August 20th is the 18th day since Ma Lingling came to Yanjing. She is very glad that she did not go to work during the summer vacation, otherwise she would have suffered a loss.
Over the past half month, she has fully experienced what it means to live a "rich family" life, and it would be a lie to say that she is not envious of it.
At 6:30 in the morning, the alarm clock on her mobile phone rang. Ma Lingling got up as usual. After all, she was a big girl, and she had no shame in staying in bed like her younger brother.
The bedroom here is very large, nearly 40 square meters, bigger than her living room.
What is even more gratifying is that the bedroom is equipped with air conditioning. It is not hot during the day and not cold at night. It is much more comfortable than at home.
After getting up, Ma Lingling put on a pink and white shirt and a thick coat. After all, the temperature in the early morning was still quite low, definitely below zero.
After washing up, Ma Lingling went to the kitchen to help her grandmother and aunt make breakfast.
Today's breakfast is rice porridge, which is not unusual. Their family also serves porridge and rice every day.
What's strange are the next few side dishes that grandma will cook.
First is a plate of shredded pork with green pepper.
My uncle bought the pork last night. Basically every few days, my uncle will bring back several kilograms of pork.
According to my grandma, a pound of pork on the market now costs at least several thousand yuan, and many times you may not be able to buy it even if you have money.
After calculation, a meal at grandma's house is almost their family's living expenses for a month, and the difference is indeed shocking.
Next is a plate of fried salted fish. Salted fish is dried seafood. Ma Lingling particularly likes it. Her grandmother saw that she loves to eat it and it is a must-have almost every day.
What's left is a plate of stir-fried lettuce, a plate of cucumbers, and a plate of stir-fried water spinach. The ingredients are all picked from the vegetable garden early in the morning, so everything you eat is fresh.
Finally, of course, a plate of salted green beans is indispensable. The green beans are pickled by grandma herself and are used by the two elderly people as an appetizer.
Grandpa is the first to eat at home and the fastest to eat. Usually at seven o'clock, he will go out to work on time.
In another half hour, it will be the normal breakfast time for the whole family. Except for the triplets, the triplets usually don't get up until eight o'clock, and the temperature has already risen by then.
Before breakfast starts, my aunt usually asks:
"Lingling, Xiaoxu, do you two want soy milk or milk?"
The soy milk is freshly ground in a soy milk machine, and the milk is brewed with milk powder. My aunt prepares a pot of each every morning.
Ma Lingling chooses milk most of the time. After all, milk is more nutritious. Drinking milk regularly can also make girls' skin whiter.
Looking at the rosy little faces of the two little cousins, one can tell that they must have drank a lot.
But today she chose soy milk because she drank a few extra boxes of Deluxe yesterday and unexpectedly got diarrhea. She probably wouldn't be able to drink milk for the next few days.
After breakfast, my uncle drove to work; my aunt began to hang around the triplets; the two little cousins and my brother were blowing on the air conditioner, watching TV, and doing their summer homework.
Ma Lingling was not idle either, helping her grandma clean the house and wash clothes.
Washing clothes is troublesome and needs to be done by hand. After all, washing machines waste too much water, and the price of water is so expensive that grandma’s family would not be willing to part with it even if they have the money.
Fortunately, the clothes you change are only light and thin clothes such as body suits. It doesn’t take much effort to soak them in laundry detergent mixed with water.
In addition, the waste water left over from washing clothes cannot be wasted. It can be used to flush the toilet. There will be no water here after eight o'clock.
In Luyang, the tap water was stopped two months ago, and everyone has become accustomed to carrying buckets and going to designated locations to collect water every day.
After finishing the housework, it was about nine o'clock. Ma Lingling went to the living room to watch TV for a while, and then helped her aunt take care of her three little cousins.
"Lingling, look there is a bag here. I think it suits you very well. What do you think? How about I give it to you?"
At present, due to the shortage of supplies, shopping websites of all sizes are almost in ruins. However, second-hand commodity trading platforms led by Xianyu.com are bucking the trend and rising rapidly.
Ma Lingling took the phone and looked at it. It felt good. She immediately said happily: "Thank you, little aunt."
"It's true, you kid, we are all a family, no need to be polite to me!" Yang Lina said with a smile.
Ma Lingling discovered that this little aunt especially likes to buy things online. She often uses her mobile phone to shop online when she has nothing to do. The family receives several express delivery every day. This is probably Mrs. Kuo's daily life!
At eleven o'clock, Xu's mother had to prepare lunch again. As usual, lunch must be more substantial than breakfast.
"Lingling, Xiaoxu, what do you two want to eat for lunch?" Xu's mother came over and asked.
Ma Xu's eyes lit up and he immediately answered: "Grandma, I want to eat braised pork."
Ma Lingling swallowed unconsciously when she heard this. The first meal the two of them had was braised pork noodles. Looking back now, she still has endless aftertaste.
"Nai, I want to eat braised pork too." Lele shouted.
"Here... I'll cook it for you after I buy the pork head meat. Besides braised pork, what else do you want to eat?"
"Grandma, how about we make dumplings for lunch?" Ma Lingling quickly suggested.
She was afraid that her little brother wouldn't be able to eat the braised pork, so he might have a bad temper. It would be terrible if he made her aunt and others unhappy. This was not Luyang after all.
Xu Ma nodded and said, "Okay, let's have dumplings for lunch."
Dumplings are delicious, but they are very troublesome to make. You can’t buy ready-made dumpling wrappers right now, so you can only make them honestly from dough.
It took an hour to finally make the dumplings. There are two fillings, one is cabbage and pork filling; the other is a vegetarian filling made of shrimp skin, spinach and carrots.
After another ten minutes, the steamed dumplings were finally coming out of the pot, and Father Xu just arrived home at this time.
"Lingling, what are you having for lunch?"
"Grandpa, grandma made the dumplings and they will be ready soon." Ma Lingling said happily.
"Really? Your grandma hasn't made dumplings for more than half a year, so this time it's thanks to you and Xiaoxu." Father Xu joked.
Ma Lingling said with a smile: "Then I will come over to accompany you during the winter vacation."
"Keep your word. I'll give your mother a call later and you two can come over during the winter vacation if you want." Father Xu promised.
"Grandpa, you are so kind!"
Xu Ma came out with the dumplings and said, "The dumplings are ready. Come and eat. Don't forget to wash your hands."
"Wow, so hot..."
Lele was so burned that she grinned and bared her teeth. Yang Lina quickly gave her a glass of cold water.
"Eat slowly, no one will compete with you."
"Grandma, where is the vinegar at home?" Ma Lingling asked.
You must dip your dumplings in vinegar, otherwise you always feel like something is missing.
"In the cupboard, compartment two."
Seeing the noisy family, Xu’s father made an exception and drank a glass of white wine at noon. What did he say:
Pair dumplings with wine, the more you drink, the better.