Zhou Xiaoyun’s Happy Life

Chapter 238: Preferring sons over daughters

It was already dark when Zhou Guoqiang arrived, and it gets dark earlier in winter now. After delivering meat at home, he put the remaining two businesses to tomorrow morning. Thinking that I had to pick up the three children quickly, the car drove faster than usual.

 Hurrying slowly, it was already dark when we got here.

Hearing the sound of the tricycle, Zhou Xiaoyun and Dabao Xiaobao immediately went downstairs.

There is a seat next to Zhou Guoqiang that is naturally reserved for Zhou Xiaoyun. Zhou Xiaoyun once wanted Xiaobao to sit down, but unfortunately Xiaobao refused.

He also said, "I'm a kid but I'm a boy and I should let the girls sit down." He said this very gracefully. Zhou Xiaoyun is simply proud of having such a younger brother.

Dabao and Xiaobao stood in the car hood at the back, and the biting cold wind could not stop the laughter.

Erya had been waiting at the door for a long time. She heard the sound of a tricycle in the distance and quickly turned around and shouted: "Mom, dad is back with his brothers and sisters!"

 Zhao Yuzhen was busy making dinner and continued working after saying yes.

 Zhou Xiaoyun's heart warmed up when he saw the lights on at home. Your own home is the best!

Erya was the first to pounce on Zhou Xiaoyun: "Sister!"

Zhou Xiaoyun responded, hugged Erya and entered the yard.

Zhao Yuzhen just put the food on the table and greeted the children to have dinner. On a cold day, I specially cooked the children's favorite mutton and sauerkraut and put it in a hot pot. I poured some alcohol on it to make it warm. It tastes heart-warming and stomach-warming.

Dabao loves meat the most, and when he and Xiaobao eat, it can only be described as locusts passing by and the wind turning into clouds.

Zhou Xiaoyun found his favorite fried potato flour rolls on the dining table, and ate five or six pieces before he was satisfied.

Zhao Yuzhen was also happy to see the children eating happily. Seeing Zhou Xiaoyun stop using her chopsticks, she hurriedly said: "Da Ya, you can eat more. I made more today. When you leave the day after tomorrow, I will make something ready-made for you." Take it to school to eat.”

In this year's family's potato harvest, Zhao Yuzhen made more potato powder.

I believe that many children who grew up in rural areas are familiar with potato starch, and rural women usually make it. First wash the potato with water, then beat it into a paste with a machine, add water and set it aside to settle. The slightly light gray solid formed is potato powder.

Somehow it was formed into a shape the size of a watermelon, round and round which is really interesting.

 It is said that after further processing, it becomes vermicelli.

Zhou Xiaoyun doesn’t know the specific process, but she loves food made from potato flour the most.

Poach flour is different from flour, it is stickier and more fragrant.

 There are roughly two ways to do it. One is to mix the potato powder with some water, some salt, and some chopped green onion, then pour it on a hot pan and spread it out like a pancake. Put some oil on both sides until the bottom of the bowl is full of oil. You can't even see the shape. Use chopsticks to pick a little bit and put it in your mouth. It's really delicious.

The second method is much more troublesome. You must first spread the potato flour into a round shape, remove it from the pot and set it aside to cool. Chop some cabbage, add some diced tofu, mix with oil, salt and chopped green onion to make a filling. Spread the filling evenly on the potato flour pancake and roll it up into strips. Then cut it into sections with a knife, and finally put each section into the oil pan and fry it. Fry until it is bright and golden, then serve it on a flat plate. It is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which is delicious and beautiful.

This kind of pan-fried potato flour rolls was originally the most common farm dish. Later, it was adopted by various restaurants for some reason. The potato flour, which was not worth a few dollars, was transformed into more than ten yuan a plate.

In a few years, there will be fewer and fewer people farming, and young people will go out to work and make a lot of money. Who else knows how to make this kind of potato flour? Good things pass quickly!

Stop, stop, don’t think about such powerless things, and don’t be sad about the spring and autumn. The most important thing is to live happily in the present.

 Zhou Xiaoyun, who was full, helped Zhao Yuzhen put away the dishes. Zhao Yuzhen did not refuse her daughter's help.

 Looking at Zhou Xiaoyun, who was as tall as herself and had grown into a big girl, Zhao Yuzhen felt a lot in her heart.

 It seems that in just a blink of an eye, that little girl has grown so big.

It is true that children make people grow old.

 This period of time a year ago was the busiest time for Zhou Guoqiang and his wife. Zhou Guoqiang, whose business was booming, had to hire two more temporary workers to come home to help.

Zhou Guoqiang had an idea and wanted to specialize in wholesale business. This small retail pork business could not make much money, and Zhao Yuzhen spent half a day on it every morning.

 Discuss it with Zhao Yuzhen, but Zhao Yuzhen holds objections.

"You go to collect the pigs every day and then kill them and deliver the pork. I am enough to go to the market. Isn't it a good division of labor between the two of us? Besides, don't look down on my pork stall. You can make money every day. It's a lot of money. At least it's enough for the family's food, drinks and pocket expenses. Our eldest daughter, eldest daughter and little darling, are studying abroad. In the future, we will have to pay for the tuition and living expenses for the two of us. Let's take advantage of it now. It’s a pity to lose such a good business if you don’t have to work hard even if you have the strength!”

What Zhao Yuzhen said makes sense.

Zhou Guoqiang had no choice but to put aside this idea for the time being. In fact, he also felt sorry for Zhao Yuzhen. She had to get up early in the morning to cook alone, then go to the market, and rush back at noon to make lunch for Erya. After cleaning up, you still have to take care of a few big fat pigs in the pen. Several acres of land are still under cultivation, and the busyness inside and outside the house keeps spinning like a top all day long without a break.

At Zhou Guoqiang’s insistence, all the chickens and ducks were sold out, and there was really no time or energy left to take care of these little animals.

Zhou Guoqiang originally wanted to stop the retail business so that Zhao Yuzhen could relax, but Zhao Yuzhen refused and had to give up.

 The couple worked hard to make money so that their children could go to school. Zhou Guoqiang and Zhao Yuzhen's thoughts are relatively open and progressive now. As long as their children have potential, it is worthwhile to work hard to make money to send their children to school.

There are also people in the village who are reluctant to pay tuition fees for their children so that they can go out to work after graduating from junior high school. Isn’t that the case for Sun Min, the daughter of the Sun Chengwu family? I heard that a relative found a job in a clothing factory! It is said that only a small part of the salary is left as pocket money, and the rest is given to the family to save for building a building.

Zhao Yuzhen often said when talking about it: "Sun Min was allowed to work when she was just a little old, and Sun Chengwu's wife was really willing to do so."

There are really not just one or two such people. I heard that there was a family in a neighboring village whose daughter was admitted to a key high school and was not willing to let her child study in the city. They say the tuition and living expenses are too expensive!

If it were my son who had passed the exam, he wouldn't have said such a thing!

Some people are willing to spend a lot of money on their sons but are reluctant to let their daughters go to high school. They always feel that when their daughters grow up, they will marry someone else's family, and the money spent is in vain and they will always be advantageous to other families.

I really don’t know when the rural people’s patriarchal mentality will really change. Hey, how difficult it is for rural girls to get ahead!

 (End of this chapter)