She Only Cares About Cultivation-Chapter 854 - 795: Famine Era 36 (Second Update)

In the early Fifties, during the period of rebuilding, ordinary people’s tables mainly featured corn, sorghum, millet, and assorted grains like potatoes and pumpkins. Most of the time, they ate cornbread, corn porridge, and cornmeal porridge, with side dishes being exceedingly scarce.

It’s said that come spring, only the elder folks and children in the family could taste the first batch of chives. In summer, they ate whatever was grown in the garden, and in winter, they primarily relied on stored potatoes, pickled sauerkraut, and salted vegetables. As for meat, eggs, and poultry, they were consumed only a few times a year.

So, naturally, the meals Ye Huan planned for tomorrow also centered around these themes. Since their family had just moved here, they didn’t have pickled vegetables or sauerkraut. When they came to Beijing, Mom wanted them to bring some, but they found it too troublesome and didn’t.

"I saw a millstone in the yard; tonight, I’ll soak some soybeans and make a pot of tofu and tofu pudding tomorrow for a bit of variety!"

Tong Zhan was delighted to hear this but immediately thought, "Do we have soybeans at home?"

"Yes, we do. I wanted to make some before the new year, so I bought them. They’re in the cellar, but there’s not much, maybe just enough for tomorrow night’s meal."

"Wife, thank you so much for doing this."

"It’s not tiring. It’s just normal reciprocity. Even when I return to the dorm, I must invite them to the canteen for a meal."

As they ate duck meat at noon, neither of them was very hungry, so they just drank some Millet Porridge to warm their stomachs and then started to relax by boiling water.

After turning off the lights and lying down, Tong Zhan reached over to her. She held his hand down, "Don’t mess around. Tomorrow’s going to be busy. Let’s get some rest early."

"Alright, I won’t mess around. I’ll just hold you."

"You said it, no moving around..."

However—

"Oh, weren’t you promising not to touch me? What are you fiddling with?"

"Wife, I’m no Liu Xia Hui. Holding your warm body, how could I not feel anything? Just once, is once okay?"

Ye Huan was about to speak when her mouth was covered. After that, all she could utter were whines and quiet mumbles.

When she woke up the next day, it was already past eight, with the dishes Tong Zhan brought back still kept warm on the stove.

Ye Huan looked from the bed, feeling a warm glow in her heart. Being cherished like this felt surprisingly nice.

She got up slowly, ate, and washed the dishes. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Heading into the kitchen, she noticed the water jar had been filled, the yard’s millstone scrubbed clean, and the remaining potatoes, radishes, and lotus roots from the cellar washed clean and placed in a basin. The soybeans soaked on the kang yesterday had turned into a bowl of soy milk, bringing her to tears.

How could this man be so meticulous?

Then, Ye Huan took some more beans from the storage space and soaked them on the kang. These were for making tofu pudding in the afternoon.

And the soy milk Tong Zhan ground could probably yield thirty jin of tofu, of course, firm tofu, with plans to make some water tofu, reaching around forty jin.

From eight or nine in the morning up until noon, the firm tofu and soft tofu were finally done. Thankfully, her family had some unused wooden planks she quickly assembled, and the cotton cloth, initially meant for clothes, was temporarily used as steaming cloth.

Seeing how it went today, it seemed she should have Tong Zhan make some wooden frames for setting the tofu properly.

Before Tong Zhan returned, she steamed a pot of assorted grain steamed buns. The dough was prepared the night before, and during the tofu-making breaks, she kneaded the dough, let it rise, placed it in the steamer, and it could steam thirty to forty buns a batch. When he returned at noon, she quickly stir-fried some tofu with cabbage, and the two of them finished their meal together.

Tong Zhan also helped her knead two more batches of dough for steamed buns, leaving only at two in the afternoon for work.

They steamed approximately one hundred steamed buns, which should be enough.

Oh, by the way, when Tong Zhan returned at noon, he pushed a small cart loaded with pumpkins, potatoes, cabbage, radishes, and two to three jin of pork.

Just as Ye Huan had speculated about the variety beforehand.

Before the military wives arrived, she braised half a pot of peanuts. These peanuts were saved from the storage and used up this time.

There were also five or six jin of lotus root, peeled and sliced, blanched in the pot used for braising peanuts, and then cooled in a basin, soon to be used for a cold dish.

Afterward, she sliced some scallions and ginger, keeping them ready for use.

Without any pickles at home, she quickly shredded radishes and pickled them into a tangy Spicy Radish, filling an entire basin.

Checking the time, it was three o’clock; people should arrive soon, and she laid out what she prepared in the hall.