Chapter 17

According to the length of the soil ridge they had dug out today, they would need at least ten pounds of roasted wheat bran, as well as oil, salt, and alcohol.

Just ten pounds of wheat bran could feed pigs for several days.

Oil, salt, and alcohol all had to be bought with money.

If Mom found out, she would be heartbroken.

Dad would also scold them for not knowing the value of household expenses.

Thinking about the noisy arguments, Xiao Fei felt a bit annoyed. At that time, people in the rural areas of China were still very conservative, lacking the spirit of adventure. They wouldn't believe in something they couldn't see. Only by showing them the results could they be convinced.

In the future, it would be "no picture, no truth." Without a picture, you could talk all you wanted, but it wouldn't matter.

Xiao Fei didn't want to waste his words.

"Alright! I'll listen to you," Xiao Yang agreed with a grim face.

He was thinking, could they keep this a secret? It would be hard to hide, especially if they wasted so much wheat bran and materials. If there were no results, they might even get beaten by their father.

But since he had promised his brother to try it together,

There was nothing else to think about.

They could only go all the way.

After resting for a while, the two brothers started to roast the wheat bran. Xiao Yang stoked the fire, and Xiao Fei wielded the shovel. Once the large iron pot was hot, they added the oil. The oil in Xiao Fei's home was cottonseed oil, stored in a small-mouthed plastic oil drum that held twenty pounds.

At that time, as a cotton-producing area, every household in Xili Village used cottonseed oil, and the cottonseed cake was used to feed pigs.

But after 1996, with the disappearance of cotton in the Great Plains, cottonseed oil vanished, replaced by peanut oil and soybean oil.

Xiao Fei poured about half a pound of oil into the pot.

Seeing this, Xiao Yang immediately complained, "Isn't that a bit too much? It's enough to cook seven or eight dishes."

Xiao Fei was helpless.

The frugal mindset of farmers had deeply rooted in his brother's bones.

He hadn't yet grasped the simple truth that you must give to receive; he only knew how to save, not how to earn.

He calmly said, "If we use too little oil, it won't be flavorful enough to attract the soil beetles."

Xiao Yang scratched his head, "Alright, this is really extravagant. I hope it works as you say, and we can catch a hundred pounds of soil beetles tonight. Otherwise, Mom and Dad will scold us to death."

Once the oil was hot, Xiao Fei poured the wheat bran into the pot.

He poured almost half a bag of wheat bran into the pot, making Xiao Yang frown again.

As the wheat bran hit the pot, Xiao Fei started stirring with the shovel, and the aroma spread. When the wheat bran turned yellow, he added some salt and sprinkled half a bottle of white wine evenly over it.

After stirring for a while, the aroma became even more intense.

The unusual fragrance attracted several children from the village, who peered over the fence, their mouths watering.

"Uncle Yang, what are you cooking?" one child asked.

"Xiao Yang, can we have a taste?" another child requested.

In 1996, life was still hard for farmers, and opportunities to improve their diet were rare. The children were very curious and had sensitive noses. When they smelled something fragrant, they would gather around.

Xiao Yang glared at the children and waved his arms like he was chasing chickens, "You little gluttons! What's in the pot isn't edible. Go away, go away, go where it's cool!"

"You stingy ghosts! Lazybones! On such a nice day, you're not working in the fields but secretly cooking at home. Humph! I'll tell your dad, and he'll beat your butt!" The children made faces and scattered.

"It does smell good!"

Xiao Yang sniffed the aroma of the roasted wheat bran.

"Of course, if it's not fragrant enough, how can it attract the soil beetles?" Xiao Fei smiled proudly.

"I want to taste it too. No wonder those little brats came over when they smelled it." Xiao Yang smacked his lips, unable to resist the temptation.

By the time they finished roasting the wheat bran, it was already around five in the afternoon.

Both brothers were drenched in sweat.

They packed the roasted wheat bran into a cloth bag, cleaned the pot, and then made a pot of noodle soup. The noodles were hand-rolled by Xiao Yang, and they added some vegetables and a bit of sesame oil, making it incredibly fragrant.

The two of them each ate two large bowls, slurping loudly.

The leftover noodles were covered and left in the pot for their parents and Xiao Yan to eat.

Dinner was a bit early today. In the summer, farmers usually didn't eat dinner until it was dark, preferring to work in the cool evening until it was almost pitch black before returning home, exhausted.

"By the time Mom and Dad come home for dinner, the noodles will probably be a mushy mess," Xiao Yang said.

Xiao Fei shrugged; there was nothing they could do about it.

The two brothers took two buckets from home and three large burlap bags, each capable of holding over two hundred pounds of wheat.

"Do we really need to bring so much stuff?" Xiao Yang found it hard to believe.

"Better to be prepared," Xiao Fei said.

From spring to summer, no one in Xili Village had dug for soil beetles on the soil ridge. After a year of rest, Xiao Fei estimated that the ridge would be teeming with soil beetles.

Since in his previous life, someone could still catch over a hundred kilograms of soil beetles in one night on a ridge that had been dug over many times, Xiao Fei thought he should have an even better harvest now that the ridge hadn't been disturbed.

"Ha ha! We've made such a big fuss. If we don't get any results, the villagers will probably laugh at us," Xiao Yang said, pulling the cart and walking without much confidence.

On the way, they encountered many villagers.

The strange sight of the two brothers pulling the cart didn't attract much attention. The work in the cotton fields was too demanding, and no one paid much attention to others' affairs.

By the time they reached the section of the soil ridge they had dug out, it was around six o'clock, and the sun was close to the horizon, the western sky ablaze with red clouds.

Time was tight, and the two brothers hurriedly started laying the bait with the roasted wheat bran.

By the time they finished laying all the bait, it was already dusk.

"Bro, let's sit down and have a smoke," Xiao Fei suggested.

The two of them sat down in a small grove of trees at the base of the soil ridge and smoked.

The pack of cigarettes Xiao Fei bought was from the college entrance exam period, a pack of Yuxi cigarettes for 2.5 yuan, which was considered a mid-to-high-end brand at the time.

He bought such good cigarettes because he felt uncomfortable staying at Uncle Wang Lika's house and thought it would help with communication to offer a cigarette now and then.

But when he arrived, he found that the male host didn't smoke, and neither did Wang Lika and his brother, so the cigarettes stayed in Xiao Fei's pocket.

In his previous life, Xiao Fei had developed a smoking habit.

After being reborn, his craving for cigarettes had diminished, and he couldn't even remember to smoke.

"Fei, we haven't seen Mom and Dad all day. Will they be angry?" Xiao Yang was still uneasy. As a good child, he always obeyed his parents.

"Bro, didn't you tell Dad? We're doing something that will benefit our family for generations. We don't need to explain everything in detail. We're not kids anymore, right?" Xiao Fei encouraged him.