Milking

"Finished cleaning?"

When Su Man saw Chen Weidong come in, she asked softly.

"Hmm, are they all asleep?"

Seeing that there was no movement at home, Chen Weidong glanced at the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Yeah, she just fell asleep. Sui Sui was making a fuss about wanting to go out."

"I've got something good for you."

"A magazine! What made you suddenly decide to borrow a book?"

Su Man picked up the magazine with some surprise and looked up at Chen Weidong.

"I just saw you had nothing to do at home, and Yan-ge told me that the brigade had some magazines, so I borrowed two for you to take a look."

Compared to Chen Weidong's ignorance and incompetence, Su Man was a knowledgeable young woman who loved literature and had a much higher level of education than him; she was a proper high school student.

Seeing that he couldn't wait to start reading, Chen Weidong smiled slightly, washed his hands briefly, and began kneading the dough.

Under Su Man's guidance, Chen Weidong began rolling out dough and making dumplings. However, he originally wanted to make some small white flour dumplings, but ended up making large dumplings. His skills were not good enough, so he had to make do.

Chen Xiaosui twitched her nose and slowly opened her eyes.

"Mom, I'm hungry!"

"Your nose is quite sensitive. Wait a moment, the food will be ready soon."

Chen Weidong picked up Chen Xiaosui and pressed his face against hers. This time, she didn't refuse and let him hold her. They went to the stove and she took a deep breath.

After steaming for a few more minutes, Chen Weidong lifted the lid, picked one up, let it cool by the window, and then placed it in Chen Xiaosui's hand.

Does it smell good?

Seeing Chen Xiaosui burying her head in her hands and eating with her hands, Chen Weidong patted her head and asked her a question.

"fragrant!"

Chen Xiaosui nodded vigorously, her words muffled, a piece of potato still stuck to the corner of her mouth.

"You guys eat first. I'll go deliver some to Brother Yan and Fu Xiao. When we went to the hospital before, the two of them were busy taking care of everything. Fu Xiao even helped take care of the child for several days."

Chen Weidong picked up about ten dumplings from a large, rough porcelain bowl and said to Su Man.

"We should definitely send some to them; take a few extra."

Su Man nodded in agreement.

Chen Weidong first came to He Yan's place.

"Brother Yan, we're having dumplings today. Here, have a few for you to try."

"I've already eaten. I appreciate your kind gesture, but please take it back for the children."

He Yan refused, saying that he knew Chen Weidong's family situation very well and probably couldn't do much about it.

"Just eat it, there's more at home."

Chen Weidong found a bowl, put half of it in He Yan's bowl, then turned around and went to Fu Xiao's room, gently knocking on the door.

"Chen Weidong?!"

Fu Xiao opened the door and was somewhat surprised to see Chen Weidong.

"Comrade Fu Xiao, we're making dumplings at home today. Su Man asked me to get you a few to try."

"No need, keep it for Sui Sui."

"We made quite a lot, where do you think we should put them?"

Fu Xiao couldn't refuse Chen Weidong, so she had to take out her own bowl and accept the dumplings from him.

"Thanks."

"It's okay, it's still hot, I'll head back now."

……

"All delivered, hurry up and eat."

When Su Man saw Chen Weidong return, she lifted the pot lid, revealing a large bowl underneath.

Due to limited resources at home, tableware is reused frequently.

Chen Weidong took a bite and said, "It seems a bit salty."

"It's okay, I'll just drink more water."

Su Man comforted them, saying that she was already very touched to see Chen Weidong personally cooking for them.

"Delicious! I want another one!"

Chen Xiaosui looked at the dumplings in her bowl and felt hungry again.

"You can't eat anymore, you've already eaten two."

Su Man immediately refused, saying that children shouldn't eat too much, as it can easily cause bloating and gastrointestinal discomfort.

Chen Xiaosui looked a little aggrieved, and a tear welled up in her eyes.

"Come on, Daddy will feed you another bite. We'll eat the rest tonight. Sui Sui is such a good girl, always so obedient."

"Mmm, I'm a good baby, I'll eat tonight!"

Chen Xiaosui nodded as she chewed on the dumpling filling that Chen Weidong had fed her.

"Just keep spoiling her!"

