"Ah! You made furniture for me? Then I'll go up the mountain and chop down some trees to fill in the wood for you." The one-eyed grandfather's legs were very tired from climbing the mountain, so he always paid money to hire strong laborers from the village to help him.
It was that time that she met the one-eyed grandfather. The old man was unwilling to admit defeat and went up the mountain alone, and almost didn't come back.
The one-eyed man waved his hand and said, "No need for you. I have plenty of wood. You can keep it for yourself. We need a lot of things in life, and we can't do without wood for repairs."
"I am half your master after all. It's not my duty to make furniture for you. Just think of me when you make something delicious in the future."
"Come on, come on, let's go. It's been a while since we had a proper drink," the one-eyed man said, raising his small wine cup.
Thinking that the house was empty, Chen Ye didn't hesitate to make more delicious food for the one-eyed grandfather.
Spring plowing will begin in five days. Chen Ye is very busy. First, he moved to a new house. He has no time to learn how to cook because the house is not yet tidied.
I went to the mountain to find suitable wood, cut it down, and dragged it directly to my backyard to dry. Although the basic furniture in the house was already there, there was still a lot of wood missing. Besides, I had already obtained the permit, so I felt like I would be at a loss if I didn't cut down the trees.
She also brought all the wood from her grandfather's backyard. These could be used directly, but the wet wood could not be used.
Spring plowing will begin tomorrow after a day off. She can't just stay at home and not go out to work, so she plans to go to the county town tomorrow and return the bicycle to Ershuang. She can also go to the black market to see if she can buy some seasonings.
"Sister, sister, look what this is?" Shuanzhu ran into the yard yelling.
Chen Ye was building a chicken coop. Although the chicks had not been caught yet, there were still two laying hens left at home. She didn't want the yard to be covered with chicken droppings, so she simply fenced off a small area for the chicks to run around in.
"What makes you so happy?" Chen Ye looked up and asked.
"Wow, such a big fish, where did it come from? Did grandpa go to the commune or the county town?" No way, it's not even noon yet. If he leaves the village so early, he won't be able to come back.
"Hey, this is a big fish I caught, sister, how about we cook this fish tonight?" Shuanzhu's face turned red with excitement. There are very few people in the village who can catch such a big fish. Look how amazing he is.
"What! Did you go to the deeper part of the river?"
The river in the village doesn't look wide, but there is a section where the water is particularly deep. The adults in the village always tell their children not to play there.
I don't know how many people have drowned there. The water is not only deep but also very fast. Children in the village hardly dare to go there. Even adults who are the best swimmers cannot survive there.
Shuanzhu quickly waved his hands and explained anxiously, "No, no, really not. Sister, didn't you tell me not to go there? I definitely won't go there. I caught it right where we usually play."
"Really, sister, I didn't lie to you. If you don't believe me, go ask Hu Zi and the others."
Hu Zi is Shuan Zhu's best friend. He is the youngest son of Aunt Chuncao, the second daughter-in-law of Accountant Li in the village.
"I believe you, but we agreed that we really can't go there. It's dangerous for adults to go there. With your doggy paddling skills, you guys really won't be able to get out if you fall in."
Almost all the kids in the village can swim, because there is a river in the village. But there is no fancy swimming style, they just doggy paddling.
"I know, sister. We will never go to dangerous places. I really caught this fish in the place where we usually play. Hu Zi and the others also caught one, but mine is the biggest." When he said the last sentence, Shuanzhu became proud again.
Chen Ye guessed that it must be a school of fish coming down from upstream that was encountered by these children.
So, where did the fish come from? She had been in the village for over ten years, and this was the first time she had seen a school of fish in the shallows.
"Sister, can we cook fish for dinner tonight? Can you cook fish like the ones in state-owned restaurants?"
Speaking of the fish cooked in the state-owned restaurant, Shuanzhu swallowed his saliva. He had eaten it once last year and he could still remember the taste. It was so delicious.
Chen Ye knew what kind of fish Shuanzhu was talking about. It seemed that the fish in state-owned restaurants were only cooked in one way, which was braised. But it was really delicious. She didn't know if it was because she was greedy or what, but she thought it was delicious as long as it had some meat.
"Yes, I'll try to make the same taste. We don't have all the seasonings at home," but we still have ginger and green onions that can reduce the fishy smell, as well as star anise, so it shouldn't be bad.
How could Chen Ye’s cooking skills be that good? She wasn’t born a master chef, but compared to the stews in the village that used less oil and salt, the taste was much better.
"Just take it to Grandpa's house. I don't have a well here so it's not convenient to clean it. Wait for me to go over and kill the fish later."
"Hey, don't forget that, sister."
"Don't worry, I won't forget it."
Chen Ye frowned and looked at her yard. It was really inconvenient that there was no well in the yard. She now had to fetch water from her grandfather's house. She didn't know if she could dig a well by herself.
She had seen how other people in the village dug wells, but she didn't think digging a well was that difficult. She was just worried about digging a deep pit with no water, which would be frustrating. She also didn't know how those well diggers measured whether there was water?
He shook his head and decided to tidy up the yard first. He would do it when he was free from farming. He didn't have time to do it now.
People who don't have wells are living well. There are not many families in the village who have wells, only a few. The rest of the families have to fetch water from the public well in the village.
The reason why my grandfather dug a well was because he was not able to do physical work and the place was too far from the public well in the village, so they spent a lot of money to dig the well.
In the evening, Chen Ye had a braised fish meal, and received praise from her grandfather and Shuanzhu again. But Chen Ye said that it was a bit exaggerated. The taste was not as good as the one made by a real master chef. She still had a long way to go in learning!
Early the next morning, before it was fully light, Chen Ye rode Ershuang's bicycle out of the village through the small path. She moved here so that she was close to the path, and if she didn't want others to know that she was leaving the village, this was the perfect way to go.
When she arrived in the county town, she first went to Ershuang's house to take a look. She didn't know whether this person was at work or at home. It happened to be a coincidence that Ershuang was on vacation today.
Ershuang's hair was still messy: "Ye Zi, why are you here? Didn't you say you were going back to clean up the house? Is everything clean? I was thinking I'd go over and take a look later."
"You haven't gotten up yet? Did you steal last night?" The guy spoke without even opening his eyes.
"No, you're just tired from work. Wait for me to get you some soda. Is there something missing at home?" Ye Zi wouldn't have come to the county town if there was nothing missing at home.
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