Zhang Hongmei was unaware of the drama unfolding at Old Liu's house. Right now, she was happily indulging in extra meals in her virtual space, eating several extra meals a day to maintain her health and grow taller and fatter.
I eat and then sleep, just like some kind of animal. This kind of life is really nice. I touch my face, and it's so smooth now, all the redness from the countryside is gone, and the fat on my belly is soft and fluffy. I'm so happy.
The next morning, Zhang Hongmei started the fire first thing again, really hoping for warmer weather so she wouldn't have to bother with the smoke and fire every day. After breakfast, she opened the door and waited for her aunt. Today was for sewing shoe soles. The preliminary work was all done; she had seen her mother sew shoe soles in her past life—it didn't require much skill, just strength in the hands. But she had to pretend she didn't know how.
Auntie San hadn't come after I'd been reading for a while. Had something happened? It wasn't convenient for me to go to her house right now. I looked towards the village but didn't see anyone. It probably wasn't anything serious. Reassured, I went back to reading.
Before I knew it, it was almost 11 o'clock. I'll have to cook lunch outside. Let's make dumplings, cabbage and pork dumplings. I still have big chunks of cooked pork in my room. Cabbage and pork filling will definitely taste good.
She scooped flour from the storeroom, mixed in some from her spatial storage, and kneaded the dough, letting it rest. Then she went to the cellar and took out a cabbage. Too lazy to wash it, she simply peeled off a few layers to clean the inside. If a stranger saw her eating cabbage like that, they'd definitely slap her. She chopped the filling with a clattering sound, really missing the food processor in her spatial kitchen. She diced cooked meat, mixed it together with peanut oil, thirteen-spice powder, salt, light soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Once everything was mixed well, it was ready to wrap.
She doesn't make many dumplings for herself, but she can still make at least one or two hundred. Rolling out the dough and making dumplings takes a lot of time by herself. By the time Zhang Hongmei finally finished making them, it was already 12:30. She still had to start the fire and cook the dumplings herself.
Zhang Hongmei only cooked twenty dumplings; the rest were left to freeze on a bamboo mat. At minus ten degrees Celsius, these were practically frozen dumplings. At one o'clock, she finally ate the dumplings she had made herself. They were really delicious. Zhang Hongmei felt her cravings growing stronger; she longed for oily, flavorful dishes. Before, she was indifferent to pork, unlike now, when she had such a strong desire for it.
After finishing her meal, she started reading again. There was really no other entertainment, so reading was better than daydreaming. When Zhang Hongmei felt her eyes getting tired, she put down her book and strolled around the yard.
"Hongmei, open the door. I'm your third uncle. Someone's here to see you."
Zhang Hongmei immediately replied, "Coming! Who's looking for me, Uncle?" She opened the door as she spoke, and saw Liu Maocai leading a middle-aged man to her doorstep.
“Hongmei, this is Comrade Li Juying’s younger brother.”
"Come in and sit down quickly. Is there any progress in Aunt Li's help finding me a school?"
"Well, my sister-in-law told me to tell you to go to the township to find her tomorrow, and she'll take you to the school. I won't go in; it's getting late, and I have to go back, or it'll be too dark."
"Thank you, comrade. Uncle, please have this comrade wait a moment. The dumplings I made at noon are frozen. Please take them back to this comrade and Aunt Li."
Zhang Hongmei looked at the middle-aged man and said, "Comrade, don't refuse. It's nothing valuable, just a small token of my appreciation. I feel bad that you came all this way in this cold weather to deliver this message to me, so I must accept it." She then went to her room, took out a cloth bag she had sewn previously, divided the remaining one hundred dumplings into two portions, and stuffed them into the man's hands. "Please tell Aunt Li that I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning, and thank her for me."
Liu Maocai chimed in, "Comrade, please take it. It's a token of the child's goodwill. Please also thank Comrade Li Juying for her kind help on my behalf."
After seeing the two off, Zhang Hongmei happily strolled around the yard twice. The schooling issue was resolved, and now it shouldn't be necessary to give gifts. She would see how things went tomorrow. She couldn't let them help for nothing, and she also couldn't let the principal be unaware of the situation.
Liu Maocai offered to hitch a ride in the oxcart, but Zhang Hongmei refused. She said the oxcart belonged to the collective and it wasn't appropriate to use it for personal matters. She suggested she walk, saying it would take at least two hours, and she could just get up earlier.
Zhang Hongmei was still incredibly excited, wandering around and unable to concentrate on anything else. Let's forgive this female academic star's overly enthusiastic attitude towards learning!
I was so happy just now that I forgot to ask why Aunt Liu Maocai didn't come today. Thinking about the twenty-three dumplings I still have, I felt bad about sending too few. His family is large and the dumplings are small, so I'll go empty-handed and send them over when I have something nice to give him in the future.
Zhang Hongmei went back inside, put on her hat, locked the door, and went to Liu Maocai's house. She called out from outside, "Is Auntie home? It's me, Zhang Hongmei."
Li Cuihua was lying inside the house, while Liu Daya was chopping vegetables in the kitchen to prepare feed for the pigs. Li Cuihua didn't hear the noise at all. Liu Daya, however, did hear it. She looked down on Zhang Hongmei and thought she was just trying to take advantage of the house again, so she didn't tell her mother.
Zhang Hongmei waited outside the door for a while, but no one came out, so she called out again. Liu Erya came out of the house and, hearing that Zhang Hongmei was looking for her mother, went inside. "Mom, Zhang Hongmei is here to see you. She's calling you from outside the door."
"Oh, I heard that, I'll go out and see." After saying that, she got off the ground, put on her shoes, and went outside.
Liu Erya followed her out, and as she passed Liu Daya, she heard her older sister muttering, "You're such a busybody. Zhang Hongmei must have something to do when she comes to our house. Why are you so annoying? Why did you call Mom?"
Er Ya frowned and glanced at Liu Daya. Her older sister was incredibly opportunistic. She simply ignored her.
"Hongmei, Auntie forgot that I was going to teach you how to sew shoe soles today. It's too late now, I'll go tomorrow." Li Cuihua felt quite embarrassed. She really had forgotten. It was impossible not to be angry after the commotion last night. She was too lazy to move in the morning and had been lying in bed all day.
“It’s alright, Auntie. I just came to see you. I’m going to the school tomorrow. My uncle just brought someone from the township women’s federation to my house to tell me to go to school tomorrow. I think I can go to school. We’ll decide when I get back.”
"Great! This is wonderful! I'll have your third uncle take you there tomorrow."
"No need, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to use the oxcart. I've been to the village, I know the way, I can walk there. Besides, I'll have to walk to school in the future anyway."
“Zhong, you’ve grown up and become sensible. Auntie is fine, but she’s just too lazy to move. Come on, I’ll go with you to your house to get the brocade. I’ll sew the soles for you. You’ll be too busy when you go to school.”
"How could I not have time? I'm just paying tuition at school to keep my student status in order. I'll take the exam and pass. I'll study at home."
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