My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 174 Heart-Pounding Trembling
Zhou Jingming walked over to Su Xiulan and said, "You don't need to do that anymore. From now on, you only need to cook and help with sewing and mending at this mine. You don't need to do anything else."

Su Xiulan bit her lip: "I'm just killing time anyway!"

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Just do what I tell you to do, and don't meddle in things you shouldn't. There are dozens of people at the mine now; it's good enough if you can handle these things well."

Zhou Jingming's tone was somewhat domineering: "Go cook now, all of us are hungry."

Su Xiulan didn't say much, but took the bucket and busied herself fetching water from the river.

Zhou Jingming glanced at the newly arrived group of people and saw that they were all staring intently at Su Xiulan, and some were even whispering among themselves. As a man, how could he not understand what they were thinking?

"What are you looking at? What's there to see?"

He looked coldly at the group of people: "Let me make this clear first, she is my person. I don't care what you're thinking, you'd better keep it to yourself. Don't let any of those dirty thoughts reach my ears. If you dare to lay a hand on her, don't blame me for being ruthless."

I'll say it again, she's mine.

Furthermore, the innermost room in the dugout is mine, and from now on, no one is allowed to enter without my permission.

He spoke quite loudly, and Su Xiulan, who was carrying a bucket to fetch water, could hear him.

Hearing these domineering words, she didn't turn around, but a smile spread across her delicate face, making her previously reserved expression much more relaxed.

Wu Yang then added, "I have to call her sister-in-law. Remember what Brother Zhou just said. If you dare to break it, don't blame me for not showing any consideration for our fellow townsmen."

When Wu Yang spoke up, Bai Zhishun naturally followed suit. Fearing that his people wouldn't understand, he even spoke to them in his hometown dialect as well.

The way everyone looked at Su Xiulan was no longer so blatant.

The food brought into the mountains consisted only of rice and flour. With more people, more food needed to be prepared, and large quantities were difficult to cook.

The key issue is that, apart from a few antimony pots and basins, the only processing tools available were a large iron pot, and the tools themselves were not very handy.

Su Xiulan seemed unaccustomed to cooking for so many people, and appeared somewhat flustered.

With Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun helping to keep an eye on the digging of the dugouts, Zhou Jingming also went over to give Su Xiulan some pointers.

He went into the dugout first, cut off a large piece of wild boar meat and brought it out: "Everyone just arrived today, and you must have had a hard journey. Have something good to eat. Later, I'll tell you what to do, and you just do it... I'll teach you how to make hand-grabbed rice here."

Soak the rice in water first. They're all big men with big appetites, so soak a lot.

While they were at it, they washed and chopped up the potatoes, cabbage, onions, and meat they had brought.

While he was saying these things, he didn't participate. He just gathered the fire in the earthen stove he had dug out from the ground, put some water in the pot to heat it up, washed the meat and vegetables for her, and then dragged a wooden stool over to warm himself by the fire, watching Su Xiulan busy herself.

It took Su Xiulan more than 20 minutes to wash and cut the meat, cabbage, and potatoes.

Zhou Jingming began by instructing her to put oil into a large iron pot, then add thinly sliced ​​wild boar meat and stir-fry it for a while. Once it was cooked, he had her add onions and potatoes, stir-fry it again, then add a lot of water. After simmering it for a while, he added cabbage, salt, cumin, and chili for seasoning. He then instructed Su Xiulan to wash the rice and spread it in the pot to cook.

At this point, Su Xiulan began to feel something was amiss.

She had never cooked like this before. Who cooks rice and vegetables together with raw rice? At first, she thought that the vegetables were cooked and put into a bowl, and then the rice was cooked in the spare iron pot.

"Brother... is this okay?"

"Why not? There's not enough time now. Next time you cook it like this, remember to soak the rice in advance with cold water. Soak it long enough so that the cooked rice will be soft, sticky, and fragrant. If you just wash the rice and put it directly into the pot, the rice will be dry and have no aroma. It needs to be soaked for at least half an hour... What are you waiting for? Put the rice in!"

Urged on by Zhou Jingming, Su Xiulan, though full of doubts, did as she was told, scooping out the washed rice and putting it into the pot.

Zhou Jingming stirred the mixture a few times, combining the vegetables and rice in the pot, and then covered it with a lid.

"The heat doesn't need to be too high, just a low heat is fine. After simmering for twenty minutes, remember to stir it to prevent the rice from burning. Continue simmering until the rice is cooked through."

This is how they make hand-pulled rice in northern Xinjiang; it's a good mix of meat and vegetables, and it tastes delicious.

After saying that, Zhou Jingming ignored her and went to the dug dug. He asked Bai Zhishun to lead a few people to move several tents out of the dug dug and cut wooden poles to set up the tents on the grass.

With so many more people, the three dugouts aren't enough. Until the new dugouts are built, they'll have to stay in tents for now. It'll be cold at night, but it's better than having no shelter at all.
Once the group had set up the tent, Su Xiulan noticed that the large iron pot was beginning to emit a fragrant aroma.

