Spicy food was a favorite of Xu Ran's. The same may be said about Liu Tong. Xu Ran cautiously poached a few potatoes and waited for the sauce to be ready before dipping them into it. This was, without a doubt, their first time attempting this recipe.
Liu Tong followed Xu Ran's advice and added the seasonings to the pot. He poured the oil into the bowl of chili powder after smelling the savory aroma. When oil was poured on top of the chili powder, it instantly sibilated. Simultaneously, the spicy flavor emerged. It was the ideal temperature. Xu Ran was eager to place the bowl on the bamboo table's side, where they had already placed some potatoes.
Xu Ran dug some chili sauce and spread it over the potato with a small wooden spoon. The food looked delicious thanks to the reddish chili oil and fermented soybeans.
Xu Ran couldn't wait to try the potatoes after they had cooled down a little. Liu Tong was on one side of him, nervously looking at him.
The chili sauce was incredibly hot. Xu Ran's lips went red after finishing the potato, and he couldn't speak for a while, making Liu Tong even more uneasy. "How's it?, Ran?"
Xu Ran was still attempting to savor the moment. It tasted exactly like the sauce his mother used to make, and he hadn't had it in a long time. Xu Ran was overjoyed to be able to taste it one more today.
He gave Liu Tong, who was still nervous, a bear hug and said, "Thank you, Tongtong. You're incredibly sweet."
Liu Tong was uneasy, and Xu Ran was now holding him in his arms. He was puzzled by this.
Xu Ran hugged him for a while and then let him go. "Tongtong, you are awesome! You made it."
"Really?" Liu Tong was shocked.
"Of course, you can try it yourself." Xu Ran responded. With that being said, he took a potato with chili sauce and handed it to Liu Tong.
Liu Tong took it and thoroughly tasted it. Then he exclaimed, "Wow!" as he opened his mouth wide in surprise "It's delicious, Ran. I did it on my own."
"Yes, you succeed. Tongtong is awesome." Xu Ran was generous with his compliments.
Feeling extremely excited, they two began to cook nonstop.
The family sat around the table late at night, happily eating potatoes dipped in chili sauce.
The chili sauce was given to Wu Mei's and other friends' families the next day, and Xu Ran and Liu Tong received compliments.
The chili sauce was delicious, but it wasn't worth selling. After some time, it will taste better. They were eventually able to finish the chili sauce. It was September, which meant rice harvesting season had begun.
Wu Mei's family, along with a few other families, owned several acres of rice-growing land. It was now time to harvest the rice. Xu Ran agreed to assist the three families after speaking with Liu Tong. They would have died of starvation if it hadn't been for their help.
Because they didn't have any tools at home, Xu Ran and Liu Tong took the kids to Wu Mei's house empty-handed. The three families decided to first help Wu Mei with the harvest. Then it'll be Liu Qing's family, and finally Wu Lan's. Given the large number of people involved, it shouldn't take long to be done.
To harvest crops was competing with the weather. It was all about speed.
Xu Ran stayed at home to look after the kids because he was unfamiliar with crops and farming. He also did the cooking, feeding the pigs, and gathering pigweeds, so he was clearly a househusband. As a result, Xu Ran became upset. When it came to farming's busy season, it was critical to make sure that everyone was fully fed; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to work. Xu Ran finally had the opportunity to visit the town.
Xu Ran hadn't been to the town in 7 years, so he had no idea how it had changed.
Liu Tong was concerned about Xu Ran going to town alone, so he asked Xu An to accompany him in an ox cart.
He came to town in order to buy some meat. Even though it was customary to smoke bacon here, one pig was still insufficient to feed a family for a year, so people had to buy meat during the busy farming season.
It was much more costly to buy fat meat than it was to buy lean meat. Xu Ran, on the other hand, disliked fat meat because it was too greasy. Xu An, on the other hand, preferred fat meat and requested five Jin (1 Jin=0.5kg) of fat meat from the meat stall owner. Ten copper coins will buy one Jin of fat meat. The fat meat cost fifty copper coins in all. Xu Ran also purchased some pig internal organs, such as the intestine and pig bones. The stall owner fined Xu Ran thirty copper coins because the hot weather was not beneficial to meat storage and people in this era did not want it.
Xu An was upset as he looked at the items that Xu Ran had just bought. "These are not at all tasty, Xu Ran. Why would you throw away so much money?"
Xu Ran chuckled. "Brother Xu An, don't worry! I'll show you how to cook a gourmet with these. You'll see. "
Given that Xu Ran had already stated as much, Xu An consoled himself by stating that thirty coins was not a massive number. He was still able to afford it. However, he still had the impression that Liu Tong had severely spoiled Xu Ran.
After that, Xu An went out and bought some white flour. White flour could only be used twice a year, once during harvest and once during the New Year.
