Chapter 40: Liu Dazheng and The Big Meat Bun

As usual, after finishing her work that day, Ming Dai lent her awl to Fang Rou. She then went to find Aunt Huang to ask if there were any craftsmen in the village who knew how to weave.

Soon, Aunt Huang recommended a family.

Following Aunt Huang’s directions, Ming Dai knocked on the door at the end of the village.

“The door isn’t locked, just push it open,” said Aunt Huang.

Ming Dai gave it a try, and sure enough, the door opened with a push.

Once inside, Ming Dai looked down immediately and saw a man lying on the muddy ground at the entrance.

The man’s name was Liu Dazheng. He was of the same generation as Liu Dazhu but a bit younger.

His disability had been with him since childhood. His body grew taller, but his legs and feet never developed properly, and he lacked strength in them.

It was actually polio, also known as poliomyelitis.

Usually, it would occur in children before the age of five, and it was likely that he hadn’t received treatment at the time.

Such cases were not uncommon in rural areas, and almost every village had one.

There was an old saying that it was a family’s lack of virtue, which was believed to be passed on to the child, but in reality, it was an acute infectious disease in children.

Later on, during childhood, kids would take sugar pills, so the condition was eliminated. However, the medical level at the time was far from sufficient.

“Excuse me, is this Uncle Dazheng?” Ming Dai asked.

Liu Dazheng looked up and saw an unfamiliar face.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Since he rarely went out and only worked at home, he became one of the few people in Liujiawan who hadn’t been beaten by Zhou Sinian, so he didn’t recognize her.

“I’d like to place an order for some items: four large mats, the kind used for drying goods in the sun; these can be pre-made if you have them; two kang mats, which are not urgent, they can be delivered by next spring; three door curtains, also for use next spring. I’ll also choose a few baskets.”

With so many items, Liu Dazheng was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with joy. “Sure, sure, the mats are over there, and the baskets are here. You can take a look yourself.”

Ming Dai nodded and led Zhou Sinian over. “Take a look, pick whatever you like, and we’ll buy it.”

This was Zhou Sinian’s first time having the option to choose what to buy, and he happily rummaged through the baskets.

Ming Dai, feeling a bit embarrassed, spoke up, “If you break anything, we’ll pay for it.”

Liu Dazheng shook his head. People rarely visited him here. The villagers avoided him, thinking he was an unlucky person, and didn’t want their children near him. The only visitors were the team leader, who would sometimes stop by to bring him food, and his nephew, who came by to check if he was still alive so he could inherit his courtyard.

It was rare for two young people to come by, and Liu Dazheng couldn’t help but feel a bit more cheerful.

In the end, Zhou Sinian chose a back basket.

The reason was simple: it was the largest one, and it didn’t look like a toy when he carried it.

Liu Dazheng laughed and said, “This one’s bigger than usual, I made it and just left it there. I didn’t expect to actually find someone it would fit. This young man is really tall!”

Zhou Sinian adjusted the straps, shook the basket a bit, and then unexpectedly thanked Liu Dazheng, who was sitting on the ground.

Ming Dai thought to herself that if the villagers saw this scene, their jaws would probably drop.

It seemed like Liu Dazheng really liked Zhou Sinian. He even suggested changing the straps to a thicker one, saying the current ones were a bit too thin for him.

Zhou Sinian frowned as he listened, and after a while, he agreed. But when it came to choosing the color of the straps, they had a disagreement.

Liu Dazheng’s straps were mostly black, white, or gray, as the village head had gotten them from the textile mills in the commune. There were very few with patterns.

But Zhou Sinian wanted a floral-patterned strap.

Liu Dazheng, seeing the bright red headscarf on the young man’s head, understood but couldn’t find any floral fabric after searching.

Just as they were getting anxious, Ming Dai pulled a piece of floral fabric out of her bag, which solved their problem.

Watching the tall and short, old and young pair getting along so well, Ming Dai felt reassured and went off to choose other items.

By the time she finished choosing, Liu Dazheng had already finished making the straps.

Ming Dai was impressed by his sewing skills, which were just as neat as those made by a sewing machine.

Liu Dazheng felt pleased to be praised for his craftsmanship.

Zhou Sinian was happy to have chosen the right back basket, and he was also pleased with the floral straps.

The whole courtyard seemed to be in a good mood.

After calculating the price and asking for Liu Dazheng’s opinion, they paid part of the deposit and agreed to settle the rest with grain.

Liu Dazheng watched Zhou Sinian neatly tie up the items and put them on his back, while the little girl followed behind with a sieve, and his smile grew even more kind.

