There's not much left now, but sales went smoothly today.
"Grandpa, which village are you from? Are you still selling before the New Year? If so, could you deliver some to me from Liujiatun?"
"We're out of beans. If we weren't so desperate for money, we wouldn't have taken them out to sell. We'd still be half-starved at home."
Liu Jingze put the bag into the basket on the other side and continued to follow Zhang Hongmei while pushing the cart.
This time, she saw the old lady selling shoes again. She saw Er Ya and Zhang Hongmei and waved enthusiastically, "Little girl, are you going to buy a few more pairs of shoes this year? I also made some corduroy slingback shoes this year."
"Auntie, you're not going to make something just like this girl's feet and then sell it to her, are you?" Er Ya complained from the side.
Zhang Hongmei squatted down and selected a pair of cotton shoes and four pairs of cloth shoes, two with square openings and two with side straps. The five pairs of insoles cost a total of ten yuan. Er Ya was watching from the side, thinking, "This brat really dares to spend money."
"Sanya, Yuegui, you two must learn to make shoes well, do you hear me?"
"Okay, sis."
"Okay, Sister Erya."
Zhang Hongmei pretended not to hear and didn't feel embarrassed; if she didn't know how, she simply didn't know how. Liu Jingze watched the four girls' interaction with amusement, thinking that it didn't matter if Zhang Hongmei couldn't make shoes; surely he could earn enough money to buy her shoes?
"Sanya, Yuegui, what do you two want to buy? Is there anything you like?"
"Sister Hongmei, we just came to watch the fun, we don't have anything to buy."
"You're the only one who keeps buying things. Even my mom doesn't buy as many New Year's gifts as you do."
"Please spare me, Sister Erya. Let me tell you, I came to the market mainly to buy fishing nets. When Brother Dashan and the others come back, we'll go fishing."
"With so much snow, is it even possible to go up the mountain?"
"I don't know, shall we go and take a look tomorrow?"
"I reckon Dad won't let us go? You go and tell him yourself, I wouldn't dare."
"I'll go if I want to. But if my third uncle agrees, will you come up the mountain with me?"
"Yes, I'll definitely go."
"That's fine then, I'll tell you when I get back. Shall we have dumplings for lunch today? Let's hurry up and go back to help make dumplings."
"Fine, we're all just supporting characters to you. If you're quick, then we're all quick too. Maybe Stone and the others have been waiting for this for a while."
"Nonsense, we didn't see them turn back. Let's quickly check if there are any nets for sale."
Zhang Hongmei couldn't care less about anything else now. She walked all the way to the market and finally found someone selling nets. She bought two of the largest nets for forty yuan. Er Ya was heartbroken.
"This is worth the price, it's purely handmade."
"Alright, alright, we've already bought them, let's hurry back, we still need to make dumplings. Jingze, you should come to my house for dumplings too."
"Okay, I want to eat dumplings too."
Er Ya was stunned for a moment. The Liu Jingze she had in mind would never come. This was probably for Hong Mei's sake.
We saw Zhuzi and Shitou at the market. We bought a New Year's picture from Zhuzi, which was what Grandma asked us to buy. The rest of us were just there to have fun.
Er Ya was in a hurry to get home. She had prepared the dough in the morning, but she hadn't cut the cabbage and meat yet. She had just seen that her mother hadn't finished going to the market yet, so she had to hurry back to cook.
After unloading the truck, Liu Jingze took ten jin of bean curd slices and an old hen home, promising to go directly to Er Ya's house later.
Zhang Hongmei took out three dozen bean curd sheets and went to Liu Maocai's house.
By then, Er Ya was already chopping the filling. Zhang Hongmei wanted to help, but Er Ya refused, saying, "You can just wrap the dumplings in a bit, I'll roll out the dough."
There were quite a few people coming to eat, including Zhu Zi, and Liu Jingze, making a total of eight people. It wouldn't be easy to finish making dumplings in a short time.
"Second sister, I'll roll out the dough, you and Sister Hongmei can wrap them together."
A little while later, Zhu Zi and Liu Jingze came over together. Liu Jingze was holding a piece of smoked meat, which weighed about two or three pounds.
"I can also make dumplings, they definitely won't break when I cook them."
"That's great! The three of us can finish quickly, and we can make it in time for Auntie to come back and have a ready-made meal."
Zhu Zi scratched his head. "I don't know how to make dumplings, but I can boil water."
Not to be outdone, Stone said, "I'll start a fire too." Stone put down the table and board, and brought out four small stools.
Zhang Hongmei chuckled and said, "Stone really has a good eye."
"Hongmei, you mix the filling. I don't have your leeway in adding oil."
"Okay, please pray that my third aunt doesn't faint from fright."
Liu Jingze sat to the side, watching and chuckling.
I must say, Liu Jingze's dumplings were quite beautiful. He made a total of four hundred dumplings, which was definitely not enough. Since Liu Maocai and the others had not returned yet, he simply made another two hundred dumplings with sauerkraut, using the smoked meat that Liu Jingze had brought.
When Liu Maocai and Li Cuihua returned, they started cooking dumplings. Zhang Hongmei and Er Ya didn't have to do this. "Er Ya, go pour a bowl of Laba garlic. We'll be making dumplings in a bit. You guys wash your hands first. Eat the first batch, or they'll get cold."
Stone was left in the kitchen to start a fire, and Er Ya helped out. The remaining five people went up to the kang (a heated brick bed) to wait for dumplings.
Although Zhang Hongmei mixed the dumpling filling, she didn't use as much oil and seasoning as she would at home.
Zhang Hongmei thought it was just average, but for others who always ate in the cafeteria, it was a delicacy.
Liu Jingze put several dumplings on Zhang Hongmei's plate, afraid she would only eat the few in her bowl. He declined the pickled garlic he offered her, finding it too sour and spicy.
Liu Maocai pretended not to see it.
The first pot was finished before the second pot even arrived.
Zhang Hongmei had finished eating by then. "Third Uncle, I'm full. Go and let my Third Aunt come and eat."
Zhang Hongmei got out of bed, put on her shoes, and came to the kitchen just as the second batch of food was coming out of the pot. She quickly put it on the table.
"Auntie, I'll cook this pot of dumplings. You go eat."
"Yes, Mom, go eat, it'll be ready soon."
"No need, Shitou, you go inside and eat. Hongmei can take care of the fire."
The third batch was filled with sauerkraut. When Zhang Hongmei brought it up, Liu Jingze picked up a dumpling and tried to feed it to her, saying, "Try it, the sauerkraut filling is quite delicious too."
Zhang Hongmei dodged the question by saying, "I don't like pickled cabbage. You can eat it yourself." This gesture, implying she wouldn't eat it even if she wanted to, was too ambiguous and easily misunderstood.
Li Cuihua was a little surprised, but she didn't say anything. Liu Jingze has high standards, so it's not surprising that he would take a liking to Hongmei. It's just that this girl is still too young. Aren't the mistresses worried?
Zhang Hongmei sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with a bowl of dumpling soup in her hand, slowly sipping it. She believed that the original soup would help digest the original food, a traditional saying with its own logic.
Seeing that everyone had finished eating, he went to the kitchen and brought out a bowl of dumpling soup, serving it to everyone.
"Uncle, I'd like to go see the pool on the mountain tomorrow."
"What are you doing? Want to go fishing?"
"Um."
"With such heavy snow, it's too dangerous to go up the mountain. The mountain path is too slippery."
"It's alright, let's go take a look."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com