Chapter 25 Mid-Autumn Festival.
Arriving at the county town, He Susu did not go directly to the cinema, but turned and rode to the grocery store.
These days, grocery stores sell pork, fish, various vegetables, and mountain products collected from the countryside. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can come across some rare food.
He Susu hasn't been to the grocery store for a long time. The last time her elder sister bought a pound of pork from here reminded her, so she came to take a look today.
When she arrived, all the pork in the grocery store had been sold out.
Whenever there was news of pork being sold, everyone in the county town who had meat coupons would come and buy pork, and they had to fight to get it. Only two fish were left, and there were three or four vegetables left, most of which were no more than two cents per pound.
He Susu looked around and picked two yams that few people bought. The yams looked good and seemed to be of good quality. She asked the staff, "Comrade, could you please calculate how much they cost?"
The staff weighed the two yams and said, "It's one pound and two ounces in total. I'll charge you thirty-five cents."
"Thank you, comrade." He Susu paid the bill promptly, carried two yams out of the grocery store, and rode her bicycle to the cinema.
During the daytime break at work, He Susu looked at the two yams placed under the ticket counter and thought about how to cook them. She finally decided to make soup so that she could eat the yams and drink the soup.
He Susu opened the shopping system. She originally wanted to exchange some bones to bring home for soup. Pork shanks were relatively cheap, and one point of diligence could be exchanged for two kilograms.
But she thought about it and felt that the pork shank soup was too bland, so she decided to switch to spareribs. Spareribs soup is more nutritious than pork shank soup, and you can also eat meat at the same time.
So I just exchanged it for a pound of pork ribs.
After finally getting home from get off work, He Susu brought two yams and a pound of spareribs into the kitchen: "Sister-in-law, I happened to buy yams and a pound of spareribs at the grocery store today. You can make soup with them and drink it in the evening."
"Yam and pork ribs soup? The ribs look quite meaty. You still have some winter vegetables left from last time. How about stewing the pork ribs with winter vegetables? This dish is delicious." Zhao Miling took it and took a look at it and suggested.
He Susu shook her head: "While the yam is still fresh, it will be delicious when cooked with pork ribs. As for the pork ribs stewed with preserved vegetables, let's wait until next time. I'll buy some pork ribs next time."
Zhao Miling had no choice but to agree. Seeing that the two yams were quite large, she decided to cut one for the soup. She took one to the well to wash it, and then took a kitchen knife to peel it, but her hands suddenly felt itchy.
She hurriedly shouted, "Little sister, come here quickly. My hands can't touch this yam, it will itch. How about waiting for your second sister-in-law to come back and deal with it?"
Some people really can't touch yam, their hands will itch. He Susu rushed over and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, I've caused you trouble. Go get some oil and wipe it. I'll take care of the yam."
She picked yams in the morning and touched these two yams many times during the day, so obviously there was no reaction.
The younger sister-in-law was happy to work, and Zhao Miling let her do it, otherwise it would be too late to deal with it when the second brother's wife came back.
He Susu picked up a kitchen knife to peel the yam. Because she was not very good at using a knife, she was not careful with her hands and inevitably ruined some of the yam when peeling it, but fortunately she finished it smoothly. She took the yam into the kitchen, cut it into pieces, and put it in the pot.
Zhao Miling had not been idle before. She went back to the kitchen to wash and blanch a pound of pork ribs. Now the yam was also ready, so she added water and started cooking in a pot on the stove.
There was a lot of meat on the ribs, so this pot of yam and ribs soup was a meat dish, and we could just stir-fry some vegetables later. So the only pot was used to make soup, and Zhao Miling was not in a hurry.
When the He family got off work and sat at the dinner table, they found a pot full of soup. There seemed to be spare ribs in the soup, and...
Seeing that no one could recognize it, He Susu explained: "This is the yam I bought at the grocery store this morning. It should taste good when cooked."
She didn't have sweet potato rice tonight, so she just scooped up a full bowl of yam, pork ribs, and soup.
He Susu picked up a piece of yam and tasted it. Although it was not cooked for a long time, it was still soft and sticky, with a good taste. The ribs were cooked until soft and easy to bite. The taste was relatively light, but it was still delicious with the fragrance of yam.
