Chapter 339 Stepmother
Pig intestines taste pretty good when cooked, but cleaning them is a real pain.
Use cold water to chill your hands, then add a little hot water; the taste is truly soul-stirring.
Song Lubai smelled her hands, then brought them to Wei Zhao's nose as he scraped hair off a pig's trotter.
"vomit"
Wei Zhao almost vomited.
She got up and said, "I'll go call Jingwen back to wash. He loves to eat pig intestines, so let him do some work."
Song Lubai felt that Wei Zhao was now very good at ordering her son around, so she got up and went to the side to wash her hands with water.
Chen Jingwen, who was playing in the snow with other children outside, was not called back by Wei Zhao. Instead, Chen Yu returned from the cafeteria.
After she returned, she took over Song Lubai's work.
Song Lubai washed her hands many times, but she still felt that they smelled like pig manure.
The water in the vat had frozen, so Song Lubai used a rolling pin to knock a hole in it.
As she was fetching water at the door, Shen Lingyu came in carrying a bowl.
"I steamed some red date and mixed grain cake, and I'm bringing you a piece."
Song Lubai invited her inside, but Shen Lingyu waved her hand, saying, "We're still busy over there, I have to go back quickly."
People left so quickly that Song Lubai didn't even have time to ask her about Zeng Jie.
It took a long time to clean the pig's trotters and large intestines. After cleaning them, I threw them into the pot to cook.
Song Lubai added all the seasonings she could, including scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, soy sauce, and salt.
The aroma wafts far, but it's not very noticeable lately because everyone is busy making delicious food.
In the past, Wei Zhao would buy Sachima from the department store to take home during the Spring Festival. It wasn't sold in Xinjiang Province, and there were hardly any people who even knew about this snack. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to make it, so she could only beat eggs, mix flour, and fry small twisted dough sticks.
Wei Zhao wasn't good at many things, Song Lubai wasn't much better, and Chen Yu was even less so, so they invited Aunt Lu from next door over.
Aunt Lu's hometown fried dough twists are salted, but Song Lubai and the others wanted sweet ones, so they made a small amount of savory ones, but mostly sweet ones.
In one room, braised pork intestines and trotters were cooking on a stove. The room where Song Lubai and Wei Yang lived was filled with the aroma of oil and fried dough twists that wafted far and wide.
Before nightfall, Wei Yang returned from the city, bringing back two pounds of beef and a rabbit that hadn't been skinned yet.
The regiment headquarters doesn't slaughter a single cow all year round; if you want to eat beef or mutton, you have to try your luck at the city bazaar.
The meat couldn't be left indoors, and the bathroom hadn't been used in a long time, so Wei Yang skinned the rabbit, strung the meat together with wire, and hung it in the bathroom.
Every household is preparing for the Spring Festival, and Zhang Cui and her two children, who live far away in Shicheng, are no exception.
The tobacco station wasn't close to Shicheng, so Zhang Cui had to go into the city early in the morning, before dawn, with the people from the tobacco station, just to get some New Year's goods.
Although she is an employee of the tobacco company, the company does not provide her with dormitory accommodation in the city. Even though she has finished her work in the fields, she has nothing to do recently, so she can only continue to live at the tobacco station.
Although it's inconvenient to go to the city to buy supplies and there's not much pork to eat during the Spring Festival, living in the village has one great advantage: you can catch rabbits.
Since the beginning of winter, the men at the tobacco station have caught more than a dozen rabbits, and rabbit meat can be eaten at the tobacco station every few days.
During the Lunar New Year, we don't eat communal meals; everyone cooks their own food.
The men at the tobacco station have been busy catching rabbits lately. Zhang Cui got two, and then bought two more with her money.
It's not customary to eat rabbit meat on Chinese New Year's Day, but there's not enough pork, so Zhang Cui has to prepare extra rabbit meat to eat during the New Year period.
The skinned rabbits were hung by the door. When Zhang Jianshe saw the four rabbits, he went inside and said to Zhang Cui, who was steaming red date buns, "Mom, let's go to my sister's place after the New Year. Anyway, you're very free, and our family has nothing to do. Let's bring two rabbits over for my sister."
Zhang Heping excitedly said, "My brother-in-law said before that it's very poor over there, and you can't buy anything you want. It's even poorer than our village. I guess you can't buy much meat, just like us. So let's take the rabbit over to see my sister."
Zhang Cui also wanted to visit Song Lubai, but there was no train service to southern Xinjiang, and she was a little afraid to go out alone with her child.
"What if she's coming back after the New Year? What if we miss her?"
Zhang Jianshe shouted, "What are you afraid of? Send a telegram first!"
Zhang Cui was a little reluctant to part with it.
Sending a telegram is so expensive, it could buy a pound of meat.
Sending a telegram is quick, but unless there's something urgent, who would send a telegram for such a trivial matter?
Zhang Cui said, "Let's wait a few days after the New Year. If your sister hasn't come back by the tenth of the lunar month, we'll go visit her."
The two brothers were overjoyed.
Zhang Cui also wanted to know how Song Lubai was doing. The two had been married for more than half a year, and she wondered if Song Lubai was pregnant.
The dormitory area of Tingzhou Chemical Plant.
Lin Shuhong is moving.
Several months have passed since Liu Ersao and her husband visited the factory. During this time, with the help of Li, the factory's union officer, Lin Shuhong and Wang Xiu got married and started a new family before the end of the year.
Originally, both families only had one dormitory room. If they hadn't been unable to find a slightly larger room, they would have gotten married more than a month ago.
The house Lin Shuhong got had three rooms, with a total area about the same as the two rooms he shared with Wang Xiu. However, one room was divided into two smaller rooms, and the two larger rooms were connected together.
After reaching an agreement with the person, Lin Shuhong and Wang Xiu quickly moved their house together.
After working on it for half the morning, it's finally all done.
Both of them were remarried and didn't plan to have a wedding ceremony. After going through the formalities at the factory, they would live together and be considered a family.
In the afternoon, Officer Li brought over a bowl of fried meatballs.
As the matchmaker, Lin Shuhong was very happy that she and Wang Xiu could become family.
Seeing Lin Jinyao sitting on the stool with a blank expression, Officer Li made her a meatball. "Eat it while it's hot. I'll have your mom fry some for you tomorrow."
Wang Xiu said with a smile, "My fried meatballs are delicious, Jin Yao. I'll fry some for you tomorrow. What else would you like to eat? I'll make it for you."
Lin Jinyao lowered her head and played with her fingers, without saying a word.
Lin Shuhong knew his daughter was being emotional, and this emotional outburst had been going on for a month or so. He and Wang Xiu were now family, but his daughter was still like this.
Lin Jinyao remained silent. Wang Xiu reached out to take her hand, but Lin Jinyao avoided it.
Wang Xiu said awkwardly, "You child, from now on we're family. I'll treat you like my own daughter. If I'm not good to you, feel free to tell others and let them gossip about me behind my back."
Lin Jinyao remained silent.
What angered her was that her father had clearly said he wouldn't find her a stepmother, but he still married Aunt Wang Xiu! Her father even claimed it was for her own good.
If you really care about her, then don't look for her!
Lin Shuhong said in a slightly stern tone, "The New Year is coming soon, so you can't keep a long face. Who are you trying to impress with that expression every day?"
Wang Xiu glared at Lin Shuhong, "Alright, the child is still young, why are you criticizing her? It's normal that she can't accept it right away."
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