Chapter 77 – 1975

There was no snow this winter.

To be precise, there was no snow in Linhe City, but you could see white snow on the surrounding higher areas.

The snow fell on the ground, leaves, and rocks, forming a thin layer that was almost gone in less than half a day.

Although there was no snow, Wen Jiajia did not feel that the weather this year was much warmer than in previous years. The wind was still biting, and the frost was as thick as last year.

The stove in Wen Jiajia’s house was burning every day, and the water in the kettle was gurgling non-stop, boiling and stopping. It wasn’t all for drinking—oh no, not all the water in the kettle was for drinking. Boiling water for too long is harmful, and it was mostly used to warm hands.

After Wen Jiajia’s “tireless” efforts, the family now had six hand warmers. This was only after she tried her best to control the amount!

Wen Jiajia thought it was too few, but Wei Dai felt it was excessive. He couldn’t understand why there were so many hand warmers at home.

“Well… are our hand warmers defective?” Wei Dai asked one day.

Looking at the hand warmers lined up on the coffee table, waiting for Wen Jiajia to fill them with hot water one by one, Wei Dai felt that this was the only explanation.

Huh! This was an explanation she had never considered.

Wen Jiajia was stunned for a moment, then quickly covered up, pretending it was normal: “Yes, I bought them from Lao Yu as defective products. Didn’t you see the pattern? It’s a bit broken, and there’s a piston. I always feel like there’s a crack. If they weren’t defective, I wouldn’t have bought so many.”

Wei Dai couldn’t really identify where the pattern was broken or where the piston was cracked. These six hand warmers were obviously in good condition.

He looked at Wen Jiajia with suspicion but reluctantly believed his wife’s explanation.

He didn’t suspect anything specific; he just wondered if his wife was secretly reselling and collaborating with her friends in the department store to do something unscrupulous!

Wei Dai said, “The situation has been a little tense lately. It’s better to stop doing some things.”

The family wasn’t short of money.

“Go on!” Wen Jiajia kicked him and joked, though he actually guessed some of her ideas correctly.

Of course, she wasn’t collaborating with people in the department store, because that would have been a major problem if discovered.

Especially during this period of panic when everyone was on edge, if Lao Yu and his team were caught, at best they would be reassigned or lose their jobs, and at worst, they would be imprisoned. Even if they dared, Wen Jiajia wouldn’t risk joining them.

But making a few hand warmers herself and using the excuse of “buying them for others” was still feasible.

Even if this were discovered, there would be no real fault. After all, asking a neighbor for help with a bottle of soy sauce wasn’t an issue.

Moreover, Wen Jiajia only did business with people she knew, selling hand warmers to acquaintances. The price and style were exactly the same as those sold in supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores, so even her acquaintances wouldn’t think she was speculating.

After all, the price wasn’t raised, so how could she make any money?

So, after one winter, Wen Jiajia made a modest profit from selling hand warmers.

She secretly counted it at work two days ago and found she had earned 88 yuan and 10 industrial tickets.

At this time, anyone involved in the industry could make a lot of money, almost as much as her two-month salary.

This was also because Wen Jiajia had a wide network. She had sold to pharmaceutical factories and medical glass manufacturers, as well as several chemical factories. The largest group of buyers was actually from the army. Half of the hand warmers went to the army, and the families of soldiers thought she had cleared out all the goods from the supply and marketing cooperative.

Aside from hand warmers, Wen Jiajia used her other synthesis opportunities to make cement.

So far, she has synthesized a total of 663 kilograms of cement, all stored in the system.

The system was updated with a new function in early November that allowed you to choose whether to save the synthesized products or not.

At first glance, it seems like there is “storage space,” but in reality, it’s not, because only products synthesized by the system can be stored. Once taken out, they can’t be returned.

This function is useful but also somewhat limited.

However, it was quite useful at the moment.

Wen Jiajia decided to synthesize more cement in the next two years. Cement is needed for building everything, and before the 1990s, it was always in short supply.

Speaking of hand warmers, at this moment, Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were each holding a hand warmer, and they also shared a hand warmer on their feet. They were curled up on the sofa, waiting for the chicken soup on the stove to be ready.

It didn’t matter if they didn’t buy a chicken before the New Year. At worst, they could just kill a chicken. They still had two chickens at home.

