"Wait for me a moment, I'll go find the newspapers for these three months right away, I should be able to find them all." Huang Ying hurriedly left.
"Hongmei, what kind of meat is it?" Song Zigan was genuinely curious.
"It was in December two years ago that I helped her brother buy 20 jin of pork in our village."
"The countryside is still the best; there's meat to eat there." Song Zigan couldn't help but swallow hard after saying that.
"That's right, people live off the land and water. Sometimes there are even wild animals."
"real?"
"Of course, we've eaten wild boar meat more than once."
Zhang Hongmei found the boy's longing expression amusing.
"Hongmei, if you have meat next time, could you get me some? I can't buy meat even with meat coupons now. I've been craving meat for so long."
"Okay, I'll go back next week and ask if they have any pheasants or rabbits."
"That's great! I'll leave my meat to you."
Zhang Hongmei was speechless. "What do you mean, 'your meat'? Can't you talk properly?"
"Hehe, I'm so excited. You have to think of me. My grandparents aren't in good health. If they could eat refined grains, the meat would be better. Yes, that's for sure."
Zhang Hongmei felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. These days, money isn't enough; you need food. She thought about the four wild boars she still had in her ring and wondered how she could get them out.
I'm like someone guarding a mountain of treasures; I can get in, but I can't get out.
"I understand. I'll definitely bring you back any meat I find. It's dangerous to go into the mountains now, so don't get your hopes up too high. Also, we usually don't hunt wild animals in the spring. Let them have time to reproduce, and there will be more prey later."
"Okay, I can wait. Also, money is not a problem. If it's expensive, that's fine too."
"knew."
Just then, Huang Ying came in carrying a large stack of newspapers. "Your name is Hongmei, right? I've found all the newspapers for you, not a single issue is missing. You can come and pick them up every Saturday from now on."
"Thank you, Sister Huang Ying."
"Don't mention it, just think of us if anything good happens."
"must."
Huang Ying found a hemp rope and tied it up. Zhang Hongmei and the other woman told her and then came out with the newspaper.
Zhang Hongmei thought for a moment and said, "I should return the newspapers first. It was so hard to get these; it would be such a waste if they got damaged."
"I'll go with you to familiarize myself with your neighborhood, so I can come visit you next time."
"Alright, then come with me."
When Zhang Hongmei returned home, she invited Song Zigan inside for a drink of water. After thinking for a while, she finally asked, "Would you like to have dinner at my place?"
"Okay, don't worry, I'll give you food coupons. I know things aren't easy these days, especially for you who are on your own."
Zhang Hongmei is dispensable; being too generous could easily lead to misunderstandings, even though we've already given him plenty of food on the train.
"Shall we have vegetable buns with dried radish shreds, vermicelli, and cornmeal?"
"Sure, I haven't had a meal made entirely of cornmeal in ages."
"Okay, I'll do it now. Let's go to the bookstore this afternoon."
The dried radish shreds were soaked last night. Actually, Zhang Hongmei wanted to make steamed vegetable buns, but it would be too conspicuous to take out pure white dough now, so she suggested vegetable dumplings instead.
First, you need to light a fire and boil water to cook the rice noodles. Then you need to use boiling water to make the broth. Otherwise, they'll be too hard and won't taste good.
Song Zigan followed Zhang Hongmei like a tail, watching her cook with such efficiency that she was no less skilled than his own grandmother.
Scald the cornmeal, cover it with a bowl, and set it aside. Cook the glass noodles, take them out, let them cool for a while, and then cut them into pieces.
I washed the shredded radish, squeezed out the water, chopped it on a cutting board, and put it in a bowl with the chopped glass noodles. I chopped some green onions, added salt, and then scooped in a spoonful of lard. The glass noodles were still warm at this point, and the lard melted after a little stirring.
He took out another piece of pickled red vegetable, chopped it up, and added some chopped green onions. There was also a little bit of lard.
Four more sweet potatoes were found. Two potatoes were washed clean.
Relight the fire, place a rice strainer in the pot, put the bowl of pickled red vegetables on the rice strainer, and then make more cabbage buns.
The radish-filled steamed buns were easy to wrap because of their low moisture content, and soon seven large steamed buns were stuck to the side of the pot.
Place the washed sweet potatoes and potatoes on the side of the pot, cover it with the lid, and start the fire.
Song Zigan had been watching from the side until Zhang Hongmei put the lid on the pot, at which point he finally spoke, "Hongmei, you are really amazing."
"What's so special about that? There's nothing that the girls in the village can't do."
"Keep the fire burning for twenty minutes. Then let it simmer for another five minutes before eating."
"My mouth is watering just looking at it. You put so much oil in it, it must smell amazing."
"How can we be stingy when guests come to our home? Just wait to eat."
"Hongmei, I still think the countryside is better. Do you think it's possible for my grandparents to live in the countryside too?"
“I don’t know about that. But many people have this idea and want to come to our village, but our village chief has not agreed to it, so I guess your proposal is not feasible.”
Why does everyone want to go to your village?
"Because we live near the mountains, we still managed to harvest sweet potatoes despite the severe drought last year. Although we couldn't eat our fill, we were able to keep ourselves from starving, so quite a few people want to come to our village."
"Really? Your village must be a wonderful place. Then why don't you agree?"
Zhang Hongmei rolled her eyes at Song Zigan. "Are you stupid? We don't even have enough food. What will we do if more people come?"
"Shouldn't we help each other?"
Zhang Hongmei: I never realized this kid had the potential to be a saint.
"Mutual assistance should be within one's capabilities, rather than at the expense of oneself."
"That's true. If we can't even feed ourselves, are we supposed to follow Buddha's example and cut off our own flesh to feed the eagles?"
Zhang Hongmei was too lazy to pay attention to this kid; he was too stupid.
"So your grain comes from the village?"
"Of course, I earn work points, so of course I can get a share of grain."
"I really envy you."
"Go away, I need to clean the kitchen. We can eat in five more minutes. You should go wash your hands."
"Hongmei, why did you throw dirty water in the yard?"
"Once the climate is more civilized, we'll grow our own vegetables to eat."
"Is it okay? But there's no water."
"We save up the water we have during normal times, so that we can irrigate when it's still dry."
"That's true. Although the cabbages my grandma planted last year weren't good and didn't have hearts, at least they were still vegetables."
"That's right!" Zhang Hongmei swept the floor clean, put it on the table, and took out the bowls and chopsticks. Song Zigan took the initiative to put down a stool and sit down, waiting for dinner.
Zhang Hongmei lifted the lid of the pot, scooped out the vegetable buns with a spatula and placed them on the lid rack, then put the sweet potatoes and potatoes in a small bowl, and served the pickled vegetables on the table.
"Dinner's ready. Don't be shy. We don't have anything special to offer you."
Song Zigan couldn't wait to pick up a vegetable bun. The bottom wasn't burnt, and it was crispy in his mouth. The shredded radish filling was even more fragrant. He added a little pickled vegetable and put it in his mouth. It was so delicious!
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