Chapter 24.2 

Along the way, Han Cheng found that Su Xiaoxiao, who always liked to smile, was a little depressed and didn’t talk much.

When he got home, Han Cheng couldn’t help it. He put down the things in his hands and took Doubao: “What’s the matter? Are you tired?”

Su Xiaoxiao said as she pulled the hem of her clothes, shaking her head and puffing her chin. “Look, these are all patches. I just want to buy two pieces of clothing, but I don’t have any cloth tickets anymore. Can you exchange some cloth tickets with your comrades in arms when they issue your salary next time?”

Han Cheng felt relieved and even wanted to laugh. He thought that someone had wronged her. Well, it’s actually about a young woman’s passion.

Su Xiaoxiao is sweet, and she loves to smile very much. His attention was unconsciously focused on her rather than on what she was wearing at all.

He was indeed negligent. In the past, Yangmei herself would take cloth tickets, but she didn’t notice this problem. 

He just wanted to let Su Xiaoxiao eat better. It never occurred to her that all female comrades have a love for beauty. Maybe when she saw Jiang Xue wearing beautiful clothes, wearing beautiful clothes made her think about it.

“Okay, I will tell the accountant to change other tickets that are not available for the time being into cloth tickets. I’ll go back today and ask if I can take it in advance.” Han Cheng thought about exchanging some with other unmarried male comrades. It should not be difficult to get enough tickets for her to buy two suits of clothes first.

Su Xiaoxiao finally smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be cold next month, so I’ll just buy thicker clothes then.”

Su Xiaoxiao sighed: “It’s a pity that I can’t make clothes. If my mother is present, we could buy fabric and sew our own clothes. The cloth ticket of two clothes may be enough to make clothes for our family.”

Han Cheng doesn’t want to ask why she can’t make clothes anymore. Besides reading, writing, and painting, the job she did best in her mother’s house was probably making all kinds of delicious food.

“After the autumn harvest, let your mother and Xiaobao come and live here for a while, so they can help us make clothes.”

Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened, and she nodded: “Yes, yes, this is a good idea. Why didn’t I think of it? My mother can plant in our vegetable garden. I don’t have to worry about failing to cultivate the melons and vegetables when I have my mother!”

She always felt that if she relied on growing vegetables to eat, she would starve the whole family to death.

Su Xiaoxiao stood on tiptoe to kiss Han Cheng.

Su Xiaoxioa slapped her forehead as she suddenly remembered something. “It’s bad. I forgot to send my letter when your high school classmate interrupted me.”

Then she smiled again: “Well then, I still have another letter I wanted to send them, I’ll write another letter asking Mother to come over. When the letter arrives, the autumn harvest should be over, and my mother is just starting her journey here.”

Han Cheng pursed his lips and shook his head, after all, she was still a girl at heart, and when it came to his mother, she was still a child.

However, if it were not for such a family, she could not have such a good disposition.

After Han Cheng went to work, Su Xiaoxiao told Li Yufeng to do what she wanted, and immediately wrote a letter to her. The main point was that she couldn’t make clothes out of the fabrics she had. She would live in misery because she had no clothes to wear in the winter. The vegetable garden was bare, and there was no food to eat. It was miserable to spend a lot of money to buy green vegetables every day. In winter, green vegetables were more expensive than meat, and the persimmons at home were also damaged by her.

The cloth in the countryside was not easy to get; it was too precious. Li Yufeng is reluctant to give the cloth to her daughter, and she also thinks that her daughter can buy ready-made clothes directly when she goes to college. She didn’t teach her how to make clothes, so the clothes of the whole family are made by herself.

When Li Yufeng saw Su Xiaoxiao’s two letters, she suspected that they were not written by the same person. The last letter had a story about their good life, and the next one had a story about her miserable life. It was still put in the same envelope and sent back with the same postmark. This made everyone dumbfounded, but she was really worried that his daughter had no clothes to wear and no vegetables to eat. Li Yufeng had no choice but to leave the work she had to do and go see what an inhumanly miserable life she was living.

