Chapter 43 Chapter 43 Reading is a luxury
Xu Yunfan found that Qin Run's cooking skills were really good. Even the simplest home-cooked dishes tasted amazing when cooked by him. He could eat three full bowls of rice every time.
The bowls in ancient times are different from the bowls in modern times. The bowls here are very large. In modern times, in some places, they can probably be used as large serving bowls.
Qin Run used a spatula to scoop a large spoonful of oil into the pot, then poured the cleaned beans into the pot. With a sizzling sound, the aroma of the beans instantly filled the entire kitchen.
Xu Yunfan took a deep breath and sat down by the stove, adding firewood as usual. He saw the two eggs and a bunch of green vegetable sprouts on the stove and asked, "Would you like some vegetable soup later?"
People say that this kind of weather is hot and tiring, and people have a poor appetite. They can't eat solid rice, and drinking porridge is best. But Xu Yunfan is different. He can't live without food, and he gets hungry easily in the middle of the night. He doesn't have a poor appetite, maybe because he does too much physical work and eats a lot.
There is nothing better than having a bowl of fresh vegetable soup before a meal.
Qin Run couldn't help but smile when he saw Xu Yunfan's happy face. "Well, these little greens are from the vegetable garden. I just picked a handful. Do you like them?"
"I like it." Xu Yunfan said without hesitation, "It's very fresh and delicious when made into soup."
At this point, Xu Yunfan sighed and slapped his forehead, "We forgot to buy vegetable seeds when we went to town a few days ago."
"That's okay. Tomorrow is market day. We can go again and buy whatever we need tomorrow."
Qin Run said this while stirring the vegetables in the pot, and continued: "We still have a few acres of corn fields left to harvest. Thanks to the cart you made, we can harvest the corn much faster."
If it were in previous years, he would not dare to go home to cook before the sun sets. But this year, with Xu Yunfan, the family harvested corn much faster, and only a few acres were left to harvest.
"Then let's go to town tomorrow!" Xu Yunfan said happily. Qin Run had not been able to make the cloth he bought before because he was too busy harvesting corn. He could wear Qin Run's clothes, but he had to buy these vegetable seeds, otherwise he would have nothing to eat.
The weather in July is very hot and some of the wild vegetables outside are too old. Although the cauliflower I picked last time was tender, it is obviously impossible to eat it every meal.
You can't eat meat every meal, but you must have vegetables.
Xu Yunfan didn't want to get up early alone. The fog was very heavy in the morning in the mountain village. The hillside in the distance was shrouded in mist and the air was chilly. He was afraid to go out alone.
With Qin Run by my side, at least I can feel braver.
Qin Run naturally would not refuse this.
Qin An ran back only when the sky turned gray.
"Why are you sweating so much?" Qin Run saw Qin An's hair soaked with sweat when he brought out the dishes, and he couldn't help but feel distressed. "You're running too fast. If you fall, you'll know how painful it is."
"It doesn't hurt." Qin An laughed foolishly, turning the fish basket hanging on his waist to show Qin Run, "Brother, look, there are so many earthworms. If the chicks eat them, they will definitely grow fast and fat."
"Chicken like that must be delicious." Xu Yunfan interrupted, "Go feed the chickens quickly. It's time for dinner."
Xiao Qin's yard is very big, and the chicken coop is built in the corner of the wall. Xu Yunfan was holding two bowls of rice in his hands and was too lazy to run over to see how Qin An fed the chickens.
He had already decided to leave the chicks to Qin An's charge. Asking him to dig for the sticky and slippery earthworms was really nerve-wracking.
When the three of them sat at the dinner table, the smile on Qin An's face never faded. He ate his food with relish, taking bites of food and rice.
"Second brother, did something happy happen to you?" Qin Run swallowed the food in his mouth and saw Qin An smiling all the time, and his mood couldn't help but become cheerful.
Since Xu Yunfan came to this family, their lives have gradually improved.
I didn’t have enough to eat before, but now I have refined rice to eat, and the dishes I cook are cooked with plenty of oil and salt, and they taste so delicious.
Qin An held a mouthful of rice in his mouth and said incoherently: "Big pot, I have candy to eat, I am happy."
Qin Run was also happy, his eyes narrowed in smile. He didn't reply, but only took a mouthful of rice, his cheeks puffed out a little, "Big brother is happy too."
Xu Yunfan looked at the two brothers, who looked about 60% similar, and put a piece of food into each of their bowls. "You like sweet food so much? How about that fragrant bread? Do you like it?"
