Chapter 294: Reborn in the Nineties: Overbearing Flower, Chapter 295: Steaming Hot

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Actually, for people of this era, just surviving was already extremely difficult.

For Yao Lianhua, wanting to live better was truly hard.

Her own family was impoverished, but her maternal aunt's family had already bought a small truck.

Although Liu San's truck was eighth-hand, it was still a small truck, wasn't it?!

And her third aunt's Chai Mi had already started doing business.

That left only Yao Lianhua's family.

Yao Lianhua was actually quite pragmatic; she also knew you couldn't eat a fat man in one bite. Now she was discussing with Chai Mi about selling some pickled vegetables—two hundred catties of pickled vegetables for two hundred yuan, enough for her family's expenses for several months.

This life now had something to look forward to.

Since there were quite a few people, wrapping dumplings was actually quite fast.

Chai Mi was responsible for making the dumpling filling, while others wrapped dumplings; in no time, they had wrapped several covered baskets of dumplings.

Yao Lianhua had long since boiled the water, and over there someone was pounding garlic.

"This pot won't boil," Su Jin muttered. "We wrapped a bit too many. I can't eat several, and we've already wrapped several hundred dumplings. What do we do if we can't eat them?"

"Oh, isn't there still the next meal?" Su Hui was generous. "Anyway, you and Old Third are staying here tonight, so keep eating."

Su Hui said: "Hua, after boiling the dumplings, make a few more dishes."

"Mm."

"Boil some dumplings first, boil a big pot. Boil the rest later."

These boiled dumplings were actually just boiled until cooked, then steamed.

Similar to steamed dumplings.

But relatively speaking, they tasted better than steaming directly.

In these mountains, wood wasn't lacking; anyway, since Juren Zhangzi had already become this poor, cutting trees for firewood was no longer managed by anyone.

After all, it was a time when people were almost starving to death.

Doing some slightly over-the-line things didn't count as illegal.

The so-called law accommodates people.

That was the meaning.

So, Chai Mi's second aunt's family really had plenty of firewood.

Burn as much as they wanted.

At this point someone would ask: since Chai Mi's second aunt's family didn't lack wood, why not build a house? Why still live in a broken stone house like a yaodong?

Mainly because building a house wasn't something one person could do alone.

Although Chai Mi's second aunt's family didn't lack wood or stone,

they were extremely short of money.

They didn't even have money to pay hired help for meals; at this time, having only materials was meaningless.

Of course, building a house mainly required other materials too.

The kitchen was steaming hot.

A distinctive mutton gaminess also rose from the pot.

Yao Lianhua skillfully put the wrapped dumplings into the boiling pot in batches, boiled three pots, then steamed some more.

Mainly because there were many people; making more dumplings meant dinner was taken care of.

Chai Mi and the others came to six people total; of course, Chai Mi's little sister Chai Xin was too young to eat, so there were still five others.

Especially with Liu San this "Rice Bucket"...

Wrapping more dumplings was only right.

Su Wan helped pound garlic; the local custom was generally to eat dumplings with soy sauce and vinegar mixed together. And in this era, things like soy sauce and vinegar were actually relatively cheap seasonings.

As for chili peppers, they weren't eaten much here.

Especially red chili peppers; only occasionally would someone fry them in oil to eat in winter, and as for eating dumplings, chili peppers were generally not added.

Other ingredients were basically not added either.

Su Wan pounded the garlic, then poured some soy sauce and vinegar into the garlic jar, and it was done.

The dumplings had been boiled, then steamed.

Although Su Hui's house was three very broken rooms, it had two stoves.

One for steaming dumplings, one for stir-frying dishes.

This outer room was originally small, and afterward there was especially much steam, making the room steaming hot, with people almost unable to be seen.

Yao Lianhua stir-fried dishes, and Chai Mi helped busy herself.

And Su Wan and Su Hui and Eldest Sister Su Jin stayed in the courtyard.

"The house is too small; if Wen gets a daughter-in-law in the future, how will we live?"

Su Hui said; although she was still relatively optimistic, after all, the times were now progressing, and the possibility of being deceived into coming like herself in the past was almost nonexistent.

Steam filled the room, mixed with the oily smoke smell of mutton dumplings and stir-fried dishes. Yao Lianhua stir-fried at the stove, sweat on her brow. Chai Mi handed plates and salt jars on the side.

The courtyard air was cool, bringing the unique coolness of the mountains. Su Hui's words about her son "Wen" marrying a wife made the three sisters fall into a bit of silence.

The scene was a bit awkward.

Su Hui's "wen" referred to her own son Yao Lianwen. He wasn't very old, but he was getting to the age where he should marry.

