Having been in this world for so long, He Tiantian has finally seen vegetables other than radishes and cabbages.
Tears welled up in her eyes with excitement as she hurriedly asked Sister Yulan, "How do you know how to make bean sprouts?" Although the method for making bean sprouts was simple, she had never seen anyone make them here before. Even in town, she had only ever seen people selling tofu and soy milk.
“Wanzi’s mother, you are so knowledgeable. I didn’t even know what this was called. No one in Changfeng Village grows beans. These beans were bought by my Yonghe from a tofu shop in town last year.” Sister Yulan smiled embarrassedly and continued, “Back then, I wanted to make tofu at home, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t make it.”
"Later, we left this small half-bag of beans, which have been piled up next to the stove these days. I don't know when they got wet and sprouted." At first, Sister Yulan thought the grain was wasted, but after tasting it, she found it quite delicious.
It was purely by accident that things got done.
He Tiantian was slightly surprised, "Doesn't anyone in our village grow beans?"
Yulan's mother shook her head. "What's the point of planting that? Besides making tofu, nobody knows how to eat it. And nobody knows how to make tofu anyway. Land is precious these days. We have to grow rice in our paddy fields and sweet potatoes in our dry fields. These are the only two things that can fill our stomachs."
He Tiantian thought to herself that next time she went to town, she would buy some soybeans from a tofu shop. She could try planting them next summer, just in case they were successful.
The four children have all gone out to play and are not here right now.
He Tiantian and Yulan's mother washed the pork fat they bought and cut it into pieces so they could render lard later.
As for the pig intestines and other things, He Tiantian suggested they wash them in the river at the village entrance later. After all, these things smell terrible and would require a lot of water to wash.
Yulan felt very embarrassed because all the meat for the New Year was bought by He Tiantian.
She took the basin and carried the pig offal at the front.
"I'll wash it in a bit. You're pregnant, so you should avoid cold water. I've never washed this before, so I'll have to trouble Maruko's mom to give me some pointers."
He Tiantian didn't refuse; she'd never washed pig intestines before. They looked gruesome, and she wasn't sure she had the mental fortitude for it.
Cleaning pig intestines is a tedious task; it should ideally be washed four or five times with white flour.
He Tiantian felt that if she did that, the whole village would point fingers at her and call her a spendthrift.
Helpless, she could only sprinkle more salt into the basin when Sister Yulan wasn't looking.
The two had been busy by the river for most of the day, and it was already afternoon.
When I got home, the four children were already there.
He Tiantian saw a large pile of firewood in the corner and knew that the four children hadn't been idle either. In this cold weather, dry firewood was hard to find, and she wondered how far the four children had run to collect it.
When Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi saw He Tiantian return, they quickly stepped forward and each called out, "Mother."
Liu Yulan and Liu Shuixian stood not far behind. They saw what their mother was holding. Was it meat? It didn't look like it at all!
Zhao Wanzi blinked her big eyes at He Tiantian, "Mother, did you buy meat?"
"I bought it, I bought it." He Tiantian patted Wanzi's little head helplessly.
Zhao Denglong covered his nose, pointed at the basin of pig offal, and said, "Is that it? Why does it smell so bad? Is it really edible?"
Liu Yulan and Liu Shuixian nodded inwardly. They wanted to ask too, but it would be impolite to ask so abruptly.
He Tiantian reached out and tapped Zhao Denglong's forehead, explaining, "It smells bad now, but once it's cooked, you'll probably be drooling with envy."
"Alright, go wash your hands first. Your mother bought you all some snacks as a reward for your hard work collecting firewood."
The four children's eyes lit up instantly when they heard there would be snacks. They rushed to wash their hands, scrubbing them vigorously, as if afraid they wouldn't get their snacks if they weren't clean enough.
"Oh dear, why did you buy such expensive things! Never mind, my two kids won't eat them, you can give them the lanterns and meatballs instead." Sister Yulan felt heartbroken when she heard that she had bought some snacks.
At this rate of spending, the money for that silver hairpin probably won't last long.
"It's alright, sister-in-law. I only bought these for the kids because it's almost Chinese New Year. They only eat these once a year. Besides, these are the cheapest ones from the pastry shop, only ten coins for a big bag."
Yulan's mother's heart clenched at the thought. Ten coins... that wasn't cheap at all. If she bought some rice and flour, it would be enough to feed the family for several days.
After washing their hands, the four children ran in again and stood in a row looking at He Tiantian.
He Tiantian turned around and took out a bag of pastries that Widow Zhang had given her from her package. There were eight pieces in total.
She pinched a piece for each of the four children, saying, "You can only eat one piece today. Save the rest for New Year's Eve."
The snacks, about the size of a thumb, were snow-white. Four children sat neatly on the doorstep, licking them little by little.
Looking at her two children's pitiful state, Yulan's mother felt a pang of sadness, and her eyes reddened.
"I will work hard to make this family better, and I will buy more snacks for the two children when I earn money in the future. Of course, I will not forget your kindness, Maruko's mother. I will treat these two children as my own."
Yulan's mother silently cheered herself up, thinking that things would get better and that her family's life would definitely improve.
As if suddenly remembering something, He Tiantian took out twenty coins from her bosom and stuffed them into Yulan's hand.
"Oh, right, here's the payment for your cross-stitch. You're good at it; all the clothing stores in town are fighting over it. As we agreed before, it's twenty coins per piece. Count them."
Yulan's mother was even more surprised; it was just a matter of lending a hand. She hadn't taken it to heart when Wanzi's mother offered her wages earlier.
Now, with this heavy 20 coins in her hand, wow, this is real money!
Her husband worked himself to the bone in the mine for a month, and all he earned was thirty coins.
She earned twenty coins in just ten days after embroidering a cross-stitch.
Sister-in-law Yulan's eyes reddened even more; she was so moved and excited that she didn't know what to say.
Seeing that things were not going well, He Tiantian quickly changed the subject to avoid further injury.
"Sister-in-law, we need to get rid of these things quickly. Let's render the lard first, then we can use it to stir-fry vegetables."
"Yes, yes." Sister Yulan nodded quickly, carefully put the money in her bosom, and went back to her work.
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