Chapter 60

With Cui Yan’s help, it became much easier for Yin Xiaoman to do anything she wanted.

She glanced at the seafood that Ren Ping’an had brought over this morning and noticed there were several pounds of fresh small squid inside. She decided to make buns for the Researchers for lunch.

Now that there were more people in the Research Team, she rarely made such labor-intensive dishes.

Mainly because Dami was still young. While it was fine to have him do some rough work, expecting him to sit there and make buns or dumplings with her… he might try, but Yin Xiaoman wouldn’t dare let him waste any dough.

But now that Cui Yan was here, these problems no longer existed.

After the two of them discussed it, they began to get busy.

One kneaded the dough, and the other cleaned the seafood.

After Cui Yan had kneaded and set the dough to rest, she went to the backyard to pick some vegetables.

She picked beans, tomatoes, garlic, and a handful of small greens.

By the time she came back, Yin Xiaoman had already cleaned the octopus and was starting to cut it into pieces.

Both of them were housewives who had been taking care of a large family for many years. Even with so many people to feed, making buns was still an easy task for them.

The small stove that Ren Ping’an had built when renovating the kitchen was finally being put to good use now.

They raised the fire, placed the large steamer they had borrowed from the Kitchen Unit on top, and as the steam rose, the aroma filled the air…

The children who had been sent to pick coconuts all came back at some point and crowded around the window, staring in greedily as they inhaled deeply.

“I told you Aunt Man’s cooking is the best! I’ve been thinking about it for years!” Huzi, standing outside the window, took a deep breath and said loudly, his face full of satisfaction.

Everyone burst into laughter.

“You’re just greedy! How can it be years? How old are you? A few years ago, you weren’t even born!” Cui Yan laughed and scolded her youngest son through the window.

Huzi was the youngest son of the Qi family and the most spoiled one at home, so he wasn’t afraid of his mother.

Hearing Cui Yan, he straightened his neck and shouted: “It’s been years! I’ve been dreaming about Aunt Xiaoman’s cooking! And with today’s meal, it’s going to be even more years!”

Hearing him say that, Yin Xiaoman couldn’t help but laugh. She grabbed a freshly washed tomato from the cutting board and, through the window, shoved it into Huzi’s mouth. “Oh, our Huzi can do math now? He knows how to add the day and night together, that’s great!”

After saying that, she turned to Cui Yan. “How about we have Qiangzi and Huzi join the three of them and come over to study tonight? Now that Engineer Ning and Elder Hua are free, they can come over and teach them some lessons!”

“That sounds good!” Cui Yan was thrilled to hear this.

Her children were a year older than Da Bao and Erniu, and now they were almost at the age where they needed to go to school.

Nowadays, with schools everywhere suspending classes due to the revolution, students didn’t have lessons, and naturally, there were no new students being enrolled.

Although Cui Yan only graduated from middle school, she had gone to school and knew the importance of education.

Despite all the noise outside, she firmly believed in one thing: without literacy and education, there would be no great future.

Looking at the people she was most familiar with—her husband, Xiaoman’s husband, Liu Chang, and even Engineer Ning and Elder Hua—how many of them had gotten to where they were without the help of education?

Yin Xiaoman’s status as a top student was something Cui Yan had heard about even before she joined the army.

Later, she also learned that Yin Xiaoman had been teaching her two children at home.

But at that time, her two boys were quite wild, and since they were still young, she hadn’t paid much attention.

Now, though, with this opportunity, how could she possibly let it slip by?

Not to mention that Engineer Ning and Elder Hua would be teaching, even if it was just Yin Xiaoman’s level, she would be more than capable of teaching these “bear children.” ^[1]A “bear child” is a common Chinese slang phrase meaning a child who is spoilt.

While they were still talking about the children, the buns were already steamed.

Since it was Qi Feng’s first day there, Shen Qingyun had to take him around to see each of the various teams and classes. He also had to have lunch with his subordinates, so Yin Xiaoman didn’t wait for them.

Also, Cui Yan’s beekeeping would only be brought over when the next batch of personnel arrived on the island, so she had nothing else to do at the moment. Thus, she took it upon herself to go with Dami to deliver the lunch to the Research Team.

After they left, Yin Xiaoman cooked a soup with seaweed, greens, and tomatoes.

When they came back, both families moved the table to the shaded area in the courtyard and happily shared their first meal together since meeting.

Though Dami, Qiangzi, and Huzi hadn’t known each other before, the friendship between boys was quickly formed after climbing a mountain together.

