Chapter 73 – Banana Purée

“Ah ah…” Gu Yan Yan eagerly stared at the banana in his mother’s hand.

He opened his small mouth, drooling.

Liu Yin Yin, seeing his longing look, quickly scooped a spoonful of banana purée and fed it to him.

Gu Yan Yan bit down on the spoon, pursed his little mouth a few times, and swallowed the banana purée.

Then, he looked up at his mother and said, “Ah ah…”

Liu Yin Yin asked, “Do you want more?”

Gu Yan Yan replied, “Ah ah…”

The little one made two sounds toward her and nodded.

It was clear he understood what she said.

Liu Yin Yin chuckled, continuing to feed him with the spoon.

After finishing one banana, Gu Yan Yan was very satisfied. He obediently sat in his stroller and played with a doll.

At noon, Liu Yin Yin couldn’t be bothered to cook for herself. She had some food from the cafeteria, and she bought a meat bun from the system to make do for lunch.

A pound and a half of yangmei (waxberry) was washed clean and hung in the well to chill. The yangmei would taste better when cold.

There was also pig’s trotters. In this weather, meat doesn’t last long. Liu Yin Yin chopped the pig’s trotters into pieces and blanched them in water.

After cleaning them, she stir-fried them with rock sugar, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, ginger, and cooking wine to release the fat.

Then she transferred the stir-fried pig’s trotters into a clay pot and placed it on the earthen stove to simmer on low heat. After about two hours, it would be ready, just in time for dinner.

After finishing her tasks, Liu Yin Yin went to class. The weather was getting hotter. Classes used to start at two in the afternoon, but now they started at three. This way, she could go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables without worrying it would be too hot, as she feared the children might get heatstroke.

After digging the wild vegetables and returning home, the pig’s trotters were almost done simmering. Liu Yin Yin turned off the heat.

With a pot of stewed pig’s trotters, there was no need to cook any other dishes for dinner. Later, she would just steam a few cornmeal steamed buns.

She placed her son’s stroller under the eaves and went to pull weeds and water the garden.

It was hot, and without watering the land, the vegetables wouldn’t grow well.

Now that there was a well in the yard, watering was very convenient.

By the time she was almost done, Gu Cheng came back.

“You’re back,” Liu Yin Yin said as she placed the wooden bucket back in the firewood room.

“Leave these chores to me,” Gu Cheng said. He usually took on all the heavy and tiring work at home.

“This isn’t tiring at all.” To be honest, Liu Yin Yin enjoyed doing chores. Otherwise, she would be bored. Could it be that she was born to be a hard worker?

Liu Yin Yin smiled as she thought about it. She couldn’t leave all the work to Gu Cheng since he wasn’t just sitting idly at work.

Moreover, he was the one who cleaned the pigsty, chicken coop, and rabbit cages every day.

“Hey!” Seeing what Gu Cheng was holding, Liu Yin Yin exclaimed in surprise. “Did you buy a radio?”

She had planned to buy one for a long time, but radios were scarce at that time. The county store hadn’t had any stock, and it was only now that one arrived.

“Yeah, the department store just received two radios today,” Gu Cheng said. He had made arrangements with the store beforehand; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to buy one.

Liu Yin Yin curiously took the radio and looked at it. She had never used such an old-fashioned radio in her previous life.

Gu Cheng showed her how to use it, turning it on and tuning it to a broadcast station.

Listening to the standard Mandarin coming from the radio, Liu Yin Yin smiled and said, “It’s great. We can listen to the radio at home now and even hear music.”

Nearby, hearing the unfamiliar voice coming from a small box, Gu Yan Yan was stunned.

He glanced at the radio, then at his parents, and then made two “ah ah” sounds, his eyes full of confusion.

Liu Yin Yin smiled at him and said, “Gu Yan Yan, this will be your little companion from now on.”

The little one was really lucky. Not many children could grow up listening to the radio like he would.

Gu Yan Yan stared fixedly at the radio, looking somewhat scared. His chubby little hand reached out and grabbed onto Gu Cheng’s clothes, while he made little sounds.

Gu Cheng reached out and picked him up, asking Liu Yin Yin, “Should we feed him some apple mash today?”

It seemed the man had come to enjoy doing this.

“No need, I already fed him some banana earlier at lunch.” Liu Yin Yin didn’t want to let Gu Yan Yan eat too much fruit all at once.

Liu Yin Yin blinked her eyes and said to Gu Cheng, “Alright, from now on, the task of feeding him fruit mash will be yours.”

This way, the father and son could spend more time together and build their relationship.

Gu Cheng happily accepted.

Liu Yin Yin placed the pot of stewed pig’s trotters on the table, along with the food she had gotten from the cafeteria and the freshly steamed cornmeal buns. Dinner would be simple tonight.

Gu Cheng saw the pig’s trotters and asked her, “Did you get these all from Li’s place?”

Liu Yin Yin nodded, “They have a lot of stuff there, even more fruits, but it’s a bit expensive.”

If it weren’t for Gu Cheng’s good salary, Liu Yin Yin wouldn’t be willing to spend so much money.

Suddenly, Liu Yin Yin remembered something and hurried outside. She pulled up the bucket from the well, bringing in a big bowl of yangmei (waxberries).

The yangmei had been there all afternoon and were now chilled and cool to the touch.

Liu Yin Yin tried one; it was sweet, juicy, and delicious.

Whether it was the yangmei from Li’s place or from the system, the quality was excellent.

Gu Yan Yan, seeing his mother coming in with the bright red fruit, stared intently at the bowl of yangmei without blinking.

Liu Yin Yin picked up one berry and brought it to his mouth. Gu Yan Yan immediately opened his little mouth…

But Liu Yin Yin pulled her hand back and, in his surprise, placed the yangmei into Gu Cheng’s mouth instead, muttering, “Try it, this yangmei is really good. I don’t know where Li’s place got it, but it looks really fresh.”

In Liu Yin Yin’s memory, there weren’t any orchards nearby that grew yangmei.

But the yangmei from Li’s place always seemed very fresh, clearly picked just a few days ago.

Gu Cheng ate a berry, and the sweetness spread in his mouth. After a while, he said, “It’s probably from the neighboring county. There’s a large orchard there.”

The two fruit trees in their yard had also been bought from the neighboring county.

Liu Yin Yin, envious, said, “So they must have a lot of fruit trees there?”

Their county didn’t have any orchards, so they rarely had fresh fruit, making it hard to eat any year-round.

Gu Cheng nodded, looking at her and saying, “When I have time, I’ll take you and Yan Yan there to pick some fruit.”

Now that Gu Yan Yan was a bit older, he could go out and enjoy such activities.

Liu Yin Yin was thrilled and replied, “Sure, we’ll wait for that day!”

There wasn’t much meat on the pig’s trotters. Liu Yin Yin ate several pieces, and the rest were finished by Gu Cheng.

After a hearty meal, for the next few days, Liu Yin Yin didn’t go to Li’s place to buy anything, mainly because things were expensive, and it made her feel guilty to spend so much.

The weather continued to be unbearably hot, with no rain in sight.

Due to the lack of water, the crops in the fields weren’t growing very well.