Chapter 476 Old Hen Soup
After arriving home, Gu Chengran was cooking in the kitchen.
Liu Yinyin placed the old hen in the yard and took over the work from Gu Cheng: "You go kill the chickens, I'll cook."
There is hot water on the stove. After killing the chicken, soak it in hot water and pluck the chicken feathers.
Now clean the old hen and stew it on the stove for the whole afternoon so it can be eaten in the evening.
The same thing happened at Zhou Xiaomei's house next door. They bought a chicken and ate it. For the whole afternoon, the yard was filled with the strong aroma of meat.
Liu Yinyin stuffed the old hen with dang ginseng, red dates, wolfberries, tangerine peel, ginger and green onions and stewed it together. It was fragrant and nourishing.
In the afternoon, the couple stayed at home to take care of the children.
The children were mainly taken care of by Cheng, while Liu Yinyin was busy making new cotton-padded jackets for her sons.
The cotton jackets the children wore last year are too small, so we have to make new ones.
The previous clothes were not wasted. Liu Yinyin altered them a little bit and made two sets of cotton shirts for the children.
Children grow fast, so two sets of cotton sweaters are enough for them to wear.
Suddenly thinking of something, Liu Yinyin discussed with Gu Cheng: "I heard that the weather here will be very cold in winter, should we build a fireplace in the room?"
With a fireplace for heating, we don’t have to worry about the children catching a cold, nor do we have to wrap them up like balls all day, making it inconvenient for them to move.
Gu Cheng understood and said, "Okay, I'll ask where I can buy bricks and cement tomorrow."
If he wanted to make a fireplace, he had to make a good one. As long as he had all the materials, he could make it himself.
Liu Yinyin: “…”
Well, she originally planned to make an earthen stove, but she didn't know how long it would last here, so she would just use it for a few years.
Gu Cheng wanted to be a good person, and Liu Yinyin couldn't say anything to object.
They were all men of action, and the next day, Gu Cheng found out where bricks and cement were sold.
Bricks are fine, they are available for sale in town.
Cement is different. Cement is a scarce commodity at this time.
But it’s not impossible to buy it. Cement has to be bought in Qingshi, and it takes some time to buy it.
Fortunately, it is not winter yet, so there is no rush to build a fireplace.
It’s better to prepare all the firewood first. Liu Yinyin has a hamster personality.
Over the next few days, he asked someone to send a few cartloads of firewood to his home, and he stopped only when the woodshed was almost full.
That morning, Liu Yinyin was thinking about going to Dongpo Mountain to buy some fresh sweet potatoes and potatoes for the winter.
We only have dried sweet potatoes and sweet potato vermicelli at home, so we have to buy fresh sweet potatoes.
Gu Yanyan likes to eat roasted sweet potatoes, and the triplets can now also eat some sweet potato porridge.
Liu Yinyin was thinking about buying more fresh sweet potatoes.
After Zhou Xiaomei knew what she was thinking, she suddenly thought: "Yinyin, how many sweet potatoes do you want to buy? I have some at home too."
On the private plot, Zhou Xiaomei cleared a large area to grow sweet potatoes. She took good care of it and the harvest from the sweet potatoes was good.
Liu Yinyin was slightly surprised: "Sister-in-law, do you have any extra sweet potatoes to sell?"
Zhou Xiaomei sighed and said, "I'm tired of this stuff. My kids at home don't like it either. I'll just leave a little for later."
Zhou Xiaomei grew up eating sweet potatoes. Now that conditions are better, she really doesn’t want to eat sweet potatoes anymore.
The situations of several children were similar. The years before and after were bad, and they all ate sweet potatoes as meals.
If it weren’t for the high yield of this thing, Zhou Xiaomei wouldn’t have grown sweet potatoes.
Liu Yinyin considered and said, "I want to buy 100 kilograms of sweet potatoes and potatoes... 20 to 30 kilograms will be enough."
Since we have dried sweet potatoes and vermicelli at home, we don’t need to buy too many fresh sweet potatoes.
The amount Liu Yinyin asked for was not much, and Zhou Xiaomei's family could afford it.
"One hundred kilograms of sweet potatoes, thirty kilograms of potatoes...I'll bring them to you later?"
Liu Yinyin nodded: "Same as before, two pieces of cloth?"
Zhou Xiaomei smiled and said, "Okay."
No wonder she likes to make deals with Liu Yinyin, she can always get what she wants.
Since Zhou Xiaomei was willing to sell sweet potatoes to her, Liu Yinyin was too lazy to go to Dongpo Mountain.
Dongpo Mountain is too remote after all, and she doesn't really want to go there alone.
The weather has been getting colder these days. Zhou Xiaomei drank some hot water and muttered, "I don't know when it will snow."
She had been looking forward to it. It was a bit cold on a snowy day, but it was great to have meat to eat.
There are many villagers in Dongpo Mountain who kill pigs. When the time comes, as long as you are willing to spend money, there will be plenty of pork to eat.
At this time of year every year, Zhou Xiaomei would buy a lot of pork and bacon to store.
There's nothing you can do about it. You can only buy pork in the countryside during this period of time. They don't kill pigs on weekdays.
Liu Yinyin was also looking forward to it. She didn't want to dry the bacon, she just wanted to buy some fresh pork to eat.
When she came back from her hometown, they would slaughter pigs for the New Year, and Jiang Cuihua would send her the bacon, so she wouldn't have to dry it herself.
The house was filled with firewood, and sweet potatoes and potatoes had also been bought. Liu Yinyin felt a lot more at ease.
In the morning, she asked the logistics department to bring her a piece of pork ribs.
For lunch, we had sweet and sour pork ribs, scrambled eggs with green peppers and stir-fried loofah.
The staple food is white flour steamed buns.
Today, Liu Yinyin cooked vegetable and lean meat porridge for the triplets, and the children ate it with relish.
The bricks and cement that Gu Cheng had asked someone to buy before had also arrived. These past few days, he had been busy working on the fireplace after work.
Liu Yinyin would lend a hand whenever she was free, but it was not something that could be finished in a short time, so the couple and their child temporarily moved into another room.
The fireplace was finally completed before it snowed.
Zhou Xiaomei was next door and heard some of the noise, but she didn't know what they were doing.
"Yinyin, what's going on in your family?"
Liu Yinyin said frankly: "It's going to snow soon, let's make a fireplace to keep the children warm so they don't catch a cold."
"Fireplace?" Zhou Xiaomei was stunned. "You guys also know how to make this."
Liu Yinyin nodded: "I did it before when I was back home."
Zhou Xiaomei was really envious: "You guys still know how to live."
They have never thought about doing this. No matter how cold the winter is, it will pass by just enduring it.
Liu Yinyin smiled and said, "Gu Cheng knows how to make a fireplace. If Captain Fan has the same idea, he can ask him."
"Then forget it." Zhou Xiaomei waved her hands and said, "He doesn't have the heart to do that. Apart from work, he has nothing else in his mind."
Besides, it requires bricks and cement, and Zhou Xiaomei is reluctant to spend the money.
Liu Yinyin: “…”
Before it snows, in addition to making a fireplace, Liu Yinyin also wants to go to town to buy some supplies for the winter.
She seldom goes out now, and the food and daily necessities in the house are mostly going out, so there is not much left to stock up.
Thinking about this, Liu Yinyin discussed with Zhou Xiaomei: "Sister-in-law, I want to go to town tomorrow morning. Can you help me take care of the children?"
During this period, Zhou Xiaomei often came to visit our home and helped Liu Yinyin take care of the children.
There is no problem for her to take care of three children by herself.