The roasted potatoes under the stove were cooked. They were taken out with tongs, the ash on the surface was brushed off, and they were placed on a plate and served. A dish of salt and pepper powder was also prepared. When eating, you peel the skin and dip it in the salt and pepper powder. In the words of gourmets, the most original and simple way of eating is to taste the original flavor of the ingredients... Jiang Xiaoman, a common man, did not know what the original flavor was. He just ate three roasted potatoes in one go.
After finishing his meal, Jiang Youliang took the pig feed his son had gathered to the next room, chopped it up with a machine, and mixed it evenly with the cooked cornmeal. This was his family's pig feed for the whole day.
Jiang Xiaoman sat on her doorstep and tried connecting to the Wi-Fi card she had bought online at school. Sure enough, it was much better than mobile data, and a monthly plan was more cost-effective. She uploaded the video she had taken that morning of cutting pig feed to several accounts on various platforms. After thinking about it, she decided to go to class and assemble her computer.
After finishing the installation, he realized he had only installed something useless—his old desktop computer, which he had bought from a secondhand market, did not support wireless network card connectivity.
"Do I really have to buy a new computer?" The stingy guy was immediately filled with despair.
A new computer costs at least several thousand yuan, and he certainly has that much money to spare. But now that he's back in his hometown, he can no longer work part-time and collect recyclables like he did in school, spending money without earning anything each month. Even mountains of gold and silver can run out one day!
"What do you mean, 'change'? I'll just send you my laptop by express delivery!" Upon seeing Jiang Xiaoman's post on WeChat Moments, Lao Si Qi Ning immediately sent him a private message.
"Don't you really like that laptop?" Jiang Xiaoman didn't want to take away what others liked.
"Sigh! I didn't want to change it, but my girlfriend insisted on getting me a completely new set—my laptop, tablet, and phone—saying she doesn't like seeing me using things given to me by others..."
Jiang Xiaoman silently swallowed a large bowl of dog food, and almost choked to the point of rolling her eyes.
This forced display of affection is truly something else!
"Send it over! If your girlfriend doesn't like your limited edition sneakers, why don't you send them to me too?" After a while, Jiang Xiaoman sent a voice message with a cold laugh.
I don't know if their internet is down, they haven't replied for a long time.
Satisfied, Jiang Xiaoman put away her phone, ran downstairs to find the small stone mill in her home, washed it clean, and prepared to make tofu.
When they make tofu for holidays or festivals, they usually carry their own soybeans to the village, where there's a water mill that grinds them very quickly. For everyday family use, they use a small stone mill like this. Luckily, rainy days don't matter. Jiang Xiaoman watched videos while grinding tofu, and quickly finished grinding the soaked soybeans.
Making tofu isn't difficult; Jiang Xiaoman learned it at a very young age, and because of his "extraordinary talent," his tofu was even better than his father's. Jiang Youliang could only help out by tending the fire.
The tofu needs to be pressed with a large stone for a while to set its shape. Jiang Xiaoman specially set aside half a basin of tofu pudding, opened a bottle of mushroom sauce, and each of her and her father had a big basin of tofu pudding. They ate it while it was still hot, and it was simply wonderful!
"I don't think this mushroom sauce is difficult to make, Dad. When the weather clears up, let's go up the mountain and pick more mushrooms to make the sauce. This stuff can be sealed and stored for a long time. In the future, if I go out on business, you can cook a pot of noodles and mix this sauce with them. Don't always cook potatoes." After finishing his meal, Jiang Xiaoman instructed his father.
“Okay! Anyway, we’ve finished harvesting our potatoes. Once the weather clears up, we’ll go up the mountain to pick mushrooms first, and then plant a second crop of beans after the land dries in a few days.” Jiang Youliang nodded in agreement.
This mushroom sauce is indeed quite delicious, but when his son told him that such a small bottle of sauce costs ten yuan, Jiang Youliang felt that he wasn't eating sauce, but money! If Jiang Xiaoman said that he spent money to buy it, Jiang Youliang would definitely not be happy, but if he went up the mountain to pick mushrooms and made it himself, then he could eat as much as he wanted.