What’s more, after spending time at the Shen household, where the younger boys constantly called him “big brother.” Dami had already developed a strong sense of responsibility as an older brother.

Even with two more younger brothers, he handled it with ease.

At the dining table, there was no awkwardness at all, from the oldest to the youngest. It felt like they were all a family again, quickly becoming familiar with one another.

Octopus shrinks when heated.

When making the filling, it didn’t seem too runny, but after steaming, each bun was filled with soup, piping hot and fragrant.

Qiangzi and Huzi mimicked the other three children. They carefully took a small bite from their buns first, waiting for the soup to flow into the vinegar dish before slowly taking a bite.

With the first bite, both of them couldn’t help but let out a soft “Mmm!” Then, almost simultaneously, they held their breath, tightly closed their mouths, and stared wide-eyed, full of surprise and satisfaction. Not a word was spoken.

Seeing this, the three children from the Shen family weren’t at all surprised. Dami and Da Bao just glanced up briefly before continuing to eat their buns quietly.

Only Erniu was still interested in chatting with the two older boys.

“Delicious, right? My mom’s octopus buns and octopus dumplings are the best in the world! The number one in the world!” She said proudly, her expression full of smugness.

But the two boys showed no intention of arguing. They just nodded wildly in agreement.

It wasn’t until they had swallowed the bite of their buns that Qiangzi let out a breath and sighed: “So delicious! Not just the best in the world, the best in the whole universe!”

“Well, well, Qiangzi’s impressive, huh? You know it’s the best in the whole universe?” Yin Xiaoman laughed at his comment.

“Of course!” Qiangzi puffed out his chest proudly. “My dad taught me! My dad taught me lots of other things too!”

While Qiangzi was talking, Huzi didn’t join in. He just kept eating quietly.

He thought his brother was so silly!

Why say something now when they could talk later? Talking now would just slow them down from eating more buns!

When it came to eating, Huzi was a lot smarter than Qiangzi. He didn’t just stuff his face with buns like his brother.

He secretly kept glancing at Da Bao, who was sitting beside him.

He figured that Da Bao, being the smartest person in Aunt Xiaoman’s family, must know the best way to eat these things.

Sure enough, after watching for a while, he figured it out—

When Aunt Xiaoman had poured vinegar into the dish earlier, Da Bao and the others only added a tiny bit of vinegar.

It turned out that they first bit into the bun to let the soup flow into the vinegar, and then they ate it. This way, after finishing the bun, the soup and vinegar would be fully mixed, and they could drink the vinegar soup in one go at the end!

Huzi tried it—

The rich meat flavor mixed with the tangy vinegar was absolutely perfect, especially after finishing a meat bun and then drinking this delicious soup…

Huzi happily squinted his eyes, instantly feeling that this was the true number one in the world!

No, the number one in the universe!

This bun was simply too delicious!

Everyone present had eaten to their fill.

After the meal, Yin Xiaoman originally intended to have the two children rest with Cui Yan since they had just arrived by boat that morning.

However, Dami stopped them. “If you want to eat coconut cake, you have to work for it.” he commanded the kids with an air of authority.

Yin Xiaoman wanted to stop him, but Cui Yan stopped her with a hand: “Don’t worry about the kids’ matters, let them figure it out themselves. By the way, is coconut cake difficult to make?”

The coconut cake wasn’t difficult to make at all. What was difficult was extracting the coconut juice.

There weren’t any machines available here, so the only way to extract the juice was by manually chopping up the coconut meat into pieces.

The finer the pieces, the more juice was released.

Since Yin Xiaoman had figured out the right proportions, the task of making this at home had basically been left to the three children.

Typically, Da Bao was responsible for scooping all the coconut meat out of the shells, Erniu was in charge of collecting the coconut water, and Dami took care of chopping the extracted coconut meat into fine pieces. Occasionally, Da Bao would help by substituting for his older brother for a while.

Today, with more people around and more coconut water needed, Dami wasn’t about to let Huzi and Qiangzi, the two little laborers, escape.

So, after a quick discussion, the kids had divided the tasks.

Since the two little ones were beginners, Dami had them start by learning to scoop the coconut meat. Erniu was still responsible for collecting all the coconut water and placing it into empty jars, then cooling them in a basin of cold water.

Meanwhile, Da Bao took a large knife and started following his older brother to chop the coconut meat.

As they worked, Yin Xiaoman had no intention of getting involved. After finishing the chores in the kitchen, she simply pulled Cui Yan into the house to rest and chat about family matters.

