Chapter 6 6. Baozi's Debut
Shi Liu came out of the house and found that no one, adults or children, was at home. She looked at the time and it was time to cook. Thinking of the buns she had just learned how to make, she decided to give it a try.
Besides Su Sanlan, Shi Liu was the only one who had the key to the kitchen. She had a spare key for her to use as a snack. Actually, the kitchen didn't have much food: about two pounds of cornmeal, a basket of purslane, and ten eggs. It was a scene of visible poverty.
Shi Liu's eyes welled up as she thought of the meat buns she had eaten at noon. At that moment, she truly recognized the Shi family. Regardless of whether her sisters-in-law were happy or not, the result was that she had good food and drink, and she had to accept this favor. Shi Liu felt that she needed to take some time to go to the county and sign in at the grain station. Otherwise, no matter how good her bun-making skills were, she would be powerless without the rice.
In the end, the pomegranate could only be wrapped in a layer of white flour outside the cornmeal dough. Fortunately, the seasonings at home were quite complete, otherwise it would be impossible to make these buns.
The people in Lao Shi's family could smell the fragrance from afar, and they all wondered who came back to cook the meal today, and why it smelled so good.
When everyone saw Shi Liu coming out of the kitchen, they were shocked. Was this made by their eldest sister/daughter who had never cooked before?
Su Sanlan was the first to react: "Oh my, you are worthy of being my daughter, Su Niang, you are so skillful——"
Seeing her mother's winding singing voice, those who didn't know her would think that she had passed the imperial examination. Shi Liu pursed her lips awkwardly. It seemed that she still needed more time to adapt: "Mom, please try the buns I made. This is my first time cooking. My wrists are sore from being tired." She was not lying. You know, she had been making buns in the teaching space for five days. How could her wrists not be sore?
Su Sanlan's tears quickly flowed down her cheeks: "My dear pomegranate, how can you be so sensible? If I don't eat buns, we won't make them anymore."
Shi Chun, the eldest brother, was the most honest in the family. When he heard his sister complain about her wrist pain, he immediately felt distressed: "Sister, let your sister-in-law do the work of kneading the dough. Your sister-in-law is used to doing physical work anyway, so kneading the dough is not a problem for her. From now on, you can order your sister-in-law around, but don't tire yourself out."
Sister-in-law Liu Guihua had a deadpan face and sneered in her heart. Her husband was usually a normal person, but he became a fool when it came to her elder sister's affairs. Listen to what nonsense he just said. Why did she think that this man would love his wife as much as he loved his younger sister?
Shi Liu looked at her sister-in-law's cold face and secretly felt guilty. She really didn't have such an idea. After all, the big enemy she chose was her third brother Shi Qiu.
The third brother Shi Qiu shuddered violently, feeling that he was going to be in big trouble, wondering if some bastard was targeting him.
Shi Liu looked at the buns in the basket and carefully selected the best one. She handed it to Su Sanlan, "Mother, please try it. If you like it, I'll make it again next time." Then she turned to her sister-in-law and said, "Sisters-in-law, please take all the buns out."
Su Sanlan took a big bite, chewing it carefully, her eyes gleaming. Her daughter really took after her. Back then, her first cooking was also quite delicious, and her second sister rushed to drink up all the soup from the bottom of the pot. Fortunately, Su Shuanglan didn't hear these thoughts, otherwise she would have pooh-poohed Su Sanlan's face. If only some people hadn't been so shameless as to eat up all her rice, leaving them to eat the burnt soup she cooked.
After taking two bites, Su Sanlan saw that everyone in the family was staring at the buns on the table and drooling. A hint of disdain flashed in his eyes. He gave each person a bun and then gave an extra one to the laborer in the family: "You are all starving ghosts. Eat quickly. You brothers, after eating the buns, remember your eldest sister's kindness. If it weren't for Shi Liu's hard work making buns, where would you two go to eat such delicious buns?"
The eldest brother Shi Chun: "Thanks to my eldest sister, the buns made by your eldest sister-in-law are simply pig food."
The second oldest, Shi Xia: "Thanks to my eldest sister, the buns made by your second sister-in-law are simply pig food."
The third brother Shi Qiu said: "Thanks to my eldest sister, the buns made by your third sister-in-law are simply pig food."
The fourth child, Shi Dong: "Thanks to my eldest sister, the buns my mother made are simply pig food."
Su Sanlan: "Old Four, what are you talking about, you bastard!"
The fourth child, Shi Dong, was so frightened that he begged for mercy: "Mom, I was wrong. I wanted to talk about the pig food made by my sisters-in-law."
Eldest sister-in-law Liu Guihua, second sister-in-law Ding Lanhua and third sister-in-law Ma Cuihua: "..." What sins did they commit in their previous lives!
Shi Liu was quite embarrassed by the praise and could only think of ways to be nicer to her three sisters-in-law in the future. In fact, although her three brothers were very arrogant, none of them would beat or scold their wives. Compared with other wives in the village, although the sisters-in-law were completely dominated by her, their lives were still quite good.
Originally, the three sisters-in-law were very resentful about what their husbands said, but after taking a bite of the bun, they suddenly realized that their husbands were not lying this time. Compared with the bun made by the eldest sister-in-law, what they made was nothing but pig food. Tsk, I wonder if the eldest sister will still make it in the future. She is really skillful.
As expected of the third brother and his wife, the third sister-in-law also loves to eat: "Big sister, there is not much purslane at home, I will go to the back mountain to dig some after work."
Su Sanlan knew that her daughter-in-law was just looking for food, but there wasn't much food at home, so they should really dig more wild vegetables: "Take my brothers and sisters to dig more tomorrow, the first month of the year. I think the harvest this year is going to be bad. Don't make it like the province next door."
Shi Dong ran around outside all day and heard even more things: "Mom, should we use the money in our house to buy some food? I'm worried that if there is a drought and food prices go up, the little money we have won't be enough to buy much food." He was extremely grateful that his three sisters-in-law hadn't given birth in the past two years, otherwise there would be a few more mouths to feed at home. He said he would get married later no matter what.
Su Sanlan has been in charge of the household since her husband's death, so she still has a sense of crisis. Therefore, without Shi Dong's much persuasion, she agreed.
Shi Liu also felt a sense of crisis in her heart. She had to go to the grain store, but she was more curious about the golden check-in place deep in the back mountain.
Su Sanlan hadn't expected her daughter to ask about this so suddenly, and she simply assumed it was out of curiosity. "That deep mountain is a treasure trove, but few people ever leave after entering. And of those who do, most go crazy, shouting about 'ghosts' and so on. It's incredibly spooky."
"Since the deep mountains are so strange, how can it be called a treasure land?" This was the first time Shi Liu had heard of this.
"Because those who came out intact have become rich. It is rumored that there are ginsengs that are hundreds of years old. Hundred-year-old ginsengs are treasures. One ginseng is enough for a family to chew for many years." What Su Sanlan did not say was that her father was the lucky one. Otherwise, with her mother's family of eight generations of poor peasants, how could they have the money to send her eldest brother to a private school? After the founding of Lan Yuguo, her eldest brother got a job in a supply and marketing cooperative because he went to school for a few days.
(End of this chapter)
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