Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

Today happens to be the day the Kitchen God ascends to heaven.

In Qingpingzhou, every household is enveloped in a festive atmosphere, with the sweet aroma of sugar cakes and glutinous rice filling the air.

Early in the morning, Lin Chuan finished preparing the day's vegetables and hurriedly headed to the commune with Shui Houzi and Li Jiaye.

Lin's parents also stopped working on the island and went home to prepare for the festival.

The kitchen of the Lin family was steaming and bustling with activity.

Lin's mother was kneading dough with freshly ground glutinous rice flour, her movements skillful. She filled the dough with sesame and sugar filling, shaped the dough into ingots, and then gently placed them into the steamer.

Before long, the steamer was filled with crystal-clear "sending-off-the-stove dumplings".

The old man personally pasted a brand-new image of the Kitchen God on the stove, with red paper pasted on both sides, and neatly wrote "Speak good words in heaven, and protect peace on earth."

Inside the main room, Xiaoman was tiptoeing, pasting the paper-cut window decorations she had made onto the window.

The crooked carp, though not particularly exquisite in appearance, has a tail that is cut exceptionally lively.

"Grandpa, do you think the Kitchen God can really see what we eat?" Xiaoman turned her head and asked the old man curiously.

The old man added a piece of firewood to the stove, and the flames shot up high.

The sunlight reflected off his smiling face. "Whether you see it or not, we have to deliver our good wishes."

Meanwhile, Aunt Liang's house was also bustling with activity. Steam billowed from the stove, filling the air with a delicious aroma.

"Mom, are the sugar cakes ready yet?" Liang Wenwu clung to the stove, his eyes fixed on the steamer basket, his mouth watering.

"What's the rush? The Kitchen God hasn't tasted it yet!" Aunt Liang gently slapped her son's hand away, her face full of smiles.

This year's harvest was good, so we bought a lot of white sugar and sesame seeds. The sugar cakes we made had a lot of filling, and when we took a bite, they were so sweet it felt like honey was flowing out.

She carefully selected the two roundest sugar cakes and respectfully placed them in front of the Kitchen God's image, muttering incantations as she did so.

Looking back at her son's greedy expression, she couldn't resist breaking off half a sugar cake and stuffing it into his hand.

He whispered, "Eat quietly, don't let your dad see, or he'll accuse you of being a glutton again."

Meanwhile, at the Water Monkey's house, the scene was quite different.

Wang Pusheng brought back a piece of pork belly from the county, with fat as thick as two fingers.

Aunt Wang was rendering lard in an iron pot, and the aroma gradually filled the air with a sizzling sound.

The oil residue was scooped out, sprinkled with salt, and left for Shui Houzi and Wang Haiyue as a snack.

We'll keep the remaining lard for stir-frying during the New Year; the aroma alone is enough to make your mouth water.

On the cutting board, a large bowl of celery and pork filling was mixed, and Aunt Wang and her daughter Wang Haiyue were quickly wrapping dumplings.

While wrapping dumplings, Aunt Wang said, "Your father said that the boats will sail smoothly this year, so he bought a piece of cloth for you and your brother to make new clothes."

Wang Haiyue smiled and replied, "Mother, why don't you make yourself a new dress too?"

Li Xinru also got up very early at Li's butcher shop.

The pork on the cutting board is arranged by category: foreleg, hind leg, and ribs.

Shen Jialing was collecting money when she said to Li Xinru, "Keep two yuan of the best pork belly for Xiao Chuan."

"Okay," Li Xinru replied, her cleaver rising and falling, cleanly slicing open a section of the spine.

Then I remembered Shen Jialing saying yesterday that she wanted to make dumplings with celery and pork filling, and I chuckled.

With a swift motion, he separated a piece of foreleg meat with cartilage and alternating layers of fat and lean meat, wrapped it in a lotus leaf, and set it aside.

In the early morning, the fog on the river was thinner than usual.

When Lin Chuan steered the boat steadily to the Huiping Commune dock, a faint blue tinge had just appeared on the horizon.

There were more than a dozen bamboo baskets stacked on the deck, covered with wet burlap.

Shui Houzi and Li Jiaye carried the vegetable baskets to the stall, while Lin Chuan picked up the vegetables ordered by several major customers and personally delivered them.

