The next day, Li Hehua set out at dawn again, found the same location as yesterday, placed two baskets of pastries in front of him and started shouting.
With yesterday’s foundation, people came to buy very quickly today. Many of them were not available yesterday, and some were purchased yesterday but wanted to eat more after their family members had eaten them, so they came to buy again today. As a result, even though I made an extra basket of pastries today, they sold out as fast as yesterday and were all sold out before noon.
Li Hehua used the money from selling cakes to buy the ingredients needed for making cakes tomorrow. On his way back, he saw a vendor standing on the street selling candied haws. The first thing he thought of was the little one at home. He walked over involuntarily, spent two cents to buy one, intending to take it back for the little one to eat.
After taking two steps, Li Hehua paused again and looked towards a pork stall not far away. After hesitating for a while, he made up his mind and walked over. He spent fifteen cents to buy a pound of pork belly.
It’s not that she really wanted to eat pork belly. Her purpose of buying the meat was actually to go back and make a dish of braised pork and bring it to the Zhang family to eat, as a way of thanking the Zhang family for taking them in and allowing her to continue living there. After all, she had been divorced and was no longer considered a member of the Zhang family.
Of course, the more important point is that she hopes to gain some favor in front of the Zhang family so that everyone can live in peace and comfort in the future. After all, she doesn't want to be stared at by all kinds of hostile eyes as soon as she sees them. It is necessary to bribe the landlord appropriately when you are under someone's roof, because she is not able to leave yet.
It was already afternoon when Li Hehua got home. Her stomach was growling with hunger, but after looking at the sky, she forced herself to wait until dusk before going into the kitchen to cook.
In the kitchen, the first thing Li Hehua did was to find the little guy behind the stove and gently put the candied haws he bought for him on his legs. "Here, baby, this is the candied haws I bought for you. Children like to eat it. You can try it too. If you like it, I will buy it for you often in the future, okay?"
The little guy didn't move, nor did he eat immediately with joy like other children. He kept his head down.
A trace of regret flashed across Li Hehua's eyes.
He is still a child who has just come into contact with the world, but he seems to have no feelings for the world, refusing to communicate with the world and refusing anyone to enter his world. How much hurt did he suffer to become like this?
Li Hehua knew that the child was on the verge of isolation. If he did not try to pull him out now, he would eventually withdraw completely into a world of his own making, isolated from the rest of the world, and become a complete autistic, with his life ruined.
In modern times, she has seen too many children like this, so she couldn't bear to see such a child destroyed. She wanted to do her best to save this child.
She was not a doctor, and she didn't know whether the little guy could listen to what she said, but she still wanted to give it a try with her own method, which was to communicate with him as much as possible.
"Dear, do you know? I went to the town to sell cakes today. They were the cakes I gave you yesterday. Business was very good. I sold them all. I can make money every day in the future. I will bring you delicious cakes, okay?"
"Also, whenever I cook something delicious in the future, I will save a portion for you first, okay? Do you think what I cook is delicious? Hehe, am I a little narcissistic, baby?"
"My dear, I bought some braised pork today. I plan to cook it for you. Your father, your uncle, and your grandmother can also eat it. No meat has ever been seen in your family. How can you gain weight? You are so thin. You need to nourish yourself well so that you can grow strong, just like... just as tall as your father."
Li Hehua told the little guy everything that happened today. When he ran out of things to say, he stood up and said, "Little darling, I'm going to cook. You'll have meat to eat later!"
Although the little guy didn't respond, Li Hehua had a feeling that he could actually hear what she said. It didn't matter if he didn't respond, as long as he could listen. It would be good for him if she talked to him more.
Li Hehua wanted to lose weight, so she didn't plan to eat the braised pork she made today, and only cooked some white rice porridge for dinner tonight. When the porridge was almost done, she washed the meat she bought, cut it into pieces, and then started to cook the braised pork.
After a while, the aroma of meat wafted out from the kitchen. In an instant, the whole house was filled with the tempting aroma, which attracted Zhang Lin to run to the kitchen. Seeing that it was Li Hehua cooking again, she glanced into the pot, hummed lightly, then turned and left.
Li Hehua glanced at Zhang Lin's back, shook his head slightly, and continued to cook his own dishes.
After completing the last step of collecting the sauce, Li Hehua put the meat in the pot onto a plate, then extinguished the firewood, added water to the pot to clean it, then filled a bowl of porridge and walked behind the stove to sit with the little guy.
"Baby, I'm going to have porridge tonight. It smells delicious. Do you want to drink some?" After saying that, he scooped a spoonful with a spoon and handed it to the little guy's mouth.
Seeing that the little guy didn't open his mouth, Li Hehua coaxed him gently: "Baby, try it. You can drink some porridge first, and then when grandma comes to the kitchen to cook, you can eat the delicious braised pork."
But the result was naturally disappointing, the little guy just ignored her. Li Hehua had no choice but to eat by herself, talking to the little guy while eating, and waited until she finished two bowls of porridge before saying goodbye to the little guy and carrying the braised pork into the main room.
In the main room, Zhang Lin was sitting by the door sewing clothes. When she saw Li Hehua put a plate of meat on the table, a look of confusion flashed in her eyes, but she did not ask her, obviously unwilling to take the initiative to talk to her.
Li Hehua took the initiative to explain: "Mom, this is the braised pork I bought at the market today. I made it especially for you. You just need to cook some vegetables and rice later."
