Xiulan respected talents, especially people like Cheng and Mr. Chen, who had contributed to the country.
After knowing Cheng’s identity, his image in her heart suddenly increased by several points.
The two men in the room were chatting enthusiastically, while Xiulan and Mrs. Chen were also chatting with each other. The two of them worked together and the dumplings were all wrapped in a short time.
They were made with a half kilo of pork and about a kilo of shepherd’s purses. Although the ratio of meat to vegetables was a bit higher, it was already good to taste some minced meat.
For Mrs. Chen, it was already considered extravagant. Even if she put a kilo of shepherd’s purses, they would still be able to taste a lot of meat.
In the end, more than a hundred dumplings were made. Xiulan could eat more than a dozen of those dumplings alone.
The original owner had a small appetite now. Even if she had her body from the past, Xiulan could only eat more than twenty dumplings.
Mrs. Chen had a slightly bigger appetite and could probably eat twenty of them.
As for Mr. Chen and Cheng, the two of them were men after all, and men had bigger appetites than women. It was estimated that each of them could eat thirty to forty dumplings.
Mrs. Chen originally thought that she could save some leftovers from this meal, but now, it seemed that she had a superfluous idea. With only that number of dumplings, they would definitely be able to finish them all at noon.
***Original translation is from enchantesstranslations.com. Please read it on the translator’s website.***
She remembered that Cheng could eat a lot. In the past, he could eat forty dumplings at a time.
No one could not blame Cheng for having a big appetite, it was normal for a man to eat a little more. His job was good, so no matter how much he could eat, he still had the conditions to eat a lot anyway.
Unlike ordinary people, who could eat a lot but they just couldn’t and could only starve.
Mrs. Chen lived in the county seat, which was different from the countryside. In the countryside, wood, rice straw, other grains’ straw, and other things were used to make a fire for cooking, while coals, briquettes, and the like were used in the town.
Those were also supplied in the town every month and they would be gone when they were used up.
After the couple’s downfall, although their lives were a bit sad, they still had urban household registrations. So, they could receive some supplies of foodstuffs, coals, and briquettes every month, but they were not that much. Otherwise, they would not be so hungry that they had to go to the black market to trade with foodstuffs.
It was fine in other seasons, but in winter, when the weather cooled down and there were no other heating tools, the charcoal supply was simply not enough.
In the past few winters, they both gritted their teeth to survive. When they were lucky, they could exchange some antiques for coal, but in most cases, they could not. Although coal was not as scarce as food, it was still not much and the supply was still insufficient. Most families did not have enough to use and some would even take them out to trade with something else.
Mrs. Chen burned the coal stove very early. When the coal stove was not in use, she would seal the vent cover, leaving only a small seam for the warm water. If it was being used, she would take off the lid of the vent directly and the briquettes would be able to burn well.
She put the iron pot on the coal stove, but there was a big hole on the iron pot, so she could only make do with it.
It was not easy to buy a pot, a kitchen knife, or other iron-made things during this time. They were all available in limited quantities as well. If you bought them, you had to use money and industrial coupons.
After their downfall, all their money and coupons were gone, so naturally, there was no way for them to buy a new iron pot.
Fortunately, this broken pot could barely be used, which was still better than nothing.
Xiulan watched from the side and sighed. When she came to their house next time, she would first go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy an iron pot. It just so happened that she also had a lot of industrial coupons.
Mrs. Chen added some water to the pot, and after a few minutes, the water started boiling, then she started putting the dumplings there.