Miss Zhou San saw that she was working hard without saying a word. She thought that she had not offended her, and how dare a young wife give her a bad look? She would wait for her second sister-in-law to come back and have a good talk with her.
Yang Chunyan glanced at Miss Zhou San, who had a dark face, and covered the steamer. After weighing it with a beam scale, she found that there were still three pounds and two ounces of rice excluding the skin. She handed the money to her, "Here you go, a total of 1.6 yuan."
Miss Zhou San saw that she had earned more than one yuan in just the morning. She thought that since no one went to pick mushrooms on her hill, and everyone in her family went up the hill to pick mushrooms, it would be no problem for her to earn more than ten yuan a day.
When he saw the money she handed over, he immediately forgot his dissatisfaction and took it happily, "Oh! I heard from your third aunt that it was because you knew this kind of red mushroom that they asked you to help collect it. It's really a blessing for the youngest to have you as his wife!"
Yang Chunyan smiled faintly, did not answer her, and took the scissors to start picking up the red mushrooms.
When the sun is bright, pick the red mushrooms and dry them in three or four days of sun.
"Miss San!" Zhou Huaian leaned against the door frame and looked at her with a sly smile, "It is of course my blessing for a idiot like me to marry Chunyan."
He still remembered that in Chunyan's dream, her grandfather passed away. When the concubines came home, they did not go to the first room or the third room to make trouble, but pointed at the house to make trouble, saying that Chunyan's words not only made the old man so angry that he fell ill.
The ladies all have similar personalities. They despise the poor and love the rich, and they are typical people who only pick on the weak.
"Your grandma always said that you have a promising future. She has a good eye. Not only has your family built a brick house, but they even bought a tractor. You are the first in the Funiu Brigade!"
"Then don't tell my grandfather that my grandpa feels sorry for me and that I'm a fool!"
"Miss San used to talk to you earnestly because she wanted you to learn well!"
"Oh! So that's how it is!"
Miss Zhou San blushed and looked at him in reproach, "You are my nephew, of course I hope you have ability, so I can have face too!"
"I understand." Zhou Huaian turned around and walked away with the carrying pole.
Miss Zhou San looked at Yang Chunyan, who was picking up red mushrooms, with a look of embarrassment, "This youngest one is still the same as before, she is so good at talking."
"oh!"
Miss Zhou San looked at her indifferent expression and could no longer sit still. "I'm going to the back hill to help your mother harvest corn."
Yang Chunyan looked up at her and said, "Okay!"
On Wednesday, Concubine walked away as if she was running away.
Yang Chunyan took the cleaned red mushrooms to the backyard, poured them into a winnowing basket, spread them out to dry, then went back to the kitchen to filter out the vermicelli and started to cook it.
Although it is troublesome to make homemade vermicelli, it has a smooth and chewy texture, and is glutinous but not greasy.
Put the bean paste, star anise, cinnamon and ginger slices in the pan and stir-fry until fragrant. Pour in the ribs and dragon bones and stir-fry until the oil comes out. Add water and bring to a boil. Then cook for another ten minutes. Put the vermicelli in the colander into the pan and cook.
Add some onions when serving. The vermicelli will absorb the fresh flavor of the bone broth, and its softness and tenderness make it even more refreshing and pleasant.
Zhou Huaian carried the earth melon into the kitchen and looked at her with a smile, "Miss San said in the field that you have a dull temper. You have only said a few words to her since she came in."
"What's there to say to her!" Yang Chunyan brought the rice steamer to the stove, "How many more are left to choose?"
"There are still four or five more to go. You can probably finish the job by frying another squash." Zhou Huaian stretched his neck to look at the vermicelli in the pot and swallowed his saliva. "It smells so good!"
"Half a pot of vermicelli, it will keep you full later." Yang Chunyan smiled and gave him a piece of pork ribs. "Remember to call Xiaoqian to the construction site and ask big brother and the others to come back for dinner."
"Hmm!" Zhou Huaian finished eating two bites and leaned over to look at her, "Wife, I heard there is another way..."
"Get lost~" Yang Chunyan's hands were full, she glared at him and stepped on his foot, "Shame on you, get out of here as far as you can."
"...Ah..." Zhou Huaian sat on the stool holding his foot, rubbing the instep of his foot that was stepped on, "Evil woman, your foot is broken, who will do all the work?"
Yang Chunyan gave him a look, "..."
Seeing that she was really angry, Zhou Huaian touched his nose awkwardly, "Okay, okay, I'm shameless, I won't mention it again in the future!"
"I don't want to bother with you, just go to work."
"Alas!" Zhou Huaian deliberately limped out, "What a miserable life! I have to work after getting kicked."
Yang Chunyan glanced at him, picked up a few ground melons, peeled them and washed them, then cut the ribs into thin slices and chopped green peppers and stir-fried the pork.
After dinner, Miss Zhou San hurried home.
Yang Chunyan turned her head and looked at Zhou's mother, "Mom, you stay at home this afternoon. Huai'an and I will go to the mountains to collect herb seeds and dig herbs to plant."
"Yes, you are in early pregnancy now, so don't carry too heavy a weight. Let Huai'an carry it all!"
"Yeah!" Yang Chunyan went back to her room and started packing.
*****
Zhou Huaian also came to Zhou Yiding's house. Seeing Zhou Yiding lying on a recliner with his eyes narrowed listening to the radio, he walked up to him and slapped the table: "Get up, Master Zhou."
Zhou Yiding was so frightened that he trembled, opened his eyes and saw him, "You son of a bitch, you scared me!"
Zhou Huaian sat on the table and looked at him, "You're scared already, where's your courage?"
"I'll try to scare you next time!" Zhou Yiding said, "I said I'll come to see you this afternoon, and bring my family's public grain when I go to town tomorrow."
"I just came to ask you about the public grain." Zhou Huaian reached out to turn off the radio, "How are the trees cut down on your mountain going?"
"I'm too lazy to do it myself, so I hired a few people to cut it down." Zhou Yiding stood up and said, "I'll go put on my rubber shoes and we'll go take a look."
"Well! The day after tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival. Will Uncle Daqing come down the mountain to celebrate?"
"No one was on duty, so my younger sister and I went up the mountain to accompany him. We went up the mountain after paying our taxes."
When the two of them closed the gate and went out, they saw a charming woman walking towards them, with a pungent scent of powder wafting past them.
Zhou Huaian glanced at Zhou Yiding and said, "Fuck! Whose woman is this? She is painted like the ghost in Painted Skin. It would be strange if I don't have nightmares if I see her in the dark!"
Zhou Yiding turned his head and saw her looking back at Zhou Huaian. He turned back as if nothing had happened, "Dude, the female ghost is peeking at you!"
"Look at that shit, I'm going to have nightmares if I'm a coward!"
"I heard that this woman is worth 500 yuan, and she emptied Accountant Ye's pockets."
"So this woman is Ye Guizi's wife. No wonder Accountant Ye is worried that he can't support the family."
"From what you said, there is something inside!"
"Uncle Datian came to my house yesterday..." Zhou Huaian said, looking back, "How could Accountant Ye, who is such a smart man, marry such a woman for a cripple?"
"The lame man likes her! I heard that this girl is from Mrs. Ye's family. Her husband died of illness, and her mother is weak and incompetent. Her family is so poor that they can barely afford to eat. She still wants to find a wife for her brother. The lame man gave her a lot of betrothal gifts, so he married her."
Zhou Huaian turned his head and squinted at him, "Strange, how come you are just like the gossipy woman in the village, knowing everything?" (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com