After all, wild mushrooms on the mountain are free, and he has his own soybean paste for making the sauce; it just takes a little time. For mountain people like them, time is the least valuable thing.
In the evening, after the tofu was ready, Jiang Xiaoman took a kitchen knife and cut it into pieces the size of mahjong tiles. Then she took out all the drawers in the freezer at the bottom of the refrigerator, put the cut tofu in and froze it until it was solid. Then she divided it into individual bags so that when she wanted to eat it, she could just take out a bag and thaw it.
"Dad, shall we go to the river to collect fish tomorrow? It's been raining nonstop, the reservoir must have released water." Jiang Xiaoman said happily, looking at the increasingly heavy rain outside.
"If this rain keeps going on, the floodgates will have to be opened soon." Jiang Youliang stared outside for a while, then stood up and went to the eaves to take down the fishing nets and harpoons from his house.
Langshan is at a high altitude and has abundant water resources, so there are quite a few hydropower stations built here. However, when it rains heavily in the mountains, the water flows down like a torrent, so every time there is a continuous heavy rain, the hydropower stations above will open their gates to release floodwaters.
Once the sluice gate is opened, the fish in the reservoir are carried down the mountain torrents, so villagers often go along the flood discharge channel to collect fish.
That really meant "picking up" fish. Hydropower stations are usually built quite high, and fish washed down from a height are basically stunned by the huge splash of water as soon as they hit the ground. They are then carried downstream by the current, and whoever picks them up keeps them.
The father and son couldn't help but drool as they thought of the fish in the upstream reservoir: the bighead carp raised in the upstream reservoir were quite expensive, and they could only afford to buy two to try during the Chinese New Year. If they wanted to eat them at other times, they could only squat on the riverbank and pick up any leftovers when the reservoir was releasing water.
Neither father nor son expected that it was Jiang Xiaoman's sudden idea that would allow them to perfectly escape a major disaster...
Chapter 24
Rainy days always get dark especially quickly; it was dark before five o'clock. Jiang Xiaoman diced a piece of tofu that she had specially saved, and also chopped a bowl of cured meat to stir-fry together. She also simmered half a pot of sweet potato porridge. In this damp and cold weather, a hot bowl of sweet potato porridge is more comforting than anything else.
The next morning, after feeding the pigs and having breakfast, the father and son, one carrying a fishing net and harpoon and the other carrying a basket and a machete, went down the mountain together to collect fish.
Picking up fish sounds simple, but it's actually a bit dangerous. The water flow from the upstream flood discharge is particularly strong. To ensure safety, Jiang Xiaoman would first tie a thick hemp rope around his father's waist, and then firmly fix the other end to a tree.
Jiang Youliang stood on the shore with his specially made half-net, watching the fish drifting downstream. He would first cover them with the net, then spear them up with a harpoon. If he was lucky, he could catch a few fish in a morning; if he was unlucky, even the net would be washed away by the current…
This is a technical skill, and Jiang Xiaoman hasn't mastered the technique of catching fish yet, so she can only hold onto the rope tightly from behind and watch her father catch fish.
At this moment, Jiang Youliang's back was hunched over, like a fully drawn bowstring. He gripped the bamboo poles on both sides of the fishing net tightly with both hands, staring at the river surface. When he saw fish coming down from upstream, he quickly stretched the fishing net over. However, because the current was too fast, the fish went up and down with the current, making them very difficult to catch. Jiang Youliang tried several times before he finally managed to catch a bighead carp as long as his arm!
"Fish on the hook!" Jiang Youliang's old face beamed with joy. He raised his harpoon and threw the bighead carp on the shore. Jiang Xiaoman quickly ran over, grabbed the fish with lightning speed, and tossed it into his basket.
They were lucky today. After a busy morning, the father and son had collected a whole basket full of fish. The biggest ones were as long as Jiang Xiaoman's leg. They couldn't even fit them in their deepest basket, and the fish's tails were sticking out.