From the window, Cui Yan marveled at the three children of the Shen family, who seemed well-trained and extremely proficient.

Especially when she saw Da Bao and Erniu, each wearing a little apron around their waist, looking like small adults, each diligently working on their tasks. She could hardly believe her eyes.

“Just how did you teach them? How did you get them to be so self-disciplined?” Cui Yan couldn’t help but turn to Yin Xiaoman, hoping to learn her methods.

“No need to teach them.” Yin Xiaoman replied nonchalantly.

“No need to teach?!” Cui Yan couldn’t possibly believe that!

Yin Xiaoman glanced outside and, with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth, said: “If you want to eat, you have to work for it. Gradually, they’ll learn how to do everything.”

Cui Yan: “…”

So, all their proficiency came from being motivated by their craving?

Extracting the coconut juice was tedious, but it wasn’t difficult. The coconut meat was scooped out and chopped into pieces, then mixed with hot water and stirred. The mixture was poured through a piece of cloth into a bowl. If the juice wasn’t fine enough, it could be filtered again.

So, even though they were just a few children, each one worked like a pro. In less than an hour, they had already extracted almost half a bowl of coconut milk.

Yin Xiaoman pulled a pack of fruit juice gummies from the cabinet, handed one to each child, and patted their little heads before letting them go off to play.

She and Cui Yan returned to the kitchen. Yin Xiaoman picked up the leftover coconut pulp and reignited the stove to start frying the coconut flakes.

Her movements were practiced, and as she stirred with the spatula, the rich fragrance of coconut quickly filled the kitchen.

Cui Yan inhaled the scent and suddenly smiled.

Yin Xiaoman continued working, but her eyes shifted toward Cui Yan. “What are you laughing about?”

Cui Yan chuckled, rubbed her nose, then said: “Come to think of it, I’m an adult now, I don’t fight for things with the kids anymore. When I first heard you were making coconut cake, my first reaction was that it was for the little ones. I didn’t even think about trying it.

But now, I think I might not be able to resist, it smells so good…”

As she spoke, she suddenly extended her hand toward Yin Xiaoman, putting on a fierce expression. “Hurry up and give me one of those fruit juice gummies you just gave the little brats! The red and yellow ones—I’ve never even seen them before. They’re making me so hungry!”

Yin Xiaoman never expected that Cui Yan would say something like this to her, and she couldn’t help but laugh along.

“If you like it, just eat it. It’s not something precious. The fruits are all grown on the island. If you want more, I can make it again later!”

After saying that, she pointed to the table under the windowsill. “The box with the candy is over there. Sister-in-law, you can take it yourself.”

Since the matter was already open, Cui Yan didn’t feel awkward at all. She confidently walked over to the table, opened the tin box that had clearly once held cookies.

When the lid was lifted, the fruit juice candies inside were immediately revealed to her.

Cui Yan was from Jingcheng, and her family had been well-off, so she wasn’t someone who hadn’t seen the world.

When she was a child, she had seen all kinds of candies, from the hard ones sold at the supply and marketing cooperatives to milk candies and expensive snacks like sachima. She had eaten them all.

But she had never seen anything like these colorful, uniquely shaped little candy pieces.

Curious, she picked up a yellow, fan-shaped one. It was soft, yet had a certain bounce to it. When she turned it over, she was surprised to find that the back had a pattern! It looked like the shape of a seashell, vivid and lifelike.

She couldn’t help but pick up a purple one.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it even had a pair of long ears—sure enough, it was shaped like a little rabbit!

“You made these yourself? How did you make them?” Cui Yan was absolutely amazed. In her eyes, Yin Xiaoman had instantly elevated to a godly level!

“There are a lot of fruits on this island. Sister-in-law, if you stay here a little longer, you’ll know. I can’t promise anything else, but your taste buds will be fully satisfied. Many fruits here, you can’t even see them elsewhere, but here, they grow all over the mountains.”

Cui Yan had already experienced this when she saw the coconuts earlier, and she nodded in agreement.

Yin Xiaoman scooped the fried coconut flakes out of the pan and spread them out on a bamboo tray lined with a large piece of cloth to cool.

She glanced at the fruit juice candy in Cui Yan’s hand and said: “The one you’re holding now is made from mountain grape juice. The color comes from boiling the grape skins. The yellow one earlier is made from mango, and the white one is made from coconut juice. Sister-in-law, you should try the mango one first. You’ve definitely never had it before.”