Wang Hong couldn't say anything unpleasant, but the contempt she wanted to express was written all over her face.
What could Jiang Shiyue do?! She could only hold her nose and admit her bad luck. Who told her to buy a life of perfection? And there was no misunderstanding at all. She had no way to defend herself and could only remain silent.
Chen Shanhe said, "Don't worry. I promised to return you a new bike in three months, and I will. If she can't do it, I'll still pay you fifty yuan a month. Also, I've almost fixed your bike in the past two days. It's still rideable, so you can use it until you can buy a new one."
Upon hearing this, Big Liu glared again, pointing at Jiang Shiyue and angrily saying, "Captain, you can't keep pampering her like this! She's even started stealing things now. If she keeps this up, she'll kill you sooner or later!"
"She's changing." Chen Shanhe said, "She's my wife, Yangyang's mother, I have a responsibility."
Jiang Shiyue's eyelashes trembled and she looked up at Chen Shanhe.
Chen Shanhe had a calm expression, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry, but no one doubted what he said.
Jiang Shiyue sighed inwardly. What a responsible man! And, he actually believed her?!
Perhaps because she had been scolded so much in the past two days, Jiang Shiyue was actually a little touched that someone spoke well of her and believed in her.
With Chen Shanhe as a guarantor, Da Liu and Wang Hong finally accepted Jiang Shiyue's apology.
After leaving Da Liu's house, Jiang Shiyue discussed with Chen Shanhe, "Look, we still have two pounds and two ounces of meat left. Can we borrow someone's freezer or refrigerator, or a public one, to store it overnight?"
Chen Shanhe gave Jiang Shiyue a strange look. Seeing Jiang Shiyue looking at him expectantly, he said, "There's no refrigerator in the compound. Neither public nor private."
Jiang Shiyue: “…”
Were they so poor in 1978? She thought at least the kitchen staff would have had some.
Chen Shanhe, who saw through her thoughts, explained, "We don't need it. We only have half a pound of meat per person per month, and we occasionally add a little when we stir-fry. Twice a month, we also improve our meals and make two meat dishes."
There is not enough to eat, so why save?
Besides, even during the Chinese New Year, no one would be as extravagant as Jiang Shiyue and buy five kilograms of meat.
Either you have no money or you have no ticket, or maybe you have no money and no ticket.
Jiang Shiyue thought of the two rare pieces of braised pork that Chen Shanhe had brought back, and thought to herself that they were indeed unnecessary. But the problem had to be solved, so she subconsciously asked, "What should we do then?"
This question touched upon her blind spot in knowledge.
In Jiang Shiyue's previous life, there was a refrigerator at home since he was born.
"It's only hot during the day, but the temperature at night is okay. It won't go bad overnight. If you're worried, you can learn from other sisters-in-law and cut the meat into small pieces, cover it with oil and salt, and it won't go bad for three to five days."
These days, regardless of whether you have money or not, food, clothing, housing and transportation are all in limited supply.
Especially ordinary people, no one is willing to eat all the meat they buy at once. Without a refrigerator, they will think of other ways to extend the shelf life of the meat.
Oil and salt are the most common methods of preservation.
Jiang Shiyue thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll listen to you and hang the meat up to dry. We'll eat it tomorrow."
******
When Chen Shanhe came home from breakfast in the morning, he found that Jiang Shiyue and Yangyang were not there. He frowned and went out to look for them.
From a distance, I could hear chirping near the kitchen.
At the end of each row of housing is a communal kitchen, which is actually a large semi-open space that can be sheltered from wind and rain.
Every household has a small area that serves as their own kitchen.
Each family has a different way of cooking. Some build their own stoves and use wood stoves, while others use coal stoves.
Before Chen Shanhe arrived, he heard his sisters-in-law gathered in the kitchen and talking.
"What is Chen Ying's sister-in-law up to now?"
"Didn't you see the chopped lard on the chopping block? It must be made into lard."
"Why does that iron pot look so familiar to me? Is that Dazhuang's pot? Didn't you say you wanted to return it? Why did you use it right away?"
"Yes, it's mine." Zhuangzhuang's mother looked incredulous. "She came to my house last night to return the iron pot. I told her it was dirty and she didn't want it anymore, so I asked her to exchange it with her small aluminum pot. She actually agreed!"
"Really? If you think it's dirty, how could she not mind? She's so tidy that she won't let us use the kitchen with her. How can we use pots that have been used in your house?!"
The other sisters-in-law nodded in disbelief.
"Don't ask me. I'm confused too. But, it seems like she is using it now?" Zhuangzhuang's mother pointed at Jiang Shiyue.
The sisters-in-law watched Jiang Shiyue carefully scrub the iron pot clean and place it on the coal stove, then squatted in front of the coal stove motionless.
Sisters-in-law: “…”
Chen Shanhe: “…”
After waiting for a while, Jiang Shiyue didn't move, so one of her sisters-in-law couldn't help but urge her: "Sister-in-law Jiang Shiyue, can you please hurry up? If you don't let everyone use the kitchen with you, you can't occupy the kitchen all the time, right?"
"That's right, it's already dinner time. If you're not hungry, we are!"
"Hurry up! Our children have to go to school after dinner!"
Jiang Shiyue was just remembering how to light honeycomb coal. In her previous life, she had only used gas.
After hearing the sisters-in-law's urging and complaining, I finally understood why they were standing outside the kitchen and not coming in. I hurriedly said, "Excuse me! Since this is a public kitchen, everyone can cook. You can just focus on your own things and don't worry about me."
The sisters-in-law looked at each other, all with a look of surprise.
"What happened today? Did the sun rise from the west or is it raining red?"
"She wouldn't have poisoned the kitchen, would she?"
Zhuangzhuang's mother has been dealing with Jiang Shiyue a lot these past two days. She shook her head and said, "She seems a little abnormal these past two days." Okay, abnormal.
Mengmeng's mother happened to be over cooking. After hearing Jiang Shiyue's words, she hesitated for a moment, gritted her teeth, and was the first to enter. "It's better to have more of these abnormalities. She also came to my house yesterday. She also brought a bottle of soy sauce and two taels of meat. I heard she also went to Da Liu's house."
Wang Ying, who had been making sarcastic remarks on the bus, also nodded and said, "He also returned my vinegar bottle and gave me two taels of meat."
A bottle was not worth even five cents. She felt a little embarrassed.
The sisters-in-law looked at Mengmeng's mother nervously as she walked into the kitchen, each of them looking nervous as if she had stepped into a forbidden area.
In fact, it's not that the sisters-in-law can't beat Jiang Shiyue, it's mainly because Jiang Shiyue has no bottom line. Not only will she smash things during quarrels, but after you fight with her, she will turn around and fill the soy sauce and vinegar bottles of the people she fought with with dirty water or urinate directly into the dirt and sand. Or she will just throw things away.
We can't always take the oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, peppercorns, and star anise home after cooking. It's not that we don't want to, but it's hard to take, and we always forget when we're busy, and once we forget, Jiang Shiyue will notice.
The most infuriating thing is that it’s useless to guess that Jiang Shiyue did it. She doesn’t admit it and we can’t catch her in the act.
No one could bear to be angry with her, and over time, they would avoid the time when she cooked.
Often gets up earlier than her to cook
Who knew Jiang Shiyue would come so early today!
In the past, I could only cook porridge, but today I have to cook lard and I have been occupying the kitchen for a long time without moving.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
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