“I don’t think we can make pickled fish in this weather. Let’s keep two of these fish for ourselves and send the rest to your Uncle Baichuan. The kids will probably be staying at school for the next few days, so take these to them to add some dishes to their meals!” Jiang Youliang carried a full basket of fresh fish on his back and instructed his son as he walked, “Let’s go together this afternoon and look for our mushroom burrows in the woods on the way. Pick up the big ones first so they don’t get soaked and rot in the rain.”
Rainy days are also a good time to pick mushrooms. In fact, because the rain has buried the fallen leaves, mushrooms are easier to find than on sunny days. Local mountain folk like Jiang Youliang usually have their own favorite mushroom spots and rarely come back empty-handed.
Jiang Xiaoman smiled and was about to say that her father was also greedy when suddenly they heard a loud noise from halfway up the mountain, as if something had collapsed. Jiang Xiaoman's expression changed drastically, and she grabbed her father from behind.
The father and son looked up and saw their familiar old house halfway up the mountain, but the roof was no longer visible...
Jiang Xiaoman could faintly hear the sound of heavy objects collapsing. Her mind went blank. Her father had already rushed up the mountain.
The father and son scrambled to the foot of their house, but when they were still dozens of meters from the door, they could no longer go any further.
The old house, which had been in disrepair for many years, finally succumbed to the erosion of time and the elements and collapsed with a crash.
The Jiang family's old house was renovated when Jiang Youliang's father was still alive. At that time, the family was poor and could not afford red bricks. His father made mud bricks by himself and saved up for four years to have enough mud bricks to build the house. The beams and the bamboo fence for the roof were also made by themselves. After the house was built, the family was so poor that they could not even afford a single yuan and owed more than 300 yuan in debt.
It was precisely because of his debts that even after building a new house, Jiang Youliang still couldn't afford to get married. He wasted his life until he was in his thirties, when he picked up Jiang Xiaoman at a market... It can be said that this house was both a microcosm of Jiang Youliang's unfortunate first half of life and a hope for his happy second half.
But now, the very thing he relied on has suddenly collapsed without any warning.
Tears of despair unknowingly streamed down Jiang Youliang's aged face.
"Dad, it's okay! It's okay, I still have tens of thousands in my account. If the house collapses, we'll build an even better one!"
"I'll build you a small Western-style house with reinforced concrete and bricks!" Jiang Xiaoman hugged his father tightly.
Jiang Youliang buried his face in his son's arms and burst into tears. Jiang Xiaoman, her eyes red, patted her father, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
To outsiders, his family might seem poor and dilapidated, but he had grown up in this run-down old house since he could remember! He also remembered that when he was a child, there was a year when it rained heavily in the mountains for several days in a row, and his roof finally couldn't hold up and started leaking.
He was still young then. His father climbed up to repair the roof by himself. Afraid that he would be scared if he stayed in the house, he removed the tiles and threw the grass mushrooms that grew on the roof down while repairing it.
Young Jiang Xiaoman would drag a bamboo basket around, crawling all over the ground picking mushrooms, having a great time... That night, his father, with his clumsy cooking skills, made him a bowl of mushroom and egg drop soup.
Jiang Xiaoman still remembers how delicious that soup was.
That was the best mushroom and egg drop soup he had ever eaten in his life.
The father and son hugged each other and cried for a while, but even though the house had collapsed, life still had to go on.
Only now did Jiang Xiaoman secretly feel fortunate that he and his father had gone down the mountain to fish this morning, otherwise their family would have been wiped out by now.
To be honest, the mud house that his grandfather built in his early years was really sturdy. The collapse was not actually due to the house being old and in disrepair, but rather because a landslide on the hillside behind the house washed away the back wall of the house, which in turn washed away the entire house.
The large cornfield in front of his yard was also crushed by the collapsed earth, making the cornfield a complete waste.
