The dozen or so fried fish weren’t deep-fried in much oil, as the fish in the pond were strong and fatty, with a thick layer of fish oil. Xu Shuang simply cut the fish into pieces, marinated them, and coated them with a thin layer of oil. Meanwhile, she controlled the heat in the pan, frying the fish until both sides were golden brown. After taking them out of the pan, she sprinkled some seasonings on top. The fish had no fishy smell, and tasted salty and spicy.
Eating it plain might be too strong in flavor, but it went well with porridge or main dishes.
At this time, people were lacking in flavor and oil, and Cheng Shufen had only eaten meat for the first time after a long time. The salty, spicy, and aromatic taste made it hard to stop eating.
The two didn’t dare to eat too much. They finished the coarse grain porridge with two pieces of fish and put the remaining fish pieces away.
Cheng Shufen even worried about wild cats coming in, so she wrapped the fish pieces in several layers to make sure the smell didn’t escape.
Cheng Yu touched her belly and said enviously, “Sister Ying is so kind, and Brother Shuang is so good at cooking. It’s so lucky to marry a chef.”
Wang Ying often secretly brought over some food, and everything tasted so good! Cheng Yu envied her a lot!
Cheng Shufen smiled while holding back her laughter, “What? Have you changed your goal? No longer planning to be an actress and now planning to marry a chef?”
Cheng Yu jumped up immediately, “Who said that! Of course I want to act!”
Cheng Yu declared confidently, “I was born to be an actress! Marrying is just secondary. If marriage affects my acting career, I definitely won’t marry!”
With such a chatty little girl around, Cheng Shufen felt like her life was still complete and happy.
Cheng Yu kept muttering, “My mom thinks getting married is the goal, but she still works herself to the bone at home and can’t even eat what she wants. But if I become an actress, I’ll get paid every month! Even if I can’t marry a chef, it’s fine. I can go buy food every day and eat whatever I want!”
Cheng Shufen wiped the dishes carefully with snow, then put them away and cleaned her hands in the snow before taking out some unfinished sewing work from her bag.
She didn’t forget to tease Cheng Yu, “A little kid, what do you know about getting married?”
Saying that, Cheng Shufen felt a pang in her heart. Cheng Yu was already thirteen. She had come to this place with her, yet still dreamed of becoming an actress. But both acting and her future personal life weighed heavily on her.
Cheng Yu was still young and didn’t understand adult worries. As long as there was a little bit of hope for life, she could be full of hope for the future.
“I wouldn’t be like a pig! I want to be an actress!” Cheng Yu retorted.
Cheng Shufen held back her pain and smiled as she asked, “Then how do you plan to be an actress?”
Cheng Yu counted on her fingers, “When the weather warms up, I can go up the back mountain. I’ll find a place to practice my voice and no one will bother me. At that time, I can practice while helping Sister Ying collect herbs. When you go back, I’ll go with you. By then, I’ll be good enough to perform on stage!”
Cheng Yu smiled happily, “When my mom comes looking for me, I’ll definitely tell her, ‘Didn’t you say your son is your root? Then you can take my little brother and ask for money! By then, I’ll bring Sister Ying to Beijing, and we’ll visit the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Summer Palace…’”
Cheng Shufen didn’t interrupt her. In Cheng Yu’s description of the future, everything seemed to have an end. In her heart, Cheng Shufen hoped she might not live to see it, but she hoped Cheng Yu could wait for that day!
When Wang Ying arrived, the meeting room was already full of people.
Li Chunjuan saw Wang Ying and no longer provoked her with words. Instead, she turned her head and ignored her, out of sight, out of mind.
Wang Ying didn’t care to join her small circle. She sat down with Xu Laotai.
The people in the village loved to gossip and couldn’t resist chatting when there was no big issue, especially since it was winter and no one could go outside. As soon as Wang Ying sat down, she could hear all kinds of news.
