Chapter 92 Altar Meat
Xia Zhizhi was definitely relieved. She put away the receipt and Da Chong invited her to have lunch. "Brothers Jia Ming and Jia Ren have shown me your kindness today. Let's eat here at noon. There is a boy from Linkou here who makes excellent almond meat and gluten cakes. I can smell that they are cooked."
Not only did he smell it, but Xia Zhizhi also smelled it. It was so fragrant. This kid is really good!
Unfortunately, she was wearing a mask, so it was easy for the food to show through. She pretended to look at her watch and said, "Oh, it's already this late. I smell that this little brother's cooking skills are really good. I also want to have a meal with Brother Da Chong, but the brothers are waiting, and I am embarrassed to enjoy it alone. I will not eat for now. I can't be so particular when I am away from home. I will just eat a hard cake on the way."
Do you understand? Pack it up for me to take away.
Da Chong understood what was said. He was a man of honor and not a retard. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Go and put all the altar meat on Brother Jia's plate. Add more gluten cakes, and cut more cucumber and green onion shreds."
The chef stewed the meat in a large clay pot, then put the lid on it and brought the whole pot out. To avoid scalding them, he put the pot in a large backpack and put a basket full of gluten cakes and a basket of chopped scallion and cucumber shreds on it.
They don't get to eat such good food every day. Such a big pot of meat is a rare delicacy that they can only have once or twice a month. Now even the pot has been taken away.
Xia Zhizhi said, "Oh, Brother Big Chong is too polite. I feel bad for that."
While motioning to Ah Ju to put it on his back.
The almond meat tastes a bit like another way of cooking braised pork. The chef's skills are really good. It's better than anything else that ten heroines can cook. You can smell the fragrance even with the lid on.
She found a place to change her clothes, put Ah Ju into the space, and went to the place where she was waiting for the ox cart. The master had not come yet, so she was hungry, so she opened the lid and ate several pieces.
It is smooth and delicious, with neither lean meat nor fat. It is served with chewy yet soft pancakes and cucumber and scallion shreds. It is so delicious.
Seeing the master driving over, she put the lid back on and covered it with a piece of floral cloth.
The one pulling the cart today is a little donkey. Besides cows, the team also has donkeys and mules.
I heard that there used to be quite a few livestock in the village, and the income in the past two years has been pretty good. Last year, the village sold all the old donkeys and mules and bought a tractor instead.
All the money was used to buy a tractor, and there was no money to raise so many livestock. I kept a cow and two donkeys. The donkeys were still young and had never done much work.
The grandfather helped her carry the basket to the car and said, "Xia Zhiqing, you have to hold on tight. This donkey is working for the first time, so it's sticking its head and groaning, and it's not walking steadily."
The little donkey was really stubborn and refused to walk again. The trip back took more time than the walk itself. The grandfather was so busy coaxing the donkey that he had no time to chat with her.
When they arrived at the educated youth site, the grandfather had just helped her move the backpack off the car when the little donkey ran away. The grandfather didn't care about her and said, "Xia Zhiqing, find someone else to help you carry it."
Chasing the donkey.
Others hadn't finished work yet, but Xia Zhizhi called out at the entrance of the educated youth camp: "Zhenzhen, Wang Lizhen!"
Wang Lizhen came out of the house and saw her backpack on the ground. She was a little unhappy: "Why didn't you call me when you went to the market?"
Xia Zhizhi waved at her mysteriously, and when Wang Lizhen came over, she lifted the lid of the pot and showed it to her: "I know you are going back to the city, so I specially asked someone to make you the local delicacy, pot meat, just to give you a surprise. How about it, are you happy?"
Wang Lizhen tried to raise the corner of her mouth several times but suppressed it herself and snorted, "You have a conscience!"
Then he picked up the basket and put it into the kitchen.
Not long after, Jiang Xiurong and Han Youran came back from fishing and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
She ran over and pulled the two of them, saying considerately, "Sister Youran, Sister Xiurong, you don't have to cook today. You two have been so busy lately. You still have to cook after work, and you've lost weight. You two are so pretty, but there's no man who cares about you. It makes me sad to see you like this. I went to the market to buy some meat and asked someone to make some pork fritters and some cakes for you. You can eat them after they're heated up. You should eat more and replenish your body."
Jiang Xiurong opened the pot and took a look. The weather was not particularly cold at the moment. Although the meat was cold, it was not solidified. It looked red and particularly appetizing. He said, "This looks delicious. Zhizhi is so well-behaved and considerate!"
Han Youran suggested: "We can use the lunch box to steam some rice, put the pot in the pot to heat it up, and then use the oil in the dish to stir-fry the cabbage."
Xia Zhizhi naturally had no objection and let the two of them discuss it.
When the rice was cooked, the other educated youth also came back. She came to Cui Zijin and said, "I got the meat back and asked someone to cook it for me. You need to build the shed for me as soon as possible."
Cui Zijin smelled the meat and nodded: "Tang Zhiqing and I can set it up in two days."
Today's meal received unanimous praise from everyone. The pot of meat weighed several kilograms, and everyone was given a lunch box. We ate a little bit of it rolled up in a pancake, and mixed the rest with rice. It was so delicious!
Jiang Xiurong and Han Youran discussed: "The meat cooked this way is really delicious. I don't know how they cook it."
Xia Zhizhi didn't know when these two babies would understand that whether something tastes good or not has nothing to do with how it's prepared.
After dinner, Xia Zhizhi cleared her throat and called the youth cadre together: "I have something to tell you. You all know that I am in poor health and can't find much firewood. The straw distributed by the team is definitely not enough to survive the winter. Today I went to the market and asked for some help from my connections. They can get me some coal. I wonder if other youth cadres in our youth cadre need it. If they do, I will have someone deliver it to you. But let's make it clear in advance that the price will definitely be higher than the per-person price in the village."
Several old educated youth immediately expressed their opinions: "We don't need it. We worked hard to store firewood during our free time. It was enough in previous years."
The old educated youth had agreed early in the morning that everyone had to pay to buy the coal supplied by the team, and the male educated youth would be responsible for chopping wood and collecting enough for the winter.
In previous years, male and female educated youth occupied both rooms in the summer, and slept in one room each in the winter, burning two kangs, using the straw coal and firewood distributed by the team to burn side by side, so no one would freeze to death.
Xia Zhizhi suddenly suggested spending extra money to buy it for everyone to use together. Those with ordinary conditions would definitely not be willing to do so.
Xia Zhizhi didn't intend to buy coal for everyone, but just wanted to make it clear to everyone so that no one with a clear mind would report her. She took out a piece of paper with a coal application and said, "Comrades who don't need to buy, please sign it. I'll count it."
All the educated youth signed to indicate that they did not need it.
Only Han Youran and Jiang Xiurong secretly told her that they wanted to buy some as a backup, but they did not want to tell the other educated youth.
She naturally agreed, and then they could just take two frames each.