Chapter 9: Cooking in an era of poverty but opportunity



Why is Jiang Miaomiao so impressed by Zhao Ruyan? In addition to being brainwashed by the image that can be seen everywhere in shopping malls and on the streets on TV, the biggest reason is the man in her previous life!

Although she was not jealous of a movie star, the contrast between the man's overly strong attitude made her feel uncomfortable.

Zhao Ruyan was the goddess in everyone's heart, and was held in high esteem, while Jiang Miaomiao was just a yellow-faced woman with a greasy face and greasy hands, and no one wanted to even look at her.

Even when she turned on the TV and accidentally saw Song Wei Zheng, the man quickly ordered her to change the channel so as not to interfere with them watching Zhao Ruyan.

Jiang Miaomiao was submissive and accustomed to it. She felt numb at heart and didn't feel anything at the time.

But now that she was reborn, when she saw Song Yuxue, who looked almost exactly like Zhao Ruyan, she came to her senses. It turned out that she was so impressed by Zhao Ruyan that she even gritted her teeth.

Song Yuxue is only eight years old now, but she already has the outline and facial features of a beauty. Zhao Ruyan from the previous generation, even in her thirties or forties, still looks as young as a girl. Jiang Miaomiao could tell at a glance that the two looked very similar, except that one was a child and the other was an adult.

When Jiang Miaomiao was busy in the restaurant in her previous life, she vaguely heard those men talking about Zhao Ruyan, who had very good resources since her debut. Many people thought that she must have a strong backing, and most likely a sponsor. When talking about this, the men always cursed her and felt that the goddess was not worth it. At the same time, with a malicious smile, they fantasized about the goddess's charm in bed.

Jiang Miaomiao used to despise them, thinking that big stars were nothing more than this. If someone supported her in the same way, maybe she could become famous too!

Now she came to her senses a little. Could it be that Zhao Ruyan's financial backer was Song Weizheng?

Zhao Ruyan and Song Yuxue look so similar, and they are probably about the same age. If they are not sisters, then they are the same person! It is normal for her brother Song Weizheng to promote her as a star and provide her with resources.

There was only one thing Jiang Miaomiao couldn't figure out, which was why she was called Zhao Ruyan at that time, instead of Song Yuxue? Did she change her stage name on purpose?

Jiang Miaomiao was thinking about these things while walking, and her steps were slow. Song Guoqiang, the scorekeeper, happened to pass by and saw her walking slowly on the ridge. He immediately grabbed her by the hair and yelled at her.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Song Guoqiang pointed at Jiang Miaomiao and walked towards her quickly, "Jiang Miaomiao? What are you doing outside? Are you slacking off? Deduct your work points!"

After saying this, he picked up his pen and made a few notes on the scorebook.

Jiang Miaomiao came to her senses after being yelled at by him and was startled. In the past, she would have definitely argued with him. After all, if her mother knew that her work points were deducted, she would have pinched her ears and scolded her for a long time.

But she was worried about something and had indeed sneaked away just now, so she felt guilty and went back dejectedly without refutation.

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On the other hand, Jiang Suisui was told by her grandmother to learn how to cook before getting married. Her grandmother also sympathized with Jiang Suisui for not being able to get up too early in the morning, so she decided that she would be the one to prepare lunch for the family in the future.

Jiang Sui Sui has no objection to cooking. In her previous life, when she was recuperating at home, cooking was one of her great leisure activities. She can fry, stir-fry, steam, and stew, and can cook Chinese and Western dishes. If her parents were not afraid that she would be tired, she would have taken over all the cooking work done by the aunt at home.

There is no way, because of her health, she has to avoid many foods and cannot eat whatever she wants. Jiang Suisui longs for everything she cannot touch, such as a healthy body and delicacies that she wants to eat but cannot.

So when she is in good health, she will delve into cooking. If she can't eat herself, cooking for her family is also a very happy thing. Over time, I developed some cooking skills.

Although it can't compare with that of a great chef, it's still good enough in the countryside in the 1970s when food was scarce, Jiang Suishun thought confidently.

However, when she stood in the kitchen, facing the cupboards and stove, she was stunned.

She looked up to the sky in silence, never expecting that one day she would put herself in someone else's shoes and experience what it meant to be unable to cook without rice.

The kitchen was very simple, Jiang Suinsui had experienced this before when she helped her grandmother light the fire.

But when she opened the cupboard to look for ingredients, she realized this fact even more deeply.

On the top shelf of the cabinet were the leftover salted vegetables from yesterday and two cold and hard custard buns. Below were bowls and chopsticks, a can of salt, a small can of lard, and a small bag of sugar. There was also a basket of eggs with about a dozen eggs in it. There was also a small bag of Fuqiang flour and a small bag of rice.

Next to the cabinet, there are several bags of cornmeal, a basket of potatoes and corn, some cabbages, and a jar of homemade pickled vegetables. These things piled outside are the daily food of rural families.

