Chapter 91

Dongsheng didn’t even think to open his mouth, “Ma Ma!”

This caused the sisters-in-law to laugh

Doudou mom also laughed, and later even learned to Xu Man

Xu asked Dongsheng, “Didn’t you say I’m your only mom?”

Dongsheng looked troubled, “But if I don’t call Doudou mom, what if she won’t let Doudou play with me? Fusheng and the others all love Doudou I don’t want Doudou to be snatched away from the other kids”

Xu asked, “”

She asked Dongsheng back, “Then what if I’m sad?”

Dongsheng comforted Xu Man with the same words he used to coax her, “Ma-ma, even if I have two ma-ma’s, I still love you the same”

Xu Man: “”

But this kind of joke, sister-in-laws have only ever made that one time

If Dongsheng and Doudou were younger, they would take such jokes seriously if they played them more often

They’re all moms, and they don’t want to destroy the innocence of their children

Xu Wen and Doudou’s mom, Song Qin, agreed not to deliberately alienate the two children

Respect their clean and simple friendship

Although many of their behaviors were a bit too intimate in the eyes of adults, such as hugging from time to time, and even kissing each other’s faces as if they were adults, it didn’t stop Xu Wen and Doudou’s mother, Song Qin, from trying to keep the two children apart

Of course, this doesn’t stop Xu Man from occasionally complaining to Lu Yuanzheng in private about her son forgetting his mother when he has a daughter-in-law

Lu Yuanzheng didn’t comfort her, and only said, “I’m enough for you, why do you care about him?”

Xu Man rolled her eyes, “Can a husband be the same as a son?”

Lu Yuanzheng’s eyes deepened and asked her, “What did you call me?”

Xu Man didn’t realize that the word “husband” would make him react so strongly, so she stretched her voice, “Old husband!”

The road far from Zheng low head kissed her lips

Xu Wen did not expect that just two words caused him to be so emotional

What’s more, she didn’t expect that these two words would become the trigger for him to cut her down in bed in the future

Every time she was forced to shout these two words to make her feel pain

While making shoe uppers, some of the sisters-in-law started spinning cotton thread

The cotton was flicked in advance, about the same as a rolling pin but thinner

The head of the spinning wheel was in the shape of a Ferris wheel, except that instead of the boxes for people to sit in, there was only the pole in the center It looks like a double windmill with a border

There was also a crank in the center where the bearings were

When Xu Man came back from the construction site, the spinning wheel had been set up, a sister-in-law sitting beside the spinning wheel, one foot on the tail of the spinning wheel, one hand holding the crank to turn the “Ferris wheel”, one hand holding the cotton strips

Slowly the sliver disappears, and a layer of cotton thread is wrapped around the outer frame of the Ferris wheel

When two balls of cotton thread have been spun, another sister-in-law rolls the two threads into a twisted cotton thread

This is the thick cotton thread that is eventually used to knit the lasagna

When the knotted back dries, it becomes a hardened cloth board

Place the pattern on the cloth board and cut out one insole size according to the pattern

Usually three or four pieces of this knot back are stacked on top of each other, which is the so-called thousand-layer sole

Of course, you can’t just stack them on top of each other, but you also need to sew these hard cloths together with a fine array of feet

The equivalent of more than ten layers of cloth stacked together, ordinary needles can not be pierced

A special needle called a needle awl is needed

The needle awl is, as the name suggests, tapered, with a long, thick steel needle hooped in the center of the tip

To sew a shoe sole, you need to first pierce the entire sole with the needle cone, and then thread a needle with twisted cotton thread through the pierce

In this way, one hole and two needles were used to sew a pair of thousand-layer soles

In Xu’s eyes, this was much more difficult than cross-stitching

Not only did she often get her hands pierced, but the stitches varied in size and fineness

