After the fermented black bean sauce was ready, Chen Chen put it into ceramic jars, then prepared one jar for He Jinshu to take to his teacher, one jar for Shen's mother and He's grandmother, and the other jar was left at home for him and He Jinshu to eat together.
Chen Zhen scooped a spoonful of fermented black bean sauce onto the rice in He Jinshu's bowl, then said to him, "Ah Shu, how about you try this sauce?"
"Okay." He Jinshu said as he picked up the chopsticks.
After taking a bite, He Jinshu nodded and said, "It's delicious, spicy and fragrant."
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhen said happily: "If you like it, I can make more in the future. This can be kept for a long time without going bad."
He Jinshu agreed.
Two days later, Chen Zhen planned to go back to the village to deliver the chili sauce to Grandma He and the others. Chen Zhen took the jar of fermented black bean chili sauce to the Shen family first. After handing the jar to Shen's mother, Chen Zhen returned to Wujia Village.
After taking the jar, Grandma He asked, "Brother Zhen, what is fermented black beans?"
"I made a kind of pickle with soybeans. It is delicious when eaten with rice or stir-fried. I will make it for you and grandpa to try at noon." Chen Chen replied.
Grandma He naturally had no objection. Everything Chen Zhen made was always delicious.
At noon, Chen Zhen used fermented black beans to make a dish of stir-fried pork with green peppers, a dish of braised chicken with fermented black beans, a dish of scrambled eggs with fermented black beans, and finally a dish of braised spareribs.
Grandma He and the others all like the dishes made by Chen Zhen with fermented black beans. They are spicy and tasty, and go very well with rice.
After finishing his meal, Chen Zhen went to take a look at the construction site.
The main house and the west wing will be completed in a few days. Then Grandma He and her family can move in first, and then we can demolish the original side of the He family's house and build the east wing.
Seeing that the construction was proceeding in an orderly manner, Chen Zhen did not stay long. After returning home and saying hello to Grandma He and the others, he returned to the town.
After staying in the town for a few more days, it was time for He Jinshu to take a holiday due to the busy farming season.
The busy farming season in Dongliguo lasts for one month, which is the entire month of July, because this month is the busiest month for people to harvest the first crop of rice and plant all the second crop of rice seedlings in the paddy fields before the end of the month.
In addition to the busy farming season in the summer, there is also a 20-day Yuanzheng holiday, which is the New Year holiday, during the Spring Festival.
He Jinshu's family had no land, so he didn't have to rush home to harvest rice.
After the two men tidied up at home, they prepared to drive the carriage back to Wujia Village.
Before leaving, He Jinshu looked at the pottery jar that Chen Chen brought out from the kitchen and asked curiously, "What's in your jar?"
"The preserved eggs I made will be ready in a few days. Let's take them home and eat them." Chen Chen said as he put the pottery jar on the carriage.
He Jinshu didn't ask any more questions after hearing this. Although he didn't know what preserved eggs were now, he should be able to eat them in a few days.
After packing everything, the two locked the door and returned to Wujia Village.
On the day they returned to the village, the main house and the west wing had been completed, but they did not move in that day. Instead, they packed up their things and moved in the next day.
There are two livable rooms in the main house, one on each side, with a living room in the middle. There are three rooms in the west wing, one is used as a kitchen, one is for Li Mo to live in, and the other is used as He Jinshu's study.
After they moved all the things, Foreman Liu took his men to tear down the original mud house, and then began to prepare to build the east wing.
Because it is a busy farming month, many men in the village want to come to work after harvesting the rice.
The house had been under construction for almost a month, and except for the east wing and the poultry shed in the backyard, everything else was almost finished, so Chen Chen didn't force them to stay.
Those who are willing to continue working can work here, and those who want to go home to harvest rice can go home to harvest rice. He will pay them the wages for this period, and they don’t have to come back to work afterwards, because the house should be built within this month.
Initially, 20 villagers were recruited, 12 of whom had to go home to harvest rice. The remaining few stayed because someone at home was busy with farm work and they didn't have to worry about it, so they continued to build houses and could earn extra money.
After Chen Zhen paid the 12 people their wages, he let them go home.
A few days later, the preserved eggs made by Chen Zhen were ready, so he prepared to make some delicious dishes with them.
He Jinshu was watching Chen Zhen peeling preserved eggs in the kitchen. As he watched, he asked, "Is this the preserved egg you were talking about?"
"Yes, Ah Shu, do you want to try it?" Chen Chen washed a peeled preserved egg with clean water and handed it to He Jinshu.
He Jinshu looked at the black preserved egg in front of him and was a little skeptical whether it was edible.
But he still took it, broke off a little with his hands, tasted it, and said, "It tastes weird."
Chen Chen nodded and said, "It tastes a bit strange if eaten alone. It depends on personal taste, but it is very delicious when used to cook dishes or porridge."
He Jinshu nodded when he heard this, then put the untouched side of the preserved egg into the bowl, and then said to Chen Chen: "Then I'll eat it after you finish cooking."
Chen Zhen nodded and said okay.
After peeling the preserved eggs, Chen Chen began to prepare the dishes, while He Jinshu helped to light the fire.
In the main hall, Grandma He sat in a rocking chair and chatted with Grandpa He: "Old man, have you noticed that Xiaoshu has become much closer to Brother Zhen recently?"
Although the way He Jinshu and Shen Zhen got along with each other before seemed quite normal, it was basically Shen Zhen who took the initiative, and sometimes it seemed like Shen Zhen was performing a one-man show.
Although He Jinshu treated Chen Zhen with great courtesy, he always felt as if there was a layer of separation between them, not to mention taking the initiative to get close to Chen Zhen.
Unlike now, he actually took the initiative to ask to help Chen Zhen light the fire and cook in the kitchen, and even persuaded Grandma He to come out.
Grandpa He smiled and said, "It's good to be closer. This shows that Xiaoshu has begun to sincerely accept Chen Ge'er. I have a feeling that Chen Ge'er will definitely help Xiaoshu complete that task in the future."
After hearing this, Grandma He nodded unconsciously, then looked at Grandpa He's legs and asked, "Old man, do you feel your legs now?"
"I have some feeling now. Xiaoshu said that when Doctor Xue comes next time, I can tell him that I have feeling in my legs." Grandpa He touched his knee and said with a smile.
Hearing this, Grandma He choked up and said, "This is all thanks to Xiaoshu, otherwise your legs might never be healed in this lifetime."
From these treatments, Grandma He and the others had actually guessed that Grandpa He's treatment might be related to Shen Zhen, but since Xiaoshu and Shen Zhen didn't want them to know, they pretended not to know.
Grandpa He patted Grandma He's shoulder and comforted her, "Don't be sad. Let Xiaoshu and the others see it later. We still have a long way to go in the future. We should be happy."
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