Who had bad relations with whom, whose mother-in-law was making life difficult for her daughter-in-law, and who’s daughter was rumored to be seeing a youth from the intellectuals…
Among all these voices, one was particularly furious.
Wu Guihua, who had always had a bad relationship with Li Chunjuan, had a loud voice, and now it was even louder.
“I don’t know which damn wild cat stole my chickens! I’ve been raising them for half a year, and was ready to slaughter them for meat during the New Year, but now they’re all gone!”
Wu Guihua was furious: “Why doesn’t the patrol team get rid of these wild cats? In previous years, we only saw them carrying bits of meat or one or two dead mice. But this year, the wild cats are coming into the house and stealing live chickens!”
Wu Guihua’s words immediately drew others into the conversation.
“That’s right! My chickens were fine until I didn’t close the door in time. I followed the chicken footprints, and when I found them, I saw two paw prints nearby. It made me so angry! I gave my dog a good beating. This naughty child lost a hen, and from now on, he won’t get another egg!”
Wu Guihua dragged the woman whose chicken was missing, and the two of them cursed the wild cat that had stolen the chickens all the way back to its ancestors.
Wang Ying glanced sideways at Li Chunjuan. Li Chunjuan didn’t feel guilty at all; she was staring intently, especially excited! Wang Ying guessed that the first chicken theft was accidental, but the second one, with Wu Guihua’s chickens, was definitely intentional.
Wang Ying: …
It seems like face is just a decoration for your family, right?
Wang Ying didn’t speak, but in her heart, she looked down even more on the family next door.
From what she overheard, it seemed that Wang Yaozong had gone from stealing one chicken to two. Maybe in the future, it would be three, four, five, or even six.
Wang Ying didn’t think about intervening in this matter. One, it was hard to catch someone in the act, and two, she really didn’t want to have anything to do with the family next door anymore.
Three, Wang Yaozong might have gotten away with stealing once or twice, but judging by the fact that there were already two incidents in just a few days, it was only a matter of time before a third theft occurred.
Walking on a night road for too long, you’ll eventually encounter a Li Kui.
Wang Ying shook her head and turned back to continue talking with her mother-in-law and a group of old women.
It was already the end of the year, and tomorrow would be the 8th of December in the lunar calendar. Elder Xu was murmuring about making Laba porridge, discussing with others to exchange a few bowls of different kinds of beans to enrich the variety.
The old women were all excited. During winter, everyone seemed to focus on food. Although the ingredients were limited, they still managed to make the most of what they had.
Elder Xu had agreed with one of the old women to exchange a small bowl of peanuts for wild chestnuts, and with another woman, she agreed to trade corn for some red dates.
An old woman raised her eyebrows and winked: “You should exchange some red dates. Now that you have a daughter-in-law, maybe next year there will be a big fat grandson.”
Wang Ying: …
Oh, besides discussing food, this season was also a peak time for procreation.
The cold weather, staying indoors, after discussing food, people would naturally think of other matters.
This was why every year in September and October was a peak time for childbirth. Just in time, after the double harvest, it was time for children to be born. It was impressive how tightly the working people’s schedules were during this time.
Elder Xu laughed: “That’s uncertain.”
She wasn’t urging her because Wang Ying was still young, and waiting a little longer was fine.
Wang Ying herself had a slight anxiety. In fact, she had never discussed having children with Xu Shuang.
In her opinion, she wasn’t ready to have children now.
Not for any particular reason, but mainly because the conditions in the countryside were truly outrageous.
The last time Wang Ying went to Qian Juhua’s house, she received two books from Tian Youfu: “The Barefoot Doctor’s Manual” and “Pregnant Women’s Delivery Guidelines.” She had to admit that although giving birth in the countryside was much better than before the founding of the country, there were still many risks.
In one of the case studies, it was mentioned that a woman gave birth and the baby’s foot came out first. The midwife couldn’t reposition the baby’s limbs and could only forcefully pull it out, which led to the death of the mother due to excessive pain.
