about we make a pork bone soup with those?"
I originally bought it to nourish my family, but my father-in-law also brought pork, so what he bought was naturally unnecessary.
It can only be soaked in cool spring water in an earthenware pot to prevent it from spoiling.
Shui Qing had no objections.
These days, people eat poorly, and it's customary to have a dry meal for lunch, especially for heavy physical labor, preferably with some oil and meat, to replenish energy and make them more energetic.
Dinner may or may not be provided; it all depends on the host's character.
Even if meals are provided, the type of food is not fixed.
She thought for a moment and said, "Father repeatedly told me that we don't have to cook anything dry for dinner tonight. We can have noodles, but noodles require kneading and rolling the dough. We don't even have a cutting board. Let's have noodle soup instead."
Butcher Hu was terrified that the two of them would waste the grain and go hungry later. This man, who never cooked, was extremely worried about his daughter.
When Fan Jin thought of his father-in-law's angry roar, he was not annoyed at all; instead, he smiled from the bottom of his heart.
He can distinguish between good intentions and bad intentions.
"Dad was worried that we would go hungry later."
No one likes the feeling of being hungry, especially after being hungry; that burning, agonizing feeling is something no one wants to experience again.
"Well, let's not use all white flour. Let's mix in some cornmeal so that Dad won't nag anymore. We'll put a fried egg on top of each bowl of noodles. That'll be oily enough and won't look bad. It'll be presentable enough to serve to guests," Shuiqing planned.
Father was thinking of them and wished he could take them back to his own home to eat. These were all the helpers he had brought. If they treated them well, Father would feel proud when he went back home.
We've wronged our relatives, friends, and neighbors this time. They may not say it, but they know it in their hearts. It will be difficult for them to find help next time.
This time it was genuine; next time, Father won't need to say much, and they'll agree just as readily.
Fan Jin had no objection at all. He lifted the fruits and vegetables he was carrying in his left hand and asked, "Shuiqing, if you see any vegetables in here that would make good dumplings, tell me and I'll go wash them."
Shui Qing nodded.
The two walked to the edge of the village, but instead of going home, they turned into the nearby grove of trees.
Seeing that no one was around, Shuiqing saw on the online store: 27 catties of fresh, pollution-free, hand-peeled chicken head rice, 121 catties. Confirm sale?
Shuiqing clicked "Confirm Sale" below.
Ding dong, 3240 yuan has been credited to your account.
Shui Qing swallowed hard. Yesterday, before selling mushrooms, she opened a seed account and bought other odds and ends, leaving her with 400 yuan.
I managed to salvage the termite mushrooms I picked today, but it wasted a lot of time.
Fortunately, the children got up early and sold a total of 2016 yuan, which adds up to 3240 yuan now.
Not bad, I earned 5256 yuan today!
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