"Bread?" Qin Run thought for a moment, "Is it the fragrant, soft, and delicious thing you gave us to eat before?"
Xu Yunfan said, "Yes, that's bread. If you like it, I'll make it for you when I have time."
Qin Run recalled the fragrant and soft bread he had eaten before. Something so delicious must be difficult to make. He suddenly felt embarrassed. "Will it be troublesome?"
He was afraid that Xu Yunfan would find it troublesome, and think that they were difficult brothers to support. After getting a little sweetness, he would crave for more. Greedy people are never very likable. If Xu Yunfan got tired and wanted to leave, what should he do?
If that day comes, he won't even have an excuse to stay.
Realizing this, Qin Run couldn't help but feel panic.
Because he cared too much, Qin Run was walking on thin ice. He was inevitably cautious when dealing with Xu Yunfan, fearing that he would leave the family.
Although Xu Yunfan is tall and thin and looks like he is no match for his brother, it is undeniable that Xu Yunfan has only been in this family for more than ten days, and the entire Xiao Qin family seems to have undergone earth-shaking changes.
It is no exaggeration to say that he is the backbone of this family.
Xu Yunfan's hands kept picking up the food. He fantasized for a while, feeling so happy that he almost shook his head. "No trouble, wait until I build a kiln. Then I can not only make bread, but also roast duck."
"Roast duck? What kind of duck is that?" Qin Run had never heard of this kind of duck. He only knew about mallards, Muscovy ducks, wild ducks, etc., but he had never heard of roast duck.
Xu Yunfan looked up at Qin Run's clear eyes and patiently explained, "Roast duck is a cooked duck roasted over charcoal fire. The meat is fatty but not greasy, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and very fragrant."
At this point, Xu Yunfan sighed, "What a pity, I'm not a good cook. I only know the recipes, but my hands are not strong enough!"
Qin Run didn't quite understand what he heard, and thought something was wrong with Xu Yunfan's hand, so he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong with your hand?"
Seeing Qin Run's nervousness, Xu Yunfan was actually a little happy in his heart, "Nothing, what I mean is, I can't cook, and the food I make is so delicious that it would kill people."
Qin An immediately retorted, "That's not true. Gefu is the best. He can make sweet and delicious candies. It's just that... even Li Tongsheng is not as good as Gefu."
"Li Tongsheng?" Xu Yunfan thought for a moment, "Is that the Tongsheng from the Li Changshang woman's family?"
Qin Run: “…”
"Well, he's the only Tongsheng in our village right now. Or, you could say, he's the only one in the nearby villages who has a chance of passing the exam."
It was for this reason that Aunt Li dared to be so arrogant in the village. Unfortunately, she ran into a tough opponent, Xu Yunfan.
Xu Yunfan was stunned for a moment. "Is he so good at studying? Then where are the schools in the nearby villages?"
There are many villagers in Dali Village. Here, people value having many children and a large house full of descendants, so every family has more or less a few children.
Qin Run said: "In Xiaoli Village."
Xiaoli Village?
"Is Xiaoli Village far from here?" Xu Yunfan asked. On the day he went to town, he walked half an hour outside the village and saw what seemed to be a village on the side of the road. He didn't ask much at the time, but now he couldn't go back, so he had to find out more. "Shouldn't An Ge'er be in school at his age? Is he taking the same farm leave as Li Tongsheng? When will the leave end?"
"Also, is this road far? How early does An Ge have to get up in the morning to go to school? He's been so busy these past few days. If he doesn't study, will he fall behind the others? And..."
Xu Yunfan kept asking, completely forgetting that before he came, with the financial situation of the Qin family, they had no extra money to send Qin An to school.
Qin Run said: "Ange didn't go to school, paper is too expensive..."
There were several types of paper in the Dayan Dynasty, two of which were more commonly used. One was rough hemp paper, and the other was high-quality Xuan paper.
One cut of hemp paper costs six hundred wen, one cut of rice paper costs nine hundred wen, and one cut of paper is one hundred sheets.
By this calculation, a piece of good paper costs nine cents. What does this price mean?
A meat bun costs two cents, a big steamed bun costs one cent, and the men in the village who go to the town to do hard labor only earn twenty cents a day.
So, you can imagine how expensive this paper is.
No wonder, in the village, the whole family can only support one scholar with their efforts, and only families with a little wealth can produce a scholar.
Xu Yunfan was shocked. "Is paper so expensive? How many children in the village go to school?"
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