Chen Shuning didn't have to wait long before Gu Xinyi came over with the dishes she had prepared, along with Gao Hongyuan and Wang Zhi.
The two men couldn't cook, and since they always ate with Gu Xinyi, Gu Xinyi cooked both dishes.
One dish was chicken stew with potatoes, and the other was cabbage, pork stew with tofu. They were two standard Northeastern dishes, similar to Chen Shuning's sauerkraut, pork stew with vermicelli, and nothing particularly outstanding.
Zhong Lingling made a stir-fry of canned luncheon meat and dried green beans, which is quite a good dish.
Yang Wanqiu, on the other hand, generously made a small pot of braised pork and dried eggplant. There was quite a bit of meat in the pot, probably about a pound.
Because Xu Laidi's steamed buns were so good, everyone decided to let her and Wang Chunni be in charge of steaming buns.
Xu Laidi had just prepared a bowl of dough when she got up that morning, intending to steam more buns and freeze them.
Although steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat, water, and flour are not as delicious as those made from white flour, they are still considered a good thing in this era. Two of them cost as much as one meat or vegetable bun.
Several people carried the dishes to the old house, where the old educated youth had already set up a table and were waiting.
The long wooden table that was originally placed in the courtyard has now been placed in the male educated youth's room. Bowls and chopsticks have already been set on the table, and they are just waiting for the group to bring the dishes so that they can start eating.
During the winter, the educated youth also followed the villagers' example and ate two meals a day. In addition, they had just done physical labor, so everyone was already hungry.
As soon as the food was served, everyone's eyes lit up.
Before Feng Baoguo could even say a few polite words, everyone had already eagerly picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
This made Feng Baoguo's face turn a little ugly, but seeing the others scrambling for food with their chopsticks, Feng Baoguo, who hadn't eaten meat in a long time, didn't care about that anymore. He picked up his chopsticks and joined the fray.
The old house was suddenly filled with lively laughter and cheerful chatter.
Seeing everyone like this, Chen Shuning only ate two bites before putting down her chopsticks and chatting with Gu Xinyi, who also only ate two bites before stopping.
From cooking to local delicacies, the two foodies chatted very congenially, as if they were old friends who had known each other for a long time.
Just as the two were chatting happily and the others were enjoying their meal, the locked door was suddenly pounded on, and Dong Weiwei and Guo Dan's shouts could be heard.
It was only then that everyone realized that Dong Weiwei and Guo Dan, who had gone to town with Yang Wanqiu and the others but later separated to set up a meat stall in the black market, had not yet returned.
At that time, everyone was so busy unloading coal and cooking that they didn't even notice the two people were missing.
Holding the gate key, Feng Baoguo quickly got up and went to the yard to open the gate.
When the two, their heads covered in snow, entered the house, they saw a room full of people and a table with hardly any bowls or plates left.
Guo Dan immediately objected and shouted at the old educated youth in the room.
"What do you mean by this? Weiwei and I braved the wind and snow to sell meat for everyone, and you just waited at home for it to be served, but you even ate something nice while we were away."
Although there was hardly anything left on the plate, the oil droplets in the soup clearly showed how oily the food was.
Especially the dish of pickled cabbage and pork stew with glass noodles. Everyone knows that pickled cabbage absorbs a lot of oil, but the soup with pickled cabbage leaves floating in it was full of oil. It was obvious that a lot of oil was used to stew it.
Dong Weiwei, who always liked to do things behind the scenes, could no longer pretend when she saw the situation in front of her. She also turned to Feng Baoguo with a stern face and questioned him: "Brother Feng, Guo Dan and I went to town to sell everyone's pork. We were doing a favor for the educated youth group."
Even though we took an oxcart to get there, the five-hour journey back was one we actually made on foot through wind and snow.
We don't expect any thanks, but at least you shouldn't have eaten this meal behind our backs. What, are we not considered members of the Qingshan Brigade's educated youth settlement?
As she spoke, Dong Weiwei suddenly burst into tears, feeling wronged.
This made everyone who was already feeling guilty feel even worse.
Liu Shumei quickly stepped forward and led the person to sit down at the table. With a guilty expression, she gently advised, "Don't be angry, Weiwei. It was indeed our fault. To be honest, it's my fault. I should have noticed earlier that you hadn't returned yet."
But you said you went up the mountain twice this morning, and in the afternoon you helped carry several baskets of coal, so you were really exhausted. You even took a nap in the afternoon and were so groggy that you didn't even notice that everyone was missing. I'm so sorry.
"Sister Shumei, I'm not trying to be unreasonable, but what kind of situation is this? Guo Dan and I have been so cold on the way back that our hands and feet are almost numb."
But thinking that we had both suffered for the sake of everyone in our educated youth settlement, we were happy.
"But tell me, all we see when we walk in is you guys having a delicious meal and drinks, and you don't even include the two of us. How can we be happy about that?"
Dong Weiwei is a scheming person, and her words made everyone present feel uncomfortable.
Of course, there were also those who were clear-headed. Wang Meixiang, who had often suffered losses because of Dong Weiwei, was indignant. She put the last bite of steamed bun into her mouth and said with a sarcastic look in her eyes.
"Dong Weiwei, what's there to be angry about? Who knows when you two will be back? Are you expecting all of us to wait for you two?"
Besides, we all helped the new educated youth in the backyard carry coal all afternoon for this meal. They treated us to it, so it's normal that we didn't wait for you since you didn't do any work.
Also, don't tell anyone that you're helping everyone sell meat. You went there yourself. Brother Feng said that he was going to town anyway, so he could sell some meat on the way.
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