Thank you Xia for the tip, I'll still be up at five today!
After Liu Jingze finished eating, he said, "Mmm, Grandma will definitely like it."
Er Ya has started frying sweet treats. Zhang Hongmei makes the sweet ones in smaller sizes, which is more traditional.
In her past life, Zhang Hongmei loved to eat sweet fried dough twists because she thought eating them was like grinding her teeth. Back then, her sister-in-law would laugh at her and give her her nephew's teething stick.
Zhang Hongmei placed the fried dough twists on the table, then brought two empty bowls to Er Ya before making the leavened dough twists, which were definitely going to be large.
This was easy to do, so Zhang Hongmei wasn't in a hurry. Instead, she wanted to help Er Ya with the frying, but Er Ya refused.
"I don't need you. Don't get burned by the hot oil. I can do it myself. You should go make the rest of the twisted dough sticks."
"The rest is dough, or we'll make twisted dough sticks. No rush."
"Hongmei, I feel like this isn't crispy enough."
"Yes, sweet ones don't need to be fried until crispy, but they still need to be fried twice. Leavened ones don't need to be fried until crispy either, they're fine as long as they're cooked through."
Once the dough was put into the pot, a sweet aroma immediately wafted out; it smelled amazing.
"I think this fermented dough twist is the best-tasting," said Liu Jingze, who was also won over by the flavor.
I initially put five jin of oil in the pot, but after frying all the twisted dough sticks, there was only about half left. I estimate that I used more than two jin of oil. I don't know how heartbroken the elderly would be if they saw this.
While frying the twisted dough sticks for the second time, Zhang Hongmei chopped a cabbage. She could use the oil in the pan to make cabbage soup, and then they'd have dinner ready.
"Brother Jingze, go next door and invite the principal over for dinner."
"Hongmei, it's their first day here. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for them not to go to the cafeteria?"
"Oh right, I forgot. Let's stir-fry some cabbage and eat at home, the three of us."
Er Ya poured the oil into an aluminum basin. She then put the chopped cabbage from Zhang Hongmei into the pot and stir-fried it.
At this moment, Zhang Hongmei prepared the fried dough twists for the old lady and Shi Tou San Ya.
"You two go deliver the fried dough twists first, I'll go deliver them next door, and come back for dinner right away."
The steamed buns were cold, but not hard, so I ate them like that.
"Stir-frying vegetables with more oil tastes better. Today's stir-fried cabbage was so delicious. I can hardly believe I cooked it myself."
Liu Jingze listened to the two girls chattering away, but his chopsticks never stopped. He also thought the stir-fried cabbage was quite delicious today.
Liu Jingze was responsible for cleaning the table and washing the dishes after meals, and he did so well that Zhang Hongmei approved of his work.
"Hongmei, I'm going back first. I need to ask my dad to find some bags for us. Are ten enough?"
"Bring as many as you can. Thirty should be enough. If you don't have that many fish, just bring the bag back."
"Okay, I understand."
"Hongmei, I'm going back too. You should get some rest early today."
Zhang Hongmei got up at around 2 a.m. the next day and steamed two trays of buns. By the time Liu Jingze arrived at 3:30 a.m., Zhang Hongmei had already packed everything she needed to bring and tidied herself up as well.
"Brother Jingze, the steamed buns are fresh out of the oven, would you like two?"
"Okay, just give me one, I don't have an appetite in the morning."
Liu Jingze carried the basket that Zhang Hongmei had prepared on his back, while giving her his own basket to carry.
Zhu Zi and Er Ya also came over, and the four of them could see the road clearly in the white light of the snow.
The snow was getting deeper and deeper, and no one had ever walked the path up the mountain. Zhang Hongmei optimistically thought of the old saying, "There was originally no path in the world, but as more people walk on it, it becomes a path."
The water level was already above my calves before I even reached the foot of the mountain.
"I think this is the right depth of snow. Let's try climbing the mountain and see if it's slippery?"
"I think it's alright. What do you guys think, Brother Zhu and Sister Er Ya?"
"I'm fine, Er Ya, how are you?"
"I'm fine with it too."
"That's good. Let's try our best. Hopefully, we can get to the pool in three hours."
"I don't know if we can go down into the pool? The water level has dropped too much due to the severe drought over the past three years." This is what Zhang Hongmei is worried about.
"There shouldn't be a problem. When we came back, the adults said that the water level in the pond has almost recovered."
"That's alright. If it were two or three meters high, we would have suffered for nothing."
When Zhang Hongmei climbed to the sweet potato field, she felt exhausted.
"Hongmei, give me your hand and I'll pull you along. That way we can save some energy."
Zhang Hongmei couldn't care less about anything else now, as she really couldn't keep up anymore. Zhu Zi also pulled Er Ya along, and the four of them stumbled and fell to the edge of the pool, taking nearly four hours.
It was several degrees below zero, and all four of them were drenched in sweat. It was almost eight o'clock, but the two boys didn't even bother to rest. They immediately took off their coats, grabbed their pickaxes, and climbed onto the ice of the pond.
Fortunately, the water level has only dropped by about half a meter compared to before, so it seems that those few rains were really quite heavy.
Er Ya also took off her coat, grabbed a pickaxe, and went down.
Zhang Hongmei rested for a while and then went downstairs. After all, there were only a few people, and she couldn't just watch from the sidelines.
This ice is even thicker than last time. "Hongmei, you don't need to do this. Find some thinner poles and connect the three together so we can dig fewer holes in the ice. You're responsible for shoveling a shovelful of snow between the two ice holes, otherwise we won't be able to see where the poles are when we set the net."
One net is sixty meters long; it looks like they're going to make six holes in the ice.
The man was still strong after all. He dug up two pillars before Liu Jingze assigned him to cut poles. Er Ya only dug up one, and Liu Jingze dug up the remaining three. It was really unexpected that someone who looked so frail could be so capable.
The three poles tied together are five or six meters long, and the ice hole ten meters away is quite a challenge.
Tie one end of the rope to the net scoop and the other end to the pole. Zhu Zi was in charge of pushing the pole, Liu Jingze waited at the second ice hole, and Er Ya was in charge of setting up the net behind Zhu Zi.
The pillar slowly lowered the pole through the ice hole to the bottom of the ice, then gave it a strong push, and the pole shot forward.
Liu Jingze crouched at the second ice hole, waited, and when he saw the pole, he immediately grabbed it with his hand and tied a rope to it. He pulled the pole up little by little. Then he untied the rope connecting the pole and the net and pulled the net forward.
Once you see the net through the second ice hole, tie the rope to the pole again and repeat the previous action.
It was almost midnight by the time the first net was put on.
Zhang Hongmei had just cut some tree branches, and the four of them sat down to rest by a fire that Zhang Hongmei had cleared out.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, I finally felt cold. "You two quickly put on your cotton-padded pants and shoes. Zhu Zi and I will go check on the fishing nets."
The two girls changed clothes, one holding a coat to cover themselves, and then they felt much more comfortable after putting on the cotton-padded pants and shoes they had brought.
The two boys were rough and didn't change at all.
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