A large fire, a large pot.
It will be over soon.
As soon as the pot lid was lifted, a rich aroma immediately wafted from the cramped kitchen and out of the open doorway. Cheng Chao quickly gathered the firewood in his hands, carried it into the woodshed, and then strode into the kitchen, chattering all the way.
"Is it ready yet? I can smell it."
You really do have a dog's nose!
He extinguished the fire in the stove, scooped the vegetables into a large basin, and scooped the flatbread into a small basket. The kitchen was small to begin with, so the stovetop had to be used as a table. This wasn't the first time Cheng Chao had done this. Once he saw that it was almost done, he pushed the simple dish into the inner room.
"Go and rest, we'll handle the rest ourselves."
Seeing that there was nothing else, I simply went inside. There were people outside, so sleeping was out of the question, but lying on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) and chatting idly wouldn't cause any problems.
Jian Wenxiu was shocked. Cheng Chao simply pushed him inside, then went to find a small stool and get bowls and chopsticks as if he knew the place well, and then addressed him as if he were the host.
"Uncle Wen, come and sit down. How can you stand this smell?"
Jian Wenxiu's lips twitched, but he still sat down beside him.
"You really have no manners, coming here to ask a young girl for food and drinks, acting like you're at home?"
"Uncle Jian, there's no need to be so polite. Cheng Chao's life has been in my hands several times, so we're practically brothers. Please order whatever you like."
Cheng Chao also shouted,
"That's right, it's all fate that brought us together."
Let me tell you, Uncle Wen, as soon as I arrived here and saw Jian Dan, I felt incredibly relaxed and at ease. Seriously, if I didn't know that the Cheng family doesn't have any other blood relatives, I would have thought she was my own sister. Really.
Neither I nor my two younger brothers from my second uncle's family felt this way.
Jian Wenxiu's eyes narrowed, and he looked back at the wall in the middle. Was his feeling not an illusion?
He asked, seemingly unintentionally.
"Do you really think so?"
Cheng Chao ate the meat in large mouthfuls, his speech somewhat slurred.
"Yes, I went on a mission there a while ago and managed to go there. Those two kids are too young and can't play with me. All they do is cause trouble."
Jian Wenxiu was speechless, thinking to himself, "What can a grown man in his twenties like you play with two toddlers who can barely walk? Are you going to play a game where I beat you until you cry?"
"Simple, how did you make this? It smells so good!"
"Waaah, after eating this, how can I possibly eat in the cafeteria tomorrow?"
Keeping this in mind, Jian Wenxiu also focused wholeheartedly on competing with Cheng Chao for food.
My stomach is still full, and the smell doesn't feel cloying at all. I can only say that good things are good things and never go out of style.
What was simply made was a huge pot of food: a big fish, a plump little chicken, a fat rabbit, two pounds of pork ribs, and a ring of flatbread. The two of them ate it all up. In the end, Cheng Chao, with his belly protruding, cleaned up the kitchen and washed all the pots and pans.
Jian Wenxiu wasn't much better; for someone as self-disciplined as him, this was considered a breach of his vows.
The two of them hadn't come empty-handed; they brought another large bag of things. Cheng Chao understood her intentions, so he didn't carry anything flashy or ostentatious. Before leaving, he even winked at her.
"Don't be stingy, I'll send it to you in a few days. Let me tell you, Uncle Wen is quite wealthy. Don't be polite to him, he'll feel comfortable if you don't try to save money for him."
With an expression that said, "I'm experienced, just listen to me," Jian Wenxiu was too embarrassed to look at him. After all these years, he hadn't made any progress.
He was a little embarrassed, as he had come to thank the person but ended up getting a free meal, including meat that he usually couldn't afford to eat and that was hard to come by.
Before leaving, when Jian Dan wasn't looking, he threw a stack of banknotes on the kang (a heated brick bed). It was just a small token of his appreciation. If word got out that the two of them, grown men, had eaten the meat that the young girl had worked so hard to save, he would be too ashamed to face anyone.
On the way back, Jian Wenxiu subtly probed Cheng Chao for information. Cheng Chao, completely unguarded, spilled everything he knew, making Jian Wenxiu's temples throb.
"Did she run into bad people?"
"She even killed a wild boar? How could she be so bold?"
"A bomb? You let her get that close to a bomb?"
Cheng Chao didn't notice that his Uncle Wen's tone was getting colder and colder; instead, he felt a sense of pride.
"Uncle Wen, do you think she's amazing?"
Ah, the first time she saved me, I was lying on the kitchen floor, and she made me millet porridge and steamed egg custard. I still remember the taste.
It's not that my cooking skills are top-notch, but I just love the taste. It really feels just like home.
Isn't that strange?
After seeing them off, she went inside and immediately saw a stack of banknotes on the kang (a heated brick bed). She knew what they were thinking without even having to think about it; it was nothing more than the idea of not taking a single needle or thread from the people. She hadn't said she didn't want it, so was this method really necessary?
That big bag was even bigger than the one I picked up last time. When I opened it, wow, it had everything I needed for daily life, except for housing.
A women's military overcoat, two sets of matching military green outer garments, various biscuits, canned goods, candy, milk powder, oh, and a few sausages, a bag of rice, and a bag of flour, each weighing about ten pounds.
At the bottom was another stack of coupons. Not to mention the money, there were also grain coupons and meat coupons, and at the very bottom were radio coupons, sewing machine coupons, bicycle coupons, etc.
Bicycles at that time were comparable to Mercedes-Benzes in later generations; even the wealthy and powerful Jian Dan was somewhat astonished.
"This guy's dowry is as high as what he'd have to pay to get married!"
However, she was certainly happy to have such good stuff in her hands. She happily arranged them one by one on the shelf at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed). The weather wasn't too cold yet, and snacks could easily spoil. Since they were meant to be eaten by her, and they were all good things, she couldn't let them go to waste. So she simply brought them to the base.
Unaware that Jian Wenxiu was trying to extract information from her, Jian Dan was sound asleep, feeling quite content.
The next day was the time the villagers looked forward to most each year: the distribution of grain.
Similarly, the educated youth also had the same expectations.
The main problem is that the new educated youth have no plan. The grain that the village lent them has been almost completely wasted this autumn harvest. They went from having dry rations every meal at the beginning of the autumn harvest to not even being able to get enough thin porridge now. It's not that they're not pitiful, but as the older educated youth would say, it's just too infuriating.
When we first brought the grain back, we made it very clear to them that this grain would be enough for at least the distribution period, and we even gave them a heads-up beforehand.
"You only get work points during the autumn harvest this year, and you probably won't get much grain, so you should be careful not to run out of food in the dead of winter. That would be quite a mess."
It's understandable that the new educated youth didn't know, but Wang Jiancheng and Wang Hongmei's group came right after planting in the spring, and it's been more than half a year. What don't they know? Why don't they try to persuade them?
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