Chapter 93: Cooking Entrustment

An Yinan thought about her schedule for the winter and had a somewhat unformed plan.

"Qiu Hua, Li Xiu'e, I have an idea. Listen to it; if it works, great, if not, that's fine too. We aren't outsiders, so I'll just say it directly without worrying about saving face or anything," An Yinan said.

Li Xiue and Zhao Qiuhua exchanged a look, not quite understanding what was so serious.

"Go ahead," Li Xiue said. She knew An Yinan's temperament; she wasn't a young girl who would make things difficult for others, and she was actually quite curious about what she had to propose.

"You both know that Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian eat at my place, but I have too many things to do, and half the time I'm not home, which results in the three of us having to cook for ourselves, which is very troublesome."

Everyone knew about this, and Li Xiue and Zhao Qiuhua understood it too, but they didn't know what it had to do with them.

"We've all eaten Li Xiu'e's cooking. My meaning is, if I provide the grain, meat, vegetables, and firewood, could you do the cooking? Can we all eat together from now on?" An Yinan felt a bit embarrassed, but her time was truly too tight; if she could skip the time spent cooking, she could get a lot of her own work done.

Recently, because of the rapid translation work, she hadn't flipped through her high school textbooks in a long time.

Although it seemed like there was enough time, with it being whittled away bit by bit, who knew if there would actually be enough?

Li Xiue and Zhao Qiuhua exchanged a look and whispered to each other for a moment.

"We are naturally the ones taking advantage in this situation; grain is very precious, and we have plenty of labor."

"However, our grain supply is indeed very tight. As for vegetables, let's use our vegetable garden first next year; if it's not enough, we'll use yours. You don't need to prepare firewood; Qiu Hua and I will prepare the firewood."

An Yinan wanted to say something else. As for chopping firewood, she had her space as a cheat and could go up the mountain and chop enough for a month in one go.

But for the two young women, chopping firewood was very strenuous and required hauling it down the mountain bundle by bundle.

Moreover, they didn't dare go to the Back Mountain and instead had to take a detour to a very distant mountain to chop wood, which was a huge challenge for their time and physical strength.

"Li Xiu'e, this..."

Before An Yinan could finish, Li Xiue interrupted her.

"Nan Nan, we are friends on equal footing. Qiu Hua and I don't want to be raised by you into greedy people. We know you wouldn't mind, but we also understand that only an equal relationship can last a long time," Li Xiue explained.

During this time, Xie Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian didn't say a word.

Actually, this matter had something to do with them, but also nothing to do with them.

Their supplies would still be handed over to An Yinan, and An Yinan would then hand everything over to Li Xiue and Zhao Qiuhua in one go.

How Nan Nan arranged their meals was not something they could have any opinion on, as they were just changing locations.

"That's fine, but for chopping firewood, let's set aside half a day each week, and I'll take you to the Back Mountain to chop wood."

"Don't refuse this. Cooking for two people is different from cooking for six; the firewood consumption needs to double. You two going too far to chop wood is too much, and now that it's snowing, the roads are too slippery. Since you won't let me get the firewood, then I can only take you to chop it," An Yinan said, waving her hand helplessly.

Only then did Li Xiue nod. "Alright, I can't win against you. Let's start from today."

Other people only ate two meals in the winter, and for families where grain was very tight, they only ate one.

They wouldn't leave the house on normal days, and after drinking some thin porridge, they would just lie on the kang and go nowhere, which helped their stomachs feel less uncomfortable.

But An Yinan was used to three meals a day. After everyone finished breakfast, An Yinan returned to her room and took a bag of coarse grain and half a bag of fine grain, and even brought out three skinned rabbits.

"Keep these grains here so I don't have to bring them over every day. Tell me when you're about to run out," An Yinan told Li Xiue directly.

Li Xiue and Zhao Qiuhua shook their heads helplessly; they were getting a huge bargain.

The two of them had previously agreed to eat two meals a day—thin porridge in the morning and some steamed buns in the evening—to stave off hunger.

But looking at the things delivered now, the days they had before were likely gone forever.

An Yinan also brought over three large pickled cabbages. It wasn't that she didn't want to bring more, but mainly because once pickled cabbage left the vat, it was hard to store, and bringing too much would just be a waste.

"We already filled a vat with pickled cabbage, so don't bring any next time. Let's eat ours first, and I'll tell you when it's finished," Zhao Qiuhua said. She was a straightforward person; since she had agreed to something, she wouldn't hide anything.

"That works too," An Yinan didn't refuse.

She proposed the idea of combining their cooking because her time was truly insufficient, and also because she believed she knew these two people well enough.

Whether it was Li Xiue or Zhao Qiuhua, neither was the type to love taking advantage of others.

One was gentle and beautiful, the other was straightforward and bold.

Both had their own unique traits, yet both were very upright.

She felt very at ease leaving the meals to them.

Autumn was fine, and Beibei and the others could just heat up the food and eat, but winter wouldn't do; if they didn't eat well, it would wear down their bodies.

However, for the first few days, she wasn't prepared to bring over too many meat buns or meat dumplings.

She would observe a bit longer.

After An Yinan arranged the meals for everyone, she told Li Xiue that she was going to the City later and that they didn't need to prepare her lunch.

"Going to the City? The road is covered in snow and is too slippery; isn't it too dangerous?" Li Xiue said with some concern.

"I have an appointment with someone in the City, so I must go today," An Yinan replied.

Li Xiue couldn't say much more. "Be careful."

After An Yinan told Beibei to go to Li Xiu'e's courtyard to eat, she packed her things, shouldered her large basket, and left Quanshui Village.

The snow on the road was very thick. She rode very slowly today and didn't dare use the brakes, so she could only slide down slowly.

She had prepared five catties of coarse grain in the basket in advance, which had no stones or sand in it, and besides the grain, she also brought a jar of kimchi.

When she reached the small courtyard the old man had pointed out, she knocked on the door.

The snow in the City was also quite heavy, and the roads had already been cleared once.

An Yinan arrived at the gate of the Xiao Yuan and knocked on the door.

Footsteps were heard from inside the courtyard very quickly. "Coming, coming."

The door was opened a small crack, revealing an aged face. Seeing the young girl standing outside, the old woman was clearly relieved.

"You must be the girl who is renting the courtyard, right?"

The old woman opened the door, and An Yinan handed the things over first.

"Grandma, this is what was agreed upon with that grandfather. The rent for this month is five catties of coarse grain. It's some kimchi I made myself; I don't know if you're used to eating it, but I brought a jar for you."

The old woman took the items and thanked her quickly. "Thank you for bringing the kimchi too. Did the boy Chen Shao give you the key to the Xiao Yuan?"

An Yinan nodded.

"That's fine, just rest easy and stay here."

After An Yinan said goodbye to the old person, she went to the Xinhua Bookstore; today was mainly for the sake of the house, so even if it was snowing, she had to come.