Bai Naihan was moved when he heard this. He stopped chopping wood and said, “Alright, sister-in-law, I’ll light the fire for you.”
“Okay.”
This wasn’t modern natural gas; if she really needed to cook, she did not need someone to light the fire.
Fortunately, Yun Qinghuan had acted in a historical drama before. It was a long epic drama, and she worked on it for more than a year. To portray that era, she went through a lot of hardships and forced herself to learn quite a bit about the knowledge of that time.
She was not unfamiliar with many items from that era.
So, cooking on this large stove shouldn’t be a big problem for her.
Suddenly, laughter came from the doorway, and Granny Chen walked over, standing there with a kind smile, “It’s no wonder your mother-in-law dotes on you, Qinghuan. You’re such a thoughtful child, showing concern for your mother-in-law. Your mother-in-law was quite anxious early in the morning, instructing me to buy some fortified flour and pork from the supply and marketing cooperative for you. She said you’re not used to coarse grains, and you’ve lost weight in these past few days. She wants to nourish you properly.”
Seeing Granny Chen at the door and hearing her words, Yun Qinghuan felt a bit embarrassed.
Just now, she had praised her indirectly without blushing.
“Granny Chen, my mother-in-law treats me better than my own mother. I consider her like my own mother. I’ll do my best to take care of her.”
Seeing that Granny Chen had brought a lot of things, she quickly walked over, “Granny Chen, did mom ask you to buy these for me?”
A full bag of items.
“Yes, this is the remaining ¥3.20. Please give it to her.” Granny Chen carefully took out the remaining money from her pocket and handed it to Yun Qinghuan.
“She said she didn’t have time to go to the supply and marketing cooperative today, and the family is running out of grain. She asked me to buy some. The coarse grains here are exchanged from some households in our village, cheaper than at the cooperative, and no need for grain coupons.”
Granny Chen spoke as she stepped into the courtyard, intending to put the items in the kitchen.
In this era, as long as someone was at home in the village, the courtyard doors were always open.
Yun Qinghuan wanted to help take the things from her, but Granny Chen wouldn’t allow it. “Don’t bother with your hands. Just point to where you want them, and I’ll put them there directly.”
Seeing her insistence, Yun Qinghuan had no choice but to let her place the items on the kitchen counter.
She quickly poured a glass of water from the thermos, added a mint leaf and chrysanthemum, and handed it to Granny Chen. “You’ve worked hard. Have some water quickly, Granny Chen.”
Granny Chen didn’t hesitate and took the glass, testing the water temperature. Finding it not too hot, she took a sip directly.
Originally, Yun Qinghuan wanted her to sit for a while, but Granny Chen waved her hand. “No need, no need. My daughter and grandson are waiting for me to go home and cook.”
Saying that, she left without lingering.
Granny Chen was already in her sixties, but her spirits were still quite good. Yun Qinghuan had just tried the items on the counter and found them to be particularly heavy. However, Granny Chen effortlessly carried them without even panting, placing them in the kitchen easily, showing her considerable strength.
Seeing Granny Chen leave, Yun Qinghuan then went to open the hemp sack. Inside, there were about ten kilograms of coarse grains, along with three or four kilograms of a heavier flour, the so-called “Fuqiang Powder” of this era.
There was also a small piece of pork, about the size of half a palm, weighing less than a kilogram, and it was all fat.
In this era, fat meat was more desirable than lean meat, as fat meat added a special flavor when cooked and easily produced pork fat.
However, Yun Qinghuan preferred lean meat.
She knew in her heart that this should be Liu Yuzhi, her mother-in-law, thinking of buying it for her since Liu Yuzhi herself rarely ate any meat.
The hemp sack also contained some coarse rice and other grains, totaling about twenty kilograms.
Yun Qinghuan glanced at the rice container and found only a few scattered grains inside. Feeling a bit bitter, she thought of the thick sweet potato porridge she had just eaten. Liu Yuzhi must have put all the rice into her bowl.
Though the conditions in this family were challenging, Liu Yuzhi had done her best to provide the best for her.
She poured the coarse rice into the rice container, and the small bag of coarse rice didn’t fill it up. She also poured the coarse flour into the flour container.
Once these things were done, she went back outside to continue picking vegetables in the vegetable garden.
Planning to stir-fry some Chinese cabbage and make vegetable pancakes for lunch.
The taste of pancakes made with coarse flour wasn’t as good, but if used for vegetable pancakes, it wouldn’t be that bad.
She planned to pick some carrots and white radishes from the field and shred them for the vegetable pancakes.
After pulling out the radishes, Bai Naihan, who had been quiet, pushed the wheelchair over, “Sister-in-law, is there anything I can do?”
She wasn’t being formal and handed him the radishes, asking him to wash them clean, and while he was at it, to clean and sort the greens too.
Initially, Yun Qinghuan thought Bai Naihan wouldn’t know how to sort vegetables, considering the somewhat conservative mindset in this era. Many men in the village had a bit of male chauvinism, thinking that cooking was a woman’s job, and they wouldn’t even step into the kitchen.
Yun Qinghuan decided to let Bai Naihan wash them however he could. If they weren’t clean enough, she would wash them again. After all, she couldn’t let him be idle. Otherwise, she would be busy working, and he would just be watching, which felt off.
With the tasks assigned, she went straight into the kitchen to prepare the dough. When the dough was ready, she cut thumb-sized pieces of fat. She planned to wash them and later use them to stir-fry Chinese cabbage. Additionally, she would use the oil residue to make vegetable pancakes. She didn’t dare to eat all the pork, fearing that if she did, it would be a long time before she could eat pork again. Just a bit of pork for the flavor would suffice each time.
In just a short while, Yun Qinghuan recalled the hardships of this era and quickly learned the skill of preparing and rationing meat.
Considering the meager food supplies she glimpsed in the house earlier, she became genuinely concerned. She feared the possibility of starving given the precarious situation of the food reserves.
After all, the next distribution of rations was scheduled for June, and it was already the end of April, which meant there was still some time left.
To her surprise, when she went outside to wash the meat, she found that Bai Naihan had already washed the radishes, greens, garlic shoots, and scallions neatly. Everything was impeccably clean.
Yun Qinghuan didn’t hide her amazement at all.
Bai Naihan explained, “In the past, my brother and I used to cook at home, and my mom was very busy.”
Understanding his situation, Yun Qinghuan nodded. After all, he had lost his father at a young age, and the entire family relied on Liu Yuzhi to manage everything outside, leaving little time for household chores.
Therefore, Bai Naihan had taken on the responsibility of cooking and even some more demanding tasks that were initially handled by Bai Wensong.
Seeing that he knew how to cook, Yun Qinghuan became more straightforward, “So, can you also chop vegetables?”
“Yes.” The man nodded.
“Then, you chop these carrots and radishes into shreds; I’m preparing to make vegetable cakes.”
She even considerately brought the cutting board and knife over. As for the bit of fatty meat in her hand, she didn’t plan to cut it. After all, there was only a tiny amount of meat, and once it was cooked into lard, there wouldn’t be much left.
Bai Naihan glanced up at her, pursed his lips, showing no impatience, and obediently followed her instructions.
Seeing his docile appearance, Yun Qinghuan felt like he resembled a little dog. Her fingers twitched, feeling a bit tempted to tease, but she still had her reason and restrained herself.
∞
Translator Note
Next release
– Dec. 25 (2pm)
(There’ll be extra chapters for Christmas, stay tuned!)
If you like/appreciate my work, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi.
🌸
∞
- Ephesians 2:17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
