But for many ordinary people like his father, that's exactly what they wanted!
It's stylish and practical!
The best part is that they don't have to spend a single penny!
Therefore, this program, which made almost no splash outside the province, actually had a pretty good reputation among the people in their province!
At the very least, the thought that this program was responsible for decorating their family's courier point immediately put Jiang Youliang at ease.
"Give me a call when the production team arrives, I'll go down and take a look too."
Jiang Youliang, who is quite old, also wants to join the ranks of fans.
However, young people who idolize celebrities are drawn to their idols' faces and bodies.
Old Jiang's obsession with celebrities stemmed from his desire for the renovation company's workmanship...
He also had a somewhat immature idea in his mind, thinking that home renovation was just a minor matter.
Since the program team hired a big-name decoration company from the city to renovate their home, he went to learn from them. After all, it's just electrical work, carpentry, and tiling.
Once he learns the skills of the craftsmen in the city, he might be able to renovate the unfinished second-floor apartment in his house on his own.
Since he's usually idle at home anyway, he can buy some renovation materials, hire a couple of people if necessary, and do it himself. Wouldn't that save him a lot of money on renovations?
Jiang Xiaoman was surprised that her father, at his advanced age, would still be chasing after celebrities like Jiang Xia. She chuckled and quickly agreed, vowing to call him when the production team arrived.
"Hey Dad, why don't you go up the mountain and set a few more traps these next few days? Catch some wild rabbits or pheasants, pluck them, and freeze them in the fridge. When the production crew comes over, they'll definitely be having lunch down at the foot of the mountain, so you can bring them some of our mountain game to try," Jiang Xiaoman suggested.
“Yes, yes, yes! They came all this way to help us, and they don’t want a penny. They should at least be fed well.” Jiang Youliang agreed wholeheartedly and decided to go up the mountain again in the next few days to look for other people.
Wild fruits are also coming out in the mountains this season. City people love to eat them, so pick more and bring some back for others.
And our own late-maturing corn is ready to eat now. Shall we pick a couple of sacks of corn cobs?
I've heard that city people love to eat whole grains, so let's break them up! I'll also pick out two bags of the biggest sweet potatoes.
Meanwhile, Jiang Youliang was secretly thinking about the "apprenticeship gift" he would bring down the mountain.
Over there, Jiang Xiaoman had already packed her things, said goodbye to her father, and hurried down the mountain.
On the way down the mountain, I saw some fresh and tender houttuynia cordata growing by the mountain spring, so I picked a couple of handfuls and planned to make a cold houttuynia cordata salad for dinner.
Back at the house Jiang Yu and his friends rented, school had already let out. Shan Cha was a really diligent child; as soon as she put down her schoolbag, she helped Jiang Yu pick vegetables, feed the chickens, and sweep the yard, busy as a little spinning top.
Jiang Yu didn't stop her. By the time rural children grow up to be as big as Shan Cha, they can do all the housework, and some even help take care of their younger siblings.
However, once she finished all the odd jobs, Jiang Yu immediately called her in to do her homework.
"Camellia, you watch over the wildflowers and fruits for me. I'm going to cook with your Uncle Xiaoman." Jiang Yu casually moved the wildflower, who was sitting in the walker, into the main room, and gave the wildflower a small basket of peanuts, asking her to help shell the peanuts.
Jiang Yu felt sorry for the three children, but she didn't intend to spoil them without any principles.
It's inherently harder for girls to live in this world than for boys. And with no female elders in their family, just two grown men, they simply don't know how to raise a girl properly.
If I don't know how, then I can only imitate the villagers.
Jiang Yu has been paying close attention to how other families in the village with daughters raise them.
When he noticed that other people's daughters were learning to do housework, he also made the three sisters, including Camellia, learn to do it themselves.
He discovered that other families weren't letting their daughters eat well, and were hiding the good stuff for their sons... so he pretended not to see it!
He and Yan Ge finally got these three precious babies. If they don't give the good stuff in the house to the three Camellia sisters, who will get it?
In this way, "taking the essence and discarding the dross," Jiang Xiaoyu began his life as a stay-at-home dad, stumbling along the way.
"Xiaoman, could you teach me how to make that steamed egg custard you made the other day? Mine didn't look good at all; it was full of holes!" As soon as Jiang Yu entered the kitchen, she humbly asked the real chef for advice.
