Chapter 1661 - 1079: Heroine of the Republic 53 (5000+)_2

Chapter 1661: Chapter 1079: Heroine of the Republic 53 (5000+)_2

Left ten yuan for the captain, hoping he’d help with the matter. It wouldn’t be fair to let him do it for free. She still had to go home to take care of the children, so she didn’t go herself but left the house key with him. That’s why she cleared out everything valuable and useful from the house.

Don’t underestimate those firewoods; every winter, due to laziness, there are cases of families running out of firewood. In the bitter cold, people would search for firewood in the grove. The whole village knows about her children collecting firewood, and they are aware that her family has firewood. Just in case someone tries to break into her house while they’re away.

Moreover, An Yi unintentionally revealed that she had fetched firewood several times last month and had almost cleared them out.

Last month, many men in the village went out to work. The captain was the team leader, and he wasn’t home either, so he wouldn’t investigate these details. ℴ

As for An Hu, he could use this reason. He didn’t ask, and she wouldn’t proactively say anything, just muddle through.

On their way, the snow was getting heavier, like goose feathers. Despite each riding a bike and being well-protected, when they got home, they looked like snowmen. Once inside, the snow melted into water, and their clothes became damp. They quickly pulled back the bedding to dry their wet clothes on the kang.

"After delivering the festival gifts, our family will shut the doors and live our own lives. This time coming back, the captain even gave us a basket of shrimp. We’ll blanch them later and make shrimp dumplings for the kids."

The Northeast river shrimp are quite large, so it’s possible to peel the shrimp meat out. The leftover shrimp heads and shells are kept to make soup.

In times of scarcity, the shrimp shells usually are eaten by the adults. An Yi didn’t ’begrudgingly’ eat even a single bite, giving them all to An Hu.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, An Yi asked An Hu to go instead of her to ask Gu Cheng for money. She thought it might be tricky, but unexpectedly, the kid came back before Noon, and indeed, he brought back a gold bar. Seeing the gold bar, An Yi snorted coldly: "I knew he had it, at least saving him wasn’t in vain."

Then she turned to the family members: "Today at noon, I’ll cook squid for you."

She had already frozen the seafood in the snow outside, brought it in to thaw with well water (well water doesn’t freeze), cleaned it thoroughly, and cut it into pieces to stir-fry with chili. Their well was originally theirs, which saved them quite a bit of trouble; otherwise, they might have had to melt snow into water.

An Yi has many classmates from out of town who send her good stuff in various ways. Of course, it’s not free; she remits money for the goods to be sent, equivalent to her buying them. This way, the space things can have a way out.

The Noon main course was steamed mixed flour buns, mixed vegetable buns, a stir-fried squid, and a stewed Big Pot Dish. The family gathered around the stove to eat, not only warm but also keeping the food from getting cold.

"When you went to that Gu person, didn’t he say anything?"

"I showed him the IOU slip you gave me, An Ma. He asked if I was your son, and I said yes. Then he asked why you didn’t come yourself. I said you were at home making dumplings and buns and handed him the frozen ones you gave to him. After seeing them, he said nothing more, just pulled out a gold bar wrapped in a handkerchief from under the pillow and told me to tell you that from now on, it’s all settled."

An Yi chuckled: "Indeed, it’s settled. He spent money on the treatment, and it seems he’s not that sick anymore,"

"Mom, that person is quite pitiful. In such a cold sky, his home isn’t really warm, not sure if it’s because there isn’t enough firewood. Anyway, it’s not very warm; the stove doesn’t seem to have anything, it’s like nothing was prepared."

"Ignore it, it’s none of our business to care. We have food, drinks, and firewood at home, that’s enough. There are too many pitiful people; you can’t pity them all."

"An Ma, didn’t you pity me? And my two little sisters,"

"And the two of us, which is why your An Ma has a sharp tongue but a soft heart."

"Alright, alright, during the New Year, why talk about these disheartening things? On the contrary, the few of you, loosen your belts and eat. Tonight won’t be as sumptuous, just this one good meal today. Tonight we’ll have wild vegetables mixed with noodles..."

The evening of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, as they all slept, An Yi entered the space with the old sow. Since its son and daughter had grown up, it wasn’t needed anymore, and with more meat, they wouldn’t know how to eat it. So dragged to a corner of the space, shielded by panels to keep the livestock from seeing, peeling from pig blood to internal organs, pig bones, trotters, and elbows, bit by bit to clean out, finally collecting a big bowl of pig lard.