As Huang Xiaomei spoke, she poured Yu Qiuying a bowl of cool boiled water.
Then she suddenly asked, "By the way, sister-in-law, did Jiadong get into a fight when he went back home for the holiday? I saw a lot of bruises on his body yesterday, especially on his back and arms."
“Let me tell you, I felt something was off about him when he came over from home that afternoon, but he wouldn’t say what was wrong. Old Qiu said he was absent-minded all day yesterday. You know, Jia Dong is really something, he’s good at everything, but he’s just too quiet.”
In the end, Huang Xiaomei couldn't help but sigh.
Yu Qiuying paused for a moment, then said, "He didn't fight with anyone; those bruises were from me."
Huang Xiaomei was stunned for a moment, "Huh? You hit him? Why did you hit him?"
Yu Qiuying did not answer directly, "Sister-in-law, besides visiting you, I also have something I want to tell you."
She paused for a moment, glanced at her watch, and said, "Didn't you just say you were going to buy groceries? I'll go with you, and we can talk again after lunch."
Reminded by Yu Qiuying, Huang Xiaomei slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "Oh right, I have to hurry up and buy groceries to cook, otherwise I won't be able to pick up the children after school!"
She has three grandsons and one granddaughter. Her eldest grandson is eight years old and in the second grade. She also has two six-year-old grandsons who are in preschool. Her granddaughter is only three years old. Yesterday, Zhou Jiadong had an accident, and she was in a hurry to go to the hospital. Because the child was too young to take with her, she sent her to her maternal grandmother's house.
The children all attend Dongmen Primary School, which is a ten-minute walk from their homes, so they need to be picked up and dropped off every day.
Yu Qiuying stood up. "Then let's go quickly."
"Come on, let's go. We'll buy a few pounds of pork belly in a bit. You can cook. I haven't had your braised pork in ages."
The two went to the market together, and Huang Xiaomei actually bought six catties of pork belly and a grass carp.
Yu Qiuying immediately thought of sauerkraut fish and hurriedly asked, "Sister-in-law, have you pickled sauerkraut at home?"
"It's pickled? Do you want to eat sauerkraut? If so, I'll make you some spicy stir-fried sauerkraut later." Huang Xiaomei also came from a hard life. Although her family's conditions are much better than before, she still pickles several jars of sauerkraut every year.
Speaking of which, spicy stir-fried pickled cabbage is also a dish that locals love to eat. In rural areas, almost every household pickles pickled cabbage.
"If you don't eat spicy stir-fried pickled cabbage, I'll make a new dish for you to try today." Just thinking about the sour and spicy pickled cabbage fish made Yu Qiuying's mouth water.
These days, locals simply boil fish. They cut the fish into thick pieces, fry them in oil first, then add some celery, chili peppers, and garlic leaves, stir-fry until fragrant, and then put the fish into a pot with water to cook until done.
Yu Qiuying disliked eating fish since she was a child, always feeling that fish had a fishy smell and was not tasty. It wasn't until she went out to work (in her previous life) that she ate fish prepared in various ways and realized that it wasn't that the fish was not tasty, but that the people in her hometown didn't know how to cook it.
That's why people need to go out and see more of the world; otherwise, they wouldn't even know that there are so many ways to cook and eat a simple dish.
"That's great! Your cooking skills are superb. We're in for a treat today." Huang Xiaomei didn't even ask what the new dish was. Anyway, Yu Qiuying's cooking skills were better than hers, and everything she made tasted delicious.
The two didn't dare to linger outside after buying the groceries. When they returned to the Qiu family home, it was almost 10:30. Huang Xiaomei and Yu Qiuying busied themselves preparing lunch.
Fortunately, the Qiu family had two coal stoves, otherwise it would have been really inconvenient.
The two chatted and worked at the same time. By the time the rice was cooked, the braised pork was almost done, and the whole kitchen was filled with the aroma of meat.
"It has to be you! This braised pork smells so good. You can cook the other dishes now, I'm going to pick up the kids." After washing and chopping all the other vegetables, Huang Xiaomei brought the cooked rice to the living room and left it there. Seeing that it was almost time, she asked Yu Qiuying to cook the other dishes while she went to pick up the kids.
"Okay, go ahead." Yu Qiuying took out the braised pork, washed the pot, and started stir-frying vegetables.
Stir-fried tofu, cold tofu skin salad, stir-fried eggs with chives, braised pork, and pickled fish—although there are only five dishes, it's already a very lavish meal. In the countryside, people would only dare to eat like this during festivals.
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