It was a little past three o'clock when a worker, taking a break from the construction site, returned riding a bicycle that was sixty percent new. Deng Guoqiang directly told him to hand the bicycle over to her.
Asking about the price, the worker said, "It's second-hand, not expensive, just over hundred yuan. A new one would cost four to five hundred!"
This tricycle wasn't big, and it definitely wouldn't be convenient for carrying things like rice, oil, and flour, but it would suffice for everyday grocery shopping. Fortunately, they bought these items in bulk, so they could have them delivered by the merchants.
Now that she had a tricycle, Gong Mingxia checked the storage at the construction site and then set out to the market with her daughter aboard the leisurely-paced tricycle. The rightful source is ɴovelfire.net
The distance from their construction site to the market wasn't far. By tricycle, it was about a half-hour journey. Of course, she chose the larger market, though there were smaller markets nearby that they could opt for if in a hurry.
In the months of March and April according to the Solar Calendar, the selection of seasonal produce wasn't abundant due to the transitional period between the green and ripe seasons. Luckily, the development of greenhouse vegetables was quite mature in this era.
In this era, flatbreads were four for one yuan, and they were quite large. She spent twenty yuan on flatbreads, getting eighty in total. It was good that they arrived early, avoiding the peak sales period at the flatbread stand. Although the vendors had prepared some, they were still twenty to thirty pieces short, so she asked them to continue baking while she went off to buy other items.
They still had some kelp at the construction site, but there wasn't much tofu or tofu skins left, so she bought ten yuan's worth to prepare braised dishes.
She purchased a large bunch of coriander for three yuan, an indispensable ingredient for making soups.
With each purchase, she took out a small notebook to record it, lest she forget when she got home.
Cumin powder, chili powder, pepper powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, various sauces, and other seasonings that were lacking at home were replenished, amounting to twenty-two yuan. Fortunately, these wouldn't be used up in one meal and could be averaged out over other meals.
At home, they now bought starch in bags like they did with flour and rice, and there was still some leftover at home, so she didn't need to buy any more.
After preparing the dishes for the evening, Gong Mingxia started thinking about what to make for the next day. When she came across a stand selling fish and saw the owner processing a dozen super large grass carp, priced at only two yuan per jin, she was immediately tempted and decided to take them all.
Since the owner only had these ten or so dead fish left and was expecting fresh ones to be delivered soon, she took them despite the fish being listless compared to the more lively ones. When weighed, the fish totaled fifty jin, and even at one yuan lower than the regular price, she paid a hundred yuan, which was quite a big spend.
Fish are troublesome to clean, so she let the owner kill and clean them all before rinsing and bagging them up for her. Although she bought quite a few, it didn't matter because the construction site had a freezer, and these fish would last for at least two or three meals.
Having bought the fish, she then bought green bean sprouts, soybean sprouts, and filled a small cart with them. Finally, finding a stationary store, Gong Mingxia joyfully spent fifteen yuan on drawing paper and colored pencils for her daughter, along with a preschool educational package before heading happily back home.
This outing cost her a total of one hundred and seventy yuan, a significant expense indeed.
Upon returning to the construction site, she asked her daughter to take her things into the house first, then she stored the tofu and fish in the refrigerator. The flatbreads were temporarily placed in their room. Afterwards, she took the kelp to the sink area for cleaning. Since kelp expands a lot when used for cooking, she prepared two jin's worth and soaked it in a large basin.
To properly clean the kelp, it must first be soaked, then scrubbed to remove any sand or mucilage from its surface. After that, it's steamed in the steamer for about ten minutes before it's ready to use.