When you finally lift the lid after simmering for a while, the aroma is so enticing it will make your mouth water.

Su Xiulan was surprised to find that the rice cooked over a low flame did not become a sticky clump with the vegetables as she had expected; instead, each grain of rice was distinct.

She took a small bite and found that it tasted much better than she had imagined. Moreover, the aroma of the rice and the dishes were locked inside, making it very flavorful.

But in reality, ingredients are limited. Hand-pulled rice in northern Xinjiang usually uses mutton and includes things like raisins. The version Zhou Jingming taught her to make was somewhat of a mishmash.

But it must be admitted that this is a quick way to cook a meal that is very appetizing.

The fact that bowls of hand-grabbed rice, with a good mix of meat and vegetables, were handed to everyone and that they were wolfing it down showed that it was a good dish.

In fact, most people don't even get to eat rice during holidays when they're in their hometowns.

You know, these days, rice can taste delicious even without any side dishes.

For many people, this pot of hand-grabbed rice is already considered a delicacy.

Su Xiulan found the name a bit strange and asked Zhou Jingming, "Brother... why is it called Hand-Grabbed Rice?"

"In the past, people would eat with their hands when they ate. Now they use chopsticks or spoons, but of course, there are still people who eat with their hands. It's normal to call it that. There's also hand-grabbed meat and such."

Zhou Jingming's heart trembled slightly as she called him "brother" so sweetly.

After the meal was finished, Zhou Jingming didn't ask everyone to dig dug dugouts anymore. He just told them to go to the opposite hillside to get some firewood so they could build a small fire in their tents and sleep more soundly at night.

The seasons in Kou Li don't apply to northern Xinjiang. In Kou Li, it's already a time of burgeoning vegetation, with peach, plum, and pear trees already past their blooms, and it's a very warm season.

But in northern Xinjiang, it's still definitely winter. You can't really feel warm until May. Right now, you can't live without a cotton-padded coat. Even wearing one can be unbearable, as your hands and feet easily get numb from the cold.

This is also why Zhou Jingming doesn't rush them to work; they work very hard because it keeps them warmer.

As darkness fell quickly, everyone scrambled into their dugouts or tents, wrapping themselves tightly in their blankets.

According to Zhou Jingming's explanation, the middle room of the dugout built before the New Year had always been occupied by Old Liu. After Su Xiulan arrived, she also arranged for him to live in that room.

After hearing Zhou Jingming's words today, Old Man Liu also moved his luggage out and squeezed into the dugout on the left with the others, including Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun, who did not move in anymore.

Zhou Jingming naturally went into the dugout, pulled open his bedding, and was about to go to bed when he saw Su Xiulan bring in a basin of hot water and place it at his feet: "Take a soak!"

"You're quite thoughtful!"

Zhou Jingming smiled and soaked his feet, which had been running around for days and were a bit smelly, in the hot water for a while. Once he felt the temperature had gone down, he reached out to wash them properly.

In this desolate wilderness, being able to soak your feet in hot water is a kind of enjoyment.

As soon as he lifted his feet out of the basin, Su Xiulan handed him another dry towel.

Zhou Jingming couldn't help but glance at her again. In his past life, he had never been served like this before. Even if he had, the women he found, apart from those who paid him money or those who just wanted to have fun together, were definitely unwilling. If it weren't for the money, he would have done it.

He thought it was pretty good to have such a girl serving him at this mining site.

While wiping her feet, Su Xiulan took the basin of water outside.

Zhou Jingming thought she would be back soon after she left, but to his surprise, even after he had snuggled into the covers and warmed himself up, Su Xiulan still hadn't returned. He muttered to himself, "Where did she go?"

He threw back the covers, opened the door to the dugout, and shone his flashlight in. He found Su Xiulan standing at the door, looking completely bewildered.

"What, you want to stand here all night?"

Zhou Jingming could roughly guess what she was thinking.

Previously at the bus station inn, although there were three men and she was the only woman, she couldn't possibly do anything inappropriate in front of others, especially since it was a relatively respectable place like the bus station inn. That's why she dared to sleep on the iron bed.

After following Zhou Jingming into the mountains, she moved into a dugout. Although Old Liu also lived there, he was more than thirty years older than her, and Zhou Jingming had specifically instructed him to take care of her, so she was able to sleep there.

But now, Zhou Jingming is a man in his twenties, and she is a girl of eighteen or nineteen, with no one else around...

She suddenly felt a little guilty, afraid that if she went in, she would be pounced on immediately; she didn't even want to think about it.

The main reason was that she had witnessed such a scene before: a young couple from the village were caught by her while she was gathering pig feed, engaging in inappropriate behavior in the woods by the mountainside. The scene of them pulling down each other's pants and clothes was both frightening and embarrassing to watch.

And those thugs who had tried to harass her, all the things she had experienced, ultimately made her fear outweigh her shame, even though she had already thought that such a thing might happen when she decided to go into the mountains with Zhou Jingming.

So, she weakly uttered a few "but..." but couldn't say anything more.

The next second, Zhou Jingming pulled her inside.

(End of this chapter)