Xu Xiangyang shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm not tired. This is how it is when you're working to earn money."
His words startled Wang Zhongshan, who then gave him a complicated look.
"The child has grown up!" His words drew nods of agreement from the others.
In the past, Xu Xiangyang would complain about the trouble of buying two ounces of soy sauce, but this time he was noticeably thinner from working, yet he didn't utter a single word of complaint.
Isn't this just the child growing up and realizing that life isn't easy?
Wang Xiumin doesn't care whether her children grow up or not; in her eyes, children will always be children.
"Dad, Gou Dan brought back a pound of minced meat, all chopped up. We'll make cabbage dumplings for lunch." As she spoke, she took out a lunchbox from her bag, the same lunchbox Xu Xiangyang had used to pack chicken last night.
Upon opening it, there it was—minced meat!
I also brought three jin of wheat flour with me.
Xu Xiangyang already knew that Wang Xiumin would bring things with her; the bag was bulging, and she was carrying Zhang Xiufen on her back before leaving, so it must be these things.
"What are you going to do with it? You can eat it at home." Wang Zhongshan frowned slightly, but he was very happy. The fact that the children thought of him was more comforting than eating dragon meat.
Wang Xiumin smiled and said, "It's all because of Gou Dan. He insisted on eating dumplings with you all. Look how filial this child is."
Xu Xiangyang was speechless. When did he say that? But he understood that Wang Xiumin said it on purpose to make the old couple happy.
Sure enough, the elderly couple had smiles on their faces and were very satisfied.
Wang Xiumin went to knead the dough, and the old lady went to help chop the cabbage filling. Who wouldn't be happy to have dumplings even though it's not a holiday?
The old lady pulled Wang Xiumin aside in the outer room and said, "Xiumin, wouldn't it be better to save this minced meat for the New Year? The New Year is almost here, and we haven't received anything from our family yet, have we? Is there enough food?"
The elderly always worry about their children, especially since Wang Xiumin is their only daughter; they are afraid she might go hungry or get cold.
Wang Xiumin waved her hand and said, "Mom, don't worry, Gou Dan got his salary, he gave me ten yuan. If we don't have enough food, I'll just go to the brigade to buy some, that should be enough."
The family was indeed on the verge of starvation, but I couldn't say that. If it weren't for these ten yuan, she would definitely ask to borrow money.
But there are only two people in my wife's family. Although my father receives a subsidy, it's enough for the two of them to have enough to eat. How can they possibly feed three people?
Wang Zhongshan found the job for me, so the meat Xu Xiangyang brought back this time will definitely be sent here to eat.
She did consider things; she wasn't completely dismissive of everything.
Seeing that her daughter had a plan, and knowing that her daughter was not one to suffer losses, the old lady was relieved and said nothing more.
Everyone was very satisfied with the cabbage and pork dumplings at noon, especially Wang Xiumin and her husband. They had been eating meat for two days in a row, and they couldn't have been happier. This was even better than the New Year.
After returning home in the afternoon, Xu Xiangyang pondered for a moment, then called Xu Guangtian out.
"What's wrong, Gou Dan? Why are you thinking about this now?" Xu Guangtian looked outside and saw that it was already dark.
It gets dark early at this time of year, around 3 PM, and it's cloudy outside; it might even snow.
Seeing that no one was around, Xu Xiangyang whispered in his ear, "I left some things outside yesterday and didn't bring them back, because I was afraid my grandma would see them."
We can't skip eating dumplings during the Lunar New Year, can we?
The minced meat we brought back yesterday was all eaten at Wang Zhongshan's house. What are we going to do for the New Year in a couple of days? What are we going to eat?
Xu Guangtian's eyes lit up when he heard there was something else. "Goudan, you're good at hiding things now. Come on, Dad will take it with you."
Xu Xiangyang was no longer willing to complain about the nickname. Oh well, let them call him whatever they want.
The two arrived at the edge of the village. It was very dark outside, and they couldn't see anything further away.
Xu Xiangyang stood by the roadside and said, "Dad, you wait here. I'll go get the things."
Actually, there's nothing there; I still need to take it out of my spatial storage first. It would be inconvenient if someone were following me.
Xu Guangtian didn't think much of it, assuming his son wanted him to keep watch, so he nodded in agreement.
Reassured, Xu Xiangyang entered the grove by the roadside and walked until he was almost out of sight. He then took out a bag containing five jin of flour, two jin of pork, and one jin of minced pork.
I also took some pork fat, which can be used to render oil, since we were out of oil at home.
All that was left was the fifty jin of cornmeal that had been packed earlier. He took it out and carried it outside.
In the past, he wouldn't have been able to lift these things, but now he carries them very easily.
"So much stuff?" Xu Guangtian was almost speechless with surprise when he saw the huge bag of things.
How much would that cost?
Immediately, he felt his mouth water again.
With such a successful son, there should be some meat in the filling, right? This New Year was truly delightful!
Xu Xiangyang urged him to hurry up and carry the things back. There weren't many people out at this time, but that didn't mean there weren't any.
Under the cover of night, the two quietly returned to the courtyard, closed the door, and Xu Guangtian immediately locked it.
"Where have you two been? Aren't you going to eat dinner tonight?" Wang Xiumin heard them open the door when they returned, but didn't even look at them.
Xu Xiangyang threw the things in his hand onto the kang table; the cloth bag contained pork and minced meat.
The other grain was carried by Xu Guangtian. He put it on the ground, then opened it and took a look.
It's all refined cornmeal; that's considered a fine grain.
After reading it, he quickly tied the bag up, afraid that someone else would see it.
"Quickly open the cellar!" Xu Guangtian called to the people on the kang (a heated brick bed).
When Wang Xiumin heard something on the table, she knew what was going on.
Especially since the bag wasn't tied up, the frozen meat was showing.
She quickly took a key from her waistband, then got out of bed and opened the cellar.
Although the house is small, it has a cellar.
This was a custom that existed in Northeast China in the early days, but in later generations, it became more convenient to buy vegetables, and there was no need to store them in cellars.
The cellar is only 1.5 meters high and 1 meter wide. It's only good for storing grains and such. If there's more stuff, it won't fit.
The main problem was that there wasn't much food available to store at that time, unless a large family lived together and stored their grain in a cellar.
Wang Xiumin looked at the cabbage inside and immediately made room for it, taking out the remaining two jin of cornmeal, which was just right for dinner.
She was still a little confused after putting her things away. How did she end up bringing them back so suddenly?
"Should we take this meat out and freeze it?" Xu Guangtian asked hesitantly.
After all, there's nowhere to hide things outside, and it would be such a shame if they were stolen.
These days, it's not easy to eat meat. Who doesn't want to eat meat?
Wang Xiumin rolled her eyes, looked at the frozen meat with curiosity, and said, "Why leave it outside? What if someone steals it again? Just soak it in water."
Anyway, the room is never warm except on the kang (heated brick bed), so it won't spoil even if it's soaked in water.
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