Affection for Sidaogou during the Famine

Last year, she thought she had grown up and could take over the job of sewing shoe soles, so she begged her grandmother to let her try sewing the soles. After she sewed a few stitches with great effort, her grandmother despised her. The old lady had strong hands and really looked down on her work, so she even took out those stitches!

Han Zhaozhao was not discouraged even though she was rejected. She thought that if she couldn't sew the soles, she could make insoles. She put the thimble on tightly, sat cross-legged on the kang, and sewed slowly, stitch by stitch. She looked very serious, as if she was also someone who could sew!

Throughout the year, the most labor-intensive household chores are making shoes. In this age when people rely on their feet to travel, shoes are very time-consuming.

An adult will wear out at least four pairs of shoes a year, not counting the ones needed for replacement. Both single shoes and cotton shoes are made stitch by stitch, all by women's hands.

State-owned stores also sell it, but it's not cheap either.

The most expensive cloth shoes in Beijing are sold in century-old shoe stores. As the old Beijingers say, to tell if a man is a master, look at his shoes first!

People in Beijing love to look good. In old-fashioned shoe stores, the cheapest thousand-layer cloth shoes cost four or five yuan a pair, while the best ones can be sold for dozens or even hundreds of yuan. They are definitely luxury brands of later generations.

You have to know that in this era, ten dollars is almost enough for the total living expenses of a family of six for a month.

Except for a few wealthy families such as workers and cadres, most people could not afford to buy shoes. The vast majority of people made their own shoes.

Occasionally, if you see someone wearing leather shoes on the street, he is definitely not an ordinary person. If he is not a high-ranking official, he is at least a special talent with a very high salary.

Housewives have no free time all year round. At night, they can't see clearly even with the oil lamp, and they have to sew a few stitches for shoes in the dark.

You have to do it. Every family has a large population. I don’t know how many pairs of shoes I have to make in a year, not to mention other needlework: clothes, quilts, socks, etc.

Almost everything the family wears, covers their beds with, and steps on is handmade by the women in the family, stitch by stitch.

Han Zhaozhao is the only one in her family, a grandparent and a grandchild. She is still growing up, so she can mend her clothes if they are too short or too small, but she cannot mend her shoes, so she has to make new shoes every year.

Grandma has been at work these days and has no time to touch the sewing basket. There is a set of bedding and a set of cotton clothes waiting for her!

Han Zhaozhao was also worried about her grandmother. Even though she couldn't do other things, she had no problem knitting insoles.

When Han Zhao got off work, as soon as she entered the house, she saw her granddaughter sitting obediently at the door of the main room, sewing insoles seriously.

The old lady smiled, took a closer look at her granddaughter's stitches, nodded with satisfaction, "It's well done, the stitches are even and dense.

When grandma has time, she will teach you how to make the soles and uppers of shoes. If you learn how to make the insoles and uppers, grandma will be able to make shoes much faster!

Zhao Zhao, have you bought the meat?"

"Grandma, there is some cold water on the table in the room, please have a drink and rest for a while.

I'm lucky today. I bought a thick piece of oil and I'm waiting for you to go home and refine it into oil!"

"Oh, that's great, lard is fattier than fat, and we haven't bought lard in a long time. You're luckier than me!

I'll wash my hands and go to refine the oil immediately. After refining the oil, I'll boil a pot of cabbage and stew some vermicelli to make pancakes. I won't eat sweet potatoes today.

I've been eating this for several days in a row and I get heartburn every time I eat it. Let's improve our diet and have a good meal today!

By the way, have you bought eggs? Has the price increased? ..."

While talking to her granddaughter, the old lady walked into the main room, took out the wicker bat hanging behind the door, and used it to beat the dust off her body in the yard.

After washing her hands, she went to the kitchen. The old lady was very satisfied to see that her granddaughter had tidied the kitchen neatly and cleanly.

When she opened the cupboard and saw the lard and eggs she bought today, she was even happier.

