Chapter 34 Commendation
Molly only cooked two dishes, but each one was a huge bowl, especially the mountain rat stew with radish, which was such a big bowl, with the meat and vegetables weighing nearly ten pounds.
Glug!
Zhao Xiaoyong swallowed hard and said blankly, "You cooked so much?"
As Molly served the rice, she said, "Not much. You need to eat more to have the energy to work."
Zhao Xiaoyong nodded blankly, agreeing with Molly. He then asked, "Sister-in-law, do you have meat at home?"
Molly made him sit down, feeling both amused and sorry for him. "Try it and see what kind of meat it is."
Molly winked at Mo An, who picked up her chopsticks and put food on Zhao Xiaoyong's plate. She put a few pieces of rat meat on his plate, then a few pieces of smoked meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat on his plate. Then she urged Zhao Xiaoyong, "Brother Xiaoyong, eat quickly."
"Is this rat meat?" Zhao Xiaoyong's eyes lit up.
Mo An nodded. "Yes, my second sister brought her back from a relative's place."
Zhao Xiaoyong was incredibly envious. "I wish I had relatives like that too. Sister-in-law, when are you going next time? Take me with you!"
Molly shook her head. "I won't go anytime soon. By next year, we'll have rats here too."
Zhao Xiaoyong was a little disappointed, but the thought of catching rats in the mountains and fish in the river next year filled him with anticipation for the coming year.
“This is wild boar meat,” Zhao Xiaoyong said confidently.
Wild boar meat has a coarser texture and is clearly different from domesticated pork.
Zhao Xiaoyong clearly preferred rat meat, but he wouldn't eat meat all the time. He would take a bite of meat and then a bite of vegetables. Soon he discovered that Molly's vegetables were also very delicious, fragrant and sweet.
However, he didn't think about the vegetables themselves; he guessed that the vegetables were oily and had absorbed the aroma of the meat, which made them taste so good.
At first, Zhao Xiaoyong didn't dare to eat freely, planning to eat only until he was half full. But Mo An and Mo Li kept eating without stopping, so he didn't stop either, and continued eating until he finished his rice and vegetables and his stomach was full.
Zhao Xiaoyong slumped in his seat, his eyes glazed over. He touched his protruding belly and muttered, "The last time I overate was two years ago, when the village had a pig-slaughtering feast. My aunt was in charge of cooking, and she gave me a lot more food than I should have."
“At the beginning of this year, I almost thought I was going to die. My stomach was swollen and hard, and I couldn’t poop. My dad took me to the barefoot doctor in the next village and got a week’s worth of medicine. I smelled like medicine all over my body after taking it.”
"Thank goodness I didn't die, otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat such delicious food today."
At this point, Zhao Xiaoyong chuckled, "Sister-in-law, I'll rest for a while, and I'll definitely work hard to help you this afternoon."
Molly nodded. "Of course I believe you."
In the afternoon, Molly was in charge of chopping radishes, while Zhao Xiaoyong and Mo An pulled cabbages. Molly planned to make some sauerkraut and spicy cabbage, as well as some dried vegetables, which she would then mail to the farm.
By the end of the day, half of the vegetable garden was empty.
Molly turned the soil in time, and she can sow new vegetable seeds tomorrow.
As darkness fell, Molly invited Zhao Xiaoyong to stay for dinner, but Zhao Xiaoyong declined, saying, "My family will worry if I don't go back soon."
Molly told Zhao Xiaoyong to wait. She took a basket, put three mountain rats in it, then put four large sweet potatoes in it, and covered it with a large cabbage. She told Zhao Xiaoyong to take it back and eat it.
Zhao Xiaoyong refused.
"Take it, otherwise I won't dare to bother you next time." Molly said sternly.
Zhao Xiaoyong was a little intimidated by Molly's appearance, so he obediently took the basket and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law."
"You're welcome. These are all from our own land, they're worthless, just take them."
Zhao Xiaoyong didn't see Molly add mountain rats, assuming it was just sweet potatoes and cabbage. Considering how many sweet potatoes and cabbages they had today, he was relieved that Molly and the others certainly didn't lack anything.
Zhao Xiaoyong carried his basket, humming a tune as he went home. Nearly twenty years old, he skipped and hopped, clearly in a good mood. When he arrived home, his mother and sister were cooking.
