Chapter 32 The Missing Line in the Ballad
It was that man—Xie Jianshe, the village chief's son.
"We..." Bai Xue was a little flustered.
Zhou smiled faintly: "We are new here and have only been given some coarse grains. We would like to exchange them with the locals for some vegetables and eggs!"
I was just unfamiliar with the area and somehow ended up here.
"Can't I come here?"
Zhou also pointed around, even specifically pointing to a place that resembled a cowshed.
Seeing Zhou Ye's confused and puzzled look, Xie Jianshe's eyes gleamed with a hint of shyness.
He sensed the change in himself, and his gaze towards Zhou Ye shone like stars, his heart inexplicably racing.
Avoiding Zhou Ye's gaze, Xie Jianshe gripped his sleeves tightly and whispered, "Don't come over here unless it's absolutely necessary!"
Follow me!
Bai Xue was clueless and only knew to follow Zhou Ye's lead.
They stopped walking only when they stood in front of a red brick house.
Pointing inside, he said, "My parents are home. Come in with me, and you can change whatever you want!"
Bai Xue was worried and said, "I didn't bring anything, how can I change?"
Zhou Ye took out an oil paper package from his crossbody bag and went inside!
"Mom, some educated youth have come to exchange things!"
Xie Jianshe called out into the house, and a kind-faced woman came out... It was Wang Guihua, the wife of Village Chief Xie.
"Auntie, hello, we are new educated youth who just arrived here. We would like to exchange some vegetables and eggs with you. Is that convenient for you?"
Zhou also politely said so, and then handed over the paper package in his hand.
Wang Guihua was used to it, but when she opened the paper package, she was startled: "This...this is brown sugar?"
Regardless of Wang Guihua's surprise, these days brown sugar is very precious, and only those who have given birth and are in postpartum confinement will buy a few ounces to nourish their bodies.
Not to mention the even more precious brown sugar.
Zhou also smiled and said, "Yes, Auntie, I'll have to trouble you to take care of me in the future! What would you like to exchange for this?"
Wang Guihua was in a great mood, thinking to herself, "This time, a very generous educated youth has come."
"Wait, Auntie will get it for you. Didn't you bring a basket? Use Auntie's for now."
He went to the backyard with a big smile.
A short while later, he returned with two baskets.
"This small basket contains eggs; we only have twenty at home right now, so you can eat them first. The big basket contains cabbage, radishes, and other vegetables that keep well."
This little bottle contains chili sauce that my aunt made herself!
It's so delicious! Come back for more after you've finished!
Zhou also smiled and accepted it, saying, "Thank you so much, Auntie! We'll be going now!"
"Okay, Jianshe, you take him there..."
"Woof woof woof..."
The village chief's little dog started barking wildly when it saw the strangers leaving with the things.
Zhou glanced at it and thought, "A purebred pine!"
"Beans!" Xie Jianshe shouted!
"Woof~" the little mongrel whimpered pitifully.
Zhou smiled and left the village chief's house with Bai Xue.
Xie Jianshe, standing behind Zhou Ye, looked at his retreating figure, wanting to say something, but it seemed there was nothing to say.
He gave a bitter laugh, realizing that he, being half-crippled, really had no right to even dream of such things.
When Bai Xue saw that no one was beside her, she was so scared that she patted her chest and said, "Sister Zhou, you are so calm. You really scared me to death!"
However, we've exchanged a lot of vegetables and eggs, so we can cook you something delicious tonight!
"By the way, Sister Zhou, the old educated youth said they're having dinner together tonight. What should we eat? Dishes or a main course?"
"I think the dishes are easy to make. We have pork, so we can make a stir-fried pork with chili peppers. We also have eggs, so we can make scrambled eggs!"
"But that dog just now... it was really scary. I didn't see it when I went in, and I thought there was no dog. When I came out, it suddenly started barking wildly. I thought it was going to bite someone!"
Zhou Ye suddenly stopped!
What did you just say?
Zhou felt a buzzing in his head, as if something was trying to break through the barrier in his head... What was it?
What did you just say?
Bai Xue looked blank for a moment, then reflexively replied, "Dog bites people?"
"Not that sentence!"
Bai Xue thought for a moment: "What dish should I make?"
"No, no!"
Bai Xue was silent for a few seconds: "Is it... that we didn't see the dog when we went in?"
"right!"
A thought flashed through Zhou Ye's mind: Yes, that's it! No wonder he always felt like he had forgotten something.
It turns out I forgot one thing!
"Little rabbit, little rabbit, hopping and jumping;
Little lamb, little lamb, bleating;
The puppy barks.
"The rooster crows, the rooster crows..."
The original folk song should have been like this.
The children in the village were singing a song that was missing a line.
It's about puppies. Why are puppies the only thing missing?
What does it mean if a nursery rhyme is passed down from grandparents or parents?
"Sister Zhou, what's wrong?"
Bai Xue asked worriedly.
"It's alright, let's go back!"
Zhou didn't want to reveal anything, saying he'd think it over when he got back!
"Oh!" Bai Xue was simple-minded and didn't ask any further questions.
Back home, she put the vegetables and eggs in Bai Xue's cupboard. Bai Xue looked at those things and smiled so hard that her gums showed!
"Wipe your drool off!" Zhou said disdainfully.
"Hehe... These grains and vegetables are such a comfort! Sister Zhou, I'll definitely cook well and fatten you up!"
hey-hey……"
Zhou didn't want to see Bai Xue's silly appearance!
Instead, he simply carried out a 10-pound bag of flour and a 10-pound bag of rice from inside the house.
"Here you go, are you happier now?"
Bai Xue was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped.
"Big brother, I need to cling to your big brother!"
Then I became very enthusiastic about cooking!
I'm preparing to steam big white flour buns. Looking at the white flour, I get more and more addicted to kneading the dough.
Then, while the dough was rising, I made spicy pork belly, eggplant with minced garlic, stir-fried radish with lard, and an egg drop soup!
After finishing, in the spirit of professionalism, he delivered two large steamed buns to Su Yunzhou and divided each dish into thirds.
I ladled out a big bowl of soup!
Huang Ying and the other former educated youth were cooking in the front yard, and the smell from the back yard made them very hungry!
"What did they do? It smells like meat again," Huang Ying said jealously.
“No matter what we make, we’ll have to bring it over and eat it with them in a bit, right? We can finally have a better meal!” Another female educated youth said with a deep breath, completely absorbed in the moment.
Huang Ying laughed: "That's true! They seem to be nice people, quite generous!"
These words carried a deeper meaning, making the faces of the new educated youth helping in the kitchen turn sour.
Chen Lan and Wang Hongying exchanged a glance. The two of them didn't have much money, so they pooled their resources to buy a plate of fried peanuts!
The portion is too small!
The male educated youth were alright; one of them contributed a bottle of canned oranges, and the other contributed a can of meat!
No matter what, it's still meat!
The meal was ready quickly, and a large bowl of stew with a bit of pork fat and meat was served!
The staple food was the same as usual: steamed buns made from a mixture of dark flour and cornmeal!
Today, I can take the blame and eat!
"Why haven't their relatives from the backyard arrived yet? And what are they bringing?"
As she spoke, Bai Xue brought over a large plate...
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