The Sweetness of the Seventies-Chapter 81 First Day Achievements (160+ Monthly Tickets)_1
Chapter 81: Chapter 81 First Day Achievements (160+ Monthly Tickets)_1
He Tiantian was very confident in her culinary skills.
"Hehe, practice makes perfect," He Tiantian laughed. "After doing it a few times, you’ll get it. It’s not a big deal. I’ve already taken care of it, you just need to pluck the chicken feathers. I’ll clean the insides."
The two of them divided the work, and in just half an hour, they had completely cleaned everything.
Now that the weather had turned cold, Director Zhao began heating the dough mixed with starter on a big pot to speed up the fermentation process.
This was a skillful task, not something just anyone could do. Director Zhao’s family used to run a steamed-bun business, so with such skills, the buns she made were quick to prepare and delicious. That’s why she was always in charge of steaming buns for the village canteen.
Once the dough was ready, it was time to make the buns.
The big pot was filled with water, with firewood burning beneath it, and large flames occasionally leaped out from underneath the pot.
A large basin full of dough, bulging and covered with a steaming cloth, was ready to be taken a portion from and placed on the kneading board.
He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan both knew this task. The three of them kneaded together, making the dough into fist-sized pieces. Their hands never stopped, and they worked very fast.
Zhao Dajiao had originally thought that He Tiantian, being a city girl, wouldn’t know how to make steamed buns, but now seeing that Tiantian was even better than Qi Xiaoyan, she felt very happy. The more He Tiantian did, the easier Zhao’s job became. This is the reason rural people like to work with those who are diligent.
No slacking off. If they finished early, they could rest a while.
The kneading board was full of fist-sized dough pieces, chubby and soft, very cute as they took shape in the hands of the three workers.
A steamer with a diameter of one meter twenty was already placed on top of the pot, and seeing that there were already dozens of buns on the table, Zhao Dajiao began to place them inside the steamer.
On the other side, He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan sped up their pace, managing to keep up with the rate at which Zhao Dajiao placed the buns into the pot.
A large basin of dough, in less than an hour, was completely turned into dough pieces and placed into the steaming basket. Just before, Zhao Dajiao had counted the quantity. There were one hundred and thirty-two men and twenty-one women who had come to work. The men’s buns were a bit bigger, the women’s smaller. Two buns per person, no more, no less.
Zhao Dajiao watched over the fire and then started chopping chicken meat on the cutting board, while He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan carried a big basket of radishes and cabbages to the stream to wash.
By the time He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan returned, the buns that Zhao Dajiao was responsible for were already steamed and placed in three big baskets on the side, covered with clean steaming cloths.
The remaining two pots were used for cooking, one for wild vegetable and egg soup and the other for stir-fry. After about half an hour, the vegetables were finally stir-fried.
The two chickens were cut into one hundred and sixty pieces by Zhao Dajiao, neither too large nor too small, ensuring that each person could receive a small piece. Although there wasn’t much meat, the two wild chickens were quite fatty with lots of oil. Cooked together with cabbage and radish, the taste was much more enjoyable than plain cabbage and radish.
There was also a big pot of wood ear and egg soup, which was much better than what they had at home. Although the buns were made of coarse flour, Zhao Dajiao’s bun-making skills were excellent, producing buns that were exceptionally firm and chewy.
After several busy hours, they finally finished preparing meals for over a hundred people. The task wasn’t light, but it was cleaner than working down by the river.
Qi Xiaoyan went to find her father to tell him the food was ready.
Village Chief Qi looked at the sky, noting that it was indeed lunchtime, so he told everyone to stop their work, wash their hands, and come to eat.
Everyone brought out their own bowls and chopsticks, some with lunch boxes, and lined up to get food. They were all surprised to see a piece of meat in the pot with the radish and cabbage.
Second Team Leader Qi Shuming laughed and asked, "The commune is really generous this year, giving us meat on the first day!"
Zhao Dajiao was serving the dishes and said, "That meat didn’t come from the commune. Xiao Yan and Tiantian went into the forest to gather firewood and caught two pheasants and found more than a dozen wild eggs. Seeing everyone working so hard, they contributed their catch so everyone could eat together. After eating meat, you’ll have to work extra hard!"
Qi Xiaoyan was handing out steamed buns while He Tiantian was responsible for pouring soup for everyone.
Hearing that today’s chicken meat was contributed by He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan, everyone praised them and felt grateful in their hearts.
Seeing this, He Tiantian was happy in her heart, feeling that her efforts were not in vain.
With the fragrant chicken stewed with radish and cabbage, the wood ear mushroom and egg soup, and the firm steamed buns, the intense labor from the morning didn’t seem like much anymore!
This time, the only educated youths who came over were He Tiantian, Wang Lei, Zhang Qingshan, Sister Wu, and Ye Xiaofan. Lin Xiaoru and Huang Jingli were slow workers, so they were not asked to come this time. Although they were spared from the hard work, they still had no money or food. However, Lin Xiaoru was happy not to come, not wanting to do the dirty and tiring work!
As for Li Mingkai, he was also excluded!
"Tiantian, Xiao Yan, come here to eat," Sister Wu called He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan over for lunch.
The three of them responsible for cooking always served others first before they started to eat. The other educated youths were fastidious, taking a long time to wash up, so they ended up eating last, together with He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan.
He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan, carrying their bowls and holding steamed buns, came over together.
Wang Lei gave some chicken meat to Sister Wu, who in turn offered the chicken back to Wang Lei. They both insisted on offering it to each other. Zhang Qingshan and Ye Xiaofan were doing the same.
"You should each eat your own; we still have work to do in the afternoon," He Tiantian said with a laugh, thinking the two couples were very loving and hoping they would grow old together.
"Exactly, the food is plenty and delicious, and it’s rich and oily, so stop passing it back and forth. It makes us feel jealous," Qi Xiaoyan said with a giggle, following behind He Tiantian. She had also grown closer to the other educated youths.
The four of them stopped passing the food back and forth and each started eating their own meal.
"Burp······" Wang Lei let out a satisfied belch, "Tiantian, Xiao Yan, the food you’ve made is so delicious. If I could eat this well every day and be satisfied, I would be happy to work every day."
"Hehe, today we are lucky, but tomorrow there might not be such good luck," He Tiantian sighed. She also wanted to eat such food, but with the Snake King needing to cultivate, she couldn’t disturb it every day.
"Sister Tiantian, when we were washing vegetables earlier, we saw fish in the stream. Tomorrow we can bring a fishing net, maybe we can catch some fish, and if we bring more ginger, we can make fish soup," Qi Xiaoyan suggested, as fish soup was very nutritious.
"We haven’t been in the water today, and there’s a lot of aquatic plants at the bottom of the river, definitely with fish in them. Tomorrow, we can try diving and groping for them, and if we are able to catch fish, that would be even better," Zhang Qingshan said. Now, as long as they could eat, it didn’t matter if they were a bit tired or cold.
"Right, let’s get some baskets on our way back and put some earthworms in them; we might even catch eels or loaches," Wang Lei suggested, showing his past experience with such activities.
"Even if it’s a snake, we can still make soup!" Zhang Qingshan added; his family was from the south, where they liked to eat snake soup.
