As soon as the person left, the five of them quickly packed up, sorting out blankets, clothes, sheets, and other items. The most important thing was making the beds, thankfully there are now three bedrooms that can accommodate everyone.
The five of them worked until after eight o'clock before stopping, but there was still a little bit left to tidy up. Although Liu Yun had taken the day off tomorrow, Yu Qian and his father still had to go to work, so they stopped.
It's convenient to take a shower here. You can use the toilet to shower, and you can wash in a basin in your room. It's much more convenient than the old courtyard house.
Especially the toilet. Ever since those guys in the tenement fell into the latrine one after another, Liu Yun has had a phobia of it. Every time she goes to the toilet, she has to be extra careful, afraid that she might accidentally become the next Wang brothers and the next center of attention in the new city.
The next morning, Liu Yun got up as soon as she heard the noise. The main reason was that both Yu's mother and Liu's mother were there, and she had to pretend. If there were no elders around, she would definitely have slept until Yu Qian and Yu Qian had made breakfast.
Yesterday's meal was a bit greasy, so this morning I'll just cook some porridge and a few eggs. I also happened to have some leftover vegetables from yesterday, so I figured making vegetable porridge would be a good idea; it can help with digestion and bowel movements.
There's still a lot of meat left over from yesterday. Although it's been salted, we have to eat it quickly or it will spoil.
I've pickled a lot of green beans this year, and they're ready to eat. I'll make a stir-fry of pickled green beans with minced meat—it's sour, spicy, and appetizing, and it's best eaten with porridge.
Once the porridge boils, pour out the thick, white rice water. Use a spoon to press and crush the cooked rice grains until soft. Then pour the rice water back into the pot and start cooking again. Mix the crushed rice paste with the rice water and cook until it becomes thick and soft. Then sprinkle chopped vegetables into the porridge, simmer briefly, add two drops of sesame oil, and it's ready to serve.
A pot of vegetable porridge for eight people, sixteen boiled duck eggs (one for each of the triplets), a side dish of spicy and sour radish cubes, and a bowl of pickled cowpeas with minced meat—that was more than enough.
After breakfast, Yu's father and Yu Qian went to work, while Liu Yun sewed quilt covers with her mother-in-law and mother. Although Yu's mother had made quite a few with Old Mrs. Fu before, it was impossible to bring the best new cotton quilts to make now. Liu Yun had a lot of quilts, so she only made two, claiming they were part of her daughter-in-law's dowry. Liu Yun had four quilts weighing eight jin each, not to mention two fifteen-jin quilts and two six-jin quilts. This was after making three beds; who wouldn't be envious of this?
However, cotton quilts must be aired out every year, otherwise they will turn yellow and won't be warm enough in winter. So they must be wrapped up and hidden away so as not to attract attention. If someone asks, just say that they are old ones being refurbished. It is best to make each quilt the same color and pattern so that outsiders will not know how many you have.
Liu Yun doesn't know how to make this, but she can slowly make a quilt cover. However, she doesn't know how to sew this one together with the quilt. She can only help out the two of them and take care of the triplets. The triplets don't need much care. Just put a mat on the ground next to their mother and put some toys and dried fruit on it, and they can play by themselves for a whole morning.
The dried fruit was all homemade, with no additives whatsoever, and the sugar was just the fruit's own fructose, so as long as it didn't affect their meals, Liu Yun didn't really care.
So, Yu's mother and Liu's mother sewed the quilts while the triplets played by themselves, and Liu Yun helped out. A morning passed quickly, but they had only sewed a little over two quilts. It would take another afternoon to finish.
The two continued working, while Liu Yun went to make lunch.
Liu Yun didn't try anything funny. After all, Yu's mother and Liu's mother had been in the kitchen all day yesterday, and they knew exactly what was in the kitchen. She hadn't gone out today, so she couldn't conjure up anything (although she could). She just took a bunch of water spinach, two tomatoes, two eggs, soaked some wood ear mushrooms, and took out the remaining meat, cut off some pieces, and washed off the salt.
A simple meal consisted of stir-fried wood ear mushrooms and green peppers with pork, stir-fried water spinach, tomato and egg soup, cucumber salad, and sweet potato rice (more rice than sweet potato).
After finishing their meal, the three of them continued working, opening the doors and windows, so even at midday, there was no feeling of stuffiness.
This made Liu's mother and Yu's mother envious. You see, in the south, during the hottest days of summer, it's so humid and hot that it's like being steamed in a steamer. Even if you have a fan, it's not very useful because the air you blow is hot.
Even though it's not the hottest time of the year yet, it's never been this cool at home. Last night, the windows weren't closed properly, so I had to cover myself with a blanket, otherwise the river breeze would have been too cold. How comfortable it must be during the dog days of summer!
Liu Yun was incredibly grateful that she had bought the right house. She knew that since coming here, what she hated most was summer. Putting aside the heat, getting her period in the sweltering heat without sanitary napkins was truly devastating. She was on the verge of a breakdown, practically counting down the days until sanitary napkins were invented.
The two worked quickly and efficiently, and since it wasn't hot, they finished sewing the rest in one afternoon.
Dinner was prepared by Yu's mother and Liu's mother, while Liu Yun put all the quilts into the trunk and packed them away. The house was almost tidied up.
Upon entering, you'll find yourself in the main room, which is quite simple. Behind the door are two shoe racks, in the middle is an eight-immortal table, four high stools, and two reclining chairs—that's about it. The main room is used for meals when there are many guests or when it's hot.
The living room has two single bamboo sofas covered with straw mats. Each side has three cushions made of homespun cloth and filled with regenerated cloth and straw. When you lean against them, they flatten out, but they bounce back up when you walk away, much like a sponge or cotton. But now that there's plenty of cotton, they're afraid of being labeled as capitalist and dare not use it, so they've replaced it with regenerated cloth and straw.
The living room was simply furnished with two sofas, four bamboo chairs, a table, and a small coffee table near the entrance for fruit plates, dishcloths, and the like. The teapot and thermos were on a shelf next to the house, just in case the triplets grabbed them. Next to that was a cabinet mostly filled with snacks: canned goods, milk powder, malted milk powder, candy, biscuits, dried fruit, pastries, peanuts, and sunflower seeds. The cabinet was mostly dried fruit—several bags of various kinds, the triplets' favorite. It was locked to prevent them from stealing it.
The bedroom didn't change much, except the room and furniture got bigger. All the furniture from the old courtyard was moved to the other two rooms.
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