The meatballs were made by Lao Bai. The meat, with the right amount of fat and lean, was chopped into a paste, mixed with chopped carrots and water chestnuts, and fried in a pan. Even if eaten cold, they were delicious. Wen Jiajia guessed that spice powder was added to them.

She took out another bowl of braised pork, which Cai Ruyun had stuffed into her hands, insisting, “It’s all frozen, so you don’t have to worry about it spilling. Take it back and eat it together. The family doesn’t need another bowl.”

Okay, the braised pork made by Lao Bai was indeed delicious.

Then there was fried pumpkin, some fried fish, some sausages, and a palm-sized piece of bacon.

Wen Jiajia looked at the full cupboard and slammed it shut.

That’s great. I don’t have to cook for the next few days.

—

It took Wen Jiajia several days to change her mindset back to what it was before she got married.

She felt that Wei Dai was poisonous and had a great influence on her, and she always thought of him from time to time.

The matter of joining the army had not been finalized yet, and Wen Jiajia still had to go herding ducks every day.

The ducks now had little to eat every day, so the number of eggs they laid had greatly decreased. Wen Jiajia felt much more relaxed.

Most duck eggs were sold outside, and only the eggs at the end of the year were distributed to the villagers.

Wen Jiajia looked at the half basket of duck eggs her family was allocated and pondered whether she should pickle them or not.

She finally decided to pickle them. Even if she was leaving, she could take the pickled eggs with her. After all, salted duck eggs were her favorite food to eat with rice. One egg could go with three bowls of porridge.

It snowed again before the New Year, and the old people in the village said that it would be very hot next year.

The snow was not heavy and it melted as it fell.

Wen Jiajia even built a stone pit in the front yard and put an iron rack on it, preparing to have a barbecue while watching the snow. Who could have known that there would be this much snow?

But since it was already built, of course, they had to eat the barbecue.

Yesterday, the village distributed pork for the second time. Wen Jiajia got half a pound of pork belly, a pair of pig’s trotters, and a pig’s trotter weighing more than 4 pounds.

She cut the pork belly into thin slices and threaded them with bamboo skewers.

And the pig’s trotters were the ones she had processed.

Then she roasted the pig’s trotters on a charcoal fire, burned off all the hair on the trotters, scraped them hard with a knife, and finally put them in the pot to stew.

The pig’s trotters were also braised together. At this moment, the pig’s trotters were still in the pot. Wen Jiajia planned to eat them in the evening.

“What are you doing?”

Fang Mingyan, who was called over by Wen Chun and Wen Xuan, was very curious and squatted beside to watch Wen Jiajia’s operation.

Wen Jiajia looked up at her and said, “It’s obvious that I’m grilling.”

Fang Mingyan looked puzzled: “Aren’t they all cooked?”

Wen Jiajia: “Just wait and eat.”

There was nothing else Fang Mingyan needed to do, so she sat on the side and watched. She saw Wen Jiajia take out a small bamboo brush and brush the dipping sauce in the bowl onto the pig’s trotters.

Then she grabbed the dry dipping sauce from another bowl, rubbed it with her fingers a few times, and sprinkled it.

In an instant, the fragrance wafted into her nose.

The rising white smoke spread the fragrance even further away, and even Zhang Xiuli from next door couldn’t help but come over to smell it.

“You young people are really creative.” She sniffed, “The taste is a bit similar to the way it’s done in my hometown.”

The local taste is sweet and light, even if there are spicy dishes, they are not particularly spicy. Because of the time, people eat less grilled and fried food. Many local people have never eaten food like barbecue, which is easy to cause irritation.

“Is there still a lack of chili powder?” Zhang Xiuli frowned and suddenly asked again.

Wen Jiajia covered her eyes that were smoky from the smoke and said, “Yes, auntie, it’s a pity that I didn’t dry the chilies this year.”

At the end of the year, Wen Jiajia always felt that she had forgotten something, until today when she was going to have a barbecue, she remembered that she had forgotten to make the chili powder.