The soup is thick, and the yam was cooked too soft and mixed in with the soup. It tastes like meat and yam, and goes down with the floating hot steam, which is very refreshing.
Because the weather is getting cooler, I don’t feel hot when drinking hot soup.
The other members of the He family ate spareribs first. After the last time they had spareribs braised with winter vegetables, they now thought that spareribs were also delicious when boiled, but of course they still felt a little bit sorry when they spit out the bones.
Because the pork ribs are relatively light in texture, they like strong flavors and think they are not as delicious as the pork ribs braised with winter vegetables.
However, the yam tastes good, not only is it soft and sticky, but it also has a crunchy texture, and is more fragrant than sweet potatoes. The taste of the two is a bit similar, and it should be quite filling.
A pot of yam and pork ribs soup plus a plate of cabbage fried with lard, all the He family members, young and old, ate happily and full.
After the meal, He's mother told her daughter, "Susu, this yam tastes really good. If you see it still available at the grocery store, buy some back."
"Okay, I'll remember that. There's still a yam left at home. I'll see if I can buy some spare ribs to make soup tomorrow. If there aren't spare ribs, I'll buy pork shanks." He Susu replied with a smile. Even if she said she would buy pork shanks, she was afraid that she might be too sure and cause suspicion.
He's mother nodded: "Okay, you can use the ribs to make soup. The meat on it can be considered a meat dish, and the ribs will only taste good if you cook them. I'll give you the money for the ribs."
The family had been willing to spend money on meat in the past few months, and most of the time it was the daughter who paid for it. How could the daughter buy all the food for the whole family? This time, He's mother was very determined to push the money in, and He Susu had to accept it.
Thinking about how my sister-in-law was saying before dinner that braised pork ribs with winter vegetables were delicious, and that the family members seemed to like it very much last time, I might as well buy two pounds of pork ribs tomorrow.
He Susu was at work that day, and the next movie was about to start. This was also a popular time to watch movies, and many customers were queuing up to buy tickets. She took a pen and wrote the showtime and other information on the movie ticket. Her speed gradually increased, and her handwriting became sloppy, but you could still barely make out what she wrote.
Looking up at the customer at the end of the queue, He Susu smiled and said, "Zhu Yun, it's you."
Zhu Yun came here with her best friend. She smiled and said, "I'm really here to watch a movie this time. Let's buy two tickets for the next show."
"Okay." He Susu lowered her head and began to write the movie ticket information. This time her handwriting returned to its original elegance.
After paying for the movie ticket, Zhu Yun handed the paper ticket to his best friend and asked her to go in first. Seeing that no one was approaching him, he said, "Susu, there is a batch of defective cloth in the factory. It's not a big problem. I can arrange one for you. Do you want it?"
Although fabrics can be exchanged in the shopping system, and there are various styles and colors to choose from, it is difficult to explain.
Fabric is hard to buy these days, so Zhu Yun kindly left the defective fabric and asked her if she wanted it. It would be strange if she didn't buy it.
He Susu showed an excited expression: "Great, defective cloth is usually hard to buy, thank you Zhu Yun. With this piece of cloth, my family can also make clothes."
Zhu Yun enjoyed this excitement and was also happy to repay He Susu for helping her buy lipstick. Last time she helped her colleagues in the office buy lipstick, they liked it very much after returning home, and they also took better care of her in their daily work. This was a real benefit.
"Okay, I'll take a break today. After watching the movie, I'll go back to the factory and bring you the cloth."
He Susu nodded: "Okay, then I'll give you the money first." As she said that, she was about to take money out of her pocket.
Zhu Yun shook his head: "No hurry, you can pay me after I get the fabric. It's getting late, I'm going to watch a movie first."
"Okay, I'll go with you." He Susu also stood up and walked to the corresponding screening room with Zhu Yun. She was going to control the movie.
A little later, Zhu Yun came back after watching a movie with a package in his hand.
