Chapter 4: Old Hand
The next day, Grandma Su got up to make breakfast and saw that there was no movement in her granddaughter's room. She thought that she had studied too late last night and slept in the morning.
It was holiday now and she didn't have to get up early, so Grandma Su didn't disturb her.
Unexpectedly, when the breakfast had grown cold, there was still no movement in Su Xiaoli's room, and Grandma Su then felt something was wrong.
When I entered the room, I saw the bedding was neatly folded and there was no one in the room.
Just when I was about to go out to look for someone, I saw Su Xiaoli coming back with a sack on his back and a basket on his arm.
Su Xiaoli put down the sack on his back. The living creatures inside were suffocated and fluttered around, making a few "cackle" sounds from time to time.
"How did you get covered in mud so early in the morning? Oh, your arm is cut!"
Su Xiaoli was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and her arms were covered with bloody scratches of varying depths left by reed leaves and broken stones.
Grandma Su hurriedly took the basket from Su Xiaoli's arm. It was heavy and full of fresh wild duck eggs.
"Grandma, can you make salted duck eggs?" Su Xiaoli looked at her grandmother with anticipation.
"Yes, but we can't eat so much."
"If we can't finish it, we can sell it. My aunt took the money away from home, so I have to earn some money for tuition."
"Ah? This... is it taboo? I won't be arrested for speculation again, right?"
A few years ago, Grandma Su saw farmers going to the city to sell agricultural products and being arrested on the street. She was quite hesitant about doing small business.
"Don't worry. In addition to the salted duck eggs, let's stew the duck. Grandma, I don't know how to cook. At most, I can help." Su Xiaoli said, pointing at the sack.
Grandma Su's attention was successfully diverted. She stopped worrying about it and picked up the sack and walked towards the backyard.
Su Xiaoli had thought it through last night. The water in the canal is used to ensure water supply for cities in the county and to irrigate farmland in rural areas, but the aquatic products in it are ownerless.
The channel connects the county water plant and the farmland in the village. Now is the busy farming season and no one has the time to look for wild duck eggs, which is a good opportunity for her to pick up some.
However, you probably won’t make much money by selling duck eggs directly. At least there has to be a processing process, with added value, so that you can earn twice the money for your effort.
In Su Xiaoli's memory, every summer, her father Su Jianguo would bring her and her mother to the canal to catch fish and ducks. The family's laughter was heard in the reed marshes and beside the floodway.
Before dawn this morning, she found a few reeds based on her memory and picked up more than 40 duck eggs.
He also took advantage of the wild ducks' carelessness and captured three big ducks alive. He was busy for half the morning before returning home.
"Grandma, let's pickle the duck eggs and sell them after the oil comes out in a few days. Take out the duck in the morning and stew it in the afternoon. When the unit gets off work, I will go to the gate of the family compound in front to sell it."
Su Xiaoli's eyes were sparkling and she made all the arrangements clearly.
The grandparents were busy all day. Except for lunch when Grandma Su helped in the canteen as usual, the rest of the time was spent stewing the duck.
Grandma Su originally wanted to pickle the duck eggs first, but she had no wine and not enough salt, so she had to give up.
At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, bursts of tempting aroma wafted from the small bungalow.
Su Xiaoli served out two bowls, leaving one for her grandmother to eat in the evening. She carried the other bowl and walked into the front yard unit and came to the door of Li Zhengde, director of Shouzhengqu's office.
"Is Uncle Li here? It's me, Su Xiaoli." Su Xiaoli knocked on the half-open door.
"Xiao Li, why are you here?" It was almost time to get off work. Li Zhengde had just received his salary today and was in a good mood. He was planning to go back after reading the newspaper, but was quite surprised to see Su Xiaoli visiting him.
Li Zhengde and Su Xiaoli's father Su Jianguo are colleagues in the same system, but one takes the administrative route and the other takes the technical route.
The two of them were partners for a period of time back then.
Su Jianguo, together with several young men from the Water Conservancy Bureau and Shouzheng Canal, worked day and night to thoroughly dredge the river channel of Shouzheng Canal. They also repaired the collapsed parts of the spillway before the heavy rain. Shouzheng Canal was then truly put to use.
Li Zhengde is truly worthy of the position of director.
Otherwise, in the final analysis, Shouzheng Canal is just an abandoned old canal and a smelly ditch, and the position of office director is a cold bench that the old cadres who have retired to the second line are unwilling to sit on.
After some interactions, Li Zhengde truly admired Su Jianguo's skills and hard work, and he also took good care of Su Xiaoli's family.
Not only was Grandma Su arranged to help in the kitchen, but they were also allowed to continue living in the small bungalow after Su Jianguo passed away.
"Uncle Li, my grandma stewed some duck meat and asked me to bring some to you. You can take it back and try it with Aunt Zhang." Su Xiaoli looked well-behaved.
"Hey, why are you being so polite, grandma? Just keep it for yourselves." Li Zhengde declined.
"This duck is quite fat. Try it. These two duck legs are stewed until they are soft."
People were generally short of oil and water these days, and the aroma kept stimulating Li Zhengde, who was a little hungry.
The leader of the family only cooks meat dishes for the family once or twice a week. All the fried meat is put into his son Li Cunzhi's bowl, and he can only watch with envy.
Now, the duck soup in my hand is neither cold nor hot, and has an tempting aroma. The orange duck fat floats on the milky white soup, and two big duck legs are squeezed together.
Li Zhengde was no longer polite and said, "Thank you!" Before he finished speaking, he picked up the bowl and took a big sip of the duck soup.
Fresh! Rich! Grandma Su’s cooking skills are really good. The duck has no fishy smell at all.
Li Zhengde took a big sip but still felt unsatisfied, so he picked up a piece of duck meat and put it into his mouth.
The duck was stewed to perfection, the gravy was rich and melted in the mouth, and Li Zhengde felt like he was going to heaven after taking a bite.
Seeing Su Xiaoli smiling, he felt a little embarrassed as an elder.
"Your grandma's cooking skills are really good. I haven't eaten oily food for a long time. Your Aunt Zhang is reluctant to buy meat..."
Su Xiaoli hesitated and half opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
"Little Li girl, I see that you don't look like you came here just to give me a bowl of duck."
Li Zhengde is indeed a veteran in the government. He feels that Su Xiaoli has something on her mind today.
Su Xiaoli didn't beat around the bush with him, "Uncle Li, I'm really unsure about a little thing, so I wanted to ask you if it's okay?"
"Go ahead and tell me." Li Zhengde encouraged her.
"It's autumn break now. You know, my father got a city hukou after being admitted to university, so he no longer has any land in his hometown. But the school requires everyone to hand in 20 kilograms of grain when school starts..."
The town middle school where Su Xiaoli is located is built on the fringe of urban and rural areas. There are many country children in the school. The school has four holidays every year: spring break, wheat break, autumn break, and winter break.
The four holidays are not long, only about ten to twenty days. Except for the winter vacation, the other three holidays are completely arranged according to the rhythm of the busy farming season.
Especially the wheat harvest holiday and autumn vacation, these two holidays are definitely not relaxing for both teachers and students.
Dear ones, the new book is tentatively scheduled to be updated twice a day. Do you prefer it to be updated in the morning or in the evening?
(End of this chapter)
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