After thinking for a moment, Wei Yuyan decided that she could only let her go and play with her sister-in-law, Xiuhua.
"OK".
Qianqian happily ran out holding her sugar figurine, while Wei Yuyan smiled and shook her head, then found the dirty clothes in the house and started washing them.
Fortunately, it's the season for wearing only one layer of clothing now; if it were winter, it would be much harder to wash.
After thinking about it, I'm afraid I'll have to make summer clothes for the kids next month. In this day and age, boys can wear short sleeves and vests in the summer.
Young women, however, cannot wear such clothes; they can only wear them with three-quarter sleeves made of thin fabric.
Thinking about it, it really is unfair. Wei Yuyan's hands were sore after washing all the clothes at home.
The main reason was that the clothes were quite dirty, so they had to keep hitting them with a mallet.
At noon, Wei Yuyan made stir-fried pork liver with green peppers and stir-fried spinach. After eating, Wei Yuyan went to bed.
Fortunately, the two children are quite sensible. Qianqian can take care of the chickens at home, and Xiaolei can water the vegetables and weed the garden.
Wei Yuyan slept for an hour and a half. If her sister-in-law Xiuhua hadn't come and woken her up, she would have continued sleeping.
"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, it'll be too late to chop the meat if we don't hurry."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua had taken a nap before coming over, but unexpectedly Wei Yuyan was still fast asleep.
"Ah, Sister-in-law Xiuhua, why is it so late? Hurry up, hurry up."
Wei Yuyan quickly got up and washed her face with cold water before she woke up.
"Has all the meat been cut?"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua has already taken the meat out to wash it, and is preparing to chop it in the yard where the light is better.
"Yes, I'll cut the mushrooms."
Wei Yuyan took the fresh mushrooms she had picked the day before yesterday. Fresh mushrooms are of course tastier than dried ones.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, do you dare to kill a chicken?"
Wei Yuyan thought for a moment, and then hesitated a bit about the chicken she was going to make. She didn't dare to kill a chicken herself.
"What's there to be afraid of? I'll kill them later."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua was chopping meat with great effort.
Wei Yuyan cut the chicken in half and then went to boil water. Once the water boiled, she killed the chicken.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, get ready, come on."
Wei Yuyan had prepared everything and was just waiting for Sister-in-law Xiuhua to kill the chicken.
"Watch me, you learn from me."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law took the cleaver and the chicken, first plucking the feathers from the chicken's neck, and then making a cut.
The chicken blood was collected in a bowl. Wei Yuyan didn't like eating chicken blood, but she thought that Sister-in-law Xiuhua and Brother Zhang might eat it, so she shouldn't waste it.
"I don't think I'll ever learn how to do it in my lifetime. Sister-in-law Xiuhua, do you and Brother Zhang like chicken blood? If you do, I'll cook some for you later."
Wei Yuyan thought for a moment and still asked.
"Your brother Zhang likes to eat it, but I don't."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua spoke the truth.
"Why don't you take it home later? We have so much food tonight."
Wei Yuyan thought that if she cooked too much food, they wouldn't be able to finish it.
"Okay then, I'll take it back tonight."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law didn't stand on ceremony with Wei Yuyan either.
"I'll prepare this chicken so it'll be ready to stew later."
Wei Yuyan took the chicken to the well and scalded it with boiling water before plucking the feathers, while Sister-in-law Xiuhua continued chopping the meat; six pounds of meat was quite a lot.
Wei Yuyan cleaned the chicken, then split it in half, one half large and one half small.
Cut off the smaller chicken leg as well. Use the smaller half for stir-frying and the majority for soup.
Wei Yuyan went to the vegetable garden and picked lettuce, peppers, garlic and other ingredients.
Then we started making chicken soup. We put the chicken in a pot of cold water, added wine and ginger, and took it out a few minutes after the water boiled.
Then I used a clay pot to make soup, which is much tastier and more nutritious than soup made in an iron pot.
Place chicken, mushrooms, scallions, and ginger in a pot, add hot water, and simmer over low heat for about half an hour.
"Sister-in-law, the mushrooms and meat are all chopped. Is there anything else we need to do?"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua brought in the chopped meat and mushrooms and covered them.
"Just chop up a handful of scallions, then we'll start kneading the dough. Xiao Lei, come and check the fire."
Wei Yuyan felt it was inconvenient to knead the dough after dark last time, so she thought it would be fine to knead it earlier and it wouldn't make a difference.
"They've arrived."
Xiao Lei came from the vegetable garden behind the house. When it comes to treating small animals, Xiao Lei prefers tending to the vegetables.
When I have nothing to do, I go and pick at rotten vegetable leaves or weeds.
He would catch any insects that bit his vegetables and feed them to the chicks, killing two birds with one stone.
"Let's each knead three pounds of dough, that way it'll be faster."
Wei Yuyan ate five jin of wheat flour and one jin of cornmeal today.
"Yes, Sister Xiuhua, if business stabilizes this month, I'll give you a raise next month."
Wei Yuyan thought that this job was not easy either. Chopping meat, kneading dough, making steamed buns tomorrow morning, and selling steamed buns—there was actually quite a lot to do.
"Why say all this? Even if you don't give me money, I still have to help you."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua's words were the truth, and they came from the bottom of her heart.
“Sister-in-law Xiuhua, I was thinking that if you could help me sell them tomorrow, I would be much more relaxed, but I’m a little worried about the children.”
Wei Yuyan expressed her worries, saying that if Sister-in-law Xiuhua were at home, the children could turn to her if they needed anything.
Wei Yuyan felt anxious if none of the adults were home.
"Sister-in-law, why don't we go with you? It's just a matter of getting up a little earlier, we can manage."
Xiao Lei overheard his sister-in-law's conversation and chimed in.
"Xiao Lei is right, let's all go together."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua also thought it was acceptable, since it wasn't like this every day, just getting up early on market days.
"Alright then, you said it yourself, from now on you'll be responsible for waking Qianqian up."
Wei Yuyan thought that this was the only way for now. When she had more money in the future, she could rent a shop in town, which would be much more convenient.
"No problem, sister-in-law."
Xiao Lei patted his chest confidently.
"It smells so good."
Halfway through kneading the dough, Sister-in-law Xiuhua's mouth watered at the thought of chicken soup.
"We can eat when Brother Zhang comes back."
Wei Yuyan put the half-kneaded dough aside, saying she would let her sister-in-law Xiuhua knead it later, as she needed to prepare dinner.
Slice the lettuce, chop half a chicken into small pieces, and also chop chili peppers, scallions, ginger, and garlic. All these ingredients are chopped very finely so that they can absorb the flavors better.
However, we won't stir-fry it now, because the rice is being steamed in the iron pot. We'll stir-fry the vegetables after the rice is cooked.
"Sister-in-law, I can knead this dough myself, you don't need to get your hands dirty."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua has almost finished kneading the dough. Once it's kneaded, cover it and let it ferment. It would be best to get up early tomorrow morning to make steamed buns.
"good".
Wei Yuyan lifted the lid of the chicken soup broth and looked at it. It was almost ready, so she added salt to taste.
Such good chicken soup only needs salt; no other seasonings are necessary.
Wei Yuyan probably knew when Brother Zhang would be home, so she cooked the dishes right on time.
Just as the food was ready, Brother Zhang arrived.
"Time for chicken soup."
Wei Yuyan divided the chicken soup for everyone in the kitchen. There was less chicken and more mushrooms today, but the chicken soup was really delicious.
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