Chapter 135 Helping
One hundred kilograms of food is neither too much nor too little. If the Gu family eats sparingly, and adds the meals they get from the canteen, it is enough.
Mother Gu changed her tone and said, "It's fine to send a hundred kilograms of food, but you have to send some meat every month."
Day after day, there was no trace of meat in the food, and Gu's mother almost felt hungry.
Gu Cheng: "...it depends on the situation."
We didn't eat meat often at home. He only had two kilograms of meat coupons a month, which was not enough for his own family.
Neither this nor that works. Mother Gu is almost mad at him.
If it weren't for Gu's father's interference, she would have wanted to take the two hundred yuan back.
This rebellious son only knows how to make her angry!
His heart is completely focused on Liu Yinyin and her son. As their father and mother, they can't even think of taking advantage of him for a penny!
In the county town, Liu Yinyin put all the things she had exchanged into a basket.
Not long after, Gu Cheng came to pick her up.
When the two returned home, it was already past four in the afternoon.
It gets dark quickly at this time, and it is also the cat winter, so people in the countryside eat earlier.
Because the harvest was bad this year, the village canteen has changed from three meals a day to two meals a day.
One meal every morning and one meal at four o'clock in the afternoon.
Several village officials said that since there was nothing to do now, it would be okay to eat less.
It’s one thing to save some food, but we still have eight or nine months to survive.
When Liu Yinyin got home, she didn't have time to pack up the things in the basket.
Go make dinner first.
We slaughtered a pig at home today and kept 20 kilograms of fresh pork for our own consumption.
Liu Yinyin wants to make some dumplings in the evening.
I have pork at home, so I can make two flavors of dumplings, pork with bamboo shoots and pork with mushrooms.
I scooped out almost two pounds of white flour to make dumplings.
Liu Yinyin was busy kneading and rolling the dough, while Jiang Cuihua helped chopping the filling for the dumplings.
Gu Cheng was processing the pig's head and trotters, and he also had to make brined pork in the evening.
It's cold now, so we have to clean the hair on the pig's head and trotters before it gets dark.
If we don't wait until dark, we won't be able to see clearly, and we won't be able to shave all the hair off the pig's head and trotters.
Liu Yinyin likes to eat brisket, but she doesn't like brisket with pig hair in it, as it would ruin her appetite.
Two pounds of white flour is just enough to make 130 dumplings.
Liu Yinyin cooked ninety dumplings, Gu Cheng could eat thirty, she had ten for herself, and Jiang Cuihua had twenty.
Jiang Cuihua will bring the extra thirty to Liu Laifu later.
There are forty dumplings left at home, just enough for breakfast tomorrow.
As for Gu Yanyan, he is still young and I am worried that he might not be able to digest the meat if he eats too much.
Just give him one or two dumplings to taste them, and Liu Yinyin also made him a bowl of yam and vegetable porridge.
Yams are nutritious. Most of the yams at home are kept for Gu Yanyan to make porridge.
After dinner, Jiang Cuihua wanted to go back.
Liu Yinyin exchanged a piece of cloth, two kilograms of cotton, a kitchen knife, a box of Pechoin, and forty kilograms of food and more than ten kilograms of fruit in the county town today.
Liu Yinyin plans to keep the cloth and cotton she exchanged this time to make a small cotton quilt for Gu Yanyan.
There are two kitchen knives at home, both are new.
Liu Yinyin gave the kitchen knife she had exchanged to Jiang Cuihua. The Liu family's kitchen knife had several cuts on it and was just what she needed.
Jiang Cuihua was not polite to the lady, she was quite fond of the kitchen knife.
Tomorrow is Liu Mingyuan's wedding day.
Liu Yinyin asked Jiang Cuihua: "Mom, do you need my help tomorrow?"
"No need." Jiang Cuihua said with a smile, "You just stay at home to take care of the children. I don't need your help."
It's the busy farming season now, and there are many people at home who are free, so I can definitely handle it.
Moreover, the Liu family borrowed an ox cart from the village and will go to Shuangxi Village to pick up the bride early tomorrow morning.
Everything is arranged.
The young lady and her family of three can just go over to have lunch tomorrow at noon.
Liu Yinyin was silent for a moment, then thought of another thing, so she told Jiang Cuihua that Ma Xiaolian needed help.
Ten pounds of pork can be exchanged for a two-month temporary job. If you do the math, you can still earn a few dozen dollars.
Country people had few opportunities to make money, and the year was bad, so a few dozen yuan was a huge sum of money for Jiang Cuihua.
How could she not be moved?
Ma Xiaolian has said that both men and women can work in an oil press.
Moreover, Liu Yinyin has a house in the county town, so when she goes to work at the oil press factory, she can live in the house in the compound.
Jiang Cuihua said quickly: "Go, there's money to be made, why not go."
Not to mention that farmers have free time now, even during the busy farming season, Jiang Cuihua would want her son to take leave and work part-time.
Digging in the fields, not only do you not earn much money throughout the year, but if the year is bad, all the work for the whole year is in vain!
It's not as popular as workers in the county town who get a real salary every month.
However, there was only one temporary job vacancy, and Jiang Cuihua was a little worried about which son to let go.
Liu Yinyin did not interrupt. As a married daughter, it was not easy for her to say anything about such matters, and she was not as thoughtful as Jiang Cuihua.
It didn't take long for Jiang Cuihua to decide to let Brother Liu go.
Why?
Liu Mingyuan just got married, and we can't let the couple live apart right after they get married.
It is not appropriate for the second son to go. Mrs. Liu is now pregnant and is almost seven months old. With such a big belly, she must have someone to look after her.
Therefore, Brother Liu is the most suitable candidate.
Jiang Cuihua has taken every aspect into consideration.
Liu Yinyin nodded: "Okay, I'll go tell Sister Ma tomorrow morning."
She had to go to the county town again tomorrow to deliver some brined pork to Aunt Li and to send a message to Ma Xiaolian.
In order to find a wife for Liu Mingyuan, the Liu family has almost spent all their savings.
This temporary job came at the right time. After working for two months, she could earn dozens of yuan. For Jiang Cuihua, it was like someone delivering a pillow to her when she fell asleep.
However...
Jiang Cuihua said to her daughter, "When your elder brother gets his salary, I will give you half of it."
The girl had spent ten pounds of pork to get this temporary job, so we couldn't let her bear the expense.
It would be good if I could earn thirty yuan.
The next morning, Liu Yinyin left her son in the care of Liu Ersao and went to the county town.
She brought a jar of salted meat for Aunt Li, weighing about thirty pounds.
Aunt Li has tried it and found that the brined pork made by Liu Yinyin is very delicious.
This kind of cooked food is a little more expensive than pork.
Liu Yinyin planned to exchange the thirty kilograms of brine for supplies.
Aunt Li gave her ten kilograms of flour, ten kilograms of rice, twenty kilograms of cornmeal, and twenty kilograms of millet.
Liu Yinyin won’t change the fruits. The fruits she changed yesterday are enough to last the family for a long time.
Ma Xiaolian has also discussed it. Since Brother Liu is not available today, he will report to the oil press tomorrow.
After finishing her work, Liu Yinyin went straight home.
Sixty kilograms of food were placed in the house in the compound, and Gu Cheng would take it back in the afternoon. He had a bicycle, which made it convenient for him to carry things.