"Where have you been all day? I haven't seen you all day," Mr. Zhao asked with a stern face.
“I went to Sister Ji’s house to help her with chores, and even had lunch there at noon,” Zhao Xiaoyong said with a hint of pride.
Ji Hefeng had saved Zhao Xiaoyong's life, so when he went to help out at the Ji family's house, they had no complaints. With nothing else to do at the moment, going to work and getting a free meal seemed like a good deal.
"My sister-in-law brought me some sweet potatoes and cabbages, all grown by her. They're growing really well." Zhao Xiaoyong took the basket into the kitchen and asked his mother and sister, "Look at these cabbages and sweet potatoes, aren't they huge?"
At first, the Zhao family thought they were just sweet potatoes and cabbages, and couldn't possibly be that big. But when they saw them under the light, they were all astonished. They were indeed very big, several times bigger than the ones they grew themselves.
Especially those sweet potatoes, each one weighs several pounds, how are they grown?
Three sweet potatoes and one cabbage, and the basket is full.
"Huh, is this... a mouse?" Zhao Xiaoyong's sister asked curiously.
Zhao Xiaoyong was taken aback and looked at the bottom of the basket, where three fat rats, plucked and hairless, were lying. "They really are rats. I ate rats at my sister-in-law's house today. They were especially delicious."
"Didn't your sister-in-law tell you she brought you a mouse?" Zhao Xiaoyong's father asked.
"She didn't say anything. I told her I didn't want these sweet potatoes and cabbages, and she got angry, so I brought them back. I guess she was afraid I wouldn't accept the rats, so she secretly let them in. She's such a kind person." Zhao Xiaoyong secretly decided that he would help his sister-in-law more often in the future.
The Zhao family members looked at each other in disbelief. They thought they could get a free meal just for helping out, and even have vegetables and meat delivered to their table?
"Mom, are we having meat tonight?" Zhao Xiaoyong's sister asked.
Zhao's mother looked at her husband, "Honey, what do you think?"
"Eat up. When it's cooked, we'll take a bowl over to your grandparents."
Zhao Xiaoyong's grandparents lived with the brigade leader's family. When Zhao Xiaoyong brought the meat over, they were having dinner, and there was also rat meat on the table.
"Molly gave it to you?" the captain asked Zhao Xiaoyong.
Zhao Xiaoyong nodded, "I helped my sister-in-law with chores, and she gave me the money. Uncle, did your family also receive money from your sister-in-law?"
"Besides what she brought back from outside, what other living creatures are around here?" The captain sighed. "Alright, now that you've delivered it, go back and have your meal."
Even though they were family, the brigade leader didn't stand on ceremony. Zhao Xiaoyong didn't think there was anything wrong with it either. He poured the meat into the brigade leader's plate, picked up the bowl, and turned to leave.
Every household was short of food, so it was common knowledge that people wouldn't eat at other people's houses.
For the next few days, Molly was busy at home, either pickling various vegetables or turning over the soil to plant more.
When they finally finished their work, people from the commune arrived, along with people from the police station.
The brigade's gong sounded, and the brigade leader, holding a loudspeaker, told Molly to go to the brigade headquarters to receive an award.
"Second sister, what good deed have you done?" Mo An was extremely surprised.
Molly thought about it seriously before saying, "Wouldn't it be a good thing to subdue a few robbers?"
Mo An was even more surprised. On the way to the brigade headquarters, he kept pestering Molly to tell him what happened that day.
When Mo He arrived at the brigade headquarters, she saw her sister surrounded by a group of people, all talking at once and occasionally exclaiming in surprise.
What happened?
When did her sister become so popular?
Mo He squeezed through the crowd, about to ask a question, when the captain spoke up, "Quiet! Quiet!"
The loudspeaker blared, and everyone immediately shut their mouths and looked up at the captain.
Two people arrived from the police station, both in uniform. One of them was the young policeman who had confronted Molly that day. He was carrying an enamel basin, an enamel mug, and a towel, while the other officer carried a certificate of merit.
Molly raised an eyebrow; she hadn't expected there to be a reward for subduing the robbers.
The captain spoke succinctly, mentioning Molly's subduing of the robber in the car. It wasn't that he didn't want to go into detail; it was simply that he himself didn't know what had happened. If the police hadn't arrived, he wouldn't have known about it at all.
Molly is so quiet and composed; she really knows how to keep her cool.
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