Fortunately, since all four walls had collapsed completely, there was no danger now. The father and son put down their things and carefully stepped over the fallen mud bricks to return home. Jiang Youliang, thinking about the two most valuable pigs in the house, ran over to take a look and immediately burst out laughing—
"Xiaoman! Our pigs are still alive! And the chickens are too!"
The Jiang family's pigsty was built later. To save time, they didn't make separate mud bricks; they just used yellow mud mixed with straw to build half a wall, leaving the top open with only a bamboo roof for ventilation. Unexpectedly, this simple design preserved the Jiang family's most valuable possession—
The old house collapsed eastward along the direction of the landslide. The pigsty built on the west side was almost intact, except for two bamboo beams near the old house that were bent. The roof of the pigsty was slightly tilted. Two large pigs and more than a dozen chickens raised by Jiang Youliang huddled in a corner, trembling. Some of the old hens were even so frightened that they jumped onto the pigs. Although they were in a sorry state, they were all alive.
Compared to his father, Jiang Xiaoman was much more unlucky—the secondhand computer he painstakingly carried back from school was buried under the collapsed earth, and even if he were dug out, it would probably be a pile of scrap metal.
Fortunately, he and his father had all their savings in the card. Following his memory, he found the location of the bedroom and luckily found his "safe"—an old-fashioned biscuit box. He also pulled out his backpack. The rest of his bedding and clothes were buried in the mud and covered in mud. Even if he dug them out, they probably wouldn't be wearable anymore, so he had to give up.
They temporarily settled a dozen chickens in the pigsty, poured half a bag of corn into the trough, and threw in a basket of chopped Swiss chard. The father and son then drove the two pigs down the mountain before it got dark.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. In this kind of weather, if you don't have a place to stay in the mountains at night, you could really freeze to death.
On the way down the mountain, Jiang Xiaoman called Jiang Baichuan and briefly explained the situation at home. The main point was that he and his father would probably have to stay at the school temporarily.
Jiang Baichuan was cooking for his students when he heard that his nephew's house had collapsed. He was shocked, but when Jiang Xiaoman told him that he and his father had gone down the mountain to fish and were both unharmed, his heart immediately settled down.
"Why even bother saying hello? Half of the classrooms on the third floor of the school are empty. You and your dad can stay in whichever room you want. Your two pigs are kept in the school's pigsty. I'll get some paint and paint them on them later, and I guarantee no one will mistake them for someone else!"
They trudged along the muddy mountain path to school, the father and son covered in mud and water, looking utterly disheveled. The two pigs were also covered in mud. Jiang Baichuan felt both sorry for them and helpless. He quickly grabbed his spare clothes and urged the father and son to take a shower in the bathroom, having already boiled hot water. Then he busied himself washing the two pigs clean and taking them to the pigpen at the school.
Since he couldn't find any paint to fix the color, Jiang Baichuan simply dried the pig ears of the two pigs, asked a student for a red paintbrush, and wrote the eye-catching character "Jiang" on the pig ears. This way, there would definitely be no mistake.
After taking a hot shower, Jiang Xiaoman felt completely revitalized. Actually, thinking about it carefully, he had originally planned to demolish his old house and build a new one. Demolishing the old house would have cost him money, but now he could save that money.
The next step is to dig out the collapsed earth and dump it elsewhere to free up the original homestead.
However, to Jiang Youliang and Jiang Xiaoman's surprise, that evening, upon hearing that their house had been crushed by a landslide, the village chief congratulated them with a beaming smile.
"That's great! I heard that several houses in nearby towns were destroyed by landslides due to the heavy rain. The county called us to collect data, and I expect there will be subsidies for you from above."
The village chief knew that Jiang Xiaoman had always wanted to demolish the old house and rebuild it. He had even asked him about buying building materials and hiring a construction team. Unexpectedly, even God was on their side. Just when they were about to demolish and rebuild, the old house collapsed.