Such situations in the countryside were called “hungry old births,” and it was said that a famous singer from the Tang Dynasty, Gongsun Danniang’s female disciple, had a limp because she was born this way—her foot couldn’t be put back, so they had to amputate it to get the baby out.
Wang Ying shuddered at the thought. She felt that having a child now was really unwise.
As a barefoot doctor, she had a set of needles and two books, and some herbs. But even if it was her own childbirth, she could hardly handle the situation, let alone help someone else in trouble during delivery.
Only legendary figures could deliver babies without any tools, and Wang Ying knew that she was not one of them.
She did have a golden finger, but that couldn’t bring the dead back to life.
Moreover, modern medicine also requires instruments, not just pulse readings to understand everything inside a person.
Just thinking about childbirth made Wang Ying’s head hurt.
She thought she needed to have a good discussion with Xu Shuang about this.
For example… stop certain activities for now.
The 8th of December usually marks the start of the New Year celebrations, and after that, Xu Shuang’s daily feeding left Wang Ying dizzy, almost forgetting to bring up the topic of children.
That day, it was time for the village to distribute pork again.
This year, Tian Youfu didn’t have to attend a meeting, and he looked radiant.
A few young men dragged a fat pig to the open space, repeating the scene from over a month ago.
This time, Tian Youfu was distributing the fattest pig, with the fat slices as thick as two fingers.
Next came the pork distribution, and Wang Ying changed her request for cuts.
“I want a pig’s lung, elbow, large intestine, pig head meat, and tenderloin.”
As for the quantity, it was up to the butcher’s cutting style.
The last time Xu Shuang got some marbled meat, they made dumplings with it and also roasted some char siu pork, with plenty of sugar added. It was delicious on top of rice!
This time, Wang Ying planned to make a medicinal soup with the pig’s lung to nourish the family, and she wanted to enjoy the big meat with the elbow. As for the large intestine, Wang Ying also asked for plenty of pig’s blood to make blood sausage. The pig head meat was for offering to the original owner’s parents for the New Year.
Everything was well planned, but it still attracted others’ doubts.
“She’s really causing trouble. Why doesn’t Xu Shuang stop her?”
“Exactly. If I did that, I’d be beaten when I get home! She spends money without earning it!”
Wang Ying didn’t care about them. She happily carried the pork back home.
The pig’s lung was first made into a soup with some herbs, and she sent a bowl to Elder Xu, Xu Shuang, and even to Cheng Shufen’s side.
The blood sausage was stuffed and hung up, and on Laba day, she had porridge without the big meat.
By the 10th day of the lunar month, Xu Shuang had braised the elbow, and the fragrance spread everywhere. Fortunately, the only ones nearby were Wang Yongshun’s family, so no one was tempted to come out and complain.
The braised elbow was tender, with the deliciousness of pork. Its beauty was overwhelming. The flavor—one word: exquisite!
The elbow was cooked to perfection, and as soon as Wang Ying picked it up with chopsticks, the meat and bone separated. She tore open a large steamed bun, stuffed the pork inside, added some chili, and ate two in one go.
One large elbow lasted for two meals, and the leftover broth wasn’t wasted, poured over rice to finish.
Wang Ying instantly felt like she had returned to her childhood and was looking forward to the New Year.
The New Year was indeed lively, with every family bringing out their savings to prepare for the festivities.
Making tofu, steaming buns, everyone in the village, regardless of their conditions, was getting ready.
On the day of the Little New Year, Wang Ying was waiting for Xu Shuang to make a big meal.
Suddenly, someone came running, shouting, and knocking on the door.
“Miss Wang Ying! My mother is about to give birth, please come and help!”
I am just a novice translator and Chinese is not my native language. I try my best to translate the chapters as accurate as possible.
If there are any mistakes then kindly comment and remind me. Your support means a lot.