Wen Jiajia originally wanted to use chopped pepper instead, but it was too salty and would become inedible if it was really brushed on the grill.

Zhang Xiuli said hurriedly: “Hey, why didn’t you say so earlier? I have it!”

She was born in a province that loves spicy food, so she always has chili powder at home, and she usually dips her vegetables in it.

After saying that, Zhang Xiuli hurried back to get it.

Fang Mingyan helped put the pork belly on the iron net and said in a low voice: “Aunt Xiuli’s chili sauce is especially fragrant.”

Wen Jiajia understood.

She stood up and shouted outside the yard: “Auntie, bring half a bowl of chili sauce over here!”

Fang Mingyan smiled secretly: “Pickled radish is not bad either. It’s crunchy, juicy, sour and spicy.”

Wen Jiajia’s butt left the bench again and continued to shout, “Aunt, there are still pickled radishes!”

Zhang Xiuli: “…Can pickled radishes be roasted?”

“It can relieve greasiness.”

That’s because there was no sweet potato skin, otherwise she would have roasted a few skewers of sweet potato skin to eat.

For Wen Jiajia, she can put nothing in the potato skin except pickled radish.

With such hot charcoal and such a good net, it would be a shame not to grill it.

Zhang Xiuli came out quickly with three bowls.

She is an aunt who is very good at getting along with young people and is quite popular in the village.

Chen Xiong also came with her.

Chen Xiong was holding a piece of meat and a small pot of cabbage, leeks, and garlic sprouts, and he said, “Borrow a fire, let’s roast it together.”

Wen Jiajia: ???

She glanced at the charcoal and felt relieved that it was enough to bake for an hour or two.

By the way, she hadn’t seen Chen Xiong for a long time. It was said that he found a temporary job in the commune some time ago and only came back when the Chinese New Year was approaching.

Chen Xiong also felt that he hadn’t seen Wen Jiajia for a long time. The first time they met, Wen Jiajia was still single, but the second time they met, she already had a partner.

While he was still thinking about whether to steal her from her boyfriend, he heard from his mother that her boyfriend was Wei Dai from Hegou Township.

Chen Xiong wilted instantly.

Wei Dai? He can’t beat him.

Wei Dai was a prominent figure among people of his age in several nearby communes. The story of him swimming across the river alone to catch a thief was widely spread, and no one dared to mess with him.

Later, I heard that Wen Jiajia was getting married.

His mother even told everyone excitedly that she felt the two were a good match and that was why she talked to Aunt Tian about it.

At this moment, Chen Xiong really wanted to curse.

It’s just that he looks at people based on appearance. Although liking someone comes quickly, it is often difficult for it to turn into love.

Now that Wen Jiajia is married, the feelings in his heart have naturally faded.

“I also brought some oil, just help me grill it,” Chen Xiong said, then added with a sad heart, “You can keep half.”

Are you kidding? Would Wen Jiajia agree to this?

Of course, who would disagree to keep half? It was so cold, she didn’t prepare the vegetables just because she didn’t want to wash them, otherwise she would have prepared them.

Wen’s BBQ stall officially opened.

Wen Jiajia was very skilled in her job. She first put the half-burnt pig’s trotter aside, and then put the pork belly on the iron net to moisten it.

The charcoal fire crackled, and the oil dripping from the pork belly caused strings of flames.

Wen Jiajia was trying to avoid the smoke all the time, but she didn’t stop working. She started roasting the vegetables when she had roasted half of the pork belly.

Winter in the south has many bad things, but there is one really good thing – there are green vegetables to eat.

Even though it snowed today, the chives in the vegetable garden are still growing well, and the cabbages are extremely tender and even sweeter because of the cold weather.

Vegetarian dishes require a lot of oil. After they are wilted, brush them with sauce and sprinkle with flour, then bake for a few more seconds and they are ready to serve.

