Chapter 91
Dongsheng said without thinking: "Mom!"
It made the sisters-in-law laugh so hard.
Doudou’s mother also laughed, and later she even told Xu Wen how to do it.
Xu Wen asked Dong Sheng: "Didn't you say that I am your only mother?"
Dongsheng looked distressed, "But if I don't call Doudou mommy, what should I do if she doesn't let Doudou play with me? Fusheng and the others all like Doudou. I don't want Doudou to be snatched away by other kids."
Xu asked: "..."
She asked Dongsheng: "What should I do if I am sad?"
Dongsheng used the same words she had used to comfort her before and asked, "Mom, even if I have two moms, I will still love you the same way."
Xu asked: "..."
But the sisters-in-law only made such a joke once.
No matter how young Dongsheng and Doudou are, they will gradually take this kind of joke seriously after being told many times.
As mothers, we don’t want to destroy the innocence between our children.
Xu Wen and Dou Dou's mother, Song Qin, both tacitly agreed not to deliberately alienate the two children.
Respect their friendship for what it is, pure and simple.
Although many of their behaviors seem a little too intimate in the eyes of adults, such as hugging each other from time to time, and even kissing each other on the face like adults kiss them.
Of course, this did not prevent Xu Wen from occasionally complaining to Lu Yuanzheng in private that her son had forgotten his mother after getting married.
Lu Yuanzheng did not comfort her, but only said, "You have me, that's enough, why bother with him?"
Xu Wen rolled her eyes, "How can a husband and a son be the same?"
Lu Yuanzheng looked at her with a deep gaze and asked her, "What did you call me?"
Xu Wen didn't expect that the word "husband" would cause such a big reaction in him. He stretched out the words, "husband!"
Lu Yuanzheng bent down and kissed her lips.
Xu Wen didn't expect that just these two words could make him so emotional.
She never imagined that these two words would become the inducement for him to torture her in bed in the future.
I always force her to shout these two words to make her feel happy.
While making shoe uppers, some sisters-in-law also started spinning cotton yarn.
The cotton is pre-rolled and is about the same size as a rolling pin but a little thinner.
The head of the spinning machine is similar to a Ferris wheel, but without the boxes for people to sit on, only the pole in the middle. It looks like a double-layer windmill with edging.
There is also a rocker handle at the center bearing position.
When Xu Wen came back from the construction site, the spinning machine had already been set up. A sister-in-law was sitting next to the spinning machine with one foot on the tail of the machine, one hand holding the handle to turn the "Ferris wheel", and the other hand holding a cotton strip.
Slowly the cotton strips disappeared, and a layer of cotton thread was wrapped around the outer frame of the Ferris wheel.
When two balls of cotton thread are spun, another sister-in-law will twist the two threads into a braided cotton thread.
This is the thick cotton thread that is ultimately used to make the Thousand Layer Sole.
After the back of the knot is completely dry, it becomes a piece of hard cloth.
Place the pattern on the fabric board and cut out the insoles one by one according to the pattern.
Generally, three or four such knots stacked together form the so-called thousand-layer sole.
Of course, you can't just stack them together, you also need to sew these pieces of hardware together in a dense array.
It is equivalent to more than ten layers of cloth stacked together, and ordinary needles cannot penetrate them.
A special needle called an awl is needed.
As the name suggests, the needle cone is cone-shaped, with a thick and long steel needle in the center of the pointed tip.
To sew the sole, you need to first use this needle to pierce the entire sole, and then use the needle with twisted cotton thread to pass through the pierced needle holes.
In this way, one hole and two needles are used to sew a double layer of quilted sole.
In Xu Wen's eyes, this is much more difficult than cross stitch.
Not only was she often stabbed in the hands, but the stitches were of varying sizes and intricacies.
Of course, the majority of sisters-in-law are like her.
But no sister-in-law gave up.
Still working hard to get to the bottom of this thousand layers.
