Li Haitang was someone who had been there, and she could see Wu Fu's shy and admiring eyes at a glance, so she guessed that he was the Tie Niu brother Wu Fu talked about.

Tieniu seems to be honest and hardworking, and he is also down-to-earth. The only regret is that he is engaged.

Until the evening, the snow did not fall, but the temperature dropped a lot. The north wind howled, and a branch of the old tree at the gate of the courtyard was blown to pieces by the wind.

The wooden basins placed in the yard were also tottered by the strong wind.

The weather is cold, which is not a good thing for the people of Daqi. If the temperature is kept at this level, the river outside the city may freeze early.

"Ma'am, it's warm in the house. You can rest in the house. I'll go and pick up the tree branches."

The wind was strong, and the straw mats outside the windows and the cotton curtains inside the house were hung to keep out the wind, so there was no light in the house, so we had to light oil lamps for light.

Wu Fu held a water basin and wiped the dust on the window sills, including the kang next to the window. The wind was strong, and the house was not cleaned for a day. If you touched it with your hands, there would be a layer of soil.

"That branch is chopped into firewood, enough to burn for one night."

After Wufu finished speaking, he opened the door curtain and went into the yard. Soon, there were a few crisp sounds of chopping firewood in the yard.

An oil lamp had a limited range of illumination, and the room was too dark. Li Haitang added two thick candles to the small grid on the wall.

If it wasn't for the convenience of inquiring about news, life in the mountains was still good, hiding in the house and not going out for a day.

A small copper pot with a narrow mouth was sitting on top of the small red clay stove, which made a noise. Li Haitang saw that the water had boiled.

She built a shelf on it and put two small sweet potatoes.

In the past few days, he was often woken up by hunger in the middle of the night. Wu Fu had already developed a skill. As soon as Li Haitang turned over, Wu Fu got up, poured hot tea, and went to the kitchen to fiddle with food.

The yards in the city are not big, but the yard of Chunniang’s house is exquisite, and the kitchen is close to the bedroom. If it’s as far away as the city lord’s mansion of Shuicheng, some food in winter will almost be cold in the mouth.

"What's for dinner tonight?"

When the five blessings enter the door, they raise daily problems.

What should I eat? Li Haitang herself didn't know that she could eat anything after the morning sickness, but the problem was that there was really nothing good to eat in winter.

"I came back from the village and went to the market to buy a piece of lean meat."

Wufu went late, and all the pork belly was robbed, leaving only lean meat, which the stall owner couldn't sell, so he dealt with it cheaply.

Lean meat has no oily water, and it tastes better than fatty meat slices. The price is not cheap, and the common people don't like it.

There are those little daughter-in-laws who know how to live, who buy lard suet. After the oil is pressed, it condenses into something like white cream in the cold winter.

It is slippery to the touch, and it is said that the skin is like thick fat. Wu Fu suspects that it is described as lard suet.

Stir-fried vegetables with lard residue are more delicious than clear soup with little water. However, lard suet is not easy to buy, and it was ordered away before it arrived at the stall.

"There are ways to cook lean meat, why don't I cook now."

Li Haitang sat for almost a whole day and wanted to do some exercise. She took Wu Fu to the kitchen to see that the lean meat she bought was pork tenderloin. She immediately decided to make a sweet and sour pork section.

"Madam, you can direct."

Wu Fu hurriedly moved a stool. Standing in the kitchen cooking for a long time, his back hurts easily.

"No, I've had a day off."

There are two masters and servants, two dishes are just right, a piece of scrambled eggs with fungus, a piece of sweet and sour pork, and there are pickled sauerkraut, spicy cabbage, pickled pepper cowpea and salted radish at home.

The flower rolls and pancakes were made before, and they were heated up on the big pot, and the dinner was settled.

Li Haitang washed the meat first, changed the knife, and cut it into strips about the length of a thumb.

Then I scratched it with salt and wrapped it in starch.

"Wu Fu, pour oil into the pot, don't be reluctant, I want fried pork."

Throughout the year in the village, you can't eat deep-fried food once. Wufu stir-fried vegetables are just used to scrub the bottom of the pot with a sponge.

Lack of oil and water can only be supplemented with grain, and it is easy to be hungry.

"Okay."

Wufu poured out all the oil in the oil pot, and when the oil boiled, a scent came from it.

Ordinary people usually use rapeseed oil for cooking, and some use cottonseed oil, which tastes bad, not as fragrant as peanut oil and soybean oil.

However, the price of the latter is high, and most people are reluctant to eat it.

"Go and chop some shallots, green ones, and carrots, cut into slices."

Li Haitang unloaded the meat and kept poking it with a pair of long chopsticks. The fire of this stove was not as good as modern gas, and the heat was slower.

Everything is ready, the meat section has been fried golden brown.

Li Haitang fished it out with a strainer and held it to Wufu, "Here, let's taste how it tastes."

There is a dish called dry fried tenderloin, which is served with some chili noodles and pepper in the later stage, which has a special taste.

"Delicious, charred on the outside and tender on the inside."

As soon as the pot was taken out, it was a little hot. Wu Fu opened his mouth, exhaled hot air for a long time, and gave a thumbs up. It turned out that lean meat can still be eaten like this.

"It tastes better with sweet and sour."

After Li Haitang finished speaking, she heated up the oil again, put the fried meat into the pan and stir-fried, this time she added scallions and carrots, sprayed vinegar, added sugar to color, and soon, the color of the meat It got darker.

About half a quarter of an hour, out of the pot, the sweet and sour taste makes people very appetizing.

Li Haitang tasted a piece, it was really good, her craftsmanship was not lost.

Next, the fungus and eggs became much simpler. After one dinner, the master and the servant killed them all, and there was not even a piece of green onion left.

Wu Fu was very moved. I have never heard of any family who has a master who can cook like a wife and even bring the servants to eat.

As for her calculating sister-in-law, she sharpened her head and wanted to send her natal sister here.

As the first maid, Wu Fu is content.

After the meal, Li Haitang was busy cleaning the stove again, walking back and forth to digest food.

After dark, the surrounding people became silent, and in the yard opposite, there were figures flickering under the eaves.

"I went to the village today and saw an official coming to register."

Wufu also heard from Tieniu's family that the military supplies in the camp in the north of the city were in short supply, and officials sent to the door to ask the people to donate some bedding or jackets.

Wufu only had two new cotton-padded clothes, which he wore interchangeably, and they were bought by Li Haitang for Yinzi after he became a servant at home.

In the past, there were old clothes at home, which were remade from her mother's cotton padded clothes. For a few years, the cotton wool was balled up and turned black.

"Shortage of military supplies?"

Li Haitang was thoughtful, and heard Yun Jinghong mention that the camp in the north of the city was buying military supplies, but everything was stuck in Lucheng, unable to pass the customs.

In this way, we can only rely on the help of the common people. There are at least a million people in the border town, and everyone will work together to overcome the current difficulties.

"The quilt is enough at home, and the mattress is covered with rags." Cotton is too expensive, and the villagers can't afford it, so they think of other ways. Donate supplies.