The four of them arrived home around noon, and Zhang Hongmei and Er Ya started cooking.
If there are noodles, just cook noodle soup with tomatoes, and each person also has an egg poached in it.
After the four finished eating, Er Ya and Zhu Zi went to school, while Liu Jingze went to the station to buy tickets and deliver the fish to Chen Sheng.
Zhang Hongmei was organizing the grain at home. She brought a 100-jin (50 kg) bag of rice, and another 20 jin (10 kg) of wheat flour. She even put an extra bag over the flour bag to prevent it from leaking out, which made things difficult. She also brought a bag of cornmeal and a bag of sweet potatoes. Only half a bag of sorghum flour remained in the house.
Zhang Hongmei was dumbfounded when she looked at the grain she had packed. How was she supposed to carry it?
No, we can't listen to Liu Jingze. We still have to go to the post office and ask if we can mail it.
Zhang Hongmei washed her hands, locked the door, and slipped a note under the door, telling Liu Jingze that she had gone to the post office.
"Hongmei, what brings you here? Are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Yes. Sister Huang Ying, could I mail some grain at the post office? The villagers have saved up quite a bit, and the two of us can't even get our luggage over there."
"Hongmei, my younger brother is a driver. Why don't you have him transport it to the capital for you?"
"Will this affect him?"
"We're all acquaintances, would anyone actually sue him? Don't worry, I certainly won't get involved in other people's business, but your business is no different from mine."
"When are you leaving?"
"He still has to go to the post office downstairs to pick up mail and packages late tonight. He has to collect them from the cities he passes through, and once he leaves our province, he can go directly to the capital."
"That's great, but how are you going to tell him?"
"It's okay, he'll be back tonight. You can go pack your things and have him take everything to you. I'll get you some parcel bags from the post office in a bit, that way it'll save you a lot of trouble."
"Thank you so much, Sister Huang Ying."
"It's nothing, we're like family."
"Then I'll go back and pack. Do you know my address?"
"I know, don't worry. My brother always leaves at midnight. He has to sleep at home for the first half of the night. You sleep quietly and listen for him knocking on the door."
"Alright, now I don't have to worry anymore. I'm off."
When Zhang Hongmei returned home, Liu Jingze was already waiting at the door for a while.
“Jingze, good news! Let’s go inside and talk.”
"Hehe, what good news has you so excited?"
“Brother Jingze, I just went to the post office and Sister Huang Ying told me that her brother drives a car at the post office and can help us take all our luggage to the capital tonight.”
"That's good, now we can bring more luggage. Have you packed everything?"
"Yes, you can take rice, wheat flour, corn flour, sweet potatoes, sorghum flour, and soybean oil with you."
These are the post office bags that Sister Huang Ying gave us; we'll put everything in here.
The two of them busied themselves again, and when they saw the ten bulging bags, Zhang Hongmei burst out laughing.
"Jingze, how are you going to memorize this?"
"Hehe, if we really carried a lot of luggage, we wouldn't have so much. I guess we should arrive around the same time. Our train is at four o'clock tomorrow morning, and we should arrive in the capital by noon on the third day."
"Sister Huang Ying said her brother still has to go to several cities to collect and deliver mail and packages."
"Then we might be able to get there before him. Hongmei, tonight you'll have to squeeze into bed with Erya."
"It's nothing, I was just worried you wouldn't be used to it." Zhang Hongmei winked at Liu Jingze, smiled mischievously, and revealed two deep dimples.
"You naughty girl, it's not what you think. I think you've saved some food?"
"Yes, Sister Er Ya and the others came to stay this morning, they can't go without food, can they?"
"Your teacher is riding high right now, she's really happy. She's taken on another 11th grade homeroom teacher this year."
"Hehe. Chen Sheng is really talented. I think it's a waste for him to be a teacher."
"Yes, they are worldly-wise and have a far-sighted perspective."
"Sister Er Ya and the others should be back soon, right?"
"I estimate I won't be back until five or six o'clock."
"Then I'll cook. Let's make the rolled pancakes all at once, and stew the potatoes in the bottom of the pot."
"Okay, let's take our own food. Otherwise, what are we going to eat? I can't stand the food on the train."
Zhang Hongmei went to the kitchen to prepare the dough, while Liu Jingze peeled the potatoes.
Zhang Hongmei suddenly slapped her forehead. "I forgot, there are still carrots in the cellar. No, we have to take all of these with us." These were taken out of Zhang Hongmei's spatial storage.
"Shall I go with you to see if there's anything else we can bring?"
"Take the radishes and cabbages with you. Also, the pickled vegetables and tomatoes."
“We need to wrap the fragile items thicker, and stop breaking them. Seal the oil tanks with plastic film, but even so, there will still be spills.”
"It's okay. It's cold. Just add some lard to the soybean oil, and it will solidify. It won't spill. Maybe I can find a plastic container with a lid next time. It would be too much trouble to store liquids in this."
"I'll start a fire for you in a bit to melt the lard. It will solidify by tonight."
The two went to the cellar and brought up half a bag of carrots and half a bag of cabbage.
There was also a large jar containing 20 jin of soybean oil and 10 jin of lard.
Zhang Hongmei glanced at Liu Jingze secretly and was relieved to see that he didn't seem surprised.
In fact, Liu Jingze only thought that the oil was left by Zhang Shouyi, and he didn't think of anything else.
The oil, weighing a full thirty jin (approximately 15 kg), was packed into a large jar. The two men carried the jar outside and placed it in the yard to cool.
"Does Hongmei have any old cotton quilt covers at home? Once the oil cools down, I'll seal the opening with plastic wrap to make sure the jar is completely covered and safe."
"I don't have a duvet cover, but would an old cotton overcoat work?"
"That's all we can do."
"Brother Jingze, I'll stir-fry some carrot shreds for you tonight. It's especially delicious and goes well with rice."
"You should definitely try it. You have a vegetable garden in your yard too. You can plant vegetables in the spring."
"That's great! I'll plant carrots, cilantro, and peppers. It's getting late, I'll cook now."
Liu Jingze washed the potatoes, cut them into chunks, and then went to start a fire.
The pot that had just been frying oil released a fragrant aroma as soon as the potatoes were put in.
Zhang Hongmei rolls the dough into a large sheet, adds salt and oil, then rolls it up and cuts it into small pieces.
Pinch the two ends and twist a few times, then pinch the four together, and the roll is made.
Zhang Hongmei completed a total of fifteen large test papers.
Liu Jingze stir-fried the potatoes several times, then Zhang Hongmei took the spatula, added soy sauce, stir-fried them several more times, and then added water.
The water had to completely submerge the potatoes before adding salt. After stirring them over, the rolled-up potatoes were placed on top of the potatoes, but before they could even be placed properly, three of them stuck to the edge of the pan.
"Brother Jingze, don't make the fire too big, or the rolls on the side of the pot will burn."
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