If this had happened a month ago, he would have starved to death or jumped off a mountain rather than bother learning to cook just to have a nice-looking steamed egg custard.
But now, just thinking about Shan Hua, who is so thin and has a big head and skinny arms, makes Jiang Yu wish she could immediately learn Jiang Xiaoman's cooking skills and make delicious food for the children every day!
"Isn't that easy? I'll show you!" Jiang Xiaoman took three free-range eggs from the cabinet next to her and began to demonstrate.
"Actually, I learned from the master chef at my school. To make steamed egg custard look beautiful and smooth, you must use plastic wrap."
As she spoke, Jiang Xiaoman took a large bowl, cracked the eggs into it, added half a spoonful of rapeseed oil and half a spoonful of salt, and then used chopsticks to add a little lard to enhance the aroma of the steamed egg custard.
Then stir well with chopsticks, pour in warm water, and keep stirring until a layer of foam appears on the surface.
At this point, you can use a spoon to scoop out and discard the foam on the surface. Finally, sprinkle a layer of chopped green onions on top, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and poke a few small holes in it with a toothpick.
Steamed egg custard prepared this way is fragrant, soft, and smooth, and tastes like pudding when scooped up, which children especially love.
In addition to steamed egg custard, Jiang Xiaoman also steamed a dish of smoked dried fish, a dish of pork tenderloin steamed with edamame, a bowl of steamed pork belly, and three large eggplants in the large pot used for cooking rice!
That's the good thing about the big wood-fired stove in the countryside; besides cooking rice, you can also steam several dishes on a bamboo rack.
Take out the steamed eggplant, tear it into strips, add minced garlic, roasted chili peppers, and dried chili flakes, and finally pour boiling hot rapeseed oil on top, making a sizzling sound!
After mixing well, the eggplant with oil is ready.
This season is the best time for the second crop of eggplants. In addition to steaming the eggplants, Jiang Xiaoman also stir-fried a plate of eggplant strips with green and red pepper strips, and made a tomato and egg soup. It was just right for two adults and three children.
When the food was served, Jiang Yu skillfully took a small stainless steel bowl, first scooped out two spoonfuls of rice, then a few spoonfuls of steamed egg custard, and two spoonfuls of steamed edamame with pork tenderloin. She then put a bib on the youngest girl, Shan Hua, and let her use a spoon to eat.
It wasn't that he was lazy and didn't want to feed his child, but rather that he had heard that eating with a spoon and chopsticks early in the morning could improve the child's finger dexterity.
Camellia and Mountain Fruit are already able to eat by themselves, but Jiang Yu still uses a pair of serving chopsticks, picking up a little bit from this girl and a little bit from that girl, almost filling the two girls' bowls before finally sitting down to eat by himself.
Jiang Xiaoman watched from the side and felt that it was much better for Aunt Chen to give the three Camellia sisters to the Shanyan couple for adoption than to send them back to that cannibalistic home!
However, there's no need to send it back now.
I heard that Camellia's grandmother broke into the school to snatch a child and even injured Jiang Baichuan, the school principal, causing extremely negative social impact. She may be sentenced to at least six months in prison.
Of course, if the old woman could compensate Jiang Baichuan for his losses and obtain his forgiveness, she could indeed receive a lighter sentence.
But Jiang Xiaoman believed that even for the sake of the Camellia Sisters, Jiang Baichuan would not issue a letter of understanding after taking the money.
Moreover, the Camellia family was so poor, where would the old woman get the money?
That's fine too. Even if the old woman is released from prison in six months, the three Camellia sisters will have gotten used to living in Shanyan's house.
Having grown accustomed to such a good life, the three little girls aren't stupid; how could they possibly go back to their grandmother's side to eat coarse food?
The production team has arranged to come over on Friday, so there are still two days left. In these two days, Jiang Xiaoman plans to visit several tea cake shops in the vicinity with Jiang Yu.
Langshan Village has many mountains and little arable land. There used to be many abandoned tea forests on the nearby hills, which over time became wild tea trees that were left unmanaged.
There are several elderly people in this village who go up the mountain to pick tea leaves every spring and autumn, make them into tea cakes, and carry them to the town to set up a stall when they have nothing to do.
If you're lucky, you might be able to sell one.
If you're unlucky, you might make several trips and still not sell a single piece.
