Chapter 65: Mixed Grain Pancakes and Roasted Pumpkin

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhang Yuandong had been busy for over a week.

With Liu Fang protecting Lin Yue and the children, he was free of worries and focused entirely on his work.

He occasionally came back, but it was always in a hurry, and they barely had time to exchange a few words.

Recently, their living standard had dropped back to eating cornbread every day, mainly because of Liu Fang. Lin Yue didn’t dare reveal anything.

Since coming to this era, Lin Yue’s foodie nature had been completely unleashed. The more she couldn’t eat something, the more she craved it.

She was afraid of exposing the existence of her space, so she obediently ate stir-fried pumpkin and winter melon for several days, all oil-free.

Not to mention the two children didn’t like it, even Lin Yue herself looked pale. Now, she even felt sick at the sight of these two dishes.

The only one unaffected was Liu Fang. No matter what Lin Yue cooked, he could eat it with gusto, making him very easy to please.

Lin Yue wanted to change her taste, but after much consideration, she could only change the way she cooked winter melon, pumpkin, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, because the other vegetables had been eaten by locusts.

Winter melon was best for soup, but there was no meat or ribs at home. However, there were dried clams, the ones Zhang Yuandong had taken her to dig up by the sea last time. Lin Yue had already boiled them and dried them, soaking them should allow her to make a winter melon soup.

She went to Zhang Da Niang’s house next door to borrow a griddle. Her third daughter-in-law, Sun Guiqin, followed her into the kitchen and asked with a smile, “What delicious food are you going to make again?”

Lin Yue politely replied, “Sister-in-law, I’ve been idle these days, so I’m going to make some mixed grain pancakes.”

Cornbread with sweet potato flour and sorghum flour was not tasty, but using three types of flour to make mixed grain pancakes was a delicacy. Most people in this area liked it.

Sun Guiqin heard this and unconsciously swallowed twice. She had a large family, making pancakes was too time-consuming, and they only got to eat them a few times a year.

She thought about the food at Lin Yue’s house when they were building the annex, and she smiled and leaned in to ask, “Wanli’s mother, I have a question for you.

Your annex is almost finished, right? Should you start painting the walls?”

Lin Yue knew her personality somewhat. She liked to take advantage of others, but she always had to find an excuse.

She was asking this now, meaning she wanted to help.

But what she meant by painting the walls was just brushing the walls with yellow mud again. This job was simple and didn’t require anyone else to help.

Lin Yue had planned to do it herself anyway. Hearing her ask, she felt a little embarrassed.

She chuckled, “Yes, I can almost finish it in these two days.”

Sun Guiqin asked eagerly, “Oh, your husband is not home, just two women, it’s not easy to do it, right? I say, you still need a man to help! My family…”

Zhang Da Niang suddenly pulled her arm and handed the griddle to Lin Yue, “It’s not early, don’t keep talking to Xiaoyue, she should go home to cook.”

Lin Yue smiled and said goodbye.

Zhang Da Niang’s kitchen was in the yard. As Lin Yue left her house, she could still hear her scolding her daughter-in-law, “There’s only a little work to do at their house, do you need to help them! I can’t control how you behave at home, but if you want to lose face outside, I won’t spare you!”

Sun Guiqin was unconvinced, “What did I do? I was just trying to help her, why are you scolding me?”

Zhang Da Niang scolded, “You think no one sees through your little scheme! If you crave those pancakes, earn your own money and make as many as you want!”

Lin Yue didn’t have the heart to listen to the rest. She saw Liu Jianhua walking towards her from afar and hurried to greet her.

Ever since she knew she was pregnant, Liu Jianhua had been staying at home to rest. Lin Yue hadn’t seen her in a while.

Meeting her on the road, she quickly greeted her, concerned, “Why did you come out? Didn’t you say your pregnancy wasn’t good, and you should stay at home?”

Liu Jianhua chuckled, “I’m not that precious. I’ve been wanting to go out for a walk. My mother-in-law wouldn’t let me before.”

She saw the griddle in Lin Yue’s hand, and her mouth instantly started watering.

Her mouth had been getting more and more cravings lately, she was always wanting to eat this or that.

Lin Yue protected her, wanting to give her a hand, but felt it was too exaggerated.

She knew Liu Jianhua too well and saw through her thoughts, and laughed, “Wait for me to finish, I’ll send some over to your house.”

Liu Jianhua quickly waved her hands, “No, no, I don’t need two pancakes from you!”

Lin Yue laughed, “You’re being polite with me! Where are you going? I’ll take you there.”

Liu Jianhua became shy and whispered to Lin Yue, “I came to find you. I heard about your sister-in-law. I couldn’t go out before, so I couldn’t come to see you. I just had the chance to come out today! I really feel sorry for you, I don’t know what she was thinking, going to your house to make a scene.”

Zhang Xiaohui had indeed gone too far that day. These days, the biggest gossip in the village was about her actions. Everyone chatted about it, and even the children were talking about it.

