Chapter 6 Yellow Hot Pot
Although there are candles and lamp oil in the homes, the villagers of Guojia Village still maintain the custom of working at sunrise and resting at sunset, since candlelight is a precious thing.
Ordinary white candles cost twenty-five coins each, while beehive candles, which are prone to emitting black smoke and are used up quickly, cost twelve coins each. So unless there was something important happening at night, ordinary people really couldn't bear to light them.
As dawn broke and the first light appeared, Grandma Guo was already up. When Guo Baiwen got up, he saw her kneading dough and making pancakes in the kitchen. She was using dark flour that they had on hand before; mixed flour was finer and whiter, and they were saving it for the New Year and other holidays.
The patched sleeves were tied with blue straps, and an apron was tied in the front with old cloth. His hands were covered with black flour, and he looked very skilled at kneading dough.
She kneaded the dough, squeezed it into small pieces, and was about to press them when she noticed Guo Baiwen standing in the doorway, staring at her intently. Grandma Guo was startled and couldn't help but pat her chest, asking, "Wen'er, why do you walk so quietly? You scared me to death! Are you hungry? Go wash up first, and Grandma will start making pancakes in a bit."
Guo Baiwen was a little embarrassed that he had startled his grandmother by standing there. He quickly waved his hand and said, "I'm not very hungry, Grandma. Don't worry. I came here to get you a new toothbrush."
"A new toothbrush?" Grandma Guo patted the flour off her hands and took the bamboo-handled toothbrush. "Did you buy this in the county yesterday? It must have cost a lot of money."
This looks much more refined than the willow twigs they used before. It not only comes with toothbrush bristles but also has a bamboo handle for easy gripping. They had to bite one end of the willow twig open every day to apply tooth powder, but it was quite cheap. A large bundle only cost two coins, enough for them to use for a month.
She had been hesitant to speak since yesterday, and after glancing at the jar of toothpaste, she finally couldn't hold back. "Wenzai, Grandma knows you're happy that you've made money, but picking mountain produce isn't a job you can do every day. You still need to be careful with the money you have."
"Grandma, I know. We've already bought these things, it would be a waste to leave them unused." Guo Baiwen obediently agreed on the surface, but in his heart he knew that he still needed to find a stable way to make money, otherwise he would have to use the things he took out from the system secretly. "After we finish eating, I'll call Xiaohua and we'll go to the back to collect some firewood with our baskets."
Guojia Village is located halfway up the mountain, at a higher altitude than the foot of the mountain, and the weather is colder there. The farmland on the slopes needs to be tended and fertilized at this time of year, as only one crop can be grown each year due to the cold winter. It's late October, the off-season for farming; although winter hasn't officially arrived, the weather is already getting colder.
There are still several months until the spring sowing season in late March or early April of next year. And when winter comes, it might even snow. If we go to collect firewood then, we'll probably freeze.
"Okay, then be careful when gathering firewood, and don't go too far into the mountains, it's not safe."
"Okay, we'll just pick them up outside and be back before noon."
Knowing that her grandchildren would be gathering firewood later, she made a few extra pancakes and ground some beans. She chopped them up with the greens she had just picked that morning and mixed them with a little lard and salt to make a filling. She planned to make black flour pancakes with bean curd and greens, which would be more flavorful and filling than plain black flour pancakes.
After breakfast, Guo Baiwen and Xiaohua carried baskets on their backs, each taking a wrapped black flour cake and hemp rope to collect firewood, while Grandma Guo went out to buy some cheap and sturdy farm cloth from Granny Liao's house in the village.
Grandma Liao was a skilled weaver in the village. The loom she used was said to have been passed down to her by her mother-in-law and was quite old. The homespun cloth she wove wasn't as pretty, breathable, or patterned as the fine cloth from the county town, but it was cheap and sturdy. She planned to choose a piece of cloth with a color that wouldn't easily get dirty, cut out the garment pieces in advance, and then go to the county town to buy some cotton. She would stuff the cotton in, sew up the edges, and she'd have a decent-looking new cotton-padded coat.
After making three garments, there should still be some fabric left over. By piecing together the extra scraps, you might be able to make a few new pairs of shoes.
Once you leave your home and enter the village, it's much livelier outside. Everyone in the village is awake, and you can hear countless noises—the crowing of roosters in someone's yard, the chirping of birds flying across the sky, the sound of footsteps walking back and forth on the road, the crackling of firewood being chopped, the involuntary coughing and the chilling sound of spitting, and the sounds of people greeting each other when they meet.
Guo Baiwen didn't know many people in the village yet, but luckily he brought Guo Xiaohua along today. The little girl had a sweet tongue and would greet anyone she met on the way. He followed along, trying to quickly match faces and names in his mind.
Good morning, Uncle Stone!
Good morning, Sister-in-law Xiuxiu!
"Hey, isn't this Wenzai? You've recovered completely?!"
"Are Wenzai and Xiaohua going to collect firewood together?"
"Well, I was almost fully recovered the day before yesterday. Grandma told me to rest at home more."
"We're almost out of firewood at home, so we came out to collect some more."
"Yes, thankfully we don't have to work in the fields now, otherwise your grandma would have had a hard time."
"With the weather getting colder, we're using up firewood very quickly."
After walking for so long, Guo Baiwen finally emerged from the main road of the village. Looking at the woods not far away, he took a deep breath and went in.
A thick morning mist rose in the woods, leaving few withered branches on the ground. The firewood in the outer areas had already been mostly gathered. Remembering Grandma Guo's instructions, he only ventured a little further in. While picking up firewood, he remembered to call out Guo Xiaohua's name every now and then, and only after hearing her distant response would he continue picking up firewood.
