Chapter 450: Chapter 443: Huang Yuan Cuisine
Sisi hurriedly asked Old Xu to stop the car, and before the car could stabilize, she jumped out, startling Tian Xinhua, who quickly followed her.
"Brother Xin Hua, quickly help me pick more elm seeds; we’re going to make elm seed rice later," Sisi excitedly shouted.
Tian Xinhua affectionately patted her head and obediently climbed up the tree to strip off elm seeds. The deputy secretary of the County Committee had become a monkey picking elm seeds for his wife.
"Brother Xin Hua, get more, I want to eat them tomorrow too!"
"These can only be eaten as snacks, how can you eat them as a proper meal!" scolded the deputy secretary.
...
Old Xu had planned to help but seeing that his boss climbed up the tree even more nimbly than himself, he decided not to join the fray.
Although he didn’t understand the bird language the couple was speaking (Sisi and Tian Xinhua were speaking Sui City dialect), he could still feel the sweet and happy atmosphere between them, and Old Xu couldn’t help but feel envious.
Getting married is also quite a wonderful thing!
Should he find someone to marry too?
But where would his significant other be?
Little did Tian Xinhua know that his assistant was being stimulated into spring fever! He was still busily stripping off elm seeds for his wife, like a monkey.
Sisi went to Liu Shanxing’s house first; finding this house was easy, as soon as she mentioned the college girl’s home, the villagers immediately knew which family to point her to.
Liu Shanxing’s house was not far from the entrance of the village, situated on a slope with four earthen cave rooms and a separated courtyard, suggesting that Liu Shanxing’s family was one of the better-off in the village.
Indeed, as Sisi suspected, Liu Shanxing’s father was the secretary of Liu Village, essentially the village’s top official.
Liu Shanxing and Liu Qingtao had returned home early in the morning, even skipping their morning classes. Liu Qingtao was directly waiting at Shan Xing’s house for Mr. He. Sisi teased them with a wink: "Skipping classes, huh?"
The girls giggled and whispered, "Don’t tell our dad and mom, Mr. He, or we’ll get scolded."
"I know, I promise I won’t tell," Sisi nodded earnestly.
The girls smiled gratefully at Sisi; this was one of the reasons they liked Mr. He—he was very open-minded, like a friend rather than a teacher, not stern like the other teachers who were so formal they dared not even greet you.
Mother Shan Xing immediately came across as a straightforward and capable woman. The house was kept tidy and clean, and she herself was neat and fresh. Secretary Liu, on the other hand, was a typical Huang Yuan man, tall and burly, silent and reserved, with two younger shy boys at home, Liu Shanxing’s brothers.
Sisi brought over the gifts she had prepared: a big piece of pork, two bottles of alcohol, two pieces of floral cloth. Mother Shan Xing looked towards her husband, and only after Secretary Liu slightly nodded did she timidly accept the gifts.
Their daughter often talked about Mr. He at home, even asking her mother to specially make some dough sculptures to bring to school for Mr. He. Moreover, Mr. He was not one to take advantage of others; he always reciprocated with generous gifts. In fact, it felt like their family was the one taking advantage anyway!
Seeing Mr. He’s attire today, he knew that his daughter’s teacher was not lacking money, so he let Mother Shan Xing accept these gifts. It could all be balanced out by preparing more local specialties for Mr. He to take back when he left, as city folks are said to love these local products.
Sisi took out the elm seeds she had specially picked, asking Mother Shan Xing to cook her some elm seed rice for lunch. Seeing the big bag of elm seeds, Mother Shan Xing’s mouth twitched; this Mr. He looked like a movie star, yet he fancied such wild food.
Though she was serious, she scooped out several handfuls of elm seeds, carefully washed them, mixed them with cornmeal, and steamed them in a basket.
"Mr. He, they’ll be ready to eat in half an hour."
Mountain Almond Lady quickly finished preparing the elm seeds, then went to prepare lunch for them. Sisi watched everything curiously, following Mountain Almond Lady around the stove, and both Liu Shanxing and Liu Qingtao laughed in amusement.
