“These are the dishes I’m going to make for lunch today,” Zhao Shufang said, pointing to the vegetables. “I was originally going to make some water chestnut and pork patties for lunch, but this morning Chaosheng caught a lot of razor clams and cockles, so I’m going to make one big seafood water chestnut and pork patty for each of us.”
The three elderly women were so shocked when they saw that the kitchen and yard were full of ingredients that they were speechless.
They initially didn't believe, like the other villagers, that the Lin family could really eat their fill every day, but after seeing it today, they realized it really was true!
“You three haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Zhao Shufang lifted the pot lid. “There’s some leftover porridge, side dishes, and sweet potatoes in here. Make do with this for now, and we’ll have something better for lunch.”
The three elderly women nodded gratefully, "This is not just making do, it's already very good."
Then they began to wolf down their food.
After finishing their meal and cleaning up the dishes, they began preparing lunch.
Lin Shansheng woke up at this time, ate something, and went hunting in the mountains.
Lin Chaosheng thought for a moment and decided that he should get a tricycle for Zhao Shufang and Liang Fu to use for setting up a stall.
So he set off to the village carpenter to order a small cart.
"Old Tang," Lin Chaosheng knocked on the door, "I need your help with something."
"Squeak—" The door opened, and the man called Old Tang looked at Lin Chaosheng with a puzzled expression.
"What do you want?" Old Tang was very puzzled, because he had no connection with Lin Chaosheng. If he came to ask Lin Chaosheng to do something, he would be even more surprised.
Since the beginning of the famine, few people have been able to hire him to make things, so he stopped being a carpenter a long time ago.
"I've come to ask you to help me with something." Lin Chaosheng smiled.
Old Tang was utterly bewildered: "What? Hit something?"
Then he waved his hand with a smile: "Forget it, you know I haven't made anything for many years, and I don't make a living from this anymore."
"You should leave." With that, he prepared to close the door.
Lin Chaosheng stopped the door from closing, saying, "What I'm doing isn't difficult, and I'll pay you."
Old Tang shook his head and prepared to close the door.
"I'll pay fifteen!" Lin Chaosheng blocked the door.
Old Tang paused upon hearing this, then shook his head while laughing, "Who wants money these days? We can't even afford to eat."
Lin Chaosheng quickly said, "Then I'll give you something to eat: five eels and five catties of rice!"
Old Tang immediately stopped closing the door. "Eel? You still have eel?"
Lin Chaosheng nodded and said, "I'm not lying to you. I'll bring it over for you to inspect in a bit, okay?"
Seeing that Lin Chaosheng had been fishing and hunting for the past few weeks and was now even building a new house, Old Tang's suspicions lessened.
"So what kind of product do you want? Let's make it clear first, this will take quite a while to complete!" Old Tang made it very clear, afraid that Lin Chaosheng would come looking for the product back later.
"I just need a small cart that I can use to set up a stall. I think it should be finished in a week," Lin Chaosheng said.
Old Tang thought for a moment, "Alright, I'll draw a diagram first, and show it to you in a bit."
Lin Chaosheng nodded in agreement and went back to get the food.
On Lin Shanhai's side, the workers had already worked together to demolish the house, leaving only ruins.
Lin Shanhai directed everyone to move the bricks and broken tiles to one side, dig a hole, and bury them.
On the other side, Zhao Shufang and a few others had already started making pancakes. The pickled cabbage and pork were bubbling in the big pot, making the three old women swallow their saliva.
Liang Fu was diligently helping out when Zhao Shufang saw her and asked if she wanted to make a pancake.
Liang Fu waved her hand shyly, "No, Auntie, I'm afraid I'll ruin it and waste food."
Zhao Shufang grabbed Liang Fu's hand and handed her the shovel: "It's okay, just eat it if it's broken. If you don't practice, you'll never learn."
Several older women echoed Zhao Shufang's sentiments, urging Liang Fu to learn from her.
"Sister Zhao is right, the more afraid you are, the less likely you are to succeed."
"That's right. Don't worry about wasting it. If it gets ruined, it'll be a good extra meal for us old ladies."
Liang Fu was amused and mentally cheered herself up.
She poured several spoonfuls of batter into the pan, swirled it around to spread it evenly, and once most of the pancake had solidified, she scooped it up around the pancake with a spatula and then flipped it over in one smooth motion.
"It really worked!" Liang Fu looked at Zhao Shufang with surprise.
Zhao Shufang nodded in satisfaction, "You're such a smart child, you learn so quickly!"
Liang Fu smiled shyly, "No, no, it's all thanks to your teaching, Auntie."
And so, the two of them started making pancakes together, and soon they had made a whole stack.
Over there, Aunt Zheng and Aunt Zhang had already stewed sauerkraut and pork and were portioning it out.
As soon as Wei He opened the door, Zhao Shufang told him he could go and call the workers.
So he turned around and ran back to the old house without stopping.
"Dinner's ready!" Wei He shouted to everyone.
Everyone put down what they were doing and looked at Wei He with expectant eyes.
"Let's go!" Lin Shanhai shouted.
Soon, the group returned to Lin Shanhai's house.
Upon entering, they were greeted by a table laden with delicious dishes.
"What are we having for dinner today?" The people at the back of the line asked curiously, trying to squeeze in to see.
"Don't push! Don't push! We have sauerkraut and pork, seafood and water chestnut meat patties, rice, and steamed buns!" someone in front shouted, feeling uncomfortable from being pushed.
Liang Fu and Liang Mei were busy serving dishes bowl by bowl, so busy they wished they had eight arms like an octopus.
As soon as everyone received the food, they began to eat voraciously, and the only sound in the yard was the chewing.
When Lin Chaosheng handed the items to Lao Tang, Lao Tang was quite startled.
Old Tang hadn't seen so much food since the famine years, and his eyes lit up.
Lin Chaosheng pointed at the items and said, "Is this enough? Do you want to weigh it?"
Seeing Lin Chaosheng's sincerity, Lao Tang immediately began drawing up blueprints.
Before long, Old Tang finished drawing, and Lin Chaosheng praised the sketch of the cart repeatedly.
"Old Tang, you're truly a reincarnation of Lu Ban!" Lin Chaosheng praised.
"Stop teasing me. Take another look and see if there's anything else that needs changing. Hurry up, or I'll have to start working on it." After saying that, Old Tang handed the sketch to Lin Chaosheng.
“I think it’s perfect everywhere, let’s do it this way.” Lin Chaosheng placed the paper on the table.
"Okay, then I'll give it to you in a week, how about that?"
"No problem, I'll be going now." Lin Chaosheng said and went home.
As soon as he opened the door, Liang Mei saw him and called him to come and eat.
Lin Chaosheng washed his hands, plopped down, and started eating.
He was already very hungry, and he could smell the aroma from afar. Now all he wanted to do was feast.
“Eat slowly,” Liang Mei couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her husband wolf down his food. “You look like you haven’t eaten in ten years.”
"I haven't seen you all day, where have you been?" Zhao Shufang asked.
Lin Chaosheng swallowed a mouthful of rice and replied, "It's a secret!"
"Speak quickly, or I won't let you eat!" Zhao Shufang pretended to snatch Lin Chaosheng's rice bowl.
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