So the next day, when Lin Guodong woke up, Ning Shu immediately arranged for him to go buy wine and salt.

“Don’t forget to buy a small jar,” Ning Shu reminded him. Making salted duck eggs requires a sealed small jar, and they didn’t have one at home.

“I got it,” Lin Guodong replied.

Seeing Lin Guodong ride away on his bicycle, Ning Shu went to the utility room to fetch some more sweet potatoes, preparing to make sweet potato chips.

She wasn’t in a hurry to earn money on the app anymore; there was still a considerable balance in the app, and it wasn’t enough for an upgrade. So, she wasn’t in a rush to make money anymore.

She had already planned to upgrade the app in the future, in a more advanced technological era.

After making sweet potato chips, she could give them to the three kids as snacks.

Just as Ning Shu was about to wash the sweet potatoes, someone rushed in. “Ning Zhiqing… Ning Zhiqing, have you seen my husband, Daming?”

It was Li Xiaopang.

Ning Shu was somewhat speechless. “I haven’t seen him. Why would you come to ask me?” She and Zhuang Daming had nothing to do with each other.

They had only come into contact two days ago because of the incident in the grove.

“We can’t find Daming. He hasn’t come back since last night, and I… I just came to ask. I’ll leave now.” Li XiaoPang said hurriedly and rushed out.

Zhuang Daming was missing? Ning Shu didn’t understand, so she continued washing the sweet potatoes.

With the three kids out, there was no one to disturb her.

But she hadn’t washed for long before someone else arrived. “Third Daughter-in-law… Third Daughter-in-law..” It was Lin Mother, looking flustered, as if something had happened.

“Mother, why are you here?” Ning Shu was surprised. “Aren’t you working today?”

“I don’t need to work anymore. Most people are idle now, and there’s no work in the fields. Plus, the laborers haven’t gone to work today. The Zhuang family and the Jiang family are looking for the brigade leader.”

She glanced at the neighbors and then asked softly, “The person the children saw in the grove two days ago, was it Jiang Xiaoyue?”

Ning Shu was taken aback. “Why are you asking me that? They didn’t see the person’s face; it was covered by clothes. And why are they looking for the brigade leader? Is it about Daming’s disappearance?”

Lin’s mother said, “Do you know that Zhuang Daming is missing?”

Ning Shu truthfully replied, “Li Xiaopang just came to ask me if I had seen Zhuang Daming. I haven’t talked to him for five years, so how would I know he’s missing?”

“Li Xiaopang went to find the captain. She said Zhuang Daming went out last night and still hasn’t returned,” Lin’s mother said mysteriously.

“According to Li Xiaopang, last night, she vaguely heard a cat meowing outside their window, and then Zhuang Daming got up. She asked him where he was going, and he said he was going to shoo away the cat because it kept him awake. Then she fell asleep again. When she woke up, it was morning, and Zhuang Daming was nowhere to be seen. Then she remembered that Zhuang Daming hadn’t come back since he left last night.”

Ning Shu said, “Where could this big guy have gone? Maybe he’ll be back later.”

Lin’s mother replied, “Grandpa and Grandma Fatty don’t know about this yet. When they come back and find out their son is missing, who knows how they’ll react.”

“Grandpa and Grandma Fatty aren’t here?” Ning Shu asked.

Lin’s mother explained, “Grandma Fatty isn’t feeling well. Early in the morning, Grandpa Fatty took her to see the doctor, and they even went to the brigade leader’s place with an introduction letter. The leader said they left before he even woke up. Maybe they were upset about what happened in Zhuang Daming’s little forest, but Dr. Zheng from our clinic is also here. Why would they go to the town to see a doctor?”

Ning Shu said, “Who knows? But Mom, why did you bring up Jiang Xiaoyue?”

Lin’s mother replied, “The Jiang family is also asking about Jiang Xiaoyue. It’s said that she hasn’t come back since the night before last. Since both of them are missing, one male and one female, I just asked like that.”

She still didn’t know that the scary Aunt Haicai ran into that afternoon was Jiang Xiaoyue.

Hai Cai didn’t know Jiang Xiaoyue.

After all, Jiang Xiaoyue got married a few years ago and only recently returned to her parents’ home. How could he recognize her?

Ning Shu thought Lin’s mother knew something, but it turned out to be about this matter.

“Then I don’t know. If someone can’t be found, you should call the police. It’s more effective to involve the police,” she said.

She didn’t know if the person was Jiang Xiaoyue or not. After all, the two kids could recognize the color of the clothes but not the person wearing them.

That day, Er Bao mentioned seeing the color of that clothes in the field, so if there was no accident, the person was probably someone from the brigade.

If that was the case, then Jiang Xiaoyue was also likely.

“Why go to the mountain to search? Do people just go to the mountain when someone goes missing?” Ning Shu didn’t understand their thinking.

“When someone goes missing here, most likely they’ve gone into the mountain and can’t come out, or they’re injured or something,” Lin’s mother answered.

Seeing her washing so many sweet potatoes and still washing, she squatted down and washed with her, curiously asking, “What are you washing so many sweet potatoes for? Once they get wet, they’ll easily rot.”