The kitchen door of the guesthouse was open, and the purchasing agent from yesterday was squatting at the door smoking.

Seeing Lin Chuan approaching carrying a basket, he stood up, stubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe, and said with satisfaction, "Pretty punctual, didn't waste any time."

Lin Chuan replied with a smile, "I'm in a hurry to finish this trip; I still have a lot of things to do at home."

Lin Chuan unloaded the basket by the door, lifted the burlap sack, and the soil around the celery roots was still damp.

The purchasing agent squatted down, carefully examined the celery, pinched the celery stalks, and nodded, saying, "It's still the same quality."

Yesterday, Director Sun hosted guests from the county, and the plate of stir-fried seasonal vegetables on the table was praised several times.

After weighing the vegetables, the purchasing clerk took out a notebook to record the transaction and said, "The same as yesterday's order: twenty catties of celery and fifteen catties of spinach."

Lin Chuan took the note from the purchasing agent and smiled as he helped carry the vegetables into the kitchen.

At this moment, the large pot on the stove was boiling vigorously, and the steam made the lid pop and pop.

A cook poked his head out and asked Lin Chuan, "Do you have any scallions? Could you bring some next time? Scallions are essential for adding flavor to fish dishes."

Lin Chuan replied with a smile, "Master, not yet. I'll definitely bring it to you when I have it."

After leaving the guesthouse, Lin Chuan headed towards the fish restaurant.

Li Shanheng was already waiting at the door. When he saw Lin Chuan arrive, he lifted the burlap sack to look at the vegetables.

While taking money out of his pocket, he praised, "Xiao Chuan, the vegetables you grow in this greenhouse are really good! It's just that there aren't many varieties."

"Xiao Chuan, not only vegetables, but if you have any good fish on your island, send some over to your uncle too."

"Uncle, we'll gradually add more varieties to the greenhouse," Lin Chuan replied with a smile.

When Lin Chuan finished selling vegetables and arrived at Li's butcher shop with Shui Houzi and Li Jiaye, Li Xinru was also preparing to close up shop.

"Hey, Chuanzi, here's some meat I saved for you. And some smoked sausages from home, take them back for Grandpa to have with his drinks."

Li Xinru smiled and looked at Lin Chuan, "How's today? Are the vegetables selling well?"

"Same as yesterday, it sold out quickly." Lin Chuan smiled as he took the meat. After chatting with Shen Jialing and Li Xinru for a few minutes, Lin Chuan said goodbye and left.

On the river, the fishing fleet's boats took advantage of the good tides of the Lunar New Year to cast their last net.

Li Chunjiang stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the lively mullet and ribbonfish in the net, a joyful smile on his face.

He instructed the Wu family, "Pick out the larger ones and send two to Dr. Sun's family later. We were so grateful to him for treating your mother the other day."

Wu responded and quickly began sorting the items.

The oars sliced ​​through the inky river water, heading towards Qingpingzhou, where wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys.

In the evening, although it wasn't New Year's Eve, the Lin family's meal was exceptionally lavish because of the series of good things that had happened in the family this year.

In the center is a large bowl of "Yan Du Xian" (a type of stew), with salted pork, fresh pork, and winter bamboo shoots simmering in the casserole for half a day. The soup is milky white and steaming hot.

Next to it were braised grass carp tail, braised river clams with scallions, stir-fried greenhouse spinach, and a plate of glistening sausage.

These sausages were made by Li Xinru using freshly made sausages from the autumn harvest, and Lin Chuan brought them back with her.

"Sit down, everyone, sit down." The old man picked up his chopsticks first, taking a piece of winter bamboo shoot. "These bamboo shoots are good this year, so sweet."

Lin Chuan poured his grandfather a cup of warm rice wine and then gave Xiaoman a piece of tender meat from the belly of a fish.

"Now that the Little New Year is over, the New Year has officially begun." Mr. Lin's face was radiant with emotion. "Our family had a truly peaceful New Year this year."

Lin's mother ladled a spoonful of soup into the old man's bowl and asked with concern, "Dad, would you like to taste it and see if it's salty enough?"

The old man took a slow sip and nodded: "Fresh, even fresher than in previous years."

As Xiaoman ate the "sending-off-the-stove dumpling," the syrup dripped from the corner of her mouth. Seeing this, Lin's mother smiled and gently wiped it away with her finger.