Jiang Suinsui has been here for several days now. Except for the first two days when he fell into the water and had to lie in bed to rest, he ate two sugar-water eggs and drank rice grits porridge. In the following days, he had to eat pickled vegetables, drink corn porridge, and occasionally have some wild vegetable soup.

She no longer needs to diet or exercise to lose weight. After eating like this for a few days, she already feels that she is starting to lose weight.

Jiang Suisui touched her gradually shrunk belly and couldn't help but smile bitterly. She really didn't understand how her original body could get fat in such an environment. She had a good appetite for the first two days, but then she couldn't stand it anymore.

The rice noodles and corn porridge were not only unpalatable, but also irritating to the throat. Moreover, there was no oil or water in the food, and even fresh vegetables were seldom eaten.

The only thing people in this period pursued about food was to eat enough.

Want to eat something delicious? You have to wait until Chinese New Year!

Jiang Suinsui, who loves food, began to despair. Which is more painful, seeing that she can't eat, or having nothing to eat at all?

She sighed, and thought to herself, just go with the flow, and everything will be fine once she gets into university next year.

That’s right, go to college!

The time point when Jiang Sui Sui traveled back was the early autumn of 1976. At this time, the college entrance examination had been suspended for ten years. According to the normal timeline, the college entrance examination would be restarted in about a year.

It was a college entrance examination of great significance for the times. It broke down the restrictions of identity, age, class and marital status. Whether workers or farmers, city dwellers or country dwellers, unmarried or married, teenagers in their teens or middle-aged people in their thirties, everyone could take part in this college entrance examination.

This was also an opportunity to change their destiny. Many educated youth who had been sent to work in the countryside for several years returned to the city through this opportunity.

Jiang Suishun sighed that she was lucky and came at the right time. As long as she seized the opportunity next year and got admitted to university, she would be able to find a way out.

College students these days are very valuable. They are guaranteed jobs upon graduation, most of which are public servants with stable jobs and state-funded salaries.

Even if the assigned job was not satisfactory, there were many other opportunities in the city. At that time, the reform and opening up had almost been completed, and people were free to do business.

This is a poor and gloomy era, but it is also an era full of opportunities. Seize the opportunity and act boldly, and you may be able to rise to the top in one step. Isn't that what the male protagonist Song Weizheng does?

Jiang Suinsui doesn't have any ambitions. She just wants to have a good job, buy a small house of her own, and live a comfortable and contented life. If possible, she would also like to bring her grandparents over to live with her and enjoy their old age.

As for the present stage, she has not considered speculation or profiteering. Dawn is coming, isn't it better to live in peace and stability? If she gets caught for speculation and profiteering, wouldn't it be a loss?

Making money is important, but Jiang Suisui feels that her little heart cannot bear the excitement of speculation.

And according to her observation, it is really not easy to do this business. The village only goes to the town to catch the market once a month, and the only way is to take a bullock cart, where people sit together in a crowded manner. Bullock carts don't wait for people, and you have to go and come back on time. What you bring and what you buy, people can see clearly.

Unless you walk dozens of miles to the town, it is almost impossible to do something secretly.

What's more, as a cannon fodder female supporting role who accidentally "stole" the male lead, with the female lead watching closely, Jiang Sui Sui said that the pressure was really great. So it's better to be careful and not act rashly.

Just focus on preparing for the college entrance examination, Jiang Suisui clenched his fist silently.

In her previous life, she dropped out of high school due to health reasons. Although she had a tutor at home, she was still unsure about the college entrance examination. In addition, the textbooks and test points of this era should be different from those in the future, so she also needed to adapt and prepare in advance.

In fact, I almost studied to high school. However, during that period, the college entrance examination was abolished and the idea that studying was useless became popular among the people. I was not a person who loved studying, so I simply gave up after graduating from junior high school.

Fortunately, the original elementary and junior high school textbooks are still there. Although there are only Chinese and arithmetic, Jiang Suisui still took them out and prepared to take a good look at them.

As for the high school textbooks, Jiang Suisui planned to wait until the villagers rushed to the town to look around and see if she could buy them.

Therefore, Jiang Suinsui, who was thinking about taking the college entrance examination, felt a little relieved and no longer frowned when looking at the scarce food in front of her.

Oh, I just think of it as a way to lose weight. It's just a pity that there is no place to show off my cooking skills.

Oil was in short supply these days, and lard was even more precious, being used only during festivals. She would never use that small can of lard to cook, or her grandmother would be heartbroken.

Rice and flour cannot be eaten casually.

White sugar is an even rarer commodity and is used to entertain guests.

There weren’t many vegetables at home, and Jiang Suinsui couldn’t waste them without grandma’s permission.

Jiang Suinsui looked around, shrugged, and helplessly scooped a bowl of cornmeal, preparing to cook it later.

What cooking skills are needed? Boil water and add corn, done.


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