A tragic journey through ancient times, trying to make money

When Zhang Yunyue and the other two returned home, it was already 17 p.m.

Thinking that it’s hot today and everyone is suffering from the summer heat, and being tired after a day of work, I don’t really feel like cooking.

Zhang Yunyue looked at the dried chilies and peanuts in the kitchen and decided to make cold noodles tonight.

"Xiaoxue, Xiaofeng, how about we have cold noodles tonight."

Zhang Xingfeng clapped his hands and shouted, "Okay, okay, sister."

I scooped out a scoop of flour from the cupboard, scooped out half a scoop of black flour and mixed it, and added a little salt to the flour to increase its gluten content.

When making cold noodles, the flour needs to be kneaded three times and rested three times. This will make the noodles chewier, but the resting time will be longer.

While the noodles were resting, Zhang Yunyue went to the field to pick a few cucumbers to put in the cold noodles. She also picked some green onions and coriander.

I returned to the kitchen, sorted the onions and coriander, and found some ginger and garlic, and washed and cut them.

Zhang Yunyue called Zhang Xingfeng to take out the medicine stove at home and light the fire. After the fire was lit, put a small pot on it and poured some vegetable oil into the pot (vegetable oil is cheaper than lard, so most people have vegetable oil at home). Pour the peanuts into the pot and stir-fry. Stir-fry over low heat until they change color, then take them out quickly.

The essence of eating cold noodles must be chili oil, and the chili oil must be fried until fragrant.

After the peanuts were scooped out and the vegetable oil was heated, Zhang Yunyue picked up the small pot and put it aside to let the oil in the pot cool down.

When the oil temperature drops, throw in some green onions and coriander, fry them slowly until dry, and then take them out.

Then pour ginger, garlic and peppercorns into the wok. When the ginger and garlic become slightly dry, add the dried chili powder. Simmer over low heat and stir-fry all the time, otherwise the dried chili at the bottom of the pot will easily burn.

After stir-frying on low heat for a quarter of an hour, the aroma of the chili wafted into the room. Zhang Yunyue saw that the color had become darker and the chili was almost dried up, so she hurriedly picked up the small pot and put it aside, and continued to stir-fry for a while.

Wait until the temperature drops, then add salt to it so that the chili oil can be stored for a few more days.

I haven't smelled this smell for a long time. Before coming here, I had been working overtime for half a month. I had planned to have a good meal at home on the weekend and make some chili oil to eat at work, but I ended up coming here.

Zhang Xingfeng: "Ah, ah, sister, this smell is so pungent."

Zhang Yunxue: "Sister, this smell is a bit pungent, but it smells really good."

"Oh, it seems that our Xiaoxue is still a little girl who can eat chili peppers."

"Sister, I don't know either. My aunt and mother usually use less chili when cooking. I've never eaten it."

"Let's go out first. He's still awake. Let's wait for the smell in the house to dissipate before we continue."

Zhang Yunyue asked Zhang Xingfeng to move the recliner in the main room to under the locust tree in the yard. It was already afternoon and the sun was gradually setting.

Zhang Lei saw Zhang Yunyue lying under the locust tree outside the fence.

"Yueyue, how are you? I'm sorry for yesterday. Dahuang knocked you down and hit your head."

Zhang Lei popped his head out from behind the fence outside the yard and tried his best to apologize to Zhang Yunyue, saying with guilt:

"My parents brought me to your house yesterday. You had just seen the doctor. Fortunately, the doctor said that although you were dizzy, you were fine. Otherwise, I don't know how to compensate you for your life."

Zhang Yunyue: "Leizi, it's okay, I'm fine now. Besides, it's not your problem. Dahuang pounced on me because he likes me. I just didn't expect that I couldn't handle Dahuang's love for me, hahahaha."

Zhang Lei: "Yueyue, I'm glad you're okay. Here, these are the wild pears I picked on the mountain today. Try them. They're crisp and sweet."

"Okay, I'll keep it. It's really crispy and sweet. It tastes good. Where did you pick it?"

Zhang Yunyue took the wild pear and took a bite.

"It's on the mountain where we often go to chop firewood, but the adults usually don't let us go in there, so many people don't know about it. But fortunately, we can find it just a little further ahead from where we chop firewood. It's not far. If you like to eat it, we can go pick it tomorrow. Do you want to go?"

"Okay, come call me tomorrow and I'll go with you."

"Okay then. I'll leave first and call you tomorrow."

Zhang Lei waved at Zhang Yunyue.

Zhang Yunyue continued chatting with her younger brother and sister under the locust tree, and learned more about the village from them.

It turned out that this village was a relatively large village with about a hundred households and about seven or eight hundred people.

Lao Zhang's family lives at the end of the village, where there are relatively few people living. There are more people living in the center of the village, but it is also relatively crowded.

Half of the people in the village are surnamed Zhang, and the village chief is also a member of the Zhang family.

The neighboring villages are Qiaojia Village, where my mother’s hometown is, and Shangyang Village, where my second aunt and grandmother’s hometown is.

The two neighboring villages are about the same size as Zhangjia Village, with similar populations. Over the years, there have been many marriages between the three villages.

"Xiaofeng, there's no smell in the kitchen now. Go light the fire and I'll pour water into the pot. The boiled water will cool down in time for Grandpa and the others to drink when they come back."