Of course, these are things for later.

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Su Xiaoxiao originally wanted to make braised pigeons, but the ingredients were not complete, and there was no oven or microwave. Unfortunately, it could not be done.

It suddenly occurred to her that Xiao Bao liked to put sweet potatoes in the place where the stove ashes were put and simmer them…… She could then wrap the pigeons and cook them over a charcoal fire. Isn’t that the same thing as Beggar’s Chicken? ^[1]Beggar’s chicken is a Chinese dish of stuffed chicken that is wrapped in clay and lotus leaves, and baked slowly using low heat.

Beggar pigeons… I see no problem with that.

“Calling Comrade Fantuan, calling Comrade Fantuan!”

Fantuan, who was showing off his new stationery to his brother on the stone slab, ran back home when he heard Su Xiaoxiao’s call and shouted. “Comrade Fantuan received the call, Comrade Fantuan received the call, Comrade Fantuan is here! Do you have instructions, Mom?”

Since Fantuan’s foot was only slightly sprained and had been cured for several days, Su Xiaoxiao was willing to let him run errands.

It’s one thing to know your neighbors in town, but most people here in the neighborhood know each other. At this time, children were allowed to come out, and there were no human traffickers. It is safe as long as it is not too far away.

“Does Fantuan know lotus leaves?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.

Fantuan thought for a while and nodded, “I know, it’s the leaves of the lotus root.”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded and said, “You’re smart.” and gave him a thumbs up. “Can you help your mother go to Grandma Zhang’s house and ask for some lotus leaves?”

“Mm-hmm.” “I promise to complete the task!” Fantuan saluted.

After coming back, it was the first time his mother sent him out on a “mission,”  and Fantuan was very excited.

Su Xiaoxiao put some milk sugar in his pocket and then asked him to take two persimmons: “Be polite when you see Grandma Zhang. Divide the persimmons and milk candy and bring them to Dundun. You can’t go near the lotus pond and pick lotus leaves yourself. Ask Grandma Zhang to help you pick lotus leaves. When you get them, say thank you. Then come back directly. Mom is eager to make delicious pigeons with lotus leaves. Can you do that?”

The clever little Fantuan repeated Su Xiaoxiao’s words word for word, and nodded heavily: “I can do it!”

What a clever little Fantuan.

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed his head and said, “Go ahead and be careful.”

When talking with Aunt Zhang that day, Su Xiaoxiao knew that her house was near the north, with abundant water and a small lotus pond.

Little Fantuan ran away.

After all, it was the first time Little Fantuan “go out on a mission,”  so Su Xiaoxiao was not at ease. She followed him out of the house with Xiao Doubao in her arms and chased him to the north.

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t turn back until she watched him enter Aunt Zhang’s courtyard from afar.

“When will Xiao Doubao grow up and help his mother with tasks like his brother?”

The little guy responded with a “bah,”  which made him drool.

As the saying goes, “Parents will worry for 99 years during the 100 years of raising their child.” Su Xiaoxiao felt that she already had the heart of an old mother.

Su Xiaoxiao adjusted her recipe and decided to eat pigeons at noon and fish soup at night.

The pigeons bought by Han Cheng are not small, just a little smaller than the smallest hen. She first smeared the pigeons with salt, and then marinated the pigeons with soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, onion, garlic, anise, and other ingredients. She also made a simple version of minced garlic barbecue, and when it’s ready, use the other lotus leaves to put the remaining two eggplants in the kitchen to simmer.

In an era when cooking tools were simple and there was a shortage of oil and ingredients, the method of cooking in one pot and simmering in another pot was already the most fuel-efficient and trouble-free cooking method that Su Xiaoxiao could think of.

The flavor was also quite good.

After all the preparations were done, Su Xiaoxiao continued to peel the persimmons that were not finished yesterday.