Su Man rolled her eyes at Chen Weidong, annoyed.

"It's my own daughter, I'm definitely going to spoil her."

Chen Weidong chuckled and took another bite of the dumpling.

After finishing his meal and washing the pot, he picked up a few more dumplings with his bowl, covered them with a cloth, and went straight out of the house to the easternmost household.

"Captain Wang."

Chen Weidong greeted Wang Jianshui, who was counting sheep.

The other party was the livestock team leader of Yangjiatun, who was in charge of managing sheep and horses. His cousin was the team leader Wang Jianshe, who was also the superior of Chen Weidong and He Yan.

Although the Wang family has fewer members than the Yang family in Yangjiatun, they still have quite a few, with the two families probably making up about half of the village's population.

In Yangjiatun, besides the three leaders Yang Shulin, Wang Jianshe, and Yang Shuzhi, there are many team leaders under them.

There were people in charge of managing sheep herding, horses herding, and farming; they were all important assistants to the Yangshulin three-person management team.

"Comrade Weidong is here. Please have a seat at my home."

Wang Jianshui was somewhat surprised to see Chen Weidong arrive, but he didn't ask any questions. He invited Chen Weidong into his home and poured him a cup of hot water.

"Captain Wang, we made some dumplings today, let's have the aunties try them."

"Look at you, bringing this all the way here."

Wang Jianshui smiled and did not refuse. He did not expect that Chen Weidong, who was usually reckless, had learned about human relationships today. Could it be that he had really learned well?

In the past few days, he had heard Yang Shulin and Wang Jianshe talk about Chen Weidong, saying that the latter had changed a lot in terms of personality.

"Wei Dong, is there something you need?"

Wang Jianshui didn't beat around the bush and asked Chen Weidong directly.

"Captain Wang, I'd like to switch to some goat milk for the children, is that alright?"

Chen Weidong stated his purpose directly.

"Goat milk, there just happened to be a goat that gave birth to a lamb last night, it has plenty of milk, I'll go and milk some for you."

Wang Jianshui thought for a moment and nodded. Anyway, there were quite a few sheep in the pen that had given birth, so milking some sheep to feed the lambs was a small matter for him.

"Thank you, Captain Wang. I'll go with you."

Chen Weidong followed Wang Jianshui to the sheepfold and secretly studied Wang Jianshui's techniques.

He planned to order goat milk for Chen Xiaosui and the others for a longer period of time, so that he wouldn't have to trouble Wang Jianshui every time.

It would be more convenient for him if he learned it himself.

"Want to give it a try?"

When Wang Jianshui saw Chen Weidong staring intently at his hands, he instantly understood the latter's ulterior motive and said with a smile.

"Then I'll give it a try."

Chen Weidong grabbed a plastic bucket made from a white gasoline can, aligned the opening, and squeezed it hard, just like Wang Jianshui did.

咩～

"Be careful!"

Wang Jianshui quickly pulled Chen Weidong away from the sheep's hoof.

"Weidong, are you alright?"

"fine."

Chen Weidong patted his pants and stood up.

He felt he'd been acting strangely lately; he'd been kicked by a horse's hoof a while back, and now he almost got kicked by a sheep.

When I have money someday, I'll definitely buy some sheep trotters to improve my luck and change my feng shui.

Seeing that Chen Weidong was alright, Wang Jianshui went to the sheep and explained while milking it: "You used too much force just now. Let the lamb suckle a few times first. When the udder is full, use your thumb, index finger and middle finger to pinch the base of the teat and squeeze it downwards."

"Keep your hands steady, keep the rhythm like tapping a beat, switch legs when you're free, squeeze the nipples from the back legs clean too, then pat them lightly twice, all done!"

"I see, I've learned something new!"

This was the first time Chen Weidong had realized that milking was actually a technical job.

Seeing Chen Weidong's admiring gaze, Wang Jianshui unconsciously straightened his back, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

After all, Chen Weidong was an educated educated youth. How could he not be happy that a rough and uncultured man like him could teach the other party and receive the words "I have learned something"?

You know, nowadays, educated people are in high demand everywhere. If you can stay here, whether it's teaching, joining a brigade or a county, it will be much easier than for others.