Seeing that the topic had gone off track, Xu Mian smiled and took her sister home.

In the evening, although Xu Bing had not yet returned home, he had already heard the news that Xu Sui was going to be a teacher.

There are many people in the family compound who are envious, and some people are also thinking about whether they can ask their younger brothers or sisters to come over and find a job on the island.

But I quickly gave up the idea.

Xu Sui was able to apply because it was difficult to recruit workers. For most jobs, you only need to meet the academic requirements. These jobs are basically only for family members of troops or locals.

Most of their family members come from the countryside, and it is considered a blessing if they can finish primary school. Even those from the city are willing to go to the island.

Although there was no meat or fruit to sell, Xu Mian still went to the supply and marketing cooperative and spent 70 cents to buy a bag of peach cakes.

The peach cakes of this era are made with lard puff pastry, which Xu Sui finds greasy and sticky, but for others, whether adults or children, they are a rare delicacy.

Also due to the limitations of the times, most people lack oil and water in their stomachs.

Although Xu Bing's monthly salary was high, he had to support a family of four, give money to his hometown, pay favors, and often buy meat.

But compared to many people, their lives are pretty good.

Xu Mian didn't care that Tuantuan and Yuanyuan hadn't started school yet. She gave each of them a piece and then handed the whole bag of peach cakes to Xu Sui.

She said seriously, "Today's peach cakes are for you because your aunt studied hard and passed a very difficult exam, so mommy gave you a bag of peach cakes as a reward. If you study hard and get good grades in the future, mommy will also give you rewards."

The peach cakes were really delicious. Tuan Tuan's little mouth was filled with them. Without thinking, he replied vaguely, "Mom, I will definitely study hard and buy peach cakes."

Tuantuan also said: "I really want to go to school soon. I can get rewards when I go to school. I want to eat glutinous rice noodles."

Xu Sui was crying and laughing, "Sister, they are still a few years away from going to school, they will remember everything by then."

"You understand now, right?"

Xu Mian whispered, "Have you heard them talk about the chief of staff's wife? She's from a wealthy peasant family, but she doesn't allow her children to play with the children in the compound. She thinks it's dirty and doesn't care about manners. She taught her children to read as soon as they could speak. We met her last time, and the child looked just like other children."

"Although I'm used to her style, I've definitely learned the good things about teaching children."

She looked outside the door. "Although you are now required to take the college entrance exam, if you look at where people are being recruited without a degree, it's always good to study hard."

Xu Mian was forced to give up studying because of the famine. Later, students in school did not study hard, but they kept thinking about pouring water all day long, and the teachers could do nothing about it. She was the one who saw this kind of behavior the most.

I have warned my younger brothers and sisters many times before that no matter what their classmates do, they have learned everything in the textbooks and can spend a day in school in vain.

Therefore, Xu Sui and Xu Weiguo's grades were both wrong.

Xu Bing came back from outside, holding a bag of peach cakes in his hand. "I came back from the army. On the way, people told me that Sui Sui became a teacher, so I bought some peach cakes to celebrate."

Xu Mian burst out laughing, "Why did you buy peach cakes too!"

Xu Sui couldn't help laughing.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan immediately rushed over and hugged Xu Bing's thighs, their eyes sparkling.

Xu Bing also saw the peach cake in Xu Sui's arms and scratched his head, "There are only a few things here."

Xu Sui asked curiously: "Sister, where did you buy that apple?"

In addition to the peach cakes, Xu Bing also had a net bag of apples in his hand.

You can buy fruit if you go early in the morning. When she and Xu Mian went there, they didn't see any apples for sale.

Xu Bing raised his eyebrows and handed it to her, "This apple can be bought from a local store. Someone asked me to give it to you."

The apples are big and yellowish in color, but they taste crispy and sweet.

"We met last night, and he sent me something today." Xu Mian was in high spirits, "This is very important."

Xu Sui was shy and took the apple directly. "Tuan Tuan Yuan Yuan, you guys should learn pinyin with me tomorrow. If you know five pinyin, I will give you an apple."

Tuantuan responded loudly, "Okay."

Yuanyuan whispered, "I just want to learn pinyin now."

Xu Sui smiled and went to wash a few apples. "Let's eat them today and learn some extra ones tomorrow."

Last night, Lu Chenghuai brought over a jar of honey and two bags of beef jerky. The beef jerky looked like it was made at home. It was a very solid gift.

Xu Sui asked Xu Mian to put the honey in the kitchen so that everyone could drink it together. She opened a bag of beef jerky and tried it. It tasted pretty good. It was suitable as a snack.

She thought she should give him a gift in return.

The only thing you can buy on the island is not a lot of things suitable for giving as gifts, and it is not too late to give clothes as gifts.

Xu Sui thought about it and decided to make a dish for Xu Bing to take over.

The next morning, Xu Sui went to buy meat.

She still had some money on her. Zhang Yunxiu had originally given her some pocket money here and for the fare to go home. Now that she had found a job here, she could use the money.

Xu Sui arrived early and there was already a long line at the meat counter. Fortunately, people of that era were more interested in juicy and greasy meat. When it was her turn, only the pork fat was sold out.

Xu Sui bought two pounds of pork belly and spent more than one yuan on meat coupons.

She looked so much that she naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Xu Sui was very calm. She simply returned the gift to Lu Chenghuai and also wanted to cook for her sister, killing two birds with one stone.

After buying the meat, she went to the side counter to buy some spices.

When she passed by the fruit counter, she took a look and saw that the daily supply was still apples, so she didn't buy any.

When she was in an orphanage in her previous life, she did not help in the kitchen of the orphanage when she grew up. She could cook more complicated dishes, and even stir-fried dishes were very good, but she was not good at learning hard dishes, and she only knew how to make delicious dishes by watching the heat.

Braised pork is such a dish.

When Xu Sui returned home, Xu Mian had just woken up.

Xu Mian knew that she was going to return the gift, so she asked, "Sui Sui, do you need any help?"

"No need." Xu Sui shook her head and asked, "By the way, sister, don't we have a clay pot at home?"

"One." Xu Mian went to the cabinet and took it out. "This belongs to your sister's friend. Later, he was transferred to another place, and the clay pot was given to you."

Xu Mian cut the pork belly into pieces and blanched it with rice wine. She might have been extravagant enough to use sugar to stir-fry sugar color. The meat blanched in rice wine would be easier to color when fried. She also added a little fermented bean curd juice.

Pour out the frying oil, transfer to a casserole, put in the spices, add boiling water, simmer on low heat for an hour and a half, then add salt to thicken the sauce.

Xu Sui yawned, then sat by the stove holding a newspaper. When the time was almost up, he added a handful of firewood and stirred the food while collecting the juice.

When the soup was almost reduced, the braised pork with fermented bean curd sauce gradually turned bright red in color, and the fragrance attracted Xu Mian.

"This braised pork is really good." Xu Mian exclaimed: "It looks exactly like the braised pork made by the chef of the state-owned hotel."

She had only eaten it once when she and Xu Bing got married, and she had been thinking about this dish ever since.