"Zhao Zhao, the lard you bought is really good! It's white and thick, and it will definitely produce a lot of oil."

Han Zhaozhao smiled as she knitted the insoles and answered, "Grandma, I met a kind butcher today. He knew that I was a military family member, so he specially cut the thickest part for me. I thought that maybe he was going to keep it for his own people, but gave it to me in the end."

Han Zhaozhao also found out today that it was not possible to choose the meat yourself in those days. Whole pigs were hung on the meat racks and customers lined up to buy them. You would be given the meat that was cut according to your position in the queue.

It is absolutely impossible to separate the leg bones and ribs and sell them separately like the butchers in later generations, or cut the meat into strips and pieces for customers to choose at will.

At most, the meat chef will separate the pig into four parts: head, offal, tail and trotters, and the price will be relatively low. It is unrealistic to specialize in ribs and large bones like in other novels.

Today's meat-cutting masters have unique skills. Basically, each piece of meat can be given a corresponding amount of bones, and the combination is very even. It is absolutely fair and just, and no customer can find any faults.

"Oh my! You are so lucky today, you met a good person!"

"Yeah! The sister who collected the money was also very nice. I felt that they all liked children very much."

Grandma smiled and said proudly: "My Zhaozhao is pretty, clean, and polite. She is definitely popular.

You are so popular, when our family issues meat coupons in the future, we will let you buy them."

Han Zhaozhao was very proud: "In this case, I will try my best to build a good relationship with the salesperson, and I will be responsible for our family's shopping work in the future."

"If you really have that ability, I'll let you be the head of the family in the future!" Grandma really dotes on her granddaughter without limit! Han Zhaozhao was very happy and thanked the time travel master again for choosing a loving family for her.

The old lady washed the meat, cut it into small pieces, added some water to the pot, and prepared to refine the oil.

"Grandma, can I light the fire for you?"

"No need for you, stop greasing yourself! Go and sew your insoles while it's still light!"

Han Zhaozhao stood at the kitchen door, knitting insoles while watching her grandmother refine oil. As the temperature in the stove rose, the lard in the big pot made crisp "sizzling" sounds, and the aroma in the kitchen became stronger and stronger!

She couldn't help but take a deep breath, sighing that the lard smelled so delicious at this time, it was so tempting!

It made her so hungry that the glutton in her stomach was about to crawl out!

"This lard smells so good! This thick lard is really rich!"

Han Zhaozhao heard the sound of her grandmother swallowing her saliva. It seemed that she was not the only one who was craving meat, but her grandmother was also craving meat!

She leaned against the door frame without moving. Her grandmother looked at her and smiled. She used a strainer to pick up three or four small pieces of oil residue, put them in a small bowl, and handed it to her granddaughter.

"Zhao Zhao, here, eat it first and see if this oil residue smells good!"

Han Zhaozhao happily took the small bowl, pinned the needle on the insole and put it under his armpit, picked up a piece with his free hand, blew it, and carefully put it into his mouth.

"Crunch, crunch!" Oh my god, it smells so good!

The lard has almost melted, leaving only a layer of film on the lard that is chewy and crispy. The texture and taste are absolutely amazing!

What should she do if it becomes more delicious the more she chews it and she is reluctant to swallow it?

She chewed the oil residue in her mouth carefully, reached out and took another piece, quickly walked to her grandmother and stuffed it into the old lady's mouth.

"Granny, try it too, it's so fragrant! It's so fragrant that it'll make your teeth fall out!"

"These are just a few pieces. Eat them. It's not like you haven't had milk before! You kid!"

The old lady said one thing and meant another. She was also very happy that her granddaughter was sensible and cared about her.

The grandparents and grandchildren ate the crispy oil residue and smiled contentedly. Han Zhaozhao felt a little sad. He thought that all the children who were dieting in the future should be able to come back and experience life.

Within two months, you will definitely lose weight successfully, so that even if you want to gain weight back, you can’t gain it back, and rebounding is absolutely impossible!