Chapter 17: Smell the Old Style

Before starting work, Wei Dai went to Fang Baoguo to discuss the matter.

On the way to work, Wen Jiajia heard that their brigade was going to buy a batch of fish from Hegou Township.

The team members were happy about it.

Nothing else mattered, just the fact that there would be meat to eat.

Fish was meat, and the fish and tofu dish in the canteen yesterday had been a pleasant surprise for the team members, let alone large pieces of fish.

The autumn harvest was truly grueling.

And the human body’s adaptability was remarkable.

Even though Wen Jiajia had suffered from heat stroke yesterday, breathing the fresh air of the fields now was somewhat refreshing.

She thought she might survive for a while longer.

Let’s go!

Wen Jiajia encouraged herself and prepared to cut.

In a short time, besides the sound of rice harvesting in the field, there was the sound of threshing.

Immersed in this environment, it was easy to lose oneself and rely solely on instinct to repeat actions.

For a moment, she didn’t know what year it was, but she felt like the same person she was while harvesting rice in her previous life.

The same autumn, the same actions.

Wen Jiajia remembered filming glutinous rice cakes. It had taken her half a year to film the growth of rice, and that video eventually brought her millions of views, making her a celebrity blogger.

When her head felt dizzy, and she relied on instinct to keep going, Fang Baoguo approached her.

His eyes were clear, and after a bit of inquiry, he said to Wen Jiajia, “Jiajia, from tomorrow on, you’ll be responsible for going to Hegou Township every morning to fetch fish.”

Wen Jiajia was stunned at first, then reacted, propped up her thighs, and nodded. “Okay.”

Fang Baoguo didn’t ask much about her relationship with Wei Dai. Wasn’t it obvious that single man and woman could have any relationship?

Sigh! Wen Jiajia managed to get 6 jobs done yesterday, and he was reluctant to let her go to fetch fish. He should have assigned a few people to get 4 or 5 points.

Fang Baoguo left slowly. 

Wen Jiajia then grinned at his back as he walked farther and farther away.

The exhaustion from her whole body was swept away. She pumped her arms and had the strength to cut the rice again.

Learning to drive a cart was not an easy thing.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t rely on Wei Dai for everything. He had already shown her an easy path, and she had to put in some effort.

So in the evening, after dinner, Wen Jiajia learned how to drive a cart in a large open space at the entrance of the village.

The village had two donkeys, and they relied on them to transport goods and materials within the village.

The one who came to teach her was Fang Qing’an, Fang Baoguo’s eldest son and the village coachman.

To avoid suspicion, he also brought his wife. And Wen Jiajia studied very seriously to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

“This is Daqiang, and its brother is Erqiang. Their grandmother was the first generation of donkeys in our village, and they’ve grown up here since they were born, so don’t be afraid of it,” Fang Qing’an said, hugging the donkey’s neck and asking Wen Jiajia to touch it. He also let Daqiang familiarize himself with Wen Jiajia’s smell.

Wen Jiajia was not afraid at all. She first touched its body with the palm of her hand along the hair. Then she touched its forehead, and finally placed her palm in front of its nose.

The donkey’s hair wasn’t soft, and there was a smell when she got closer. But it didn’t matter; she’d rather smell the stench than cut rice in the field.

“Good,” Fang Qing’an praised. “If you’re not afraid, driving a donkey cart is actually very easy. I’ll teach you a few commands to control Daqiang later.”

Wen Jiajia smiled. “Next, we set up the cart?”

To be able to drive a donkey cart, one had to know how to set up the cart first. Wen Jiajia had once tried to set up an ox cart, so she wasn’t completely clueless.

“That’s a saddle,” Wen Jiajia pointed to a wooden item and, without waiting for Fang Qing’an’s instructions, placed the saddle on the donkey’s back very carefully.

Fang Qing’an said, “Clever! My wife can’t set up a cart by herself yet, but you seem to be learning quickly.”

Wen Jiajia replied with a smile, “My sister-in-law’s skills are in needlework. No one in our village can compare to her in that.”

This wasn’t an exaggeration. Fang Qing’an’s wife, Lin Ying, had exceptional needlework skills. She could sew clothes so neatly it looked like they were made by a sewing machine. She could also embroider flowers, birds, and other designs.

The original owner’s eldest sister was friends with Lin Ying. When the eldest sister got married, Lin Ying had given her a pair of mandarin duck red pillowcases. This pair of pillowcases could easily sell for tens of thousands after decades.

Wen Jiajia guessed that Lin Ying’s family must have been well-off in the past; otherwise, she wouldn’t have such excellent skills.

In addition to the saddle, Wen Jiajia also knew where the broadbands on the ground should be installed.

As for the rest, she needed Fang Qing’an’s guidance.

“This is an iron comb, for grooming the donkey. If Daqiang gets stubborn on the road and won’t move, don’t force it. It has a bad temper and needs to be coaxed.”

“And this is the brake.”

“That’s the harness, and this is a whip… Don’t be reluctant to use it. Er Qiang is okay, but Daqiang needs both coaxing and a little discipline. It has a lot of strength and thick skin; it won’t get hurt easily. It’s much better than its younger brother.”

Fang Qing’an introduced the tools one by one, and Wen Jiajia kept them in mind, then began to practice.

It was challenging in practice, with the biggest problem being how to keep the donkey in place.

“Phew!”

Wen Jiajia noticed that Fang Qing’an had given a command to the donkey during the actual operation.

“I think I understand,” Wen Jiajia’s eyes lit up. “Brother Qing’an, it doesn’t move when you shout ‘huh’.”

Fang Qing’an fastened the saddle to the donkey’s back and said, “Yes! It was trained from a young age. You can’t shout softly, as if you haven’t eaten. Then it won’t listen and will act proud! You have to shout firmly.”

