Throughout the entire morning, everyone in the production team noticed one person.
Shen Tiechui’s daughter was hopping all over the village.
She kept asking people if they needed help.
The most annoying part was that when people said yes and asked her to help with farm work, she’d roll her eyes and walk away.
They even went to complain to Shen Tiechui and Meng Chunxing, only to get scolded themselves. After that, they stopped saying anything.
Hehua spent the whole morning running around but only earned two points, and those came from rescuing a cow that had fallen into a pit.
She had already been trying her best to do every good deed, no matter how small.
Hehua felt miserable.
She wanted to cry.
Niuniu watched with amusement.
“There just aren’t that many major incidents in a single production team. Most problems are minor, and the consequences aren’t serious. Even if you help, either nothing changes or the impact is too insignificant to count. If this cow hadn’t tried climbing out by itself, injured itself, and later died because the wound became infected—and most importantly, if it weren’t a working ox—you wouldn’t have earned those two points.”
Hehua sighed.
Niuniu was right.
She stood up, headed home, and brought little Pingping back with her.
When she got home, she looked around, planning to make lunch for the family and put the cooking skills she had learned yesterday to good use.
She placed a small stool and some toys in a shady spot for Pingping to play with before heading into the kitchen.
It was June, so there weren’t many vegetables available at home.
After thinking for a moment, Hehua took out some potatoes and used yesterday’s chicken giblets to make braised potatoes with chicken giblets.
She cheated a little by spending one point in the system store to buy cooking oil and seasonings.
The kitchen had two stoves.
One cooked the rice while the other cooked the dish.
Since she was cooking meat, Hehua shut the kitchen door tightly.
She peeled and cut the potatoes into chunks, washing off only the dirt without soaking away the starch.
The chicken giblets were cut into bite-sized pieces and briefly blanched in boiling water with scallions, ginger, and garlic to remove the blood and gamey smell.
She cleaned the wok, added oil, and fried star anise and other spices until fragrant before removing them.
Then she stir-fried the chicken giblets until the surface browned slightly.
She added a blend of spices, and before the seasoning powder could burn, she quickly poured in water, added salt and other seasonings, then the potatoes.
The water completely covered the potatoes.
She covered the pot and let everything simmer over low heat until the potatoes became soft and absorbed the rich flavor of the meat.
By then, very little broth remained.
Since it was only for the family, Hehua skipped the chopped scallions for presentation but added fresh cilantro instead.
The fresh cilantro mixed with the creamy mashed potatoes over rice made the dish incredibly fragrant.
Simple home cooking.
The kind of food that made you eat bowl after bowl of rice.
She filled each aluminum lunch box and large enamel mug with a layer of mixed-grain rice before adding a generous scoop of the stew on top.
The broth soaked into the rice, making it smell wonderful.
Using a clean pair of chopsticks, Hehua carefully buried all the meat underneath the rice before putting the lids back on.
She first opened the kitchen’s back window to let the smell drift away.
Fortunately, she had cooked early.
The neighboring houses were separated by yards and private vegetable plots, so they were far apart. By the time everyone else returned home to cook lunch, most of the aroma had already disappeared.
The moment she opened the kitchen door, she found little Pingping sitting on his tiny stool outside.
At some point, he had quietly moved over and was sniffing through the crack in the door.
When he saw Hehua come out, his eyes lit up.
Lowering his voice, he whispered,
“Dudu… smells good… so good.”
Looking at the little rascal acting so sneaky, Hehua adored him even more.
She scooped him into her arms.
“Auntie will put our lunch on the kang table in my room. You eat there first while I take lunch to Grandma and the others. I’ll lock the front gate, but don’t be scared. Auntie will be back very soon.”
Pingping was a brave little boy.
He also knew his aunt would return quickly.
Besides, there was delicious food waiting for him.
“Okay.”
After quickly settling Pingping, Hehua picked up the basket containing everyone’s lunch and headed for the fields.
It was the season for summer weeding.
The Northeast had vast farmland and few people. A single corn ridge often stretched over an enormous area.
Xiangyang Production Team owned plenty of land.
Anyone who wanted more work points had to work harder.
Given their family’s current situation, everyone was working as hard as they could.
Even Second Sister-in-law, whose health wasn’t good, always gathered pig fodder first before helping Mother and Eldest Sister-in-law in the fields so they could earn full work points.
When Hehua arrived, Meng Chunxing was just about to head home to cook.
The family had discussed this beforehand.
