The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

After reminding Lin Lao Er, Lin Bao Ya returned to the old house. Unexpectedly, today's commotion actually resulted in the family being divided. The Lin family's fighting spirit is weak; they're not even as good as her.

She no longer needed to eat at the Lin family's house, nor did she need to see Granny Lin's old face. The more she thought about it, the happier she became, and she skipped and hopped home.

When she got home, she was stunned to find that the people who had accompanied her to search her house earlier that day were still there.

Lin Baoya quietly entered from the old house, slipping along the wall to move in. She should have just had a meal there.

"Bao Ya, where are you going? Come and help with the cooking."

Uh… I’ve been found out. Lin Baoya immediately put on a smiling face.

"Are the leaders done with their work? Hehe." Lin Baoya chuckled awkwardly, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

"Hmm, I'd love to have a meal at your place. You wouldn't be so unwelcoming, would you?"

Fang Mingda teased her, while Wang Xiao, standing beside her, frowned at her. They'd been used as pawns by this brat today; it was like the hunters had been pecked in the eye by the goose itself.

"Welcome, of course you're welcome! I couldn't be happier, haha!"

Bao Ya forced a big smile; could she say she wasn't welcome?

"What would you like to eat, sir? How about noodles? Whatever you like, please feel free to order."

Lin Baoya asked obsequiously, hoping that because of her good behavior, they would forget about what happened that morning.

"Oh? That's quite a skill! What kind of noodles can you make?"

"There are too many to remember."

It's not that she can't remember; she's eaten at least eighty or a hundred different kinds of noodles in her past life, but she can't make them now because she doesn't have that many ingredients, at the very least, she doesn't have oil.

"Haha! Make a few dishes and show us what you've got."

Fang Mingda didn't dwell on it and jokingly teased him.

"Okay, just you wait and see!"

"Haha, this girl."

Bao Ya wasn't one to be coy, and seeing that the other party's attitude was quite good, she felt much more at ease.

Secretary Yan was completely relieved. It seemed the leader wasn't angry, and the matter shouldn't be pursued any further.

Bao Ya didn't know that at this time, when cadres went to the countryside and ate at villagers' homes, they would give the brigade money and grain coupons, and the brigade would then replenish the grain supplies for the commune members. She was also wondering why her grandmother was being so generous today, not stopping her from taking whatever she wanted.

In the morning, a total of fifteen people came to the brigade, including Secretary Yan. Five of them came to her house, and the others went to other houses.

Auntie took out some wheat flour and some sweet potato flour. Lin Baoya told her to divide them and mix them into two balls.

Go to the backyard and pick some more vegetables: cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, green beans, and radishes.

Shred water radish and cucumber to make a topping; stir-fry chili peppers, eggplant, and green beans in a pot to mix with noodles.

I took three more eggs and a bowl of sauce. I diluted the sauce with water, put two spoonfuls of lard in the pan, and scrambled the eggs. When the eggs were almost done, I put the sauce in and kept stirring. I couldn't stop stirring, because if there wasn't enough oil, the pan would burn.

Once the sauce is cooked, place it in a large bowl. Wash the pot, add vinegar and water, bring it to a boil, and then remove it from the heat—all in one go.

The vinegar used in restaurants is not as sour as the vinegar you buy at home because it has been cooked in a pot, which means it has been boiled with water. This reduces the pungent taste and makes it milder and even a little sweet.

"You want to make oil-splashed noodles?"

Wang Xiao came over after smelling the aroma, and when she saw her ladling out the vinegar, she asked a question.

"You want to eat oil-splashed noodles? Wait here."

She poured some soy sauce into the pot, added salt, asked Grandma Su for some sugar, added water, brought it to a boil, and poured it into another bowl.

The dough at Aunt's place had risen, and Lin Baoya told her to pinch off a piece from each of the two dough balls, knead them briefly, and then roll them out, so that the dough would have a pattern.

At this time, few people in the village eat noodles made from pure white flour; they all make noodles by mixing flour from other grains.

In her previous life, when Lin Baoya lived with her grandmother, she loved noodles made with a mixture of sweet potato flour and wheat flour, which had a slightly sweet taste when chewed.

