"The old man asked for you when he had some free time. If you find any, you can take them to the purchasing station to sell, but they only want the good quality ones that have been properly processed, understand?"
"Okay, thank you, Grandpa Wang."
Old Wang knew that the child didn't want to take risks, and he didn't want the child to take risks either. Although most of the members in the brigade were honest and hardworking, it was difficult for them to maintain their integrity in the face of interests.
When he heard the news, he didn't take the medicinal herbs he had collected over the past month to the county pharmaceutical factory's purchasing station to sell. Instead, he planned to wait until after the autumn harvest. The reason was that the autumn harvest would begin in a couple of days, and he planned to make more food in his space in the next few days so that he could take it out to eat when he got hungry.
First, I stir-fried three chickens, simmered five old ducks in soup, and then stewed two large iron pots of goose. I steamed 200 large meat buns made with a mixture of two types of dough, 500 cornbread buns made with a mixture of three types of dough, boiled 100 eggs, stir-fried a pot of braised pork, and while the oil was still in the pot, I stir-fried a large pot of green vegetables. I also cooked several pots of eight-treasure porridge. Remembering that the weather wasn't cool during the autumn harvest and was hot at noon, I also cooked two pots of rock sugar mung bean soup. I've been busy for two whole afternoons.
Seeing the fish in the large vat in the kitchen reminded me of braised fish, but then I thought better of it. The fish weren't that big, and I'd be too tired to move around much, let alone pick out the bones. I'll save them for when it gets cooler and make them into salted or cured fish.
When my third brother and his group came last time, the two wild boars they hunted were cleaned and left there. They weren't planning to make them into salted meat, but the cured meat was quite delicious, so they planned to process it together with the fish later.
Standing at the back of the crowd, listening to the speech delivered on the high platform at the entrance of the brigade headquarters, Gu Zhengrong felt extremely fortunate that he hadn't gone up the mountain after work these past two days, but instead had prepared so many meals. If he had to finish work every day and then go home to cook, he would have had a hard time.
Then I overheard Chen Enpeng and Chen Junjie whispering to each other nearby.
“Jiezi, starting tomorrow, we’ll take turns cooking. You’ll get up an hour earlier in the morning, and you’ll come home an hour earlier at noon and in the afternoon to cook. I’ll do the same the next day. We need to make sure there’s plenty of food. We don’t have much meat or oil. We still need to eat one of our pickled eggs every day, and we also need to boil two of the eggs we got the other day. Otherwise, we’ll both be exhausted in the fields.”
"Okay, whatever you say."
After Chen Enpeng saw that I was also listening to their conversation, he asked, "Mianmian, do you want to come with us?"
"No need, I can cook for myself. I'm strong and have a big appetite, so I won't cook with you."
After considering the food supplies for two people, Chen Enpeng said, "Alright then."
They knew that their food supply had run out in the first month. Some of the food they had now was secretly bought or exchanged with fellow villagers, some was obtained by exchanging food coupons brought from home at the county grain store, and some was bought from the black market. There wasn't much food left, so they decided to forget about it.
However, the autumn harvest is tomorrow. After the harvest, the brigade will distribute some grain after delivering the public grain, and the rest will be distributed before the New Year.
Today was pretty good, though. After the meeting, the team leader slaughtered a pig, saying it was to give everyone a little something extra before the harvest. He also said that if anyone performed well during the autumn harvest, another pig would be slaughtered as a reward afterward. Everyone was very excited when they heard this.
The men stayed behind to help slaughter the pig and clean up the offal, while the women chopped vegetables, started a fire, and even the children helped carry firewood.
However, seeing that there were only a few left, some went home to get bowls and move tables, so he and Chen Junjie went back together. Chen Enpeng stayed behind to help. Of the three educated youth, one had to stay. He was young and there were female comrades involved, so Chen Enpeng didn't want him to go. Besides, he roughly knew that he and Secretary Gu's family of three didn't get along very well, so it was just a matter of politeness. Also, Chen Junjie wasn't as quick-witted as him, and things would be more complicated if he went back. So, he chose to stay.
On the way back, I said to Chen Junjie, "The autumn harvest starts tomorrow. Why don't you take advantage of this free time to steam a pot of cornbread or steamed buns made from a mixture of flour and water, and keep them for the next two or three days? The weather isn't too hot now, so they should be fine for a couple of days."
"Is it really possible?"
"That should work. If you want it different, steam a pot tonight, and when you come back to cook lunch tomorrow, put the rest in the sun to dry thoroughly. When you're ready to eat, keep it warm in the pot for a while. It's better than steaming it fresh every day. Steam another pot when you're almost done eating."
"Okay, what about you?"
"I plan to do that too. When I come back, I'll just stir-fry a dish or make soup."
"You're right, this will save us a lot of effort."
"See? You're so smart."
"It's not that I'm smarter, it's just that I've spent more time in the kitchen than the two of you. I've been handling kitchen chores since I was seven or eight years old, so I know a little bit about these things."
"So that's how it is."
"Actually, if you don't plan to steam cornbread or steamed buns, you can roll out noodles, dry them in the sun, and then just cook them when you want to eat them. But don't think you have a lot of noodles; they're not very useful during busy farming seasons, and you'll get hungry quickly."
"Let's forget about it then. I've heard that the busy farming season leaves people exhausted, so we need to make sure we're well-fed."
"That's true. By the way, bring enough water when you go to work, and also put a few pieces of candy in your pocket. It'll help if you eat one when you're hungry, so you don't get low blood sugar."
"Okay, thank you, Mianmian."
"No need to thank me, this is something that Nanny Huang told me to prepare a few days ago."
We arrived home in no time. I had just been talking to Chen Junjie about making noodles, and I thought I could make some. I could store them in my storage space or dry them in the sun. In the morning, I could make a bowl of noodles, add some mushroom and meat sauce I made a few days ago, and eat two big steamed buns. Breakfast would be taken care of.
Also, you should prepare several thermos flasks in advance, all filled with water, whether for drinking when you get back or for soaking your feet in hot water at night to relieve fatigue. While you're soaking your feet, keep the water boiling in a pot so you can save time and rest a little longer.
After finishing their mobilization meal, the next day, not long after dawn, they heard the village bell ringing to signal the start of work. They hurried out and ran into Chen Enpeng and another person. They asked, "Have you two finished eating?"
"After finishing eating, I even put a cornbread bun in my pocket in case I got hungry later."
"That's good. We can't skimp on food rations, especially now."
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