Chapter 24 ☆ Stir-fried Pork with Plain Noodles (Part 1)

By eleven or twelve o’clock on the county street, the sun was scorching, and the air was filled with dust like golden powder. The heat wave was overwhelming. There was an eave on the sunken storefront, which slightly blocked the sunlight. A young man in a torn coat squatted in the shade with a large basket beside him.

He seemed very hot and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his elbow before continuing to nibble on a wild vegetable dumpling. Cheng Yaoyao had once tasted one of these dumplings—it was hard and astringent, with a bitter wild vegetable taste, and she had to drink several sips of water before swallowing it.

Xie San didn’t even have water. He chewed with his cheeks puffed out, veins bulging on his forehead and neck, swallowing without expression. After finishing two wild vegetable dumplings, he stood up, walked to the public faucet, drank a few sips of water, and splashed some cold water on his face, making his eyebrows and eyes look even darker and sharper.

He shook the water off his head like a dog. Suddenly, as if realizing something, he turned his head and looked in Cheng Yaoyao’s direction.

Cheng Yaoyao shrank back, turned her back, and her heart pounded. Though she wasn’t particularly worldly, she vaguely felt that Xie San wouldn’t want her to see him like this.

A sour feeling tugged at Cheng Yaoyao’s heart, and she didn’t fully understand where it came from. She always thought of Xie San as proud, better than any other man in Tianshui Village, with a noble character. Yet, in this special era, his so-called background made him so miserable.

Han Yin and Zhang Xiaofeng came over with the food, chatting and laughing, which helped Cheng Yaoyao calm down.

Three bowls of plain noodles, a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and a bowl of stir-fried pork with green peppers were served steaming hot, filling the air with their aroma.

Cheng Yaoyao was about to order pickled mustard greens and shredded pork noodles, but Han Yin interrupted her and quickly gave a rough estimate instead.

A bowl of plain noodles in a state-owned restaurant costs eight cents and requires a bill. Vegetable soup noodles with a few green vegetables and fried tofu cost 15 cents, while a bowl of noodles with pickled mustard greens and shredded pork costs 30 cents. Stir-fried green vegetables cost only six cents a plate, and stir-fried pork with green peppers costs 90 cents per plate, with no extra meat bills.

Thus, the three of them ordered three bowls of plain noodles and two dishes. In total, each person spent only 40 cents, including vegetables, meat, and fine grains.

Cheng Yaoyao looked at the three full bowls of noodles and two large plates of vegetables and felt that the remaining 30 yuan in her pocket was still more than enough.

Cheng Yaoyao sighed and expressed her thoughts.

Han Yin handed out chopsticks to Cheng Yaoyao and Zhang Xiaofeng, saying with a smile, “Listen to this young lady. You don’t realize how expensive firewood and rice are until you manage a household.”

In the past, Cheng Yaoyao would always order separate meat dishes whenever she went out to eat, also including Liu Minxia in the staple food. A meal would cost at least one yuan, often going entirely to Liu Minxia as Cheng Yaoyao couldn’t finish it herself.

Today, going out with Han Yin and Zhang Xiaofeng, despite their calculating nature, they never took advantage of her. Cheng Yaoyao felt deeply that these two were worth befriending.

Yangchun noodles^[1] is a type of traditional Chinese noodle dish from Yangchun, a city in Guangdong Province., as the name suggests, are made with nothing but chopped green onions. But the noodles are made with the best flour. The yellowish-white noodles have a unique sweetness of wheat, a simple and strong taste, and are chewy. Cheng Yaoyao chewed and swallowed carefully, feeling a warm and satisfying sensation in her stomach.

The dish of stir-fried pork with green peppers was generously portioned. The shredded pork was coated with starch, tasting fresh and tender. Although it wasn’t as good as Cheng Yaoyao’s own cooking, it was quite delicious.

In these times, not everyone can be a restaurant chef. Without skill, working people won’t accept you. Every restaurant chef has a few specialties. This stir-fried pork with green peppers was the specialty of the state-owned restaurant’s chef in Tianshui Town.

Wealthy city dwellers who don’t want to cook in the summer or have guests at home might come to a restaurant and buy a plate of stir-fried meat, spending 90 cents for a taste of meat.

However, not all meat dishes are so cheap. Stir-fried pork with green peppers is less expensive, while braised pork costs much more, at 1.20 yuan.

People these days have very simple ideas: if vegetables are added to meat, it should not be sold at the price of pure meat!

The green peppers in the stir-fried pork were also delicious. They were crispy but not spicy, with a hint of sweetness. After being fried, the peppers developed wrinkles like tiger skin and absorbed the sauce, making them even better than the meat when mixed with noodles!

The vegetable dish was average. The vegetables in the city were all shipped from the countryside and were generally inferior. However, a little bit of animal oil covered up that shortcoming.

