Su Yunyi noticed some small white spots remaining on his face, likely from the pesticide application. She planned to sew him a mask to wear if he was assigned pesticide spraying work in the future, as it was too harmful to his health otherwise.
Finally, it was noon. Mother Xiao called her sons and their wives together and took out a bag of cooked, furry potatoes and a small jar of chili with a small spoon stuck in it from her bag.
Su Yunyi had never participated in team labor before and thought she could go home for lunch, so she hadn’t prepared any. Her body, tired from a morning of work, reflexively craved the potatoes upon seeing them, wishing she could transform into a wolf and devour them whole.
Perhaps her gaze was too eager, as Mother Xiao handed her a potato first. Su Yunyi looked at Mother Xiao with teary eyes, “Thank you, Mom. I’ll prepare food tomorrow.”
Mother Xiao remembered the ostentatious items in her kitchen and quickly shook her head, “You just got married, take a few days to adjust. We still have plenty of potatoes from last year’s distribution, Mom will prepare the food. Just, after work, let’s walk faster so we can tidy up your private plot and plant some vegetables before it gets dark.”
Su Yunyi agreed and sat on the edge of the field, peeling and eating the potatoes with chili.
She ate so heartily that passersby couldn’t help but peek into Mother Xiao’s bag. Upon seeing it was just potatoes, they couldn’t help but remark how easy it was to satisfy Xiao Laosan’s wife, eating potatoes with such relish.
Mother Xiao and Sister-in-law Xiao were quick. After finishing their own work, they came to help Su Yunyi. With their assistance, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law finished the work in no time and sat on the field edge waiting for the team leader to blow the whistle for dismissal.
When a group of women sat together, they loved to gossip. However, since they were all too familiar with each other, the gossip lacked novelty and appeal. Su Yunyi, newly married into Dahe Village, was the perfect subject for gossip.
“Xiao Laosan’s wife, what’s your name?”
“Big Sister, my name is Su Yunyi. Su from Suzhou, Yun from cloud, Yi from intention.”
The questioner was surprised by her answer and burst into laughter, “You’re a cute little wife. None of us are literate, so even if you told me, I wouldn’t know.”
“Yunyi, have you studied?”
A handsome and capable-looking woman asked her.
Su Yunyi was suddenly surrounded by a large group of sisters-in-law, aunts, and young wives, none of whom she knew, and they were all asking her questions. She was a bit flustered.
Mother Xiao tugged at her sleeve and whispered in her ear, “This is the team leader’s wife, Zhang Cui. Answer her well, it will only bring benefits.”
Su Yunyi looked at Zhang Cui with a blush, “I graduated from high school this year. I was supposed to go to university, but something happened at home, so I got married here.”
Her background had already spread throughout the village.
However, everyone only knew she was from the city; they didn’t know she was a high school graduate. High school students were rare in those days; even their team’s accountant had only completed five years of primary school.
As they chatted, time passed more quickly.
Soon, the team leader blew the whistle to dismiss everyone and announced that there would be a member meeting at the village office at 7:30 PM. For those who didn’t know the time, the team would strike a bell at 7:15 PM, and arriving after hearing the bell would be about right.
Su Yunyi had never attended such an event and hurriedly asked Mother Xiao, “Mom, what is the meeting about?”
Mother Xiao looked at her daughter-in-law and couldn’t help but find it amusing. She was like a child, curious about everything, even their dog Huzi seemed more mature than her.
However, Su Yunyi’s eyes were clear and pure, making people feel good about her. Mother Xiao patiently explained, “It’s nothing, they might just be announcing something.”
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law didn’t wait for Xiao Ze. As soon as the whistle blew, Mother Xiao pulled Su Yunyi and hurried towards her house.
Thinking they would have a meeting in the evening, they couldn’t prepare any complicated dishes. Su Yunyi decided to make noodles.
Mother Xiao had already started turning the soil. Su Yunyi washed her hands, scooped a large spoonful of flour from the flour bin, added some salt and an egg, and slowly began to add water to knead the dough.
She loved noodles and had learned various noodle-making techniques in her previous life. Pulling and stretching noodles were quite oil-intensive, and she had just bought five catties of oil, so she had to use it sparingly. Therefore, she decided to make hand-pulled noodles today. Fortunately, her knife skills were good, and the video of her making hand-pulled noodles was her most-watched video until she transmigrated.
While the dough was resting, she wiped her hands and walked out, only to see a tall, sun-tanned figure in a vest weeding.
Mother Xiao handed Su Yunyi a pile of seedlings and, with her, planted them in the prepared soil, spacing them sparsely or deeply according to their growth habits. After planting, Su Yunyi washed her hands, went back to her room, and got a small notebook to record all the precautions Mother Xiao had mentioned.
Mother Xiao saw how diligently she was learning and how detailed her explanations were.
Su Yunyi understood that these were experiences summarized by farmers themselves, and that experiences varied with climate. Mother Xiao genuinely wanted them to have a good life, so she taught her without reservation.
After learning, her dough was almost ready. She handed the remaining seedlings to Xiao Ze and whispered in his ear to invite Mother Xiao to stay for dinner. She then went into the kitchen, started a fire to boil water, and rolled out the dough.
Rolling out the dough required skill. After rolling the dough around the rolling pin, one had to apply force to both sides of the dough. The first time she made it, she pressed down in the middle, resulting in a super-thin center with a bulge. Later, a master noodle maker in the village taught her hand-to-hand, which allowed her to make such delicious noodles.
Rolling the dough, cutting the noodles, Su Yunyi quickly cut a plate of evenly thick and moderately thin noodles following the steps from memory. The milky white noodles floated and sank in the boiling water, looking extremely beautiful.
Hand-pulled noodles cooked very quickly. As soon as the noodles were in the pot, she called out for Mother Xiao and Xiao Ze to wash their hands and get ready to eat.
She simply added chopped scallions, soy sauce, vinegar, and a small dollop of lard.
When Mother Xiao and Xiao Ze entered the house, they saw clear water noodles with green scallions dotted on top, emitting a fresh aroma.
They looked mouth-watering at first sight.
Mother Xiao picked up a strand of noodles and put it in her mouth. The delicate and smooth texture instantly unfolded. The noodles were chewy yet not too tough. Mother Xiao felt they were the most delicious noodles she had ever eaten in her life.
She glanced at her son and saw he had a similar expression. Mother Xiao couldn’t help but feel they had struck gold. After eating these two meals at the third son’s house, her appetite had become so discerning that nothing at home tasted as good.
The three of them finished the noodles. Xiao Ze, full and satisfied, voluntarily took on the task of washing the dishes, whistling as he washed. A bowl of clear water noodles had completely satisfied his stomach. He even felt that as long as Su Yunyi continued to be like this, even if she did nothing, he would work hard to give her a good life.