Including Jiang Yiyi, who kept saying that she wanted to break up with Li Mao.
This also includes Wang Ying who was hiding in the corner.
I don’t know if she took what Xu Wen said to her last time to heart, but she hasn’t complained to Xu Wen since then.
Although Wang Ying still couldn't integrate with the other sisters-in-law, Xu Wen could see that she was truly sincere in changing her ways.
When Xu Wen was teaching, Wang Ying would bring her children to sit in on the class.
She didn't listen to the lectures, she just learned Xu Wen's teaching method.
Wang Ying tried hard to raise the children by herself, and occasionally she would learn to cook and wash clothes for squad leader Zhao Gang.
But I don’t know whether Zhao Gang doesn’t use her or she really doesn’t know how to do it, she only does it occasionally.
Most of the time, I would hold a book, watch my baby and study at the same time.
Her son could already walk, and although Wang Ying still couldn't fit in with her sisters-in-law, she didn't interfere with her son playing with other children.
Most of the sisters-in-law didn’t know what she had done before, and some even took the initiative to talk to Wang Ying.
Wang Ying's attitude was still a little cold, but she was still very happy when someone talked to her.
Originally, everyone just disliked her and had no deep hatred towards her, and now they didn't communicate much, but they wouldn't attack her if she followed them.
So she wanted to learn how to make shoes, and Mrs. Li and her friends also taught her.
However, if Wang Ying hadn't asked, Mrs. Li and the others wouldn't have said much.
At this moment, Wang Ying was sitting alone in a corner of the cafeteria. When he saw Xu Wen, he nodded.
Xu Wen just remembered that today was Saturday, and squad leader Zhao Gang must be taking care of the child himself, so she had time to do such troublesome work.
Xu Wen also raised his hand to greet Wang Ying, then yawned, found a seat and started sewing the soles of his shoes.
She doesn't set high standards for herself; as long as she can make a pair of shoes, she'll be considered a winner.
I want Lu Yuanzheng to wear a pair of shoes that I made myself.
The sisters-in-law also knew that Xu Wen was different from them. They only needed to serve their husband and children. At other times, they didn't even have to cook and were very idle.
But Xu Wen doesn't know how to do that. Xu Wen wants to teach the children and soldiers how to read and do simple arithmetic.
Then we have to install windmills to generate electricity.
So no one thought there was anything wrong with Xu Wen's seldom coming.
While Xu Wen was sewing the sole of his shoe with a needle, he was thinking about how to use the oven.
She directed Lu Yuanzheng to make an earthen oven.
It’s just like what Mr. Huang Lei did in the first season of the variety show “Longing for Life”.
But I don’t know if it’s because the soil on the island is suitable or because the journey was long and I don’t know how to make it, but it always leaks air and the baking is not very successful.
It is also possible that the noodles she prepared were not good.
Xu Wen was so engrossed that he accidentally pricked himself with the needle and let out a hissing sound.
This steel needle is more than twice as thick as an ordinary needle, and blood immediately oozes out when it is pricked.
The other sisters-in-law were far away and didn't pay any attention to Xu Wen.
But Wang Ying saw it, walked over, handed a white handkerchief to Xu Wen, and said three words: "Be careful."
Xu Wen thanked Wang Ying for not using her handkerchief, but just put her fingertips into her mouth and sucked them.
It's not that she dislikes Wang Ying, but Wang Ying's handkerchief looks white and new, and it would be difficult to wash it if it gets stained with blood, and her wound is not big.
Wang Ying's eyes darkened when she saw Xu Wen didn't use any help.
Xu Wen sighed and called Wang Ying, then patted the seat beside him and motioned Wang Ying to sit down.
"Wang Ying, I understand your desire to change, and I support you. But you don't have to be so humble. Whether you are arrogant or humble, you will never get any good results when interacting with people in life. You just need to be yourself and change the habit of using others to achieve your goals."
Wang Ying was stunned for a moment, as if thinking about something.