Wen Jiajia nodded, making a mental note.

She thought she couldn’t just remember it, so she cleared her throat and said “huh” loudly. Daqiang’s restless legs stood quietly again.

Perhaps Daqiang was unfamiliar with her voice, and after a while, it became restless again.

Wen Jiajia shouted again. It moved, and she shouted again.

In the end, Wen Jiajia shouted until she was almost coughing, and Daqiang finally became familiar with her voice and the commands she gave.

Lin Ying watched and laughed from the side, thinking that Wen Jiajia was a very capable girl. It seemed she’d be able to manage the task soon.

“If you want it to move, shout ‘drive’!”

“Drive!” Wen Jiajia shouted, but Daqiang didn’t react.

Wen Jiajia thought for a moment, then leaned over to it, grabbed the reins, walked forward, and shouted, “Drive!”

Daqiang followed her around.

Finally, Fang Qing’an taught her the command to turn. Each direction had a different command, but fortunately, it wasn’t complicated, and Wen Jiajia quickly became proficient.

Now she was getting the hang of it.

She untied the frame, took off all the items from Daqiang, then led Daqiang a short distance away, turned around, and led him back.

“Good!” Daqiang didn’t run wild, so Wen Jiajia gently patted it and gave it a carrot.

At the designated position, it was necessary to pull Daqiang into the cart.

Wen Jiajia held the reins in one hand, picked up the items on the ground with the other, and placed them on the donkey.

The saddle is a bit heavy, but other than that, it’s fine.

It took three minutes, from being in a hurry to not being in a hurry, Wen Jiajia finally learned the skill of setting up a cart.

Finally, she jumped into the cart, sat in front of the board, held the reins, and walked forward after a “drive.”

If you call “Woo,” it will stop, and then shout “Drive,” and it will go. Turning inward and outward, and walking to the left and right can also be distinguished.

Wen Jiajia was immediately complacent, seeing how smart she was; she learned it as soon as she tried!

Tsk, who needs Wei Dai to accompany her anymore?

The next day, early in the morning.

In autumn, you can feel a little cool every morning. The fog in the mountains is thick and often does not disperse until the sun rises.

There was a “squeak” as the backyard door opened. Wen Jiajia stretched and went out to pick vegetables.

Yesterday, she had been busy practicing driving, and she didn’t pick any vegetables.

The cabbage in the field was growing taller and taller, not as tender as when it was first eaten, but it had become much more palatable.

After eating this batch, she had to clear a ridge or two of land to grow vegetables for the winter.

Winters are generally not too cold, and even if it snows, it rarely snows heavily enough to affect the vegetables in the garden.

Wen Jiajia planned to plant garlic seedlings, which are needed to fry various meat dishes in winter. She also planned to plant winter vegetables, but they need to be soaked in plant ash to be delicious, and she couldn’t control the amount and would have to ask others.

The rest of the cabbage, not to mention the radish, was all planted by her. She had a lot of seeds for these vegetables at home, so she didn’t have to go to the commune to buy them again.

She would eat sweet potato flour this morning.

The Fuyang Brigade planted a lot of sweet potatoes, and the local people liked to make sweet potato flour to eat. There was even a small sweet potato flour processing workshop in the village.

Wen Jiajia understood that Wen Chun and Wen Xuan liked pasta but couldn’t do without rice, and if they were asked to eat two more meals, they would ask if there was no rice at home.

Wen Jiajia preferred flour to pasta, and when she found out that she had sweet potato flour at home, she didn’t know how surprised she was.

The key was that the sweet potato flour at this time did not have any musty smell; it was smooth to eat and soft and hard. Even if you boiled the clear soup powder, the soup base was still clear and odorless.

Wen Jiajia left the garden with two handfuls of washed cabbage, and when she returned to the kitchen, she began to cook the noodles.

She soaked the sweet potato flour in boiling water until it softened before cooking.

Wen Jiajia didn’t use a big cauldron, but a small cauldron that she synthesized. She fried the eggs in a small pan and poured the boiling water into them after the egg liquid had solidified and slightly charred.

Just listen to the sound of “zila,” the hot water turned from clear to thick white, and the egg pieces were tumbling in the water.

Wen Jiajia put sweet potato flour and cabbage into it, added salt, and boiled it to eat.

Taking a bite, she thought, Hey! It lacks MSG.

I don’t know when I’ll be able to eat MSG.

Thinking of this, Wen Jiajia suddenly had an idea. Could she try to synthesize MSG?

The main ingredient of MSG is glutamate, and she wondered if it could be synthesized using wheat and corn.

The sudden thought was remembered by her, but after thinking about it, she realized she would be able to eat it in a few years and could endure it for now.

She followed this line of thought and wondered what else she could synthesize.

“It’s time to eat!”

Wen Jiajia shouted to the room after dividing the sweet potato and egg noodles, and after a while, she heard the sound of the two girls moving.

“Auntie will make something delicious at noon today. I’ll bring you back for dinner,” Wen Jiajia said to the two girls.

The two children were struggling with chopsticks and were not yet able to eat slippery sweet potato flour with them.

When they heard Jiajia’s words, their eyes lit up.

“Really?”

“It couldn’t be more true!”

To celebrate that she had half a day off from cutting rice, she decided to make a big meal.

Of course, there was also the reason that if the meat wasn’t eaten soon, it would go bad.

After all, the weather was still hot, and even if a lot of salt was used, the meat was on the verge of spoiling.

Thinking of this, Wen Jiajia was helpless. She would rather use this synthesis system to exchange for a space that could preserve food; that would be the most practical Goldfinger!