Cheng Yaoyao was fine. Han Yin and Zhang Xiaofeng, who worked in the fields every day, were so busy eating that they had no time to talk.

The bowl of plain noodles was quite filling. Cheng Yaoyao asked for another bowl, scooped out half of it, and pushed it towards Han Yin and Zhang Xiaofeng before starting on her own noodles.

The two tried to refuse at first, but Cheng Yaoyao insisted, “I really can’t eat it all. It would be a waste to keep it.”

They reluctantly accepted.

Pouring the snow-white noodles into a bowl, Cheng Yaoyao added the broth from the stir-fried pork with green peppers and mixed it all together. The originally plain noodles were made much more delicious by the addition of spicy, meaty flavors, which made them even more appetizing.

By the end of the meal, all three bowls of noodles and two dishes—one meat and one vegetable—were finished, with not a drop of soup left on the plates.

Cheng Yaoyao touched her stomach, feeling satisfied. She hadn’t eaten so much in a long time. Although she had never been hungry in her previous life, she always made sure to eat only until she was 70% full to maintain her figure and skin.

Since arriving here, her appetite has doubled, and she often feels hungry. However, she couldn’t eat the mixed flour steamed bread, which made her delicate stomach uncomfortable. Today, after eating a bowl of white noodles, she finally felt better.

Han Yin looked at Cheng Yaoyao with concern. “Why do you still eat so little, like a sparrow? I heard that working in the soybean field is very tiring. Aren’t you hungry?”

“I… I’m hungry. I was born with a small stomach,” Cheng Yaoyao said, turning away guiltily and avoiding mentioning her limited work in the fields.

The most she could manage in the soybean field was two hours a day, with the rest of her time spent either sleeping in or playing around.

Thinking about this, she discreetly peeked out at the street and saw that no one was under the eaves.

Cheng Yaoyao decided to buy two more steamed buns, wrapped them in oil paper, and stuffed them in her bag. Seeing this, Han Yin and Zhang Xiaofeng also bought a few steamed buns and sesame cakes.

They were tired of the buckwheat steamed bread from the canteen and the educated youth camp, so they bought some white flour steamed buns to satisfy their hunger. White flour steamed buns cost 5 cents each, meat buns 10 cents each, and meat residue sesame cakes 8 cents each—all payable in bills. It wasn’t expensive.

Zhang Xiaofeng sighed, “It’s still expensive. We eat steamed buns every day in my hometown. It’s much cheaper to buy flour and make them ourselves.”

Cheng Yaoyao suddenly had an idea. “Let’s go to the grain station and buy a few pounds of flour, then make steamed buns ourselves.”

Han Yin looked at her as if she were crazy. “There are so many people in the educated youth camp. Where would we hide the white flour buns we make?”

“It’s annoying,” Cheng Yaoyao pouted. “Why don’t we help the dormitory yet?”

Zhang Xiaofeng said, “Soon.”

After finishing their meal and heading out, the male educated youth caught up with them. Shen Yan and Cheng Nuonuo were standing not far away.

“Yaoyao, Shen Yan said we should collect money from the educated youth group to buy some flour and take it back. What do you think? Do you want to contribute?”

Before Cheng Yaoyao could react, Han Yin asked, “Shall we cook together or not? Do you want us to cook together or separately?”

“No, no, that’s not our intention!” Cheng Nuonuo quickly explained. “We just wanted to ask if you know about the batch of Fuqiang flour^[2]refers to a type of high-quality wheat flour commonly used in Chinese cooking. that has arrived at the grain station.”

The male educated youth were embarrassed by the question. Men usually don’t beat around the bush, so they asked directly, not expecting to be the first ones to ask.

Han Yin pulled Cheng Yaoyao aside and sneered, “Our young lady bought a kilogram of white rice on the black market and can’t afford the Fuqiang flour you bought?”

Several male educated youth were defeated by the questioning and raised their hands in surrender.

Zhang Xiaofeng advised Han Yin, “Forget it, don’t get angry.”

“It must be Cheng Nuonuo causing trouble!” Han Yin said it angrily. “She’s the one who gets the work points for the canteen, so why doesn’t she cook for us?”

The meals at the educated youth camp were communal, and Cheng Nuonuo had always been in charge of cooking. When they asked this question today, it seemed they wanted to eat separately.

Only Cheng Yaoyao knew that Cheng Nuonuo didn’t want to take advantage of her connections. Since they were about to move to the dormitory, Cheng Yaoyao didn’t mind.

In the end, Han Yin and the others decided not to eat separately from Shen Yan and the group. After a long day of work, they didn’t want the added burden of cooking for themselves. Besides, Cheng Nuonuo received work points for her canteen duties, so why should she get a discount?