Just like Jiang Yu said, traditional old-fashioned tea cakes are too big. Before drinking them, most people have to use a small chisel to pry off the tea leaves, which is not only troublesome, but if they are not stored properly and get damp and moldy, such a big tea cake will be wasted...
In addition, the tea soup brewed from old-fashioned tea cakes is too strong, which young people don't like to drink. A whole tea cake is also too expensive, and the elderly in rural areas are reluctant to spend their own money to buy it.
Only by repeatedly going to the market, hoping to meet someone from the city who has never tried their tea cakes, would they be willing to spend a hundred or two hundred yuan to buy one to take home and try.
When people heard that Jiang Xiaoman wanted to buy tea cakes, they were very enthusiastic. After all, Jiang Xiaoman's uncle was the school principal, and what family doesn't want their child to go to school? People in the countryside are willing to show some respect to the family members of teachers.
However, Jiang Xiaoman was slightly disappointed that the tea cakes made by the villagers themselves were not very good in terms of packaging or appearance.
The large tea cakes looked dark and smelled of fermented tea. They were wrapped in layers of straw. Some of them were probably made a long time ago, because mold had grown on the tea cakes inside after the straw was removed!
These tea cakes are definitely not suitable for sale.
What a pity!
Jiang Xiaoman thought Jiang Yu's suggestion was absolutely right!
They should change the old tradition of locals making tea cakes and break down the large tea cakes into disposable items that modern people prefer. This way, there's no need to use chisels, and there's no need to worry about them getting moldy if not stored properly.
Small portions of tea cakes are individually sealed and packaged, just like the small cans of tea or individually packaged flower tea in supermarkets. One bag is just enough to brew one cup of tea.
This way, it will be more convenient for tea drinkers, and their tea will sell better.
After a whole day of running around, I finally brought back less than twenty tea cakes.
Jiang Xiaoman was somewhat frustrated.
However, there's nothing that can be done about it. Tea cakes are hard to sell once they're made, and it's normal that locals won't want to make them anymore after a while.
The dozen or so tea cakes they collected were all made by people for their own consumption.
"Fine, I'll just take as much as I can."
"We'll cut the tea cake into four pieces, half a pound per package, and try selling them on a small yellow cart. If we can't sell them, we'll just settle down and raise bees."
Jiang Xiaoman adjusted his mindset and didn't let Jiang Yu run around with him the next day. He went from house to house by himself and collected more than thirty tea cakes.
Chapter 112
On Friday morning, Jiang Xiaoman made a special trip to town to buy some meat, vegetables, fruits, and snacks.
Then, he took the newly bought broom and dustpan and cleaned the rented house inside and out.
Although it's still dilapidated, it's not as slovenly as it used to be.
However, all the electrical wires in this old house had been chewed through by rats, so the house was dark and there were no lights. Jiang Xiaoman simply moved the newly bought table and chairs to the roadside in front of the house.
There wasn't even a stove for boiling water or making tea here. Luckily, Jiang Yu knew that he was going to receive reporters from the provincial TV station today. After settling the two little ones at home, she boiled a kettle of water, filled it into a thermos, and brought it to him.
"You need to build a stove here, otherwise it'll be fine in the summer, but in the winter you won't even have a place to light a fire, won't you freeze to death?"
"I was thinking of tearing down these two dilapidated houses and rebuilding them. The kitchen will definitely be built directly inside the new house."
Jiang Xiaoman didn't stand on ceremony with Jiang Yu at all, and unilaterally decided that he would stay at Jiang Yu's house until his house was built.
“Even if you hadn’t said anything, I would have invited you to my house for dinner. You don’t know, every time you cook, those three sisters can eat an extra bowl of rice. Sigh! I used to tell Shanyan that even if I starved to death or jumped off a mountain, I would never learn to cook.”
"And now?"
"Oh, I've already followed more than a dozen short video bloggers who specialize in teaching people how to cook."
Jiang Xiaoyu has truly proven with her actions that being a mother—no, being a father—makes one strong!
A man who would rather eat roasted potatoes than learn to cook has now started learning to cook by watching videos, all because he became a father of three…
After delivering the boiled water, Jiang Yu hurriedly went back inside. Shan Guo and Shan Cha were still in the house. Although Shan Guo was old enough to help take care of her younger siblings in the countryside, Jiang Yu simply didn't dare take the risk.