Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Eat Meat
In the kitchen, Zhou was stewing braised pork.
Yu Li and the two children came over following the smell of meat, and then stayed in the kitchen and refused to leave. Even though they were sweating profusely from the heat, they still insisted on staying.
Three pairs of eyes were staring at the pot of simmering meat.
"Grandma, let us help you light the fire."
Fu Yanhui and Fu Yansheng said obediently.
Even the two children knew that they had to work to have food to eat, and Yu Li felt that he couldn't just stand by and watch, so he took the initiative to ask: "Mom, I'll help you, what do you want to do?"
Zhou could see that they were greedy for meat, and she found it a little funny, but she didn't chase them away.
She smiled and said, "I made braised pork. Please wait a little longer. It will take a while longer to be well-seasoned."
She used a bamboo colander to scoop up the half-cooked rice in the pot and put it into another pot to steam.
In addition to cooking bean porridge today, I also made a pot of rice, mainly for Yu Li. With her appetite, she naturally can't just eat liquid food, she also has to eat some dry food to feel full.
Because Yu Li bought some food today, Zhou became even more extravagant when cooking.
Although Yu Li was very greedy, the meat was not ready yet, so he could only wait.
Seeing a small piece of meat on the chopping board, Yu Li asked what it was going to be used for.
"Steam some egg and meat patties for Xiao'er to nourish his body." Zhou sighed, "Xiao'er has a poor appetite and eats light food. It's rare to have fresh meat today, so steam some for him."
After hearing this, Yu Li nodded and felt even more sympathetic towards Fu Wenxiao.
The food in this world is so delicious, but he has no appetite because of his illness. It's really pitiful.
When he heard that the meat had to be chopped into minced meat, Yu Li thought he could do this job, so he picked up a knife and chopped the small piece of meat.
After chopping the meat, she put it in a bowl and handed it to Zhou.
Zhou beat an egg into a bowl, then simply sprinkled some salt and stirred it, then brought it to the stove to steam.
Then Zhou cooked a pot of vegetable soup. When the soup was done, the meat in the pot was also stewed.
Zhou took out the steamed egg meat patties, poured a little soy sauce on the meat patties to add flavor, sprinkled chopped green onions on them, then served a small plate of vegetables and a bowl of porridge and brought them into the house to Fu Wenxiao.
Yu Li poured out the braised pork that was stewing in the pot.
Zhou stewed a lot of meat, filling a big pot. The aroma was so fragrant that it made people drool.
Yu Li swallowed secretly and hurriedly brought the meat to the table.
The weather was hot and the meat could not be kept, so Zhou could only cook the meat as much as possible, leaving only about two pounds of meat, marinating it with salt to make bacon, and putting it in a cool place so that it could be eaten for a while.
Bacon also has a unique flavor when used to stir-fry eggs, garlic sprouts, etc.
After Zhou brought the meal over, they started to eat dinner.
The staple foods for dinner include rice and porridge. The weather is hot and humid, and people have no appetite. Plus, they are very thirsty after work, so they want to eat something soupy, which can quench their thirst when drunk with porridge.
Of course, eating like this will not make you feel full. If it is during the busy farming season, you can also make a pot of rice to eat together.
When Yu Li had a good appetite, he would eat rice with braised pork and everything tasted delicious.
Not only her, Fu Yanhui and Fu Yansheng also ate without raising their heads, and their little faces were covered with the sauce of the braised pork.
The brother and sister had not eaten such delicious meat for a long time. In addition, Zhou's cooking skills were really good. The braised pork was very authentic and delicious. The sauce was even more fragrant when mixed with rice. They could even eat half a bowl of rice more.
Seeing that they were eating voraciously, Zhou was worried that they might choke, so she reminded them, "Don't eat too fast. Drink some vegetable soup."
The two children nodded randomly.
Yu Li obediently drank a sip of the vegetable soup and praised sincerely: "Mom, your cooking skills are really good."
Zhou’s cooking skills are indeed very good, even exquisite.
She can always make simple ingredients look delicious, she must have learned this skill.
Yu Li had seen the Yu family cook meat from the original owner's memory. They just threw it into the pot and cooked it, or cut it into slices and stir-fried it, and then added some salt or something. They rarely did anything fancy.
Even so, the Yu family thought that this kind of boiled meat was delicious, and only the eldest brother Yu's family showed some disgust.
