Chapter 14

This week’s dish is crispy sping onion pancakes! IT LOOKS SO GOODDD! You can also look up the recipes for the other dishes too! They are all YUMS! I’ve also added another video recipe for my favourite of the other dishes, so do scroll till the end!

Yun Sheng was born prematurely and was in poor health. Grandma Yun and Mother Yun loved him very much, and the two older sisters also doted on him. He looked three or four similar to Yunyu, with a pair of peach blossom eyes, a straight nose, and fair skin. Because he was too thin, his jawline was very obvious. He was handsome, but because he was short, he was disliked by others and was always being bullied.

“Second sister…” He pursed his lips and tugged at the strap of the backpack on his shoulders, “I fell by myself.”

Yunyu was angry, “Fell? Tell me, how did you manage to smash your face like this?” He was obviously beaten. His face was full of bruises, and the corners of his mouth were the most serious, with a large bruise.

Yun Sheng did not speak, and lowered his head and stared at the ground.

Yunyu knew that he was a bit introverted, but she was angry and anxious. The injury on the face of the younger brother was obviously a result of being beaten. He could not get out of the school gate at school so it definitely happened in school. He was most likely bullied by his classmates and did not even want to tell her the truth!

“Xiao Sheng is back? Come in to eat.” Grandma Yun heard the movement in the kitchen and came out to take a look. Seeing her grandchildren standing at the door, she called them into the house for dinner.

“Let’s go eat first.” Yunyu turned around and went in.

Yun Sheng followed slowly.

Yun Sheng first went back to his room, took off his backpack and put it on the chair. He walked to the mirror next to the closet and looked at the wound on his face, and his eyes darkened. After a while, he changed out of his school uniform before going to the kitchen to eat. On the table, there were two plates of green onion pancakes, a plate of salted duck eggs, and several bowls of rice porridge. He originally planned to bring breakfast to Mother Yun, but he stopped when he remembered the injury on his face. Yunyu glanced at him and before bringing a bowl of porridge, half a salted duck egg and a few sliced green onion cakes to Feng Xiuzhen.

Green onion pancakes (葱花饼 Cōnghuā bǐng)

“Xiao Sheng, eat quickly.” Grandma Yun called her grandson to eat. She turned around and saw the wound on his face. She asked worriedly, “Xiao Sheng, what’s with the injury on your face?”

Yun Sheng said in a sullen voice, “It’s nothing. I fell by myself. Don’t worry, grandma. Come sit down and eat.”

Grandma Yun said angrily, “How could this injury be caused by falling on your own?” Probably thinking of something, Grandma Yun’s face was ugly. She asked cautiously, “Xiao Sheng, is someone bullying you at school? If someone bullies you, you can tell grandma.I’ll go to school with you. You can’t let your classmates bully you like this.”

“Grandma, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” Yun Sheng’s voice was a little low. His mouth was bitter. He knew the conditions at home and as well as his own. He was docile and introverted, and he could only study. He was not popular in school, and no one likes his temperament. So what if he was bullied in school? The students who bullied him had good family conditions. Unless he transferred, even if his grandma went to school, it was useless. At most they will be given a, but the retaliation that follows will be even worse.

Grandma Yun’s wrinkled face was deeply helpless and distressed.

Yunyu brought breakfast to Mother Yun and came over to eat it too. She did not ask much. According to her brother’s temperament, he would not tell them if they asked. So, she might as well find another way.

“Grandma, let’s eat.” Yun Yu said.

The green onion pancake was chewy and fragrant in the mouth. Yun Sheng was stunned after eating it. The taste was very good. It is even more delicious than what grandma used to make. It was indescribably delicious.

He ate half a plate of green onion cake and drank a bowl of porridge.

After eating, he went back to his room to study. He was going to take the college entrance examination next year. He wanted to work hard to get to the imperial capital, and stay in the same city with his second sister.

Yunyu was in the kitchen discussing with Grandma Yun about harvesting wheat. Grandma Yun could not bear the hundreds of dollars, so she still wanted to cut it herself. How could Yunyu be willing to let the old woman suffer this hardship. She insisted on finding people and machines to harvest. Grandma Yun compromised After informing Feng Xiuzhen that they were heading out, they went out to find people and machines to harvest the wheat. At this time, many people had already harvested their wheat and were busy threshing the wheat.