Of course, most of the sisters-in-law were like her

But none of them gave up

Still working hard to nab this thousand layer bottom

Including Jiang Yi Yi who was vocal about breaking up with Li Mao

Including Wang Ying who is cowering in the corner

I don’t know if it was because she had listened to Xu Man’s conversation with her last time, but she hadn’t complained to him again for so long

Although Wang Ying still couldn’t fit in with the other sisters-in-law, Xu Man could see that she really was sincere in her efforts to change

When Xu Man attended classes, Wang Ying would bring her children to listen

She didn’t listen to the lessons, she just learned the way Xu Man taught

Wang Ying endeavored to bring up the children by herself, and occasionally she would learn to cook and do Zhao Gang’s laundry

But I don’t know if Zhao Gang didn’t use her or if she really didn’t know how to do it, but she really only did it occasionally

More often than not, it was all about holding a book and studying while watching the baby

Her son was already walking, and although Wang Ying still couldn’t fit in with her sister-in-laws, she didn’t interfere with her son playing with other children

Most of her sisters-in-law don’t know what she did before, and some of them even take the initiative to talk to Wang Ying

Wang Ying’s attitude is still a bit cold, but she’s happy when someone talks to her

Originally, people just didn’t like her and didn’t have a deep grudge against her, but now they don’t communicate much, but they don’t blow her off when she comes with them

So she wanted to learn how to make shoes, and Sister Li and the others taught her

However, if Wang Ying didn’t take the initiative to ask, Mrs Li and the others wouldn’t say much

At this moment, Wang Ying was sitting alone and silently in a corner of the cafeteria, and when she saw Xu Man, she nodded

Only then did Xu Man remember that today was Saturday, and it should be Zhao Gang, the class monitor, who had brought up her own child before she was free to do such a laborious job

Xu Man also raised her hand and greeted Wang Ying, yawning as she found a seat and began to knit the soles of her shoes

She didn’t ask much of herself, as long as she could make a pair of shoes, it was considered a win

She wanted Lu Yuanzheng to wear a pair of shoes she made herself

Sister-in-laws also knew that Xu Man was different from them, they only needed to serve their men and children, and other times they didn’t even really need to cook, they were too idle to be bothered

But Xu Man would not Xu Man had to teach the children and the soldiers to read and write and do simple math

Xu had to teach the children and soldiers how to read and write and simple arithmetic He also had to follow them to install the windmills that generated electricity

So no one felt there was anything wrong with Xu Man coming less often

Xu Man was thinking about what the oven should do while she was tying the soles of her shoes with a needle awl

She directed Lu Yuanzheng to make an earthen oven

It was similar to the one Mr Huang Lei had made in the first part of the variety show, “Longing for Life”

But I don’t know if it’s because the soil on the island is suitable or because Lu Yuanzheng doesn’t know how to do it, but the air always leaks out and the baking isn’t very successful

It is also possible that the noodles she made were not good enough

Xu Wen was so absorbed that she accidentally stabbed herself with a needle and pinned herself with a hiss

This steel needle is more than twice as thick as an ordinary needle, and blood beads came out directly after a stab

The other sisters-in-law were far away and didn’t pay attention to Xu Man

But Wang Ying saw it, came over, handed Xu Man a white handkerchief, and said three words, “Be careful”

Xu Man thanked Wang Ying for not using his handkerchief, and just put his fingertip in his mouth and sucked on it

It’s not that she dislikes Wang Ying, but Wang Ying’s hanky looks white and new, so it’s not easy to wash it after it’s been stained with blood, besides, her wound isn’t big

Wang Ying’s eyes darkened when she saw Xu Man was useless

Xu Wen sighed softly and called out to Wang Ying, patting the seat beside him and signaling Wang Ying to sit down

“Wang Ying, I can understand and support your mood to change But there’s no need for you to become so humble Whether you are overbearing or humble and pleasing, you can’t please people in life when you socialize with them You just need to be yourself while changing the habit of using others to achieve your goals”

