I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 27: It's all good

Seeing Yuan Xiu blush, Sister-in-law Xiulan laughed even harder.

"Tell your wife, how did things go for you two last night? Was Battalion Commander Jiang alright?"

What else could I do but sleep under the covers?

"It's very good." Yuan Xiu didn't forget that she had to save face for Jiang Zhou while they were out and about.

But after saying that, she couldn't control the heat on her face, and felt her cheeks burning uncomfortably.

Hearing her say that, Chunmei and Guiying burst into laughter.

Several women arrived at the market, laughing and joking all the way.

There were long queues at the meat stalls.

"Do you sell meat?" Chunmei's sister-in-law asked.

Sister Xiulan shook her head, "I'm not buying any today. We don't have many meat coupons left; we still have more than half a month left."

Sister-in-law Guiying: "I need to buy some; my two children have been asking for dumplings."

Yuan Xiu also wanted to buy some; she still needed to prepare ingredients for the guests.

"Tell me how much you want to buy, and I'll wait in line here," said Sister Chunmei. "Guiying, buy me two jin of cabbage. Xiao Yuan, if you need anything else, hurry up and go buy it. I'll watch over things here."

Yuan Xiu quickly thanked her, "Sister-in-law, is there anything else you need to buy? I'll go get it for you."

"Nothing else is needed, we have everything at home."

When Sister Xiulan saw someone carrying fish passing by, she quickly stopped them and asked, "Are there fish today?"

"Yes! Lots of them. A whole truckload came this morning and they started selling them before they even entered the market. They're right there. If you want to buy, hurry up and go. No tickets required."

Upon hearing this, the sisters-in-law's eyes lit up.

"Little Yuan, bring me one, a smaller one will do," Sister Chunmei quickly said.

Sister-in-law Guiying also wanted to buy it.

Fish aren't available at the market every day, and even when they do come, you might not be able to buy them.

So the group divided the work: Sister Xiulan and Yuanxiu went to sell fish, Sister Guiying went to buy vegetables, and Sister Chunmei continued to queue at the meat stall.

Yuan Xiu followed Sister Xiulan to the fish market. There, she saw a large truck parked by the roadside, and several market vendors were busy weighing fish and collecting money.

Two men were standing in the truck bed, which was covered with tarpaulin, unloading fish one trip at a time.

The ground was wet and emitted a pungent fishy smell.

Sister-in-law Xiulan pulled Yuan Xiu to join the queue, saying, "With such a big cart of fish, we're sure to be able to buy some!"

Yuan Xiu nodded. There weren't as many people queuing here as there were at the butcher shop, and judging from the car, there should still be quite a few fish left.

"How do you cook fish in the South?" Sister-in-law Xiulan asked her.

"That depends on what kind of fish it is."

Yuan Xiu smiled and explained to her in detail: "If it's mandarin fish, then steam it. If you can buy pine nuts, you can also make mandarin fish with pine nuts. If it's crucian carp, then use it to make soup, or you can make braised crucian carp. If it's silver carp or grass carp, you can make boiled fish fillets, or pickled cabbage fish. The fish head can also be used to make chopped chili fish head. If it's carp, you can steam it, braise it, or make sweet and sour fish, or spicy fish."

Sister-in-law Xiulan was stunned. "Hearing you say that makes my mouth water! Xiao Yuan, are you a very good cook?"

Yuan Xiu smiled and said, "I'm not really that good at it."

"I don't believe you. Tell me, can you cook those fish you just mentioned?"

Yuan Xiu nodded, "I can do it."

"That's good enough. If this isn't what it means to know how, then what is?" Sister Xiulan laughed. "Now that's great, I can learn a few tricks from you, and my husband won't keep saying that all I know how to do is stew fish with soybean paste."

While Yuan Xiu was chatting with her sister-in-law Xiulan, the people queuing in front of and behind them heard it.

Seeing that she spoke eloquently, they all asked her for advice, "How do you make boiled fish fillets? My husband went on a business trip to the south last year and ate boiled fish there, so he asked me to make it for him. But when I made it the way he described, it never tasted the same."

Yuan Xiu then told her, "Making boiled fish fillets requires chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and broad bean paste, as well as ginger and minced garlic. In our family, we just use whatever we have on hand..."

After Yuan Xiu finished speaking, the woman who had raised the question said, "No wonder my cooking doesn't taste good. It's too much trouble. You have to boil it first, then cook it, and you have to pay attention to the heat and sauté it. I just put everything into the pot at once."

Yuan Xiu smiled and said, "It takes some effort to make it taste good."

"Then I'll go back and try it, so my husband won't nag me."

Others asked about cooking methods for other fish. Yuan Xiu chatted with everyone while waiting in line, and before she knew it, it was their turn.

Yuan Xiu originally wanted to buy two more, but it turned out there was a limit; each person could only buy two.

Yuan Xiu and Sister Xiulan each bought two, one of which was for Sister Chunmei and the others.

They arrived just in time, as many of the people behind them didn't get to buy anything.

When they returned to the meat stall, Sister Chunmei was still in line, with five or six people ahead of her.

Upon seeing Yuan Xiu and the others return, Sister Chunmei asked from afar, "What kind of fish was that?"

"Grass carp." Yuan Xiu walked over with the fish in her hand and showed it to her. "When it was our turn, all the others were gone, only grass carp were left."

Sister Chunmei's eyes lit up as she looked at the fish in Yuan Xiu's hand. "Grass carp is good. It's big and can be eaten for several days if you pickle it with salt."

"These two are about the same weight. This one weighs five pounds and eight ounces, and this one weighs five pounds and three ounces. Which one do you want, sister-in-law?"

"I'm fine with either."

"Then you'll take the lighter one."

"Okay, how much?" Chunmei asked, reaching for her purse to take out money.

"No rush." ​​Yuan Xiu glanced at the long line behind her and whispered, "We'll settle the bill after we buy the meat."

If the people who came after them knew that Sister Chunmei was helping them sell meat, they would definitely have objections.

Unlike fish, this meat isn't subject to purchase limits. As long as you have meat coupons, you can buy as many pounds as you like, as long as you don't overdo it.

Yuan Xiu needed to buy some other things, so while Chunmei was queuing, she went to buy some other items.

The women spent almost an hour at the market before they finally bought the ingredients they wanted.

The group returned home with a full load of goods.