When she came over, a new movie had just started. There were no customers at the ticket counter. She opened the package and took out the fabric inside. "This piece of fabric is dark green. You can see that the dyeing is uneven in these places, which doesn't look that good. When you make clothes later, just cut these places out separately. They are considered to be the better fabrics among the defective ones."
He Susu also thought that the defective cloth was good after looking at it: "Thank you so much, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to buy so much cloth."
After asking Zhu Yun how much the cloth cost, He Susu paid for it quickly. Fortunately, she was used to carrying some money with her, so she could buy whatever she wanted, which would give her enough money to pay for the cloth.
The two chatted for a while, and when they saw another customer coming to buy movie tickets, Zhu Yun said goodbye and left.
He Susu had already stuffed the cloth into the package she brought with her so that it would not be seen by customers who came to buy movie tickets, which would have caused trouble later.
After dinner, He Susu went back to her room and took out the cloth. "Mom and Dad, today my classmate told me that their textile factory has a batch of defective cloth. She said it's not a big problem and asked me if I wanted it. I thought it was rare to get cloth without a ticket, so I asked her to buy one for me. You see, this part is not good for dyeing, so we can just cut it off and make something else."
He's mother took the cloth and looked at it with satisfaction: "This cloth is quite good. Your classmate picked out the best one for you."
Speaking of which, I have been lucky this year. Last time, my daughter bought ready-made clothes from a classmate who didn't need coupons. She not only bought some for herself, but also for her and her old man. Now she bought defective cloth from a textile factory and didn't use much of the cloth coupons.
Knowing that her daughter would not like the color of the cloth, He's mother arranged: "This year, your father and I will have new clothes. This piece of cloth will be divided between the first and second wives. It can be used to make clothes for the eldest and second wives."
As for the two sons, men's clothes can be worn as long as they are patched up, but they don't need to be so good. The eldest and second sons' wives usually help take care of the family and work hard, so it is reasonable for them to make new clothes with extra fabrics.
Zhao Miling and Qian Chunhe didn't expect that they could make new clothes. They said excitedly, "Thank you, mother, thank you, aunt."
He's mother said, "The money for buying the cloth is paid by the family. Susu, you don't have much money on hand. You usually buy meat to supplement the family's food. If you don't have money to buy cloth, you have to pay for it."
Thinking that her two sisters-in-law would remember her mother's kindness, He Susu did not refuse and directly gave her mother the money to buy the cloth. She accepted the money from her mother.
The dark green cloth was handed over to Zhao Miling and Qian Chunhe. They were both good at making clothes, so they would naturally take the time to make their own clothes.
Brother He and Brother Two had no objection to this at all. They were happy to see their wives have new clothes to wear.
Needless to say, the children, except Guifang and Kerou who got new clothes a while ago, had none of them. Although they really wanted to have new clothes, they were also happy if their grandmother asked their mother to make new clothes for them.
They like their mother to dress beautifully.
The weather gets cooler with each autumn rain. After a few rains, the weather has become much cooler. Occasionally, when the wind blows in the morning, it can be a bit chilly. Everyone takes out their long sleeves and wears them, and sometimes they even have to put on a coat to avoid feeling cold.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon.
He Susu only then realized that during some major festivals cinemas would give holiday subsidies to their staff.
Sister Chen said that they used to have subsidies for the Dragon Boat Festival, but the cinema did not do well in the first half of the year, so they saved the holiday subsidies. It was quite surprising that they could get subsidies for the Mid-Autumn Festival this time.
In the director's office, He Susu came to collect the holiday allowance.
The Mid-Autumn Festival subsidy includes one pound of peanuts, one or two sugar cubes, and two mooncakes. He Susu signed her name on the holiday subsidy distribution form and said happily, "Thank you, Director."
Peanuts and sugar cubes are relatively common, but mooncakes are rare. These days they are specially supplied to various factories and state-owned units and cannot be bought in supply and marketing cooperatives.
The director nodded and encouraged: "You have been doing a good job recently. Keep it up."
When He Susu heard this, she spoke for a long time to express her determination to work hard. Then she took the holiday allowance, left the director's office, and returned to the ticket counter.