The air was filled with the chill of late autumn and the smell of grass and earth. Their baskets were almost full, and they were now quite far from the edge of the forest.
This area has been explored to the point that it's unlikely you'll find any unexpected bird eggs, and there aren't many animal tracks nearby either. If you venture any further in, you're likely to get lost in the woods.
Guo Baiwen straightened up, ready to go back, and called out Xiaohua's name again as he slung the basket over his shoulder.
The little girl's reply was a few beats slower than before, and he could vaguely hear the sound of water.
It was already approaching noon, and the midday sun dispelled the mist in the forest, making the view much wider.
Guo Baiwen then noticed that within this small forest, there was a slowly flowing stream, seemingly originating from the mountaintop and gradually widening into a fairly deep creek as it flowed down the mountainside. As he approached, he saw Xiaohua lying by the stream, holding an upside-down bamboo basket that had originally been used for carrying firewood.
A pile of firewood she had just picked up lay scattered on the ground. "Isn't the water cold?" Fortunately, the water wasn't very deep, and Xiaohua was careful. Although she didn't understand why she had stepped barefoot into the stream, she only stayed near the edge of the water and didn't go any further.
"Brother, look! Look what I just caught!"
Guo Baiwen then noticed the two palm-sized, deep yellow fish trapped in the basket. He couldn't recognize what kind of fish they were, but Xiao Hua was very happy to see them. "These are yellow catfish. We can take them back and have Grandma make fish soup!"
"Xiaohua is really amazing. She can catch fish without using any bait." Guo Baiwen didn't hold back his praise. The little girl was really impressive.
She came to collect firewood, but she got carried away and went fishing and was praised. Xiaohua felt a little embarrassed and slowly walked ashore from the shallow water. "I broke off a little bit of Grandma's black flour cake into my basket."
I was just thinking of giving it a try, but I never expected to actually succeed.
"That little flower is quite impressive, but now that the weather is cold, please don't take off your shoes and go into the water like that next time, or you'll easily get sick."
"I understand, brother."
The basket contained two fish, and it was so wet that it couldn't hold any dry firewood. Luckily, he had brought hemp rope. Guo Baiwen used the hemp rope to tie up the firewood scattered on the ground and then tied it to his basket. Xiaohua didn't carry the basket anymore; she just carried the wet basket with both hands and went home together.
When they got home, Grandma was holding two old clothes and gesturing on the new cloth, trying to figure out how to cut them. When she saw Xiaohua coming back with a basket on her back, she put down what she was holding and came over to see.
"Oh my, Xiaohua, you even caught a yellow catfish today!"
"Hey, my brother praised me for being amazing today too."
The little girl filled a basin with water, put the two fish that were already on the verge of death into it, and poked them with her hand. Seeing that they were still breathing, she had already decided their fate. "Grandma, shall we have fish soup tonight?"
"You little glutton ate meat yesterday, and now you want fish soup?"
Grandma Guo chuckled and rubbed her nose. "This fish won't keep until tomorrow. If you want fish soup, then have it." She then playfully punched Guo Baiwen's shoulder to help him relax. "Did you make your brother go gather firewood by himself again?"
"No, I caught the fish after I finished gathering firewood." Guo Xiaohua was a little guilty, and her voice became softer and softer. "But if I caught fish, I couldn't put firewood in the basket, so my brother helped me carry it back."
“Then you’ll have to make the extra trip,” Grandma Guo said, taking out a copper coin. “Go to the needle and thread shop next to Grandma Liao’s and buy some salted tofu.”
Actually, soft tofu would be better for stewing fish soup, but no one in the village makes tofu. This needle and thread shop is a very small general store in the village. On weekdays, it sells farm tools, oil, salt, and common needles and thread. The salted tofu they sell is also bought from down the mountain; although it's a bit hard, it keeps well.
Even if no one in the village comes to buy tofu, the unsold brine tofu can be sliced, dried, and turned into delicious dried tofu. Some greedy children will pester their families to buy a few slices as a snack.
"Okay." Guo Xiaohua's mind was full of the fish soup she could have for dinner, so she didn't mind making the extra trip.
Grandma Guo made a lot of dark brown pancakes this morning, and there are still a few left. She'll heat them up together in the pan; that'll be enough for three people. She took the fish out of the basin, tapped it a couple of times, and deftly began scaling and gutting it. After cleaning the fish, she made two slits on its surface. Then she heated the pan with cold oil. She'd already used lard to make the pancakes this morning, so she used cheaper soybean oil to fry the fish, which made it very fragrant.
Pan-fried fish makes the soup whiter, so she poured some more hot water into the pot, and white steam spread out from the pot. She then covered the pot and began to simmer.
Guo Baiwen was chopping firewood in the yard, while Xiaohua kept an eye on the fire and kept stuffing firewood into the stove to keep it burning.
The pot was bubbling and the white broth was boiling. When Grandma Guo saw that it was almost done, she put the chopped tofu in and continued to simmer. Finally, when it was done, she sprinkled some salt and chopped green onions on top.
Then he scooped out a small dish of pickled radishes and carried it out of the kitchen along with the fish soup.
Yellow catfish is a common type of fish here. Its flesh is delicate and it doesn't have many small bones. Catching one this season is a pleasant surprise.
Like yesterday's steamed egg custard, the tofu and fish soup is also soft. This bowl has the unique sweetness of yellow catfish and the oiliness of tofu. The fish is so tender that you hardly need to chew it.
The three of them held a black flatbread in one hand and a bowl of fish soup in the other, and the meal made their stomachs feel much better.
A note from the author:
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Yellow catfish is really delicious!
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