Lu Laixi’s was the village head. His family did this kind of work. Every year, they used machines to help people harvest wheat, and they received 60 yuan per mu of land.

Lu Xilai was about forty years old. There were two girls in the family. One was in high school while the other was in junior high school. Every year, he made money by harvesting wheat with machines. During the off season, he did odd jobs in town.

When the two approachedLu Laixi, he happened to be free. He immediately went to the wheat field to harvest all the wheat. It took less than two hours for the four mu of wheat, which was convenient and quick. Yunyu marveled at the wisdom of modern people. .

The machine was only responsible for harvesting, and the harvested wheat was to be transported home from the wheat field for threshing.

Grandma Yun was troubled. She looked at the glaring sun and said to Yunyu, “Xiao Yu’er, grandma is thirsty. Go back and bring me some water. I’ll tie the wheat first.” After the wheat was harvested, it was scattered and needed to be bundled for easy transport back.

As Yunyu was going home to get some water, she met Wu Li (T/N: Yunyu’s childhood friend whose father pushed Mother Yun) at the intersection. Wu Li waved to her, and walked towards her saying, “Yunyu, your wheat hasn’t been harvested yet? I saw you and Grandma Yun going to the village this morning. Did you head over to the Lu family? Has all the wheat been harvested? I’ll drive my tractor to help you bring the wheat back.”

Yunyu naturally agreed, but, “Uncle Wu would agree for you to help us transport the wheat?”

Wu Li laughed, showing his white teeth, “My dad has already agreed.”

He knew the situation of the Yun family and had a deep relationship with Yunyu since childhood. His wheat had already been harvested two days ago, and he was waiting for a week of sunning before storing it in the. In the morning, when he saw Yunyu and Grandma Yun going to the village head, he knew that the Yun family was going to harvest their wheat. Her family did not even have a man in charge. In his eyes, Yun Sheng was still a child. So, he wanted to help them transport their wheat back and told his mother. His mother naturally agreed, and went to talk to Wu Dashan.

His father was silent for a while, and eventually waved hand in approval.

Yunyu heard that Wu Dashan also agreed, so she thanked Wu Li and asked him to drive the car to the field to wait. When she went home to get some water and saw a white car parked in front of the house. She went into the yard and saw Yun Sheng standing at the door of the kitchen talking to someone. The man was not short and had a moderate stature. His back was fairly straight and there were a few white hairs in his hair. Yunyu came over and called Eldest Uncle.

This person was her uncle Yun Maozhong, who lives in Changshui City. He was a university teacher, and had the somewhat aloof temperament of intellectuals.

In addition to the uncle Yun Maozhong, Yunyu also has a second uncle and an aunt. The second uncle Yun Maojiang joined the army when he graduated. At that time, he was assigned to the police department of the public security bureau in another city. He was usually very busy and not very safe, and could only go back for two days during the New Year every year.

There was also the youngest aunt, Yun Xianhui, who lives in Changshui City. She had a lot of contact with her uncle’s family. It is not easy for a married girl to always go back to her parents’ home, so she also only went back during Chinese New Year.

Yun Maozhong was 50 years old that year. He was not busy with his work as a teacher, and he looked younger. When he saw Yunyu coming back, he asked, “Why did Yunyu come back? Didn’t you graduate this year? How is the job search going? I remember when you said you wanted to apply for a job at the Imperial Capital Evening News. It is a good company, and the competition is fierce. You have to properly seize the opportunity. If you can land the job, the prospect is very good.”

Besides having the tendency to lecture, Uncle Yun was a good person overall.

“Uncle, I’ve come back to visit the family.” Yunyu did not say much, “Mother was bullied and broke her leg. There’s no one at home, so I came back to take care of them for a while. Grandma is still harvesting wheat in the fields, and I have to send her the water.” After that, she called Yun Sheng, “Xiao Sheng, if you finish your homework, go and help.” He was thin to this degree. He needed to exercise more to relax his muscles in order for the bones to grow longer.