Xu Wen's hand was hurting, so he thought about it and decided to go home and find Lu Yuanzheng.
She is not a virtuous wife who does good deeds without leaving a name.
She would tell him that she injured her hand while making shoes for Lu Yuanzheng.
She was willing to give for him and enjoy the little sympathy he would feel as a result.
When Xu Wen returned home, Lu Yuanzheng was studying the oven with a basin of mud under the scorching sun.
Seeing her come back, he raised his arm and wiped the sweat off his face.
His hands were covered in mud, so he stretched out his arms and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the clothes at the shoulders.
Then he smiled and greeted Xu Wen: "Are you back? I've improved it a little bit. Can you try it after I fuck you?"
Xu Wen nodded, walked closer to him, held out his pricked index finger in front of him, and said pitifully, "It hurts."
Lu Yuanzheng frowned and lowered his head to blow on her air, "Don't do it! Don't pierce your fingers into a sieve before you've even finished making your cloth shoes."
Xu Wen enjoyed his pitying tone and chuckled, "No way! I have to do it. We have to have what other men have!"
Lu Yuanzheng sighed, "I appreciate your kindness. If you really make these shoes, I will definitely not want to wear them. I will put them in a box and lock them up. When I am old, I will tell my children and grandchildren, 'These are the shoes your grandmother made for me when she was young! Your grandmother's hands were pierced with holes for these cloth shoes.' From now on, they will be our family heirlooms."
When Lu Yuanzheng said this, he deliberately pinched his voice to pretend to be an old man.
Xu Wen was so angry that he raised his hand to hit him, "Don't think I can't hear you making fun of me."
“No way!” Lu Yuanzheng protested, “I was just moved.”
He lifted her up into his arms with his elbows and kissed her on the top of her head.
After much trouble, a usable oven was finally made.
The next step is to study how to bake the cake base.
Not to mention that they are on an island now, even if they were not on an island, it was difficult to buy low-gluten flour specifically for making cakes in Haicheng in the 1970s.
If you can’t buy it, you’ll have to make it yourself.
This Xu Wenhui is about washing your face.
Knead plain flour into a dough and rub it repeatedly.
You'll get gluten and wheat flour for making cakes.
After drying, sieve to remove large particles and save the fine flour for later use.
The cake base is generally chiffon cake. The ingredients needed for chiffon cake are also very simple, including eggs, low-gluten flour, white sugar, a few drops of lemon juice and appropriate amount of milk.
Egg whites are used to whip meringues.
Before beating the meringue, mix the low-gluten flour, milk and egg yolk together until there are no particles.
Then, beat the meringue. Add lemon juice and sugar to the egg whites, beat with a whisk until it becomes creamy and then mix it with the batter.
This step is not difficult, but the difficult part is controlling the temperature of baking the cake.
In the post-modern age, you can set the time and temperature when baking cakes in an oven, but here you can only make cakes by looking at the clock.
Controlling the temperature of the fire depends on how much firewood is put into the stove.
Moreover, Xu Wen didn’t have a chiffon cake mold, so he could only use a large bowl.
The large bowl on the island is also made of enamel, the same as the cup for drinking water and the basin for washing face.
It is about the size of an eight-inch cake mold. The bottom and mouth of the bowl are almost the same thickness, the mouth of the bowl is slightly larger, and the edge is beveled.
This is the most suitable mold for making cakes that Xu Wen could find.
Everything is ready except ignition.
Xu Wen started to light the fire with full confidence.
Dongsheng was looking forward to it so much that he didn't want to go out to play. He just brought his good friend Doudou home to wait for the cake.
Xu Wen became even more nervous. It was the first time that his "daughter-in-law" came home for dinner. What if he failed?
When the time came, under the expectant eyes of Dongsheng and Doudou, Xu Wen put on Lu Yuanzheng's cotton gloves and opened the oven door.
As soon as I opened the door, the aroma of eggs and milk hit my nose.