Sister Chen came to collect the holiday subsidy earlier and went home first. Today Zhou Xiaoqian also came to collect the subsidy. It can be said that the welfare of this cinema is really good. There is no shortage of regular workers who are resting at home, and there is no shortage of temporary workers.
Zhou Xiaoqian exchanged a few pleasantries with He Susu and said, "My child is a little older now and can drink milk mixed with rice soup. It's stressful for me to feed him milk powder every day. Susu, please buy me four more bags of milk powder. This should be enough for the child to drink for another two months. After that, I can switch to porridge."
He Susu nodded: "Okay, you can relax a little when the child grows up. As usual, come to the cinema to find me in four days, and I will give you the milk powder then."
"Okay, thank you Susu." After Zhou Xiaoqian thanked happily, she took care of the children at home and hurried away with the subsidy.
After He Susu got off work, she rode her bike back home and took out the holiday allowance from the cinema to show the movie to her family.
"You can cook these peanuts and put them in your pockets when you go to work. You can use them to fill your stomach when you are hungry. There are one or two ounces of sugar cubes. You can use them to soak in water. There are two mooncakes. We will save them for the Mid-Autumn Festival."
The He family was quite surprised to see the subsidy that Susu brought back.
He's father sighed: "Even though this job is just a temporary one, you can get such a good subsidy. It's good to be a worker."
Mother He looked at the two mooncakes and said, "This is the first time I've seen mooncakes this big. I heard that it was hard to buy them even with cake tickets. They were all given to workers."
He Susu smiled and said, "Then let's try the taste of mooncakes this Mid-Autumn Festival."
Peanuts and sugar cubes were also rare. Peanuts were a rare snack, so He's mother decided to stew them as her daughter suggested and give them to everyone to take with them to work. One or two sugar cubes were placed in the kitchen, and anyone who wanted to supplement their nutrition could go to the kitchen and make sugar water to drink.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the cinema was closed. He Susu asked the director, and the closed day was not counted as a monthly rest day, which meant that she had an extra day off for nothing.
But the Qinghe Production Team still went to work as usual, and finished work an hour earlier in the afternoon so that everyone could go home to cook dinner and enjoy the moon.
The food at the He family was naturally good. Thinking that the Mid-Autumn Festival was a rare festival, He Susu specially exchanged a chicken and brought it back, saying that she asked her classmates to buy it for her. The two chickens at home were too precious, they could lay two eggs every day, but she couldn't bear to kill them for food.
Qian Chunhe is a good cook. Tonight, he cooked braised pork, braised chicken, fried eggs with leeks, fried Chinese kale with lard, and Chinese wolfberry chicken soup. The five dishes were placed on the table. Because of the large quantity and many hard dishes, they looked very tempting. It was even more sumptuous than the Chinese New Year.
He's father was not good at speaking, so He's mother said, "We have had a good life this year, and I hope it will get better and better in the future. Let's eat!"
Everyone picked up the meat with their chopsticks and ate happily, their mouths full of oil. No one was busy talking, as they were immersed in the delicious dinner.
After dinner, I looked up and saw the bright moon hanging high in the sky, like a round jade plate spreading silver light all over the room. Except for Zhao Miling who was washing dishes with the two children, everyone else simply moved chairs to the yard to sit and chat while watching the moon.
Some talked about their work, some talked about village gossip, and some said how wonderful life was as they could eat meat almost every day at home.
He's mother suddenly became sentimental: "We are all gathered here to watch the moon and chat happily, but it's a pity that the third child is not here. He went back to the army after the Chinese New Year and hasn't been back for more than half a year. It looks like he won't be back until the Chinese New Year."
She had five children, but the third child went to the army and lived far away, so she could only see him a few times a year. Moreover, when the third child went on a mission, it was extremely dangerous, so He's mother was even more worried about him.
Brother He comforted her: "Mom, the third brother is in the army to contribute to the country and bring honor to you. If he has a vacation, he will definitely come back to see you."
He Erge followed up and agreed: "Yes, mother, if you really miss the third child, just ask your younger sister to write a letter and send it to him. If that doesn't work, find a free time to go to the county town and call him. It costs a little money and you can always say a few words."
