A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 42 Stewed Sweet Potatoes

Since it was the first day the girls arrived, they planned to cook some light dishes. When Zhang Niu learned that he was going to cook, the girls insisted that they should do it themselves. They even said that Zhang Niu was lucky this time, with several young ladies personally cooking.

Rural kitchens lack the pristine white tiles of city kitchens, and they lack range hoods, microwaves, and other kitchenware. Zhang Niu's kitchen, though newly built, looks quite clean. It has a mud stove, whitewashed with lime. A single-burner gas stove sits in the corner. A cylinder of gas costs ninety yuan, which is less economical for Zhang Niu than burning firewood. And the food cooked with firewood tastes better. When the educated youth were sent to the countryside, everyone cooked together in a communal pot. The food was delicious.

Fortunately, the girls weren't unfamiliar with this mud stove. They all had relatives, like grandmothers, living in the countryside. And every season, they would bring some fruits and vegetables over.

Originally, they planned to cook lunch on the gas stove, but Zhang Ting and the others wanted to try it on the mud stove. Zhang Niu had no choice but to agree. He told them to light the fire first, and then went out to wash some vegetables and come back.

Zhang Niu uses water collected from bamboo groves on the mountain to wash vegetables. Although the taste isn't as good as the water from his spatial dimension, it's all pure groundwater seeping out. He washes taro, green beans, pumpkin leaves, sweet potato leaves and stems, and four or five other kinds of vegetables.

Carrying the washed vegetables, Zhang Niu headed towards the small kitchen next to the tiled house. Before he even reached it, he saw Zhang Ting and the other girls standing outside the door, their hair still covered in leaves. Seeing this, Zhang Niu knew they couldn't afford to light the mud stove.

"You guys can't afford a mud stove, can you?"

The girls in front of the door nodded shyly. They thought the mud stove was simple, but it turned out to be very difficult. They'd just lit the firewood and put it in, and it would go out almost immediately; they just couldn't get it to light.

"I'll go burn it. You all come in and take a look," he said to them.

Zhang Niu, who had just entered the house, placed the vegetables on the cutting board. He then went to prepare to light the clay stove. "Hey, can someone help me cut some taro? Don't go if your hands get itchy from cutting taro."

In the end, it was the tall, slender young woman who picked up the cleaver and started chopping the taro. Her chopping skills were quite impressive, drawing envious glances from Zhang Ting. Even Zhang Niu, sitting in front of the mud stove, gave her a thumbs up. There are so few young women who can cook these days, especially those born in the 1990s. When he was little, if someone asked him what kind of wife he wanted, Zhang Niu would proudly reply that he wanted someone like Aunt Sanhua. Aunt Sanhua was a woman who married into the village from outside. She was virtuous and kind. All the little kids in the village adored her back then.

Burning a mud stove. It's really hard to do without skill. Before starting, you use tongs to hold some pine needles, light them, and put them in—this is called "starting the fire." Once the fire is burning, Zhang Niu quickly breaks off some mulberry branches and adds them in. Almost every household uses mulberry branches for fuel. As long as it's not a rainy or damp day, they burn even better than dry bamboo. Then, you put a few planks of firewood on top, and basically, no one needs to watch over it. Under Zhang Niu's demonstration, the girls finally understood how to burn a mud stove. It turns out it's so simple. They'd been working on it for so long without being able to light it. They were so frustrated!

The fire was lit, and now it was time to see how the girls cooked. Zhang Niu, enjoying his leisure, sat on a small stool in front of the mud stove, watching the girls wash the pots and cook.

Zhang Niu admitted he wasn't as good as the other two at cooking. These three seemingly pretty girls were actually quite skilled cooks. Their dishes were perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

The lunch vegetables were all placed under the trellis in the front yard. As soon as it was time to eat, the wild boar cubs, including Xiao Hei, all ran under the table to wait for their food. Their eldest, Little Budian, jumped onto a chair, eyeing the dishes. He just stretched out his little paw when Zhang Niu, who had seen him, slapped it back. "Don't cause trouble. Otherwise, you won't get any later," he scolded, and Little Budian quieted down, though he still kept staring at the food.

Eating inevitably involves drinking some beverages. Luckily, Zhang Niu bought a whole case of canned Jianlibao yesterday. He put it in cold water this morning. Without a refrigerator, this is the only way; to be honest, the mountain water is incredibly cold. In the past, horsemen traveling on the roadside would be overjoyed to find a puddle of cold water, but now, unless you're deep in the mountains, it's very difficult to find one.

During mealtime, Zhang Niu poured a small bowl of drink for "Little One". Now, Little One can hold bamboo chopsticks and occasionally pick up some food. The girls laughed at Little One's clumsy attempts to pick up food. In the end, Fang MM put a lot of food into Little One's bowl.

"Delicious. No wonder you all said I'm lucky," Zhang Niu said, still struggling with the dishes.

"You're lucky, you little rascal. There are tons of boys who want to eat our cooking. You should thank us properly," asked the round-faced girl picking up some food.

After swallowing a mouthful of rice, Zhang Niu exclaimed, "Ah. You have to pay for food!"

Zhang Ting, sipping her drink, said, "How about you take us for a walk outside the village this afternoon? We're here to experience rural life." She waved her little fist.

"Then I have to finish eating before I can go." But it's hot today. I'll wait until later to go out.

After quickly tidying up the things on the table, I led them to the bamboo house to rest. I told them that the sun was blazing hot right now.

Around 3 PM, the weather had softened a bit, and Zhang Niu took Zhang Ting and the others for a walk. They enthusiastically picked morning glories growing by the roadside, even tucking a pale purple one into their hair. These seemingly ladylike girls were surprisingly mischievous after all.

As they passed by the stream, Zhang Niu suddenly asked them, "Do you want to cook sweet potatoes together here?"

"Okay. But is this place alright?"

No problem, I used to cook sweet potatoes here often when I was little.

Led by Zhang Niu, they sneaked into someone else's field. In no time, they dug up several red-skinned sweet potatoes. At this stage, the sweet potatoes weren't very big; they were just starting to grow.

Four people should have been able to dig out five or six sweet potatoes, which should have been enough. Fang MM, who was standing nearby keeping watch, said someone was coming, which startled Zhang Niu so much that he grabbed the sweet potatoes and ran away, leaving behind a burst of cheerful laughter. Only then did he realize he'd been tricked. No one had come at all.

It's only been a short time since the rice harvest. The straw is all bundled up and laid out to dry on the edge of the field. I casually picked up a few piles of straw and dug a shallow pit in the sandy ground by the stream with a branch.

They buried the sweet potatoes in the pit, lit straw on top, and then placed twigs on top. They let it burn like that. The girls walked barefoot along the stream bank, turning over stones. Occasionally, they would grab something and burst into laughter.

Zhang Niu, who hadn't gone into the water, was tending a fire nearby. If he wasn't careful and the fire burned too much, he'd be burned to charcoal when he dug him out. Inedible.

After burning a lot of firewood, you can smell the aroma of sweet potatoes by using a twig to break up the remaining charcoal and shoveling away the mud. "Luckily, this stew turned out pretty good, otherwise I would have been embarrassed." Then he called the girls who were still playing around to come and eat sweet potatoes.

Second update. Please forgive any shortcomings in these chapters. Thank you for the reward and support from "Under the Bright Moon". Please recommend and favorite; don't leave any unsubscribed.