Eldest Sister Su Jin smoothed her clothes, looking a bit uncomfortable: "That's right. Young girls these days care about where they live. Our three crumbling stone houses—drafty in winter, stifling in summer. Not to mention a new bride, even a matchmaker would shake her head." She looked at the house; the dim light couldn't hide its dilapidation.

And this place was too remote.

To put it this way, fortunately it was early autumn now; if it were winter, inside the house you wouldn't see the sun until noon.

Those mountains blocked the sky and sun, one after another, with no end in sight.

Although it was still the nineties, more and more people were literate.

Schools began to popularize six years of compulsory education.

At least if you went to school, you could finish primary school.

Once a person learned to read, they could see the world.

This was different from later generations, where children saw mobile phones, computers, and televisions from birth, seeing the world at just a few years old.

In this era, seeing the world was still limited to textbooks.

Especially in the countryside.

To put it bluntly, there were simply too few illiterate fools who couldn't read, making them hard to deceive.

Even if a matchmaker came to the door, she probably wouldn't even make it home; seeing these mountains, she'd turn back halfway and run away.

Su Wan held the garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar: "That boy Wen is honest and decent. But these days, just being a good person isn't enough without a proper house. Second Sister's family has plenty of wood and stone, piled up in the back courtyard until mushrooms grow on them, but what good are materials alone? Hiring help means feeding them and paying wages, and tiles, nails, doors, and windows—none of it is free. Our family now..." She didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

Where would they get extra money to build a house?

And in fact, Su Wan's family hadn't built a house either.

Not having built a new house for herself, she probably couldn't help Second Sister Su Hui's family much either.

Su Hui's optimism faded a bit, her voice lowered: "I just... just said it casually. Life goes on. Wen is still young; there are a few years. Save slowly. Look at Lianhua—she's discussing selling pickled vegetables with Chai Mi, isn't she?" She rubbed the corner of her clothes, "It's just that my heart feels blocked."

Su Jin sighed: "Save? Save with what? That little harvest from the fields barely keeps us fed. The pickled vegetable money is life-saving money! Build a house? That's dreaming! I say Wen's prospects are bleak." She spoke with certainty.

Su Jin was indeed like this—not only direct when speaking at her own home, but direct here as well.

After she said this, Su Hui's expression wasn't good, but she couldn't say anything.

After all, she was her own elder sister; what could she do?

Su Wan quickly smoothed things over, lowering her voice: "Second Sister, why not... let Wen go to the city? I heard factories in the city are hiring workers, providing food and lodging, and you can save some."

Su Hui shook her head: "The city? He doesn't know anyone there; what if something happens? Besides, if Wen leaves and isn't home working outside, what if a matchmaker comes to the door?" She anxiously spat, "You can't really let your son remain a bachelor forever, can you?"

"You, I'm not saying this about you." Su Jin said impatiently: "You, you worry about this and that. Shouldn't the child go out and see the world? Always staying at home, what for? Can you support him for a lifetime?"

Su Jin said this, and the courtyard instantly fell silent.

The words were a bit heavy, but they were indeed the truth.

People always need to find a way out.

This wasn't some novel where a golden finger appears, and hunting yellow sheep and rabbits could make you rich.

This was the real situation.

For someone like Su Hui in this Dasha Gou, there really weren't many ways out.

Otherwise, most people wouldn't leave.

There was once a popular saying locally: read more books, see more of the world, go out and see the world.

Actually, Chai Mi was an example.

Chai Mi originally farmed at home, but felt the income was too little. Later she thought about doing business, pondered for a long time, and finally went to sell dumplings.

Setting up a stall to earn money.

When Chai Mi was in Sanjiacun, she felt earning money was hard. But once she left, she discovered the village and the county seat were completely different worlds.

And this was without having gone too far.

By this time, the dishes were stir-fried, and the table was set.

"Aunt (Second), Aunt (Second), Mom... come inside to eat." Chai Mi called from the door.

Su Wan and the others then went back inside.

Everyone gathered around the table at the kang head; Su Jin, as the eldest sister, although not the oldest in age, was given the innermost seat.

Then came Chai Mi's second aunt and second aunt's husband, followed by Su Wan holding the child.

Liu San then sat at the table.

And Chai Mi put Chai Xiu down by the floor side, while she and Yao Lianhua stood to eat.

After all, the table was only so big.

And the room was a bit small, very narrow.

It was probably only about two and a half or six meters wide; with so many people sitting, the room was practically full.

"Three, want a drink?" Yao Shoucai warmed some baijiu, holding it in his hand as he asked.