Boss Yu's family lives in the county town, and they probably eat out in the county town quite often. Naturally, they look down on this kind of boiled meat from the farmer's house.
Zhou smiled and said, "Eat more if you like it."
Yu Li nodded and said as a matter of course: "I will eat more."
The result of Yu Li eating too much was that he ate up all the rice and porridge cooked in the evening, as well as a large pot of boiled vegetables and most of the meat.
In fact, she could have eaten all the meat, but thinking that meat was so rare, she held back and saved it for tomorrow.
Everyone was very satisfied with the meal. With oil in their stomachs, they felt full and no longer felt anxious.
It turns out that eating meat is the ultimate goal of human evolution.
Yu Li nodded secretly, hoping that he could have meat for every meal in the future.
After dinner, Zhou cleaned up the dishes and finally had time to look through the things Yu Li brought back.
She first looked at the cloth that Yu Li brought back, and was already thinking about how to make clothes for her. She bought a lot of cloth, so she could make four or five sets of clothes for her.
Country people don’t have new clothes all year round, mainly because cloth is not cheap. Even if they make clothes, they only have to make one set of clothes with some cloth.
Zhou naturally wouldn't think that Yu Li bought too much cloth. Yu Li didn't have any nice clothes on, so she would definitely make a few sets for her to change into.
At this time, Yu Li took the purse, took out the money from Yu Yin's embroidery, and gave the rest to Zhou.
"Mom, this money is for you."
Zhou looked at the silver, which amounted to one tael in total.
She knew how much her embroidery could be sold for. After spending money on needles and fabrics, and buying medicine for Fu Wenxiao, she had almost all of it. She might have about two hundred coins left. It was impossible for her to have even one or two ounces left.
Without asking, one knows that this silver belongs to Yu Li.
Zhou quickly waved her hand, "Li Niang, no need..."
Yu Li said, "You keep it. This is your living expenses. It will be convenient for you to buy something when you want." Then she laughed again, "I have found a job now and can support my family."
She is now staying at the Fu family, living in the Fu family's house and eating at the Fu family's house, so it is only right to give them living expenses.
In fact, she had listened to what the villagers said and knew that the Fu family only spent money and had no income. Fu Wenxiao's medicine was so expensive. If she didn't help out a little, the money Zhou earned from embroidery alone would not be enough to support the family's expenses.
Thinking of this, Yu Li said, "The shopkeeper of Jinhua Embroidery Shop said that your embroidery is very good, even the county magistrate's wife likes it, so you can make other things, such as table screens, which can be sold for three to five taels each."
Zhou's eyes lit up when she heard this, and then she continued, "Table screens are more exquisite than embroidered handkerchiefs and purses, and require more thought and effort. I'm afraid I don't have enough time..."
Although there is not much work to do at home, once Fu Wenxiao falls ill, she has no time to do it.
There was another reason. It wasn't that she didn't want to accept the call, but she didn't want to attract too much attention. After all, it was better for them, an orphan and a widow, not to attract too much attention when they returned to Qingshi Village.
Yu Li didn't think much about it and said, "How can there not be enough time? Mom, if you want to embroider, I will go to the embroidery shop tomorrow and talk to the shopkeeper, and bring back some material and colored threads for the embroidery table screen for you."
Zhou opened her mouth, but then she thought of the small amount of savings her family had, and hesitated to agree.
Xiao Ge'er's medicine cannot be stopped, and she cannot rely on Li Niang to make money alone, so she still tries to embroider more things to make money.
Besides, it's been three years, no one should be watching them anymore, right?
After saying this, Yu Li said, "Mom, I didn't buy much cloth this time. In addition to making two sets of clothes for me, make a set for everyone with the rest."
She always pays attention to fairness in doing things. Living under the same roof, she wants others to have what she has.
Her situation was special. She didn't have any decent clothes, so she could make two sets of clothes first. The remaining cloth would be just enough to make one set of clothes for each person.
Zhou said quickly, "No need, we all have clothes to wear. Use this cloth to make you four sets of clothes for easy replacement and wash, and keep the rest."
Yu Li glanced at her, and thinking that Zhou still had to do embroidery work to make money, she didn't say anything.
Then Yu Li picked up the embroidery thread and cloth she bought for Yu Yin, wrapped up the remaining candies, and said, "Mother, I will send these to my second sister and the others."
