Chapter 16: Xiaozhen Steamed Ten Steamer Baskets of Buns

Forget it, I’ll wash them by hand.

But when Ye Xiaozhen came out with the clothes, she couldn’t find any detergent.

Suddenly, she thought of Xie Lin’an’s all-purpose soap, she thought speechlessly, could it be… that they wash clothes with it too?

Lin Xinghua saw her holding the clothes and staring blankly, and he saw her walking around the house, so he guessed what she wanted to do.

“Xiaozhen, are you looking for laundry soap? It’s on the stone trough in the yard.”

Ye Xiaozhen: “…” It really is that one?

No, could it be that this soap is not only used by Xie Lin’an for his whole body, inside and out, but also by the whole family, for their whole bodies, inside and out?

This family of men is really rough, she’s numb.

She searched the whole house, and really, besides this soap, she didn’t see anything else that could be used for washing hair, bathing, or washing clothes.

There was an old-fashioned well next to the stone trough, Ye Xiaozhen pumped a basin of water first, washed the soap first, and then used the soap to wash the clothes.

Summer clothes are easy to wash, and they were done quickly.

Their well was quite convenient, in Ye Xiaozhen’s memory, the Ye family didn’t have one, they had to go to the river to fetch water.

She had heard Ye Zhengguo and Sun Qing discuss it, they said they wanted to dig a well in the yard. But it wasn’t cheap, they had talked about it for years but never got it done.

After lunch, Ye Xiaozhen wanted to wash her hair, but they didn’t have shampoo.

Her kitchen had a lot of cleaning products, but none for washing hair.

She was worried…

As a fool, how could she subtly tell Xie Lin’an that they should buy a bottle of shampoo for the house?

Forget it, I’ll endure it for another day.

At this time, Lin Xinghua took a hoe and sharpened it in the yard, he also told Ye Xiaozhen, “Xiaozhen, Grandpa is going to dig soil on the slope opposite our house this afternoon, you can watch me from our yard. After I go out, lock the courtyard gate, don’t open it for anyone. If any bad guys come, shout loudly, I can hear you.”

Ye Xiaozhen nodded and agreed.

He carried the hoe and a jug of water, limping out.

His leg was born that way, they said his right leg was shorter than his left leg.

Actually, this problem wasn’t difficult to solve, he could wear custom-made shoes.

But because of the limitations of the environment and money, he had been limping for most of his life.

She had nothing to do all afternoon, Ye Xiaozhen went into her kitchen and prepared to steam some buns.

After mixing the flour according to the ratio, she put it into the dough mixer.

Good, electricity and gas were working normally.

She came out of the kitchen and found a few bamboo steamers in the house, she washed them clean and prepared them.

To avoid any confusion, she also took some flour from the house and put it into the modern kitchen, creating the illusion that she was steaming buns in the house’s kitchen.

The dough was mixed, and then she put it into the proofing box to ferment.

Then she went out to light the fire and prepare.

She stacked five steamers outside, and symbolically lit the fire a few times.

She steamed ten steamer baskets of buns in her own kitchen.

Lin Xinghua, who was on the slope opposite, saw the smoke from the house, but he thought that Ye Xiaozhen also did housework at her parents’ house, so there was nothing to worry about.

She was a little silly, but she could work, she was obedient, filial, and kind.

This granddaughter-in-law wasn’t bad at all.

The buns were almost steamed, she pinched one, it was soft and sweet.

They were steamed perfectly.

After she was done, she moved the buns out and put them into the steamers in the house.

She filled five steamers, and the rest were put into bamboo baskets.

The baskets were washed clean and lined with white steamer cloths.

Around five o’clock, Lin Xinghua came back carrying his hoe, as soon as he entered the courtyard, he smelled the aroma of buns.

“Xiaozhen, are you steaming buns?”

Ye Xiaozhen put down her work and came out of the house, taking the hoe from his hand, and said with a smile, “Grandpa, eat buns.”

Lin Xinghua was overjoyed, he laughed heartily, “Okay, okay, I, Lin Laogui, am finally able to eat hot food when I come home.”

He quickly washed his hands and went to try the buns Ye Xiaozhen made.

He felt how soft they were in his hand, completely different from the buns they steamed themselves.

He took a bite, and they were even softer, how could this be a bun? He had never eaten such a soft and sweet bun.

“Did you steam these?”

Ye Xiaozhen nodded.

“Hey, these buns are delicious, not like the ones we make ourselves, they’re old and hard, and when they get cold and dry, they can be used as bricks.”

He quickly finished one and commented, “But they look big, but they don’t seem to use much flour, they’re not filling.”

Ye Xiaozhen took another one and gave it to him, “Grandpa, eat more.”

Lin Xinghua waved his hand, “No, no, save them for Lin’an when he comes back.”

He didn’t know how many she had steamed, he would be worried when he saw how many she had steamed.

Ye Xiaozhen turned around and went back to the kitchen, she brought out a large bamboo basket.

Lin Xinghua’s eyes widened, “Why did you steam so many buns?”

My god, how could they finish all of these?

Ye Xiaozhen pointed to the kitchen, “There are more.”

“Ah? More?”

Lin Xinghua was shocked, he quickly ran to the kitchen to look.

He saw another basket, and there were five steamers in the pot.

Lin Xinghua swayed, his lips trembled as he looked at Ye Xiaozhen.

He thought that she was silly, but he didn’t have the heart to scold her for wasting food.

He quickly went to check the flour bag.

Huh, even though there were many buns, there wasn’t much less flour.

That’s right, her buns looked big, but they were small when squeezed together, so they didn’t use much flour.

But… that’s still a lot.

Lin Xinghua looked at Ye Xiaozhen and said earnestly, “Xiaozhen, it’s good that you can steam buns, but you can’t make so many at once. Look, there’s only you and me at home, Lin’an won’t be back until tonight, there are only three of us, we can’t finish them in a short time. It’s hot now, if we can’t finish them, they’ll go bad and be wasted.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Xiaozhen answered, “Grandpa, sell them.”

Huh?

“Sell them?”

“Yes, sell them.”

Ye Xiaozhen took out the bamboo basket from the house, lined it with straw, and then put a steamer cloth on top.

The buns were stacked in a circle, one after another, forming a flower, when it was full, she covered it with coarse cloth.

Ye Xiaozhen smiled at Lin Xinghua and said, “Grandpa, go sell them.”

Lin Xinghua understood what she meant and smiled, “Okay, let’s go sell them before it gets dark.”

One basket wasn’t enough, they each took a basket and went from village to village to sell buns.

They first promoted them in Xiaoxigou Village.

“We steamed these buns ourselves, they’re big and soft. They’re seven cents each on the street, but we’re family, so we’re selling them for five cents each.”

“These buns look big, but are they delicious?”

“Of course.” Lin Xinghua immediately took one and broke it for the onlookers, “Come, come, try before you buy, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it.”

Ye Xiaozhen was confident in her buns, they had the texture of cake, and they were milky.

For people who had never eaten these things before, they couldn’t resist after just one bite.