Xu Ran didn't buy anything else. Even if he wanted to, he was too poor to afford any other stuff.
Finally, as they were about to depart, Xu An bought some candies for the children. The children should deserve the best of everything, regardless of their family's financial situation.
Xu Ran was aware that Xu An's family's life was already pretty decent in comparison to others'. Xu An, on the other hand, was already a failure. Xu Ran was so eager to make a difference in someone's life.
On the way back, Xu Ran was a little glum. He was debating whether being an official was really the only way out for him.
There were several days in the fool's memory when he woke up early and stayed up late to study and read. He did, however, inevitably fail. The fool was also filled with regret and pity.
Xu Ran was considering whether or not to pursue a career as an official. He didn't like the official career's intrigue against each other, but he wanted a better life for his family and children.
Xu Ran recalled reading somewhere that officials were exempt from serving in the army or paying taxes.
Xu Ran was unconcerned about the military service. The tax issue, on the other hand, was a major issue. He didn't have any agricultural land right now, but he would eventually. He didn't want to give up the things he had earned through his hard work.
Xu Ran made up his mind to take the official exams and try to become a scholar. It would also be beneficial to his children if he had such a title.
After some thought, Xu Ran felt better and started to speak with Xu An.
When they arrived at Xu An's house, Xu Ran noticed the two kids looking around at people passing and looking for them. His heart melted all of a sudden.
Xu Ran jumped out of the cart happily. "Tangtang, Guoguo, I'm back."
Seeing Xu Ran come back, Tangtang and Guoguo immediately ran to his arms. "Dad, you are back! We've been waiting for you for a long time. "
Tangtang didn't say anything but looked at him eagerly.
Xu Ran kissed each of the two children on the cheeks before putting them down to help Xu An in unloading the cart.
After the cart was unloaded, Xu An went to the farmland to work, leaving Xu Ran and the kids at home.
Xu Ran didn't want to eat the fat meat until later in the afternoon, so he salted it first and then placed it in a wooden basin in a cool room. He used the intestine for oil refining after washing it. The fat dregs were combined with potatoes and stir-fried.
The pig's heart was still marinated. They couldn't eat that much in a single sitting. He used the pig bone he bought to make soup.
Potatoes were used to prepare the rest of the food. Xu Ran eventually felt that there would be enough food for everyone with such a massive pot of food.
The aroma of the food drew the children in as well. Given how much soup Xu Ran had made, he took each of them a bowl.
When it was time for lunch, Xu Ran made a pot of water and added some salt to it. Because those adults spent so much energy farming, it would be preferable to drink salty boiled water.
However, he never thought that he was bantered by others because of his thoughtfulness.
Liu Tong and Wu Mei returned at noon and drank the salty boiled water that Xu Ran had prepared. Wu Mei began joking around "In this village, Xu Ran, you are even more caring than Ge'ers. You're a natural in the kitchen."
Xu Ran was rendered speechless by the word "caring". How could Wu Mei use this word to describe a man?
Xu Ran considered himself a tough guy who would never argue with a Ge'er, so he entirely disregarded Wu Mei's words. It wasn't until the mealtime that Xu Ran noticed that others were looking at him intently. Liu Tong, too, gave him a different look than normal.
Xu Ran finally got angry. "If you guys keep looking at me like this again, I won't cook for you tomorrow."
"Don't do it! You're a fantastic chef. We're joking, of course. Don't get angry." When Wu Mei noticed Xu Ran was upset, he tried to console him right away.
"I agree. Ran, please don't be angry. Everyone is just joking around." Liu Tong was afraid that Xu Ran would really get angry, so he stopped eating and came to comfort Xu Ran.
Xu Ran became even more agitated. They were staring at him in the same way they were staring at a Ge'er. It was as if they were imagining him as a woman. He couldn't take it any longer.
As a result, they all tried to comfort him before he could say something out of frustration, making him seem even more stingy and mean. He did, however, want to show Liu Tong some respect. "Tongtong, I'm not mad. I just think you guys shouldn't take me as a Ge'er. Although I can cook, I'm still very manly," he explained to Liu Tong as he sat down.
Liu Tong immediately consoled Xu Ran, fearing that he might lose his cool again "I understand. We're not going to do it again. Now is the time to enjoy your meal!"
After hearing his promise, Xu Ran finally began to eat. He also kept putting food in Liu Tong's bowl.
At the other table, the children were happily eating. They were completely unaffected by the adults bickering.
Wu Mei's family had the most farmland, and the harvest took them seven or eight days to complete. Because the other two families had much less land, they were able to complete the harvest in just five days. These days, Xu Ran had to visit these three families every day. He knew where the salt pot and hog lot were because he knew these families so well.
When they were finally done, Xu Ran returned home to his family and slept the whole day away. Everyone was worn out.
03.23.21
Yes. you are very manly Xu Ran!~
I'm having potatoes for lunch YUM~