Wei Dai got up this morning and killed a chicken, then secretly arranged a table full of chicken, duck, fish, meat, and fruit to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. Wen Jiajia then put the chicken in the stove and let it simmer over low heat.

The family hadn’t had chicken soup for a long time, and the rich aroma lured the two sisters, who had been hiding inside, out into the kitchen.

Of course, Wen Jiajia suspected they were drawn out by the prospect of New Year’s treats. Were they not lounging on the sofa now, munching on five-spice beans and butterfly cakes?

It was really puzzling why they liked butterfly pastries so much. They ate them almost every day and hadn’t tired of them even after a year or two.

“Eat less, we have a big dinner tonight!” Wen Jiajia said, moving a basket of hot buns to the table. “Don’t overeat. If you snack too much today, you’ll spoil your appetite for the main meal!”

“I won’t have food stagnation. I have a voracious appetite,” Wen Xuan replied, shaking her head while holding shrimp chips. “I can eat a whole table of food in one go.”

Wen Jiajia responded, “You’ve gone crazy from reading those stories.”

Recently, Wen Chun had acquired an old picture book about supernatural tales, which she enjoyed reading despite its age.

When they encountered unfamiliar words, they would ask others. However, the word “Taotie^[1]is a mythological creature from ancient Chinese folklore and art. It’s often depicted as a fearsome, greedy beast with a distinctive face featuring bulging eyes and a gaping mouth, sometimes … Continue reading” had stumped their uncle-in-law.

Wei Dai was quite embarrassed, but since Wen Jiajia wasn’t home at the time, he couldn’t get help.

He wickedly shifted the blame, telling Wen Chun to ask Xie Yang next door, claiming that Uncle Xie, having attended junior high school, would definitely know the answer.

As expected, Xie Yang was also stumped.

In the end, it was Teacher Shen who came to their rescue, but this only added to their humiliation.

On New Year’s Eve, Wen Jiajia wasn’t concerned about their insistence on eating snacks. At least when it was time to eat, there would be enough for everyone.

Currently, there were steaming buns in the pot: sauerkraut pork buns and diced bamboo shoots pork buns.

Wen Jiajia had already steamed a batch of buns. She braved the heat to pick one of each type, breaking them open to taste.

“Mmm—delicious!”

The sauerkraut buns were oily but not greasy because the acid in the sauerkraut balanced the greasiness, and the oil enhanced the sauerkraut’s flavor.

The bamboo shoots buns were a staple in their home. Bamboo shoots were a must in their dumplings.

In winter, they used fresh winter bamboo shoots, which were readily available from the mountains.

Winter bamboo shoots are delicious. Diced and mixed with meat, onions, and dried mushrooms, they create a filling where the flavors blend together, making it even more delightful than sauerkraut meat buns.

After eating two buns, the hunger from her morning work finally eased a bit.

She had started her day at 7:30 AM and hadn’t rested since!

After breakfast, she kneaded dough, stir-fried filling, made chicken soup, prepared pickled pork with preserved vegetables, chopped duck, and peeled quail eggs. Her hands were wrinkled from all the work.

Since Wen Jiajia became the head of the family, she understood why her parents disliked celebrating the Chinese New Year. The preparation of a large feast was exhausting.

“Chun’er, help me get two handfuls of dried bamboo fungus from the utility room. If you don’t know how much that is, just count out 15.”

“Xuanxuan, go next door to Teacher Shen’s house and get a frying pan. Teacher Shen borrowed ours, and I need it now…”

Wen Jiajia couldn’t stand seeing the two children lounging around, so she assigned them tasks.

The children were cozy under their blankets and were reluctant to get up.

But Wen Jiajia’s instructions were non-negotiable, so they got up reluctantly.

Wen Chun, who could read, went to the utility room, stood in front of the cupboard, opened the drawer labeled “dried bamboo fungus,” and counted out 15 pieces.

“Auntie, the bamboo fungus net is so fragile,” she called out.

“It doesn’t matter, just take out the broken ones too.”

The skirt and stipe of bamboo fungus have different tastes. Wen Jiajia and Wei Dai preferred the crispy and juicy stipe, while Wen Chun and Wen Xuan liked the skirt that resembled a net.

Soak the dried bamboo fungus in warm water and add it to the chicken soup that had been simmering for over an hour.