Zhang Lin's eyes flashed with surprise, but it was soon replaced by disgust. She snorted coldly and lowered her head to continue sewing clothes, but she did not refuse directly. This vicious woman had coveted so much money from her son, and eating her food would not make up for it, so why should she refuse?
Li Hehua didn't care about Zhang Lin's attitude. After putting down the braised pork, he went back to the woodshed.
Seeing Li Hehua closing the door, Zhang Lin glanced at the braised pork on the table, stood up, and walked to the table. Instantly, a fragrant aroma hit her nose, making her swallow involuntarily.
When did this vicious woman become such a good cook? Whether it was the cakes she made yesterday or the braised pork now, the color, aroma and taste were so good that people couldn't take their eyes off. When she first got married to Tieshan, she couldn't do anything, and the dishes she cooked were even worse. Did she deliberately cook such terrible dishes at that time? Or has she practiced her cooking skills in the past few years? But it doesn't make sense. With this woman's laziness, would she practice her cooking skills?
Zhang Lin couldn't figure out what was going on. Seeing that it was getting late, she hurried into the kitchen to cook dinner.
When Zhang Tieshan and Zhang Qingshan came back from the mountain, Zhang Lin's meal had just been prepared.
Seeing the two pheasants and two hares on the ground, Zhang Lin's eyes lit up and he quickly asked, "Why did you get so much today?"
Zhang Qingshan was a little excited. "Mom, my brother is really good at this. He can shoot one with one arrow. I want to learn from him and be as good as him."
Zhang Lin smiled proudly, "Of course your brother is amazing. You should learn from him and become as capable as him in the future."
Zhang Qingshan nodded vigorously, but suddenly he smelled the aroma of meat. He looked around subconsciously and saw a plate of braised pork on the table. His eyes lit up immediately, "Mom, did you buy meat today? It smells so good!"
Zhang Lin's smile faded, and she said unhappily, "Why should I buy meat? It was that woman who did it. I don't know what she was planning."
Zhang Qingshan's eyes flashed with surprise, "She? When did she become so kind? Is there some conspiracy?"
Just then, Zhang Tieshan carried Shulin out of the kitchen. Zhang Qingshan hurriedly said to him, "Brother, look, that woman actually made us a plate of braised pork. What do you think she is planning?"
Zhang Tieshan followed Zhang Qingshan's hand and looked at the dishes on the table. Without saying anything, he sat down and said to Zhang Linshi and Zhang Qingshan who were standing, "Don't worry, eat."
Zhang Lin wanted to say something else, but seeing that Zhang Tieshan was already feeding Shulin, she gave up and sat down to eat with Zhang Qingshan.
Although Zhang Qingshan was disgusted and disdainful of Li Hehua, his chopsticks involuntarily reached for the plate of braised pork. He comforted himself that the woman owed their family so much, and eating her braised pork was no big deal.
The moment he took the food, Zhang Qingshan felt a surge of pleasure filling his brain. He was absolutely certain that this dish of braised pork was the best he had ever eaten and was definitely better than the meat in the restaurants in town. Although he had never eaten the dishes in the restaurants, for some reason, he felt this way.
Seeing his mother had the same expression, Zhang Qingshan was deeply puzzled. "How can that woman cook so well? Why do I feel it's abnormal?"
Zhang Lin expressed the same doubt.
Zhang Tieshan looked at the closed door of the woodshed expressionlessly, with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.
After dinner, Zhang Tieshan simply packed up the prey he had hunted and went to the town to sell it at dawn the next day.
There is a Fumanlou restaurant in the town, which needs a lot of wild game for cooking every day, so anyone who can hunt wild game can sell it directly to the restaurant. However, because hunting is difficult and dangerous, most people can't do it at all, so there are very few people who can hunt wild game, so the price of the wild game is not low.
Zhang Tieshan started hunting in the mountains when he was a teenager, and he sold the game he caught to this restaurant since then, so he became very familiar with the restaurant owner. After several years, this was the first time he hunted game to sell after returning.
Zhang Tieshan walked directly into the restaurant and greeted the shopkeeper who was standing behind the counter counting the bills, "Shopkeeper."
The shopkeeper looked up and saw that it was Zhang Tieshan. He was surprised and said, "Tieshan, it's you. Where have you been these years?"
Zhang Tieshan smiled faintly, "He went to the army and just came back."
The shopkeeper suddenly realized. A few years ago, the imperial court was at war with the Liang people and ordered conscription. Every family had to provide a soldier. If they did not want to provide a soldier, they had to pay ten taels of silver. Most people could not afford this money, so they could only let the men in their families go. Zhang Tieshan must have gone to the battlefield to fight. Now that they can see him return safely, they are still very happy.
The shopkeeper put away the account book and walked out from behind the counter. He saw the prey in Zhang Tieshan's hand at a glance and became even happier. He patted Zhang Tieshan's increasingly strong body and said, "Finally, someone in my family sends me wild animals again. You don't know that in the past few years when you were away, no one sent me any. When my guests wanted to eat them, I had to pay a high price to buy them."
Zhang Tieshan smiled faintly.
The shopkeeper reached into the counter and took out a small piece of silver and handed it to Zhang Tieshan, "Here, Tieshan, this is the money for your prey today." Then he turned around and called the waiter, "Take this prey to the kitchen and ask Master Wang to cook it. Tell the guests that there is game today."
"Okay." The waiter came over happily.
Zhang Tieshan was not polite. He took the money and gave the prey to the waiter.
The shopkeeper talked to Zhang Tieshan for a while before Zhang Tieshan said goodbye and left.
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