The onlookers couldn’t wait any longer. If the bamboo clip in Wen Jiajia’s hand wasn’t very intimidating, the two greedy girls Wen Chun and Wen Xuan would have grabbed it.

Wen Jiajia roasted the pork belly to the perfect temperature. The pork belly was juicy and browned on the outside, but not carbonized and bitter.

As for the green vegetables, a lot of moisture is roasted out, but they are not dry. Even though the sauce on them is red and oily, it is not greasy.

The most popular dish is roasted pig’s trotters.

The pig’s trotters are braised first and then roasted. The outer layer is crispy, and the spicy seasoning and the fragrance of the pig skin are well combined.

When you bite into the pig skin, you find white tendons inside.

Because it has been braised, not only the tendons, but even the bones are flavorful when you chew them.

The aroma of the barbecue was so overbearing that not only were Zhang Xiuli and her son attracted, but even the villagers who were sitting by the fire next to the brigade headquarters could faintly smell the aroma.

“Where does this smell come from? Do you smell it?”

“Who buried sweet potatoes and chestnuts in the charcoal?”

“No, it doesn’t smell like roasted sweet potatoes or roasted chestnuts. It smells like meat.”

The adults didn’t move, but the children followed the smell all the way to the village entrance, and then found that the fragrance came from the Wen family.

Wen Xuan was very proud, holding a piece of roasted pig’s trotter in her hand, with greasy chili sauce on her lips: “You guys came a little late, we have finished eating.”

She is very unique in the way she eats. Apart from sharing food with her aunt and sister, no one else can expect her to give food to them.

Wen Jiajia also spread her hands, indeed there was no more.

But the kid who was so greedy that he almost wanted to lick the net had a solution. An older kid came over and said, “Auntie Jiajia, can you lend us your iron net?”

That’s possible.

An iron net is indestructible.

But Wen Jiajia said: “You must use it in a place with adults.”

The child immediately said: “I’ll go to the team headquarters to grill.”

So a bunch of kids came in a noisy manner and left in a noisy manner.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan followed happily, and Wen Jiajia hurriedly told them: “You are not allowed to eat.”

If you eat any more, you will have indigestion.

She felt her stomach and realized she had some indigestion at the moment, so she went into the house to make some hawthorn tea.

Fang Mingyan followed her in and asked Wen Jiajia, “When are you going to the army to find Wei Dai?”

Wen Jiajia sighed: “I don’t know either.”

She no longer cared much about work points, and went to the county town to buy a set of junior and senior high school textbooks, preparing to review them.

Why?

Wen Jiajia was preparing for work. She still thought that the best way out of this era was to be a worker.

After the college entrance examination is resumed, she will take a leave of absence from work to study, and take off directly after she finishes her studies.

Wuhu～

Just thinking about it, Wen Jiajia felt happy.

She didn’t feel that she couldn’t take off. More than a decade later, she could sell apartments by selling tea eggs.

She was worried that she would not pass the exam, even though she was a college student, before traveling through time.

The college entrance examination a few years later covered candidates from teenagers to forty years old, and the admission rate was quite terrifying. It was already a great achievement to be able to get into a technical secondary school or a junior college.

Well, as we all know, the comprehensive knowledge reserves of college graduates may not be as good as those of middle school students.

Wen Jiajia was heartbroken and her heart ached every time she thought about it.

She regretted it so much. If she had known that she would travel through time, she would have memorized the examination papers of the first college entrance examination after its restoration.

Memorize every province!

“Oh!” Wen Jiajia sighed again.

Fang Mingyan: “What?”

“Hey, I missed the opportunity to go to a prestigious school,” Wen Jiajia said.

She went to the kitchen and made herself a cup of hawthorn water. Just as she was about to drink it, she thought for a moment and pushed it to Fang Mingyan.

“You don’t want to drink?”

“Yes, I don’t drink.”

Wen Jiajia wanted to scold Wei Dai. He just walked away without saying anything, leaving her in a state of panic, fearing that she might get pregnant.