Han Yin and Zhang Xiaofeng followed to buy food. Han Yin, the accountant of the educated youth center, was essential for purchasing fine foods.

Cheng Yaoyao said, “You guys, go ahead. I’ll head to the supply and marketing cooperative first.”

Zhang Xiaofeng said, “How can you go alone? I’ll stay with you.”

Others also suggested, “Yaoyao, there are too many people in the city today. We should send someone to stay with you.”

Cheng Yaoyao was so eye-catching that she needed to be accompanied by two male educated youth every time she went to the city. Her presence often led to conflicts with others.

Cheng Yaoyao insisted, “There’s no need! I’ll wait for you at the supply and marketing cooperative and won’t go anywhere. Is that okay?”

Her cold attitude made everyone reluctant to argue any further. Additionally, because the supply and marketing cooperative was a state-owned organization with a lot of people coming and going, no one wanted to cause trouble there.

Cheng Yaoyao pulled Han Yin aside and asked her to buy another ten kilograms of Fuqiang flour, handing over the food coupons and money. Zhang Xiaofeng gave her a few words of encouragement, and then the others left.

Cheng Yaoyao hurried toward the supply and marketing cooperative.

At that time, there weren’t many people at the cooperative. As soon as Cheng Yaoyao entered, she heard a woman’s sharp voice: “These leathers are two yuan each. Sell them if you want!”

A country boy in a ragged coat stood in front of the counter with a large basket at his feet. A female salesperson in her forties, wearing a blue work suit and white sleeves, was roughly handling some leather.

Her face showed impatience, clearly taking her frustration out on others.

Xie San turned his back to the counter and said flatly, “Last time it was two yuans and fifty cents.”

The salesperson rolled her eyes and responded, “That was last time! This is the current price. If you want to buy it, then buy it!”

Xie San was silent for a moment before saying, “Sell it.”

The salesperson snorted and picked up the leather with her fingers raised.

Suddenly, with a snap, the leather was pushed back. A slender hand pressed down on the leather. The leather was gray, but the hand was as white and tender as snow, with neatly trimmed nails and pink nail beds.

The salesperson was stunned. When she looked up, she was dazzled by a beautiful face as white as snow.

Subconsciously, the salesperson lowered her voice and asked, “Who are you?”

Cheng Yaoyao raised an eyebrow and replied, “Why do you care who I am?”

The salesperson, accustomed to dealing with customers, noticed Cheng Yaoyao’s high-end clothing, which was far superior to anything available in their cooperative. Cheng Yaoyao’s appearance and demeanor made the salesperson reluctant to argue.

Where did such a person come from in a small town? She must be the daughter of some important leader.

Cheng Yaoyao picked up all the leather and stuffed it into Xie San’s large basket, also adding a bag of dried mushrooms. She then pulled Xie San and said, “Let’s go!”

The salesperson called out, “Hey, those have been weighed, so you’re not buying them?”

“Not buying anymore!” Cheng Yaoyao walked out without looking back.

After walking a few steps and hearing no sound behind her, she turned around. Xie San was quietly following her, carrying the large basket.

Cheng Yaoyao sighed in relief and said, “That woman was really annoying.”

Xie San looked at her silently, his expression gloomy. Cheng Yaoyao’s eyes flickered as she said, “Are you upset? I’ll help you sell the leather.”

Xie San replied briefly, “No.”

Cheng Yaoyao then smiled and said, “Don’t you believe that I can help you sell the leather?”

Xie San said, “It’s hard to sell leather in the summer. It’s okay.”

“You just don’t believe me,” Cheng Yaoyao pouted, taking out the oil-paper bag from her bag. “Here, take this. I’ll help you sell these things after you finish eating.”

Xie San’s face darkened. He picked up the basket and turned away without saying a word.

“Hey!” Cheng Yaoyao grabbed his basket and stumbled forward. Xie San quickly stopped. A ragged country boy and a pretty girl in a dress made an unusual pair, drawing a strange look from a passing aunt.

Xie San stepped back and said in a deep voice, “If these things can’t be sold, it’s my problem. You don’t need to worry about it.”

If it had been before, Cheng Yaoyao would have been annoyed. But the glimpse she had caught earlier still lingered in her mind. She finally understood Xie San’s self-esteem and sensitivity. She turned her peach blossom eyes towards him and said, “But I upset that lady so badly that she won’t accept your things anymore.”

Xie San: “…”

Cheng Yaoyao noticed a flash of anxiety in Xie San’s eyes and said with a smile, “I told you, I know where to sell the leather. As long as you eat these two buns, I’ll take you there.”

They were indeed conspicuous on the road. Xie San picked up the basket without saying a word and walked towards an alley. After turning a corner, they were out of sight of passers-by.