After rolling out the dough, she boiled water and waited for it to boil before putting the noodles in. While she was doing this, Lin Baoya went to the back plot of land and picked a few vegetable leaves. She also picked a few chili peppers hanging on the wall, washed the vegetable leaves, chopped the garlic, and ground the chili peppers into powder with a rolling pin.

The water boiled, and the noodles were put into the pot. Because she used to cook on the stove in the yard during the summer, everyone in the yard gathered around the stove, drooling as they watched her cook. They were indeed hungry.

After the noodles were cooked, Auntie started scooping them out. Lin Baoya threw a few vegetable leaves into the pot to blanch them, then took a large bowl, added the soy sauce and vinegar that had just been cooked, and scooped the noodles and vegetable leaves into the bowl.

Add chili powder, salt, and minced garlic to the noodles. Then, take a large rice ladle, pour in half a spoonful of rapeseed oil, heat it in the stove, and finally pour it directly over the chili and minced garlic.

With a "sizzle," the noodles were ready.

Wang Xiao looked at her, picked up the bowl of noodles, stirred it, and took a bite.

"Mmm, delicious."

After saying that, he lowered his head and started eating. The others looked at his bowl and then at their own, and they all felt that his tasted better than theirs.

"Hey, hey, let me have a taste."

"Get out of the way, where are you putting your chopsticks? That's unhygienic."

Secretary Yan also craned his neck to look over there. That bowl had half a spoonful more oil than his, and he was too embarrassed to ask for a bowl too.

Bao Ya wouldn't take this lying down. If she did that, Old Lady Su would probably stuff her into the stove and burn her tonight.

She's a man of her word, and with that face that looks like a living Yama, I hope he'll feel indebted to her and forget what happened this morning.

As Xu Mingda ate his noodles, he watched Wang Xiao ravenously eating his rice and realized he had made a mistake. He should have eaten the same thing as Wang Xiao, though his own food was quite delicious too.

Everyone enjoyed the simple farm-style meal. After finishing his bowl, Wang Xiao tactfully ate the same as everyone else.

After finishing three bowls and all the food, everyone felt a little embarrassed. At this time, the bowls were all large, as there was usually little oil and food, so naturally, they ate a lot of grain.

After the meal, Grandma Su shared the mung bean soup she had cooked that morning with everyone.

Secretary Yan chatted with her casually.

"Baoya, isn't your uncle coming home for dinner?"

"They won't be coming back for meals. They're separating their households over there, so they'll provide meals."

"Did they really break up?"

"We broke up."

"Hey, you're a young lady, you can't be this capable."

"If I weren't capable enough, they would have sold me out. Do you know how much they were asking for?"

"Don't talk nonsense. With your uncle there, how could they really sell you out?"

"Selling and marrying are not the same thing. Isn't the bride price just money for selling oneself?"

"You child, you're talking nonsense. How much dowry could you possibly ask for?"

"Three turns, one radio, 36 legs, plus 200 yuan, is that too little?"

"Cough, cough, cough. You're talking nonsense again."

Secretary Yan coughed repeatedly from the choking. Such high dowries are unheard of in the countryside, and even in the city!

"What nonsense! Someone has already made an offer, and they think the price can be raised further."

Lin Baoya was making up stories, some true and some false. She spared no effort as long as she could sow discord among the Lin family. She also wanted to let the people in the courtyard know that she wasn't deliberately using them, but was forced into it.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm telling the truth. Er Ya was sold for 80 yuan last year."

Last year, Lin Xiaoquan bought a job, and this year Lin Xiaohong is also clamoring to buy one. Where will the money come from? He's obviously targeting us sisters. Even his own sister, Si Ya, was forced to drag her accountant son to the cornfield. Go ask around if you don't believe me.”

Lin Baoya lowered her voice and said that she felt no pressure at all about spreading rumors about the eldest son's family. She felt that the Lin family members were still after her dowry. She wanted to give the leaders a heads-up so that she could cover up any trouble she might cause in the future.

After dinner, Wang Xiao went to the other families to call the team members to gather. Fang Mingda sat under the shade of a tree to cool off and overheard the gist of their conversation. His anger from being tricked in the morning had subsided considerably. No wonder she was so troublesome, but it was also fortunate that she was.