Having Meng Chunxing return home to cook also gave her a chance to avoid the midday sun and get a little rest.
Even though everyone in the family was so busy, no one had ever thought of making Hehua work in the fields.
That showed just how much they spoiled her.
Hehua thought to herself that maybe she shouldn’t be quite so lazy anymore.
She should at least help out a little.
More importantly, she needed to earn money.
With money, the family wouldn’t have to work themselves so hard just to earn full work points.
Their new house would begin construction tomorrow.
Not only would they earn fewer work points during construction, they’d also have to spend money.
Although her parents would look happy on the outside, they would definitely be worrying inside.
Looks like earning money really needed to become her priority.
“What are you doing here?”
Meng Chunxing asked, then noticed the basket Hehua was carrying.
Surely it couldn’t be what she was thinking…
Hehua pointed at the basket.
“I made lunch and brought it over. Stop working for now. Find some shade, eat first, and get some rest. I also brought cooled boiled water. Pour out that sun-heated water you’ve been drinking.”
Suddenly, Meng Chunxing’s heart felt warm.
In the past, her daughter wouldn’t even bother picking up a fallen soy sauce bottle.
After the family split up, she had become more sensible, though not much more hardworking.
Who would have thought that after graduating from high school and coming home, she seemed to grow up overnight?
The first day she saved Third Brother.
The second day she improved the family’s meals.
Now, on the third day, she was even cooking for everyone.
Meng Chunxing reached out and gently rubbed Hehua’s head.
“I’ll go call your father and the others. You sit under that tree and wait in the shade.”
Seeing how dry her mother’s lips were, Hehua refused.
She shoved the basket into her mother’s hands.
“I’ll go. You go sit in the shade and drink some cooled water first. Wet your throat.”
Without giving her mother a chance to object, she turned and ran.
After gathering everyone together, Hehua didn’t stay.
The basket would be brought back after work that evening.
She headed straight home.
…
In the fields…
Shen Jianguo slowly accepted his aluminum lunch box.
“Mom… do you think this is safe to eat?”
It wasn’t that he disliked it.
He was just scared.
After all, this was his little sister’s very first time cooking.
It probably wouldn’t poison them.
But what if everyone got diarrhea?
That would be even worse than death.
Shen Tiechui immediately kicked his eldest son.
“If you don’t want to eat, then stay hungry! Your sister worked hard because she felt sorry for your mother, and you’re still complaining? Eat it or don’t. If you won’t, give it to me!”
His daughter had worked so hard making this meal, and this brat still wouldn’t stop grumbling.
Truthfully, Shen Tiechui was nervous too.
But this was the first meal his daughter had ever cooked for the family.
He had to support her.
He had to finish every bite.
And he had to praise it.
He carefully lifted the lid of his large enamel mug.
The horrifying meal he had imagined wasn’t there.
Instead of burnt food or undercooked rice, he saw soft golden potatoes.
A rich aroma of meat mixed with the fragrance of potatoes rushed toward him.
Tiny droplets of oil shimmered on top, decorated with bright green cilantro.
Shen Tiechui couldn’t help swallowing.
“This little brat… how much oil did she use?”
Even as he complained, the corners of his mouth stretched almost to his ears.
In his excitement, he kicked Shen Jianguo again.
“If you’re not eating, give it to me.”
The aroma had already drifted out.
Shen Jianguo had secretly peeked into his father’s mug earlier.
There was no way he was giving it away.
Grinning, he dodged the kick.
“Dad, what are you talking about? My little sister worked so hard to cook this. Of course I’m going to support her. I have to eat it.”
He happily opened his own lunch box.
His chopsticks slid easily through the potatoes.
Sure enough, there was rice underneath.
Already starving, Shen Jianguo quickly mixed everything together.
As he stirred, he discovered the chicken giblets hidden beneath the rice.
Since every family ate together in separate groups throughout the fields, people were spread far apart.
Others might smell the food or see it, but voices still carried over long distances.
Lowering his voice, he whispered,
“Dad, Mom… there’s meat hidden under the potatoes.”
As he spoke, he stuffed a huge mouthful into his mouth.
It was so delicious he felt like jumping into the air.
For a moment, it felt as if the incredible flavor had shot straight to the top of his head.
“Delicious! It’s really delicious! Dad, Mom, honey, Second Sister-in-law—eat! Little Sister’s cooking is amazing! Where did she even learn to cook? I’ve never seen her cook before!”
Then he shoveled another huge bite into his mouth.