Chapter 67 Chicken
When Han Youran was putting the pancakes on the edge of the pot, the youngest son of Lin Laogen (the kang-making master) came over.
A 13 or 14-year-old boy, who was now attending junior high school in the commune, poked his head out of the gate and shouted, "Xia Zhiqing, Xia Zhiqing, my grandma asked me to invite you to my house for dinner!"
Xia Zhizhi also poked her head out of her room and said, "My meal is ready in the kitchen, so I won't go. Thank your grandpa and grandma for me."
"No, my grandma has stewed a chicken, and she said she won't have dinner unless you come over." After the boy said this, he sat down on the doorstep of their yard.
But his grandmother said that he would not be allowed to go back unless Xia Zhiqing was called over.
After Xia Zhizhi returned to the educated youth center, Lin Laogen's family took the two sets of clothes and discussed it. They decided to treat her to a meal. Otherwise, they would feel unhappy and feel that something was missing.
The old lady immediately caught the big rooster that was leisurely strolling in the house, and bled and plucked its feathers.
Combined with the hazel mushrooms that the boys picked from the mountains today, we made a local specialty, chicken stewed with mushrooms.
Nowadays, if someone is willing to kill a chicken and treat her to a meal, it means that he values her very much.
Xia Zhizhi looked at him for a while, and saw his stubborn eyes, which showed on his face that if she, Xia Zhizhi, didn't go to have this meal today, this guy would squat at the door and not leave.
The conclusion is that this is a little stubborn donkey.
It was precisely because of his stubbornness that Lin Laogen sent him out, thinking that if she was too shy to go, this guy could at least persuade her. After all, they sincerely wanted to invite her to dinner, not just lip service.
Who can be more stubborn than the little donkey?
Xia Zhizhi can.
If she doesn't want to go, she doesn't want to go. For her, there is no such thing as being unable to refuse a kind invitation.
There are more than ten people in the family now, and there are only a few dishes on the table, with more vegetables than meat. The adults are fine, but even if the children are well educated and don't make any noise, it is still heartbreaking to see them staring at the meat and drooling.
Unless she was deliberately trying to displease that person, she had no appetite for eating at someone else's house.
Of course, all of this is based on the premise that she has space and no worries about food and clothing.
If she doesn't have space, then if someone invites her to dinner, she will run faster than anyone else and eat more than anyone else.
It was no use standing there like this, so she went back to the room, took out a lunch box and put it in the boy's hand: "You know, I'm not in good health. I walked a lot today and I'm tired. I really can't walk anymore. How about this, you go and get me a bowl of food."
The boy looked at the lunch box in his hand, then looked at her.
He hesitated between bringing the dish over and bringing her over, and finally decided to ask his grandma for her opinion.
When Mr. and Mrs. Lin Laogen saw their youngest son coming back with a lunch box, they didn't force him to eat anymore.
The chicken stewed with mushrooms was currently being simmered in a clay pot on the stove, so I simply asked him to bring the whole pot over. After all, his whole family had shown their appreciation, and I felt relieved.
The young man brought a clay pot over. Others might feel embarrassed and try to refuse it, but Xia Zhizhi was so thick-skinned that she took it directly and put it on the table as a snack for everyone.
He first put two large chicken legs, chicken wings and chicken gizzards into his own bowl, then gave Han Youran and Jiang Xiurong each a piece of chicken leg, and then asked everyone to share.
July and August are the time when hazel mushrooms are in season. The fresh and delicious mushrooms absorb the chicken broth, which is so delicious. It’s a pity that I didn’t cook rice today, otherwise it would have been so delicious to soak the rice in the broth!
The most important thing is that Tiedan’s cooking skills are amazing, better than the two heroines combined. The chicken doesn’t seem to have too many seasonings, and it tastes indescribably delicious.
Unlike her two precious heroines, they put whatever was on the stove and shoved it in. They sound very logical when they talk about it, but the taste is so confusing.
Their meal consisted of braised pork and chicken stewed with mushrooms, which was really a rich meal.
There were a few shameless old educated youth who came over to watch several times while I was cooking.
But they didn't have a table, so the food was not served on the table, so they started sharing it with lunch boxes while it was still in the pot.
Except for Cui Zijin who gave some from his own bowl to Guo De and Shi Feng who lived in the same room with him, and Han Youran who gave some to Liu Lin, everyone else ignored the gazes of others and focused on eating.
Among them, Jiang Xiurong was the most shameless, but she was only familiar with the few people who had dinner with her, and others were too embarrassed to look for her.
Zhao Jinhua pulled Luo Zhaodi over, looked at Xia Zhizhi's bowl, and swallowed her saliva: "You guys have really good food, with both meat and chicken. Unlike us, we haven't seen meat for almost a month."
This is true. The last time they had a party was to welcome the new educated youth. There were so many people and only so little food, so each person could get less than two yuan.
Xia Zhizhi grabbed the chicken leg and chewed it until her mouth was full of oil. Hearing this, she raised her head and asked her, "Then why don't you eat meat? Is it because you don't like it?"
Zhao Jinhua choked and said, "Who doesn't like to eat meat? It's just because money is tight. The few work points I earn are barely enough to fill my stomach throughout the year."
Xia Zhizhi continued to stab him: "Then why don't you earn more work points? Is it because you don't want to?"
"Who doesn't want to gain a few more centimeters? But it's hard to gain anything!" Zhao Jinhua was speechless.
She swallowed the chicken in her mouth and asked in confusion: "Why can't I get it? I see other people can get it."
Zhao Jinhua was so angry that she pulled Luo Zhaodi and turned away.
Forget it, it’s not necessary to eat this meat.
They all cook in the same kitchen, and their meals are much better than those of the old educated youth. It is inevitable that some of them will say a few sour words, but let them say whatever they want; it won't hurt or make any difference.
After dinner, Han Youran touched his stomach and sighed: "This is life. These mushrooms really taste good. If we have time someday, let's go to the forest to pick mushrooms, right?"
She just thought that chicken stewed with mushrooms was delicious because of the mushrooms, and she didn't reflect on her own cooking skills at all.
July and August are the time when hazel mushrooms grow. In previous years, it would rain at this time. After the rain, mushrooms would grow in large patches, and they could be found everywhere in the woods, on the roadside, and at the foot of the mountain.
When it rains, people don’t have to go to work, so many people from every household go to pick mushrooms.
They were picked up in big bags, dried, and then taken to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange for money, or they could keep them for themselves.
It's a national movement.
This year was unlucky and it hadn't rained for a long time, so the mushrooms only grew sparsely in the shade. They were busy with irrigation and were as tired as dogs all day, so naturally they had no energy to run into the mountains.
"I don't know when the next holiday will be." Jiang Xiurong couldn't help but sigh.
She was already very diligent at work every day, but still found life to be a torment. If it weren't for Tang Mingli, that educated youth, she wouldn't have been able to continue working there for another day.
"If it rains, we will definitely have a holiday." Xia Zhizhi comforted them: "I think it will rain soon. When it rains, we will go pick mushrooms."
The female comrades only mentioned it casually and soon forgot about it. They washed their own dishes, fetched water, and went back to their rooms to lie down.
But Tang Mingli had an idea.
Changbai Mountain is indeed a treasure trove, with a variety of wild medicinal herbs and wild animals. As long as you have the courage and vision, there is a high chance that you will get good returns if you go into the mountain.