Meanwhile, Tian Xinhua chatted with Secretary Liu about the situation in the village. Tian Xinhua didn’t reveal his identity, which was a relief since Liu Shanxing and Liu Qingtao didn’t know who Mr. He’s husband was.
"Things are much better than they were a few years ago. Now we can have three meals a day, and there’s surplus grain at home, so we don’t have to worry about famine. We must thank the party and the government for their good policies!" Secretary Liu said while smoking his pipe, his words filled with confidence about life.
Tian Xinhua continued to ask a series of questions like, ’Do the villagers eat a lot of white flour? How often do they eat meat in a month? How much money can they earn in a year? ...’
Secretary Liu found it odd that Mr. He’s man was asking these questions, but he answered them in detail anyway.
Hearing Secretary Liu’s answers weighed heavy on Tian Xinhua’s heart; life in the countryside here was still too hard!
The staple food had evolved from sorghum flour to cornmeal, but white flour and meat were still rare treats, usually only eaten during festivals. The main issue was the low income of the farmers. After a year of hard work, they hardly saved any money; the average annual income was only a little over a hundred yuan.
We still need to find ways to increase farmers’ incomes!
For lunch, Mountain Almond Lady prepared a sumptuous spread: elm seed rice, white flour buns, braised pork, scrambled eggs with chives, wild mushroom soup, a mixed dish that Sisi thought looked like noodles mixed with chili and cucumber shreds - quite attractive - and a bowl that seemed like stir-fried potato shreds, which Liu Shanxing said was stir-fried potato shred pancake.
In Huang Yuan, potatoes are called ’foreign potatoes,’ and ’foreign potato shred pancake’ consists of shreds from potatoes fried with chili pepper. It looked red and yellow and was quite delicious. Though somewhat spicy, the dish was excellent, with a tender, sweet, and spicy taste, even better than the wolf tooth potatoes she had eaten before.
The bowl of mixed dish also tasted great. It was sour and spicy, which made it very appetizing with rice. However, the dishes here were all too spicy; tears streamed down Sisi’s face as she ate, and her lips turned bright red. After drinking three bowls of wild mushroom soup and adding a bowl of elm seed rice, the spiciness in her throat finally seemed to fade a bit.
The elm seed rice was indeed tasty, but maybe she had set her expectations too high for this delicacy. When she actually ate it, it wasn’t the extreme deliciousness described in books. Nevertheless, she politely finished a bowl of elm seed rice; after all, it was something she had longed for through two lifetimes!
Seeing Sisi’s teary eyes from the spiciness, Mountain Almond Lady felt bad and said, "I didn’t know Mr. He couldn’t handle spicy food. Should I make you some milder dishes?"
"No, no need. The spicier, the better!" Sisi quickly waved her hands to refuse, insisting that it’s the spice that makes it delectable!
Tian Xinhua originally couldn’t handle spicy food, but after staying here for over two years, he had already adapted to the local diet where no dish is complete without a bit of heat. He dabbed Sisi’s tears with a handkerchief from time to time, laughing and saying, "You shouldn’t eat so much if you can’t take the heat. Be careful or your throat will hurt on the way back."
"It’s delicious!" Sisi cooed.
Old Xu was already used to his superiors’ frequent displays of affection, but Secretary Liu’s family found it somewhat embarrassing. It seemed the teacher’s daughter had quite the pampered personality, needing a man’s attention even while eating.
The meal left Sisi extraordinarily satisfied, although her face had turned red - nose, eyes, and mouth included. But she got to enjoy the delicious food!
Indeed, there’s truth to the saying that delicacies are found among the common folk!
In the afternoon, Tian Xinhua toured the village under Secretary Liu’s guidance, while Sisi visited Liu Qingtao’s home. She brought the same presents as she had for Liu Shanxing’s home, but saw that the living conditions at Liu Qingtao’s were not as good and the place wasn’t as tidy and clean as Liu Shanxing’s.
After sitting for a while at Liu Qingtao’s home, Sisi returned to Liu Shanxing’s place to learn the art of paper cutting from Mountain Almond Lady.
When she left, she took back many different patterns that Mountain Almond Lady had cut during her free time, as well as a bag of potatoes, a bag of sweet potatoes, and a bag of elm seeds. She returned home with her hands full.