Wang Ying was stunned and pondered

Xu Wen’s hand hurt, and after thinking about it, she decided to go home and look for Lu Yuanzheng

She wasn’t a virtuous wife who did good deeds without leaving her name

If she hurt her hand making shoes for Lu Yuanzheng, she would tell him

She was willing to pay for him and enjoy the little pity he would feel as a result

When Xu Wen came home, Lu Yuanzheng was studying the oven under the hot sun with a pot of mud

When he saw her return, he raised his arm and wiped the sweat off

His hands were covered in mud, so he stretched his arms out and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the clothes at his shoulders

Only then did he smile and greet Xu Man, ”Back? I’ve improved it again, so you can try it out later when it’s dry”

Xu Man nodded and approached him, stretching his index finger that had been stabbed in front of him, saying pitifully, “It hurts”

Lu Yuanzheng frowned and lowered his head to blow on her, “Don’t do it! Don’t stab yourself in the sieve with your ten fingers before the cloth shoes are done”

Xu Wen enjoyed his pitying tone and giggled, “That won’t do! I have to do it If other men have it, I have to have it too!”

Lu Yuanzheng sighed softly, “I appreciate your feelings If you really make these shoes, I’m sure I won’t be able to wear them I’ll put them in a box and lock them up, and tell my children and grandchildren when I’m old, ‘These are the shoes your grandmother made for me when I was young! Your grandmother’s hands were pierced to the bone for these shoes In the future! It’s the heirloom of our family”

Lu Yuanzheng deliberately pinched his throat and pretended to be an old man when he said this

Exasperated, Xu Man raised his hand to hit him, “Don’t think I can’t hear you making fun of me”

“No way!” Lu Yuanzheng shouted, “Just touched”

He cocked his hand and circled her into his arms with only his elbow, dropping a kiss on the top of her hair

After a few tosses and turns, a working oven was finally made

Next it was time to work on baking the cake embryo

Not to mention that they were now on the island, even if they weren’t on the island, it would be difficult to buy low gluten flour specifically for making cakes in the seventies in Hai Cheng

If they couldn’t buy it, they had to make it themselves

This Xu Wen will, is to wash the flour

Knead the plain flour into dough and scrub it repeatedly

You will get gluten and wheat flour that can be used to make cakes

After drying, sieve, remove large particles, and put away the fine flour obtained and set aside

The cake embryo is usually a chiffon cake, and the ingredients needed for a chiffon cake are very simple: eggs, low-gluten flour, sugar, a few drops of lemon juice and the right amount of milk

The egg whites are used to whip the meringue

Before whipping the meringue, you need to mix the low gluten flour with the milk and egg yolks until there are no particles

To whip the meringue, add the lemon juice and sugar to the egg whites, beat with a whisk to a creamy consistency and then mix with the batter

This step is not difficult, but it is difficult to control the heat of the baked cake

In the post-modern world, you can set the time and temperature for baking in the oven, but here you have to watch the meter

The control of the fire depends on the amount of firewood stuffed into the stove

And Hsu Man doesn’t have a chiffon cake mold, so he has to use a big sea bowl

The big bowls on the island are also enameled, the same as the cups used for drinking water and the basins used for washing faces

About the size of an eight-inch cake mold, the bottom and mouth of the bowl is almost the same thickness, the mouth of the bowl is slightly larger, the edge is beveled

This was the most suitable cake mold Xu Man could find

Everything was ready, except for the fire

Xu Man began to light the fire with confidence

Dongsheng was looking forward to the cake, but he didn’t want to go out to play, and only brought his best friend Doudou to the house to wait for the cake

Xu Man was even more apprehensive, “daughter-in-law” for the first time to the family dinner, to do failed how to do?

The first time I saw my daughter-in-law come to the house for dinner, what if I failed to do it? I pinched the watch to arrive at the time, in the eyes of Dongsheng and DouDou two pairs of expectations, Xu Man put on the cotton gloves of the expedition and pulled open the oven door

As soon as he opened the door, the aroma of eggs and milk hit his nose

Dongsheng and DouDou both exclaimed in a particularly facetious manner, “It smells so good!”