In an uncommon gesture, Liu Dazheng saw them off, still grinning and not at all worried about them running off without paying.

By the time they reached home, Ming Dai noticed that Zhou Sinian was in a particularly good mood.

“Do you like shopping?” she asked.

Zhou Sinian’s eyes lit up.

Ming Dai chuckled, “Behave well, and I’ll take you to the commune to buy more things.”

Zhou Sinian immediately started putting the items back in place.

Ming Dai glanced at the chestnuts on the ground. Although the sun wasn’t very strong, the wind was strong, and the chestnuts had already dried in the breeze.

With a quick motion, she gathered up the chestnuts.

She asked Zhou Sinian to spread the mats she had just bought out in the courtyard. Once they were laid out, the four mats’ pine nuts were evenly arranged on the ground, basking in the warm sunlight.

Seeing that the weather was nice, Ming Dai decided it was a good time to build the firewood shed.

For this, she would need to find some large tree branches from the mountain.

Before heading out, Ming Dai prepared the dough for the buns. She planned to take advantage of the fact that everyone would be working in the afternoon and steam the buns, so they’d have fresh ones for breakfast in the future.

Ming Dai mixed the dough while Zhou Sinian helped by adding water, and together they kneaded a large bowl of dough.

They put it in a big pot with some water to warm up, then hurried off to Wild Boar Ridge.

Zhou Sinian led the way, and they quickly found some suitable branches at the foot of the mountain. They chopped down eight, stripped off the smaller branches, and Zhou Sinian carried them back home.

On the way back, they happened to cross paths with the people heading back to work. When they saw Zhou Sinian carrying the wood, they quickly steered clear of him.

Once they got home, Ming Dai checked the dough—it still hadn’t risen enough.

So, she used the microwave in her space to heat the buns, opened a can of braised pork to warm up, and made two servings of instant noodles. Zhou Sinian’s eyes sparkled as he ate.

After they finished eating, Ming Dai pulled out a pickaxe and some wire.

She chose a spot, and Zhou Sinian started digging a hole. Ming Dai held the tree stump while he buried it in the ground.

Once the four corners were in place, they used branches to connect the structure, securing it with wire. In no time, a frame with a higher front and lower back was in place.

Zhou Sinian climbed up and began placing boards one by one, securing them with wire. He then added a thick layer of plastic on top and placed another layer of boards over that.

With two layers of protection, the shed would be secure, even in strong winds and snow.

They followed the same steps for the second shed, and after more than two hours, it was finally finished.

Looking at the roof, Ming Dai decided she would go to Aunt Huang’s house sometime to get some straw to cover it. Otherwise, anyone passing by would likely scold her for wasting money.

Once everything was done, the workers headed back to their tasks, and Ming Dai, feeling relieved, began steaming the buns.

Zhou Sinian was eagerly waiting the whole time.

The filling was prepared in her space using a meat grinder, with all the spices perfectly balanced, making the raw filling smell incredibly fragrant.

Ming Dai placed the cutting board on the table and took the dough out of the bowl.

She taught Zhou Sinian how to knead the dough to release the air, while she shaped the little portions and rolled out the wrappers.

She picked up a dumpling wrapper, filled it generously with the filling, and started teaching Zhou Sinian how to wrap the buns.

Sure enough, he picked it up right away. In the end, he managed to create 15 pleats, something even Ming Dai couldn’t do!

“Impressive, my brother!”

She placed the finished buns into the steamer to let them rise. One basket after another was stacked up, and in the end, five baskets were piled on top of each other.

Once they had all expanded, she turned up the heat to start steaming.

After 25 minutes, she turned off the heat and let them sit for another five minutes.

The time was up!

Zhou Sinian couldn’t wait to lift the top lid, and a rush of steam greeted him!

One by one, the plump white buns seemed to wave at him from the steamer, saying, “Come on, come on, come eat me!”

Gulp!

Gulp!

The sound of both of them swallowing in unison filled the air, and Ming Dai couldn’t help but laugh. Zhou Sinian, on the other hand, was getting impatient.

He quickly took the baskets down and placed them on the newly built rack outside to cool.

Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian each grabbed a basket and started munching on the buns.

With the first bite, they both hit the filling, which oozed with delicious juices.

It was incredibly delicious!

Even Ming Dai had to admit that these were the best buns she had ever tasted!

In the end, she ate five large meat buns, while Zhou Sinian devoured more than half a basket!

After they finished, Ming Dai collected the buns into a basket and locked them in the cabinet. That way, even if she wasn’t home, Zhou Sinian would still have something to eat.

Zhou Sinian felt that life like this was blissful, apart from the medicine he had to take morning and night!