Chapter 83: Chicken Stew with Mushrooms

Liu Yinyin carefully observed the fields in Wangjia Village. Although they were dry, the situation wasn’t as severe as in Liujia Village. If nothing unexpected happened, the autumn harvest should still be decent.

Wangjia Village had a lot of farmland, and since the villagers often went to the orchard to earn some extra money, their standard of living was relatively good.

Along the way, Liu Yinyin noticed several brick houses, unlike Liujia Village, where all the houses were made of mud.

At noon, the village secretary and his family were at home. The village secretary’s house was large and built with bricks and tiles.

Zhao Jianguo, being the person in charge of the orchard, frequently visited Wangjia Village to hire workers, so he was quite familiar with the village secretary.

The village secretary was an elderly man in his sixties.

Upon hearing their purpose for coming, he quickly invited them in and called his wife to prepare some food for them in the kitchen.

Both Gu Cheng and Zhao Jianguo had notable backgrounds, making them rare and distinguished guests. Naturally, the village secretary wanted to host them properly.

Seeing this, Liu Yinyin quickly declined, saying, “Village Secretary, there’s no need to trouble Auntie. I can cook myself.”

They had come unannounced, so it wouldn’t be right to impose on their hosts for a meal. Borrowing the kitchen was enough—Liu Yinyin could handle the cooking.

“That’s right, Village Secretary, we can’t let Auntie cook for us. We’ll do it ourselves,” Zhao Jianguo added.

He had brought two wild pheasants along, one for their own meal.

The other pheasant was meant as compensation for their lunch since they didn’t have any grain with them.

Gu Cheng held his son while Liu Yinyin went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

The village secretary sent his wife over to help her.

After Zhao Jianguo finished slaughtering the chicken, he began discussing the wild boar tracks they had discovered in the mountains.

Hearing that wild boars might come down into the village, the elderly village secretary’s legs almost went weak from fear. Frowning, he said, “The crops in the fields are nearly ready for harvest. We can’t let the wild boars ruin them.”

For farmers, grain was their lifeline. This year’s weather had already been unfavorable, and the villagers had exhausted themselves carrying water to save their crops.

Although the harvest wouldn’t be as good as previous years, at least they wouldn’t end up with nothing.

The entire village depended on these crops for their food supply in the coming year. If wild boars came and destroyed them now, it would be as disastrous as taking their lives.

Zhao Jianguo, being from a rural background himself, understood how important the crops were to the farmers. He immediately volunteered, “If you need help, we have experience. We can join you in tracking down the wild boars.”

The village secretary agreed without hesitation, saying, “If you’re willing to help, that would be fantastic.”

Not only had both men served in the military, but just by looking at their strong builds, he could tell they were highly capable.

The village also had a few militia members, but compared to Gu Cheng and Zhao Jianguo, they were as thin as monkeys—he was too embarrassed to even mention them.

Hunting wild boars was a major task. Two or three people wouldn’t be enough; for safety reasons, they needed to gather more people.

Without delay, the village secretary took his two sons and went around the village, beating drums to call for volunteers.

In the kitchen, the village secretary’s wife handed Liu Yinyin a bag of cornmeal, along with some eggplants, potatoes, and cucumbers.

Liu Yinyin asked for a handful of dried wild mushrooms, planning to make three dishes: chicken stew with mushrooms, braised eggplant with potatoes, and a cucumber salad.

Since she was using someone else’s kitchen, she was careful not to use too much oil while cooking.

The main staple was cornmeal steamed buns.

The village secretary’s wife noticed that Liu Yinyin was fair-skinned and attractive, and she was generous with her seasonings while cooking.

Even though Liu Yinyin had already been frugal with the ingredients, the village secretary’s wife still found her cooking a bit extravagant.

The woman was talkative and curiously asked, “Young lady, you must be from the city, right?”

Liu Yinyin chuckled and replied, “Auntie, just call me Yinyin. My family has been poor farmers for three generations—we’re not city folks.”

“You don’t look like one,” the village secretary’s wife said, widening her eyes in surprise. “Girls in the village don’t have such fair skin like yours.”

After saying that, she couldn’t help but inquire further, “That tall man from earlier—is he your husband? What does he do for a living?”

She had been utterly amazed by the couple. They were both attractive, tall, and even had a chubby little boy.

This family was simply outstanding!

Liu Yinyin smiled shyly and replied, “He… is a factory worker.”

“Oh, I knew it!” The village secretary’s wife clapped her hands excitedly. “I could tell you two aren’t ordinary people. So he really has a job in the city!”

She didn’t yet know that Gu Cheng was actually a deputy factory director. But in the eyes of rural folks, even an ordinary factory worker was impressive.

In those days, a single factory worker’s income was enough to support an entire family.

Liu Yinyin forced a smile and quickly changed the topic. “Auntie, can I trade some wild pheasant eggs for two regular chicken eggs? I want to make an egg custard for my son.”

Gu Yanyan was still young, and Liu Yinyin didn’t dare feed him wild pheasant eggs.

Gu Cheng and Zhao Jianguo had gathered a whole bag of wild pheasant eggs in the mountains earlier—twelve in total. Liu Yinyin had brought them all with her.

“Of course, that’s no problem.” The village secretary’s wife took a key from her pocket and unlocked a cabinet, revealing a small basket of eggs inside.

She picked out two large ones for Liu Yinyin and waved her hand dismissively. “Just two eggs—you don’t need to trade anything for them.”

Since Liu Yinyin and her husband were guests brought by Zhao Jianguo, the village secretary’s family was naturally inclined to treat them well out of courtesy.

Besides, two eggs weren’t worth much—how could they possibly take anything in exchange?

Liu Yinyin thought for a moment and then asked, “Auntie, do you have a spare room?”

The village secretary’s wife was taken aback. “Why?”

Liu Yinyin explained, “Actually, we came from the neighboring county. Originally, we just planned to pick some fruit from the mountains and leave. But now that my husband has found traces of wild boars, he wants to stay and hunt them.

Since we likely won’t be able to make it back today, we were hoping to find a place to stay in the village for the night.”

The village secretary’s wife nodded in understanding. “Oh, I see. Well, then, why don’t you stay at our place tonight? I’ll clear out a room for you.”

The village secretary and his wife had three sons and two daughters. Their daughters were already married off, and their sons had all married and started families of their own.

With a house full of grandchildren—some already as old as eighteen—there was no shortage of people in their home.

“I’ll have my four granddaughters squeeze into their parents’ room for the night. That way, we can free up a room for you.”

The girls’ room was clean, and with just a little tidying up, it would be suitable for guests.

Liu Yinyin was deeply grateful and handed the village secretary’s wife two yuan. “Auntie, thank you so much for your help.”

After all, she knew that accepting kindness meant repaying it later. Their family of three would be eating and staying overnight—it wouldn’t feel right to freeload off someone else’s hospitality.