Ning Shu replied, “I’m going to peel them, steam them, mash them, add sugar and sesame seeds, and make sweet potato cakes.”

“It sounds so troublesome?” Lin’s mother found it bothersome to add sugar and sesame seeds. “Just steam them until they’re cooked through, then let them dry. Our youngest son used to love these sweet potato cakes. He would always take some with him whenever he went to school. He said eating sweet potato cakes with warm water made him feel full easily. Ah… we were so poor back then, besides sweet potato cakes, there was nothing else to eat.”

Lin Guodong likes to eat sweet potato cakes? ( )

Ning Shu explained: “The sweet potato cakes you’re talking about and the ones I’m talking about are different. The sweet potato cakes I make are made by mashing sweet potatoes into a paste, then spreading them thinly and frying or baking them until they turn golden brown and crispy. It’s similar to potato chips, just not as thin.”

Lin’s mother felt even more perplexed: “You city folks are really particular about food.”

Frying them too, how much oil would that waste? With the money spent on oil, it would be better to buy something else. However, she also knew that her youngest son’s wife, being from the city, was different from them country folks. If she was particular about something, just let her be, since her youngest son didn’t say anything, what could she, a mother-in-law who had separated households, say?

For her, her youngest son’s wife being like this was already good enough. “Where’s my youngest son? Why haven’t I seen him? And the three kids aren’t here either.”

Ning Shu replied, “The three kids went out to play, and Guodong went to the town to buy white liquor and small liquor jars.”

“Why is he buying white liquor and small liquor jars?” Lin’s mother felt that her youngest son’s wife had too many ideas.

“To make salted duck eggs. We changed so many eggs yesterday, and they’ll go bad if left for too long. If they’re made into salted duck eggs, they can last longer. When Guodong goes back to the army, he can take some with him,” Ning Shu explained, then added, “When the salted duck eggs are ready, you can come and try some.”

Lin’s mother had never heard of salted duck eggs, but she knew about salted duck eggs, so she asked, “Are the salted duck eggs you’re talking about the same as salted duck eggs? I’ve seen salted duck eggs, and the yolks are all oily.”

“Yes, that’s the one, yolks so rich they drip oil,” Ning Shu said.

Listening to this, Lin’s mother’s mouth watered.

Yolks so rich they drip oil, how much oil would that take? It’s not that she lacked knowledge, but making salted duck eggs required alcohol.

In this day and age, who would be willing to use alcohol to pickle eggs? People couldn’t even eat enough, so how could they be so particular? However, “Youngest son’s wife, you know quite a lot. Do all you city folks know how to make this?”

Ning Shu casually replied, “I learned it from my grandmother.” Lin’s mother would surely think it was Ning’s grandmother.

After all, Ning’s grandmother had passed away, and she wouldn’t have a chance to verify it.

Lin’s mother naturally thought so. “Your grandmother must have been quite skilled.”

The two of them had finished washing the sweet potatoes, and Ning Shu went to get a knife, intending to peel the sweet potatoes.

“Do they need to be peeled too?” Lin’s mother looked at so many sweet potatoes. If they all needed to be peeled, it would take quite a bit of time.

Ning Shu replied, “Yes, if you’re going to mash them into sweet potato paste, they need to be peeled.”

“In that case, I’ll go back and get the knife. I’ll help you,” Lin’s mother said.

Ning Shu didn’t refuse. It would indeed take a long time for one person to do it all.

Although she originally planned to do it slowly, if Lin’s mother could help, she was willing. “Mom, do you have any sesame seeds?”

“I’ll bring some back for you,” Lin’s mother said.

When Lin Guodong returned home on his bicycle, he saw his mother and wife peeling sweet potatoes in the yard, almost thinking he had gone to the wrong house.

Although Ning Shu was doing well now, he never thought his mother and Ning Shu could get along peacefully.

“You’re back. Did you buy the liquor and small jars?” Ning Shu got up to look at what was in the basket.

Lin Guodong parked his bicycle and took out the small jars and other things from inside. “I bought them all. These are the small jars. They were originally used for storing liquor. Since I bought liquor, and the liquor in the jar is almost gone, I decided to pay a deposit of one yuan and rent it. I’ll return it when it’s used up.”

“This liquor jar is perfect.” Ning Shu actually wanted this kind of small-mouthed liquor jar, but they didn’t have one. This type of small-mouthed liquor jar was just right for her to reach into and put the eggs in one by one. “I’ll go pickle the eggs, and you can scrape the sweet potato skins.”

“Okay,” Lin Guodong didn’t ask much, he sat down and started scraping sweet potato skins with Lin’s mother.

The liquor jar wasn’t big or heavy, so even though Ning Shu wasn’t very strong, she could easily lift it. She first washed the inside and outside of the liquor jar outside, then let it dry, and went back to the kitchen to prepare saltwater.

She made her salted duck eggs by soaking them in saltwater. She didn’t know any other method.

In the kitchen, Ning Shu boiled saltwater. After stirring the saltwater thoroughly, she poured it into a wooden basin to let it cool down. Saltwater for pickling eggs needed to be cooled down.