Soon after, Wen Xuan returned.

“Why did it take so long to get a frying pan?” Wen Jiajia asked, pinching Wen Xuan’s chubby cheeks. “Tell me, what delicious food did you have at Teacher Shen’s place?”

Wen Xuan smiled and said, “We had donkey rolls^[2]is a traditional Chinese dish. It consists of a savory pancake or dough roll filled with various ingredients like pork, vegetables, and sometimes spices.. Auntie, do you know what donkey rolls are? You probably don’t. Let me remind you, it has nothing to do with donkey meat.”

“I don’t know what they are, but it might be bean flour cake.”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes, thinking, “What’s the point of looking down on others? I replicated this old capital snack in my previous life.”

The taste was average and not to her liking. Perhaps she made it too sweet, as she didn’t like sticky and sweet food.

Wen Xuan looked surprised: “Aunt, have you been to the capital?”

“Do you need to go to the capital to know what donkey rolls are? Silly girl, I should have told you to read more books and newspapers, eat fewer snacks, and sleep more.” Wen Jiajia raised her eyebrows and gave her a lesson.

For Wen Xuan, this was advice that suited her perfectly.

She was greedy and noisy. Unlike Wen Chun, who liked reading, Wen Xuan didn’t and slept less every day, but had the energy to run around.

Wei Dai happened to come back and couldn’t help laughing when he heard this. “Xuanxuan, your aunt is serious this time. You should listen.”

Wen Jiajia snorted and lifted her chin slightly. “When have I ever said anything other than serious? I’ve always been a serious person.”

Wei Dai laughed. “Okay!”

As he spoke, he placed the items in his hand on the stove.

“What’s this?” Wen Jiajia leaned over to see.

Wei Dai replied, “New Year’s goods.”

“Wow! You brought New Year’s goods this year. Let me see what they are.” Wen Jiajia quickly pushed him aside and untied the two bags.

“What’s this?” Wen Jiajia asked, as she looked at the contents of the bags Wei Dai had brought. One bag contained a quarter of a pressed duck, and the other held two apples.

Wei Dai pointed outside and said, “There’s still one piece of sugar cane left, which isn’t too little.”

Indeed, it was not a small amount, given that it included meat and fruit, which had been rare in previous years.

Wen Jiajia took out the pressed duck and examined it. It smelled salty and fragrant. “It looks like it should last a week. Let’s hang it on the beam and eat it after a week.”

With plenty of food available at home, they didn’t need the pressed duck right away.

Wei Dai nodded and rolled up his sleeves to start making dumplings with her. The two worked together, and their efficiency was much higher. Soon, they had turned all the dough into plump, white dumplings. They were steaming the dumplings as they wrapped them, leaving only the last two steamers to be steamed.

Half an hour later, the kitchen was filled with white mist, and the aroma of the buns wafted through the house.

Sister Bao, a staunch fan of Northeastern sauerkraut, could smell the sauerkraut in the buns even from more than ten meters away. With an awkward smile and a plate of chive dumplings, she exchanged them for six sauerkraut buns from Wen Jiajia’s home.

She preferred chive dumplings over sauerkraut buns.

So, for lunch on New Year’s Eve, there were two types of buns: leek dumplings and the already stewed pickled pork with preserved vegetables.

They finished the New Year’s Eve lunch with the bright and flavorful pickled pork soup.

As they ate, snowflakes began to fall outside. They were so small that they melted before hitting the ground, lasting only half a minute before turning into little water stains.

Wen Chun was initially surprised but then disappointed. “I was hoping to make a snowman.”

Wen Jiajia replied, “Let’s wait until next year. There probably won’t be any more snow today, and even if it does snow, it won’t be heavy.”

In the evening, the table was filled with food.

As time passed, Wen Chun almost forgot about the events from when her parents were alive. Reflecting on it more than ten years later, she only remembered that the New Year’s Eve dinners were always sumptuous.

“Come on, let’s drink!”

Wen Jiajia had bought eight bottles of soda, which had been cooling outside. They were finally opened.

The sound of clinking glass bottles was crisp and cheerful, and the four of them said in unison, “Happy New Year——”

The last red persimmon on the top of the persimmon tree next door was pecked down by a bird. With the old year gone and the new year arriving, a fresh year began.