She had only done two of them when Fantuan came back. When he reached the gate of the yard, he shouted: “Mom, your Fantuan is back after completing the task!”

Su Xiaoxiao looked at the door. He came back not only by himself but also with two little friends. A very sturdy little boy was half a head taller than Fantuan, holding a large lotus root in his hand, and a little girl with two small braids, who is a little shorter than Fantuan, was chewing milk candy.

“Ah, my friends came with me.”

Fantuan put down the lotus leaf and explained: “Mom, this is Dundun, this is Yaya. Grandma Zhang gave me lotus root. I said that I couldn’t take it without my mom’s instructions. So, she forced Dundun to follow me and send it here.”
‘
People are kind and simple these days.

Su Xiaoxiao got up and took the lotus root in Dundun’s hand: “Good, good. Thank you, Dundun and Yaya, for your hard work, remember to help me thank you, grandma.”

Dundun was too shy to say thank you. Although Yaya liked to laugh, she was very shy. She didn’t talk much, Instead, she squatted down to tease Xiao Doubao.

Su Xiaoxiao entered the house, took some fried rice cakes they had purchased in the city, and distributed some to each of the children. She also stuffed two persimmons for Dundun and Yaya.
They were also lacking in supplies. This is all they have at home, so, it can’t be helped.

The brother and sister left without much hesitation.

The lotus leaf was different from what Su Xiaoxiao thought of. This is a dry lotus leaf. She thought it would be a fresh lotus leaf picked from the pond.

In the end, Fantuan explained to her: “Mom, the water in the lotus pond and the leaves of the lotus root are dry at this time. There are no leaves in the lotus pond to pick. Grandma Zhang said that these are the leaves she picked and dried before. This can also be used.”

Su Xiaoxiao was embarrassed. She is a person who has no common sense when it comes to crops and grains.

The dried lotus leaf is stronger than the fresh lotus leaf and has a stronger fragrance. However, when the dried lotus leaf comes in contact with fire, it will surely be turned into charcoal. In recent years, there is no such thing as tin foil that can insulate the fire. She does not want to go outside and use the soil; this is too troublesome and unhygienic.

Su Xiaoxiao decided to temporarily adjust the cooking method. She can wrap it in a dried lotus leaf, put it in the pot, and steam it. 

It won’t be as delicious as the chicken cooked over charcoal, but it will taste good with the fragrance of the lotus leaf.

Beggar pigeons can wait until they have fresh lotus leaves next time.

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Han Cheng left with Doctor Chen at noon. 

Doctor Shen lived in the bachelor’s dormitory in the north. When he passed Han Cheng’s yard, he suddenly smelled the overflowing fragrance coming from the yard. Doctor Chen couldn’t help but drool over the smell.

He swallowed and said, “Director Han, is Xiaoxiao cooking lunch? The taste makes the children next door cry, right?”

“It’s sister-in-law!” Han Cheng spoke with a stern face.

“Huh?” Dr. Chen was a stubborn man. He didn’t hear clearly what Han Cheng said, he only thought of wanting to go in and see what good things Su Xiaoxiao had made. It must be so delicious.

Han Cheng ignored him and opened the door to the courtyard. Doctor Chen wanted to follow him, but Han Cheng slammed the door in his face and isolated him directly.

Doctor Chen touched his nose and said, “… Don’t be so stingy, Director Han? I just want to see Xiaoxiao’s skill, but I don’t plan to stay for dinner.”

Han Cheng: “…” Didn’t I tell him not to call her Xiaoxiao? He will ask the dean to send him to the clinic in the valley to perform free checkups tomorrow.

Dr. Chen, the stubborn doctor, still lingered at the door and refused to leave, then shouted inside: “Sister-in-law Xiaoxiao, what did you cook? I’m so hungry, I don’t want to eat it. Can I come in and take a look?”

Han Cheng gave him a cold glance, and let him go in the afternoon instead of waiting for tomorrow.

……

T/N: New Chapter tomorrow!