Quick Wear: Passerby A's Daily Life of Eating Watermelons

After putting the bought things in order, it was already quite late today. The oil refining and wall plastering were planned to be done tomorrow. The most important task now was to light the fire. This icy house would freeze people to death. After the fire was lit, it was Jiang Yue's turn to cook today. While she was cooking, Yao Ling also lit up the kang.

Today we had braised radish and sauerkraut for a change after a few days of eating it. The staple food was the steamed bread left over from the morning. Everyone enjoyed the meal very much. It was nice to have a hot meal on such a cold and hungry day.

After dinner and washing the pot, Jiang Yue cut the pork fat. If she did the preparation work today, she would save some trouble tomorrow. After that, she and Yao Ling cleaned the house to prepare for wall-pasting tomorrow. After cleaning the room, they got into bed and prepared to go to sleep.

Jiang Yue got up early the next day. Instead of making breakfast, she chose to boil lard. The aroma of boiling lard attracted the children from the neighboring houses. Yao Ling asked Wang Liang to bring a small bowl of lard residue for the children. After refining the oil, there was no need to put it outside. It would solidify after being kept in the house for a few hours.

After boiling the oil, mix the dough and paste the walls with newspapers while the dough is rising. The room is not big and there are many people but the power is great. By the time the dough has risen and the walls are pasted, after washing hands and taking off dirty clothes, we start the highlight of the day: making dumplings.

The dumpling filling was prepared by Jiang Yue, the dumpling skins were made by Yao Ling, and there were two boys helping out. When making the dumplings, Jiang Yue deliberately made a few more, preparing to give some to two neighbors. It was not because Jiang Yue was poor and generous, but because they had eaten dumplings before and gave a bowl to the four of them.

Reciprocity is the right thing to do. If it weren't for the previous incident of sending dumplings, Jiang Yue wouldn't have given away dumplings. You know, these days, people only eat dumplings a few times a year.

The four of them worked together and finished wrapping the dumplings quickly. After a while, the hot dumplings were out of the pot. They scooped out two bowls and asked Wang Liang and Zhang Wei to deliver them to the two neighbors. When the two went out, they walked very slowly with the dumplings, so when they came back they had to run into the yard. After they came in, Jiang Yue served each of them a bowl and scooped out the remaining dumplings.

When Jiang Yue returned to her seat, everyone was waiting for her. Seeing everyone staring at her, Jiang Yue smiled and said, "Eat quickly. Why are you waiting for me?"

"The chef hasn't even come to the table yet, how can we pick up our chopsticks?"

Jiang Yue hit Yao Ling and said, "Eat quickly and stop making jokes! Try it and see if it tastes good."

After Jiang Yue finished speaking, everyone started to eat. The dumplings seemed to be imperceptible and the two boys finished a bowl in no time. Fortunately, they made more today, otherwise there would not be enough. After eating the dumplings, each of them had a bowl of dumpling soup. Jiang Yue felt that he could eat more since coming to this world.

"During this time in the countryside, I feel that the food I eat is better than what I eat at home. Although the ingredients are simple, the taste is really good. Fortunately, we eat together with Xiaoyue, otherwise I would be lucky if I can cook it well, let alone cook it so deliciously."

"Xiao Yue, Xiao Yue, let me discuss something. You will be responsible for cooking from now on, but you can rest assured that the washing of vegetables and dishes will be left to the three of us. What do you think?"

"I agree!"

"And me! I agree too!"

"That's fine, as long as you don't ask me to wash the dishes, I have no problem with that. I like cooking, but I don't like washing dishes and pots."

"Okay, then it's settled. Just thinking about having the meal you cook for me at night makes me feel more able to persevere in the farm work during the day!"

“Haha, that’s too exaggerated.”

After chatting for a while, several people helped to clear the table. There were still some newspapers left on the wall, which was just enough to kill time. This time we had two kerosene lamps, so we could lavish ourselves. After watching for a while, we prepared to go to bed. Early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy.

The next day, Jiang Yue and Yao Ling went to Uncle Xu to customize a wooden bathtub. Can you believe that they hadn't taken a bath in more than half a month? During the most tiring days, they just wiped themselves and got through it. The main reason was that there were no conditions for taking a bath. In the first few days, everyone was not very familiar with each other and was embarrassed to talk about it.

Jiang Yue could run to the wizard tower, but she slept with Yao Ling every day. If you suddenly take a clean and fragrant shower, how would Yao Ling and others see you? After all, reality is different from novels. Reality is logical. Jiang Yue could only bear it. After returning home, she looked at the house. It is estimated that this house will not last for ten years. When the roof is replaced, she will see if she can build another room to solve the problem of taking a bath.

I looked at the window when I was free. It's leaking a little. I covered it with newspaper and it got much better, but I still felt wind blowing in when I slept at night. There should be plastic film now, but I don't know if it's easy to buy. Or I can weave a straw curtain to cover it. I'll ask next time I go to the commune.

A week later, Grandpa Xu brought the wooden basin over. He wasted firewood to boil a pot of hot water, and the four of them took a nice bath. The two girls, Jiang Yue and Yao Ling, were fine, but the two boys had black circles on their necks. When pouring the water, they chose a place where they didn't often go to avoid slipping when walking after it froze.

After the snow had almost melted, taking advantage of the good weather, the four of them followed Xiaohu's father into the mountains to collect firewood and to check if the traps they had set before had caught rabbits, pheasants, etc. After checking the traps, they found one with a mark, but because they did not come to check every day, they did not know whether it had run away or been taken away by someone. In the end, they just collected firewood for two days.

It was not a wasted trip up the mountain to pick up firewood. Although they did not eat the rabbits they caught, they had a meal at Xiaohu's house. Eating rabbit meat was also considered a meal, so it was not in vain. They gave Xiaohu a can of yellow peaches that they found across the road. Finally, Xiaohu's mother felt bad and gave them a lot of dried mushrooms. In the end, no one lost out.

While there was still meat left, Jiang Yue had a meal of noodles and made a mushroom and diced meat soup. However, it was a pity that the noodles were not made of pure white flour. She was reluctant to eat it before the fine grains at home were replenished. In case someone got sick or something, eating some fine grains could help to replenish the supply.

......

The winter days at home passed very quickly, and time passed slowly as the four of them studied. They were studying books that Yao Ling had bought from the recycling station. After all, they were free anyway, and studying would give them something to do.

When the weather was good, the four of them went to the river to pick up stones, preparing to pave the doorway with them. They also planned to pave a road from the entrance to the gate, otherwise the road would be too difficult to walk on once the snow melted into mud. And it hasn't rained yet.

Stones were easy to find, as there were plenty of them by the river. However, the ground was too hard to level in the winter. The four of them were in no hurry and just took their time. After a month of hard work, they finally finished the road.

After entering February, the atmosphere of the New Year became much stronger. The ox carts in the village went to the commune almost once a day. Every household bought New Year's goods and cloth to make clothes. The neighbors slaughtered the New Year pig and called Jiang Yue and his friends. The four of them didn't help much, but they did eat a lot.