Liu Changhe's wife quickly brought over a few bowls, and Zhang Hongmei first served the old lady a bowl.
"Grandma, hurry up and try it! Give us a good review!"
"If it's delicious, why would I need to give you face?" The old lady said this, but she picked up the bowl, scooped up a fish ball and put it in her mouth. She chewed it faster and faster, then a second, a third, until she finished the whole bowl. Then she handed the bowl to her daughter-in-law and got another bowl.
Shi Tou San Ya ate slowly, taking a sip of soup after finishing one bowl. Da Shan finished his in a few bites, but didn't ask for a second bowl.
Zhang Hongmei ate a bowl and then put it down. "Grandma, I have to go back now. I'll come back to see you next week. I'll make you fish balls again, but you have to eat more this time."
"I'll let them have a taste, then I'll eat another bowl, and save the rest for lunch and dinner. I've finished it all."
"Hehe, I'm glad you like it. I'm leaving now."
"Wait a minute, Hongmei, take the stir-fried soybean paste. I've put it in a small bowl for you and wrapped it in a cloth, so it won't spill."
"Okay, Grandma, you take care of my great-grandma, I'm leaving now."
When Zhang Hongmei returned home, she slung her bag over her shoulder and instructed Shi Tou Sanya, who had come back with her, "Remember to tell my Third Aunt to put the cucumbers in the pickle jar and take the tomatoes to the canteen. Otherwise, it'll be a waste."
"I understand, Sister Hongmei. Don't worry."
It was getting late, so Zhang Hongmei decided not to go to the principal's house.
Once we arrived in the village, we stood at the bus stop and waited for the bus.
It was almost dark when we got back to the city, and by the time we got home it was completely dark.
The next morning, I woke up to find the tomatoes in my yard growing exceptionally well. Suddenly, I remembered how my mother used to preserve tomatoes in IV drip bottles when I was a child.
I need to think of a way to make some to give away.
During her lunch break, Zhang Hongmei went to the city hospital and chatted with the old man at the gate, asking, "Uncle, could you get some glass bottles for IV drips?"
"What's the point of having those? The doctors took them all back."
"Sir, could you please ask me if I can buy some glass bottles?"
“Go inside and there’s a cleaning lady there. Talk to her.”
Zhang Hongmei thanked the gatekeeper and went into the hospital. The hospital was only two stories high, and there weren't many patients inside.
They found a woman cleaning the house. "Auntie, could you help me buy some glass IV bottles with rubber caps?"
"There are three today. I had Dr. Li take them over. You can ask him; his office is at the end of the line."
Zhang Hongmei approached Dr. Li and asked, "Dr. Li, could you sell me the IV bottle?"
"Then what do you need this bottle for?"
"I just want to keep it to store hot water in the future. The cap of this bottle is tight and won't leak."
"None of these doctors sell them. If you want them, I'll give them to you."
Zhang Hongmei thought to herself that there are still more good people than bad. She shouldn't take advantage of others.
The bottle that was handed over was filled with a handful of milk candies, which were then stuffed into Dr. Li's hand.
"Thank you. Could you save some for me next time? I can trade you some dried sweet potatoes."
Dr. Li gripped the candy in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Okay. I'll save it for you. You can come and pick it up the day after tomorrow. I can save ten bottles for you."
"That's great. I'll come over the day after tomorrow to bring some dried sweet potatoes for your kids so they can chew on them."
Dr. Li was in a dilemma. It was just a few empty bottles. If he took the dried sweet potatoes, his conscience wouldn't allow it. But his family only had a fixed amount of food every day, and his two children were so thin they were skin and bones.
I haven't had a full meal in over a year.
In the end, I went against my conscience and agreed.
Zhang Hongmei rode her bike back to school.
"Hongmei, where did you go?"
"Oh, Song Zigan, you didn't rest? Me? I went to the hospital to look for these things. I'm thinking of trying to see if I can use them to preserve tomatoes."
"Is it possible to do it this way?"
"Why don't you try and see? I'm going back to the classroom."
When Zhang Hongmei returned home that evening, she picked more than ten tomatoes, washed them, and put them in a basin.
Next, I washed the glass bottles, repeating the process several times, and then started boiling water.
After boiling the water, scoop a few ladles of boiling water and pour them over the tomatoes, then cover the tomatoes with a lid.
I rinsed the bottle with boiling water again. I thought to myself that things are of better quality these days. I was careful when pouring boiling water in, afraid that the glass bottle would shatter.
Remove the tomatoes from the water, peel them, and cut them on a cutting board.
Put the diced tomatoes in a bowl, and once all of them are diced, use a small spoon to fill the jar. The last jar is not quite full.
Then steam the jars filled with tomatoes for 20 minutes, then turn off the heat.
The next morning before going to school, just put the dried bottle cap back on, and you're all set.
Looking at the tomato sauce in the jar, Zhang Hongmei thought she should cut the tomatoes into larger pieces next time.
After a day of picking up two pounds of dried sweet potatoes, I went to the hospital and brought back ten bottles. I made an appointment with Dr. Li to come back for more next time before rushing back to school.
And so Zhang Hongmei entered into the frantic work of making canned tomatoes.
If there aren't enough tomatoes in the yard, we use the ones in the space; if there aren't enough in the space, we plant another crop.
Zhang Hongmei only stopped after she noticed the strange look in Dr. Li's eyes.
More than fifty have already been made in the warehouse. They've all been kept in a cool, shady place, so there haven't been any changes after more than twenty days, which means they should be successful. At least there's no sign of mold growth.
Zhang Hongmei is going back to Liujiatun this weekend. It's already August, and there's still no sign of rain. Is it going to be another rainless year?
The more I thought about it, the more worried I became. On Saturday, after picking up the newspaper, I took ten pounds of brown sugar and got on the bus home.
I got off the bus in the village and walked back. I saw that there were no crops in the fields at all. Even in some places, there were only a few stalks of straw that were not even as tall as my thigh. I felt particularly sad.
Things were better once we got to Liujiatun; at least the sorghum stalks were over a meter tall.
The sweet potato vines haven't spread out yet; if this continues, Liujiatun will also have no harvest.
Instead of going home, I went straight to the old lady's house.
"Grandma, I'm back."
The old lady came out of the house and looked much better than last time.
"What are you carrying on your back again?"
"Brown sugar, we've brought it back this time."
The old lady looked at Zhang Hongmei with satisfaction. This girl was upright; she never took more than her share of what wasn't hers.
"Hongmei, come inside with me."
Zhang Hongmei followed the old lady to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a puzzled look. "What's wrong, Grandma?"
“Hongmei, this is the money your Uncle Aimin brought back from the capital. Take it and exchange it all for the cheapest grain.”
"Is it still Korean?"
"Yes, we'll exchange as much as we can. Can you set a timeframe?"
Are you in a particular hurry?
"Once you've decided, have your Uncle Aimin find a vehicle to transport it back."
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