As the saltwater was cooling down, Ning Shu realized it was almost time to prepare lunch, so she didn’t go outside. But when she finished making lunch and went out, she saw only Lin Guodong scraping sweet potato skins by himself.

“Did Mom leave?” She had planned to ask Lin’s mother to join them for lunch.

After all, she had been busy all morning, and Ning Shu didn’t want her efforts to go to waste.

“She left, went back to make lunch,” Lin Guodong replied.

“I was going to ask Mom to come down for lunch. Without her help, these sweet potatoes won’t be cleaned up so quickly.” Ning Shu glanced at the yard’s entrance, and the children hadn’t come back yet.

“Next time,” Lin Guodong said.

“Okay.” Ning Shu went to the utility room to get a basket and a chopping knife. After washing them, she went to the kitchen to get a cutting board.

Then she cut the peeled sweet potatoes into pieces and put them in the basket. “After these sweet potatoes are steamed in the afternoon, if you want to mash them into sweet potato paste, I remember there’s a stone mortar in the village. Using a stone mortar to mash sweet potato paste is faster.”

“We have one. It’s our custom here to make sesame cakes during Qingming Festival,” Lin Guodong said.

“Yes, that’s the one.” Speaking of sesame cakes, Ning Shu hadn’t eaten them in a long time.

In her previous life, she even organized group buys for sesame cakes.

This kind of specialty food for fake holidays always sold out.

In casual conversation, the couple worked together efficiently, one scraping sweet potato skins, the other cutting sweet potatoes.

“Mom…”

“Mom…”

The three kids came back right on time.

As it’s cold now, Ning Shu didn’t let them go pick firewood in the early morning because the weather was chilly.

There are many trees at the foot of the mountain, and the wind can be quite strong.

She was worried they might get cold.

“You’re back just in time for lunch. Even the alarm clock isn’t as punctual as you guys,” Ning Shu said.

“My tummy told me it’s time to come back for lunch,” Er Bao said.

Ning Shu teased, “Your tummy is quite powerful. Why isn’t mine as powerful as yours?”

Er Bao thought he was being praised and grinned happily.

But Yi Bao asked, “Mom, did Zhuang Xiaopang’s dad go missing?”

“I don’t know,” Ning Shu asked again, “Why do you say that?”

Yi Bao honestly replied, “The kids we were playing with today said Zhuang Xiaopang’s dad went missing. I saw Zhuang Xiaopang sitting alone, not playing with everyone else.”

Ning Shu didn’t want to meddle in other people’s affairs, “He might be feeling down or upset. When someone is upset, they don’t want to be disturbed by others. So, you guys play your own games and don’t disturb him, okay?”

Yi Bao nodded, “I won’t go. I don’t like Zhuang Xiaopang.”

Yi Bao rarely expressed his thoughts so subjectively and directly.

His words showed that he really didn’t like Zhuang Xiaopang.

Ning Shu said, “If you don’t like him, then don’t play with him. You can play with Xiaoshan, Xiaoshi, and Haicai.”

“Okay,” Yi Bao seemed to remember something else. “Mom, will Dad go missing too?”

Lin Guodong didn’t stop scraping sweet potato skins and answered firmly, “No.”

If the day comes when he goes missing, it means he’s sacrificed, not deserted.

That’s why his spirit is with them.

But he knows what the children need isn’t just his spirit, but his actual presence.

So he’ll be careful and strive to spend every New Year with them.

“Dad gave Mom the money. If he goes missing, there won’t be money to buy meat. He definitely won’t go missing,” Er Bao said.

Yi Bao thought what his younger brother said made sense, so he stopped worrying about it.

Ning Shu gave Er Bao a proud look, “Our Er Bao is unexpectedly clever today.”

Er Bao’s little tail was starting to wag proudly, “I’m clever every day. Who am I? I’m Lin Er Bao, the twin Lin Er Bao.”

He’s the only twin in the village, which is quite rare.

San Bao looked at the sweet potato in confusion.

He reached into the basket, picked up a piece of sweet potato, and was about to put it in his mouth.

“San Bao, you can’t eat that,” Ning Shu put down the chopping knife and took the sweet potato from his hand. “Are you hungry? Let’s go eat.”

Meanwhile, on a train heading to another city, two figures from Qinglin Bay Brigade were missing:

Zhuang Daming and Jiang Xiaoyue.

Jiang Xiaoyue was worried that their affair would be exposed, and she would be arrested.

She threatened Zhuang Daming to leave with her overnight.

They spent the night at the train station yesterday and left this morning with the introduction letter and money brought by Grandpa and Grandma Xiaopang.

But Xiaopang’s mother still didn’t know about this.

She asked the brigade leader for help and searched on the mountain for a while in the morning but didn’t find Zhuang Daming.

Then, she heard from the grandparents who came back from the hospital that Zhuang Daming might have gone into hiding somewhere.

Recently, because of the spanking incident, everyone was gossiping about him behind his back.

Xiaopang’s mother thought it was possible and didn’t continue searching!