Zhou responded and warned, "It's getting dark, be careful on the road and don't fall."
"I know."
-
Yu Li took his things and went out, heading straight to Yu's house.
As dusk deepened, most of the villagers had gone home to eat, wash up and rest. There were few people on the road, only some late-returning villagers dragging their heavy feet home.
When he arrived near Yu’s house, Yu Li met Aunt Feng.
Aunt Feng had just returned, holding a bunch of wild vegetables in her hands, with mud on her feet. When she saw Yu Li, she greeted him and asked with a smile, "Why are you here, mother Li?"
"I went to the county town today and bought some embroidery thread for my third sister. I brought it over to her."
As Yu Li was speaking, he suddenly thought of something and took out two pieces of maltose from his bag, wrapped them in oil paper and handed them to Aunt Feng.
"Aunt, I went to the county town today to buy some candy. Let your Yuanniang, Da Niu, Erniu, and Xiao Niu have some to taste."
Aunt Feng helped the original owner a lot and even fed him a meal when he was so hungry that he almost fainted. The original owner always remembered this kindness, and Yu Li naturally remembered it too.
Aunt Feng quickly pushed it back, "This is a precious thing, just keep it for yourself, don't give it to them."
Yu Li stuffed it into her hand and said, "I have more here."
Then he stopped pushing and shoving with Aunt Feng, said goodbye to her, and went straight into the Yu family's yard.
Aunt Feng watched her enter the Yu family's courtyard, then smiled and went home with two pieces of candy.
When she returned home, her thirteen-year-old daughter Yuanniang and two daughters-in-law had already prepared dinner. Everyone was waiting for her to come back for dinner. The men were not idle. They sat in the yard twisting hemp ropes and talking about the work to be done tomorrow. The three grandchildren obediently helped the adults carry the bowls.
Aunt Feng couldn't help but smile. She called her three grandchildren over and took a piece of candy, broke it in half and shared it with them.
The granddaughter, holding the sweet candy in her mouth, asked happily: "Grandma, the candy is delicious, where did you get it?"
This candy is a precious thing. Country people rarely eat it. They only buy some to sweeten their mouths during festivals.
Aunt Feng said, "It was given by Li Niang."
Hearing this, everyone looked over.
Aunt Feng went to wash her hands, then sat down to eat and told them about what happened with Yu Li just now.
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Feng family looked at her daughter who was reluctant to finish the candy in one go and said, "I heard that Li Niang went to the city today."
When the villagers get together, they like to gossip and chat. There is nothing new in the village recently, and everyone can talk about a small matter for a long time.
News like Yu Li going to the county town today spread everywhere in a short while.
The second daughter-in-law also said: "It seems that Li Niang is living a good life after marrying into the Fu family."
Otherwise I wouldn’t be willing to buy candy.
Without asking, they knew that the money for buying the candy must have come from the Fu family. They saw it clearly at the beginning. When Yu Li married into the Fu family, she only brought a shabby package and didn't even have a decent piece of clothing. This showed how excessive the Yu family was. It was even more impossible for Yu Li to have any money on her.
The Feng family naturally didn't know that Yu Li had asked for twenty taels of silver as a dowry from the Yu family. Old Master Yu wanted to save face and didn't allow others to tell it. Plus, he was planning to get the twenty taels of silver back, so naturally he wouldn't make a big fuss about it. Otherwise, if he really did ask for the dowry back from a married woman in the future, the Yu family would no longer have any reason to have such a good reputation.
The Yu family has two scholars. Old Man Yu cares a lot about his reputation and doesn't want to damage the reputation of his two grandsons from the eldest wife.
Aunt Feng nodded, agreeing with her second daughter-in-law.
Although Fu Shusheng was in poor health and not a good match, Yu Li had married him in the name of bringing good luck, but now that she was married, what else could she do except live a good life?
Fortunately, the Fu family was not as excessive as the Yu family. Yu Li lived quite well in the Fu family and had a good home.
**
When Yu Li walked in, the Yu family had just finished dinner.
When she saw her, Mrs. Yu thought of the twenty taels she had taken away yesterday. Suddenly, her eyes were not eyes and her nose was not a nose. Just as she was about to snort, she saw her looking at her calmly. Her eyes were cold and bathed in the deep twilight. Her thin body seemed to be infinitely stretched, like a wild beast lurking in the dense forest.