"Okay, sister, I'll go right away," Zhang Xingfeng ran into the kitchen to light the fire.

Zhang Yunyue also got up and followed him to the kitchen. The dough had already been rested and kneaded three times. She turned the basin upside down on the chopping board and kneaded it a few more times. She divided the dough into small pieces, then coated the surface with oil and set them aside.

Then Zhang Yunyue cut the cucumbers into thin strips and kept them for later to mix with the cold noodles.

After cutting the cucumbers, Zhang Yunyue stretched the dough into noodles and put them aside. Because there was oil on the surface, there was no need to worry about them sticking.

"Sister, the water is ready. I have already scooped it into the bucket."

Zhang Yunyue: "Okay, don't carry the bucket, just leave it there, I'll carry it. Boil some water and I'll cook the noodles later."

Zhang Xingfeng: "Okay."

Zhang Yunyue carried the bucket of hot water to the well and lowered it into the well.

Judging from the time, grandpa and the others should be back soon.

I returned to the kitchen and reprocessed the remaining ginger and garlic, cut them into minced ginger and garlic and put them in a bowl so that they could be made into ginger and garlic water later, which is an important seasoning for cold noodles.

Seeing that the water was about to boil, Zhang Yunyue took two wooden basins, filled them with cold water from the well, and placed them next to the stove.

"Sister, the water is boiling."

"Here it comes. Open the lid and I'll put the noodles in."

Zhang Yunyue put the stretched noodles into the pot and stirred them with chopsticks to prevent them from sticking together.

After a few minutes, the noodles were floating.

"Xiaofeng, stop the fire and pour some water into the pot so that you can wash up when A Niang and the others come back."

Zhang Yunyue scooped it into a basin of cold water on the stove, and then into another basin of cold water, changing four or five basins of cold water.

After tasting it, the noodles are very chewy.

"Okay, Xiaoxue, Xiaofeng, we can eat when Grandpa and the others come back."

Zhang Xingfeng: "Okay, okay, we can eat something delicious soon. I have never seen A Niang and the others do this before. I think it must be delicious."

Zhang Yunxue: "Yeah, I think it tastes good too, sister. I'm going to eat the chili oil you made later. It smells so good."

Zhang Yunyue: "Okay, I'll put some chili oil in it for you to try first."

Zhang Yunxue looked at Zhang Yunyue with admiration: "Yes, yes, okay, sister."

Taking advantage of this time, Zhang Yunyue went to the backyard and pulled some grass, then chopped it up, mixed it with wheat bran and water, and poured it into the chicken coop.

The end of the You hour (around 19:).

The voices of grandpa, father, and second uncle chatting came into the yard. Zhang Yunxue hurried to open the door for them, shaking his father's arm.

"Dad, my sister made some cold noodles. They are delicious."

Zhang's mother: "Ah, I said I would come back to cook with my brother and sister-in-law, have you prepared the meal?"

Zhang Xingfeng: "Mm-hmm, mother, my sister's cooking is so delicious."

Father Zhang: "Today, we are all in for a treat. Let's clean up quickly and try the delicious cold noodles that Xiaoxue and Xiaofeng have in their mouths. Let's try some too."

Everyone laughed together, "Yes, yes, let's clean up quickly and taste the delicious flavor later."

After everyone cleaned up and washed up, Zhang Yunyue scooped the noodles into bowls, put seasonings in each bowl, and covered the surface of the noodles with a layer of cucumber shreds, except for the chili oil.

"This is the chili oil I made this afternoon. I've put all the other condiments in the bowl. You can put more in based on your tolerance for chili. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it if I put too much."

Everyone put a little in first and mixed it well, but found that they could still tolerate a little more spiciness, so they added more chili peppers to their own bowls.

I didn’t expect that Zhang Yunxue, a six-year-old girl, is actually a hidden hottie and can tolerate spicy food as well as Zhang Yunyue.

After all, Zhang Yunyue is a modern soul and has a mysterious love for chili peppers.

Everyone felt that after working in the fields all day, they should be very tired and have no appetite.

But after eating the cold noodles, I felt relieved from today's tiredness. The cold noodles and the spicy chili oil stimulated my taste buds very much.

All the male members of the Zhang family, except eight-year-old Zhang Xingfeng, finished their meal and then had another bowl each.

The sounds of "hiss, hiss, hiss" came one after another, and it seemed that everyone was captivated by the cold noodles.

Grandpa Zhang: "It's really delicious. I'll make it again next time. It's the first time I've eaten noodles of this flavor. It's really delicious. I've never seen it in town. It's also the first time I've seen chili oil. Usually people put a little bit in the dishes to enhance the flavor."

Father Zhang: "Yeah, I'll make it next time. Hiss, hiss, Yueyue, how did you come up with this chili oil recipe?"

Zhang Yunyue: "I just had a sudden inspiration and thought of it just now."

Zhang Xingyun: "Sister, your cooking skills are pretty good."

"As long as everyone likes it, I'll make it for you next time."

After dinner, everyone sat in the yard and chatted in the moonlight. On the summer night, countless stars lit up the dark earth.

Xu time (around 21:).

The people in Old Zhang's family began to wash up and go into the house to sleep one after another.

Tonight is Zhang Yunyue’s first night in the ancient times. She fell asleep accompanied by the sounds of insects and birds. She thought she would not be able to sleep, but she closed her eyes and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.