Yun Sheng nodded and took the kettle in Yunyu’s hand to fill it with water.

Yun Maozhong originally came for farm work. The third brother, Maoliang (T/N: Yunyu’s father) called him, saying that Xiuzhen’s leg was broken and it was difficult for her to move around. He gave him 1,000 yuan and asked Yun Maozhong to deliver the money back home. Today was Sunday and the school was off, so he came over.

In fact, he looked down on his third brother. He cheated on marriage and even had two children outside. In the end, he divorced his original spouse and did not even raise his three children. It was really too much.

In the first few years, the family did not keep in touch with the third brother at all. But in these years, their relationship gradually got better and had some contact.

Yun Maozhong followed his nephew and niece to the wheat field to help. When he went out, he saw a few pots of roses in the corner and sighed, “Nong Yan is full of pity and wins the color painting (秾艳尽怜胜彩绘 Nóng yàn jǐn lián shèng cǎihuì – an extract from a poem. Don’t ask me what it’s about. My knowledge of Chinese literature is non-existent. Click on the link to learn more. Just google translate the whole page). These roses are growing well.”

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They had to deliver the wheat before dark . After busying the entire afternoon, Grandma Yun went back to cook, while the rest continued.

This was really manual work, and they were busy until it was dark. The wheat was delivered to the wheat warehouse. The wheat would be threshed tomorrow, and they would need Wu Li’s help too.

It was already seven o’clock in the evening. Grandma Yun had already finished cooking by then. She made stewed potatoes with beef brisket, fried intestines with green peppers, sweet and sour pork ribs, stuffed bitter gourd, stir-fried xiao bai cai, cold edamame, and winter gourd pork ribs soup.Besides the meat that was bought, all the other ingredients were from home. They were ordinary home-cooked dishes, but the taste was not ordinary.

Stewed potatoes with beef brisket (牛腩炖土豆 Niúnǎn dùn tǔdòu), Fried intestines with green peppers(青椒炒肥肠 Qīngjiāo chǎo féicháng), Sweet and sour pork ribs (糖醋排骨 Táng cù páigǔ), Stuffed bitter gourd (酿苦瓜 Niàng kǔguā), Stir-fried xiao bai cai (清炒小白菜 Qīng chǎo xiǎo báicài), Cold edamame (凉拌毛豆 Liángbàn máodòu), Winter gourd pork ribs soup (冬瓜排骨汤 Dōngguā páigǔ tāng)

Yun Maozhong tasted it and exclaimed, “Mom, your cooking skills are even better than the chefs in five-star hotels!”

Grandma Yun said with a smile, “It’s nothing. Hurry up and eat.”

Wu Li tasted it and his eyes widened, “Grandma Yun, your cooking skills are absolutely amazing!” The last few dishes and a pot of soup were all eaten clean, mainly because the three men had really big appetites.

After dinner, there was nothing else to do. Wu Li wanted to go back. Grandma Yun stopped him and brought him a basket of vegetables picked in the afternoon, “Xiao Li’zi (T/N: 子 zi – has the same meaning as “er”. This is usually used for boys as a part of a nickname/ affectionate call for elders to the younger generation), you have helped grandma so much. We don’t have much but we have grown some vegetables at home. Bring it home to eat. Let your mother come pick some when she has time. There are plenty of vegetables in the garden.”

Wu Li answered and said a few words to Yunyu before going home.

Yun Maozhong could could not stay over either. His wife told him to go back early in the evening. He left 3,000 yuan to Grandma Yun, 1,000 yuan from Yun Maoliang and 2,000 yuan from him. Of course, the origin of the 1,000 yuan was something that he would never dare to tell the old lady.

Grandma Yun did not say much, and just accepted it. Knowing that her eldest son would not be staying there for the night, she packed him a lot of dishes and told him to be careful on the way back.

It took just over an hour to drive back to the city.

T/N: Our poor poor baby Yu Sheng T^T What other ways would Sister Yu use to find out what happened?

Would the day end without an incident? Hmm….

Yes it’s stewed potatoes with beef brisket! You can replace the beef with chicken or prok and it will taste equally goood! It’s a one pot dish so it’s easy to make for a meal with the fam!