What's even more surprising is that, precisely during the half-day the house collapsed, Jiang Youliang and his son actually ran down the mountain to fish, perfectly avoiding this natural disaster. Could it be that Jiang Xiaoman is really a little lucky star sent from heaven, just as the old shaman said?
Thanks to the good news brought by the village chief, Jiang Youliang, who had been depressed all afternoon, finally cheered up: "I was worried that we wouldn't have enough money to build a house. But with this subsidy, as long as we have another 20,000 or 30,000 yuan, it will be enough for us to build a two-story house."
"Hmm! If all else fails, we'll build the bottom layer first, and add the top layer when we have more money. This time, we can't skimp on money; we must dig the foundation deeper and build a frame with cement and steel reinforcement!" Jiang Xiaoman added.
He planned to build this house for his father to live in his old age, so he definitely couldn't do a shoddy construction. Jiang Xiaoman secretly calculated his current savings and realized that if he followed his plan, he could probably only build a foundation and the first floor first. The second floor would have to wait until he had saved up some money in a couple of years.
"Let's talk about that later, come and eat!" The students had already finished eating, so Jiang Baichuan used the leftover rice to make them fried rice with eggs and a seaweed and egg drop soup. There wasn't time to cook any other dishes, so he just cut up a few salted duck eggs and brought them over.
The father and son were really hungry after all that fuss. They wolfed down half a bowl of fried rice with eggs. Jiang Baichuan also took out two quilts from the cabinet. He didn't have any extra quilts, so the father and son had to sleep on one bed for the time being. They had to sleep on the floor because the classrooms on the third floor were all empty and there wasn't even a bed board to be found.
Could this stump Jiang Xiaoman, the social butterfly?
He immediately ran to the only shop in the village and bought two sets of clean underwear and thermal underwear for himself and his father. He also bought new shoes and socks and asked the shop owner to get him a few cases of local liquor. With such a large sum of money, it was much easier for Jiang Xiaoman to ask the shop owner for cardboard boxes.
I heard that the old house of the father and son collapsed, and they are temporarily staying in an empty classroom at the school. The shop owner also recommended that he buy a roll of tarpaulin, which can be used to prevent moisture when they go home to clean the foundation. They can also use it to build a temporary shack.
Jiang Xiaoman wholeheartedly agreed, immediately scanned the code to pay, and bought a large roll of tarpaulin. The shop owner had really reminded him that it wasn't just the ground that needed moisture protection; the classrooms on the third floor of the school were truly "in disrepair"—almost all the windows and doors were broken, and they needed some tarpaulin cut and nailed up, otherwise, the biting mountain wind at night would be unbearable!
Chapter 25
Back at school with bags and packages, Jiang Baichuan had already gone back to the classroom to tutor the children with their homework. Jiang Xiaoman took out the tarpaulin and went with his father to the third floor to nail up the broken doors and windows. He then folded the remaining tarpaulin several times and made a simple bed on the ground, covering it with a mattress. It wasn't too bad.
"Dad, pack your things. I'll go down and kill and marinate those fish, otherwise we won't be able to eat them tomorrow." Only then did Jiang Xiaoman remember that they had carried the fish they caught that morning down the mountain.
It's too late to make fish soup now. I can only process the fish first, rub it with a thin layer of salt and marinate it so it won't spoil tomorrow.
"What's the big deal about cleaning up such a small thing? That fish is too big. I'll go down and clean it with you." Jiang Youliang stood up. Don't let his lean appearance fool you; he's incredibly strong. He can even butcher a pig, let alone a fish.
The school cafeteria also had a large chopping board and cleaver specifically for handling large fish and meat. Jiang Youliang quickly removed the fish scales, cut open the fish belly, chopped off the fish head, and handed the rest over to Jiang Xiaoman.
Jiang Xiaoman had already brought an empty basin, took out the fish's internal organs and put them in the basin, then removed the black membrane inside the fish's belly. If this wasn't removed, the fish meat would taste bitter. Then she rubbed a layer of salt on both sides of the cleaned fish and arranged them in a large wooden basin.