It’s worth mentioning that the gossip spread like wildfire, described in vivid detail.

As the person involved, Lin Yue had heard the rumors, and even people had asked her about it.

She didn’t want Zhang Xiaohui’s actions to affect their relationship, so she laughed, “Why are you saying you’re sorry to me? It’s not your fault.

She’s probably just a little younger and hasn’t learned to be careful.”

Liu Jianhua softly spat, “What young? She’s only two years younger than you. You had children when you were her age! I said a few words to her, and my mother-in-law wouldn’t let me, insisting it was just a casual conversation, nothing serious between people from the same village! It really made me mad! You don’t know, everyone in my family says she’s lucky, and everything goes her way. Look at what she’s become!”

She stopped there, as if holding something back, her eyes even turning red.

Lin Yue quickly persuaded her, “You, I, the person involved, haven’t even gotten angry, why are you crying? You’re carrying a child, crying now is bad for the baby.”

Liu Jianhua tried to hold back her tears. She laughed and scolded, “Who’s crying! We’re on the street, don’t make things up!”

She hesitated again, and Lin Yue, seeing that she seemed to have a lot of grievances, tentatively asked a question. Unexpectedly, she immediately turned and left.

Lin Yue had no choice but to instruct her, “Take it slow on the road. Come visit my house when you have time, don’t stay cooped up at home all day! I’ll send you some pancakes when they’re done.”

Liu Jianhua turned back abruptly, “Don’t come! She’s at home, she’s just waiting for a chance to cause trouble for you. Don’t walk into the line of fire!” Her voice was choked with tears.

Perhaps feeling embarrassed, she didn’t wait for Lin Yue to reply and hurried away.

Making mixed grain pancakes was a time-consuming task. Lin Yue built a small stove and first roasted pumpkin and sweet potato slices.

After those were done, she started making the pancakes.

She moved the mud stove to the yard, making pancakes while watching the pumpkin.

This wasn’t her first time using a griddle, but her skills were still a bit rusty. It took four tries before she finally got the shape right.

In the kitchen, she had a small bowl of soaked clam meat. After finishing the mixed grain pancakes and roasted pumpkin, she could make a winter melon clam soup and have dinner.

The aroma of mixed grain pancakes and roasted pumpkin wafted out. Liu Fang, with the two little ones, came running over, the three of them squatting in a row, eagerly watching.

Lin Yue laughed helplessly and picked out two roasted pumpkin slices, handing one to Liu Fang and breaking the other in half, giving it to the two little ones.

The pumpkin slices were coated with starch, and now they were roasted to a crispy exterior and tender interior, incredibly sweet.

Liu Fang devoured them in two bites, still looking at the remaining roasted pumpkin and sweet potato with longing.

The two little ones were originally afraid of hot things, and always waited for things to cool down before eating. Now, they didn’t care about the heat anymore. They were yelling about how hot it was while stuffing it into their mouths, afraid that Liu Fang would eat everything.

Lin Yue was amused by their actions, but still said mercilessly, “Save the rest for dinner, otherwise you won’t be able to eat later.”

The three of them drooped their heads in unison.

Lin Yue found it funny and was about to tease them further when she suddenly heard a sound of heavy objects rubbing against each other from next door. She turned her head and saw seven black heads, one big and six small, appearing on the wall. It was Zhang Shourong, the third son of the family next door, and his six children, all staring at her with longing.

Lin Yue had a deep impression of his children. The reason was that there were three boys and three girls, named Da Mao, Er Mao, San Mao, Da Ya, Er Ya, and San Ya. It was hard to forget them.

Of these six children, the oldest, Da Mao, was eleven or twelve years old, and San Ya, the youngest, was five.

Furthermore, Zhang Shourong, a man in his twenties, was also on the wall, which really scared Lin Yue.

Lin Yue’s house had been renovated, and the east wall was deliberately made higher to prevent them from climbing over, but it seemed useless now, they were climbing over something to look over.

Thinking about how there would be a bunch of black heads popping up on her wall from time to time, Lin Yue felt goosebumps all over.

She asked angrily, “Zhang Shourong, what are you doing on my wall?”

Zhang Shourong wasn’t embarrassed at all. He grinned, “Sister-in-law, what delicious food are you making? It smells so good; my kids are almost crying from hunger.

I can’t help it, they’re pestering me, so I came up to take a look.

Besides, I’m on my own wall, it’s not illegal, right?”

Lin Yue was amused by his persistent nonsense, “What are you calling me sister-in-law? I don’t care if you’re on your own wall, but don’t look at my house! If you have something to do, can’t you use the front door?”

Zhang Shourong’s face was thick as leather. He laughed, “Sister-in-law, you’re concerned about me, aren’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

This remark made Lin Yue completely speechless.

A roar of a motorcycle engine came from afar. Zhang Shourong heard it and hurriedly called to his nephews and nieces, “Get down, get down, his man is back.”