Dongsheng and Doudou both gave her face and exclaimed: "What a nice smell!"
Xu Wen looked at the cake that had bulged out of the bowl and breathed a sigh of relief. It must have been a success, right?!
She pinched the edge of the bowl and pulled it out little by little, then turned it upside down on the hollow bamboo rack used for steaming buns.
One big and two small ones were anxiously waiting for the cake to cool down and be removed from the mold.
In just half an hour, Dongsheng and Doudou took turns urging her no less than ten times.
Xu Wen couldn't wait either. Feeling the bowl was warm, he pinched the edge of the bowl to turn the cake over, and carefully removed it from the mold with a spatula.
When the cake fell from the bottom of the bowl, Xu Wen was dumbfounded.
The beautiful chiffon cake that just bulged out of the bowl has now become a round, thick pancake.
It's at least half as thin as when it came out of the oven.
The taste at the top of the bowl was okay, and it tasted a bit like chiffon cake, but the taste at the bottom of the bowl was really not that good, it really was like a sweet waffle, and it was very hard.
Fortunately, Dongsheng and Doudou had never tasted what a real chiffon cake tasted like, so they kept praising the cake and asked if it was delicious.
Xu Wen felt guilty and didn't dare to speak.
Just because Doudou and Dongsheng don’t understand doesn’t mean she doesn’t understand. She can’t lie to herself. This is a failed chiffon cake.
Xu Wenyuan was not discouraged. He looked for the magic mirror and asked why the chiffon cake was cracking and not rising, and began to try continuously.
And for a while, his interest in cakes surpassed wind power generation and making cloth shoes.
It's just that for a few days there were problems with the cakes.
Xu Wen didn't want Dongsheng to be disappointed in him, so he would secretly make the food when Dongsheng was not at home. If the food failed after it was done, he would send it to Lu Yuanzheng to eat.
To the extent that Lu Yuanzheng felt nauseous whenever he saw the chiffon cake face for a long time.
After Lu Yuanzheng's repeated poison testing and Xu Wen's repeated adjustments of the oven temperature, they finally made a perfect chiffon cake.
Lu Yuanzheng heaved a long sigh of relief, thinking that he had finally succeeded. If he hadn't succeeded, he probably wouldn't want to eat cake again in his life.
What he didn't expect was that the success of the cake base was only the first step.
You also have to do the frosting and the finishing.
This process may still require repeated research.
Unfortunately, Lu Yuanzheng didn't really like these sweet things and tried poison on himself every day.
At first, Lu Yuanzheng thought that this was the cake Xu Wen made for him and he was determined not to let outsiders eat it.
Later, Lu Yuanzheng came to terms with it, and every time Xu Wen sent him a "failed" work, he would share it with the people in the camp.
When Xu Wen finally made what she thought was a perfect cake, Lu Yuanzheng had gained weight visibly.
At this time, it was less than a week away from Dongsheng's birthday.
The installation of all wind power equipment has been completed and has entered the commissioning stage.
The sisters-in-law were allocated their own private plots of land. While they were busy planting vegetable gardens and orchards and raising chickens and ducks, they also had to work hard to sew shoe soles.
Every family's private plot is about the same size, only about 100 square meters, which is not big, but it should be self-sufficient.
Which family gets which piece of land is decided by drawing lots.
The representative of Xu Wen's family who drew lots was Dongsheng. I don't know if this guy and Doudou were really destined to be together or what, but the land of the two families was actually next to each other.
When the land was divided, Xu Wen was obsessed with making cakes and couldn't extricate himself. Lu Yuanzheng was in charge of weeding, turning the soil and leveling it one by one, so Xu Wen was the only one in charge of planting.
Their land is divided into two parts: one half is used to raise chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep and cows, and the other half is used to grow fruits and vegetables.
Relying on the abundance of wild fruits on the island, Xu Wen only planted one kind of fruit.
durian.