Xu Wen looked at the cake that bulged out of the surface of the bowl and breathed a sigh of relief, it should be a success, right?

She pinched the edges of the bowl a little bit and dragged the large bowl out, inverting it onto the hollowed out bamboo rack used for steaming steamed buns

A large and two small babas waited for the cake to cool and release the mold

In just half an hour, Dongsheng and DouDou had been urging them no less than ten times

Xu Man was also impatient, and when he felt the bowl was warm, he pinched the edge of the bowl and turned the cake over, using a spatula to carefully release the mold

When the cake peeled off from the bottom of the bowl, Xu Man was dumbfounded

The chiffon cake that had just bulged out of the bowl and towered beautifully had now become a round, thick egg cake

It was at least half as thin as when it came out of the oven

The mouth side of the bowl is okay, tastes a little chiffon cake flavor, the bottom of the bowl is really not good, really like a sweet egg cake, very hard

It’s a good thing that Dongsheng and DouDou haven’t eaten what a real chiffon cake looks like, and one after another, they praised Xu Man for making a delicious cake

Xu Man was too weak to speak

Doudou and Dongsheng don’t understand, doesn’t mean she doesn’t understand, she can’t lie to herself, this is a failed chiffon cake

Xu Man is far from discouraged, looking for the magic mirror to ask the chiffon cake it is going to crack not hair reason, began to try without stopping

And the interest in the cake for a time exceeded the wind power and making cloth shoes

Just a few days in a row the cake has this or that problem

Xu Wen did not want Dongsheng disappointed in himself, are not at home while Dongsheng secretly do, done after the failure to go to send Lu Yuanzheng to eat

So much so that Lu Yuanzheng in a long time to see chiffon cake face began to regurgitate

After Lu Yuanzheng repeatedly test poison and Xu Wen repeatedly debugging oven temperature, finally made a perfect chiffon cake

Lu Yuanzheng let out a long sigh of relief, thinking that it can be considered successful, and then unsuccessful estimates that in this life he does not want to eat cake again

What he didn’t realize was that the success of the cake embryo was only the first step

There was still the buttercream framing and spreading to be done

This process Xu Wen still need to study over and over again

Poor Lu Yuanzheng, who wasn’t too fond of these sweet things in the first place, tried his hand at it every day

At first, Lu Yuanzheng thought that this was the cake that Xu Man made for him, and he was determined not to give it to outsiders

Later, Lu Yuanzheng also thought about it, and every time Xu Man sent in a “failed” work, he would share it with the people in the battalion

When Xu finally made the cake she thought was perfect, Lu Yuanzheng put on a lot of weight

And that was less than a week before Dongsheng’s birthday

The installation of all the equipment for the wind power generation had been completed, and it had entered the commissioning stage

Sister-in-laws were given their own plots of land, and while they were busy planting vegetable gardens and orchards and raising chickens and ducks, they also had to work hard on the soles of their shoes

Each family’s plot of land is about the same size, just a hundred or so square feet if you calculate by square foot, not big, but self-sufficiency should not be a big problem

The decision as to who wanted which piece of land was made by casting lots

The representative of Xu Man’s family who drew the lot was Dongsheng, and I don’t know if it was because this kid and Doudou were really destined to be together or what, but the land of the two families was actually next to each other

At the time of the division of the land, Xu Man is addicted to making cakes can not be extricated, or Lu Yuanzheng is responsible for weeding and turning over the ground one by one to organize the leveling, can only Xu Man is responsible for planting

Their family land is divided into two, half of which is used to raise chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep and cows, and half of which is used to grow fruits and vegetables

Bearing in mind that there are many wild fruits on the island, Xu Man only planted a fruit

Durian