He's mother was reluctant to spend the money on the phone call.
He Susu thought of the letter her third brother had sent her last time, saying that the mushroom and meat sauce was delicious. He asked the chef in the canteen to heat it up and eat it with rice. He also shared some with his comrades, and everyone praised his family's cooking skills.
She suggested, "Mom, didn't you say before that you wanted to make something to send to your third brother? Why don't I ask my classmates to buy more pork, and we can make some sausages and bacon and send some to your third brother. He can ask the cafeteria staff to heat it up, which is very convenient. We can also save some sausages and bacon to eat, and now is a good time to eat them."
"Mom, can you make sausage and bacon?"
Speaking of this, He's mother became excited: "Of course I can't make it, I learned this skill from your aunt. In the past, when the harvest was poor, our family could only get some pork when the village slaughtered pigs before the New Year. In order to keep it for a longer time, we smoked it and put it in bacon. This sausage is not difficult to make. You can ask your classmates to buy some pig casings when you go back. This stuff is indispensable."
"By the way, I'll pay for the meat this time. Buy as much pork as you can, and then we can make more bacon and sausages."
He Susu smiled and agreed: "Okay, I'll remember it."
The other members of the He family were relieved to see that He's mother had recovered her spirits. They were even happier when they thought that they would have sausages and bacon to eat in a while.
After the meat and vegetables from dinner were slightly digested in her stomach, He Susu went to get two mooncakes and a kitchen knife and said, "Let's eat mooncakes."
Mooncakes these days are so big that they have to be cut into pieces to share. The mooncakes were wrapped in oil paper. She opened the paper to reveal the golden mooncakes inside. There were prints and moon patterns carved on the surface. She cut them into eight pieces with a knife. The fragrance immediately came out. She let everyone take a piece and started cutting the second mooncake.
After it was cut, He Susu took a piece for herself.
Mooncakes are more delicate than pastries, but have a harder texture. They are filled with peanuts, sesame seeds, and walnut kernels, and have a faint scent of osmanthus. He Susu tasted them and thought they were quite good.
Father He chewed the mooncake slowly. As he was old, his teeth were not so good. At first he felt that the mooncake was too hard to bite, but later he could taste its fragrance as he chewed it slowly.
It was the first time that He's mother ate mooncakes and she thought they tasted even better than the cakes sold in the supply and marketing cooperative. They only ate them once a year during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Needless to say, Brother He and his friends, mooncakes are a rare pastry for them. They are filled with sugar and other fillings, which is very rare.
After eating one piece, the five children still had a good appetite. After asking the adults, especially the aunt, for their opinions, they shared the remaining mooncakes. They looked at the moon printed on the mooncakes, and then looked up at the bright moon in the sky, thinking that this Mid-Autumn Festival was really great.
The mooncakes are delicious and the moon is beautiful.
A few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, He Susu brought home four pounds of pork that was three parts fat and seven parts lean: "Mom, put this pork in the well to cool it down first. My classmate can buy me another five pounds of pork the day after tomorrow, and we can cook it together then."
The reason why I brought back pork in two batches was to avoid suspicion from my family. Nowadays, even if you have connections, it is difficult to come up with nine pounds of pork at once.
"Okay, I get it. If we can get nine pounds of pork, we can make a lot of sausages and bacon." He's mother was very satisfied with this. Only with this amount can she send some to the third child and keep some for her family.
She thought of the things needed to make bacon and said, "Oh, see if you can buy one or two ounces of liquor. You need liquor to wash the pork. Also buy some bay leaves, peppercorns, cinnamon, and star anise. Grocery stores should have them. This way the pickled pork will be fragrant."
He's mother thought for a long time but couldn't think of what seasoning to use. It was because she hadn't made bacon for many years, so she went to ask her sister-in-law to remember it and then told her daughter about it.
The most difficult thing is this liquor. These days, any liquor is hard to buy. You need a liquor ticket. But without this liquor, there is no way to wash pork. Pork for bacon cannot be washed with water.
He Susu wrote everything down: "Okay, Mom, I got it. I'll try to buy everything and bring it back."
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