Liu San actually drank alcohol; although his tolerance wasn't great, he loved drinking.

He was the kind of player who was very unskilled but still purely unskilled.

He didn't really care about his mother Su Jin's thoughts, directly saying: "Second Aunt's Husband, let me, let me. How could I let you pour wine for me?"

Liu San took the warmed wine jug and rushed to pour wine for Yao Shoucai.

The wine jug was porcelain, very small, holding only about two liang of wine.

As for the wine, it wasn't actually bought; it was baijiu brewed by families in Juren Zhangzi Village, the kind with very high alcohol content.

Actually, many families in the countryside, to have a drink, would brew their own wine.

First, this was cheaper, because brewing wine, for our five thousand years of cultural history, has actually always existed. All you need is wine yeast, then get some grain, and you can brew it. The difficulty of brewing wine is actually not high.

Of course, brewing your own wine is actually not advocated, mainly because homemade wine has too high an alcohol content; to put it bluntly, too much methanol. Methanol is not ethanol. Ethanol is wine, methanol is alcohol; although they mean the same thing, they are actually different, very different. Methanol is toxic, ethanol is not. But rural wine brewing distillation technology is actually very backward; it will contain some methanol no matter what, and there's no way to eliminate it completely. So, that kind of small-batch liquor, although high in alcohol content and tastier, has safety issues.

But in this era, saving money came first.

Many people actually don't understand this.

To put it simply, normally speaking, most liquor that gets you to your head has excessive methanol. Because if it's not excessive methanol, it won't get you to your head; it will only make you muddled.

In this era, there is especially much liquor that goes to the brain; drinking too much makes you muddled, and it's not necessarily that one's alcohol tolerance is poor, but rather that the methanol in the liquor is excessive.

Of course, home-brewed liquor also has qualified ones.

And the second point is that brewing your own liquor is convenient.

Juren Zhangzi is a very remote rural village. There are no supermarkets or small shops in the village.

Wanting to buy things is actually very difficult.

Even going to the market is very difficult.

After all, going out once is especially not easy, crossing mountains and ridges, and there are no roads built.

Under such circumstances, brewing some liquor yourself is the best choice.

Liu San poured a wine cup for Yao Shoucai, and then poured for himself afterward.

Afterward he raised the wine cup and drank one with Yao Shoucai.

"This liquor... is spicy..."

Liu San took a mouthful of liquor and felt it burning uncomfortably.

To suppress the strength of the liquor, Liu San picked up chopsticks, picked up a dumpling, and swallowed it without chewing much.

After eating he still said: "This dumpling is delicious."

Su Jin rolled her eyes, looking at her son being so useless, and felt annoyed in her heart: "Delicious but can't stop your mouth. Can't drink alcohol, why show off?"

"Mom, this dumpling is really delicious. Delicious enough to cry..."

"Then why don't you cry?"

For a moment, Liu San didn't know how to answer.

He couldn't really cry out loud, could he...

However, the liquor was indeed spicy, and this dumpling was indeed delicious.

How to describe it...

Eating this dumpling gives a feeling of the New Year from before.

It was so comfortable.

Of course, if one couldn't hear Su Jin's nagging, it would be even better.

Liu San actually felt that his mother Su Jin was becoming more and more nagging.

Especially in the last half year.

This gave him great pressure.

Liu San also knew why, it was because Su Jin felt she had no children, and afterward she was also in a bad mood.

The problem was, when Su Jin was in a bad mood, her mouth was not idle, causing the whole family to be in a bad mood.

It was just that Zhang Hailan had a generous personality, otherwise the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would have started fighting long ago.

Today they finally went out, and this mother still spoke viciously.

"Anyway, it's just delicious. Mom, you try one too. This mutton doesn't taste the same as what we eat at home."

Domesticated sheep naturally have different mutton flavor from wild Yellow Sheep.

(Advance declaration: Author hasn't eaten Yellow Sheep meat either, but heard others say that kind of meat is especially firm, delicious, and has mutton flavor. Nowadays most mutton is fed feed, especially fatty and greasy, while Yellow Sheep meat is fatty but not greasy. Although I don't quite understand either, I feel it should be quite delicious.)

As expected of Chai Mi's dumplings, truly delicious.

"I don't eat mutton, it's gamy." Su Jin really didn't eat it.

And Su Wan doesn't eat it either.

Of the three sisters, only Su Hui eats it.

Chai Mi actually doesn't eat mutton dumplings much either; she also feels it has a gamy taste, and the flavor doesn't quite suit her palate.

Although she also wraps mutton dumplings to go out and set up stalls, she herself doesn't eat them much.