Old Mrs. Yu swallowed secretly, drooped her neck, and quickly hid back in the main room.
The people in the third room also returned to their rooms quickly.
Even the old man and the old lady couldn't do anything to her, and now they didn't dare to confront her. They would hide if possible and wait for Boss Yu to come back and deal with her.
After returning to the room, Old Lady Yu said to Old Man Yu, who was sitting cross-legged by the window smoking, "Old man, how come this damn girl Li Niang has suddenly become a different person? Could it be that after she married into the Fu family, the Fu family gave her such courage?"
Does she feel that now that she is married, they can't control her and they can do whatever they want?
Thinking of this, Old Lady Yu suddenly regretted marrying her to the Fu family for twenty taels of silver. In the end, she even lost the twenty taels of silver. She felt like she had lost both the wife and the army.
Mr. Yu smoked his pipe in silence and said coldly, "He's just a fool."
The Fu family has long been in decline. The only adult male in the family is a sickly man who is unable to take on any work. He has been sick for years and has spent a lot of money on medicine and medical treatment. Sooner or later, the Fu family will be dragged down.
By then, she will know that the Fu family is really nothing.
In Old Man Yu's mind, Yu Li was just a stupid woman. She had no idea what an honor it was to have two scholars in the family. By then, the second and third wives would also be able to benefit from it, and even married women like them would be looked up to.
The first wife can study, can take the imperial examination, and can improve the fortune of the Yu family. What's wrong with him being partial to her?
When her two grandsons pass the imperial examinations and become scholars, she will realize how stupid what she has done during this period of time is, and she will regret it someday.
**
The three Yu Jin sisters were naturally very happy about Yu Li's arrival.
"Sister, have you eaten? Do you want me to cook something for you?" Yu Jin asked with concern, worried that she was hungry.
She knew what it felt like to be hungry, and she also knew how much Yu Li ate. She felt that Yu Li had always been hungry before, and she felt very uncomfortable, fearing that she had not eaten enough.
Yu Li said that she was full and told them not to work any more, and that she came to bring them something.
The sisters went to the west room. The room was too dark, so Yu Jin lit the oil lamp.
Of course, this oil lamp did not belong to their room, but to the main room. Yu Jin took it and used it with a clear conscience. When Old Lady Yu and others found out, they couldn't say anything except to make indirect accusations.
Yu Li took out the cloth and embroidery thread he bought for Yu Jin and gave them to her, then poured the money from selling the embroidery from his purse.
"This is the money from the embroidery my third sister made."
Seeing the copper coins lying on the bed, Yu Jin exclaimed, "So many?"
Yuzhu counted, but after counting to one hundred, she didn't know how to count anymore, so she put the one hundred coins aside and continued to count to the next one hundred.
When she finished counting, she said happily, "There are four hundreds."
"That's four hundred coins." Yu Jin said with a sullen face, "In the past, when my third uncle went to the city to deliver food to my eldest uncle, he would take my third sister's embroidery to sell, and every time he said he would only sell it for three hundred coins..."
The amount of embroidery that Yu Yin makes every month is the same, because that is the requirement of Old Madam Yu. She must make the required amount, otherwise she will scold her for being lazy and eating and drinking for free at home.
Yu Laosan was responsible for helping to take the embroidery to the city to sell, and he only brought back three hundred coins each time.
So where did the one hundred coins go?
After trying to figure out the key, Yu Jin's face became very gloomy.
Yu Yin also frowned and was in a bad mood.
No one would be happy if they knew that they sold an embroidery piece they worked hard on, but someone cheated them out of a hundred cents.
Yu Li immediately stood up and said, "Let's go find Uncle San and get it back."
The three sisters were stunned for a moment, then Yu Jin stood up without hesitation and followed her eldest sister firmly.
Now in this family, she only listens to her eldest sister. As long as her eldest sister says something, she will follow her without hesitation without thinking about the consequences.
This is the absolute sense of security that Yu Li gave her.
When Yu Yin and Yu Zhu saw their two sisters going to seek justice from their uncle, they subconsciously followed them.
Yu Li didn't refuse either.
Yu Jin hesitated for a moment, thinking that she and her elder sister were the only ones who could handle this matter, and she was not willing to involve her two younger sisters. Then she thought about the environment of the Yu family, and they had to grow up, and they couldn't just stay behind, which was not good for them.
They have to experience things so that they can grow up and not be bullied in the future.
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